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My favorite part of the day is my 40 minute walk to school. I know that sounds strange, but it really is a refreshing time, and a great way to start my morning. I get to exercise, as well as pass through some beautiful gardens. Since the street that I take is seperated in the middle by the large garden they call the rio, I can take the same path in the same amount of time, but I see something new almost every day. Today for instance, I passed through the Jardín de Turia, which is a part of the rio, right before the futbol (soccer) fields. There's some construction on the bridges above the fields, but in Turia it's pretty peaceful. There are little indents in the walls, which I'm sure at some point were used for torches to help light the way at night, but now they're usually inhabited by cats. There are a TON of cats around that are obviously strays, and there are people that come and feed them and bring them water and such. This morning some of the cats were waiting by the bathroom building in between the futbol fields for this lady to come and feed them as she usually does in the mornings.
The rio is such an interesting place. If you're ever curious, take a look at a map of Valencia, and you'll see the large patch of green space that runs along the north end of the city. There used to be a river that ran through the middle of it, but that was a LONG time ago, which gives you an idea of how old the walls are that run around its perimeter, and the bridges that run over it. There are sports fields in it, a lot of park space, and every now and again you run across playground equipment. It's pretty typical to have playground equipment in the medians between the streets as well, which is something I don't think I've seen in the US.
Anyway, I'm so happy to be able to live here for a little while. There are so many cool things like this, I'll try to think of more and write about them as well as my daily entries.
Spain Part 10 - Ir de Compras
Jan. 26th, 2008 09:49 amWe headed south to the Plaza de Torros to buy some bufandas (scarves) after lunch. There were so many beautiful colors that it took us a long time to decide what we wanted to get, but we each settled on two in the end. Alicia bought a Pashmina that is a really pretty bright green color, and a similar one in a turquoise and sparkly gold woven pattern. I bought a velvety black and dark blue one, and a silky turquoise and gold one. We ran into Amanda (different Amanda than that of Amanda and Heather) on the way home in Plaza Ayuntamiento, and chatted for a bit before reheading home. Unfortunately, we got sidetracked again because there was a rally with a procesión blocking our way. We followed them for a while, it was a group taking a stand against the indignity of homelessness, chanting ¿Qué pasa, qué pasa? ¡Qué no tenemos casa! (What's going on? We don't have a home!). It was interesting to see such a large demonstración, blocking the streets (legally I might add, they were accompanied by policía) something that would certainly not have gained nearly as much attention in the US. It was also on the noticias (news) and in the revistas (newspapers) for a few days before and after. I don't think a cause like that would gain nearly as much attention at home.
There was one more sidetrack before we went home, Alicia and I had found an internet café that only charges 1€ per hour! After checking that out, we made it home in time for la cena. We had bocadillas with chorizo y queso, which were very good, and ensalada. We decided not to go out again since we had a lot of tarea to work on.
I have class to go to, but I will update about domingo (Sunday) and my day today when I'm done, which should be about 1pm Michigan time.
With that, coming soon, Spain Part 11 - Misa, Tarea, y Clases
Spain Part 9 - ¡Al Aire!
Jan. 25th, 2008 11:30 pmAfter cena, Alicia, Claudia and I played a counting game with una pelota de futbol (a soccer ball). We would count to dos, then the person to whom we were throwing has to say tres. Alicia and I were not so good at this game, we kept saying siete, cinco, or some other number, and Claudia would laugh until we said tres. Later in the cocina (kitchen) Claudia had fun throwing her ratoncito (stuffed animal mouse) while yelling ¡al aire! (up) and we would catch it and repeat ¡al aire! as we threw it for her to catch. Half the time the ratoncito was headed al suelo (to the floor) as Lucía put it. It was all fun and games until we had to stop, and then Claudia threw a tantrum worthy of a three-year-old only child. She ran screaming through the casa naked, and no one could calm her down. Her mom and dad finally showed up, got her dressed and took her home.
Alicia and I went out later with Heather and Amanda. We met in calle Xátiva and headed to a wine bar north of Plaza Ayuntamiento. We sat and chatted with the Italian owner, who made several of the wines in the shop, and who gave us promotional discounts to two clubs in the area. The Italian merlot that I ordered was delicious, (3,30€ a glass) and Heather and Amanda tried one of the Spanish white wines.
On the way home Alicia and I stopped by a 7-11 type place and bought a large bag of chips (of which we devoured before bed!) and some dried fruit. We got a little lost on the way home, but we hit the rio by heading due north and were able to follow it home pretty easily.
