Hello all! Mary is here visiting me this week. We just came back from a weekend of Sevilla, I have three days of school, and then we're off to Madrid for her last weekend here. It's been grand. We just came back from dinner and chatting at a tea house. It was quite nice. I feel like I've explored Granada more in the past 3 days than in my entire 2 months here! I have plenty of pictures and stories to go along with them, but that shall have to wait until after Madrid. Only downside to all this traveling is that I feel quite exhausted. I fear I may be getting sick! Oh well. I shall carry on! =)
And a good day to you all!
PS I didn't know before, but apparently, Spain does Daylight Savings, too, so until America does it, I am only 8 hours ahead now =D
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Fotos para vosotros! [Pictures for you!]
Hola! So I finally loaded my pictures into my laptop, after like, a month! =X Lo siento. Better late than never, though!
That old man was our Oral Comprehension Professor, as well as our guide for the day. Prior to the hike, people thought that the hike couldn't be too intensive, considering that this guy (Senor Madrid) was going to be our guide. Let me just say, for such a little man, he's got quite the stamina.
The famous bridge that I had talked about before the trip. Madrid called it the Golden Gate Bridge, but that's not what it's called.
Pretty cool. We had quite an adventure on this trip. We had to walk through narrow pathways, sometimes even having to sit and scoot to get through some parts. It was crazy.
That's me--in case you've forgotten what I look like =P--with a very naturist background
The ants here are muchisimo fatty
Pretty.
The strenuous path.
The killer hill! I thought I was gonna die going up--AND DOWN--this stupid thing.
All to reach that point. So we hiked up the virtually 90 degree hill to stand on that point. And then we walked back down.
Even in nature, there's graffiti. I thought that was kinda funny.
La Alhambra
Need I say more?
We started at the gardens. They were pretty. Lots of fountains. I like fountains.
Me gusta mucho =)
Cool place within the Alhambra. Didn't completely understand the guide, so I can't tell you what this place is, nor what it was for. Lo siento.
These are the steps that I slipped and fell on. Seriously. I fell. It was quite embarrassing. And the tour guide lady was like, "oh, yes. Be careful. The steps are slippery" AFTER I fell. Thanks, Lady.
There were fishies in the pound! Just like a Japanese garden
I believe this is a famous shot. All the postcards have a picture like this on it. I like how the water reflects the building.
Looks like the Great Wall--The Great Wall of Granada =P
There are always gypsy ladies standing in front of the Cathedral trying to sucker you into getting your fortune read, in which case, you would have to pay them. They try to pass you a rosemary and then they'll grab your hand to read your fortune. I keep my hands in my pockets and my eye diverted whenever I pass them. If you get suckered into it and you refuse to pay, they curse you.
I actually thought it was very beautiful inside the cathedral.
I found it funny that instead of having real candle, they had little lights, like Christmas tree lights, on imitation candles, and you put a coin into the machine to get a candle "lit"
La Casa-Museo Lorca
Federico Garcia Lorca. A famous writer. This was his house, now turned into museum. I'm taking a class on him right now, but the trip, at the time, was definitely the most boring trip I've been on in Granda. BUT, it's supposedly one of those must-go-to tourist places, so we were forced to go...
That door, however, leads to a little theater. I thought that was cool.
Artistic, no?
There was a room filled with all these artworks. It was the most interesting part of the trip.
Los Cahorros--A crazy nature hike
That old man was our Oral Comprehension Professor, as well as our guide for the day. Prior to the hike, people thought that the hike couldn't be too intensive, considering that this guy (Senor Madrid) was going to be our guide. Let me just say, for such a little man, he's got quite the stamina.
The famous bridge that I had talked about before the trip. Madrid called it the Golden Gate Bridge, but that's not what it's called.
Pretty cool. We had quite an adventure on this trip. We had to walk through narrow pathways, sometimes even having to sit and scoot to get through some parts. It was crazy.
That's me--in case you've forgotten what I look like =P--with a very naturist background
The ants here are muchisimo fatty
Pretty.
The strenuous path.
The killer hill! I thought I was gonna die going up--AND DOWN--this stupid thing.
