It has been sunny for the past six days, and there's a chance of rain only once this week! THANK YOU, Spanish weather, for finally living up to my expectations! Walking to school is so wonderful during the day: no need for my coat, get to sport my super cool prescription shades, ha ha. Yesterday Kristen and I sat out by the river for about two hours just soaking in the rays. It felt amazing! Hopefully it just keeps getting better from here.
Emily was here last week, and we had a blast. My roomies and I had so much fun showing her around Granada, stuffing her full of churros and chawarma, and hanging out on the roof of her incredibly cool hostel. We took her to Cafe Futbol, R&S, and the cathedral (a first for the rest of us; it's SO overwhelmingly beautiful) and she did some cool activities with her hostel people while we were in classes. I was so bummed that she had to leave on Sunday, but I suppose WSU probably wouldn't accept "extending my spring break in Spain a week" as a decent excuse for skipping classes. Darn. Oh, well. It was really fun having her here and we all miss her!
Sunday I went to Ronda with the CLM. I'd never even heard of it before signing up, and it's a really small city, but it's absolutely breathtaking, with all these views of huge cliffs and rolling hills and crumbling castle walls. It's really well-known for bull fighting too, which doesn't interest me too much- I think it's really cruel- but we went to the bullring and the bull fighting museum, which was cool to see just for the historical aspects (and the pretty costumes...). I took loads of pictures (and practically exhausted my camera battery) so expect them on facebook/flickr sometime this week.
The week after next is our spring break because it's Semana Santa (Holy Week). Kristen, Holly, Karl, two guys from our class, and I are going to ITALY!!!!! We leave next Friday and come back to Granada the following Thursday. The first half we'll be in Florence and the second half we'll be in Rome. I swore after the choir trip I'd go back someday, but I didn't think it'd be so soon! So much for learning Italian before then...oh, well! I'm also meeting up with a friend from high school, Lindsey, who's studying in Rome, to take the bus to L'Aquila for a day. My great grandparents on my dad's side are from there and I really want to explore and take some pictures for my family. I'm beyond excited! It still doesn't seem real. There's a good chance. I'm going to have to try so hard not to start sobbing when I see the Trevi Fountain again.
Anyway, that's everything of interest for now. I can't believe I only have two months left here. Time really is starting to fly. I can't wait to see what the rest of this trip brings!
Besos!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Madrid
The beginning of the trip was a little shaky. We decided to take a bus to the bus station this time rather than a taxi and save a little money, but we didn't consider how horrible the traffic is around 1 PM here. Our bus to Madrid left at two...without us. We went to see if we could switch our tickets to a different time. Nope. We had to buy new ones. And we ended up on different buses, so Alisha got to Madrid about an hour before I did. Once we were both there, we took the metro to Gran Via and took about a half an hour to find our hostel. It was on the seventh floor of this building and not really marked, so we passed it a few times. The place was really nice, and the couple who owned it was really sweet and helpful. We shared a room with a couple of guys, one from Wisconsin and one from New Jersey, and they were both really nice, although we didn't meet them until the next morning- they were still out when we went to bed.
The next day, Saturday, we had breakfast at the hostel, then went out to explore a little before meeting Abby and Tina. The weather was awful- windy and raining on and off. Apparently it was about eighty degrees and sunny in Granada on Saturday. Clearly bad weather just follows me everywhere in Spain. It was still fun walking around and taking pictures, though. We went to Abby and Tina's hostel around 1, but they weren't there yet so we went to a little Italian restaurant across the street to have lunch while we waited. We finally saw them walk up to their hostel and I nearly wiped out running to meet them. I was SO happy to see Abby. After being so far away from home for a couple months, seeing a familiar face was the best feeling in the world. I'd met Tina once before, when I had visited Abby in Boston, and she was just as nice as I'd remembered. We decided to meet up again at four so they could check in and relax after their flight, so Alisha and I headed back to our hostel, first stopping at a supermarket to buy microwave popcorn (our host family doesn't have a microwave and we've been desperate for popcorn, so when we found out our hostel had a microwave we took full advantage of it).