Spain Part 8 - Al Empezar
Jan. 25th, 2008 04:26 pm(Leah: when I was walking home from school I noticed 2 different shops that sold kebabs, exactly the way you described them. I think this calls for immediate action - you need to come and visit ;0))
Yesterday afternoon I alternated homework and sudoku until la cena. We had salad, tomatoes with soft white goat cheese on top, more of the caulliflower dish, and some sopa de champiñones (cream of mushroom soup). The soup was really good with bread. (Side note, instead of serving bread with butter, they use olive oil and salt here. I don't know if it's really that much better for you, but it tastes close to the same to me.) Alicia and I ate A LOT of chocolate for "dessert."
After dinner Lucia told us all about the Fallas, which are a very important festival in Spain, and something almost completely unique to the country. It's a parade where the floats are made out of styrofoam, and people work extremely hard on them all year (sort of like the rose bowl parade) and then after the week of displaying them they burn them all except the one that wins the competition. The air is aparently thick and hard to breath for a week afterward.
She talked about the running of the bulls as well, which will happen in June about a month after we leave. It's sad, I think that would be a fun thing to witness. I guess I'll just have to come back.
This morning I slept a little later than usual, until about 10,30, then after breakfast I started homework. So far I've been given a lot of reading, but it is all interesting. Some of the reading is fables, and most of them are familiar, so once you figure out what's going on and which fable you're reading it's easier to pick things out in context. Other fables are more obscure, they'll be similar to the ones in english but they'll change the animal that the character is or they'll put in some other twist to make it fit better into the culture of Spain. I'm guessing that the fables I've read in English also do this, since it makes them easier to understand if they're put into your own cultural context.
A lot of my homework would take me about half the time if it was in English but because it is in Spanish I am constantly writing down new vocab words. I need to get some note cards so that I can study new words because it's difficult to remember them even after I've looked them up.
I decided it was a beautiful enough day (67 F, a little breezy, very sunny) to eat lunch outside, so I took what Lucia packed for me and headed out. For lunch I had a bocadillo of tortilla española while sitting in the middle of what they call "the river" here. The river has been gone for a long time, but it's an area in the middle below the ground of the rest of the city that has more or less remained a park. There are a lot of rugby fields and tracks and such in it, and little playgrounds and fountains and benches here and there. The pigeon population demanded the crumbs from my food but I decided they were fat enough and refused to feed them.
I headed toward school after lunch and passed through my favorite part of the city, this huge park near the museo de bellas artes. In the middle there's a small bird sanctuary and they have a lot of beautifully colored birds, some of which people have as pets in the US like cockatiels.
I got to school, handed in my service learning application, in which I asked to do translation or business work, and started on some more homework. I ran into Amanda, and we talked for awhile about classes and such, and made plans to go out around Plaza Ayuntamiento tonight. Alicia and Heather want to go too, so we'll have a nice group to go with. We are excited to finally go out and be in an actual Spanish bar, as opposed to one riddled with UVA students.
If there's something that I'm not including in these updates that you'd like to know about, please let me know. I'll update again soon, nos vemos.
Spain Part 7 - El Primer Día de Clases
Jan. 24th, 2008 01:00 pmThere's a meeting today for the service learning opportunities and I can't wait to find out if I'll be able to do it. It would be a great experience, and it only takes up two to three hours of your week. You get to work in a Spanish business or school. You don't get paid or get credit but it's a great opportunity to learn more Spanish and to integrate into the culture nonetheless. I really do hope I can do it.
Alicia and I are going shopping after she gets out of class today. We both need shoes and more chocolate. Okay, we probably don't need either of those things, but it will be nice to have them. We might go down to the tiendas around the plaza de torros because there are a lot of stands with scarves and such for very low prices. Everything is on sale right now, but we're told it will end by the end of the month.
Yesterday and today I have had bocadillas for lunch, one of them was potato and the other was tuna. The tuna tastes a bit different, I think the oil that they use in the can is different than the brands in the US. Last night we had a really good dinner, Lucia baked a head of caulliflower (is that how you spell it?) in the oven with spices and cheese, and then made pescado marinla ( i have no idea what kind of fish that is) to go with it, which was delicious. We also had salad, and of course fruit. The naranjas (oranges) are obviously very good since we're actually in Valencia, but they're also easier to peel. According to Maggie's madre, that's because they're Spanish oranges. I have no idea what that means.
As a side note, the shopping here is kind of different than in the US. The products are all on display, but when you want to buy something, you need to tell a clerk what you need and they'll go and get the actual product you will buy out of the back. I guess it's a good way to prevent theft, but I notice there are a lot more clerks as a result.
