Ok. So we had free access to the internet in Germany, and took that for granted... its about €6.00\hr here so we do not really take part in that. So back to Germany. We got up before the sun came up in Dublin and jumped on a plane for Frankfurt. Turns out, this time RyanAir was not so great. The airport in Frankfurt was not actually IN Frankfurt... about 1.5 hours outside of frankfurt. Thankfully, the bus dropped us off only about 2 blocks from our hotel, making it EASY to get there. And yes, I did say hotel, and not hostel.
Do you ever think about how great it is to have your own room sometimes? We realized that and LOVED it. We spent the first day mostly sleeping, watching german tv and eating sausage. We went through the cultural district (right next to the red light district) and ate a bunch of german food. Check list 1 complete. There must be somehting about those germans becuase... how do I put this nicely... there were prostitutes and adult stores EVERYWHERE. Very different from the states and everywhere else we have been so far.
The next day we walked down to the river and made it to the historic downtown. It was impressive and exactly what we pictured old german houses to be. It was a little deceiving though, because every building we saw (except for the churches) were completely destroyed during WWII. We saw some pictures and litteraly, the only things standing were the churches. We were told on a tour that the allied bombers used to use the churches as points of reference when going on bombing runs, which explains why they are still standing. Also, we figure that would have been bad karma.
Basically, Germany was fun, but we did not understand german, so us speaking anything in german gave us responses that we did not understand... thankfully just about everyone spoke english.
We got up at 1:40am the following day to go to rome. After a 2:30 shuttle, and going through airport security, we were on our way to Rome. We got there at about 9 and dropped our things off at the hostel/campground/intersate exit in the outskirts of rome. We jumped on the metro and went to St. Peter's Basillica in the Vatican. The line wasn't too bad and we were actually able to go inside and attend the noon mass. We were like the first in line and so we had great seats, sitting in the second row.
Dad: take note. I know we are'nt catholic, but hey, we all have similar roots, right? The mass, with at least 500 people, took only 35 minutes, WITH a choir, WITH a sermon and readings, AND with communion. Not bad... just an idea.
Afterwards we met up with Kiron, our tour guide for St. Peter's Basillica and Ancient Rome. It was fantastic. We were with her in the basillica for about an hour or so and then went out to eat. By the way, the food here is just as amazing as you might think. After eating, we went to the ancient city... including Piazza Venezia (A monument that symbolizes the unification of Italy, built by Moussolini), Foro Romano (Dating back to 7th century b.c., was the political and economic center of the roman republic, Monte Palantino (said to be the birthplace of the rome the city when Romulos killed his brother with a shovel and founded rome on top of the hill where they were found as babies floating down the flooded Tevere river), Vistel Virgins (where the 6 chosen virgin girls ages 6-10 lived for the next 30 years, all to be untouched, but were holy and attended events that no women could, except the emperess... sometimes they were a bit permiscuous, which led to the dude getting stoned or wipped to death and her being buried alive, with a glass of water, milk, a piece of bread and a book by which she could read by candlelight...), the Coluseum (I refuse to explain this one to you... you should know better. However, we did figure out that there was a chance that over a half a million people and a million animals died in this area, which is the size of a football field. That is more dead people/animals per square foot than ANYWHERE on earth), the jail that housed St. Peter and Paul immediately before their execution, many temples' remains, and many other original roads that were used back in the times of the emperors, 2,000 years ago. Oh, and we saw where the city provided free games and races (other than at the coluseum) that was on a track that is 2,000 feet long, seating nearly 380,000 people.
Finally, and most importantly, we saw the worlds oldest sewer. They like it so much and are so proud, they made a god for it... the God of the Sewer system (or as we call it, the "God of Shit"). The most incredible aspect of this sewer system is that they still use it today in conjunction with whatever other sewer system they have.
That night we got lost for about 2 hours and ended up taking a taxi after finding out the metro stops at 9pm. Verdict? Rome metro sucks.
Going on a tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine chappel today. Ciou!
lunes, 30 de julio de 2007
jueves, 26 de julio de 2007
Guess who went back to jail...
