I just realized that I bought sparkling mineral water instead of regular water. Dang Spanish words! I think I will just let it get flat...=)
So I've gone to the supermarket two days in a row and both times, while walking back, I've sweated buckets! Someone told me that I got skinnier. Blame it on the hot weather. On the bright side, I bought materials for quesadillas! YAY MEXICAN FOOD! =)
I'm currently looking up what classes to take this year. We have to decide all the class for the whole year before the year even starts! It looks like mostly Spanish Literature, economics, and history classes for me...but perhaps I can squeeze in an art class..?
I also bought my first newspaper today (it was a homework assignment). First thing I did wrong was I was looking for the newspaper stands that they have in America. The nifty ones where you just put in your coins and voila! Open the door and you can grab one, two, whatever amount of newspapers to fill your heart's content. As it would happen, everything that I went up to turned out to be a mailbox (they're green here...). Then I figured they don't have mechanical newspaper stands here..they've got the old school stands where there's a guy standing in the middle of a huge box with a bunch of different magazines and newspapers surrounding him, along with a couple of different types of candy. So I had to walk a couple of blocks to figure this out, but it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. So I go up to the stand and I pick up what I want, and I ask the guy, "Cuantos cuesta?" [translation: how much does it cost] and he tells me 1 euro, which I was quite proud because not only was I able to communicate with the Spaniard, but I was also able to understand him =) Yay me!
The end.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tantas Visitas! [So many trips!]
Hola otra vez! =)
It's been quite busy since the intensive language program started. We have class Monday through Thursday from 9 to 2, although, there's an hour of "individual study" (which is really just go to your room and sleep time) and a 20 minute break. When they say "intensive," they're not kidding. It's five different classes, three a day, and we get credit for it back at the UC, but it's only 3-6 units (we get to choose how many credits we want). It's like taking 5 classes for the value of 1! But the classes are crazy, in my opinion, simply because I can't understand half of what the teachers are saying. We have Grammar, Oral, Reading Comprehension, Literature, and History classes. I like the first three because the teachers are pretty good, and we actually get to talk in those classes, and for me, it's easier to understand the students than the teachers =X I did like the first history class, but that's probably because the teacher talked really slowly and we spent most of the time going around the class and introducing ourselves. The second class she talked slowly, too, but I just couldn't keep up....maybe because I fell asleep...=X And the Literature class. Let's just not speak of it. HAHA Seriously, that teacher talks waaaay too fast and I don't even know if he's talking about Literature. I can't tell..I've heard other kids say that the first class, he talked about wanting to talk about things that we're interested in, and the second class was about power? I don't know. But he seriously talks throughout the whole class. It's really unbearable....=T
But besides class, they've been taking us on many trips! It's really quite tiring and I don't know how they expect us to do our homework. I had to do mine the morning it was due =X But in all fairness, I did it during the "individual study" time (because my individual study time is the first class of the day!) But anywho, they let us venture out into town again with our Monitores and that day was so very long. I wasn't back until 11 at night! AND our monitor left us! So my group ate dinner together, which was very cool bonding time, and then we walked back to La Residencia. But still. It was so very late when we got back. But I got a cell phone! Call me if you ever get a calling card! =P Actually, don't call me. It costs me minutes, too =P
A couple of nights ago, I went wandering with a couple of people just to take pictures of the city. It was quite interesting. I'll tell stories with the pictures =)
This is where I live. Actually. This is like. the Front Desk of where I live. I actually live to the left of this picture...=D
This is a monastery that's right next to La Residencia. The picture may not look like it, but it looks REALLY old.
Entrance to Monastery. I didn't go in, though. They were about to close.
Universidad de Granada! My school! It's actually spread out everywhere throughout the city, so when I find an apartment, I'll have to look for one that's close to my "facultad" which is like, the "school of ____" But I might take classes in different facultades so that might be a problem...
There are lots of fountains spread out throughout the city. [fountains in Spanish is "fuentes"]. They're pretty nice. I like fountains =)
Some building. I don't know what. But I thought it looked nice =) A lot of the buildings look ancient. It's pretty cool.
