Hello all,
((This post is specifically for all those people in the States who watch Dancing with the Stars...))
This week has been good. I met with my other intercambio this week, Javier. He´s pretty cool. When we got together he showed me pictures of his family vacation to New York City, which was pretty sweet because I had been there years ago... I think it will be fun having two intercambios and being about to talk and converse with them. It definitely wasn´t as awkward as I had imagined meeting them for the first time.
Right now I am in the process of booking my spring break trip to Italy... Things are falling into place which is good.
Oh and great news! I got accepted to go on a Summer Project to Ocean City, New Jersey with Campus Crusade for Christ! I am soooo excited! If you want to hear more about it, I´ll post the link to the website. Right now I don´t have much time to explain but I will later... ((http://gosummerproject.com/))
But on the subject of Dancing with the Stars... Spain has an equivilant called ¡Mira Quién Baila! - which translates to Look Who Dances or something like that. Last night was the first show of the new season. It was GREAT! It was exactly like Dancing with the Stars but in Spanish. The contestants are all famous in some way and the judges are hilarious!
Well I better get going to class. I have my first Culture and Civ test today!
Love,
Sarah
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Mercadillos and Tutús
Hola,
Nothing extremely crazy has happened since I last updated on here.... This weekend had insanely beautiful weather, which is probably the last thing you want to hear since I heard Iowa just received four inches of new snow and I´m sure Chicago is having similar luck. Since it was so nice, a few of us went to the beach for the afternoon just to hang out. We also went to the Mercadillo, which is the equivalent of a Spanish flea market. You could buy absolutely EVERYTHING there, from shoes to clothes to fresh produce to jewelry to flowers to amazingly good churros. It was a blast. It is always fun to do local things like that. Saturdays are always hopping but Sundays are so dead. Since everything is closed, no one is driving around in their cars so the streets are pretty empty but the cafés and restaurants are always popular. The Explanada on Sundays is very busy too - people eating ice cream, hanging out by the beach, and just catching up with friends. It´s how I imagine Sundays are supposed to be.
This Sunday instead of going to my regular church, I went with Feli to her Catholic Church. It was very different than the Protestant church I attend here, which is to be expected because that is the same in the States. Catholicism used to be the official religion of Spain until 1978 with the new Constitution after Franco´s regime ended. However, religion is kinda dying out. People are not regular church-goers, especially the young people. This was quite evident at church today. There was mostly older people and rarely any young adults or children. Of course, I couldn´t understand everything that was going on but there were many similarities between this Catholic church and the few Catholic services I have been to in the States. The layout seemed to be the same.
As I´m sure I have mentioned, this coming weekend is Carnaval in Alicante, which is a HUGE deal. Everyone dresses up in costumes and it is a big party in the streets, or so I´m told. I will provide more details after I experience this crazy fiesta. But some of us got together to put together our costumes. Two of us decided to make tutús (like ballerinas) - they turned out hilarious!! I will definitely post pictures. The same night Alba, my Spanish host sister, had her friends over to finish their costumes as well. They are dressing up as the Duff beers girls from the Simpsons. Haha. I never watch the Simpsons so at first when they were trying to explain their costumes to me, I had no idea what they were talking about!
This weekend, I also watching Harry Potter on TV in Spanish and ate octopus and sepia - mmmm delicious. :) I can´t wait to bring these amazing recipes back to the States! Everything has been going well. Although lately I have been incredibly tired. Maybe it´s because I haven´t had Diet Coke since I have been here :) (I´m trying to kick my addiction). But I have just been dead after dinner... it must have something to do with all this Spanish. Sometimes it is so overwelming and all I want to do is put on a hoodie and watch something in English! Haha. I didn´t even bring a hoodie or my computer to watching shows in English. But I think this is a good thing; it forces me to learn more instead of playing it safe and easy with English. All in all the week and weekend was a success. Can´t wait til Carnaval next weekend!!
Un beso,
Sarah
PS I almost forgot! I met with my Intercambio #2 on Thursday night. I meet with #1 tomorrow. But we had a lot of fun. His name is Pedro and is studying to become an engineer at the University. We met up at a bar and talked in both English and Spanish but when we meet regularly we are only going to speak in one language. This way our heads don´t start to hurt from having to go back and forth from language to language. He seems really nice and I can´t wait to get together again. The more I speak and listen to Spanish the better!
