Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
La enfermedad
Well after only 2 days in the country, I ended up with a sore throat and a bit of a fever. Part of the problem is that it gets so hot here during the day that the bedrooms don't really cool down that much at night. Anyway so on Thursday night, I had taken some cold/ flu medicine and planned on going to bed early. Except I couldn't stop sweating and I don't think I have ever felt so hot in my whole entire life. Trying not to be the whining, annoying American, I was all prepared to tough it out. Until I started thinking about swine flu. In my feverish state I was convinced I had swine flu and had a high fever and would therefore die and/or suffer brain damage. Suffice it to say, I was a little delirious. So I finally asked my host mom to take my temperature and told her what I was afraid of. She just laughed and offered me some water and yogurt or food when it turned out I had a temp of 37 degrees celsius. So basically, I was going to pull through.
Anyway, the rest of the week passed without any problems other than the heat and my seemingly super effective cooling system (I sweat a lot here). Friday night we went out for some early tapas and sangria before going to bed since we had an early day in Ronda planned for Saturday. Ronda is an amazing city perched over a precipice, with an old bullfighting ring, whitewashed houses, and amazing gardens. The most interesting part was learning about bullfighting which most Spaniards are actually rather conflicted about. I mean, it really is an art form but at the same time brutal. We learned that the bulls used live in complete freedom for 5 years and are well taken care of. And if a matador thinks that they are of good quality, he can actually stop the fight and petition to save the bull for breeding purposes. The reason why the bull is killed is because they are so smart, that if they were around longer than 20 minutes, they would figure out the matador's movements and could kill them instead. Still though, it will be interesting once we actually get to see a real bullfight in Sevilla. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it.
All of this we learned on our long tour, and we had plenty of time to appreciate all the beauty of Ronda. Seriously, I could see myself living there. Unfortunately I am becoming rather good at embracing this whole Spanish sense of relaxation. So instead of spending our free afternoon wandering around and visiting museums and other points of historical interest, I took a nap in the park. Then I went and spent two hours sitting with some of the other students at a cafe. Oh well, as they say here, no pasa nada.
On Saturday night it was finally time for us to go out and explore. I am coming to realize that most of my money here will be spent on drinks: either water or alcohol. It is much cheaper to drink a glass of wine than basically anything else here but still adds up. After checking out a few bars, we decided to go dancing for a little bit before calling it a night. Even though it was 1 AM, the place was completely empty! I was coming to find out that nights don't really actually start here until early morning.
Today was the day for the beach, which was an hour's bus ride south to a small Mediterranean town called Salobrena. Basically the Mediterranean was everything I expected it to be: beautiful, warm, clear, salty and crowded. It was amazing how buoyant I was and I literally just floated in the water for most of the day, only pausing for a bocadillo of ham, tomatoes, olive oil and cheese and to drink some more water. It is amazing how the Spanish sense of having a good time transfers to the beach -- everyone was there, from topless sunbathing grandmas to tiny tots, jetsetting yacht owners to vendors from Africa selling sunglasses. Needless to say, coming back to my homework was a disappointment.
Oh yeah, and as to my flu: I feel fine. Other than losing my voice yesterday, getting a red sunburn on my back today, and feeling really tired, I'm fit and in fighting shape. I miss you all!
Jenny
Anyway, the rest of the week passed without any problems other than the heat and my seemingly super effective cooling system (I sweat a lot here). Friday night we went out for some early tapas and sangria before going to bed since we had an early day in Ronda planned for Saturday. Ronda is an amazing city perched over a precipice, with an old bullfighting ring, whitewashed houses, and amazing gardens. The most interesting part was learning about bullfighting which most Spaniards are actually rather conflicted about. I mean, it really is an art form but at the same time brutal. We learned that the bulls used live in complete freedom for 5 years and are well taken care of. And if a matador thinks that they are of good quality, he can actually stop the fight and petition to save the bull for breeding purposes. The reason why the bull is killed is because they are so smart, that if they were around longer than 20 minutes, they would figure out the matador's movements and could kill them instead. Still though, it will be interesting once we actually get to see a real bullfight in Sevilla. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it.
