Hola, que tal?
So I have been in Salamanca for a month now and to be honest it does not even feel like it has been that long. Winter break in Chicago went by so much slower. It's crazy. With that being said I decided to deactivate my facebook. I found myself spending way too much time on it. The fact that a month has gone by already and it raced right before my eyes is just not cool. I feel like I had to make a few changes before I continued my next couple months here and one was to cut facebook out of my life for a few. It may sound a little silly, but I think it's a good choice for me as of right now. It eliminates pictures and some social life but that's why I have a facebook and a blog. I check my email every day and I am going to be blogging a lot more now.
my email: alg254@nau.edu
So what's new in Spain?
As far as classes go they are relatively the same. I haven't gotten serious work since I have been here so I guess that's cool. I miss homework and assignments. It always kept me super busy and allowed me to feel like I have accomplished the work I never thought I would accomplished lol. I love my teachers. They are hilarious. The other morning a student in class had a stamp on their hand from a bar the night before. The teacher called her out on it in Spanish. The student tried to deny it and the teacher said "MMhmm the stamp on your hand." The class just laughed. The teacher said of course just make sure when you see me at the bars walk away. The one thing I noticed about having classes in Spanish or watching TV in Spanish is that it is sooo easy to just cut it out of our daily listening habits. Like when I watch TV in Spanish and the show is in English but they have Spanish vocals. I find myself trying to listen to the English rather than the Spanish. Or in class I just think about the words in English rather than in Spanish. It's quite frustrating. BUT I am becoming a lot better with my Spanish, so something is clicking upstairs. Thank goodness. In my international marketing class out teacher never talks about anything that is relevant to the course subject. The other day our lesson consisted of chinese horoscopes, condoms, and christmas traditions. I was dying in class.
The dreams just keep getting weirder and weirder here. no joke. Also I HAVE BEEN CRAVING SUSHI. It's killing me. Killing me. Does anyone care to send me some sushi??
As I mentioned before Daryl and I are bus'n it to Granada this weekend to see the Alhambra and than bus'n it to Cadiz to celebrate the 3rd largest "Carnaval" in the world there. I am so excited!! Granted the bus rides will be super long and boring but it's all worth it. We have a 2 1/2 hr bus ride from Salamanca to Madrid and than a 5 hr bus ride to Granada. We will stay there for 2 nights and than on Saturday head to Cadiz which is another 5 hr bus ride. We stay there the whole day and than get back on the bus to Granada at 5 am and than catch another 5 hr back to Madrid and than 2 1/2 to Salamanca. LONG.. I know BUT i cannot wait. SOOOOO happy to be traveling like always. I am really pumped to see the Alhambra in Granada. I learned about some of the architecture in my Art class here and CANNOT wait to see it in real life. FOR REAL! For the carnaval Daryl and I, along with 9 other girls, will be dressing up. We aren't quite sure as to what we are going as but were going to be prepared for the worst. The girls in Granada already are planning it so let's hope they got something up their sleeves.
Speaking of traveling. One of my best friends J Quiles will be out here in 2 weeks for his spring break and I CANNOT wait to see him. We are planning on going to Barcelonia for a night or two and obviously hang out here in Salamanca and show him around. I am pretty happy about that. :)
Que mas?
On Mondays and Wednesdays I start class at 4:30pm so I go running. I found this park across the bridge that has a track and some workout stations. I tend to run over there and do some workouts or go along the river. Either way I like it. I like it because it gives me the chance to just think. The last couple times I thought about how the heck I am in Spain and why?? I came to the conclusion that it's been my dream to go to Spain and indulge myself in the culture since I can remember. So here I am today living in Spain, running around the river like an American, and experiencing something I have been wanting to for the longest. I LOVE it.
Remember when I mentioned the old guy Shama who gives me the candles every time we go out to tapas? Well this past Monday we went to tapas. We were having a good time enjoying the night. While I was walking out to go to the next bar Shama stopped me and gave me a piece of paper and said it was for me to read later. Obviously I didn't wait so I read it. Uhhh yea... It was a love poem he had written. It was in Spanish and for the most part because of all the intelligent words he was using I couldn't understand it. First thing I did when I got home was google translate it. All I know is that this man is about 82 years old and wrote me a love poem. I have no idea what to think. Can I even go to tapas any more? Not to mention he is one of my coordinators. Soooo.. yah.. I would post it on my blog but that's too much. Just leaving it as a love poem is enough said. And it's not a creepy love poem it's just extremely romantic that I have no idea what to think. Nice but OVERLY NICE. So much for finding my Spanish husband huh?
Victoria is amazing. She is great. Oscar on the other hand is a pain. The cats Gordo and Mimi are like dogs. The weather is getting nicer every day, except for today. Today was rather very windy and cold. *knock on wood* Oscar got a new computer so now him and Victoria can both play warcraft at the same time. It's taking over their minds, I swear. I feel so good about deactivating my facebook when I see them going at it with Warcraft 24/7. Daryl and I are still getting along very well. She puts up with my jokes and crazy behavior and I deal with her horrible memory. lol. It works out fairly well.
The conversion rate stinks in Europe. I feel like my money is just going to dirt because the conversion. For every euro it's about 1.40 in the US. It's horrible. POOP.
Random things done in Spain that might surprise you.
-eat EVERYTHING with utensils no matter what.. even croissants.
-no walking and eating.. only time you eat is when your at a table sitting down.. same goes with coffee.
-it's considered bad manners to stretch in public
-long showers do not exist
-there are no dryers here. All laundry is hung out to dry.
-bread is served with EVERY meal.
-it's okay to come home at 7 am. it's normal
-towels are not to be shared.
-always wear nice apparel.. you should never wear sweats out in public. Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Vida Vida
Hola, que tal?