Anyway, I'm going to get going to that service learning meeting. Thanks again to everyone who commented on my journal and emailed me, it's great to hear from all of you! If I haven't sent you a response, I'm really sorry and I'll try to get to it asap. I'm also going to post photos (yes I know I keep saying that, but it's true!) very soon.
¡Hasta Luego Amigos!
It was a relaxing day today. Alicia and I slept late after our night out at Corona 15, and when we woke up we got to play with Claudia, who had stayed the night. It was cleaning day, so the limpiezadora (cleaning lady) was over and did a very thorough job. Lucia did our laundry and Alicia and I helped out by moving things around and looking after Claudia. We ate soup, chicken dumplings, and papas fritas (French fries) for lunch. Later, Alicia and I went for a walk and had some chocolate caliente at a café. It was so laid back and relaxing.
We start classes tomorrow! I am really excited, I feel like I’ve had such a long break since I’m starting so much later than everyone at MSU. I have all of my school supplies and such, which is good because I only have ten minutes between each of my classes.
LX:
10,40-12,10; 341B Literatura Español – Aula 4 con Reyes-Torres
12,20-13,50; 411A Gramática Avanzada – Aula 5 con Guitart
14,00-15,30; 343 Literatura Latinoamericana – Aula 4 con Peris-Lorca
15,40-17,10; 490 Media Popular Español – Aula 4 con Peris-Lorca
17,20-18,50; 499 La Economía Española – Aula 1 con Barranco
That’s my class schedule. LX stands for lunes y miercoles which are Monday and Wednesday. It’s a busy schedule, but I like having my classes one after another like that, and then I have all of Tuesday and Thursday left to explore and hacer la tarea (do homework). I like the fact that I have a lot of different professors so that I get to see how different the teaching styles are here.
I realized today, when Alicia and I were taking a walk around the Nuevo Centro and the area just north of there (lots of elementary schools, apartments, and office buildings) just how much my hair, skin color, and eyes set me apart from everyone. People literally stare at me. If I thought it would help, I would just dye my hair brown, but I don’t think it would look good on me.
Alicia and I just finished our cena, which was the same vegetable soup with pasta we had for lunch, and then turkey sandwiches to go with it, and I’ve just finished typing this update to post tomorrow at the center.
Now (at 23,21) I have also managed to reply to everyone who sent me emails, (thank you again!) and saved them to send automatically once I have an internet connection (isn’t technology awesome?!). Hopefully I can keep this more up to date in the future and avoid having to post several parts at once. I’ll let you all know how classes go tomorrow, but only after I’ve terminado mi tarea, claro (finished my homework, of course).
Spain Part 5 – El Exámen
Jan. 21st, 2008 07:09 pmWe took our placement exams at 9,30 at the center. Alicia and I figured out that it takes us about 45 minutes to walk to the center, which isn’t too bad since there’s a lot to see on the way. The exam wasn’t too difficult, but reminded me that I badly need a review of when to use the subjunctive.
After the exam Alicia and I started trying to find electronic stores to buy an adapter for the computer. We were largely unsuccessful at attempting to translate the word “adapter” and so we didn’t make much progress. We headed back to the center to use the computers.
After checking my 62 unread emails I compiled a list of email addresses of people I told I would give a link to my blog. I updated Part 1 of my blog, as you all know, and I sent the email. Thank you so much, by the way, to those of you who responded to my email and commented on the first update! It was great to hear from everyone.
Alicia and I walked home and ate a baked pasta dish with shredded carrots and other vegetables in the sauce. It was one of my favorite dishes that Lucia has made so far. Her cooking is definitely superb. After lunch, Alicia and I took our siesta, and woke up just in time to get to the cathedral for a walking tour of part of the city. Unfortunately, we got a little turned around on the way there, but we ended up making it in time to catch the second group that left. We walked through the plaza redonda, la Plaza de Santa Catalina, and down a street with tiendas that sold things like ceramics, baskets, and traditional clothing that were native to Valencia. We looked at a few different iglesisas (churches) and then ended our tour at the Estación del Norte which is the only train station in Valencia. Alicia and I walked over to an electronics store that was close by after the tour, but they didn’t have what we were looking for. After asking for directions a few times and making slight fools of ourselves (estúpidas inglaterras) we ended up finding the enchufa at el Corte Inglés. We went to the library and went online for a bit until it closed and we got kicked out. We walked home, stopping to take some pictures of the moon near the Torres (towers).
Por la cena (for dinner) we had bocadillos de patata (the same kind of potato thing I had on the first day in Valencia) but Lucia added tomatoes to it, which in my opinion made it a lot less dry, and much nicer to eat. Claudia arrived shortly thereafter, and we played with her a bit before heading out to the Corona 15 where the center had organized a night out for the students.