All of this we learned on our long tour, and we had plenty of time to appreciate all the beauty of Ronda. Seriously, I could see myself living there. Unfortunately I am becoming rather good at embracing this whole Spanish sense of relaxation. So instead of spending our free afternoon wandering around and visiting museums and other points of historical interest, I took a nap in the park. Then I went and spent two hours sitting with some of the other students at a cafe. Oh well, as they say here, no pasa nada.
On Saturday night it was finally time for us to go out and explore. I am coming to realize that most of my money here will be spent on drinks: either water or alcohol. It is much cheaper to drink a glass of wine than basically anything else here but still adds up. After checking out a few bars, we decided to go dancing for a little bit before calling it a night. Even though it was 1 AM, the place was completely empty! I was coming to find out that nights don't really actually start here until early morning.
Today was the day for the beach, which was an hour's bus ride south to a small Mediterranean town called Salobrena. Basically the Mediterranean was everything I expected it to be: beautiful, warm, clear, salty and crowded. It was amazing how buoyant I was and I literally just floated in the water for most of the day, only pausing for a bocadillo of ham, tomatoes, olive oil and cheese and to drink some more water. It is amazing how the Spanish sense of having a good time transfers to the beach -- everyone was there, from topless sunbathing grandmas to tiny tots, jetsetting yacht owners to vendors from Africa selling sunglasses. Needless to say, coming back to my homework was a disappointment.
Oh yeah, and as to my flu: I feel fine. Other than losing my voice yesterday, getting a red sunburn on my back today, and feeling really tired, I'm fit and in fighting shape. I miss you all!
Jenny
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Al Principio
After more than 30 sleepless hours spent in planes or in airports, I finally managed to make it to Granada in one piece. I have to say that I was quite proud of the way I used my Spanish once we got to Madrid but that was short-lived. On my way through security there I forgot to take out my laptop from my backpack. So, the man working at the computer asked me to remove it to rescan the thing. Unfortunately, here they're called "ordenadors" and not "computadoras" so I just kept thinking he was telling me how I should order/ organize the stuff in my backpack. With that one miscommunication under my belt, I stayed fairly quiet in the cab ride from the airport, hoping against all hope that my taxi driver actually would know where to drop me off and how I should enter the house. Since I had just been given a name, address and phone number, I had no clue. And here, everyone lives in apartment buildings with gates, locks, and weird numbering. So, the taxi driver ended up calling my host mom twice to figure out how to get in. But, finally, after lugging my two suitcases to the second floor (with the help of my roommate from Seattle), I arrived.
My host mom, Nati, was waiting with her daughter and granddaughter for us. Judging by the number of Portland, Oregon magnets on her refrigerator and Oregon cookbooks, I'd say she's hosted quite a few exchange students before. Nati is talkative, super nice, and fairly easy to understand. Needless to say though, the next few hours spent unpacking, talking with Nati, playing with her granddaughter Lola, and trying to understand Spanish game shows (a cross between Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Password, and Wheel of Fortune), I was so exhausted who knows what I said in Spanish. Probably the highlight of my day was finding out that cereal is eaten here and that the last week at home I spent hoarding Cinnamon Toast Crunch was unnecessary, but in hindsight still well worth it.
This morning after a breakfast of yogurt and croissants with cheese we headed off to our school. It's about a 15 minute walk if we don't get lost which is nice. Basically Granada looks exactly like a Spanish city should: lots of shaded plazas and cafes, tree-lined broader streets bustling with people, and tiny narrow alleys in which you are lucky to avoid approaching cars and the walls of the stucco buildings at the same time. At around 3, it was time to return home for a lunch of ham (which I just typed with a "j"...looks like my Spanish is already getting better), pasta, salad,and bread and a much needed siesta which brings me to about right now. I did say I would try to post every Wednesday, didn't I? Anyway this evening, a small group of us are meeting up for our homework which is basically a walking tour of the nearby neighborhood. Even though Granada is a fairly safe city,after all the warnings we got in class,I'm thinking that my main goal should be avoiding being robbed. Sounds good, right?
