There is still no luck with the airport stuff. I asked this time if it is okay if I come back sometime in February or March to check and they said that was fine. They don´t know why it is taking so long to get a response telling them how much I owe, but my ticket has already been changed to May, so there are no worries there. So I am not going to worry about it until classes start in February and I have a free morning or afternoon to take a trip back to the airport.
In other news, I have NO idea how I´ll be spending my New Year´s Eve. Today at lunch my host parents asked me if we ate grapes on New Year´s at home. I sort of looked at her funny and she explained that the tradition here is that they each eat a grape every time the bell rings at midnight on New Year´s. So everyone eats a total of twelve grapes to bring in the new year, and then they all run out on the streets. Apparently you can´t run on the street alone, though. You must have a friend with you or a lover... so I guess that means I´ll be watching the street running from my balcony!! I thought about going downtown to the touristy spots to see what kinds of things are going on there on New Year´s, but I think that I´ll probably get more of a cultural experience if I just hang out with my host parents. On the 1st all of the family is coming over for another large family meal. I´m not sure what the food will be this time, but I´m sure it will be delicious and the family will be entertaining as usual.
The last couple days since Christmas have been pretty good. I´ve spent a lot of time reading a book that one of the other BCA girls left with me when she went home. It is called The World is Flat and written by Thomas Friedman. It is "a brief history of the twenty-first century" and is really really interesting. I don´t usually read books like this, full of facts and statistics, but this one is so fascinating that I think everyone needs to read it to get a little dose of reality about how our education systems need to change to keep the United States where it is and prepare for the future of a flat world. Anywho, besides reading I´ve spent quite a bit of time with my host parents just around the apartment. Then, the other night, I got a really great surprise! The house phone rang and my host mom answered and looked all confused and said it was for me. It was Tim Polakowski calling me!!! He and I talked for quite a while catching up on the last semester. I found out that I had three of the same professors as he had when he was here two years ago. It was also nice to talk to him about Christmas because he knew exactly how hard it was since he spent it here as well during his year abroad. When I got off the phone my host mom was very confused because Tim had spoken to her in Spanish and I talked to him in English... She thought that he was a boy I had met here!! I explained that he had studied here two years ago and she understood, but was still impressed by how polite he was and how good his Spanish on the phone was.
Well, that´s about all for now. You should all look at Kacie´s blog (I added the link today) because she starts her semester in England in a week and has already been in Europe for about a week. I´ll try and write again at least once before I leave for my trip!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas Novel
Well, I did it!! I made it through Christmas here in Spain!!
Our Christmas festivities began on Monday night "La Noche Buena" with a very large meal at my host parent´s oldest daughter, Luisa´s, house. Luisa and her husband Jordi are wonderful, as are their two children, Maria and Ariadna. We got to their house around 7 PM on Monday night and I played with the girls for about an hour. Then we went back downstairs from the playroom and sang Christmas songs with Iaia (pronounced Yaya, which is what they call their grandma, my host mom). Eventually, around 8:45, we started the process of eating. After about 4 courses and lots and lots of turrón (the special Spanish Christmas sweet) it was almost 11 and my phone rang!! So I talked to my mom for about 20 minutes while posing for pictures because the girls kept running in with the camera to take pictures of me. A little after midnight my host parents decided it was time to go. So we made the 25 minute drive back into Barcelona in about 20 minutes and when we were parking my host mom all of a sudden turned to me and said that midnight mass was still going on if I would like to go and see. So she and I gave our things to my host dad and we ran to the church around the corner to go to the second half of the mass. It was in Catalan, but really beautiful. Because I am an emotional mess, when they started singing "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" I started crying because it made me really miss home and our Christmas Eve services at my church. This is the first one I have ever missed, and also the first one in many many years that I haven´t sung at! So when the service ended, we went out into the Plaça outside the church to watch the beginning of the festivities there, and my host dad was standing out there waiting for us!! He said he couldn´t get into the church because there were too many people. Anywho, after the service, a lot of people just hang out celebrating Christmas in the Plaça eating turrón and drinking coffee while standing around a big bonfire. My host parents and I were all pretty tired, so we walked back to our apartment and went to bed.
On Christmas morning I woke up and got ready for a full day. After showering and getting dressed I sat down and opened a Christmas card from one of the women at my church who gave me a package of cards for every month and holiday before I left the US. I also read the Christmas story so that I could sort of feel like I was home with my family doing our normal Christmas morning thing. We ended up leaving the apartment around noon to go to David (my host parents´ son) and Marta´s house. David and Marta also have two daughters named Alida and Ana. Alida is about 4 or 5 and Ana is about a year old. So after we got to their house, I played with Alida for two hours or so until it was time to eat. This meal was not quite as large as the one the night before, partly because I don´t eat seafood and the main course was very large shrimp which still had the eyes on them!! But, all of the other food was delicious. Right as we finished eating and were getting ready for the coffee or tea, my phone rang again! My family has perfect timing! So I excused myself and went to the other half of the room to talk to them. This phone call was probably the hardest part of my Christmas... I am pretty sure I cried at least 7 different times. First I talked to my little sister who told me that it was really hard not to have me at the Christmas Eve service the night before, which was the first time I cried. Then I talked to my mom and cried while telling her about the midnight mass I went to. Then I talked to my dad and cried while he said something else about the Christmas Eve service and me not being there. And finally I talked to my big sister and cried just because she said she missed me!! There was a lot of time on the phone, though, when I wasn´t crying, and it was nice to be able to talk to each of my family members. When I finally got off the phone and went back into the main room, Marta´s mom, two sisters, and brother were there! So we all sat around for a while eating turrón and other sweet things while my host mom and one of Marta´s sisters entertained us by singing and dancing! It was pretty fun. Finally, around 7:30 my host parents decided to leave, so we got home around 8. When we got home, my host mom was going to start on the canalones for the next day. I asked if she would like help, so I went into the kitchen and we had a really good conversation. She said that today was a good day but that it was a sad one for me. I told her that it was sad but really good too. I reassured her that I really love living with her and my host dad and that I love their family. I told her thank you for letting me participate in all of the family festivities. She understood that I was happy but also told me that "family is family and there is no replacing them" meaning that she knew it was also a hard time for me. So after our conversation I helped make all of the canalones and clean the kitchen and then we went and crashed on the sofa. Eventually she went to bed and I went shortly after that.