First of all, Avenue Q is the funniest musical I've ever seen. Kubic wanted to see it because the review said it was the musical for people who hate musicals... I do have to say that it was very foul mouthed, but hey, thats probably why we laughed so hard anyways. Seriously, go see it. It was like the muppets and sesame street mixed up with south park.
We got to Dublin just fine 2 nights ago. We are staying at a hostel that houses about 330 people, so there is never a dull moment, although we're never there. We've seen st. patricks cathedral, Chist Church cathedral, Trinity College, the Dublin Castle, Malahide caste, and the National museum of archeology in the last 2 days. The Dublin castle was really cool because it is kind of like the white house, but smaller and no guards... but it is still used as the official government building. We learned alot oabout the history of ireland there. Did you know that they've been independent for only 80 years or so?? We didn't.
Everything else rocked. Very green grass here, big nice buildings, but the whole city smells like the hops being used to make Guinness at the Guinness factory in town. We went on a tour and see how they make the beer, which was very informative and they gave us a free pint on top of the factory, the highest point in town. We also went to the Old Jameson Distillery to see how irish whiskey is made. They had a bottle there older than we are.
We really miss the tubes of london, because the bus system here is awful. Yesterday, we had to have walked 8 miles, all over town being lost. But hey, we are getting in shape for Rome, right?
Ok, so about the jail thing... sorry mom and dad, we didn't realize that it was against the law to.... aww, who am I kidding, we just went on a tour of a jail. No worries, we are being good. The jail is where they executed the 16 fathers of the revolution in 1916 that lead to the independece of Ireland in the early 20's. We know a ton about their national history now. Really neat place.
Probably the highlight of Dublin was going to hear true Irish music at this pub. Me and Kubic describe it as being like that scene in Titanic when all the irish people are dancing and partying int he hold of the ship. Sounded a lot like that. (By the way, we've never seen Titantic, we just heard about that scene. WE think the movie is girly.) Back to manly things, we we met some accountants for Deloitte and Touche at that pub and they were really nice to us. We talked about all sorts of Irish things like red hair, brawling, hurling and Irish football. It was a BLAST.
Well, thats about it. We are on our way to go eat Irish Lamb stew now... should be really tasty. Meghan, pretend it isn't lamb, prentend it is beef or something.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Germany at 7am, so we'll be up around 4. Speiken se englisch?
We got to Dublin just fine 2 nights ago. We are staying at a hostel that houses about 330 people, so there is never a dull moment, although we're never there. We've seen st. patricks cathedral, Chist Church cathedral, Trinity College, the Dublin Castle, Malahide caste, and the National museum of archeology in the last 2 days. The Dublin castle was really cool because it is kind of like the white house, but smaller and no guards... but it is still used as the official government building. We learned alot oabout the history of ireland there. Did you know that they've been independent for only 80 years or so?? We didn't.
Everything else rocked. Very green grass here, big nice buildings, but the whole city smells like the hops being used to make Guinness at the Guinness factory in town. We went on a tour and see how they make the beer, which was very informative and they gave us a free pint on top of the factory, the highest point in town. We also went to the Old Jameson Distillery to see how irish whiskey is made. They had a bottle there older than we are.
We really miss the tubes of london, because the bus system here is awful. Yesterday, we had to have walked 8 miles, all over town being lost. But hey, we are getting in shape for Rome, right?
Ok, so about the jail thing... sorry mom and dad, we didn't realize that it was against the law to.... aww, who am I kidding, we just went on a tour of a jail. No worries, we are being good. The jail is where they executed the 16 fathers of the revolution in 1916 that lead to the independece of Ireland in the early 20's. We know a ton about their national history now. Really neat place.
Probably the highlight of Dublin was going to hear true Irish music at this pub. Me and Kubic describe it as being like that scene in Titanic when all the irish people are dancing and partying int he hold of the ship. Sounded a lot like that. (By the way, we've never seen Titantic, we just heard about that scene. WE think the movie is girly.) Back to manly things, we we met some accountants for Deloitte and Touche at that pub and they were really nice to us. We talked about all sorts of Irish things like red hair, brawling, hurling and Irish football. It was a BLAST.