Corona 15 is a really cool place. It’s decorated to look like a jungle, and connected to the two trees in the middle are waist high tables for tapas or to set your drink (be careful of the dancers though, a lot of glass bottles were smashed after being set down). There are benches along each of the sides and more tables along those. Most of the people there, being that it was a night out for the center, were from the center, and danced and drank and made fools of themselves as American kids do. I had a good time dancing with my friends, but I think the next time I go out I would rather find someplace where I can actually use Spanish and try to dance salsa and meringue and such.
Alicia and I got home around 2, while most people were still at the bar. We were tired though, so we went right to bed.
Alicia and I had decided to go to church whenever we woke up. Lucia told us that the earliest mass was at 8 and the latest at 13 and a few at various times in between. We ended up going to the cathedral at about 10,40 and sat through the mass that had begun at 10. We explored the cathedral afterward and then walked around the plaza directly south of it called Plaza de la Reina. I bought some postcards to send out. Then we headed home for lunch.
We ate chicken and mashed potatoes, and as we were finishing lunch, Lucia’s granddaughter came over. Claudia is an adorable child, and it helped to have someone around who pointed out my grammatical mistakes without shame. We played with play dough, of which she only used the pink, which is her favorite color, and the orange. Most of the other colors were unopened. When it was time for her to go home she was not happy to leave Alicia, but she agreed to go since she would be there the next day to spend the night.
Alicia and I walked to the Plaza Ayuntamiento to meet up with Heather and Amanda. We had chocolate caliente which is hot chocolate that’s so think it might as well be pudding. Amanda showed us pictures that she had taken at the playa (beach) that day, and we walked around the plaza for a bit admiring the huge fountain in the middle. Alicia and I walked back, disappointed that we had once again failed to find internet, but we knew we would be able to use the computers at the center the next day. We ate a dinner of salad with onions, tomatoes, and tuna, and a lot of tostadas, watched a movie muy muy vieja (very very old) on TV and then went to bed.
Spain Part 3 – Day trip to Sagunto
Jan. 19th, 2008 07:05 pmLucia packed us lunches and we took the bus to the futbol stadium to meet up with all the students and took off on two tour buses to Sagunto. It was about a 20 minute drive, and we could see the coast and mountains for almost the entire way there. When we arrived, we were dropped off near the river and walked over to the old theater building that was our first stop. We were accompanied some of the way by an elementary school group who sang an interesting song that none of us could translate. We explored the Teatro Romano, which was destroyed in a war and then restored. You could tell where the original walls were because there were spaces for candles rather than electric lights. It’s hard to explain what it was like, but I have a lot of pictures which I will post when I get them uploaded.
From there, we walked uphill to the ruins of Castillo y la Plaza de Armas which was at the center of it. We had a good time exploring the ruins, there were great views all over it and though there were parts of it that had fallen down, it was easy to climb around them. Heather and I found an old graveyard off of the Plaza de Armas, and there was a hole in the floor with a huge rock which might have been from a catapult since there was nothing high around it for it to fall from.
I jumped down from part of the hill and managed to skin my knees. I thought it was funny since I wasn’t really hurt but Heather insisted that I clean it up using hand sanitizer.
We ate lunch in the sun on part of the hill. Alicia and I had clementines and turkey and cheese sandwiches with tomato and lettuce. Some of the people had bocadillos with chorizo and such. After that we did some more exploring, climbed up to the highest point in the ruins and took pictures, and then went back to the Plaza de Armas and walked back to the bus, stopping to look at the entrance to the Judía district and a cathedral with gargoyles that represent good and evil. We got back to the bus, drove back to Valencia, and Alicia and I made our way slowly back home. Our feet were really hurting at that point.
We had rice covered in eggs and tomato sauce (really delicious!) for dinner and then Alicia and I went exploring to try and find internet connection. We ended up finding the library where we could get connection, but it was already closed. We asked at a few cafes but we were unsuccessful. We walked around and explored a bit more before heading home and going to bed.
We started out okay, we were following the map, but then there was an intersection at which we got a little turned around, and before we knew it we were in the far south of the city. We were having a great time, looking around at the different tiendas (shops) and people watching, but our feet were starting to hurt, and we couldn’t figure out where we were on the map. The bus stops, which each have several maps, some bigger with more detail and some more widespread than others, became our saving grace by telling us where we were in the city. It was easy once we knew where we were to find our way back, and we got home just in time for lunch. It had taken us close to 3 hours to walk back, however, and we were sure that it didn’t normally take that long to walk home from the center. Our lunch (which we eat at 14,30) was potato, onion and green bean soup, peas, chicken, and tostadas, or toast which we eat with every meal. After lunch Alicia and I picked a simpler route to follow on the map, and made our way back to the center. It took us around an hour, which was far more reasonable than 3, but we figured since we were still unfamiliar with the city it would take us slightly less time in the future.