Then came yesterday. Yesterday ALL of the family came to our apartment, meaning including us and all the grandkids, there were 13 people in our apartment. They all got there right around 1:30 and we ate at 2:00. After some more turrón and other sweets we cleaned up and started the real fun! One of the things that is different here from home is that Santa doesn´t bring all the presents to the kids. Here, they have the "Caga Tio" which is a piece of wood with legs and a face and a santa hat which they have to feed and take care of in their own house until Christmas. When they got to their grandparents´ house, the Caga Tio had grown because he was full of presents. Really, we had taken the bigger one from David´s house the night before and set it up before the family came over. So the Caga Tio´s bottom half is covered with blankets to keep him warm. Each of the kids takes a stick and starts beating on the Caga Tio while singing a song to him (which I don´t remember the words to). Then, they lift up the blanket and he has left some gifts for each one of them! As they take the gifts and open them, all of the family distracts them while one person puts more gifts under the blanket. Then the kids to the whole routine again. They did it 5 times, and then when they turned around, the Caga Tio had changed into it´s smaller self again, which meant that it didn´t have any presents left for them. I took a few pictures, so I´ll see if I can get them on here. It is really a fun process, though, and afterwards there was a bag of gifts with one for all of the adults. My host parents got me some star earrings and a beautiful silver bracelet. After the Caga Tio, we pretty much just sat around and played with the girls and their gifts until about 6:30 when everyone started to leave. My host parents and I cleaned up a bit and then went on a walk since we had eaten so much and not left the house all day. Afterwards, we pretty much crashed and watched TV for the rest of the night until one by one we left for bed.
So, now that I truly have written a novel about my Christmas experiences which I´m not sure any of you will get all the way through, I think I should stop!! Only one more week until I leave for my trip, so I´ll definitely try to keep writing until then... Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families!!
Our Christmas festivities began on Monday night "La Noche Buena" with a very large meal at my host parent´s oldest daughter, Luisa´s, house. Luisa and her husband Jordi are wonderful, as are their two children, Maria and Ariadna. We got to their house around 7 PM on Monday night and I played with the girls for about an hour. Then we went back downstairs from the playroom and sang Christmas songs with Iaia (pronounced Yaya, which is what they call their grandma, my host mom). Eventually, around 8:45, we started the process of eating. After about 4 courses and lots and lots of turrón (the special Spanish Christmas sweet) it was almost 11 and my phone rang!! So I talked to my mom for about 20 minutes while posing for pictures because the girls kept running in with the camera to take pictures of me. A little after midnight my host parents decided it was time to go. So we made the 25 minute drive back into Barcelona in about 20 minutes and when we were parking my host mom all of a sudden turned to me and said that midnight mass was still going on if I would like to go and see. So she and I gave our things to my host dad and we ran to the church around the corner to go to the second half of the mass. It was in Catalan, but really beautiful. Because I am an emotional mess, when they started singing "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" I started crying because it made me really miss home and our Christmas Eve services at my church. This is the first one I have ever missed, and also the first one in many many years that I haven´t sung at! So when the service ended, we went out into the Plaça outside the church to watch the beginning of the festivities there, and my host dad was standing out there waiting for us!! He said he couldn´t get into the church because there were too many people. Anywho, after the service, a lot of people just hang out celebrating Christmas in the Plaça eating turrón and drinking coffee while standing around a big bonfire. My host parents and I were all pretty tired, so we walked back to our apartment and went to bed.
On Christmas morning I woke up and got ready for a full day. After showering and getting dressed I sat down and opened a Christmas card from one of the women at my church who gave me a package of cards for every month and holiday before I left the US. I also read the Christmas story so that I could sort of feel like I was home with my family doing our normal Christmas morning thing. We ended up leaving the apartment around noon to go to David (my host parents´ son) and Marta´s house. David and Marta also have two daughters named Alida and Ana. Alida is about 4 or 5 and Ana is about a year old. So after we got to their house, I played with Alida for two hours or so until it was time to eat. This meal was not quite as large as the one the night before, partly because I don´t eat seafood and the main course was very large shrimp which still had the eyes on them!! But, all of the other food was delicious. Right as we finished eating and were getting ready for the coffee or tea, my phone rang again! My family has perfect timing! So I excused myself and went to the other half of the room to talk to them. This phone call was probably the hardest part of my Christmas... I am pretty sure I cried at least 7 different times. First I talked to my little sister who told me that it was really hard not to have me at the Christmas Eve service the night before, which was the first time I cried. Then I talked to my mom and cried while telling her about the midnight mass I went to. Then I talked to my dad and cried while he said something else about the Christmas Eve service and me not being there. And finally I talked to my big sister and cried just because she said she missed me!! There was a lot of time on the phone, though, when I wasn´t crying, and it was nice to be able to talk to each of my family members. When I finally got off the phone and went back into the main room, Marta´s mom, two sisters, and brother were there! So we all sat around for a while eating turrón and other sweet things while my host mom and one of Marta´s sisters entertained us by singing and dancing! It was pretty fun. Finally, around 7:30 my host parents decided to leave, so we got home around 8. When we got home, my host mom was going to start on the canalones for the next day. I asked if she would like help, so I went into the kitchen and we had a really good conversation. She said that today was a good day but that it was a sad one for me. I told her that it was sad but really good too. I reassured her that I really love living with her and my host dad and that I love their family. I told her thank you for letting me participate in all of the family festivities. She understood that I was happy but also told me that "family is family and there is no replacing them" meaning that she knew it was also a hard time for me. So after our conversation I helped make all of the canalones and clean the kitchen and then we went and crashed on the sofa. Eventually she went to bed and I went shortly after that.