Well, thats about it. We are on our way to go eat Irish Lamb stew now... should be really tasty. Meghan, pretend it isn't lamb, prentend it is beef or something.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Germany at 7am, so we'll be up around 4. Speiken se englisch?
lunes, 23 de julio de 2007
Tube Travelers
Today was a lot like yesterday, a lot of sightseeing... but before today, thought I'd tell you about last night. After we posted yesterday, we went to Covent Gardens for dinner, and saw the most ridiculous crowd act ever. It was not affiliated with anything, but was just a guy who wanted some money. By the end of the show, he had striped down to his underwear, mounted an Italian man, climbed ontop of his 12ft tall unicycle, rode around while juggling knives, and then for the grand finale, he jumped off his unicycle and juggled a chainsaw (running, that had the chain on it) around his body!!! He must have made 150-200£... but really, he was nuts.
Today we met up with one of my friends from the seville program who happened to be in London still for a couple of days. First we went to the Tower of London, an old castle that used to house the royal family until like 30 years ago (so we heard). The line to tour it was ridiculous, so we didn't go it, BUT we did walk around it. Then we walked across the famous Tower Bridge (usually mistaken for the London Bridge). It was all very impressive. On the other side of the bridge, we watched the filming of some cop TV show here in the UK.
After that, we went to look for some show tickets. I guess the shows/plays here are just as big as they are in New York because there were signs everywhere. Last night, after talking to some guy who worked as a stage hand for the Lion King, he recommended that we see Avenue Q. Apparently, it was wild popular in the US, won Tonys and all that stuff. After finding out we might get student discounts, we headed over to the theatre. Turns out, with our international student ID cards, we got front section tickets that are eye level with the stage for 20£ when they normally cost 47.50£, saving us nearly $60! Show is tonight at 8pm, so we are excited. Figured that the girls and mom would be jealous...
After that, we gorged ourselves at pizza hut, eating the bufet until we were sick. It was everything I thought it could be and then some.
After all the food, we thought we'd check out Herod's, the world's largest department store. It was HUGE, 7 stories and everything from golf carts, to a toy kingdom. Highlights were as follows: a watch that costs 300,000£, a stuffed giraffe that costs 2,700£ and a go cart that looks like an H3 hummer that was 9,000£. To give you an idea of what a waste that is, a basic car costs 8,000£...
Gotta eat and go to the show. We leave tomorrow for Dublin at 4 in the afternoon. See you in Ireland!
Today we met up with one of my friends from the seville program who happened to be in London still for a couple of days. First we went to the Tower of London, an old castle that used to house the royal family until like 30 years ago (so we heard). The line to tour it was ridiculous, so we didn't go it, BUT we did walk around it. Then we walked across the famous Tower Bridge (usually mistaken for the London Bridge). It was all very impressive. On the other side of the bridge, we watched the filming of some cop TV show here in the UK.
After that, we went to look for some show tickets. I guess the shows/plays here are just as big as they are in New York because there were signs everywhere. Last night, after talking to some guy who worked as a stage hand for the Lion King, he recommended that we see Avenue Q. Apparently, it was wild popular in the US, won Tonys and all that stuff. After finding out we might get student discounts, we headed over to the theatre. Turns out, with our international student ID cards, we got front section tickets that are eye level with the stage for 20£ when they normally cost 47.50£, saving us nearly $60! Show is tonight at 8pm, so we are excited. Figured that the girls and mom would be jealous...
After that, we gorged ourselves at pizza hut, eating the bufet until we were sick. It was everything I thought it could be and then some.
After all the food, we thought we'd check out Herod's, the world's largest department store. It was HUGE, 7 stories and everything from golf carts, to a toy kingdom. Highlights were as follows: a watch that costs 300,000£, a stuffed giraffe that costs 2,700£ and a go cart that looks like an H3 hummer that was 9,000£. To give you an idea of what a waste that is, a basic car costs 8,000£...
Gotta eat and go to the show. We leave tomorrow for Dublin at 4 in the afternoon. See you in Ireland!
domingo, 22 de julio de 2007
London baby...
So last night I got into london (really this morning) at about 4am. After walking through the sketchiest neighorhood in London, we arived at our fantastic hostel... don't worry parents... safety in numbers, right? Kubic got there safe and sound and got to know the underground subways really well yesterday afteroon.
