I don't have a lot of time and my computer is kind of dying, so I am just going to write a quick update!
This past weekend, I went to Segovia on Saturday with school! We paid for five trips with our program and this was one of them! It was so fun! I went to Segovia when I went to Spain in high school, so it was nice having some knowledge of what we were seeing before hand. Three of our professors came with us to tour us around the city. We saw so many things... I'm going to post some pictures of the major buildings that we saw.
On Sunday, my church here had an international dinner with SO much food! Everyone brought a dish to pass from their culture. I didn't end up bringing anything, because I wasn't sure if Dioni (my host mom) would care if I used the kitchen, and it's kind of hard to think of American things to make with so many Spanish ingredients. Also, I am really liking my host family. When we have class later in the day or get home early, we get to spend time with their grandson Arón. He is THE happiest baby that I have ever seen! He is also a little chubby... probably since he can't say no to all of the food that Dioni gives him! She gives Emily and I so much food, that I'm not sure if we've both ever been able to finish the food that she gives us. The food here is pretty good, but we get a lot of seafood. In the states, I really didn't like sea food, but I'm trying it here and I actually like some of it, I think it's because it's more fresh!
Other random things about Spain...:
-The chocolate here is amazing. I want to bring back so much of it to eat!
-It is COLD here! BELOW 0... (Centigrade... and only 1 below... but it's still cold!)
-In the region we're in, they try to consever water, so showers have to be really quick. We don't have a shower curtain and the showerhead is not attatched to the wall, so it's kind of a challenge!
-We don't have wireless in our house, so it's kind of hard to skype/keep everything updated.
-I teach English four hours a week... One hour to a lady I met in a cell phone store (merecedes, who is a teacher here and is basically fluent in English), two hours to her son (Fran, 10) and two hours to her friend's sons (José Felix and Alejandro, who are 10, too)
-Right now are the rebajas (sales) in Spain, so it's really hard to resist shopping ... a lot! I've already bought a few purses from my new favorite store misako.
-My battery has one minute left!
Jan 26, 2011
Jan 14, 2011
School!
First, I want to say THANK YOU! to everyone who has wished me luck with facebook posts, messages, e-mails, prayers and more! It makes it so much easier here, knowing that people all over the world care about me and are praying for me! And now a quick update...
So.... I´ve been in Spain for almost a week! It seems to have gone by really fast (because everything just seems like a blur!), but it also seems like we´ve been here longer (because it´s starting to feel more natural..). I still have problems reading our map... It´s not difficult to read, I´m just bad with maps!, but I always seem to manage to find whereI need to go.
It seems like so much has happened this week, that it is hard to fit it all in a blog post! Well, my family doesn´t have internet, so that makes it harder to update my blog and stay connected, but we live close to an internet shop thing, so it´s still possible to skype fairly easily, which is nice... So today, I´m just going to write about school, because we have dinner soonish and tonight we are going out! I went out last night, too and met some Spaniards! It is so fun to talk to people in Spanish here!!
SCHOOL:
I LOVE school! I placed into level 5 (advanced)... There are six levels, but we think that levels 3-5 are all the same, since they are all titled advanced. All of t heprofessors here are so nice, and patient. The classes are pretty fun, too. I have seven classes total: art (I like art so far! On the first day we listened to Empire State of Mind!), history of spain (I´m not a huge fan of history, but our professor is really cool and super into history, too!), geography of spain (at first I thougth that I wouldn´t like this, but the first few classes made it exciting, becaues a lot of the places we learn about are places that I might watn to visit in the future when I´m here!), grammar (I LOVE GRAMMAR! I love the rules and everything about grammar. Our professor for this class is probably my favorite, too!), conversation (I think this class will be fun, but we have to memorize vocabulary for exams, too... But it doesn´t seem too hard.), literature (I have the same professor for this class as conversation - She is more quiet than the other professors.), and culture(My professor for this class is literally INSANE! But it seems like it will be an interesting class! I already learned not to say thank you for a lot of smaller things, like getting food from our host mom and after getting drinks in a bar, because it´s their job... Interesting! But I still say gracias a lot anyways.. I feel rude otherwise!)
I have class monday through friday... Usually between 930-130, but next week I don´t have as much class! We stay with our level all day, except in conversation we mix with other people, which is fun too!
So that´s school! I probably have around two hours of homework this weekend... So not as much as Eau Claire! But it has for sure hit me that these are real classes!
So that´s school! Let me know what you guys want to hear about so I can write about that instead of just random topics!!
Thanks again for all of the love that is poured into my life!
So.... I´ve been in Spain for almost a week! It seems to have gone by really fast (because everything just seems like a blur!), but it also seems like we´ve been here longer (because it´s starting to feel more natural..). I still have problems reading our map... It´s not difficult to read, I´m just bad with maps!, but I always seem to manage to find whereI need to go.