All to reach that point. So we hiked up the virtually 90 degree hill to stand on that point. And then we walked back down.
Even in nature, there's graffiti. I thought that was kinda funny.
La Alhambra
Need I say more?
We started at the gardens. They were pretty. Lots of fountains. I like fountains.
Me gusta mucho =)
Cool place within the Alhambra. Didn't completely understand the guide, so I can't tell you what this place is, nor what it was for. Lo siento.
These are the steps that I slipped and fell on. Seriously. I fell. It was quite embarrassing. And the tour guide lady was like, "oh, yes. Be careful. The steps are slippery" AFTER I fell. Thanks, Lady.
There were fishies in the pound! Just like a Japanese garden
I believe this is a famous shot. All the postcards have a picture like this on it. I like how the water reflects the building.
Looks like the Great Wall--The Great Wall of Granada =P
La Catedral
There are always gypsy ladies standing in front of the Cathedral trying to sucker you into getting your fortune read, in which case, you would have to pay them. They try to pass you a rosemary and then they'll grab your hand to read your fortune. I keep my hands in my pockets and my eye diverted whenever I pass them. If you get suckered into it and you refuse to pay, they curse you.
I actually thought it was very beautiful inside the cathedral.
I found it funny that instead of having real candle, they had little lights, like Christmas tree lights, on imitation candles, and you put a coin into the machine to get a candle "lit"
La Casa-Museo Lorca
Federico Garcia Lorca. A famous writer. This was his house, now turned into museum. I'm taking a class on him right now, but the trip, at the time, was definitely the most boring trip I've been on in Granda. BUT, it's supposedly one of those must-go-to tourist places, so we were forced to go...
That door, however, leads to a little theater. I thought that was cool.
Artistic, no?
There was a room filled with all these artworks. It was the most interesting part of the trip.
This is a mosaic. I thought it was very cool.
Pretty flower! =)
Pretty flower! =)And that's pretty much it. I've been watching a lot of shows in Spanish, and listening to the Spanish radio. I feel like my Spanish has gotten loads better in the mere 2 days that I've been watching the shows and listening to the radio. It's quite exciting. But we shall see once I go to class on Monday. I also got a voice recorder, so hopefully I'll be able to understand more of what's going on and then review the recording to completely get the picture.
I went to La Policia on Wednesday for the second phase of extending my visa. I was kinda of scared because I didn't go with anyone, and the first time I went, I pretty much had the people that I went with translate everything. But it actually went very smoothly. I just have to return once more time in a month, and I'll be set for the year! I'm pretty excited to get that done and over with. And once I get my "tarjeta de estudiante" I can travel freely! Excited for that, too. Gonna starting purchasing stuff for my Dashboard concert plans =DDD
I bought an eggplant today, and I've realized that eggplants are a very cute vegetable. hahaha, I know that sounds weird, but they are! I also bought half of a melon!!! I love melon! Mmm! Mmm!
Mary's coming to visit me next weekend for the week, and we're heading off to Seville and Madrid. I think I've said this already. But I'm excited for it! It'll be my first time really traveling! We're staying in a hostel and everything! Not sure what we're gonna do, but for the time that she's in Granada, we're gonna go to the Alhambra, and go to a Flamenco show. In Madrid or Seville, we want to see a Bull Fight! Pretty excited to do real SPAIN stuff! I'll take pictures and share! =)
Hasta luego!
I went to La Policia on Wednesday for the second phase of extending my visa. I was kinda of scared because I didn't go with anyone, and the first time I went, I pretty much had the people that I went with translate everything. But it actually went very smoothly. I just have to return once more time in a month, and I'll be set for the year! I'm pretty excited to get that done and over with. And once I get my "tarjeta de estudiante" I can travel freely! Excited for that, too. Gonna starting purchasing stuff for my Dashboard concert plans =DDD
I bought an eggplant today, and I've realized that eggplants are a very cute vegetable. hahaha, I know that sounds weird, but they are! I also bought half of a melon!!! I love melon! Mmm! Mmm!