We got up this morning at 9:30 and went down for our free toast and jucice. Not going to lie, I was hoping for tea and crumpets, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
After grabing our cameras, we set off on our adventures through London. First, we hopped on the underground and headed towards Piccadilly Circus, one of the most famous London landmarks at the junction of 5 busy streets. Most of London's major theatres are within walking distance. Kate: I took a picture of a wicked billboard for you. Mom: thought you'd like to know it is hug day here.
Moving on, we wandered past a bunch of statues of men on horses and some lady ontop of a lion. Very cool. We ended up passing a giant tower that sat at the foot of a big park. To our left was the national gallery, and straight ahead led towards Buckingham's palace. We first went past some guards that weren't supposed to move (they did) and then wound around near the National Gallary. Before going in, we went to Subway for a 3 pound meal (cost 3 pounds...) of chicken terriaki with chips and fountain soda. Spain: get on the subway wagon, it was delicious.
National Gallery. What to say? There were a lot of paintings of Jesus. We walked around for about 45 minutes there and saw just about nothing except religious artwark depicting everything from the battle of David and Goliath to Archangel Michael cutting of the head of Lucifer the snake. We tried to sneak into a free show downstairs but security wouldn't have it. Okay, so by free we mean 10 pounds ($20).
Then we saw the London eye, a giant ferris wheel, with a more giant line. We didn't ride it. We went to Westminster Abbey and came to the conclusion that it isn't as big/cool/interesting as we thought it was. Then we saw a bunch of mimes and walked across the bridge and went to Big Ben.
Big ben is big. Lots of windows and giant clock, like you might guess. We'd show you pictures but we can't download them. After wading through a sea of foreigners, we went to Trafalgar Square. It is the square with Nelson's Colum guarded by four lions and is one of London's most famous attractions. There was some live music and a really cool plaza. We liked it.
Now our legs are tired, and I'm complaining about how we can't find an ATM. After withdrawing the last of our savings, we jumped on a bus and went to Notting hill. I am happy to report that after discussing the hit movie Notting Hill, we were able to locate the Travel Bookstore (Hugh Grant missing in action) and I took a picture of EVERY red door there was in the neighborhood. I think some old lady taking a picture of her house.
Now we are exhausted and got back on the tube to go back to the hostel. There was some baby on the train to keep us awake so we didn't miss our last stop.
Now we are going out to eat and to see covent gardens, which is full of restaraunts, bars and shopping. Should be fun.
until next time...
We got up this morning at 9:30 and went down for our free toast and jucice. Not going to lie, I was hoping for tea and crumpets, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
After grabing our cameras, we set off on our adventures through London. First, we hopped on the underground and headed towards Piccadilly Circus, one of the most famous London landmarks at the junction of 5 busy streets. Most of London's major theatres are within walking distance. Kate: I took a picture of a wicked billboard for you. Mom: thought you'd like to know it is hug day here.
Moving on, we wandered past a bunch of statues of men on horses and some lady ontop of a lion. Very cool. We ended up passing a giant tower that sat at the foot of a big park. To our left was the national gallery, and straight ahead led towards Buckingham's palace. We first went past some guards that weren't supposed to move (they did) and then wound around near the National Gallary. Before going in, we went to Subway for a 3 pound meal (cost 3 pounds...) of chicken terriaki with chips and fountain soda. Spain: get on the subway wagon, it was delicious.
National Gallery. What to say? There were a lot of paintings of Jesus. We walked around for about 45 minutes there and saw just about nothing except religious artwark depicting everything from the battle of David and Goliath to Archangel Michael cutting of the head of Lucifer the snake. We tried to sneak into a free show downstairs but security wouldn't have it. Okay, so by free we mean 10 pounds ($20).
Then we saw the London eye, a giant ferris wheel, with a more giant line. We didn't ride it. We went to Westminster Abbey and came to the conclusion that it isn't as big/cool/interesting as we thought it was. Then we saw a bunch of mimes and walked across the bridge and went to Big Ben.