The gate to some building...
Advertisements...in Spanish! hahaha
Billboard for Evan Almighty hahahha, but they call it "Sigo como dios." they called the first one "Como dios." Funny, huh?
I think this is an apartment building....
Some street...I thought it looked artistic
I thought this door was cute. Not American-like at all.
This is how their street signs look. They're not very noticeable. Seriously. If I were driving around here..I'd get soooo lost.
I even saw a Yoda graffiti, but I didn't take a picture of it.
Yesterday, the main organizers of the EAP group in Granada too us to two supposedly important neighborhoods (or, in Spanish, "barrios") of Granada: The Albaicin and the Sacromonte. I took many many pictures, but...I've realized I'm not too interested in the history of the city =X hahaha, well, let's just say the walk was way too long and hilly with lots of rocks that made the walk very unstable. But here are pictures anyway =)
I think this is the outside of the neighborhood. Pretty nice.
Didn't think it was possible, but these are steps worse than Covel steps (these really awkward steps that are next to a building called Covel Commons in UCLA for those of you not familiar with the campus =D). These steps were not only awkward (meaning, they are too long to take it one foot step at a time, and yet, too short to take it two foot steps at a time), but they are also uneven because they're made of paved rocks that didn't quite get evened out AND they slant!
What a wonderful phrase.
I think the person guiding us was saying something about this area being a theatre...but I could be wrong..anywho, this was in the Albaicin
I believe this is the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Pretty view. Looks like a castle.
The Study Center Coordinator (her name's Natalia; she's super nice) made me take this picture to show my parents. hahahah, but I think I'll make it my facebook picture, too =P Me in Spain!
Nice to know that Punk is not dead. even in Granada.
There were a lot of stray cats. Here's a whole litter.
[by the way, I just learned that there are a BUNCH of ways to say a group of cats/kittens: lowder of cats, clutter of cats, glaring of cats, pounce of cats, dout of cats, nuisance of cats, kendle of cats, kindle of cats, or destruction of cats! I looked this up, of course]
We went to a garden. It had a fountain. I like fountains =)
Me with some people that I met. Left to right: Elise (Berkeley), Ashley (Santa Barbara), Me.
This is an ice cream shop. I know this because the sign says "Heladeria" and that means Ice Cream shop. hahaha, my Spanish is improving already =P
This is the beginning of the neighborhood, and they call it.....
Calle Puerta Nueva! [Translation: New Door Street]
This is what their police cars look like. WEIRD! hahah
Very pretty view. Very long walk.
Very cool looking building amongst the city.
Granada =)
Other than that, the week's officially over for me. We have a meeting tomorrow, that's supposed to take two hours, and then Saturday's free, and then we're going to go to some place that's very nature-y. hahaha I didn't know how to put that correctly...Anyway, it's supposed to be a 5 hour long trip, YEEKS! But I saw some pictures, and there's this HUGE bridge:
that's not me, of course, but Next time I'll have a picture with me on it =)
I went to the market today all by myself and I was very proud that I knew the way to and back =D
That's pretty much it. Hasta luego!