It seems like so much has happened this week, that it is hard to fit it all in a blog post! Well, my family doesn´t have internet, so that makes it harder to update my blog and stay connected, but we live close to an internet shop thing, so it´s still possible to skype fairly easily, which is nice... So today, I´m just going to write about school, because we have dinner soonish and tonight we are going out! I went out last night, too and met some Spaniards! It is so fun to talk to people in Spanish here!!
SCHOOL:
I LOVE school! I placed into level 5 (advanced)... There are six levels, but we think that levels 3-5 are all the same, since they are all titled advanced. All of t heprofessors here are so nice, and patient. The classes are pretty fun, too. I have seven classes total: art (I like art so far! On the first day we listened to Empire State of Mind!), history of spain (I´m not a huge fan of history, but our professor is really cool and super into history, too!), geography of spain (at first I thougth that I wouldn´t like this, but the first few classes made it exciting, becaues a lot of the places we learn about are places that I might watn to visit in the future when I´m here!), grammar (I LOVE GRAMMAR! I love the rules and everything about grammar. Our professor for this class is probably my favorite, too!), conversation (I think this class will be fun, but we have to memorize vocabulary for exams, too... But it doesn´t seem too hard.), literature (I have the same professor for this class as conversation - She is more quiet than the other professors.), and culture(My professor for this class is literally INSANE! But it seems like it will be an interesting class! I already learned not to say thank you for a lot of smaller things, like getting food from our host mom and after getting drinks in a bar, because it´s their job... Interesting! But I still say gracias a lot anyways.. I feel rude otherwise!)
I have class monday through friday... Usually between 930-130, but next week I don´t have as much class! We stay with our level all day, except in conversation we mix with other people, which is fun too!
So that´s school! I probably have around two hours of homework this weekend... So not as much as Eau Claire! But it has for sure hit me that these are real classes!
So that´s school! Let me know what you guys want to hear about so I can write about that instead of just random topics!!
Thanks again for all of the love that is poured into my life!
Jan 9, 2011
here!
hola a todos! I made it to Valladolid... after a long flight and a few snow storms! I am exhausted and it is almost 9 pm here.. time for dinner soon!
So I only have a little bit of internet... but I will do a quick recap of my travel & the city!
My parents and I left Brookfield around 7 for an early flight out of O´ Hare... well early in my opinion! It was a bummer to say bye to them, but it is nice knowing how much they support me. That flight was delayed a little, but we made it to Philadelphia with plenty of time to get our connection... Some people got delayed, switched flights, and haven´t even arrived, so I am very blessed.
I met really cool people at the airport. The girl sitting next to me on the way to Philadelphia had been to ELEVEN cities in the past two and a half weeks! And I thought I was turning into a traveler! She had been interviewing for radiology medical residency posistins, and she studied abroad for a semester in Australia when she was in undergrad! Cool! Then waiting for my Madrid flight, I met a girl who studied abroad with knowing NO spanish, and came back almost fluenet she said.. She met her husband there, and now lives in Madrid with him!
But my flights were generally uneventful (which I consider a good thing!) I watched the social network... which put me to sleep! I probably slept about four hours on the plane, and then got to the Madrid airport with three hours before our bus to Valladolid! I tried to sleep in the airport and did nto succed much!
We took a bus to here now and my host mom, dioni and a close friend´s daughter, beatriz. They drove us back to the apartment, and Emily and I each have our owm rooms, which is pretty awesome, since most people have to share.
We ate lunch (fish and rice soup, meatballs with sauce .. not spaghetti sauce though and potatoes, and pineapple) surprisingly enough... I LIKED IT ALL!
Then our host mom took us on a tour of the city, and it is really cool. We got to see the school and a lot of restaurants and bars.
Tomorrow we have placement tests and a tour of the city and a welcome dinner....
I really miss everyone... but I am trying hard to stay positive!
ps sorry for spelling errors... it only spell checks spanish!
So I only have a little bit of internet... but I will do a quick recap of my travel & the city!
My parents and I left Brookfield around 7 for an early flight out of O´ Hare... well early in my opinion! It was a bummer to say bye to them, but it is nice knowing how much they support me. That flight was delayed a little, but we made it to Philadelphia with plenty of time to get our connection... Some people got delayed, switched flights, and haven´t even arrived, so I am very blessed.
I met really cool people at the airport. The girl sitting next to me on the way to Philadelphia had been to ELEVEN cities in the past two and a half weeks! And I thought I was turning into a traveler! She had been interviewing for radiology medical residency posistins, and she studied abroad for a semester in Australia when she was in undergrad! Cool! Then waiting for my Madrid flight, I met a girl who studied abroad with knowing NO spanish, and came back almost fluenet she said.. She met her husband there, and now lives in Madrid with him!