Big ben is big. Lots of windows and giant clock, like you might guess. We'd show you pictures but we can't download them. After wading through a sea of foreigners, we went to Trafalgar Square. It is the square with Nelson's Colum guarded by four lions and is one of London's most famous attractions. There was some live music and a really cool plaza. We liked it.
Now our legs are tired, and I'm complaining about how we can't find an ATM. After withdrawing the last of our savings, we jumped on a bus and went to Notting hill. I am happy to report that after discussing the hit movie Notting Hill, we were able to locate the Travel Bookstore (Hugh Grant missing in action) and I took a picture of EVERY red door there was in the neighborhood. I think some old lady taking a picture of her house.
Now we are exhausted and got back on the tube to go back to the hostel. There was some baby on the train to keep us awake so we didn't miss our last stop.
Now we are going out to eat and to see covent gardens, which is full of restaraunts, bars and shopping. Should be fun.
until next time...
sábado, 21 de julio de 2007
Week 9: That´s a wrap!
What was left from session 1
Bullfight
These are all the people that fight the bull, they´ve all got different jobs.
Sevilla´s Plaza de Toro is the largest and best known bull ring in all of SpainSo it is offically done and it was a lot of fun while it lasted. Last presentation given, last paper written and no more school for a month! Feels good to have a break, been doing the school thing for a year straight now.
So obviously you saw that we went to a bullfight. It was this past thursday night and was a lot of fun. It is one of those things that people either really like or really hate... i´m on the like it side. I really like the history of it and they still wear what they have forever, and it is still done the same way they have forever. One of my favorite parts is when the matador is doing a really good job and the band starts to play... I thought of meghan when they were playing. You would have loved it.
We weren´t watching anybody that was really good, but some students that are amateurs right now. It was unbelievable watching 17 year old fighting bulls.
The best part of the fight was when some old homeless drunk spaniard ran down into the right with his own cape thing to fight the bull. Luckily the bull didn´t gore him, but you should have seen how many security people bum rushed him to get him out of the ring. He was nuts!
In an hour I´m meeting my friends to go to the movies and then I go to my flight tonight which takes off at 9:10pm. Suprisingly, one of my good friends is on the same flight going to London too, which will be cool.
This is my last entry from my studies in spain, but expect a lot from Kubic and my adventures!
miércoles, 18 de julio de 2007
Week 8: Goin to the beach
Well, last week was relatively calm. I continued in my tradition of class, nap, tv, lunch, read my book, homework, dinner and then whatever I end up doing with my friends. It was a pretty calm week.
That weekend, I went to Cádiz (south of Seville) to go to the beach with a few of my friends. There were 6 of us and we originally were going to go to the beach during the day, go out to eat, go out, and then sleep on the beach because we couldn´t find any hostels that weren´t already booked. We wanted to sleep there so we could hang out on the beach the next day too. Luckily, we didn´t have to be homeless. A couple of the girls got left on the bus and got off later down the road and when they were walking back to catch up with the group, they found an apartment hostel that absolutely rocked. We were supposed to have our passports, but we were able to talk them into letting us stay anyways. It was complete with bedroom, kitchen, living room, and an enclosed patio, all for a mere 25€ a person.
Weekend was great, had to have been 25,000 people there. Everybody left sevilla and went there because it gets so freakin hot here. Good times. All I did was eat burger king all weekend and it was great eating burgers again... american burgers (spanish burgers don´t come with meet or anything, jsut the patty).
Just a week left? Where does the time go? I am looking forward to my backpacking with Kubic though, should be fun, and only a week away!
Funny story to finish things off though: I´m really lucky in my homestay because I have A/C in my room that i can use at night because it is too hot at night to sleep well w/o it. The catch is that I am one in a million of students that has this luxury here. So here is the funny part. I came back one night and could not stop sweating, so I turned the ac on high, and fell asleep. Sadly, i woke up cold later, shivering in fact!!! I know, woe is me. So I reached up and turned what I thought was the knob for high to low and went back to sleep. I woke up in the morning sweating like mad and couldn´t figure out why. Apparently when i reached up in the dark, I turned it onto heat and left it on high, so it was probably 90º in my room! All I can say is that karma can be rough, haha.