Then came yesterday. Yesterday ALL of the family came to our apartment, meaning including us and all the grandkids, there were 13 people in our apartment. They all got there right around 1:30 and we ate at 2:00. After some more turrón and other sweets we cleaned up and started the real fun! One of the things that is different here from home is that Santa doesn´t bring all the presents to the kids. Here, they have the "Caga Tio" which is a piece of wood with legs and a face and a santa hat which they have to feed and take care of in their own house until Christmas. When they got to their grandparents´ house, the Caga Tio had grown because he was full of presents. Really, we had taken the bigger one from David´s house the night before and set it up before the family came over. So the Caga Tio´s bottom half is covered with blankets to keep him warm. Each of the kids takes a stick and starts beating on the Caga Tio while singing a song to him (which I don´t remember the words to). Then, they lift up the blanket and he has left some gifts for each one of them! As they take the gifts and open them, all of the family distracts them while one person puts more gifts under the blanket. Then the kids to the whole routine again. They did it 5 times, and then when they turned around, the Caga Tio had changed into it´s smaller self again, which meant that it didn´t have any presents left for them. I took a few pictures, so I´ll see if I can get them on here. It is really a fun process, though, and afterwards there was a bag of gifts with one for all of the adults. My host parents got me some star earrings and a beautiful silver bracelet. After the Caga Tio, we pretty much just sat around and played with the girls and their gifts until about 6:30 when everyone started to leave. My host parents and I cleaned up a bit and then went on a walk since we had eaten so much and not left the house all day. Afterwards, we pretty much crashed and watched TV for the rest of the night until one by one we left for bed.
So, now that I truly have written a novel about my Christmas experiences which I´m not sure any of you will get all the way through, I think I should stop!! Only one more week until I leave for my trip, so I´ll definitely try to keep writing until then... Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families!!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Conejo
Yesterday for lunch I had a turkey leg, a really really big turkey leg. Then today for lunch we had "conejo" which is rabbit... The turkey was really random, but the fact that we had rabbit is actually pretty funny. See, about a week ago on the news there was a story about a guy who raised rabbits and how he was having large sales for the holidays. So I asked if a lot of people here eat it. My host mom didn´t really give a definitive yes or no before my host dad started going off about how much he loves conejo but that they never eat it. Then my host mom started to say how it is one of the best meats for you to eat. All the while, the news story was still on. All of a sudden, my host dad said "We´ll buy one tomorrow!" And my host mom started to argue with him and said "No! YOU will buy one tomorrow, not me!!" Apparently this is because she doesn´t like it very much. So then, today when I sat down for lunch, my host dad looked up and smiled at me, pointed to the plate of meat and said "Conejo!!!" So, I can add that to my list of meats that I have tried. It wasn´t too bad, once I got past the fact that I was eating a cute little bunny...
In other news, I had a not so fun experience on the metro the other day. While I was on the metro on Friday a man got on and stood next to me on one of the lean/sit bars. I found this a little strange because there was an empty one right across from me and another one diagonally from me. But, okay, right? So as I am standing there, he puts his stuff down and then I felt his hand on the bar, really close to my rear end... so I scoot over towards the wall a little bit thinking maybe it was just an accident. His hand followed and really was actually touching, REALLY touching my butt. So I immediately move over to the door and get off at the stop we just got to. I switched to another car and was pretty sure that he didn´t see where I went because there weren´t any windows between the car I came from and the one I went to. At the next stop, a lot of people got on, including the man from before. He looks at me, smiles, and walks right over so he is in the exact same spot as he was before on the previous car. At this point I was quite freaked out, so I walked to the opposite end of the car and got off at the next stop. Luckily I was only a stop away from where I was going, so I just left the metro altogether and walked in the most roundabout way possible to my location. It was so weird/scary/annoying... and I think the worst part is that it was the second time in a week that I couldn´t get a guy to leave me alone on the metro. I never had really thought about the dangers of being a female and traveling around Europe alone, but the reality of it just hit me. I know that I´ll be fine and God will protect me, but I just need to be very aware of my surroundings at all times and take extra precautions. Luckily with the two incidents here in the past week I was on metro lines and in a city that I am familiar with. That isn´t going to be the case in January!! So, just pray that I stay safe during my travels and that I don´t have anymore incidents with unagreeable males!!!
