J-Term Diaries: Diana Ray

Well, first let me apologize for my lengthy absence. The last week has been crazy busy! It's so weird to think that this time next week we will be back home. This month has truly flown by (although it's not quite over). Well let me try and catch you up on what we have been up to.

Last weekend the whole group traveled to Granada which was AMAZING. It was such a fun town and definitely had a different feel to it than Alicante. The first night we were there we went to this really cool flamenco show which was soo much fun. Then on Saturday we went to the Alhombra which is this amazing castle. O my gosh, this place was incredible and it provided an amazing view of the city as a whole. MUY MUY GUAY. We also took a tour of the city which was cool because we were able to see the Arabic influence in Granada that is not present in Alicante. Overall, the trip was exhausting but soo worth it.

During the week this week I have had to focus a bit more on the coursework since we had a test and a presentation this week. But now that's over all we have to worry with a bit more new material and then the final. On Friday, we went to a wine-tasting workshop which was alot of fun and informative. :)

Yesterday we did a light-speed tour of Valencia which is about two hours away from Alicante. Valencia was very cool as well. It was a gorgeous city. And one really cool thing was that there used to be a river right through the middle of the city but they rerouted it through the outside of the city. Long-story short in place of where the river used to be they now have one extremely long park. After looking around the city in the morning we went out to an aquarium for the afternoon. That place was soo cool. We spent the rest of the day there exploring the aquarium and the area right around there and then returned to Alicante.

Well this week will more than likely be as high-paced as last week. We are in Alicante through Thursday and then we return to Madrid on Friday and Saturday we come home.

Well I am going to run for now. :) Hope everyone's J-Term is going well.

Permanent Link

1 DAY UNTIL GRENADA!

Wow! It's amazing how fast this week has flown. Last week seemed to drag on FOREVER. And this week has sped by. It's been a good week though. Things have been easier to handle now that we all have a better idea of where things are and how to get to centralized locations. And on a positive note I can say that my Spanish understanding is improving little by little with each passing day which is good (especially since like that is one of the main points of the program). Class is going well too. We had our first test this week. It wasn't too bad...really long but nothing too terrible. We have cultural presentations next week. While these are not hard, they are a pain in the neck to do especially when access to technology is limited. Oh well though. It's all good. I am not complaining.

Last night was amazing! There was the local celebration for Saint Anthony and it was sooo cool. There was a parade and people everywhere and the local church had a really big service. It was soo cool to watch them hoist this massive statue of Saint Anthony surrounded by candles and flowers down the street while people chanted and threw stuff at it (rocks I think?) and there was music as well. Also, on the Spanish side of things alot of the women were dressed in traditional dress which was cool to see since we have read mostly articles about the traditional dress but have not seen alot of it in person. Also, at the end of the evening there was a big fireworks display which was a nice way to end the day. While I used to have a better working knowledge of the saints and their celebrations I do not honestly remember this one.

Last nite we also went museum-hopping as a group. First, we went to the local art museum which had an exhibit on loan from the Museo del Prado showing the evolution of Spanish portraits. It had all the big names: Goya, Velazquez, and El Greco. We got the guided tour version (In Spanish I might add...) which was cool cause we got a lot of extra information although I will admit by the end of it I was pretty tired. While the art was amazing, it was hard to pay attention to the art and listen and translate the tour at the same time. But overall it was a worthwhile endeavor.

We also went to this other REALLY COOL  museum called Museo de las Fogueres (Bon Fire Museum). Roughly, here is a description of the festival. The festival takes place in mid-June and marks the Summer Solstice. Each neighborhood constructs these massive statues displaying their thoughts about a variety of topics and places them in the center of their neighborhood. The festival lasts for four days and in most sense of the word is a four day party. At the end of the four days each nieghborhood submits a piece of their monument to the town contest and the piece receiving the most votes is saved for preservation. The rest of them are simultaneously lit on fire at midnight on the fourth day. The burning is seen as a purification of the community. Orginially people would burn their furniture but the government institutionalized (I guess that is the right word for that) the holiday back in the 1920's or 30's and at that point they began constructing the neighborhood monuments. It's supposed to be an amazing event. I am sad that I will not be here to see it. Permanent Link

Sorry I have not written in a couple of days but there is much to tell. We finished up our stay in Madrid over the weekend and proceeded to Alicante, which is south of Madrid where will be staying for the remainder of our trip. On the way to Alicante we visited Toledo which was amazing. There was all this old architecture and the streets were cobblestone and it had a really pretty castle and cathedral there as well. Toledo also was home to lots and lots and lots of craft stores so alot of people were able to purchase things for their families or themselves. Overal, Toledo was muy guay (cool). After our visit to Toledo we drove for what seemed like forever onto Alicante.

While in Alicante we are staying with host families so we are no longer residing as one big group although we see each other everday in class. Living with the host families has been an experience I will tell you that. It definitely forces you to speak Spanish in a way that staying in the dorms with everyone would not have since la familia no hable ingles mucho. So far Emily and I are enjoying our stay. Our host mother is Pepita and there is also another American guy from another program staying here as well. So all is good.

Classes also started once we arrived in Alicante and are going well although we have added having homework every night to the list.

Well I have to run for now...Hope everyone is having a good J-Term.

