This was my "think of the positives and don't cry" exercise this morning... thought I'd share :)
Things I’ll miss about Spain:
- My host moms, my piso
- Susana and Magda
- My students
- My job
- Watching Spanish tv during lunch
- Tapas, two plate lunches
- Galletas (cookie/biscuit things)
- Café con leche
- The food in general
- Having Chels as my roommate
- Hearing my host moms fight
- Having my host moms talk about how pretty we are for 10 minutes before we go out on the weekends
- Hearing Spanish on the streets
- Not being almost hit by cars everyday :P
- When waiters are mean to you in restaurants :) (you don’t tip here!)
- Strolling by Cervantes house on the way downtown (aka Alcalá is historic)
- Having to calculate what time it is in my head before calling someone :)
- Not having my cell phone
- Being able to order wine with dinner!
- Using Celsius and military time (I’m good at it now!)
- Magazines in Spanish
- Dos besos!!!!!! (Spanish greeting)
Things I love about the US:
- Family and friends
- Bowling GREEN!!!!!!! :) aka best city on earth...Alcalá, you're a close 2nd.
- Peanut butter and ranch
- Chipotle and Jimmy Johns
- Cooking and eating at my house
- Being a vegetarian again
- Having space to do yoga
- My job (yes, SDK, I miss you)
- My fav websites like Pandora and Hulu (they don’t work here)
- Not having to use power adaptors
- My hair straightener
- All my other clothes and shoes
- No piropos! (annoying cat-calls)
- Not being stressed about communicating with people in stores
- People smiling at you on the street
- Being in the same time zone as people!
- My cell phone! (I know, I know, but I went 4 months without it!)
- Not having screaming children wake you up everyday
- Hugs from everyone!
But more than anything, I'm going to miss the Spanish lifestyle in general. They are rarely stressed, they know when to work, but they also know how to sit and talk over some coffee or wine for 3 hours, with no where to go, no where to be. "Fast food" doesnt exist here (the fastest food I've had here is a 30 minute breakfast at a café). They don't worry about unnecessary things, and spending time with family over lunch is SO important. They know how to balance work and pleasure. They just live and enjoy.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Spring break - part 1!
Hola todos,
Just wanted to say hey! from the Canary Islands. I've been here for 5 days with Rach and Katie, relaxing on our private patio, chilling by the pool at our hotel, and enjoying the sun at the beach. And eating, a lot. We have our own kitchen so our meals have been yummy and at times very creative when we started running out of supplies :)
Although the Canaries are a territory of Spain, they are very close to Africa, and we are right by the equator. So the sun is way hotter and I have been getting very burnt, despite all of my best efforts at shade and sunscreen. A lot of families and older couples from cold, northern Europe come here to vacation, there are a lot of British and German people here.
And the funny thing about vacationing in Europe is that.... everyone is topless. All the time. Rach and Katie and I joked about finding a nude beach until we realized... everywhere is a nude beach. No on here is even a little suprised about it, but, as Americans, it took us awhile to get used to it. It's still weird to see topless moms watching their 10 year old kids in the pool. Isn't that awkward for anyone?!? But, on the upside, it seems that everyone has a good body image in Europe, and the three of us felt much more comfortable in our bathing suits since everyone else wasn't wearing one, haha.
Tomorrow we're heading out to Valencia to enjoy the city, and maybe go to the beach again, if the weather is nice.
I will be back to the United States in 23 days! :) Seems so crazy that my adventures are almost over!
Un beso,
Ann
Just wanted to say hey! from the Canary Islands. I've been here for 5 days with Rach and Katie, relaxing on our private patio, chilling by the pool at our hotel, and enjoying the sun at the beach. And eating, a lot. We have our own kitchen so our meals have been yummy and at times very creative when we started running out of supplies :)
Although the Canaries are a territory of Spain, they are very close to Africa, and we are right by the equator. So the sun is way hotter and I have been getting very burnt, despite all of my best efforts at shade and sunscreen. A lot of families and older couples from cold, northern Europe come here to vacation, there are a lot of British and German people here.
And the funny thing about vacationing in Europe is that.... everyone is topless. All the time. Rach and Katie and I joked about finding a nude beach until we realized... everywhere is a nude beach. No on here is even a little suprised about it, but, as Americans, it took us awhile to get used to it. It's still weird to see topless moms watching their 10 year old kids in the pool. Isn't that awkward for anyone?!? But, on the upside, it seems that everyone has a good body image in Europe, and the three of us felt much more comfortable in our bathing suits since everyone else wasn't wearing one, haha.
Tomorrow we're heading out to Valencia to enjoy the city, and maybe go to the beach again, if the weather is nice.
I will be back to the United States in 23 days! :) Seems so crazy that my adventures are almost over!
Un beso,
Ann
Monday, April 4, 2011
Roma!
Soo. Rome. It’s still kind of surreal that I actually went there. It’s amazing that I got to travel there for the weekend, how blessed am I?!
I feel like words aren’t enough to describe the beauty, atmosphere, or adventures I discovered in Roma. And the Vatican City is absolutely breathtaking, pictures can’t do it justice. It is so full of history and beautiful art, if you ever have the opportunity to go, DO IT.