And for more happy news, tomorrow begins all of the fiestas for Navidad here in Barcelona! Tomorrow we´ll be going to the oldest daughter´s house for a huge family dinner. Tuesday we´ll be going to the son´s apartment for a big family lunch. And Wednesday they will all be coming to our apartment for another family meal, though I´m not sure which this will be. It should be fun and interesting and awkward and hard and a lot of other things... I´ll let you know how it all went once I can get back into the lab on Thursday! Until then, Merry Christmas, Bones Festes, and Feliz Navidad!!
In other news, I had a not so fun experience on the metro the other day. While I was on the metro on Friday a man got on and stood next to me on one of the lean/sit bars. I found this a little strange because there was an empty one right across from me and another one diagonally from me. But, okay, right? So as I am standing there, he puts his stuff down and then I felt his hand on the bar, really close to my rear end... so I scoot over towards the wall a little bit thinking maybe it was just an accident. His hand followed and really was actually touching, REALLY touching my butt. So I immediately move over to the door and get off at the stop we just got to. I switched to another car and was pretty sure that he didn´t see where I went because there weren´t any windows between the car I came from and the one I went to. At the next stop, a lot of people got on, including the man from before. He looks at me, smiles, and walks right over so he is in the exact same spot as he was before on the previous car. At this point I was quite freaked out, so I walked to the opposite end of the car and got off at the next stop. Luckily I was only a stop away from where I was going, so I just left the metro altogether and walked in the most roundabout way possible to my location. It was so weird/scary/annoying... and I think the worst part is that it was the second time in a week that I couldn´t get a guy to leave me alone on the metro. I never had really thought about the dangers of being a female and traveling around Europe alone, but the reality of it just hit me. I know that I´ll be fine and God will protect me, but I just need to be very aware of my surroundings at all times and take extra precautions. Luckily with the two incidents here in the past week I was on metro lines and in a city that I am familiar with. That isn´t going to be the case in January!! So, just pray that I stay safe during my travels and that I don´t have anymore incidents with unagreeable males!!!
And for more happy news, tomorrow begins all of the fiestas for Navidad here in Barcelona! Tomorrow we´ll be going to the oldest daughter´s house for a huge family dinner. Tuesday we´ll be going to the son´s apartment for a big family lunch. And Wednesday they will all be coming to our apartment for another family meal, though I´m not sure which this will be. It should be fun and interesting and awkward and hard and a lot of other things... I´ll let you know how it all went once I can get back into the lab on Thursday! Until then, Merry Christmas, Bones Festes, and Feliz Navidad!!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Good things
I went back to the airport yesterday to pay that $75, but it was a wasted trip. For some reason, Air France in the US still hasn´t emailed Air France here, so they told me that I would have to come back, AGAIN!!! Now, it´s not that it is an incredibly long trip or anything to the airport, it is just inconvenient and the airport is annoyingly super busy. I also have this really irrational fear of airports, so going twice within a week is a really big thing for me!
Onto more exciting things... I watched Shrek 2 the other night with my host mom, and that was a lot of fun. I bought a sudoku book and have been doing them while watching the news with my host parents at night, and my host mom said she wanted to start doing them because they are "good for your brain." So on my way home from the airport yesterday, I stopped and got her a beginners book of sudokus, which were really really easy. She was really excited when I gave it to her. Then, lastnight I was reading in my room and she ran in at least three times, plopped down on the bed with me, and asked me if she was doing it right. Each time I clarified that you can only have the number once in each row, column, and square. This morning when I got up, she told me that she stayed up until 2 AM trying to do that first sudoku, but she just couldn´t figure it out!! I have really been enjoying my time with my host parents the last few days.
Other than that, life is good. My trip is planned, so now I just have to copy all of the details down onto paper for myself and type them up and send a copy to my parents at home so they don´t worry so much. I´ve been resting a lot, so I hopefully won´t get this cold that I feel coming on. And I think my Spanish is becoming more natural since I´ve been using it more in the last few days. So, I´m off to another wonderful home cooked meal... I think it is homemade chicken noodle soup (at least that is what it smelled like when I left!)...
Onto more exciting things... I watched Shrek 2 the other night with my host mom, and that was a lot of fun. I bought a sudoku book and have been doing them while watching the news with my host parents at night, and my host mom said she wanted to start doing them because they are "good for your brain." So on my way home from the airport yesterday, I stopped and got her a beginners book of sudokus, which were really really easy. She was really excited when I gave it to her. Then, lastnight I was reading in my room and she ran in at least three times, plopped down on the bed with me, and asked me if she was doing it right. Each time I clarified that you can only have the number once in each row, column, and square. This morning when I got up, she told me that she stayed up until 2 AM trying to do that first sudoku, but she just couldn´t figure it out!! I have really been enjoying my time with my host parents the last few days.