PS. I had Paella and Flan today for lunch. Me gustan mucho =)
It's been quite busy since the intensive language program started. We have class Monday through Thursday from 9 to 2, although, there's an hour of "individual study" (which is really just go to your room and sleep time) and a 20 minute break. When they say "intensive," they're not kidding. It's five different classes, three a day, and we get credit for it back at the UC, but it's only 3-6 units (we get to choose how many credits we want). It's like taking 5 classes for the value of 1! But the classes are crazy, in my opinion, simply because I can't understand half of what the teachers are saying. We have Grammar, Oral, Reading Comprehension, Literature, and History classes. I like the first three because the teachers are pretty good, and we actually get to talk in those classes, and for me, it's easier to understand the students than the teachers =X I did like the first history class, but that's probably because the teacher talked really slowly and we spent most of the time going around the class and introducing ourselves. The second class she talked slowly, too, but I just couldn't keep up....maybe because I fell asleep...=X And the Literature class. Let's just not speak of it. HAHA Seriously, that teacher talks waaaay too fast and I don't even know if he's talking about Literature. I can't tell..I've heard other kids say that the first class, he talked about wanting to talk about things that we're interested in, and the second class was about power? I don't know. But he seriously talks throughout the whole class. It's really unbearable....=T
But besides class, they've been taking us on many trips! It's really quite tiring and I don't know how they expect us to do our homework. I had to do mine the morning it was due =X But in all fairness, I did it during the "individual study" time (because my individual study time is the first class of the day!) But anywho, they let us venture out into town again with our Monitores and that day was so very long. I wasn't back until 11 at night! AND our monitor left us! So my group ate dinner together, which was very cool bonding time, and then we walked back to La Residencia. But still. It was so very late when we got back. But I got a cell phone! Call me if you ever get a calling card! =P Actually, don't call me. It costs me minutes, too =P
A couple of nights ago, I went wandering with a couple of people just to take pictures of the city. It was quite interesting. I'll tell stories with the pictures =)
This is where I live. Actually. This is like. the Front Desk of where I live. I actually live to the left of this picture...=D
This is a monastery that's right next to La Residencia. The picture may not look like it, but it looks REALLY old.
Entrance to Monastery. I didn't go in, though. They were about to close.
Universidad de Granada! My school! It's actually spread out everywhere throughout the city, so when I find an apartment, I'll have to look for one that's close to my "facultad" which is like, the "school of ____" But I might take classes in different facultades so that might be a problem...
There are lots of fountains spread out throughout the city. [fountains in Spanish is "fuentes"]. They're pretty nice. I like fountains =)
Some building. I don't know what. But I thought it looked nice =) A lot of the buildings look ancient. It's pretty cool.
The gate to some building...
Advertisements...in Spanish! hahaha
Billboard for Evan Almighty hahahha, but they call it "Sigo como dios." they called the first one "Como dios." Funny, huh?
I think this is an apartment building....
Some street...I thought it looked artistic
I thought this door was cute. Not American-like at all.
This is how their street signs look. They're not very noticeable. Seriously. If I were driving around here..I'd get soooo lost.
Graffiti is a huge part of the city. There's graffiti everywhere, and most of it looks really nice. They say that people consider it more art than graffiti. Apparently, there's some dude who got a hired in America because of his graffiti work in Granada. Wow.
I even saw a Yoda graffiti, but I didn't take a picture of it.
After exploring and taking pictures, I went out with a lot of people from the EAP program for Tapas. It's this thing that they do A LOT here. I actually don't enjoy it all that much. They go to like, a restaurant/cafe, and order drinks and stuff and you get free "Tapas" (which is really just appetizers), but they're not really free because people say that it's included in the fee for the drink. I usually just get water or soda. I got one alcoholic drink once. It's called Tinto de verano. Apparently it's soda with a bit of red wine, I believe. People order it all the time here, apparently. It tastes alright, but I really don't want to become an alcoholic so that one time was enough for me =) But yea, that was an interesting experience because the people I sat with were all telling like, drunk/drug stories. They were funny and all, but of course I had none to tell, so I just sat there laughing most of the night. But I do that anyway.
Yesterday, the main organizers of the EAP group in Granada too us to two supposedly important neighborhoods (or, in Spanish, "barrios") of Granada: The Albaicin and the Sacromonte. I took many many pictures, but...I've realized I'm not too interested in the history of the city =X hahaha, well, let's just say the walk was way too long and hilly with lots of rocks that made the walk very unstable. But here are pictures anyway =)
I think this is the outside of the neighborhood. Pretty nice.
Didn't think it was possible, but these are steps worse than Covel steps (these really awkward steps that are next to a building called Covel Commons in UCLA for those of you not familiar with the campus =D). These steps were not only awkward (meaning, they are too long to take it one foot step at a time, and yet, too short to take it two foot steps at a time), but they are also uneven because they're made of paved rocks that didn't quite get evened out AND they slant!
What a wonderful phrase.