So 5 other lovely ladies and I started out bright and early Friday morning, ready for pasta, gelato, and any other Italian delights we might find. We arrived in Italy at about 1:00pm, only to discover that there was a transportation strike throughout the city (later we figured out why, public transportation is practically free, no one EVER checked your ticket, and tons of homeless people just chill on the buses and trains). There was over a 2 hour wait for the one bus that was running, so we decided to take a taxi to our hotel, and then from our hotel into the city (about a half an hour drive, and a 65€ cab fare!). And thus began the adventures…
I thought Italian bad driving was a stereotype. It’s not. We drove down the highway at least 90mph at all times, dodging cars, people, bikes, motorcycles, you name it. Just in case you wondered, there is no need to slow down when going around sharp turns or roundabouts. Ugh. We had no idea where he should drop us off, so we just said “The Colosseum” like good American tourists. He nonchalantly drops us off on the side of the road, while we stood there bug eyed, with our mouths open. Here, in the middle of a crazy, busy, cosmopolitan city, was the Colosseum. The construction of this beautiful and massive amphitheater was finished around 80AD, to give you an idea of how old this is. 80AD. Waaay older than our country. Whoa. Awe struck, we stopped at a ristorante (it means restaurant...one of the few Italian words I picked up along the way :). We got to eat some delicious food with the view of the Colosseum!
PIZZA :) 
Gelato!
We spent the day strolling around Rome, eating more pasta and pizza, enjoying gelato, touring the Colosseum, going to the Trevi Fountain, and soaking up the warm sunny weather. We also encountered some very interesting people… the homeless men on all the public transportation, the mean lady selling Colosseum tickets (we have our International student IDs and we tried to get a discount because we study in the European Union. She pretty much scoffed at me, asked my nationality, laughed when I said “American,” and said “12 Euros, please.” Rude.), the restaurant workers that compliment you and promise discounts and free appetizers if you eat in their restaurant, and, of course, the random entertaining groups of tourists from around the world.
The Colosseum 
The Trevi Fountain... amazing!!
The next day we went to the Vatican City, after a bit of a work trying to figure out HOW to get there. We asked this man, who told us to get on a certain bus. As it turns out, the bus just makes a loop, not even getting near the Vatican City. It was hard to know if some people just didn’t understand our English or Spanish or just wanted to see us fail at navigating the city. We finally reached the Vatican City, and Katie, Rachel and I paid for a tour, which was a great idea because then we knew everything we were looking at. Some of it I had learned about in Art History but it was a great reminder. We got to see some great Raphael frescos, Michelangelo’s Pieta, and of course the Sistine Chapel. There is just such a vast collection of beautiful buildings there, it really is incredible! Although we were very close to his house, we did not run into the Pope. Ah, well, maybe next time.
Our last day, Sunday, there was supposed to be another transportation strike and Katie, Rach, and I thought we might be stuck at our hotel, unable to pay a taxi to get into the city center. Thankfully, there was no strike so we could take the train. We spent the day outside again, enjoying the sun, the many gorgeous fountains, and outside cafes in Rome.
Although Rome is gorgeous and I loved it, the three of us were very ready to be home in Alcalá, back in a country where we can (sort of) speak the language. We knew we missed Spain when this lady at the train station came up to us, asked if we spoke English, then started babbling random questions to us in Italian. How do you even react to that? Just shake your head and repeat “no hablamos italiano” (which happens to be Spanish, but, hey, whatever works!)? Laugh hysterically? Well, we did both and she continued to talk to us in Italian for 5 more minutes. Landing in Barajas airport and hearing Spanish all around you in the greatest feeling in the world, after that.
We had an amazing, relaxing, beautiful trip to Italy, it was so worth all the money and time! Now, it’s back to the grind of school and work! But my lovely Miss Steph Becks is visiting me from England this week :)
Ciao!
Besos,
Ana
I feel like words aren’t enough to describe the beauty, atmosphere, or adventures I discovered in Roma. And the Vatican City is absolutely breathtaking, pictures can’t do it justice. It is so full of history and beautiful art, if you ever have the opportunity to go, DO IT.
So 5 other lovely ladies and I started out bright and early Friday morning, ready for pasta, gelato, and any other Italian delights we might find. We arrived in Italy at about 1:00pm, only to discover that there was a transportation strike throughout the city (later we figured out why, public transportation is practically free, no one EVER checked your ticket, and tons of homeless people just chill on the buses and trains). There was over a 2 hour wait for the one bus that was running, so we decided to take a taxi to our hotel, and then from our hotel into the city (about a half an hour drive, and a 65€ cab fare!). And thus began the adventures…
I thought Italian bad driving was a stereotype. It’s not. We drove down the highway at least 90mph at all times, dodging cars, people, bikes, motorcycles, you name it. Just in case you wondered, there is no need to slow down when going around sharp turns or roundabouts. Ugh. We had no idea where he should drop us off, so we just said “The Colosseum” like good American tourists. He nonchalantly drops us off on the side of the road, while we stood there bug eyed, with our mouths open. Here, in the middle of a crazy, busy, cosmopolitan city, was the Colosseum. The construction of this beautiful and massive amphitheater was finished around 80AD, to give you an idea of how old this is. 80AD. Waaay older than our country. Whoa. Awe struck, we stopped at a ristorante (it means restaurant...one of the few Italian words I picked up along the way :). We got to eat some delicious food with the view of the Colosseum!
PIZZA :) 
Gelato! We spent the day strolling around Rome, eating more pasta and pizza, enjoying gelato, touring the Colosseum, going to the Trevi Fountain, and soaking up the warm sunny weather. We also encountered some very interesting people… the homeless men on all the public transportation, the mean lady selling Colosseum tickets (we have our International student IDs and we tried to get a discount because we study in the European Union. She pretty much scoffed at me, asked my nationality, laughed when I said “American,” and said “12 Euros, please.” Rude.), the restaurant workers that compliment you and promise discounts and free appetizers if you eat in their restaurant, and, of course, the random entertaining groups of tourists from around the world.