At four, we met up with Abby and Tina and went to Plaza Mayor. Besides being an absolutely beautiful part of the city, there are lots of really unusual street performers. Madrid must be obsessed with Disney characters, especially Mickey, Minnie, and Winnie the Pooh, because I saw three or four of each of them. The best, though, was Fat Spiderman. Weird, I know, but my friend Stevie, who came here last year, told me to look for him, and he was well worth the search. He was hilarious. He spoke English, so we had fun talking with him about crime fighting and his spidey babies (which is why we had to donate a few cents-gotta support the spidey family) and taking some great pictures with him. After that, we bought coffee (and hot chocolate in Abby's and my case), checked out a few souvenir shops, and went back to our hostels to rest until dinner.
At eight thirty we met up again and walked around until we stopped at the least crowded and most appetizing restaurant we could find. It was great; I hadn't really gone out to eat (besides tapas) before then, and the food was amazing. Abby had croquettas for the first time too (we have them at home a lot and Kristen and I devour them) so it was fun watching her react to one of the most delicious Spanish dishes. After we were done eating we looked for a bar. The first one we stopped at was horrible. The bartender was a complete ass, and the place was packed wall-to-wall (trying to walk from the bar to the bathroom was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life). We left pretty quickly. The next bar was a little better, and we each got a free sangria, which was nice, but we were pretty tired and ended up going back to our hostels pretty early (and by early I mean like 1:30, which when most people start going out here). We met up the next morning and went to a cafe for breakfast, and then Alisha and I headed to the bus station nice and early so we wouldn't have a repeat of Friday.
The ride back was torture thanks to an obnoxious couple sitting in front of us. PDA is not uncommon here. I don't like it much, but usually I can ignore it. Not on Sunday. The girl would climb into her boyfriend's lap every five minutes to make out with him. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep so I wouldn't have to watch them. I listened to my iPod so I could tune out their disgusting smacking noises. I turned up the volume so I wouldn't have to hear them giggling stupidly into each other's mouths. I finally managed to ignore them, but I still really hoped that the bus would make a really abrupt stop and send their slobbering faces slamming into the seats in front of them. I understand it's a long bus ride, but seriously, buy a crossword puzzle or something and spare your fellow passengers five hours of nausea and discomfort. We were beyond thrilled to get back to Granada.
Monday was a holiday here and we didn't have class, so the school week is even shorter than usual. My friend Emily is coming here on Sunday for spring break and I'm unbelieveably excited to see her and show her around! Hmm...what else...I seem to have a talent for embarrassing myself in front of Mamache's gorgeous son. Is he ever in the house when I'm dressed to kill, perfectly coifed and made up, and feeling remotely self-confident? No. He always sees me when I'm wearing my frumpiest outfit, having the worst hair day, and doing stupid, uncoordinated things like running into tables or nearly taking him out with the kitchen door on accident. Yay life.
Anyway, there's not much else particularly interesting to say. I'll try to update next weekend after Emily's visit.
Besos!
The next day, Saturday, we had breakfast at the hostel, then went out to explore a little before meeting Abby and Tina. The weather was awful- windy and raining on and off. Apparently it was about eighty degrees and sunny in Granada on Saturday. Clearly bad weather just follows me everywhere in Spain. It was still fun walking around and taking pictures, though. We went to Abby and Tina's hostel around 1, but they weren't there yet so we went to a little Italian restaurant across the street to have lunch while we waited. We finally saw them walk up to their hostel and I nearly wiped out running to meet them. I was SO happy to see Abby. After being so far away from home for a couple months, seeing a familiar face was the best feeling in the world. I'd met Tina once before, when I had visited Abby in Boston, and she was just as nice as I'd remembered. We decided to meet up again at four so they could check in and relax after their flight, so Alisha and I headed back to our hostel, first stopping at a supermarket to buy microwave popcorn (our host family doesn't have a microwave and we've been desperate for popcorn, so when we found out our hostel had a microwave we took full advantage of it).
At four, we met up with Abby and Tina and went to Plaza Mayor. Besides being an absolutely beautiful part of the city, there are lots of really unusual street performers. Madrid must be obsessed with Disney characters, especially Mickey, Minnie, and Winnie the Pooh, because I saw three or four of each of them. The best, though, was Fat Spiderman. Weird, I know, but my friend Stevie, who came here last year, told me to look for him, and he was well worth the search. He was hilarious. He spoke English, so we had fun talking with him about crime fighting and his spidey babies (which is why we had to donate a few cents-gotta support the spidey family) and taking some great pictures with him. After that, we bought coffee (and hot chocolate in Abby's and my case), checked out a few souvenir shops, and went back to our hostels to rest until dinner.