Mom- hope you are having fun now that dad´s home
Meghan/Dan- how does it feel to be back, hopefully not too jet lagged
Kate- did you really get your ear pierced?? can´t believe it
G/G- thanks for being very faithful readers of my blog, always good for a comment
kubes- see you in a week
quinn/butler- have fun in italy with the jazz band, probably having a blast
Everyone else...- see you in a month!
That weekend, I went to Cádiz (south of Seville) to go to the beach with a few of my friends. There were 6 of us and we originally were going to go to the beach during the day, go out to eat, go out, and then sleep on the beach because we couldn´t find any hostels that weren´t already booked. We wanted to sleep there so we could hang out on the beach the next day too. Luckily, we didn´t have to be homeless. A couple of the girls got left on the bus and got off later down the road and when they were walking back to catch up with the group, they found an apartment hostel that absolutely rocked. We were supposed to have our passports, but we were able to talk them into letting us stay anyways. It was complete with bedroom, kitchen, living room, and an enclosed patio, all for a mere 25€ a person.
Weekend was great, had to have been 25,000 people there. Everybody left sevilla and went there because it gets so freakin hot here. Good times. All I did was eat burger king all weekend and it was great eating burgers again... american burgers (spanish burgers don´t come with meet or anything, jsut the patty).
Just a week left? Where does the time go? I am looking forward to my backpacking with Kubic though, should be fun, and only a week away!
Funny story to finish things off though: I´m really lucky in my homestay because I have A/C in my room that i can use at night because it is too hot at night to sleep well w/o it. The catch is that I am one in a million of students that has this luxury here. So here is the funny part. I came back one night and could not stop sweating, so I turned the ac on high, and fell asleep. Sadly, i woke up cold later, shivering in fact!!! I know, woe is me. So I reached up and turned what I thought was the knob for high to low and went back to sleep. I woke up in the morning sweating like mad and couldn´t figure out why. Apparently when i reached up in the dark, I turned it onto heat and left it on high, so it was probably 90º in my room! All I can say is that karma can be rough, haha.
Mom- hope you are having fun now that dad´s home
Meghan/Dan- how does it feel to be back, hopefully not too jet lagged
Kate- did you really get your ear pierced?? can´t believe it
G/G- thanks for being very faithful readers of my blog, always good for a comment
kubes- see you in a week
quinn/butler- have fun in italy with the jazz band, probably having a blast
Everyone else...- see you in a month!
miércoles, 11 de julio de 2007
Week 7: Extramedura and whats going on...
A view from the top of the castle in Trujillo. 
No... we didn´t plan this picture...
They know how to make the Macarena look good (any Lundborgs remember having to do the times tables to that song in Mrs. Ehlerts class???)
Roman ruins of an old Coloseum in MedinaSo, we’ve finished our first week of class (and a couple days, a little slow on the post) and I’ve got to say that I’m slightly disappointed in this class. It is a cool class; it is just that the teacher is so terribly boring. Enough of her though, talking about her just frustrates me, the stories we are reading are pretty good (its a literature class) and I’ve got some friends in there so it isn’t so bad after all.
Not a whole lot went on last week, just a bunch of school and random hanging out. I do have bad news... the guy from the festival of nations still hasn’t called me, so looks like that isn’t gonna pan out, haha. Oh well, we can still go down there and have a good time without me having to work, right?
This past weekend we went to the autonomous community (state w/in Spain) that is home to 2 provinces (counties) Medida and Trijullo. It was a really fun trip, mainly because of who went. There wasn’t 1 person who went that I disliked, all of the staff was 35 or younger and very cool, and there was a smaller group going (50 or so) so it was easier to stick together.