Permanent Link

Hola! I apologize that this was not up sooner. I forgot to post it before we left the States and the Internet has been hard to come by in Madrid. So we will backtrack a bit…

TUESDAY JANUARY 2, 2007

O MY GOSH! Tomorrow I will be on a plane for Spain. This Christmas vacation has flown. I just returned from New Orleans yesterday where I spent New Years’ Eve. It was a great trip but getting back was a little tricky. For a moment I was concerned as to whether or not I would get home on time. But that’s another story all together. However, I made it. Man, there was so much to do today to get ready for this adventure. Most of my day was spent running from store to store getting last minute items, and then once that was accomplished came the hard part…making it all fit. HAHA! That was quite the chore. But my mom and I finally made it all work. It’s all good though.

In terms of the trip itself, this trip will mark my first adventure outside of the United States. While I am excited about going to Spain it is the GETTING TO SPAIN that has me nervous. I think to date the longest plane ride I have ever been on is around three hours and this is much longer, and I am not the biggest fan of flying. I am hoping that I will be able to sleep through most of it but we will see.

So what do I hope to gain from this “hop” across the Atlantic? Well certainly expanding and perfecting my Spanish skills is at the top of the list. I am also looking forward to experiencing a new culture since during most of my Spanish classes we have learned more about Latin America then Spain.

Well, it’s late…and I have a hectic day ahead of me. Buenos Noches!

JANUARY 3, 2007

Well today is the day. Voy a España. Our trip consists of two flights. The first one is just a hop, skip, and jump to Philadelphia. Then, comes the monster from Philadelphia to Madrid. The flight is supposed to be about 6 hours and forty some odd minutes. AHHH! I am hoping to sleep most of the way and that maybe there will be an interesting in-flight movie. Me gusta mucho las películas. Oh well. Well, the next time I write I will be in Spain! Adios!

JANUARY 4, 2007

WE ARE HERE! O my goodness, we are in Spain.  The flight was okay. It got pretty turbulent during the later hours, but I was asleep for a large part of it, THANK GOODNESS. We are staying in Madrid until Sunday when we will travel to Alicante.

After we got off the plane, we met our tour guide Imma (I hope that is spelled correctly) and our bus driver (cannot forget anyone :)) Paco and proceeded to the hotel. The hotel is really pretty. Also, it is right in the heart of Madrid so it is easy to walk to places. One thing that we found interesting about the place was that to turn on the lights you have to insert your room key into this slot. I guess it saves on electricity because when you leave and take the room key out the lights automatically go out. Also, the elevators are these old-fashioned kind which was an interesting experience. Furthermore, our room has the most interesting view. In the distance we can see the top of a beautiful mosque (or at least that’s what I think it is) and this view is juxtaposed against this large tin roof with lots of cats on it. It is just an interesting combination.

After we got all our stuff put away and discovered how to call home we ventured out into the city. Madrid is soo cool! Although, the traffic is CRAZY! First, the cars go muy rapído and secondly people turn and enter lanes pretty much at will. I certainly understand why people ride public transportation. However, that aside, the city is amazing. First, a group of us went to the Plaza de Oriente and took pictures outside of the Palacio Real. It is amazing first how these super old buildings have withstood the test of time and secondly how we are able to enjoy them so openly (for lack of a better word). I’ll try to get some of our photos up soon. In the United States, normally, old buildings or national monuments or important places are guarded heavily and public enjoyment is usually restricted and not always encouraged but in Spain you are free to just walk right up and enjoy away with little to no trouble.

For most of the rest of the day we just wandered around taking in the sites of the city. It was funny to me how even in a foreign country there are still clear signs of international corporations. I mean walk down the street and you will see lots of “Spanish” restaurants but you will also see Starbucks, Burger King, Subway, McDonalds, KFC, and Dunkin’ Donuts. A little piece of the USA right here in Madrid. :)

After walking around for a couple of hours most of us crashed from lack of sleep and proceeded to take a long siesta.

For dinner we went and had tapas, which I guess would be equivalent to having lots of little appetizers. They were really good though. The big thing I found interesting about dinner mainly was the time. We went out at like 9:00 which was late for me and as we roamed around we saw bunches of people just heading out for the evening activities and I was told that we were out at what would be considered early for a lot of people. As we left the restaurant around midnight, there were people just arriving to eat DINNER. Oh well though.

Well, it is late and my feet are killing me. I have not done this much walking in a long time. So off to bed! :)

JANUARY 5, 2007

Well today started off with lots of tours. We had a new tour guide with us today who explained and showed us around a lot of the historical sites in Madrid. It was interesting and I was impressed with myself that I understood a good 75% of what was being said (considering it was all in Spanish).

After that we had a decent break for lunch. A bunch of us went to a small sandwich shop around the corner that Imma recommended. La comida era muy excelente! I had a pepito de ternerra which was an amazing steak sandwich! Then we walked around some more. As you can probably tell walking is a common thread amongst all of our activities.

Today, is the celebration of Epiphany and while in the United States this is just mainly a religious celebration it is a much bigger deal in Spain. As I understand it, children receive presents I guess representing the gifts brought by the three kings. Also, tonight we went to a HUGE parade downtown. There were so many people! Muchas Personas! It had a feel very similar to that of Mardi Gras or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade all rolled into one. There were large floats and the people on the floats threw candy and small gifts to the crowd and there were kids with their parents EVERYWHERE. It was cool.

Well, thus ends another night in España! Only one more day in Madrid before we are off to Alicante. Buenos Noches!

Permanent Link