At eight thirty we met up again and walked around until we stopped at the least crowded and most appetizing restaurant we could find. It was great; I hadn't really gone out to eat (besides tapas) before then, and the food was amazing. Abby had croquettas for the first time too (we have them at home a lot and Kristen and I devour them) so it was fun watching her react to one of the most delicious Spanish dishes. After we were done eating we looked for a bar. The first one we stopped at was horrible. The bartender was a complete ass, and the place was packed wall-to-wall (trying to walk from the bar to the bathroom was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life). We left pretty quickly. The next bar was a little better, and we each got a free sangria, which was nice, but we were pretty tired and ended up going back to our hostels pretty early (and by early I mean like 1:30, which when most people start going out here). We met up the next morning and went to a cafe for breakfast, and then Alisha and I headed to the bus station nice and early so we wouldn't have a repeat of Friday.
The ride back was torture thanks to an obnoxious couple sitting in front of us. PDA is not uncommon here. I don't like it much, but usually I can ignore it. Not on Sunday. The girl would climb into her boyfriend's lap every five minutes to make out with him. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep so I wouldn't have to watch them. I listened to my iPod so I could tune out their disgusting smacking noises. I turned up the volume so I wouldn't have to hear them giggling stupidly into each other's mouths. I finally managed to ignore them, but I still really hoped that the bus would make a really abrupt stop and send their slobbering faces slamming into the seats in front of them. I understand it's a long bus ride, but seriously, buy a crossword puzzle or something and spare your fellow passengers five hours of nausea and discomfort. We were beyond thrilled to get back to Granada.
Monday was a holiday here and we didn't have class, so the school week is even shorter than usual. My friend Emily is coming here on Sunday for spring break and I'm unbelieveably excited to see her and show her around! Hmm...what else...I seem to have a talent for embarrassing myself in front of Mamache's gorgeous son. Is he ever in the house when I'm dressed to kill, perfectly coifed and made up, and feeling remotely self-confident? No. He always sees me when I'm wearing my frumpiest outfit, having the worst hair day, and doing stupid, uncoordinated things like running into tables or nearly taking him out with the kitchen door on accident. Yay life.
Anyway, there's not much else particularly interesting to say. I'll try to update next weekend after Emily's visit.
Besos!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Classes are still going pretty well. Twentieth century Spanish literature involves a lot of intense reading (obviously) but we do a lot in class- group work, assignments, projects. Varieties of Spanish is painfully boring for the most part, because for the first hour and ten minutes the professor just lectures without stopping. The fact that it's a morning class and the classroom is really warm does not make it any easier to pay attention; I've already seen at least three students nod off during his rambling. The last part is kind of interesting because he teaches us popular phrases and idioms, but that's only for about twenty minutes of the hour and a half class. Latinamerican literature and civilicion and culture of Spain are about the same, with a lot of lecturing, although there's at least a little discussion in those two. I'm also taking oral and written production, which I didn't sign up for but apparently is required, and it's probably my favorite class, just because we spend the whole time talking about completely random stuff. It's the smallest class- I think there's less than ten of us- so it makes the conversations a lot more fun, and it's really good practice with the language, of course. I can already tell my comprehension is improving, and I think my speaking skills slowly are as well.
Life with the host family is the one downside to all of this. I'm grateful to have someone to stay with, of course; I don't have to worry about meals, I get to practice my Spanish, and I get to see how a Spanish family lives. But I've gotten so used to living on my own for the past two and a half years (well, in a dorm, but still with more independence than high school) that living somewhere where I have to be home at a certain time for meals or let someone know whenever I want to go out is getting to be really annoying. Mamache does not make the experience any easier. Frankly, she scares me, and I'm pretty sure Kristen and Alisha feel the same way. She gets so impatient and frustrated if we don't understand what she's saying (which is most of the time; her Spanish is SO hard to understand because she kind of mumbles it). She acts like we're an inconvenience, in the way when the cleaning lady's here, having to plan around our class schedules (even though we had no control over those), having trouble finding certain foods for us (well, that's more because of Alisha-she can't eat gluten- but I feel so bad whenever Mamache complains about it because it's not something Alisha can change). At the same time, she freaks out whenever we mention travelling anywhere, even if it's just for a few days, like she'll miss us horribly, even though half the time it doesn't seem like she even wants us in the house. According to a girl Kristen met who lived with Mamache last semester, you just can't win. At least it's good to know that it's not just us. Yeah...that's a huge consolation. At least Rafael's cool. He's a lot more patient with us, and actually seems to enjoy explaining different Spanish words or phrases, which is a great help.