Other than that, life is good. My trip is planned, so now I just have to copy all of the details down onto paper for myself and type them up and send a copy to my parents at home so they don´t worry so much. I´ve been resting a lot, so I hopefully won´t get this cold that I feel coming on. And I think my Spanish is becoming more natural since I´ve been using it more in the last few days. So, I´m off to another wonderful home cooked meal... I think it is homemade chicken noodle soup (at least that is what it smelled like when I left!)...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
So far, so good
So far, so good. I´ve had a few days here by myself without any of the other students and I seem to be doing alright. I booked all of my hostels for January except for two (which I plan to finish right after I write this), and I´ve done 63 sudokus and I´ve played about a thousand games of solitaire, with real cards since I don´t have a computer in my apartment. I know, that sounds really boring, but I´ve actually enjoyed the last few days. On Sunday night I watched Oceans 11 with my host mom after dinner because it came on TV. She and I curled up underneath a big blanket and had a good time laughing at the movie. Then, lastnight, I watched the news with my host parents after dinner again, and just laughed and laughed at them. Manolo (my host dad) likes to comment on everything that is said on the news, so much so that you can´t even hear the news half the time! So Luisa (my host mom) just kept telling him to be quiet over and over again. She finally jumped over and covered his mouth... it was really funny. He chose that moment to say goodnight to us and to go into his room to watch TV there. So we started watching the season finale of Mira Quien Baila and I helped Luisa to wrap some Christmas presents for her girlfriends... I don´t think she has ever wrapped a present before in her life!! It was fun, though, and I think that they are actually enjoying having me around the house for more than just meals. Like before, I am still excited about Christmas next week with all of the family, but I also miss home a lot. Saturday was a very hard day, but a phone call to a wonderful friend really helped me through it. Then, I also got my weekly phone call from my mom, which helped too. I know that I´m going to make it through the next few weeks because I´ve got all of you encouraging me!!! So thank you!
Tomorrow I am going back to the airport to pay the money to change my ticket to May. Hopefully there will be no problems this time! After that, I have NO idea what I´ll do.. but I´m sure I´ll find something to occupy my time. There is still more of Barcelona that I can explore, so that could be on the agenda. I´ll just take it one day at a time, and before I know it I´ll be leaving for my month of travels!! Speaking of which, I changed my schedule from what I last posted!! First, the trip starts on January 3rd when I leave Barcelona and head to Marseille in France. From their I´ll be heading to Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Rome, Venice, Geneva, and back to Barcelona. I have about 2 days, sometimes 3 in each of the cities, and a lot of time on the train. I´ll be back in Barcelona on the 29th, so it is a pretty long trip. I´m really excited because it is so close, but I feel like I still have so many plans to make! I guess that´s a part of my next two weeks, right? If you have any pointers for me or anything that I should see in any of the cities, let me know!
Okay, I´m going to book those last two hostels and get out of here. Hope you are all having fun in the snow!!
Tomorrow I am going back to the airport to pay the money to change my ticket to May. Hopefully there will be no problems this time! After that, I have NO idea what I´ll do.. but I´m sure I´ll find something to occupy my time. There is still more of Barcelona that I can explore, so that could be on the agenda. I´ll just take it one day at a time, and before I know it I´ll be leaving for my month of travels!! Speaking of which, I changed my schedule from what I last posted!! First, the trip starts on January 3rd when I leave Barcelona and head to Marseille in France. From their I´ll be heading to Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Rome, Venice, Geneva, and back to Barcelona. I have about 2 days, sometimes 3 in each of the cities, and a lot of time on the train. I´ll be back in Barcelona on the 29th, so it is a pretty long trip. I´m really excited because it is so close, but I feel like I still have so many plans to make! I guess that´s a part of my next two weeks, right? If you have any pointers for me or anything that I should see in any of the cities, let me know!
Okay, I´m going to book those last two hostels and get out of here. Hope you are all having fun in the snow!!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Why?
I didn´t think it would be this hard. I didn´t think I had really become all that close with the students here this semester. I didn´t think I would be so sad to see them go.
I went to the airport with Trisha this morning because she was flying out to France to spend a few days with her sister and I needed to pay the fee to change my ticket home to the Spring. Trisha is kindly taking an entire suitcase full of things home to my family for me. I went out lastnight with a couple of the girls for about an hour to say goodbye. Then I said another goodbye this morning. I´ll say another one this afternoon, and then they are all gone. Trisha is coming back, but the rest I might not ever see again... I don´t know whether it is hard because I am jealous that they all get to go home and see their families for Christmas or because I am afraid of being here alone. I´m not technically alone, I know, because I have my host parents... but I have 7 weeks of none of my friends being here, of traveling by myself, of a lot of me time. I think it scares me more than anything. I just never planned on becoming friends with all of the students and I never thought about them leaving as changing things. I mean, my life is still the same, I´m still living in the same spot with the same family and using the same metro everyday and waking up to construction every morning. But, with all of them being gone... well, that does change things for me. And lastnight when I was saying goodbye to some of the other girls, I got a taste of what it is going to feel like when I leave in the Spring after having been here for so long... that´s going to be hard.
Why am I such a mess sometimes?! I swear, I never used to be as emotional as I have been the last few years... Why do I hate change so much and why is it so hard for me to deal with? It´s not like I don´t know what is coming and that things are going to change. Yet, I think I ignore it until it is actually there and I can´t ignore it anymore... then I get shocked by it!! Oh well, I guess this is life. I think now is a good time to go back to bed.
I went to the airport with Trisha this morning because she was flying out to France to spend a few days with her sister and I needed to pay the fee to change my ticket home to the Spring. Trisha is kindly taking an entire suitcase full of things home to my family for me. I went out lastnight with a couple of the girls for about an hour to say goodbye. Then I said another goodbye this morning. I´ll say another one this afternoon, and then they are all gone. Trisha is coming back, but the rest I might not ever see again... I don´t know whether it is hard because I am jealous that they all get to go home and see their families for Christmas or because I am afraid of being here alone. I´m not technically alone, I know, because I have my host parents... but I have 7 weeks of none of my friends being here, of traveling by myself, of a lot of me time. I think it scares me more than anything. I just never planned on becoming friends with all of the students and I never thought about them leaving as changing things. I mean, my life is still the same, I´m still living in the same spot with the same family and using the same metro everyday and waking up to construction every morning. But, with all of them being gone... well, that does change things for me. And lastnight when I was saying goodbye to some of the other girls, I got a taste of what it is going to feel like when I leave in the Spring after having been here for so long... that´s going to be hard.