Mary's coming to visit me next weekend for the week, and we're heading off to Seville and Madrid. I think I've said this already. But I'm excited for it! It'll be my first time really traveling! We're staying in a hostel and everything! Not sure what we're gonna do, but for the time that she's in Granada, we're gonna go to the Alhambra, and go to a Flamenco show. In Madrid or Seville, we want to see a Bull Fight! Pretty excited to do real SPAIN stuff! I'll take pictures and share! =)
Hasta luego!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
A New Day
I've decided that I need to start writing better posts [haha, apologies for the "weaksauce" of past posts]. It's really not that I don't have time to do them, I just have nothing to talk about, really. I don't do much here (which I know, I really should), but it's quite difficult, considering 1) I don't have any friends and 2) I'm scared. haha, I know how lame that sounds, but it's true. BUT. I'm trying to change that.
So living with the roommates have been quite antisocial on my part. I tend to stay in my room. I think I'm scared of my roommates? hahaha...well, really, I'm just scared of the Spaniard because she's very intimidating. And it was actually after this one incident. She kinda yelled at me. Well, not really, but I think she thought I was an idiot. No need to go into details, but it had to do with a microwave and a lack of plugs. But anywho, I might've blown it out of proportion, but I was scared of her after that. It's gotten better now, though. I say "Hola" whenever I see her, but nothing much past that. I don't really mind, though. I just want to get out more, and that is the plan.
So I was looking at my calendar and I have at least one 4 day weekend every month till I get out of school (sweet, huh?), so I'm planning on making trips at least once a month. This month, Mary is coming to visit me in Spain, so we're going to Seville one weekend, and Madrid the next weekend. So that's TWO trips in one month (makes up for last month, I suppose..)
Beginning of December, I'm planning to go to a Dashboard Confessional concert with someone I met in the EAP Program. The concert is in Birmingham (or Luxembourg, we haven't decided which one we're going to go to), so that's trip number two.
Then there's Winter Break and I'm am thinking of going to MANY countries in that time. =D I haven't planned it exactly, don't even know who I'm going with, but I'll figure it out. AND I WILL GO. If anything, I'll go alone. I can be a lone traveler. Might even make things more interesting....=P
Then for the 4 day weekend after the winter break, I'm thinking I'll go to Portugal....just cuz it's nearby, and I probably shouldn't go far when I only have 4 days.
Then for Spring Break, I want to go to France and Budapest to visit Jayme and Mary! I'm actually not sure if those two are very far apart, but I'll have a whole 10 days to do the trip, so that'll probably work well...
THEN. That's all I've got. HAHAHA Well, it'll come to me as it comes closer. But the prospect of future trips have brightened my days. I must admit, I've been pretty sad these days. It's just that school is so hard (oh, I'll write about that after), I haven't met anyone I feel close to, and I can't communicate with anyone. It definitely hasn't been the study abroad experience I was imagining. Before I came, I thought I was so ready to meet new people and all that stuff. But when I got here, I found that I sorta isolated myself. I know, it's horrible, but since I've done that, I've kind of gotten used to it. But I'm going to try really hard to change. The other day, in class, I started up a mini conversation with a random dude in class. Ok, granted, it was because I needed to ask what happened in the previous class, but I asked him where he was from and stuff after all the class stuff, so I thought that was pretty sociable...hahahha
Anywho, school is SOOOO hard! I understand maybe.....10 percent of what the teachers say. I can't even take notes because even if I do understand, once I try to write it down, I realize that I can't remember what he said. I think I get the overall meaning, but I try to be nit-picky, and I want to write down the exact phrase. Like, I can tell you right now that in my Literature class, he talked about man being a servant, or something like that, it's some theory with feudalism vs another -ism, but I couldn't take any notes on that because I couldn't put it into Spanish words (I try to take notes in Spanish). And then in my Econ (I mean, EX-Econ class---I dropped it), the professor made us make little name tags to put on our desk SO THAT HE COULD CALL ON US! Oh my gosh, it was so scary. He called on me once, but I didn't know what he said. I thought I heard him say "Estas de acuerdo?" which means "do you agree?" and so I said very slowly, "...Si?" Then he looked at me funny and moved on. Ohhh man, that was bad. And then the next day, the second day of class, we had a quiz! I didn't even know a quiz was going on, but I looked around and realized that everyone was writing and being quiet. And I was sitting in the front (to try to show that I didn't get scared away the first day of sitting in the front) and so he was looking at me, and I think he thought I was cheating. Ohhhh, horrible. I didn't even know what the question was.
