2/1/2007
So I just finished my exam and I will soon be packing up and leaving Spain. I have had such a great time and will miss several things about this trip. The life in Spain is definitely slower paced, and the people know how to party, the cool kids donīt even think about going to the clubs until at LEAST 3 AM. I will also miss my desserts before dinner, opportunities for a siesta, and being able to hope on a bus for 20 minutes to get to the beach. I hope everyone had as good of a January as I did and enjoyed reading my blog; I know I enjoyed making it. I hope you found the cultural differences as funny as I did.
Of course, this trip would not be complete without a few well deserved thank youīs:
1) The Bank of Long for financing this wonderful trip. I will never be able to repay them!!
2) María Jose for organizing all the crazy fun and introducing us to her FABULOUS country
3) Marí and Tierry, our host family, for feeding me ham and paella.
4) RMC Webmail for keeping me up to date on all that is going on at R-MC and in Mechanicsville (did you know that Elizabeth lost her jacket and my cousin has a fever??)
Adios final!!!!
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1/27/2007
Today as a group we went to a Cata de Vino, or a wine tasting, of typical Spanish wines. It was in this little school where they teach classes about tasting wine, making wine, and becoming an expert in the art of wine. Though I did not become an expert in the four hour course, I did learn a lot of neat things and had a great night!
The wine tasting room looked a lot like a science lab. Each person had a little cubicle to sit at with a sink, a rack of test tubes (wine glasses), a lab manual (wine tasting instructions), and a microscope (or light to shine through the wine). The class started by having the instructor give us a little information on wines. All wine is made from grapes, and red wine comes from red grapes. The amount of time the wine stays in the barrel determines its classification, but it doesnīt necessarily mean it will be good. Also, in order to taste wine, you must do it in four phases: sight, smell, taste, and a mixture of taste and smell. There are all these different words that you can use to describe the wine, which I would love to tell you but I donīt know how to translate them!
Then we moved on to tasting the wine, of course everyoneīs favorite part. We tried two white wines from the same year but different regions. They had VERY different tastes but I thought they were both rather tasty. Then we tried three red wines, all from different years. I would just like to express how much I do not like red whine...it tastes like FEET! I tried them all, and smelled them and looked at them, but hard as I tried, I could not like them. Finally we tried a sweet wine that tasted like apples. YUM!!
Once the wine tasting was over, everyone was very happy and needed to get some food in their system, so we went out to a little Italian restaurant; I know that somehow seems wrong since we are in Spain but a girl can take but so much ham! It was Amy Winslowīs birthday so of course we celebrated, chatted, and just had a great time together! What a fun night! Hasta Luego!
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1/24/2007
Today I am going to write about the Spanish diet. They eat cured ham, smoked ham, baked ham, pork chops, ham steak, fried ham, ham sandwiches, ham empanadas...HAM HAM HAM!! While we were in Madrid we even saw the MUSEUM OF HAM!! In every house they have a giant smoked pig leg just chilling on the counter. And every childīs favorite after-school snack is, what else but, ham flavored chips. I actually tried these and they are as gross as they sound. If I was a pig, I definitely would not want to grow up in Spain! Now, I donīt care for pork that much, but I can take it in small doses. For dinner every night though is a little much. The first night we had hamburgers...made with ham!
But ham is not all that they eat, and I have found several things that I love about the Spanish eating habits:
1) Churros on the street are amazing!! Especially when you dip them in hot chocolate. But donīt drink the hot chocolate by itself...itīs the consistency of hot fudge.
2) PAN!!!! Or bread for those of you who donīt speak Spanish, bread. They have an entire loaf of bread for every two people at EVERY meal, and it is WONDERFUL! But I will probably return to the states as big as a house.
3) Tapas Bars! You go to a tapas bar with lots of friends and everyone orders a different tapa. Tapas are small plates of cheese, potato salad, empanadas, tortillas...basically anything. Then you just spend the meal sharing food and chatting. TOO FUN!!
4) Merienda: since Spaniards donīt eat dinner until 10 oīclock at night, you obviously get hungry around 7 in the evening. This is when you get to have a snack, or as I like to call it, dessert BEFORE dinner. My favorite is this fruit tart with apples or of course ice cream!
5) Sangria: This fun little Spanish drink is wonderful with dinner. It is red wine mixed with fruit juice and oranges. YUMMY!
So whenever you choose to come to Spain, make sure you like ham, and try all these other fabulous things the Spanish cuisine has to offer.
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1/20/2007
I would like to apologize in advance for what will prove to be a relatively boring blog in comparison but I had so much fun I had to write about it.
I AM IN GRANADA!! Granda is a city that is full of religious history where Christians, Jews, and Muslims coexisted and all the buildings have aspects of all these traditions. It was so cool to see these different traditions mixed in a country that has a history of intolerance You could just feel the history being told.