So I have been in Salamanca for a month now and to be honest it does not even feel like it has been that long. Winter break in Chicago went by so much slower. It's crazy. With that being said I decided to deactivate my facebook. I found myself spending way too much time on it. The fact that a month has gone by already and it raced right before my eyes is just not cool. I feel like I had to make a few changes before I continued my next couple months here and one was to cut facebook out of my life for a few. It may sound a little silly, but I think it's a good choice for me as of right now. It eliminates pictures and some social life but that's why I have a facebook and a blog. I check my email every day and I am going to be blogging a lot more now.
my email: alg254@nau.edu
So what's new in Spain?
As far as classes go they are relatively the same. I haven't gotten serious work since I have been here so I guess that's cool. I miss homework and assignments. It always kept me super busy and allowed me to feel like I have accomplished the work I never thought I would accomplished lol. I love my teachers. They are hilarious. The other morning a student in class had a stamp on their hand from a bar the night before. The teacher called her out on it in Spanish. The student tried to deny it and the teacher said "MMhmm the stamp on your hand." The class just laughed. The teacher said of course just make sure when you see me at the bars walk away. The one thing I noticed about having classes in Spanish or watching TV in Spanish is that it is sooo easy to just cut it out of our daily listening habits. Like when I watch TV in Spanish and the show is in English but they have Spanish vocals. I find myself trying to listen to the English rather than the Spanish. Or in class I just think about the words in English rather than in Spanish. It's quite frustrating. BUT I am becoming a lot better with my Spanish, so something is clicking upstairs. Thank goodness. In my international marketing class out teacher never talks about anything that is relevant to the course subject. The other day our lesson consisted of chinese horoscopes, condoms, and christmas traditions. I was dying in class.
The dreams just keep getting weirder and weirder here. no joke. Also I HAVE BEEN CRAVING SUSHI. It's killing me. Killing me. Does anyone care to send me some sushi??
As I mentioned before Daryl and I are bus'n it to Granada this weekend to see the Alhambra and than bus'n it to Cadiz to celebrate the 3rd largest "Carnaval" in the world there. I am so excited!! Granted the bus rides will be super long and boring but it's all worth it. We have a 2 1/2 hr bus ride from Salamanca to Madrid and than a 5 hr bus ride to Granada. We will stay there for 2 nights and than on Saturday head to Cadiz which is another 5 hr bus ride. We stay there the whole day and than get back on the bus to Granada at 5 am and than catch another 5 hr back to Madrid and than 2 1/2 to Salamanca. LONG.. I know BUT i cannot wait. SOOOOO happy to be traveling like always. I am really pumped to see the Alhambra in Granada. I learned about some of the architecture in my Art class here and CANNOT wait to see it in real life. FOR REAL! For the carnaval Daryl and I, along with 9 other girls, will be dressing up. We aren't quite sure as to what we are going as but were going to be prepared for the worst. The girls in Granada already are planning it so let's hope they got something up their sleeves.
Speaking of traveling. One of my best friends J Quiles will be out here in 2 weeks for his spring break and I CANNOT wait to see him. We are planning on going to Barcelonia for a night or two and obviously hang out here in Salamanca and show him around. I am pretty happy about that. :)
Que mas?
On Mondays and Wednesdays I start class at 4:30pm so I go running. I found this park across the bridge that has a track and some workout stations. I tend to run over there and do some workouts or go along the river. Either way I like it. I like it because it gives me the chance to just think. The last couple times I thought about how the heck I am in Spain and why?? I came to the conclusion that it's been my dream to go to Spain and indulge myself in the culture since I can remember. So here I am today living in Spain, running around the river like an American, and experiencing something I have been wanting to for the longest. I LOVE it.
Remember when I mentioned the old guy Shama who gives me the candles every time we go out to tapas? Well this past Monday we went to tapas. We were having a good time enjoying the night. While I was walking out to go to the next bar Shama stopped me and gave me a piece of paper and said it was for me to read later. Obviously I didn't wait so I read it. Uhhh yea... It was a love poem he had written. It was in Spanish and for the most part because of all the intelligent words he was using I couldn't understand it. First thing I did when I got home was google translate it. All I know is that this man is about 82 years old and wrote me a love poem. I have no idea what to think. Can I even go to tapas any more? Not to mention he is one of my coordinators. Soooo.. yah.. I would post it on my blog but that's too much. Just leaving it as a love poem is enough said. And it's not a creepy love poem it's just extremely romantic that I have no idea what to think. Nice but OVERLY NICE. So much for finding my Spanish husband huh?
Victoria is amazing. She is great. Oscar on the other hand is a pain. The cats Gordo and Mimi are like dogs. The weather is getting nicer every day, except for today. Today was rather very windy and cold. *knock on wood* Oscar got a new computer so now him and Victoria can both play warcraft at the same time. It's taking over their minds, I swear. I feel so good about deactivating my facebook when I see them going at it with Warcraft 24/7. Daryl and I are still getting along very well. She puts up with my jokes and crazy behavior and I deal with her horrible memory. lol. It works out fairly well.
The conversion rate stinks in Europe. I feel like my money is just going to dirt because the conversion. For every euro it's about 1.40 in the US. It's horrible. POOP.
Random things done in Spain that might surprise you.
-eat EVERYTHING with utensils no matter what.. even croissants.
-no walking and eating.. only time you eat is when your at a table sitting down.. same goes with coffee.
-it's considered bad manners to stretch in public
-long showers do not exist
-there are no dryers here. All laundry is hung out to dry.
-bread is served with EVERY meal.
-it's okay to come home at 7 am. it's normal
-towels are not to be shared.
-always wear nice apparel.. you should never wear sweats out in public. 
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