My host mom, Nati, was waiting with her daughter and granddaughter for us. Judging by the number of Portland, Oregon magnets on her refrigerator and Oregon cookbooks, I'd say she's hosted quite a few exchange students before. Nati is talkative, super nice, and fairly easy to understand. Needless to say though, the next few hours spent unpacking, talking with Nati, playing with her granddaughter Lola, and trying to understand Spanish game shows (a cross between Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Password, and Wheel of Fortune), I was so exhausted who knows what I said in Spanish. Probably the highlight of my day was finding out that cereal is eaten here and that the last week at home I spent hoarding Cinnamon Toast Crunch was unnecessary, but in hindsight still well worth it.
This morning after a breakfast of yogurt and croissants with cheese we headed off to our school. It's about a 15 minute walk if we don't get lost which is nice. Basically Granada looks exactly like a Spanish city should: lots of shaded plazas and cafes, tree-lined broader streets bustling with people, and tiny narrow alleys in which you are lucky to avoid approaching cars and the walls of the stucco buildings at the same time. At around 3, it was time to return home for a lunch of ham (which I just typed with a "j"...looks like my Spanish is already getting better), pasta, salad,and bread and a much needed siesta which brings me to about right now. I did say I would try to post every Wednesday, didn't I? Anyway this evening, a small group of us are meeting up for our homework which is basically a walking tour of the nearby neighborhood. Even though Granada is a fairly safe city,after all the warnings we got in class,I'm thinking that my main goal should be avoiding being robbed. Sounds good, right?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Preparation
I hate packing. There's just something so demeaning about cramming basically all your important personal possessions into a tiny cramped bag, not to mention the nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you've forgotten something important or that you are entirely too superficial and that no one should bring this much stuff with them to the airport. What will my host family think when I show up on their doorstep weighed down by luggage? Worse still, what will security think? Obviously I'm having a little trouble figuring out what's important for this trip. Thus, my dilemma was how to pack for 4 months in Spain. It'll be hot but it will rain; I will mostly be living in Granada, however I plan to travel around a little too. So four days, a messy room, and some cramming, cursing, and crushing later, I am packed -- two suitcases and a backpack. Please don't judge....
Anyway as far as the trip itself is concerned, I am ready. I've been ready. Hell, I've been planning for this experience since I was a sophomore in High School. Being around Willamette's campus this summer has made me a little nostalgic for missing out on fall semester but I have to say that I am perfectly okay with not seeing the bright-eyed freshmen, eating at Goudy (except for Dee Dee's sandwiches), and yes, even working/ studying (if that's what you can call it) at the library. So, with that, welcome to my blog. I will only promise that I will try my best to write about life in Spain and I will try to write regularly (maybe a post by every Wed/ Sun kind of thing). Please leave me comments, complaints, concerns; whatever you feel like. Knowing that someone is actually reading this will make writing much much easier. Hasta prontisimo!
Anyway as far as the trip itself is concerned, I am ready. I've been ready. Hell, I've been planning for this experience since I was a sophomore in High School. Being around Willamette's campus this summer has made me a little nostalgic for missing out on fall semester but I have to say that I am perfectly okay with not seeing the bright-eyed freshmen, eating at Goudy (except for Dee Dee's sandwiches), and yes, even working/ studying (if that's what you can call it) at the library. So, with that, welcome to my blog. I will only promise that I will try my best to write about life in Spain and I will try to write regularly (maybe a post by every Wed/ Sun kind of thing). Please leave me comments, complaints, concerns; whatever you feel like. Knowing that someone is actually reading this will make writing much much easier. Hasta prontisimo!
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