Yesterday we went to see a Flamenco show in a gypsy cave!! Iīm not going to lie, I was a little sketched out walking into the tiny cave covered in copper pots and pans but it turned out to be a great show!! Flamenco is a mix of the dance, the guitar, and the song. The dance is very passionate and the dancers move their arms and feet to tell a story. My favorite dancer was a little girl about 9 years old. She stomped her feet and clapped her hands just as good as the older women who danced. I loved it because it felt like we were guests in their home. They even got our teacher Fernando to dance!
Today, we went to La Alhambra and I had a wonderful person accompany me, my best friend from high school Kelsey!! She is studying in Cadiz for the semester so before we left for Spain we made plans to meet up in Granada one weekend. How cool to say that we spent a weekend goofing off in Spain!? And it couldnīt have been better timing because I was getting increasingly homesick.
The Alhambra palace was beautiful. The architecture was breath-taking and so intricate. I just couldnīt get over the fact that some had to do all that; there were no machines. Also, throughout the palace there were gardens and courtyards with fountains. These fountains were set up with an intricate plumbing system that relied solely on gravity. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and told us all about the history of the castle and how the Christians destroyed a lot of it to change it into a summer home for the King.
Later we went on a tour of the cobble-stone streets of Granada. The streets were so narrow that I would forget they were streets, until a car came racing towards me! I donīt know what they would do if two came in opposite directions at the same time. Every street had a story about a knight and a beautiful young maiden and every house was decorated with mosaics and flowers. We also saw the cathedral, which was absolutely amazing, and the sunset over the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevadas. Breathe-taking!
So my weekend in Granada, though not very funny, was so much fun! I got to see a very authentic flamenco show, a beautiful palace, and a GREAT friend from home. All in all, this was one of the best weekends of my life. Hasta Luego!
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1/17/2007
I LOVE ALICANTE!! Today there was not a cloud in the sky and it was around 75 degrees outside (this is just a guess since I donīt know how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit). Of course we took full advantage of this day and went to the beach! Before we left for school, Vanessa and I made some sandwiches to take to the beach and after class, we got on the bus along with another friend Amy to head for the beach.
When we got there we found the perfect spot and had lunch under the palm trees in the sand. Then we just soaked up the atmosphere. I read a book, Amy tanned, and Vanessa...took a siesta. It couldnīt have been more perfect, except for a few cultural differences we experienced.
First, there were several older women sunbathing topless, and seemed to have no shame about it. This beach is located right off the main strip, and one woman just walked up to the boardwalk and talked to one of her friends with everyone else passing by! Also, there was one man in a Speedo that was SWIMMING in the freezing cold water. Afterward he got out and started doing lunges across the beach and other types of exercises such as that. During these episodes, we just diverted our stares.
Once it got to be about 4:00, the sun was setting and it was too cold to be on the beach anymore. It was Vanessaīs ĻmissionĻ to have a cup of coffee in the patio of a cafe, so we picked one near the beach. I donīt like coffee so I got a fabulous chocolate milkshake that was piled high with whipped cream and decorated with sprinkles and cookies. I was happy!!
So all in all today was fabulous, but now it is back to reality. I have a midterm of Friday! Hasta Luego.
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1/13/2007
Today we didnīt have any trips planned with the whole group so a few friends and I took the day and went to Elche, a town just outside of Alicante. Our teacher recommended it to us because it is supposed to have a great shoe collection so she got us a map, but it was in German!! This should have been our first warning.
Since it was Saturday, we all wanted to sleep in a bit so we didnīt meet up until about 11:30. When we got the the train station, the ticket salesman said our bus times were outdated and the next train didnīt come until 1:30. We waited around for a bit, walked around the city, and then got on the train. This was my first train ride so I was really excited, and it only cost 3 round trip!
When we got to Elche, we went to this BEAUTIFUL park called El Palmera where we had a picnic lunch. There were palm trees everywhere and the cutest little playgrounds. Our Ļspanish momīsĻ made us sandwiches for the trip. Cara and Nicole had a potato sandwich...yeah? But the scenery was good, and I being the picky eater I am brought an ENTIRE jar of peanut butter from home so I shared some peanut butter and banana sandwich with them.
After our lunch we were all excited and ready to go shopping. We walked into town and of course hit siesta time. The streets were bare, shops were closed, and everyone had gone to sleep. So we took our German map and walked around to some sights. We saw the Basilica and what they called the Elche River (which more resembled a leaky sink). Then we did the typical Spanish thing and went to a cafe to have some coffee...for THREE HOURS!! I naively ordered hot chocolate, which in Spain is more like warm chocolate pudding. It was good, but definitely not what I expected.
At ten minutes after five, we finished up in the cafe and headed outside to see if anything had opened up. Bear in mind, when we first walked into the cafe, we could cross in the middle of the street and had seen no signs of life. When we left, the streets were bumper to bumper with cars and the streets were packed with shoppers. It was a complete 180 from two hours before. This whole mid-day siesta will definitely take some getting used to.