We ended up seeing some Roman ruins over 1000 years old, some castles and many other cultural things that are very similar to what we’ve been doing most of the summer. The food at the hotel was so-so but CIEE made up for it by taking us to this really amazing restaurant off of the town square in Trijullo. It was 3 courses with a desert. Delicioso
Now that it is close to 45 degrees celcious everyday, I like to go to the movies or do something else in air-conditioning, so today there was only 1 obvious choice. Harry Potter. It isn’t out in English yet, but that didn’t matter because the theatres that have shows in Spanish are much better (I saw it in digital HD THX and a bunch of 2 or three letter acronyms theatre). Happy to report that I understood every word of it and it was pretty much amazing, living up to the hype. Funny thing though, if you have already seen it, a bunch of the plot is relayed through new rules nailed to a wall, or reading headlines from newspapers, but those aren’t translated. Whenever they came up, the kids around me would be asking their parents "dad, what does that mean..." "what is going on..." etc. Makes you wonder what everyone that doesn’t speak English misses out on many of the dubbed over movies, huh?
Not a whole lot went on last week, just a bunch of school and random hanging out. I do have bad news... the guy from the festival of nations still hasn’t called me, so looks like that isn’t gonna pan out, haha. Oh well, we can still go down there and have a good time without me having to work, right?
This past weekend we went to the autonomous community (state w/in Spain) that is home to 2 provinces (counties) Medida and Trijullo. It was a really fun trip, mainly because of who went. There wasn’t 1 person who went that I disliked, all of the staff was 35 or younger and very cool, and there was a smaller group going (50 or so) so it was easier to stick together.
We ended up seeing some Roman ruins over 1000 years old, some castles and many other cultural things that are very similar to what we’ve been doing most of the summer. The food at the hotel was so-so but CIEE made up for it by taking us to this really amazing restaurant off of the town square in Trijullo. It was 3 courses with a desert. Delicioso
Now that it is close to 45 degrees celcious everyday, I like to go to the movies or do something else in air-conditioning, so today there was only 1 obvious choice. Harry Potter. It isn’t out in English yet, but that didn’t matter because the theatres that have shows in Spanish are much better (I saw it in digital HD THX and a bunch of 2 or three letter acronyms theatre). Happy to report that I understood every word of it and it was pretty much amazing, living up to the hype. Funny thing though, if you have already seen it, a bunch of the plot is relayed through new rules nailed to a wall, or reading headlines from newspapers, but those aren’t translated. Whenever they came up, the kids around me would be asking their parents "dad, what does that mean..." "what is going on..." etc. Makes you wonder what everyone that doesn’t speak English misses out on many of the dubbed over movies, huh?
miércoles, 4 de julio de 2007
4th of July in Spain just isn´t the same...
Being Americans, we tend to think that everyone knows about all of our holidays, when they are and when you think about it (I do at least) don´t even realize that not everyone would celebrate the 4th of July. I was talking to one of my spanish friends and he still didn´t really get what the big deal was and why we were all getting so worked up over it. I guess explaining what happened wasn´t enough. You just have to be an american.
Which brings me to my next point. We are haveing a true american 4th of July party, complete with: Hot dogs, Lays potato chips (the really greasy ones people have at picnics), watermelon, a playlist with almost 30 songs that have either america or american in the name, and if we are lucky sparklers. Notice that none of the food mentioned included jamón (ham: this country has a strange obsession with eating it at every meal). We are taking the festivities down to the river at 10pm to hang out and pretend like we are in the states for a little bit. It isn´t that we don´t like it here, we just want to have a taste of the states after such a long time without.
Festival of nations: right now, ironically going on right next to our american party, is the festival of nations. It is a bunch of tents set up for different countries that have things you can buy like close or cultural items, foods from those countries and drinks from those countries. In between it all is a stage for different concerts. It is a really good time and a really easy way to spend money if you aren´t careful.
My friends and I went down there a couple of nights ago and had a really good time. A bunch of the locals were out so we actually ran into a bunch of our host families/children so we did a bunch of introducing and some really funny/awkward conversations. Most of the families don´t speak any English so some of the conversation was histerical, especially when some of the host family boys were attempting to hit on the american girls. Pickup lines included everything from: "You have beautifual eyes..." to "Are you dating anybody?" to my personal favorite, and what my host family brother tried to use "You are more beautiful than a sunrise...". I don´t know if I´ve ever laughed so hard.
To top it all off, I might have gotten a job. I was talking to one of the guys who was the boss of two tents and he told me that my spanish was good, but wanted to know if I knew any English... to which I told him I know a little bit. He told me that he thought I was french (dan, meghan, thoughts please?) but to his suprise, I´m american. He has my mobile number and is going to call me when he needs extra people to work the tent. Right now he doesn´t have anyone that can speek both spanish and english. I´m really hoping he calls, so cross your fingers.