Nothing extremely crazy has happened since I last updated on here.... This weekend had insanely beautiful weather, which is probably the last thing you want to hear since I heard Iowa just received four inches of new snow and I´m sure Chicago is having similar luck. Since it was so nice, a few of us went to the beach for the afternoon just to hang out. We also went to the Mercadillo, which is the equivalent of a Spanish flea market. You could buy absolutely EVERYTHING there, from shoes to clothes to fresh produce to jewelry to flowers to amazingly good churros. It was a blast. It is always fun to do local things like that. Saturdays are always hopping but Sundays are so dead. Since everything is closed, no one is driving around in their cars so the streets are pretty empty but the cafés and restaurants are always popular. The Explanada on Sundays is very busy too - people eating ice cream, hanging out by the beach, and just catching up with friends. It´s how I imagine Sundays are supposed to be.
This Sunday instead of going to my regular church, I went with Feli to her Catholic Church. It was very different than the Protestant church I attend here, which is to be expected because that is the same in the States. Catholicism used to be the official religion of Spain until 1978 with the new Constitution after Franco´s regime ended. However, religion is kinda dying out. People are not regular church-goers, especially the young people. This was quite evident at church today. There was mostly older people and rarely any young adults or children. Of course, I couldn´t understand everything that was going on but there were many similarities between this Catholic church and the few Catholic services I have been to in the States. The layout seemed to be the same.
As I´m sure I have mentioned, this coming weekend is Carnaval in Alicante, which is a HUGE deal. Everyone dresses up in costumes and it is a big party in the streets, or so I´m told. I will provide more details after I experience this crazy fiesta. But some of us got together to put together our costumes. Two of us decided to make tutús (like ballerinas) - they turned out hilarious!! I will definitely post pictures. The same night Alba, my Spanish host sister, had her friends over to finish their costumes as well. They are dressing up as the Duff beers girls from the Simpsons. Haha. I never watch the Simpsons so at first when they were trying to explain their costumes to me, I had no idea what they were talking about!
This weekend, I also watching Harry Potter on TV in Spanish and ate octopus and sepia - mmmm delicious. :) I can´t wait to bring these amazing recipes back to the States! Everything has been going well. Although lately I have been incredibly tired. Maybe it´s because I haven´t had Diet Coke since I have been here :) (I´m trying to kick my addiction). But I have just been dead after dinner... it must have something to do with all this Spanish. Sometimes it is so overwelming and all I want to do is put on a hoodie and watch something in English! Haha. I didn´t even bring a hoodie or my computer to watching shows in English. But I think this is a good thing; it forces me to learn more instead of playing it safe and easy with English. All in all the week and weekend was a success. Can´t wait til Carnaval next weekend!!
Un beso,
Sarah
PS I almost forgot! I met with my Intercambio #2 on Thursday night. I meet with #1 tomorrow. But we had a lot of fun. His name is Pedro and is studying to become an engineer at the University. We met up at a bar and talked in both English and Spanish but when we meet regularly we are only going to speak in one language. This way our heads don´t start to hurt from having to go back and forth from language to language. He seems really nice and I can´t wait to get together again. The more I speak and listen to Spanish the better!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
La Vida Espanola
¡Buenos días!
I hope this post finds everyone happy and doing well! Spain is still amazing... :)
Last weekend was very laid back. I hung out with my host family, explored Alicante a little (went to the 2nd castle), attended church on Sunday, and met with some other foreign students from Germany etc. for coffee in a popular spot in Alicante. The coffee we had was more like a chocolate pudding - very rich and delicious! There is this really cute ice cream place on La Rambla (a main street in Alicante). The flavors there are so different too.
Classes have been going well. Definitely a different kind of work than at Loyola. Í love it because I feel like I am doing my homework all the time - living life in Spain, speaking the language, eating the food, immersing myself in the culture... I am always learning! My host family and I like to watch a Spanish TV show called ¨Pasapalabra¨ or a show about Spaniards all over the world. It´s great! The other night we watched Million Dollar Baby in Spanish, too. My vocabulary is growing although it is still difficult for me to comprehend what Spaniards are saying when they talk so rapidly but it will come.