The Colosseum 
The Trevi Fountain... amazing!! The next day we went to the Vatican City, after a bit of a work trying to figure out HOW to get there. We asked this man, who told us to get on a certain bus. As it turns out, the bus just makes a loop, not even getting near the Vatican City. It was hard to know if some people just didn’t understand our English or Spanish or just wanted to see us fail at navigating the city. We finally reached the Vatican City, and Katie, Rachel and I paid for a tour, which was a great idea because then we knew everything we were looking at. Some of it I had learned about in Art History but it was a great reminder. We got to see some great Raphael frescos, Michelangelo’s Pieta, and of course the Sistine Chapel. There is just such a vast collection of beautiful buildings there, it really is incredible! Although we were very close to his house, we did not run into the Pope. Ah, well, maybe next time.
Our last day, Sunday, there was supposed to be another transportation strike and Katie, Rach, and I thought we might be stuck at our hotel, unable to pay a taxi to get into the city center. Thankfully, there was no strike so we could take the train. We spent the day outside again, enjoying the sun, the many gorgeous fountains, and outside cafes in Rome.
Although Rome is gorgeous and I loved it, the three of us were very ready to be home in Alcalá, back in a country where we can (sort of) speak the language. We knew we missed Spain when this lady at the train station came up to us, asked if we spoke English, then started babbling random questions to us in Italian. How do you even react to that? Just shake your head and repeat “no hablamos italiano” (which happens to be Spanish, but, hey, whatever works!)? Laugh hysterically? Well, we did both and she continued to talk to us in Italian for 5 more minutes. Landing in Barajas airport and hearing Spanish all around you in the greatest feeling in the world, after that.
We had an amazing, relaxing, beautiful trip to Italy, it was so worth all the money and time! Now, it’s back to the grind of school and work! But my lovely Miss Steph Becks is visiting me from England this week :)
Ciao!
Besos,
Ana
Monday, March 28, 2011
¡a cantabria!
I really can’t believe I only have 5 weeks of school left in Spain. FIVE. And I know they’re going to go SO fast because of how busy I’m going to be. It seems like it’s the weekend before I know it, and on the weekends I usually travel!
I have mixed feelings about my time almost being over. I’m not ready to leave, I love my host family, I love the laid-back culture, the food, the streets, everything. But I’m starting to feel very far away from Ohio and the people I love there, plus this whole meat-eating business is getting hard for me! I’m ready to be a vegetarian again :)
This weekend our BG program went on its last weekend trip, to Cantabria, a northern community of Spain, with both beautiful beaches and beautiful mountains. We stayed in this ADORABLE (but slightly creepy), ancient hotel in a tiny tiny pueblo! We walked around the city in about 10 minutes, that’s how small this place is! It smelled like the country and had excellent food, such as cheese, meat, honey, and farm-grown products like that! The typical food is very hardy, with lots of beans, sausage, etc., and a lot of food is produced in the region we were staying.
The first day we went to Comillas, another small town in Cantabria, located on the beach, where lots of celebs go for vacation! I can see why, it was gorgeous! We all played around on the beach (the water was freezing but the weather was great!) and then we walked around and saw some great architecture in the town…
Town we stayed in :)
Beach at Comillas
Later we went to Santander, the capital of Cantabria, and ate a delicious lunch, played on another beach, and got a little tour of the city. As far as our trips go, this one was much more relaxing and we were blessed with gorgeous sunny weather the whole time!
Then we finished up at the caves of Altamira, which have some of the oldest recorded human art! I learned about it in art history, and never knew I’d actually end up at Altamira! Unfortunately, 10 or 15 years ago they stopped letting people into the caves (obviously, people being in the caves was hurting the cave paintings) but we went to a replication and it was very fun to see them!!
This weekend I’m heading to Italy! :) expect some great pictures soon!
Un besito, Ann
I have mixed feelings about my time almost being over. I’m not ready to leave, I love my host family, I love the laid-back culture, the food, the streets, everything. But I’m starting to feel very far away from Ohio and the people I love there, plus this whole meat-eating business is getting hard for me! I’m ready to be a vegetarian again :)
This weekend our BG program went on its last weekend trip, to Cantabria, a northern community of Spain, with both beautiful beaches and beautiful mountains. We stayed in this ADORABLE (but slightly creepy), ancient hotel in a tiny tiny pueblo! We walked around the city in about 10 minutes, that’s how small this place is! It smelled like the country and had excellent food, such as cheese, meat, honey, and farm-grown products like that! The typical food is very hardy, with lots of beans, sausage, etc., and a lot of food is produced in the region we were staying.
The first day we went to Comillas, another small town in Cantabria, located on the beach, where lots of celebs go for vacation! I can see why, it was gorgeous! We all played around on the beach (the water was freezing but the weather was great!) and then we walked around and saw some great architecture in the town…
Town we stayed in :) 
Beach at Comillas
Later we went to Santander, the capital of Cantabria, and ate a delicious lunch, played on another beach, and got a little tour of the city. As far as our trips go, this one was much more relaxing and we were blessed with gorgeous sunny weather the whole time!
Then we finished up at the caves of Altamira, which have some of the oldest recorded human art! I learned about it in art history, and never knew I’d actually end up at Altamira! Unfortunately, 10 or 15 years ago they stopped letting people into the caves (obviously, people being in the caves was hurting the cave paintings) but we went to a replication and it was very fun to see them!!
This weekend I’m heading to Italy! :) expect some great pictures soon!
Un besito, Ann
Sunday, February 27, 2011
"Week 7"
¡Cuanto tiempo! Hola dear ones, it's been awhile!