We had our academic orientation, received our class schedules etc. and then we met with our advisors and talked about the extracurricular activities sponsored by the center called talleres. There is a theater group that I really want to join, and there are also dance groups, music groups, a revista (newspaper), and a service learning option. I think there are a few others, but those were the ones I was most interested in. Each one only meets once a week for an hour so I think it’s plausible to do two. The service learning sounds very exciting, but it’s also a huge commitment so I need to think about it.
Alicia and I hung out for a little bit at the center with some of our friends and then headed home. On the way we stopped at el Nuevo Centro and bought cell phones so that we could communicate with people from the center, and so that we could call Lucia if we were going to be late. When we got home we had salad and pizza for dinner, and fruit for dessert (which is also typical after lunch and dinner). We watched a show called pasapalabra in which the players are given definitions read extremely quickly by the host, and have to give an uncommon word in the correct form (noun, verb, substantive etc.). They have a limited amount of time in which to complete the circle by giving in order a word that begins with each letter of the alphabet (for letters like x and ñ the word just has to contain it). The player can say pasapalabra if he or she doesn’t know the word, and the other player can play until they get one wrong or pass it back. I don’t know if I’m explaining this very well, so if you would like to know more just ask.
We were going to go out, but we were too tired after all of our walking, so we ended up just staying in, watching the noticias and going to bed.
Poor Maggie had a cold the entire time we were travelling. It got better as we went along, but she was definitely not at her best.
Grandmother and Grandfather were great to travel with. They brought along the book on tape "The Last Juror" by John Grisham, which we started along our first stretch of highway and finished in the airport parking lot before we went in to eat lunch and part ways.
We stayed in a hotel where we had internet access, so I got to talk to a few people before leaving.
I met a lot of people from the program as we waited for the plane. Overall, most people are from MSU, UVA, and Miami Ohio, but there are also some from other schools around the US.
On the plane we were served dinner (the vegetables were good, the meat was passable, not bad for airplane food) and breakfast. There was not a lot of opportunity for me to sleep because the light above my head WOULD NOT turn off. That was lovely. When we got to Madrid we went through customs which took a surprisingly short amount of time and retrieved our luggage which took a surprisingly long amount of time (3 hours?!) and then got on the bus to head out of Madrid into Valencia. (Side note: the airport at Madrid is really nice! it had a lot of glass walls and escalators and was well lit.)
EVERYONE slept on the bus on the way to Valencia. I fell asleep 5 minutes after we got on the bus and when I woke up 30 minutes later the bus was dead quiet. We stopped for lunch after about two hours and I had a potato bocadilla, which is basically a potato patty (made with onions and spices and such) on a baguette. A lot of people had bocadillos with chorizo. Back on the bus we watched Love Acutally until we arrived at el Estadio de futbol in Valencia where our madres and familias were esperandonos (expecting us) with signs with our names on them. Alicia and I found our madre Lucia and we took a taxi back to her apartment. The first taxi we flagged took one look at our luggage and drove off, the next one loaded it, but was obviously not happy about the large amount.
Lucia led us up to the eighth floor of the building , and when we walked in my first thought was that it looked like it was right out of a movie, or those pictures in our textbooks. Lucia's apartment has 4 bedrooms, one for her, one for guests, one for me and Alicia, and one for her daughter (who is in her 20s but comes home to visit). At the front of the apartment, there is a patio (Since we're on the top floor, it's much larger than the rest in the building) that looks like something out of the Secret Garden. If you look across you can see the Centro Nuevo, which is their big mall, directly to the left is a soccer and track field, and directly to the right is an enourmous parque/jardin. It's a beautiful view, and I'll post pictures asap.
The cocina (kitchen) is pretty typical, it's small and long with a bar and two stools at the end where Alicia and I sit when Lucia doesn't eat with us. The back room, the sala, has a large window, and we all eat lunch together in the sun directly below it. the televisor is by the table and Lucia watches telenovelas (the closer, except in spanish!) noticias (news) and a gameshow called pasapalabra.
Alicia and I unpacked our clothes into the armoir and put our things in the bathroom (we share, Lucia has her own) and went to bed after a quick shower. We were obviously exhausted from the trip.
Coming soon: El Primer Dia en Valencia, ¡Nos Perdimos!