Okay, on to a lighter topic...I still LOVE the night life here. We went to a new bar last night, Poe. A friend of mine who came here last summer told me about it but I had no idea where it was until now. It's small, get's crowded really quickly, but still has a relaxed, comfortable feel. It's run by this cool old British guy, so we don't really get to practice Spanish...oh, well. That's what salsa night at R.S. is for. The tapas and drinks are delicious. I tried absinthe for the first time too, which really wasn't as much as people make it out to be, although it was cool the way the bartender set it on fire. It definitely burns going down (not because of the fire...he blew that out, obviously...I just mean the alcohol...) but it tastes like licorice, which is cool. The bar is really close to the residence halls, too, so I met a couple other CLM students; one was actually from Minnetonka, so it was nice finding another Minnesotan.
Anyway, not much else to report right now. I'm going to Madrid next weekend, so hopefully I'll have a lot to write about after that!
Hasta luego!
Life with the host family is the one downside to all of this. I'm grateful to have someone to stay with, of course; I don't have to worry about meals, I get to practice my Spanish, and I get to see how a Spanish family lives. But I've gotten so used to living on my own for the past two and a half years (well, in a dorm, but still with more independence than high school) that living somewhere where I have to be home at a certain time for meals or let someone know whenever I want to go out is getting to be really annoying. Mamache does not make the experience any easier. Frankly, she scares me, and I'm pretty sure Kristen and Alisha feel the same way. She gets so impatient and frustrated if we don't understand what she's saying (which is most of the time; her Spanish is SO hard to understand because she kind of mumbles it). She acts like we're an inconvenience, in the way when the cleaning lady's here, having to plan around our class schedules (even though we had no control over those), having trouble finding certain foods for us (well, that's more because of Alisha-she can't eat gluten- but I feel so bad whenever Mamache complains about it because it's not something Alisha can change). At the same time, she freaks out whenever we mention travelling anywhere, even if it's just for a few days, like she'll miss us horribly, even though half the time it doesn't seem like she even wants us in the house. According to a girl Kristen met who lived with Mamache last semester, you just can't win. At least it's good to know that it's not just us. Yeah...that's a huge consolation. At least Rafael's cool. He's a lot more patient with us, and actually seems to enjoy explaining different Spanish words or phrases, which is a great help.
Okay, on to a lighter topic...I still LOVE the night life here. We went to a new bar last night, Poe. A friend of mine who came here last summer told me about it but I had no idea where it was until now. It's small, get's crowded really quickly, but still has a relaxed, comfortable feel. It's run by this cool old British guy, so we don't really get to practice Spanish...oh, well. That's what salsa night at R.S. is for. The tapas and drinks are delicious. I tried absinthe for the first time too, which really wasn't as much as people make it out to be, although it was cool the way the bartender set it on fire. It definitely burns going down (not because of the fire...he blew that out, obviously...I just mean the alcohol...) but it tastes like licorice, which is cool. The bar is really close to the residence halls, too, so I met a couple other CLM students; one was actually from Minnetonka, so it was nice finding another Minnesotan.
Anyway, not much else to report right now. I'm going to Madrid next weekend, so hopefully I'll have a lot to write about after that!
Hasta luego!
Friday, February 12, 2010
My first week of real classes went pretty well, although considering it was a short week and all we did was talk about what we'd be doing throughout the semester, it's still a little early to say for sure whether or not I'll like all of them. Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty busy. I have two classes back to back from 8:30-11:30, then have an hour and a half break. Considering it takes a half an hour to walk home, I prefer to just stay at school. Lish has the same break, though, so we keep each other company. I have my third class at one, and then I go home until I have to leave again for my last class, which is 6:30-8. Mondays and Wednesdays are great; I only have one class from 5-6:30.