Yes, I’m still alive and well in Alcalá. Yes, I’ve been busy. Yes, week 7 has been the hardest. Yes, I’m still studying for midterms but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, this post is yet another procrastination method (because it’s more fun than writing essays or studying literature).
Last weekend our BG program spent 3 days in Granada, which is in the south of Spain and has a lot of Arabic and Moroccan influences (there are reasons for this, but I won’t bore you in a lesson of Spanish history). We visited la Alhambra, which is an amazing fortress with palace-buildings and gardens up on a mountain in Granada. We spent the whole morning there, and it is so beautiful! I wish I could have seen the gardens in the summer but everything was still gorgeous! And we had beautiful weather too!
Yes, I’m still alive and well in Alcalá. Yes, I’ve been busy. Yes, week 7 has been the hardest. Yes, I’m still studying for midterms but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, this post is yet another procrastination method (because it’s more fun than writing essays or studying literature).
Last weekend our BG program spent 3 days in Granada, which is in the south of Spain and has a lot of Arabic and Moroccan influences (there are reasons for this, but I won’t bore you in a lesson of Spanish history). We visited la Alhambra, which is an amazing fortress with palace-buildings and gardens up on a mountain in Granada. We spent the whole morning there, and it is so beautiful! I wish I could have seen the gardens in the summer but everything was still gorgeous! And we had beautiful weather too!
They had lots of streets filled with little stories like this... very hippie-ish and full of tapestries and incense. Obviously, I loved it.
View of most of la Alhambra... how sweet is this?!
The Moors built this when they were in control of Spain... which was quite while ago (in the middle of the14th century-ish).
Later on Saturday we went to this town on the ocean, and we hung out and ate lunch. We got to see the ocean, but it was a bit chilly and windy to enjoy it! Plus Rachel starting getting sick so Katie and I hung out in a café by the ocean while the rest of the group climbed up to see this castle. By the time we got back home Sunday night we were so exhausted but the trip was so amazing!
Last week was the last week of the first half of our time in Spain… how crazy is that?! So, naturally, being almost halfway through, it was a hard week for a few of us emotionally, plus we had to study like crazy for midterms! Here are few pictures from adventures and frolics we had this weekend to recover from our week…
Later on Saturday we went to this town on the ocean, and we hung out and ate lunch. We got to see the ocean, but it was a bit chilly and windy to enjoy it! Plus Rachel starting getting sick so Katie and I hung out in a café by the ocean while the rest of the group climbed up to see this castle. By the time we got back home Sunday night we were so exhausted but the trip was so amazing!
Last week was the last week of the first half of our time in Spain… how crazy is that?! So, naturally, being almost halfway through, it was a hard week for a few of us emotionally, plus we had to study like crazy for midterms! Here are few pictures from adventures and frolics we had this weekend to recover from our week…
Katie and I spent Friday afternoon barefoot in the park listening to American pop music...we got some weird stares from Spanish people but it was 75 degrees and sunny, so we were gonna enjoy it!!
On Saturday Katie, Chester, Kalyn and I went and spent the day in Madrid, and it was so amazing! We're all so obsessed with the city, and it's so fun on Saturdays in the spring because so many people are out and there are so many street preformers and everyone is eating at little outside tables. That has to be my favorite part about Spain, just how people relax for hours in the sun, watching people, chatting, and drinking a beer.
THEN... we found this amazing crepería (crepe shop) and went in for some café con leche (pictured above... SO much better than any coffee in the States) and crepes! My crepe was filled with Nutella, bananas, caramel, and cookie crumbs. Needless to say, this crepe experience and lovely hours in Madrid helped us recover fully from the "off" week we had experienced!
Now, it's back to studying for me! But the latest news is that in exactly a week, two amazing friends of mine from BG are coming to visit me!!! :) I can't wait to see them! :) :)
Besos!
xo
Ana
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Paraguas and other things!
Hello dear readers (if I have any left... it's been a very long time since I've posted!),
I'm still alive. And still loving Spain. But just busy and lacking interesting tidbits to blog about. It's just been raining around here, and there are so many paraguas (umbrellas) out every day! All colors and designs, it's like a parade of umbrellas (to borrow my friend Chester's phrase). I can't wait for the nice weather!!
I spent the weekend in England visiting two of my best friends, Ellen and Steph. They're studying there, and I was so amazing to see their lives at Keele University for a few days! Everyone in England was super nice, too!
We're all heading to Granada for the weekend with the BGSU program, so expect a nice long post and pictures soon! (unless studying gets in the way... midterms are coming!).
Besos,
Anita
I'm still alive. And still loving Spain. But just busy and lacking interesting tidbits to blog about. It's just been raining around here, and there are so many paraguas (umbrellas) out every day! All colors and designs, it's like a parade of umbrellas (to borrow my friend Chester's phrase). I can't wait for the nice weather!!
I spent the weekend in England visiting two of my best friends, Ellen and Steph. They're studying there, and I was so amazing to see their lives at Keele University for a few days! Everyone in England was super nice, too!
We're all heading to Granada for the weekend with the BGSU program, so expect a nice long post and pictures soon! (unless studying gets in the way... midterms are coming!).
Besos,
Anita
Friday, February 4, 2011
Adventures... ¡a Segovia!
First of all, I’d like to say that I broke two of my keys off my keyboard adding pictures to my computer today… so if it seems like my posts are low in “2’s” “3’s” and “ marks, that’s why. Soooo if anyone knows how to fix them, your feedback would be helpful! I got food stuck down there (Proof, reason #4598, that I’m getting chubby in Spain) and I just popped them off! Now… their functionality is… um… not so good.