I think the person guiding us was saying something about this area being a theatre...but I could be wrong..anywho, this was in the Albaicin
I believe this is the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Pretty view. Looks like a castle.
The Study Center Coordinator (her name's Natalia; she's super nice) made me take this picture to show my parents. hahahah, but I think I'll make it my facebook picture, too =P Me in Spain!
Nice to know that Punk is not dead. even in Granada.
There were a lot of stray cats. Here's a whole litter.
[by the way, I just learned that there are a BUNCH of ways to say a group of cats/kittens: lowder of cats, clutter of cats, glaring of cats, pounce of cats, dout of cats, nuisance of cats, kendle of cats, kindle of cats, or destruction of cats! I looked this up, of course]
We went to a garden. It had a fountain. I like fountains =)
Me with some people that I met. Left to right: Elise (Berkeley), Ashley (Santa Barbara), Me.
This is an ice cream shop. I know this because the sign says "Heladeria" and that means Ice Cream shop. hahaha, my Spanish is improving already =P
This is the beginning of the neighborhood, and they call it.....
Calle Puerta Nueva! [Translation: New Door Street]
This is what their police cars look like. WEIRD! hahah
Very pretty view. Very long walk.
Very cool looking building amongst the city.
Granada =)
Other than that, the week's officially over for me. We have a meeting tomorrow, that's supposed to take two hours, and then Saturday's free, and then we're going to go to some place that's very nature-y. hahaha I didn't know how to put that correctly...Anyway, it's supposed to be a 5 hour long trip, YEEKS! But I saw some pictures, and there's this HUGE bridge:
that's not me, of course, but Next time I'll have a picture with me on it =)
I went to the market today all by myself and I was very proud that I knew the way to and back =D
That's pretty much it. Hasta luego!
PS. I had Paella and Flan today for lunch. Me gustan mucho =)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Primera vez en Granada! [Translation: First time in Granada!]
Yesterday was my first full day in Granada, and they had a bunch of things for us to do:
- Test to see what level we should be in for our Intensive Language Program
- Orientation
- Trip into the city
- Botellón
So I got up and got ready and everything, and you people should know, I'm always late to everything, so I was determined not to be late for the test, which was at 10 in the morning in the building right next to where I live. But, I still left the room at about 2 minutes till 10 =T But on my way out, about three doors down my room, I passed a door that was open and I saw a girl, and she called to me, so I turned back, and she was like, "I JUST got in. Are we supposed to be doing something?" And I told her about the test, and so she asked if she could come with me, and I said sure, and she is the first person that I met. Her name is Candice. But yes. we went to the test and everyone was sitting already with the test on their desk. It was kinda scary. hahah, but oh well. Anyway, the guy who proctored the test spoke spanish to us, and I wasn't really ready for that much spanish already, so I just barely caught on to what he was saying. The test was just the guy reading a passage and then we're supposed to write what he says, or as much as we can remember in our own words. I think I did horribly, but I just looked to see what group I'm in and I'm in group B, and there's a group A and C. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm guessing that I'm right in the middle level? *shrug* Anywho, after the test, we had about 45 minutes before the orientation, so I went outside, and I saw the guy from UCLA and started talking to him for a bit. And then we decided that we should mingle with the others, hahha, so we walked over to the rest of the group, and met some more people. I don't remember all their names, but everyone seems pretty nice so far. I'm really impressed by how much spanish everyone knows. I'm so behind! but oh well. I'll learn =) So then we went to the orientation and the first lady who spoke