My least favorite is probably the night class Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's not the class-Latin American literature- that I don't enjoy. It's the time. For one thing, by 6:30 PM I am not in an academic mode, which makes it really hard to focus. It'll probably become easier once we start having discussions and I have to pay attention, but so far we've just gone over the syllabus and watched a movie.
Secondly, the walk home at night kind of creeps me out. There's no reason it should, because my route is in a very public, crowded area, but there's something about the streets at night combined with my overactive imagination that makes me a little uncomfortable. Oh, and it doesn't help that I encountered someone who was probably certifiably insane each night. On Tuesday night, only about a block from campus, this scruffy homeless-looking guy started yelling at me as I was crossing the street and randomly pointing around the area, like he was trying to teach a lesson. On Thursday night, as I was crossing a different street, this weirdo in a lime green windbreaker started laughing and wagging his finger at me. I just sped up my pace, but I could hear him doing the same thing to other people on the street, laughing and saying "Si, si, si! No, no, no!" I really hope this isn't a sign about the type of men I attract...
Anyway, I haven't had much of a chance to take advantage of my new long weekends. We were going to go out last night but ended up being too tired/lazy. We were going to go to R.S. tonight for salsa dancing, but it's been pouring all day. It's finally stopped, but we had already gotten comfy and have no desire to get dressed up now. Tomorrow's Kristen's birthday, though, so we will definitely be going out then, although we're not sure where yet.
Travelling plans, at least within Spain, are starting to come together. My cousin is going to be in Madrid in a couple weeks, so I'm going to go there the last weekend in February so I can see her. In March a friend from Winona is visiting, and she has a cousin studying in Sevilla so we're going to go there closer to the end of her trip. I'm so excited to see more of Spain, and even more excited to see some familiar faces.
I feel like such an old lady. It's not even eleven o' clock and I'm tired. Oh, well. Being in a cozy, warm room seems more appealing that getting soaked trekking to a bar a half an hour walk away. I'll celebrate surviving my first week tomorrow. For now, buenas noches!
My least favorite is probably the night class Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's not the class-Latin American literature- that I don't enjoy. It's the time. For one thing, by 6:30 PM I am not in an academic mode, which makes it really hard to focus. It'll probably become easier once we start having discussions and I have to pay attention, but so far we've just gone over the syllabus and watched a movie.
Secondly, the walk home at night kind of creeps me out. There's no reason it should, because my route is in a very public, crowded area, but there's something about the streets at night combined with my overactive imagination that makes me a little uncomfortable. Oh, and it doesn't help that I encountered someone who was probably certifiably insane each night. On Tuesday night, only about a block from campus, this scruffy homeless-looking guy started yelling at me as I was crossing the street and randomly pointing around the area, like he was trying to teach a lesson. On Thursday night, as I was crossing a different street, this weirdo in a lime green windbreaker started laughing and wagging his finger at me. I just sped up my pace, but I could hear him doing the same thing to other people on the street, laughing and saying "Si, si, si! No, no, no!" I really hope this isn't a sign about the type of men I attract...
Anyway, I haven't had much of a chance to take advantage of my new long weekends. We were going to go out last night but ended up being too tired/lazy. We were going to go to R.S. tonight for salsa dancing, but it's been pouring all day. It's finally stopped, but we had already gotten comfy and have no desire to get dressed up now. Tomorrow's Kristen's birthday, though, so we will definitely be going out then, although we're not sure where yet.
Travelling plans, at least within Spain, are starting to come together. My cousin is going to be in Madrid in a couple weeks, so I'm going to go there the last weekend in February so I can see her. In March a friend from Winona is visiting, and she has a cousin studying in Sevilla so we're going to go there closer to the end of her trip. I'm so excited to see more of Spain, and even more excited to see some familiar faces.
I feel like such an old lady. It's not even eleven o' clock and I'm tired. Oh, well. Being in a cozy, warm room seems more appealing that getting soaked trekking to a bar a half an hour walk away. I'll celebrate surviving my first week tomorrow. For now, buenas noches!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Germany
The day we left did not start out well. First, my camera refused to work. It still kept saying that it couldn't read the card, and when I tried putting the card in my computer the screen froze up. Luckily, Alisha's camera worked perfectly well, and she took tons of pictures which I plan on stealing and sharing with all of you as soon as I can. Anyway, the day just got even more fun when I decided to check my e-mail before I left, just in case there were any last minute changes in my flight. There weren't, but there was a message from my mom. Apparently after I bought my bus ticket to Madrid visa called my house reporting card fraud. I called the company before I left, letting them know exactly where I would be and how long I'd be gone. I've also used the card three or four times to take money out. If someone HAD stolen my card, I would have been really pissed at Visa for being so slow at catching it. I tried to call the international visa number Mom gave me once I got to the bus station, but I was having some cell phone difficulty and couldn't get through. I tried again in Germany, but, of course, my Spanish cell didn't work there. Fortunately I had enough cash on me for any emergencies, but I did not like knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to use my card until I returned to Spain.