Why am I such a mess sometimes?! I swear, I never used to be as emotional as I have been the last few years... Why do I hate change so much and why is it so hard for me to deal with? It´s not like I don´t know what is coming and that things are going to change. Yet, I think I ignore it until it is actually there and I can´t ignore it anymore... then I get shocked by it!! Oh well, I guess this is life. I think now is a good time to go back to bed.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Done
I´m done. Officially. The semester is over and I didn´t die. Tuesday I had three exams, just like I did during midterms, and then Wednesday I had two exams (one of them being Catalan). Though I don´t feel like I did spectacularly on any of the tests, I think I did fine.
So now begins my 7 weeks of break, 53 days, to be exact. For the next three days or so most of the BCA kids are still here, so I´ll spend time with them. After that, though, I am on my own. It should be fun, though. I ordered my train pass, finally for the January trip that I´ll be taking. The pass is for 10 trips in 2 months, but I´ll be using all 10 trips in less than a month. The route, for now is Geneva, Venice, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Madrid. Though I don´t really want to use one of my passes to go to Madrid since it is so close to Barcelona, I decided it was better for me to end up back in Spain rather than having to worry about getting a flight home from who knows where. I´ll be spending between 2 or 3 days in each of the countries. I´m actually getting pretty excited about the trip, but I still have a few more things to finish up the planning process. Then, next semester Kacie will be studying in England, and Brandon will be in Ireland... so I´ll probably be taking a trip to Ireland at some point, and I know that Kacie is coming to Barcelona over her Spring break. It will be fun to finally see some familiar faces from home!
I have 22 weeks left until I go home, which sounds like a lot, but when I think about how fast Christmas/January break is going to go it really isn´t much time at all. I finally figured out which classes I´m going to take next semester, which is a huge relief. I only have 4 more classes I need to take to complete my Spanish major, and then I am also throwing in some Gen Eds... so that means when I get home I should be all caught up and only have one semester of classes left to take! Which is perfect, because it means I´ll be able to do a full time field placement in the Spring. Everything just seems to be working out!
Umm.. that´s all really. Life hasn´t been too exciting this week since so much of it was consumed with studying. I´ll try and keep this as updated as possible in th next few weeks, but since I use the computers at the University, I am limited to their Christmas Break hours. I hope you are all enjoying the last few days of exams and school and Christmas shopping. Soon you´ll all be free for a few days, like me (only I get a lot more days of freedom...)!!!!
So now begins my 7 weeks of break, 53 days, to be exact. For the next three days or so most of the BCA kids are still here, so I´ll spend time with them. After that, though, I am on my own. It should be fun, though. I ordered my train pass, finally for the January trip that I´ll be taking. The pass is for 10 trips in 2 months, but I´ll be using all 10 trips in less than a month. The route, for now is Geneva, Venice, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Madrid. Though I don´t really want to use one of my passes to go to Madrid since it is so close to Barcelona, I decided it was better for me to end up back in Spain rather than having to worry about getting a flight home from who knows where. I´ll be spending between 2 or 3 days in each of the countries. I´m actually getting pretty excited about the trip, but I still have a few more things to finish up the planning process. Then, next semester Kacie will be studying in England, and Brandon will be in Ireland... so I´ll probably be taking a trip to Ireland at some point, and I know that Kacie is coming to Barcelona over her Spring break. It will be fun to finally see some familiar faces from home!
I have 22 weeks left until I go home, which sounds like a lot, but when I think about how fast Christmas/January break is going to go it really isn´t much time at all. I finally figured out which classes I´m going to take next semester, which is a huge relief. I only have 4 more classes I need to take to complete my Spanish major, and then I am also throwing in some Gen Eds... so that means when I get home I should be all caught up and only have one semester of classes left to take! Which is perfect, because it means I´ll be able to do a full time field placement in the Spring. Everything just seems to be working out!
Umm.. that´s all really. Life hasn´t been too exciting this week since so much of it was consumed with studying. I´ll try and keep this as updated as possible in th next few weeks, but since I use the computers at the University, I am limited to their Christmas Break hours. I hope you are all enjoying the last few days of exams and school and Christmas shopping. Soon you´ll all be free for a few days, like me (only I get a lot more days of freedom...)!!!!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
4 day weekend
My four day weekend has almost come to an end. Tomorrow I have my last Catalan class. Tuesday I have three finals, and Wednesday I have two. Then I have break for 7 weeks plus a few days (until February 4th)!
So this weekend has had a few interesting/awkward/weird/stupid moments:
Interesting: I realized I still don´t know how to study as I sat in my room trying to force myself to be a good student.
Awkward: Luisa (my host parent´s oldest daughter) shows up at the apartment Friday with her two daughters when my host parents aren´t there. I explain that they went out shopping or walking or something because I had just passed them on the street about 10 minutes earlier on my way back from Hipercor. So she and the girls leave to go find them. About an hour later, after they all come back together, they all leave to go to the park or something. I´m still sitting in my room trying to force myself to study. The apartment buzzer goes off again. I answer it and buzz Jordi in (Luisa´s husband). He comes up and I explain that I don´t know where they all went but they had been gone for a half hour or so. I suggest they might have gone to the park around the corner. So Jordi leaves to go find them. When they all come back together, we have a family lunch and noone says a word about the awkwardness from earlier in the day. Maybe this means I´m really becoming part of the family?