spoke in English, and I was thinking, yes, they're going easy on us. But then the next two people who talked spoke Spanish, and I was like, Dang it! I got the jist of things, but I was still confused on a few things. It's ok, though. I just ask people on things I think are important. And then they introduced us to our "monitores" which are our like, mentors, I suppose. But anyway, we met up with them, and mine was called Ignacio, but he said we could call him nacho. hahahah He was pretty nice. I understood most of what he said. Then they let us go to our rooms to put down the fatty manual that they had given us at the orientation, and when I went to my room, I was already turning pink from the sun! So I put on some sunblock and then we were on our way to town! The buildings in the city are really cool. Everything looks so ancient and there are like, Monastaries and stuff that look sooooooo old, but really cool. There's actually a monastary right next to La Residencia (where I live). I'll take a picture of it the next time I go outside. But yea, unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the town cuz I didn't want to look like a total tourist. Next time, though, I shall take pictures and you can see the city I live in! =) But yea, there was soooooo much walking yesterday! And it was soo hot and humid! Although, towards the end of the day, it got REALLY windy. Quite strange. Anyway, they took us EVERYWHERE. We went to the supermarket, and then we went somewhere to eat. And everyone ordered alcohol! I was thinking, geez..it's 2 in the afternoon! I just ordered water...=) And then we walked some more to a mall where people got cell phones. I decided against getting a cell phone cuz it seemed kinda expensive, but I'm rethinking that now. I just might go to get one, simply because it helps with the social life. How are people suppose to contact me? So yes. I'm still contemplating that, though. After the mall, we went back to the supermarket cuz they had just shown us where it was. This time we went in to buy groceries. It was weird cuz the first place everyone went to was the alcohol aisle. I was like, "uhh...I don't need anything in this aisle..." hahaha so I got Cereal, milk and yogurt, all for less than 3 euros! I thought it was a pretty good price. The milk here is kinda weird. It was refrigerated! It comes in boxes. Apparently, they process it, or something. But it's cheap. It was about 60 euro cents. I think that's like, one US dollar. Something like that. Less, maybe. Anyway, finally, we made the trek back to La Residencia, and it was uphill, so that kinda sucked! I thought I was done with Hills cuz UCLA is soooo hilly, but I think these hills might be worse =T Oh well. Once we got back, it was about 4 in the afternoon, I think? something like that. So I slept cuz I was tired from walking and cuz that's about 7 in the morning California time. I don't think I've adjusted yet. So yes. When they left us, they said to meet again at 11:15pm. I got confused, and I asked someone what they wanted to do so late in the night, and the girl told me about the Botellón. It's supposedly a very important part of the social life in Granada. What they do is kids from around 16-24 years old gather in the streets to drink, and then they go bar hopping until like, 7 in the morning =X I decided to skip the event....hahahaha, I don't know my limit yet, and I really don't want to find out around a bunch of strangers....maybe next time =) But I worried that if everyone went and I was the only one who didn't everyone would bond and it would be harder to meet people, but I found out this morning that I wasn't the only one who didn't go, so that's good =)
So yea, sorry, no pictures from that day, but I've got pictures of my room ready for you!
The door to my room leading out to the hallway
My closet, refrigerator, and microwave.
My bed. I put a towel over the stinky pillow so that it doesn't smell anymore.
My bathroom
My desk
My window
The screen goes up, and that's my view: a wall.
People who walk by can see into my window...so I ten to keep the blinds closed...
That's the view looking down.
View to the left.