Moving on to more exciting news… SEGOVIA. Early, early this morning (9 am, I know that’s not early, but, hey, it was our day off!), our group packed up our bocadillos (you read more about these and their enormity a few posts ago), our coats (everyone assured us it would be freezing there!) and headed to Segovia for the day!
It’s much different travelling with the program, because everything is structured for you, and Javier comes as a tour guide (he knows so much about Spain, but sometimes we don’t want to hear EVERYTHING about a particular topic :). First we got to see Los Jardínes de la Granja de San Ildefonso, which were pretty amazing, even in the winter! (yes, in my pictures there is snow! But in the sun felt so warm to the Ohioans!)
(La Granja de San Ildefonso)
Moving on to more exciting news… SEGOVIA. Early, early this morning (9 am, I know that’s not early, but, hey, it was our day off!), our group packed up our bocadillos (you read more about these and their enormity a few posts ago), our coats (everyone assured us it would be freezing there!) and headed to Segovia for the day!
It’s much different travelling with the program, because everything is structured for you, and Javier comes as a tour guide (he knows so much about Spain, but sometimes we don’t want to hear EVERYTHING about a particular topic :). First we got to see Los Jardínes de la Granja de San Ildefonso, which were pretty amazing, even in the winter! (yes, in my pictures there is snow! But in the sun felt so warm to the Ohioans!)
(La Granja de San Ildefonso)Then we actually rode into the city of Segovia, where the Roman aqueduct is—it’s so incredible! It was constructed with no cement whatsoever, just rocks that fit together perfectly. My pictures, like so many things, really can’t even do it justice! It was built at the end of the 1st century and beginning of the 2nd century, that’s muy antiguo!
We trotted around through the city to the Castle de Alcázar, which is supposedly what Cinderella’s castle is based on. It was built about 9 centuries ago, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
Finally, after enjoying our lunch in the sun, a few of us went to a few shops. There was a little hippie store, one of the ones that smell like incense and are full of scarves, handmade jewelry, and all other good things, and it was so fun to just look around awhile! At the end of the day we ended up at the Catedral de Segovia. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures inside, but I took tons of the outside! Since it was my first European cathedral, I was amazed! The students from last semester said they’d seen so many, but I thought it was so amazing! :)
Sorry this post is kind of “business-y” and not very interesting! The girls and I are going out on the town of Alcalá tonight, so maybe I’ll have some adventures that lead to funny blog posts!
Hasta luego (or “staluego” if you’re going say it like a native! :)
Abrazos y Besitos, (hugs and kisses)
Ana
We trotted around through the city to the Castle de Alcázar, which is supposedly what Cinderella’s castle is based on. It was built about 9 centuries ago, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
Finally, after enjoying our lunch in the sun, a few of us went to a few shops. There was a little hippie store, one of the ones that smell like incense and are full of scarves, handmade jewelry, and all other good things, and it was so fun to just look around awhile! At the end of the day we ended up at the Catedral de Segovia. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures inside, but I took tons of the outside! Since it was my first European cathedral, I was amazed! The students from last semester said they’d seen so many, but I thought it was so amazing! :)
Sorry this post is kind of “business-y” and not very interesting! The girls and I are going out on the town of Alcalá tonight, so maybe I’ll have some adventures that lead to funny blog posts!
Hasta luego (or “staluego” if you’re going say it like a native! :)
Abrazos y Besitos, (hugs and kisses)
Ana
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Life during the week... homework, grammar, and Hannah Montana
Hola queridos (dear ones :)!
I usually don't have much exciting, funny, or remotely witty to say during the week, but I'm going to give it a try!
The school weeks fly by here! It's a combination of of the fact that I'm in class during the day (but only 4 days a week), take siestas every day, and have English lessons (I'm a private tutor twice a week for a delightful 15 year old, and I am a teacher's aid in an "English" class in an after school program). Every Tuesday I help in this classroom of a handful of 8 or 9 year olds... they are precious, hilarious, and very helpful in practicing my español! They are very encouraging but not also afraid to tease and correct me. This class (its a class for me at the university, paired with volunteering at the school) has helped me learn so much about the Spanish education system, and I think I was expecting it to be very close to the American system (it's not). I'm pretty sure I speak better Spanish than their teacher does English!
Plus, they learn British English, so that's fun! Does anyone know what a pullover is?
Exactly, neither did I. I guess it's a sweatshirt type thing.
So the kids are hugely curious about the United States and asked me where I was from. I told them a state called Ohio, it's sort of near Chicago., and it snows all the time there. Raul goes, "Ohhhh, so you live near Hannah Montana??"
Not knowing what state Ms. Montana was from, I asked!
"Californíaaa!" He said!
I had to explain that California takes days to drive to, which is something that these kids can't even imagine. The whole country of Spain is only slightly bigger than Texas! Needless to say, I love these kids a lot.
I've also learned that I don't understand English grammar at all... like, seriously. And these kids ask hard questions!! I had to explain what a lever was (like, the physics thing!), what "yuck" means, why "Joy" is a girl's name, why the past tense of "go" is "went," what a UFO is, how a piano is different from a keyboard, and how very few people in the US say "hiya" instead of "hi" or "hello." I had to explain this all in Spanish. This is what I mean by good practice.
Well... I'm procrastinating and need to finish homework. Friday we're heading to Segovia for the day with our program!
Don't get lost in all the snow in the Midwest! As my host moms would tell me... "¡Abrigase!" (bundle up, dress warmly)
¡Besitos de España!
Anita
I usually don't have much exciting, funny, or remotely witty to say during the week, but I'm going to give it a try!