But my flights were generally uneventful (which I consider a good thing!) I watched the social network... which put me to sleep! I probably slept about four hours on the plane, and then got to the Madrid airport with three hours before our bus to Valladolid! I tried to sleep in the airport and did nto succed much!
We took a bus to here now and my host mom, dioni and a close friend´s daughter, beatriz. They drove us back to the apartment, and Emily and I each have our owm rooms, which is pretty awesome, since most people have to share.
We ate lunch (fish and rice soup, meatballs with sauce .. not spaghetti sauce though and potatoes, and pineapple) surprisingly enough... I LIKED IT ALL!
Then our host mom took us on a tour of the city, and it is really cool. We got to see the school and a lot of restaurants and bars.
Tomorrow we have placement tests and a tour of the city and a welcome dinner....
I really miss everyone... but I am trying hard to stay positive!
ps sorry for spelling errors... it only spell checks spanish!
Jan 1, 2011
ONE WEEK!
Happy New Year everyone! This is such an exciting new year for me, because the year to come is going to be a year of LOTS of change! If the title of this post didn't give it away... I leave exactly one week from today (January 8th). The time that I have had at home over break has literally flown by! I have been keeping busy, even though I have not been working, with packing, getting last minute things for Spain (euros, a credit card!, copies of my visa, space bags, and a travel book... just to name a few!) and catching up and saying goodbyes! It is so crazy to think that I will not be in the United States for five months...
I am probably going to start packing tomorrow... I can't believe everything I need for five months is going to fit in one suitcase! Especially since my first semester at Eau Claire, I had to bring a U-Haul to fit everything I needed for my dorm... I think it will be a good lesson in what I really do need (more like do not!)
I bought the travel book called: "Let's Go: Spain & Portugal with Morocco, On A Budget". It's so cool, because it has practically all of the cities in Spain, and cheap hotels, restaurants, transportation routes and attractions in the city! I love that it lists prices and lots of details about every place!
This is the genearl information it lists about Valladolid:
"When Fernando and Isabel married in Valladolid in 1469, this city stood at the helm of Spanish politics, finance, and culture. Explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan came here to discuss navigation plans; Miguel de Cervantes, the mind behind Don Quixote, lived here; and in 1506, Christopher Columbus died here. Today, the administrative capital of Castilla y León has a reputation of class, sophistication and architectural diversity. Wandering through cobblestone streets past outdoor cafes, fountains, statues and plazas, visitors to Spain's original capital find that the heart of Spain's majesty is just as evident in its current incarnation as a lively but laid-back town."
A lot of people ask about the weather! At first when I thought about studying in Spain, I thought it would be a tropical paradise... That's not quite Valla... Here is the weather channel forecast:
Valla Weather
It is similar to Wisconsin... But a little warmer :) When I get there it should be in the 40s/50s if the predictions are correct! I'll keep you guys updated on the weather throughout my stay!
So that's all for today! But I thank everyone who is supporting me not only through this new journey, but through all of my life! I feel so blessed through last year and into this New Year! Love you all!
I am probably going to start packing tomorrow... I can't believe everything I need for five months is going to fit in one suitcase! Especially since my first semester at Eau Claire, I had to bring a U-Haul to fit everything I needed for my dorm... I think it will be a good lesson in what I really do need (more like do not!)
I bought the travel book called: "Let's Go: Spain & Portugal with Morocco, On A Budget". It's so cool, because it has practically all of the cities in Spain, and cheap hotels, restaurants, transportation routes and attractions in the city! I love that it lists prices and lots of details about every place!
This is the genearl information it lists about Valladolid:
"When Fernando and Isabel married in Valladolid in 1469, this city stood at the helm of Spanish politics, finance, and culture. Explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan came here to discuss navigation plans; Miguel de Cervantes, the mind behind Don Quixote, lived here; and in 1506, Christopher Columbus died here. Today, the administrative capital of Castilla y León has a reputation of class, sophistication and architectural diversity. Wandering through cobblestone streets past outdoor cafes, fountains, statues and plazas, visitors to Spain's original capital find that the heart of Spain's majesty is just as evident in its current incarnation as a lively but laid-back town."
A lot of people ask about the weather! At first when I thought about studying in Spain, I thought it would be a tropical paradise... That's not quite Valla... Here is the weather channel forecast:
Valla Weather
It is similar to Wisconsin... But a little warmer :) When I get there it should be in the 40s/50s if the predictions are correct! I'll keep you guys updated on the weather throughout my stay!
So that's all for today! But I thank everyone who is supporting me not only through this new journey, but through all of my life! I feel so blessed through last year and into this New Year! Love you all!
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