As for the shopping, I didnīt get anything, but Amy got some GREAT boots that she will probably tell you about in detail if you ask her. All in all, it was a fun adventure given its good and bad parts, that we did all by ourselves!! Hasta Luego!
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1/12/2007
So I have made it through my first week of classes here in Alicante. Throughout this week, I have discovered the essential Spanish style! Now if you know me, you know that I LOVE the 80īs and everything that comes with it: the bright colors, side pony tails, leggings, and crazy music. But here, people have taken it to the extreme. Within one hour, we counted 47 mullets at campus. Thatīs more than you will see at Breaktime in a YEAR!! Here are some other fashion tips that I have learned while being in Spain.
1) MC Hammer balloon pants are best worn in red or black
2) Leggings or striped socks must be worn with EVERY outfit
3) If you donīt own tall white high-heeled boots then you canīt go out on the weekends
4) Hair dye is only good if it looks COMPLETELY unnatural
5) Piercings should be placed in random locations on your face, the nose is not enough any more
So if any of you readers out there plan on coming to Spain any time soon, don't forget to go up in the attic and pull out those old sweaters and shiny belts. Hasta Luego
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1/9/2007
So I have finally arrived in Alicante and I can definitely tell that Iīm not at R-MC anymore. In the morning Iīm used to waking up 30 minutes before class, and having time to get dressed and grab some food in Estes. Now, I have to wake up an hour and a half before class starts. I get dressed and grab some breakfast before leaving the apartment. Then I walk 5 blocks to the bus stop and wait about 10 minutes for a bus to arrive. Then I have to take a 5 minute bus ride to the University where I am let off in front of the school. Finally, I have to walk for about 15 minutes to actually get to my classroom. In total, it takes me about 35 minutes to get to my class!
Then, today my friends and I tried to go to the gym. There, after lots of sign language and a little confusion because of the language barrier we found out that you have to pay to use it. Then we went to the computer lab, which is probably about the size of our ENTIRE library only to find that only 2 computers were open and they looked like the first computer I ever had. When I opened up my e-mail, all the commands were in Spanish! It took me about 2 minutes just to figure out which button to use to reply to my mom's e-mail.
This will definitely take some getting used to but there are also somethings that have gone very well! The family I am staying with is very nice and couldnītīt be more accommodating. They have a daughter who loves the color pink and Hilary Duff (just like me) and a son who really likes math! The mom stays at home while the father is a tow truck driver. They have a HUGE extended family and they are always coming over to say Hi or eat dinner together. They also have the most well behaved dog I have EVER seen. She stays away from the dinner table and never tries to run away. But I can't get her to do anything because all the commands are in Spanish. So far Spain has been a definite learning experience but I have enjoyed every minute of it. Hasta Luego!!
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1/6/2007
ĄHola de ESPAŅA! I am having a great time and Iīm sure from reading the other blogs of the friends I am traveling with you have heard more than enough about the background of our trip, and las chicas bonitas on Eastonīs. I decided it might be more fun to tell about a fun little adventure I took with several of my friends while in Madrid.
Today, after our tour we had the rest of the night to ourselves. Our hotel is very close to La Gran Villa which is the Spanish version of Broadway. We decided it would be cool if we went to see a play while in Spain so we walked to all the shows and of course got the tickets that had the best seats for the least money (weīre college students right?!) to The Producers just like the one in America. Cara said this show would be good because singing Naziīs are funny in ANY language, and she was right.
We went back to our hotel and got all dressed up to go out to the theater. The show started at 10:00 so before hand we all had a fancy dinner at McDonaldīs...hey, itīs cheap and fast. And in case anyone was wondering, a Happy Meal in Spain comes with an ice cream sandwich.
The play itself was really good. Though I didnīt understand all the jokes, I laughed several times and by the end of each scene could figure out what was going on. My favorite character was the director who played Hitler. He was supposed to be gay and had the funniest gestures. Me and Cara were laughing our heads off while the Naziīs were dancing, but the rest of the audience didnīt share in our amusement. I guess they just donīt get it.
Tomorrow I leave for Alicante and the vacation ends and the classes start. I am SO excited but also VERY nervous. I am sure all will be well! Hasta Luego.
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12/27/2006
Seven more days before I get on that big Trans-continental plane and go to SPAIN and the preperations are underway. My mom has been a nervous wreck for the past month. She has been begging me for the iterneary for while we are there so she can keep track of my every move, so I gave it to her...but its in Spanish. Whoops! And of course I have gotten "the rules" for while I am abroad, which I am sure many of you can relate to:
1) No drinking the water
2) Go everywhere in groups of three's. If you are in two's they can take you, but in three's one can always get away.
3) Don't get on a boat. They could throw you overboard
4) Stay out of the water. The currents could be weird over there.
5) Don't go running in the streets alone
6) NO DRINKING IN SPAIN!!
So, armed with these rules from my mom, I think I am ready for a fun filled adventure with some amazing classmates in a great country. VIVA ESPANA!!
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