The second weekend in February is a big celebration called Carnaval. Everyone dresses up like it is Halloween and the celebrations last for a week - always the week before Lent for Catholics. So this weekend a few of us are going to go costume (disfraz) shopping :) I´m not sure what I am going to be yet!
This weekend I am also hoping to meet with my intercambios. Intercambios are Spaniards that want to improve their English, so they will help me with my Spanish and I will help them with their English. I actually have TWO intercambios because I didn´t think one was going to work out - because we have opposite schedules - but now it will. Dos Intercambios - How lucky am I? Their names are Javier and Pedro. I can´t wait to meet them!! I´ll definitely post on how that goes!
Feli, my host mom, has been teaching me how to cook a few dishes such as tortilla espanola, paella, y cocido. So delicious! Tonight I think we are having ¨pulp¨ which is octopus! So excited! Feli tells me she is so happy that I will eat anything and like everything because some of her past students never ate fish or vegetables etc. I love all the seafood! I can´t wait til my parents send me soem measuring cups and spoons so I can make them some of our family´s dishes. My favorite side dish that we eat is endives with salt, vinegar, olive oil, and blue cheese crumbles - Mmmmm :) I also really like the cocido, which is cooked in our equivalent of a crock pot. It has garbanzo beans, pork leg, chorizo (a type of sausage...), carrots, and a few other veggies in a wonderful broth (or as they say: salsa).
It is definitely good that I had an open mind when I came here or it could have been rough!
Anyways class is about to start!
Hasta luego,
Sarah
I hope this post finds everyone happy and doing well! Spain is still amazing... :)
Last weekend was very laid back. I hung out with my host family, explored Alicante a little (went to the 2nd castle), attended church on Sunday, and met with some other foreign students from Germany etc. for coffee in a popular spot in Alicante. The coffee we had was more like a chocolate pudding - very rich and delicious! There is this really cute ice cream place on La Rambla (a main street in Alicante). The flavors there are so different too.
Classes have been going well. Definitely a different kind of work than at Loyola. Í love it because I feel like I am doing my homework all the time - living life in Spain, speaking the language, eating the food, immersing myself in the culture... I am always learning! My host family and I like to watch a Spanish TV show called ¨Pasapalabra¨ or a show about Spaniards all over the world. It´s great! The other night we watched Million Dollar Baby in Spanish, too. My vocabulary is growing although it is still difficult for me to comprehend what Spaniards are saying when they talk so rapidly but it will come.
The second weekend in February is a big celebration called Carnaval. Everyone dresses up like it is Halloween and the celebrations last for a week - always the week before Lent for Catholics. So this weekend a few of us are going to go costume (disfraz) shopping :) I´m not sure what I am going to be yet!
This weekend I am also hoping to meet with my intercambios. Intercambios are Spaniards that want to improve their English, so they will help me with my Spanish and I will help them with their English. I actually have TWO intercambios because I didn´t think one was going to work out - because we have opposite schedules - but now it will. Dos Intercambios - How lucky am I? Their names are Javier and Pedro. I can´t wait to meet them!! I´ll definitely post on how that goes!
Feli, my host mom, has been teaching me how to cook a few dishes such as tortilla espanola, paella, y cocido. So delicious! Tonight I think we are having ¨pulp¨ which is octopus! So excited! Feli tells me she is so happy that I will eat anything and like everything because some of her past students never ate fish or vegetables etc. I love all the seafood! I can´t wait til my parents send me soem measuring cups and spoons so I can make them some of our family´s dishes. My favorite side dish that we eat is endives with salt, vinegar, olive oil, and blue cheese crumbles - Mmmmm :) I also really like the cocido, which is cooked in our equivalent of a crock pot. It has garbanzo beans, pork leg, chorizo (a type of sausage...), carrots, and a few other veggies in a wonderful broth (or as they say: salsa).
It is definitely good that I had an open mind when I came here or it could have been rough!
Anyways class is about to start!
Hasta luego,
Sarah
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