The school weeks fly by here! It's a combination of of the fact that I'm in class during the day (but only 4 days a week), take siestas every day, and have English lessons (I'm a private tutor twice a week for a delightful 15 year old, and I am a teacher's aid in an "English" class in an after school program). Every Tuesday I help in this classroom of a handful of 8 or 9 year olds... they are precious, hilarious, and very helpful in practicing my español! They are very encouraging but not also afraid to tease and correct me. This class (its a class for me at the university, paired with volunteering at the school) has helped me learn so much about the Spanish education system, and I think I was expecting it to be very close to the American system (it's not). I'm pretty sure I speak better Spanish than their teacher does English!
Plus, they learn British English, so that's fun! Does anyone know what a pullover is?
Exactly, neither did I. I guess it's a sweatshirt type thing.
So the kids are hugely curious about the United States and asked me where I was from. I told them a state called Ohio, it's sort of near Chicago., and it snows all the time there. Raul goes, "Ohhhh, so you live near Hannah Montana??"
Not knowing what state Ms. Montana was from, I asked!
"Californíaaa!" He said!
I had to explain that California takes days to drive to, which is something that these kids can't even imagine. The whole country of Spain is only slightly bigger than Texas! Needless to say, I love these kids a lot.
I've also learned that I don't understand English grammar at all... like, seriously. And these kids ask hard questions!! I had to explain what a lever was (like, the physics thing!), what "yuck" means, why "Joy" is a girl's name, why the past tense of "go" is "went," what a UFO is, how a piano is different from a keyboard, and how very few people in the US say "hiya" instead of "hi" or "hello." I had to explain this all in Spanish. This is what I mean by good practice.
Well... I'm procrastinating and need to finish homework. Friday we're heading to Segovia for the day with our program!
Don't get lost in all the snow in the Midwest! As my host moms would tell me... "¡Abrigase!" (bundle up, dress warmly)
¡Besitos de España!
Anita
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Life Lessons from Barcelona!
Things I learned in Barcelona this weekend:
1. Katie, Rachel, and I can master the public transit system in Barcelona, and do it in style!
2. It’s always more fun to search for castles the rugged way, climbing Mount Montjuic rather than taking the bus on a road with the other tourists.
3. Never trust the older hippie lady staying in youth hostels… she will steal your drinks and painkillers.
4. If a random man tries to give you tons of pamphlets flyers, ignore them!! It’s a distraction method pickpocketers used…Kayln’s phone got stolen this way :( adios to her dear Droid!
5. Pictures can’t begin to describe or encapsulate Gaudí’s architecture… my pictures just don’t do any of it justice!
6. Leaving your camera at the hostel while touring is a very sad thing… I have no pictures from day 2!! :(
75 hours.
16 of those hours on a bus.
1 backpack.
8 wonderful people.
1 incredible city.
We (Katie, Rachel, Amanda, Ashley, Chester, Kayln, Rebecca, and I) began our adventure at 5:00 on Saturday... after this crazy man yelling at us about our tickets to Madrid and some issues with our tickets to Barcelona, we finally got on our bus for our 8 hour night bus ride. I slept a little, but badly (of course) and we rolled into Barcelona about 5:45am. Hmmm. I guess we didn’t think this out all the way. We planned on taking a later bus, so we’d get there about 7:00am, but we had to change buses. So here we were, in Barcelona, super hungry, exhausted, and unable to check into our hostel for 6 more hours! Let the group bonding begin!
Thankfully, this little café was open and we were able to get a fabulous breakfast (picture included). Can I just say… Spain knows how to grow amazing oranges and to make incredible orange juice! Ahhh it’s so good! The guy that ran the café was so nice we stopped by this morning to get breakfast again before we left!
After a teeny bit of trouble, we found our hostel, which was very chic and clean… a nice surprise as we just found in online for 10€ a night… you never know what you could get! :) the guys running it were very cool and locked our stuff up for us so we could sightsee before checking into our rooms. And so begins the longest day ever! Pretty much on no sleep, the 8 of us explored the city like pros (with some advice from the guy at the hostel). Everything in the city is just so beautiful!!
Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia, which I had been absolutely dying to see for ages! I did a speech this year on this building, which has been under construction for over 100 years, and is massive, but still not even close to being done! In all my pictures you can see all of the construction! We walked the main streets, checked out all the amazing architecture in the city, and walked the street with all the designer stores on it. Exhausted, we stopped at a grocery store to grab some lunch before siesta… it was almost too perfect!
Later on Katie, Rachel, and I shopped a bit at Zara’s, and then when out for some delicious tapas!!! They seriously had the best patatas bravas ever! (potato hunks with tomato sauces and cheese stuff… I really can’t even describe it!).
The next day we explored Las Ramblas (a main stretch of street with a giant outdoor market and really cool stores)… but I left my camera in our room and, sadly, have no pictures :( Katie, Rachel and I went to the Olympic Stadium (it was in Barcelona in 1992)… and that was so neat! And we knew that there was a castle right near the Olympic Stadium, over a “mountain” right on the coast. We decided to try to find it, but this little adventure ended up taking about an hour and a half and involved us climbing a mountain!!! We laughed about it… 3 American girls wearing leggings and boots, our big handbags, and Katie’s Burberry scarf… it wasn’t exactly what we had planned on doing that day! But the castle, the view of the entire city, and the Mediterranean Ocean was SO worth it!!!! It also started to rain so there was a huge rainbow over the whole city and it turns out… there was a road to get to the castle and buses that could take you up there! Oh well, our way was fun!
Phew, we had some grand adventures this weekend! But I’m so exhausted!!!
¡Besitos!