So yes. School is hard. I mean, I know that I'm still adjusting, and it'll get easier eventually, but I'm just waiting for that to happen. My sister told me that the first three months are the worse, so hopefully by the end of November, I'll be writing much happier posts.
In the meantime, I've been watching a lot of shows online, reading Harry Potter in Spanish (which, by the way, is going pretty well. I read out loud to myself, and I don't look up words. I just guess because I know the story. For example, I learned that the word "cicatriz" means scar). Yes. It was definitely a good idea to start reading HP in Spanish. I'm planning on watching shows in Spanish soon. I just figured out how to find shows online in Spanish, so I'm gonna try watching things I've seen a billion times, like Friends. I would watch Alias, or something like that, but I think those words might be a bit more on the difficult side...
I'm also trying to be on top of my homework and whatnot. I have quite a bit of reading to do, which I actually don't mind. I wish all my classes assigned readings, because then I could prepare for the lecture and have a better idea of what's going on. But I take a really long time to do the readings. First I go through it in Spanish, reading it in Spanish, and circling the words I don't know. Then I look up the words and write them down, and then I go through the reading again and translate. Then I look for key points and whatnot. It's a very long process.
I'm planning on going shopping this weekend. I want a jacket and a purse.
My credit card got temporarily blocked. I'm so pissed about that because I called them before I left and told them that I would be out of the country. Freakin WaMu....
Ok. I suppose that's all. Got to get back to reading. Hope you enjoyed this post =)
So living with the roommates have been quite antisocial on my part. I tend to stay in my room. I think I'm scared of my roommates? hahaha...well, really, I'm just scared of the Spaniard because she's very intimidating. And it was actually after this one incident. She kinda yelled at me. Well, not really, but I think she thought I was an idiot. No need to go into details, but it had to do with a microwave and a lack of plugs. But anywho, I might've blown it out of proportion, but I was scared of her after that. It's gotten better now, though. I say "Hola" whenever I see her, but nothing much past that. I don't really mind, though. I just want to get out more, and that is the plan.
So I was looking at my calendar and I have at least one 4 day weekend every month till I get out of school (sweet, huh?), so I'm planning on making trips at least once a month. This month, Mary is coming to visit me in Spain, so we're going to Seville one weekend, and Madrid the next weekend. So that's TWO trips in one month (makes up for last month, I suppose..)
Beginning of December, I'm planning to go to a Dashboard Confessional concert with someone I met in the EAP Program. The concert is in Birmingham (or Luxembourg, we haven't decided which one we're going to go to), so that's trip number two.
Then there's Winter Break and I'm am thinking of going to MANY countries in that time. =D I haven't planned it exactly, don't even know who I'm going with, but I'll figure it out. AND I WILL GO. If anything, I'll go alone. I can be a lone traveler. Might even make things more interesting....=P
Then for the 4 day weekend after the winter break, I'm thinking I'll go to Portugal....just cuz it's nearby, and I probably shouldn't go far when I only have 4 days.
Then for Spring Break, I want to go to France and Budapest to visit Jayme and Mary! I'm actually not sure if those two are very far apart, but I'll have a whole 10 days to do the trip, so that'll probably work well...