View to the right. Look! some buildings! Don't know what they are though....=D
- Test to see what level we should be in for our Intensive Language Program
- Orientation
- Trip into the city
- Botellón
So I got up and got ready and everything, and you people should know, I'm always late to everything, so I was determined not to be late for the test, which was at 10 in the morning in the building right next to where I live. But, I still left the room at about 2 minutes till 10 =T But on my way out, about three doors down my room, I passed a door that was open and I saw a girl, and she called to me, so I turned back, and she was like, "I JUST got in. Are we supposed to be doing something?" And I told her about the test, and so she asked if she could come with me, and I said sure, and she is the first person that I met. Her name is Candice. But yes. we went to the test and everyone was sitting already with the test on their desk. It was kinda scary. hahah, but oh well. Anyway, the guy who proctored the test spoke spanish to us, and I wasn't really ready for that much spanish already, so I just barely caught on to what he was saying. The test was just the guy reading a passage and then we're supposed to write what he says, or as much as we can remember in our own words. I think I did horribly, but I just looked to see what group I'm in and I'm in group B, and there's a group A and C. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm guessing that I'm right in the middle level? *shrug* Anywho, after the test, we had about 45 minutes before the orientation, so I went outside, and I saw the guy from UCLA and started talking to him for a bit. And then we decided that we should mingle with the others, hahha, so we walked over to the rest of the group, and met some more people. I don't remember all their names, but everyone seems pretty nice so far. I'm really impressed by how much spanish everyone knows. I'm so behind! but oh well. I'll learn =) So then we went to the orientation and the first lady who spoke spoke in English, and I was thinking, yes, they're going easy on us. But then the next two people who talked spoke Spanish, and I was like, Dang it! I got the jist of things, but I was still confused on a few things. It's ok, though. I just ask people on things I think are important. And then they introduced us to our "monitores" which are our like, mentors, I suppose. But anyway, we met up with them, and mine was called Ignacio, but he said we could call him nacho. hahahah He was pretty nice. I understood most of what he said. Then they let us go to our rooms to put down the fatty manual that they had given us at the orientation, and when I went to my room, I was already turning pink from the sun! So I put on some sunblock and then we were on our way to town! The buildings in the city are really cool. Everything looks so ancient and there are like, Monastaries and stuff that look sooooooo old, but really cool. There's actually a monastary right next to La Residencia (where I live). I'll take a picture of it the next time I go outside. But yea, unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the town cuz I didn't want to look like a total tourist. Next time, though, I shall take pictures and you can see the city I live in! =) But yea, there was soooooo much walking yesterday! And it was soo hot and humid! Although, towards the end of the day, it got REALLY windy. Quite strange. Anyway, they took us EVERYWHERE. We went to the supermarket, and then we went somewhere to eat. And everyone ordered alcohol! I was thinking, geez..it's 2 in the afternoon! I just ordered water...=) And then we walked some more to a mall where people got cell phones. I decided against getting a cell phone cuz it seemed kinda expensive, but I'm rethinking that now. I just might go to get one, simply because it helps with the social life. How are people suppose to contact me? So yes. I'm still contemplating that, though. After the mall, we went back to the supermarket cuz they had just shown us where it was. This time we went in to buy groceries. It was weird cuz the first place everyone went to was the alcohol aisle. I was like, "uhh...I don't need anything in this aisle..." hahaha so I got Cereal, milk and yogurt, all for less than 3 euros! I thought it was a pretty good price. The milk here is kinda weird. It was refrigerated! It comes in boxes. Apparently, they process it, or something. But it's cheap. It was about 60 euro cents. I think that's like, one US dollar. Something like that. Less, maybe. Anyway, finally, we made the trek back to La Residencia, and it was uphill, so that kinda sucked! I thought I was done with Hills cuz UCLA is soooo hilly, but I think these hills might be worse =T Oh well. Once we got back, it was about 4 in the afternoon, I think? something like that. So I slept cuz I was tired from walking and cuz that's about 7 in the morning California time. I don't think I've adjusted yet. So yes. When they left us, they said to meet again at 11:15pm. I got confused, and I asked someone what they wanted to do so late in the night, and the girl told me about the Botellón. It's supposedly a very important part of the social life in Granada. What they do is kids from around 16-24 years old gather in the streets to drink, and then they go bar hopping until like, 7 in the morning =X I decided to skip the event....hahahaha, I don't know my limit yet, and I really don't want to find out around a bunch of strangers....maybe next time =) But I worried that if everyone went and I was the only one who didn't everyone would bond and it would be harder to meet people, but I found out this morning that I wasn't the only one who didn't go, so that's good =)
So yea, sorry, no pictures from that day, but I've got pictures of my room ready for you!
The door to my room leading out to the hallway
My closet, refrigerator, and microwave.
My bed. I put a towel over the stinky pillow so that it doesn't smell anymore.
My bathroom
My desk
My window
The screen goes up, and that's my view: a wall.
People who walk by can see into my window...so I ten to keep the blinds closed...
That's the view looking down.
View to the left.
View to the right. Look! some buildings! Don't know what they are though....=DUntil next time, ¡Adios!
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