Weird: After dinner lastnight my host mom was talking about the customs and traditions of Christmas here. She explained that they would be going to Luisa´s house on Christmas Eve for a big family dinner. It is pretty much like all of our family meals on Christmas day. Then she said, "And you´re coming with us! Right?" It wasn´t a question, more like a statement with an added "right?" to make me feel as though I made the decision to go. So, though I am excited about really experiencing Christmas the Spanish way, it is going to be very strange to travel with my host parents and not have my room to escape to after a few hours of the whole family. It should be interesting.
Stupid: I went out lastnight with some of the girls and one of the guys from BCA as a last celebration before they all leave next Friday. The guy that was with us had 8 friends visiting who are studying in Budapest this semester. They were supposed to meet us at the bar. We´d already been there for about an hour when all of a sudden, James gets a phone call. The bouncers wouldn´t let the boys in. They were already obnoxiously drunk and were being really dumb and saying really stupid things in front of the club, so they weren´t allowed in. As the rest of us inside all got updated about what was going on outside, the whole group of guys just went down the street a little and continued their loud obnoxiousness. So the bouncers called the police. Yep, that´s right. I came out because we were just going to go somewhere else and the police were standing there telling them they needed to move and get away from the club or else... Once again I understand why so many Europeans have the stereotypes for Americans that they do.
Okay, hope you enjoyed your weekends as much as I did! Now about that studying...
So this weekend has had a few interesting/awkward/weird/stupid moments:
Interesting: I realized I still don´t know how to study as I sat in my room trying to force myself to be a good student.
Awkward: Luisa (my host parent´s oldest daughter) shows up at the apartment Friday with her two daughters when my host parents aren´t there. I explain that they went out shopping or walking or something because I had just passed them on the street about 10 minutes earlier on my way back from Hipercor. So she and the girls leave to go find them. About an hour later, after they all come back together, they all leave to go to the park or something. I´m still sitting in my room trying to force myself to study. The apartment buzzer goes off again. I answer it and buzz Jordi in (Luisa´s husband). He comes up and I explain that I don´t know where they all went but they had been gone for a half hour or so. I suggest they might have gone to the park around the corner. So Jordi leaves to go find them. When they all come back together, we have a family lunch and noone says a word about the awkwardness from earlier in the day. Maybe this means I´m really becoming part of the family?
Weird: After dinner lastnight my host mom was talking about the customs and traditions of Christmas here. She explained that they would be going to Luisa´s house on Christmas Eve for a big family dinner. It is pretty much like all of our family meals on Christmas day. Then she said, "And you´re coming with us! Right?" It wasn´t a question, more like a statement with an added "right?" to make me feel as though I made the decision to go. So, though I am excited about really experiencing Christmas the Spanish way, it is going to be very strange to travel with my host parents and not have my room to escape to after a few hours of the whole family. It should be interesting.
Stupid: I went out lastnight with some of the girls and one of the guys from BCA as a last celebration before they all leave next Friday. The guy that was with us had 8 friends visiting who are studying in Budapest this semester. They were supposed to meet us at the bar. We´d already been there for about an hour when all of a sudden, James gets a phone call. The bouncers wouldn´t let the boys in. They were already obnoxiously drunk and were being really dumb and saying really stupid things in front of the club, so they weren´t allowed in. As the rest of us inside all got updated about what was going on outside, the whole group of guys just went down the street a little and continued their loud obnoxiousness. So the bouncers called the police. Yep, that´s right. I came out because we were just going to go somewhere else and the police were standing there telling them they needed to move and get away from the club or else... Once again I understand why so many Europeans have the stereotypes for Americans that they do.
Okay, hope you enjoyed your weekends as much as I did! Now about that studying...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Almost there
Today was my last day of classes for all of my BCA classes. I still have Catalan tonight and again on Monday, but other than that classes are over... which means finals are here. Once again, we have the same final schedule, meaning three exams for me on Tuesday and two on Wednesday instead of one because of my Catalan class as well. I'm both excited and not excited about the semester ending. Most of me is excited, but the part of my that is sad is the part that doesn't want to say goodbye to some of the people that I've become friends with. I've never been good at dealing with change though I often find that I put myself in situations where change happens frequently. So when some of the students leave next Friday, it may be the last time I'll ever see them! I guess it isn't so incredibly terrible, though, with all of the modern technology we have as well as Facebook, I'll still be able to communicate with them.
On another topic completely, I had a really good conversation with my host parents today after lunch. Usually after we finish eating I just help clear the table while my host dad starts watching TV and my host mom goes to the kitchen to wash the dishes. (I've offerred to help, but she won't let me!) Lunch today was different! After we had finished eating, my host mom and dad were talking about traveling to the United States and how it is expensive, but you can find cheap tickets if you look in the right places. So I asked them if they had ever been to the US. This started an entire conversation about travel, where they had been, how often they travelled, how much it costs, the difference between the different students that had lived with them, and all sorts of stuff. We literally sat at the table for about 30 minutes after we were finished eating, just talking! They also brought up Christmas again, and I think they are excited about sharing it with me, which makes me more excited about being here. It's so strange.. in one month I'll be getting ready to start my month of travel around Europe!!! And after that, there is only one semester left before I return home..