1. Katie, Rachel, and I can master the public transit system in Barcelona, and do it in style!
2. It’s always more fun to search for castles the rugged way, climbing Mount Montjuic rather than taking the bus on a road with the other tourists.
3. Never trust the older hippie lady staying in youth hostels… she will steal your drinks and painkillers.
4. If a random man tries to give you tons of pamphlets flyers, ignore them!! It’s a distraction method pickpocketers used…Kayln’s phone got stolen this way :( adios to her dear Droid!
5. Pictures can’t begin to describe or encapsulate Gaudí’s architecture… my pictures just don’t do any of it justice!
6. Leaving your camera at the hostel while touring is a very sad thing… I have no pictures from day 2!! :(
75 hours.
16 of those hours on a bus.
1 backpack.
8 wonderful people.
1 incredible city.
We (Katie, Rachel, Amanda, Ashley, Chester, Kayln, Rebecca, and I) began our adventure at 5:00 on Saturday... after this crazy man yelling at us about our tickets to Madrid and some issues with our tickets to Barcelona, we finally got on our bus for our 8 hour night bus ride. I slept a little, but badly (of course) and we rolled into Barcelona about 5:45am. Hmmm. I guess we didn’t think this out all the way. We planned on taking a later bus, so we’d get there about 7:00am, but we had to change buses. So here we were, in Barcelona, super hungry, exhausted, and unable to check into our hostel for 6 more hours! Let the group bonding begin!
Thankfully, this little café was open and we were able to get a fabulous breakfast (picture included). Can I just say… Spain knows how to grow amazing oranges and to make incredible orange juice! Ahhh it’s so good! The guy that ran the café was so nice we stopped by this morning to get breakfast again before we left!
After a teeny bit of trouble, we found our hostel, which was very chic and clean… a nice surprise as we just found in online for 10€ a night… you never know what you could get! :) the guys running it were very cool and locked our stuff up for us so we could sightsee before checking into our rooms. And so begins the longest day ever! Pretty much on no sleep, the 8 of us explored the city like pros (with some advice from the guy at the hostel). Everything in the city is just so beautiful!!
Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia, which I had been absolutely dying to see for ages! I did a speech this year on this building, which has been under construction for over 100 years, and is massive, but still not even close to being done! In all my pictures you can see all of the construction! We walked the main streets, checked out all the amazing architecture in the city, and walked the street with all the designer stores on it. Exhausted, we stopped at a grocery store to grab some lunch before siesta… it was almost too perfect!
(Perfect Lunch!!!)
Later on Katie, Rachel, and I shopped a bit at Zara’s, and then when out for some delicious tapas!!! They seriously had the best patatas bravas ever! (potato hunks with tomato sauces and cheese stuff… I really can’t even describe it!).
The next day we explored Las Ramblas (a main stretch of street with a giant outdoor market and really cool stores)… but I left my camera in our room and, sadly, have no pictures :( Katie, Rachel and I went to the Olympic Stadium (it was in Barcelona in 1992)… and that was so neat! And we knew that there was a castle right near the Olympic Stadium, over a “mountain” right on the coast. We decided to try to find it, but this little adventure ended up taking about an hour and a half and involved us climbing a mountain!!! We laughed about it… 3 American girls wearing leggings and boots, our big handbags, and Katie’s Burberry scarf… it wasn’t exactly what we had planned on doing that day! But the castle, the view of the entire city, and the Mediterranean Ocean was SO worth it!!!! It also started to rain so there was a huge rainbow over the whole city and it turns out… there was a road to get to the castle and buses that could take you up there! Oh well, our way was fun!
Phew, we had some grand adventures this weekend! But I’m so exhausted!!!
¡Besitos!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
If I look a little bit chubbier...
... this is why.
In case you don't recognize me when I come home, I'd like to share 5 ways Spain is changing me:
1. I can’t stop listening to Justin Beiber.
2. I love leggings. They have them everywhere here, for like 3€. There’re so comfy I can hardly take them off.
3. I speak with a Spanish “lisp”… you’ll notice it if you ever speak Spanish to me! I now say "Gra-thi-as” (instead of "gra-ci-as"). Here, hard c’s and z’s are pronounced like "th"!
4. I eat meat. Every meal, every day. I pick meat off bones and I eat sausage that clearly looks gross. And the worst part is… I like it! Spanish meat is soooo good (because it’s not as mass produced). And the fish is phenominal!!!
5. I am becoming “rude,” like a Spaniard. I no longer try to be nice to people working at stores (because that’s just weird! You don’t do that! They will look at you like a crazy person), you don’t smile at people on the street, and you don’t move out of the way of people walking the opposite direction as you. If you need to be where someone else is, you “bump” them a bit. It's not that Spanish people are not nice, they are super warm and sweet. There is just no need to be friendly or nice to strangers here!
Ps: today at the grocery store I saw wine in juice boxes. You can also order beer at Ben and Jerrys. Haha Spain is so funny!!
This is my lunch. For one day. The bocadillo (sandwich) is almost as big as my arm and full of meat. They pretty much use a whole loaf of bread for it. And why my host moms think I need 2 oranges, an apple, and a banana is beyond me. The bad thing is... my stomach has stretched and I can eat it all!!!!!!!!!! Like, without feeling full.
In case you don't recognize me when I come home, I'd like to share 5 ways Spain is changing me:
1. I can’t stop listening to Justin Beiber.
2. I love leggings. They have them everywhere here, for like 3€. There’re so comfy I can hardly take them off.
3. I speak with a Spanish “lisp”… you’ll notice it if you ever speak Spanish to me! I now say "Gra-thi-as” (instead of "gra-ci-as"). Here, hard c’s and z’s are pronounced like "th"!