THEN. That's all I've got. HAHAHA Well, it'll come to me as it comes closer. But the prospect of future trips have brightened my days. I must admit, I've been pretty sad these days. It's just that school is so hard (oh, I'll write about that after), I haven't met anyone I feel close to, and I can't communicate with anyone. It definitely hasn't been the study abroad experience I was imagining. Before I came, I thought I was so ready to meet new people and all that stuff. But when I got here, I found that I sorta isolated myself. I know, it's horrible, but since I've done that, I've kind of gotten used to it. But I'm going to try really hard to change. The other day, in class, I started up a mini conversation with a random dude in class. Ok, granted, it was because I needed to ask what happened in the previous class, but I asked him where he was from and stuff after all the class stuff, so I thought that was pretty sociable...hahahha
Anywho, school is SOOOO hard! I understand maybe.....10 percent of what the teachers say. I can't even take notes because even if I do understand, once I try to write it down, I realize that I can't remember what he said. I think I get the overall meaning, but I try to be nit-picky, and I want to write down the exact phrase. Like, I can tell you right now that in my Literature class, he talked about man being a servant, or something like that, it's some theory with feudalism vs another -ism, but I couldn't take any notes on that because I couldn't put it into Spanish words (I try to take notes in Spanish). And then in my Econ (I mean, EX-Econ class---I dropped it), the professor made us make little name tags to put on our desk SO THAT HE COULD CALL ON US! Oh my gosh, it was so scary. He called on me once, but I didn't know what he said. I thought I heard him say "Estas de acuerdo?" which means "do you agree?" and so I said very slowly, "...Si?" Then he looked at me funny and moved on. Ohhh man, that was bad. And then the next day, the second day of class, we had a quiz! I didn't even know a quiz was going on, but I looked around and realized that everyone was writing and being quiet. And I was sitting in the front (to try to show that I didn't get scared away the first day of sitting in the front) and so he was looking at me, and I think he thought I was cheating. Ohhhh, horrible. I didn't even know what the question was.
So yes. School is hard. I mean, I know that I'm still adjusting, and it'll get easier eventually, but I'm just waiting for that to happen. My sister told me that the first three months are the worse, so hopefully by the end of November, I'll be writing much happier posts.
In the meantime, I've been watching a lot of shows online, reading Harry Potter in Spanish (which, by the way, is going pretty well. I read out loud to myself, and I don't look up words. I just guess because I know the story. For example, I learned that the word "cicatriz" means scar). Yes. It was definitely a good idea to start reading HP in Spanish. I'm planning on watching shows in Spanish soon. I just figured out how to find shows online in Spanish, so I'm gonna try watching things I've seen a billion times, like Friends. I would watch Alias, or something like that, but I think those words might be a bit more on the difficult side...
I'm also trying to be on top of my homework and whatnot. I have quite a bit of reading to do, which I actually don't mind. I wish all my classes assigned readings, because then I could prepare for the lecture and have a better idea of what's going on. But I take a really long time to do the readings. First I go through it in Spanish, reading it in Spanish, and circling the words I don't know. Then I look up the words and write them down, and then I go through the reading again and translate. Then I look for key points and whatnot. It's a very long process.
I'm planning on going shopping this weekend. I want a jacket and a purse.
My credit card got temporarily blocked. I'm so pissed about that because I called them before I left and told them that I would be out of the country. Freakin WaMu....
Ok. I suppose that's all. Got to get back to reading. Hope you enjoyed this post =)
Monday, October 15, 2007
Metas por el ano [Goals for the Year]
I should've done this at the beginning, but I've become very motivated over this past weekend, so here we go:
1) LEARN SPANISH. <--haha, not just a goal, but a necessity!
2) Get at least 3 A's in my classes
3) Read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Spanish (already on Chapter 3 =D)
4) Read Da Vinci Code in Spanish (that one's a bit tougher...)
5) Travel at least once a month
6) Stay healthy
7) Learn to cook (maybe)
8) Make at least two GOOD friends
9) Stay on top of my schoolwork
10) Don't become an alcoholic. [hahahaha, sounds like a weird goal, but it's something I fear...hahaha, Europe is DEFINITELY a drinking continent, and I would not like to be influenced...]
That is all for now. Wish me luck! =)
1) LEARN SPANISH. <--haha, not just a goal, but a necessity!
2) Get at least 3 A's in my classes
3) Read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Spanish (already on Chapter 3 =D)
4) Read Da Vinci Code in Spanish (that one's a bit tougher...)
5) Travel at least once a month
6) Stay healthy
7) Learn to cook (maybe)
8) Make at least two GOOD friends
9) Stay on top of my schoolwork
10) Don't become an alcoholic. [hahahaha, sounds like a weird goal, but it's something I fear...hahaha, Europe is DEFINITELY a drinking continent, and I would not like to be influenced...]
That is all for now. Wish me luck! =)
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