I´m off, so enjoy your 4ths of Julys in whatever continent/state you are in!
Which brings me to my next point. We are haveing a true american 4th of July party, complete with: Hot dogs, Lays potato chips (the really greasy ones people have at picnics), watermelon, a playlist with almost 30 songs that have either america or american in the name, and if we are lucky sparklers. Notice that none of the food mentioned included jamón (ham: this country has a strange obsession with eating it at every meal). We are taking the festivities down to the river at 10pm to hang out and pretend like we are in the states for a little bit. It isn´t that we don´t like it here, we just want to have a taste of the states after such a long time without.
Festival of nations: right now, ironically going on right next to our american party, is the festival of nations. It is a bunch of tents set up for different countries that have things you can buy like close or cultural items, foods from those countries and drinks from those countries. In between it all is a stage for different concerts. It is a really good time and a really easy way to spend money if you aren´t careful.
My friends and I went down there a couple of nights ago and had a really good time. A bunch of the locals were out so we actually ran into a bunch of our host families/children so we did a bunch of introducing and some really funny/awkward conversations. Most of the families don´t speak any English so some of the conversation was histerical, especially when some of the host family boys were attempting to hit on the american girls. Pickup lines included everything from: "You have beautifual eyes..." to "Are you dating anybody?" to my personal favorite, and what my host family brother tried to use "You are more beautiful than a sunrise...". I don´t know if I´ve ever laughed so hard.
To top it all off, I might have gotten a job. I was talking to one of the guys who was the boss of two tents and he told me that my spanish was good, but wanted to know if I knew any English... to which I told him I know a little bit. He told me that he thought I was french (dan, meghan, thoughts please?) but to his suprise, I´m american. He has my mobile number and is going to call me when he needs extra people to work the tent. Right now he doesn´t have anyone that can speek both spanish and english. I´m really hoping he calls, so cross your fingers.
I´m off, so enjoy your 4ths of Julys in whatever continent/state you are in!
lunes, 2 de julio de 2007
Week 6: Where does the time go?
I don´t know where the time goes. It feels like session 2 just started, and today was the first day of session 3. What happened?
Well, Sunday a week ago, Sevilla won the Copa del Rey, which is the cup for only spanish soccer teams. Out of like 50 or 60 teams Sevilla´s first division team won. That was their 3rd cup that they won this season, and they won 3 out of 3 tournaments that they entered. Needless to say, there was a nother giant party for the winners. It was pretty much exactly the same as last time, but this time around I knew what was going on, and could sing a few of the songs that everyone was screaming.
The rest of the week went by relatively fast. We had our 7 page papers due and then our finals on Friday, so my week consisted of writing and studying and a little saying goodbye. Out of my 5 close friends, 3 have left. And then there were 3. Kind of sucks because we all got along so well. But I guess that is what happens when you don´t stay for a whole semester during the fall/spring.
3 more weeks until the european tour begins. Gettin´pretty excited about that, but I hope all the terrorism stops in Great Brittain so that me and Kubes can actually get there. I guess we´ll all see.
Well, Sunday a week ago, Sevilla won the Copa del Rey, which is the cup for only spanish soccer teams. Out of like 50 or 60 teams Sevilla´s first division team won. That was their 3rd cup that they won this season, and they won 3 out of 3 tournaments that they entered. Needless to say, there was a nother giant party for the winners. It was pretty much exactly the same as last time, but this time around I knew what was going on, and could sing a few of the songs that everyone was screaming.
The rest of the week went by relatively fast. We had our 7 page papers due and then our finals on Friday, so my week consisted of writing and studying and a little saying goodbye. Out of my 5 close friends, 3 have left. And then there were 3. Kind of sucks because we all got along so well. But I guess that is what happens when you don´t stay for a whole semester during the fall/spring.
3 more weeks until the european tour begins. Gettin´pretty excited about that, but I hope all the terrorism stops in Great Brittain so that me and Kubes can actually get there. I guess we´ll all see.
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