4. I eat meat. Every meal, every day. I pick meat off bones and I eat sausage that clearly looks gross. And the worst part is… I like it! Spanish meat is soooo good (because it’s not as mass produced). And the fish is phenominal!!!
5. I am becoming “rude,” like a Spaniard. I no longer try to be nice to people working at stores (because that’s just weird! You don’t do that! They will look at you like a crazy person), you don’t smile at people on the street, and you don’t move out of the way of people walking the opposite direction as you. If you need to be where someone else is, you “bump” them a bit. It's not that Spanish people are not nice, they are super warm and sweet. There is just no need to be friendly or nice to strangers here!
Ps: today at the grocery store I saw wine in juice boxes. You can also order beer at Ben and Jerrys. Haha Spain is so funny!!
BESOS! (kisses :)
Oh, one more thing: My mom made me these awesome socks and I need to share!!! :) isn't she crafty?
Monday, January 24, 2011
las calles
Las calles. The streets. I love the streets of Alcalá. Today, I stepped out my front gate to go meet the student I was going to tutor for the first time. I realized that this was the very first time that I was walking to the plaza (about 20 minute walk) alone. It wasn't dark out, I wasn't going to get lost, and the streets of Alcalá are extremely safe, but I still felt like I was going on a scary new adventure! I love watching the many people on the streets- little old men in coats and plaid hats, kids coming from school, telling their parents about their day, young couples with babies in strollers. Everyone is super bundled up today because its freezing for Alcalá (high-30s I'm guessing!). It's funny when we try to tell them how much snow we have where we live!
The girl I tutor, Paula, is 14 and soooo funny. She's so cute, has big dimples, a raspy voice, and I fell in love with her immediately. She really wants to learn English from an American, as many here do! But not everyone can afford a private tutor like she can. Tomorrow for my service learning class I'm starting as an English teacher's aide, which will be more at the other end of the socio-economic status- these kids are more lower SES, from what Susana tells us. I'm really excited to meet my teacher tomorrow!
I'm still waiting to hit the "I just wanna go home" wall! I haven't yet... maybe I won't? I had a few moments of it the first week, but I feel so at home in my piso and at my school now.
Besitos, mi dulcitos! (kisses my darlings!)
Ana
The girl I tutor, Paula, is 14 and soooo funny. She's so cute, has big dimples, a raspy voice, and I fell in love with her immediately. She really wants to learn English from an American, as many here do! But not everyone can afford a private tutor like she can. Tomorrow for my service learning class I'm starting as an English teacher's aide, which will be more at the other end of the socio-economic status- these kids are more lower SES, from what Susana tells us. I'm really excited to meet my teacher tomorrow!
I'm still waiting to hit the "I just wanna go home" wall! I haven't yet... maybe I won't? I had a few moments of it the first week, but I feel so at home in my piso and at my school now.
Besitos, mi dulcitos! (kisses my darlings!)
Ana
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Madrid!
Ashamedly, it’s been almost a full week since I’ve written. I’ll try to do better in the future, I promise! There’s just so much going on! On Friday all the new students went on a tour of Madrid, and it was amazing! I can’t really do it justice at all, and my pictures only partially describe it all. We saw so many things, and Javier (our teacher and tour guide, who knows so much about Spain!) told us so many things, I can hardly remember it all. I should’ve taken notes. We saw so many amazing historical sites and “famous” buildings that I’ve learned about. We saw the Prado (but didn’t go in, I’m going in 2 weeks!!), the royal palace, el Parque Retiro, the Plaza Mayor, the Gran Via, and sooo many more incredible things! Check out my pictures on Facebook, if you can! I took so many, my camera died right when we made it to this amazing market. It killed me to not have my camera when I was in the presence of such beautiful food!
(Last picture at the market before my camera died!)
So I didn’t get to take any pictures of the royal palace either, which is really sad!! It is beautiful and incredible, and makes the White House look a bit shabby! It has thousands of rooms and brilliant architecture, but we were all very disappointed to learn that Juan Carlos doesn’t live here, but lives in a smaller palace about 20 miles away. Oh, well.
We walked around Gran Via, which is basically the central street with tons of stores, and the central square (pretty much like Times Square in New York, but prettier), and we got to eat our lunch by the fountain and then wander around for awhile. Chester, who had been to Spain before, remembered this Churrería (shop that sells churros) that he went to before that was nearby, so a few of us went there, and it was amazing! Churros are a popular breakfast/brunch dish here (usually on the weekends), and its basically a long friend doughnut dipped chocolate. The chocolate has a consistency between hot cocoa and melted chocolate… it is sooo fabulous! The picture will make your mouth water!
(Churros y chocolate... yum!)
(Part of the main square/Gran Via area, it's impossible to get it all in one picture)
We also got to see the Plaza Mayor, which is also beautiful and well-known! I read about it all the time in high school, so it’s weird to actually be there in real life!
(Plaza Mayor!)
I took almost 200 pictures while my camera was still alive, mostly because all of the buildings in the downtown places we were are gorgeous!! Like, super amazing. So I was really obsessed with everything I saw and took tons of pictures. Here are a few of my favorites!
Here are a few more of my favorite pictures of the day...
(Beautiful views from the Parque Retiro)
(There were some amazing statues at the Parque Retiro, like this mermaid!)
Pretty much, I spent the weekend recovering from the long day in Madrid and planning some future trips... we're heading to Barcelona next weekend, so except 300+ pictures from there! I'm so excited! We also booked tickets to Rome, Dublin, and various other locations in Spain! Soooo exciting!
Hasta luego!
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