Anyway, after a five hour bus ride, an overpriced taxi, and a packed three hour plane ride, we arrived in Berlin where we met Olga and her dad. They live in Bad Oyenhausen, which is three hours away. We had planned on just taking a bus there, but they refused. Olga lived with Alisha's family from September to the beginning of February while she was studying in Minnesota, and her parents wanted to repay them. They were so incredibly hospitable. Besides going well out of their way to pick us up and letting us stay with them, they bought tons of food and paid for our bus fare whenever we went anywhere.
Our first full day there Olga showed us around her town. It's not a big tourist area but it's a cute place, with little stores and pretty parks and a couple really cool looking theatres. After exploring, we went back to her house. Olga's birthday was a week earlier, when she was still in Minnesota, so she was having a belated birthday party with her friends back in Germany. Alisha and I were a little nervous at first, since we don't know any German past a few words (I took one semester my freshmen year but very little stuck), but everyone there had been studying English since fifth grade and knew it really well. Only a couple of them, Pia and Johanna, talked to us the whole time, and they were really nice and loved having the chance to practice their English. We spent most of the evening talking to them, eating really good food, and playing this karaoke game on PS2. Overall it was a really fun night!
The next day we took the train to Hannover and went to the Sprengel Art Museum. It was fun, and some of the pieces were really cool, but others I just didn't get. Seriously, if all it takes to get your work in a museum is to make a giant hole in the middle of a canvas I could have been famous back in elementary school. Once we got back to Bad Oyenhausen we just chilled in Olga's room, played a little more Singstar, and went to bed early because we had to get up early to go to Berlin the next day. Our flight didn't leave until 4:15 on Sunday, but we wanted to do some sightseeing before leaving.
We got up at five the next morning to go to Berlin, and somehow I managed to sleep most of the way there. We met Olga's mom's cousin, who was a tour guide and took us on a personal driving tour of Berlin in his tour van. We saw SO much- buildings for royalty and government, world war two memorials, parks, and, of course, the Berlin wall. We also stopped at Checkpoint Charlie and had our picture taken with a guy dressed as a soldier in front of it. He got really excited when we told him we were from the U.S. and started speaking in broken English: "Bush is an...arsloch, yes?" It took me a minute to remember what arsloch was before I started cracking up; let's just say it's not a word I learned in class. After driving around a little more he dropped the three of us off at the Jewish Museum (yes, that's what it's called, but in German). It had a Holocaust section, which was, of course, heartbreaking. It also had a lot on Jewish culture and religion and history, which was really interesting. After that we drove around a little more, then they dropped us off at the airport after our goodbyes and thank yous. We got back to Granada a little before three this morning.
We start classes tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited. I have a couple classes with some of the people from my Winona group, so that'll be nice. I have one class Mondays and Wednesdays, four Tuesdays and Thursdays, and none on Fridays (YES!!Long weekends!!!). I'll write more at the end of the week about how everything goes.
Oh, and for those of you who don't have facebook: I got a flickr account so you can see the pictures of Granada I have so far (the ones I loaded on my computer before my memory card died). I'll add the Germany pictures once I get them from Lish.
Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauracamille/
Anyway, after a five hour bus ride, an overpriced taxi, and a packed three hour plane ride, we arrived in Berlin where we met Olga and her dad. They live in Bad Oyenhausen, which is three hours away. We had planned on just taking a bus there, but they refused. Olga lived with Alisha's family from September to the beginning of February while she was studying in Minnesota, and her parents wanted to repay them. They were so incredibly hospitable. Besides going well out of their way to pick us up and letting us stay with them, they bought tons of food and paid for our bus fare whenever we went anywhere.
Our first full day there Olga showed us around her town. It's not a big tourist area but it's a cute place, with little stores and pretty parks and a couple really cool looking theatres. After exploring, we went back to her house. Olga's birthday was a week earlier, when she was still in Minnesota, so she was having a belated birthday party with her friends back in Germany. Alisha and I were a little nervous at first, since we don't know any German past a few words (I took one semester my freshmen year but very little stuck), but everyone there had been studying English since fifth grade and knew it really well. Only a couple of them, Pia and Johanna, talked to us the whole time, and they were really nice and loved having the chance to practice their English. We spent most of the evening talking to them, eating really good food, and playing this karaoke game on PS2. Overall it was a really fun night!
The next day we took the train to Hannover and went to the Sprengel Art Museum. It was fun, and some of the pieces were really cool, but others I just didn't get. Seriously, if all it takes to get your work in a museum is to make a giant hole in the middle of a canvas I could have been famous back in elementary school. Once we got back to Bad Oyenhausen we just chilled in Olga's room, played a little more Singstar, and went to bed early because we had to get up early to go to Berlin the next day. Our flight didn't leave until 4:15 on Sunday, but we wanted to do some sightseeing before leaving.
We got up at five the next morning to go to Berlin, and somehow I managed to sleep most of the way there. We met Olga's mom's cousin, who was a tour guide and took us on a personal driving tour of Berlin in his tour van. We saw SO much- buildings for royalty and government, world war two memorials, parks, and, of course, the Berlin wall. We also stopped at Checkpoint Charlie and had our picture taken with a guy dressed as a soldier in front of it. He got really excited when we told him we were from the U.S. and started speaking in broken English: "Bush is an...arsloch, yes?" It took me a minute to remember what arsloch was before I started cracking up; let's just say it's not a word I learned in class. After driving around a little more he dropped the three of us off at the Jewish Museum (yes, that's what it's called, but in German). It had a Holocaust section, which was, of course, heartbreaking. It also had a lot on Jewish culture and religion and history, which was really interesting. After that we drove around a little more, then they dropped us off at the airport after our goodbyes and thank yous. We got back to Granada a little before three this morning.
We start classes tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited. I have a couple classes with some of the people from my Winona group, so that'll be nice. I have one class Mondays and Wednesdays, four Tuesdays and Thursdays, and none on Fridays (YES!!Long weekends!!!). I'll write more at the end of the week about how everything goes.
Oh, and for those of you who don't have facebook: I got a flickr account so you can see the pictures of Granada I have so far (the ones I loaded on my computer before my memory card died). I'll add the Germany pictures once I get them from Lish.
Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauracamille/
Monday, February 1, 2010
Aventuras en La Alhambra
Because we don't have class this week and we don't leave for Germany until Thursday, Alisha and I have a few days to really explore Granada. We decided that today we would finally go to the Alhambra, this big military fortress/royalty residence built in the thirteenth century and the biggest tourist attraction in the city. We left the house around noon, with bagged lunches Mamache had packed for us (my sandwich was longer than my forearm...) and went to the bus station. However, it was not the right bus station...which we realized after a half an hour of waiting. We wandered around a little longer, trying to decipher the maps and bus routes we were able to find, until we found a police man who was able to tell us that the bus actually left from Plaza Isabel Catolica, not Plaza Nueva (which is what the website said...weird...). Anyway, we decided to have lunch before catching the bus, and Alisha took out her camera to take a picture of my beastly sandwich, only to discover that the batteries in her camera were dead. No problem, I thought. I had mine. However, my memory card decided it didn't want to cooperate with me today, because the camera kept saying it couldn't read it, even though it worked perfectly well two days ago.
So we were unable to take pictures on our first sightseeing excursion, which sucked, because the Alhambra may be the most beautiful place I have ever been. The palace is like something out of a fairy tale, it has a gorgeous view of the city, and it's surrounded by lush green trees. We plan on going back in the spring so we can see the gardens, which are supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and I definitely plan on checking that my camera works BEFORE leaving the house.
After we left the Alhambra, we went to this little restaurant called Cafe Futbol; a friend of ours who was here last year reccomended it to us, and I can now understand why. You know the weight I've been losing since I arrived here? I found it there, in the form of a variety of chocolately, sugary, sinfully amazing pastries. I ended up just getting a drink-this chocolate cream coffee drink, and Alisha got a caramel one- but we are definitely going back to try the churros at some point. Spain is very, very bad for my sweet tooth.
Anyway, I'm coming down from my caffeine high so I think I'll crash soon. Later!
So we were unable to take pictures on our first sightseeing excursion, which sucked, because the Alhambra may be the most beautiful place I have ever been. The palace is like something out of a fairy tale, it has a gorgeous view of the city, and it's surrounded by lush green trees. We plan on going back in the spring so we can see the gardens, which are supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and I definitely plan on checking that my camera works BEFORE leaving the house.
After we left the Alhambra, we went to this little restaurant called Cafe Futbol; a friend of ours who was here last year reccomended it to us, and I can now understand why. You know the weight I've been losing since I arrived here? I found it there, in the form of a variety of chocolately, sugary, sinfully amazing pastries. I ended up just getting a drink-this chocolate cream coffee drink, and Alisha got a caramel one- but we are definitely going back to try the churros at some point. Spain is very, very bad for my sweet tooth.
Anyway, I'm coming down from my caffeine high so I think I'll crash soon. Later!
Friday, January 29, 2010
I'm officially done with my language course. I'm kind of going to miss it. I learned a lot in a few weeks, and I really liked my professors and classmates. One girl got a class picture, so once she posts it on facebook I'll post it here so you can see Alberto clothed, haha. Oh, apparently the "my friends made me sign up" story he told us was a lie. If you google image him there are TONS of photos, so I guess he's a professional model. I'm not sure if I'm annoyed that he lied or if I find it sweet that he tried to downplay the whole thing. Either way, it's fun to say I was student taught by a gorgeous Spanish model.
Anyway, we got our tests back today. I got an 8.8, which I suppose is pretty good. I guess it's good on their grading scale (like low A/high B) but I wish I'd done better. Oh, well. It's over, and it's only part of the overall grade, which Antxon said would be higher than our test grade. I get a clean slate with the classes I start in a week. The rest of class we played scategories and pictionary (which I rocked at, surprisingly), then went down to the cafeteria for coffee/tea/chatting, which was nice.
We ended a little early, so I started walking home, thinking Alisha and Kristen were either still in class or had already left, but I ran into Kristen a couple blocks away from school talking to an old man. He had asked her for some help with English, and I joined her. It was fun at first, because he was helping us with our Spanish too, but then it became a little uncomfortable when he asked us for our phone numbers (we said we didn't have phones), e-mail addresses (we said we didn't have computers), and that he would drive us to the Alhambra this weekend (we had to study for a test on Monday). I understand that people here are very extroverted and social, but I still think there's a limit...that limit being a seventy-ish year old man asking two American (well...we told him we were Canadian) girls over a third his age he just met twenty minutes before to drive somewhere with him. We finally managed to excuse ourselves and continue on our way home, and needless to say, we were pretty creeped out. That's really the worst thing that's happened here, though, and nothing horrible resulted from it, so I'm happy about that.
Anyway, I think we're having lunch soon. Hasta luego!
Anyway, we got our tests back today. I got an 8.8, which I suppose is pretty good. I guess it's good on their grading scale (like low A/high B) but I wish I'd done better. Oh, well. It's over, and it's only part of the overall grade, which Antxon said would be higher than our test grade. I get a clean slate with the classes I start in a week. The rest of class we played scategories and pictionary (which I rocked at, surprisingly), then went down to the cafeteria for coffee/tea/chatting, which was nice.
We ended a little early, so I started walking home, thinking Alisha and Kristen were either still in class or had already left, but I ran into Kristen a couple blocks away from school talking to an old man. He had asked her for some help with English, and I joined her. It was fun at first, because he was helping us with our Spanish too, but then it became a little uncomfortable when he asked us for our phone numbers (we said we didn't have phones), e-mail addresses (we said we didn't have computers), and that he would drive us to the Alhambra this weekend (we had to study for a test on Monday). I understand that people here are very extroverted and social, but I still think there's a limit...that limit being a seventy-ish year old man asking two American (well...we told him we were Canadian) girls over a third his age he just met twenty minutes before to drive somewhere with him. We finally managed to excuse ourselves and continue on our way home, and needless to say, we were pretty creeped out. That's really the worst thing that's happened here, though, and nothing horrible resulted from it, so I'm happy about that.
Anyway, I think we're having lunch soon. Hasta luego!
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