Speaking of home, I've been worried about what I'm going to be doing this coming summer because I was hoping to do research for the same non-profit organization I interned for last summer on a project I just started before the summer ended. However, after being here for a whole year with no work, I need to get paid next summer, so I could only do the research with a grant. The Lilly grant that funded my internship this past summer ran out, so I had started to look for other research opportunities. After a few emails, I found out that Manchester has a few summer "scholarships" for students who want to do non-profit internships this summer. Yay!! I'm not sure if I will get one of the scholarships, and even if I do, I may have to find another part-time job, but now I at least have something to aim for. If the scholarship/grant thing doesn't work out and I'm not in North Manchester this summer, then I'll probably try to find something in Indianapolis so that I can live at home for the first time since I've left for college! That would be another exciting adventure all by itself...
On another topic completely, I had a really good conversation with my host parents today after lunch. Usually after we finish eating I just help clear the table while my host dad starts watching TV and my host mom goes to the kitchen to wash the dishes. (I've offerred to help, but she won't let me!) Lunch today was different! After we had finished eating, my host mom and dad were talking about traveling to the United States and how it is expensive, but you can find cheap tickets if you look in the right places. So I asked them if they had ever been to the US. This started an entire conversation about travel, where they had been, how often they travelled, how much it costs, the difference between the different students that had lived with them, and all sorts of stuff. We literally sat at the table for about 30 minutes after we were finished eating, just talking! They also brought up Christmas again, and I think they are excited about sharing it with me, which makes me more excited about being here. It's so strange.. in one month I'll be getting ready to start my month of travel around Europe!!! And after that, there is only one semester left before I return home..
Speaking of home, I've been worried about what I'm going to be doing this coming summer because I was hoping to do research for the same non-profit organization I interned for last summer on a project I just started before the summer ended. However, after being here for a whole year with no work, I need to get paid next summer, so I could only do the research with a grant. The Lilly grant that funded my internship this past summer ran out, so I had started to look for other research opportunities. After a few emails, I found out that Manchester has a few summer "scholarships" for students who want to do non-profit internships this summer. Yay!! I'm not sure if I will get one of the scholarships, and even if I do, I may have to find another part-time job, but now I at least have something to aim for. If the scholarship/grant thing doesn't work out and I'm not in North Manchester this summer, then I'll probably try to find something in Indianapolis so that I can live at home for the first time since I've left for college! That would be another exciting adventure all by itself...
Monday, December 3, 2007
Campus Store
So I got an email from someone who works in the campus bookstore.
Hi
This is matt from the campus store. You all have packages that have been sitting over here for a while. We wound appreciate it if you would come and check your boxes and if there is no card in there then come ask someone in the campus store.
thanks, matt
Yeah. Did I mention that I am studying abroad this year?!? Oh, and did they somehow lose the forward-my-mail-home form that I filled out before leaving the country?!? The email was sent to me and about 4 others. One of the others, I noticed, had been kicked out of school last year... which might explain why he, too, has not been in to pick up his package recently. I kindly sent an email back explaining why I have not been in to check my mail this semester, and reminding them that my mail should be sent to my house because some of it could be important. Strange thing is that I haven´t gotten an email back saying thank you for reminding us or anything. Oh well.
Other than that, life here is pretty normal. Today is Monday, which means I have two more days of class this week and then three days of finals next week. We are pretty much just finishing up everything these last few days in each class. I am excited and not so excited about the semester ending. I´m ready for the classes to be over, but the end of finals also means that everyone that is here this semester is leaving. I think I may see some of the people again, but the majority of them I probably won´t, which is sort of sad. I guess that is one thing that I´ve never learned to accept in my life... that you make friends wherever you are but that they don´t all stick with you for life. The mixing of year and semester students in the Spring will be very interesting as well.
Okay, onto other things. I have continued my list of foods that I really miss and have been craving recently. The newest addition is my mom´s hamburgers, cole slaw, and maccaroni casserole. Mmmmm.... yummy. Though my mom thinks I will be a much healthier eater after this year of very few sweets, lots of yogurt, fruits and veggies, I think I might prove her wrong within a week of being home. Meanwhile, we have some really delicious pears in our house right now, and that is enough to make me shuffle out of bed every morning and start my day.
Hi
This is matt from the campus store. You all have packages that have been sitting over here for a while. We wound appreciate it if you would come and check your boxes and if there is no card in there then come ask someone in the campus store.
thanks, matt
Yeah. Did I mention that I am studying abroad this year?!? Oh, and did they somehow lose the forward-my-mail-home form that I filled out before leaving the country?!? The email was sent to me and about 4 others. One of the others, I noticed, had been kicked out of school last year... which might explain why he, too, has not been in to pick up his package recently. I kindly sent an email back explaining why I have not been in to check my mail this semester, and reminding them that my mail should be sent to my house because some of it could be important. Strange thing is that I haven´t gotten an email back saying thank you for reminding us or anything. Oh well.
Other than that, life here is pretty normal. Today is Monday, which means I have two more days of class this week and then three days of finals next week. We are pretty much just finishing up everything these last few days in each class. I am excited and not so excited about the semester ending. I´m ready for the classes to be over, but the end of finals also means that everyone that is here this semester is leaving. I think I may see some of the people again, but the majority of them I probably won´t, which is sort of sad. I guess that is one thing that I´ve never learned to accept in my life... that you make friends wherever you are but that they don´t all stick with you for life. The mixing of year and semester students in the Spring will be very interesting as well.
Okay, onto other things. I have continued my list of foods that I really miss and have been craving recently. The newest addition is my mom´s hamburgers, cole slaw, and maccaroni casserole. Mmmmm.... yummy. Though my mom thinks I will be a much healthier eater after this year of very few sweets, lots of yogurt, fruits and veggies, I think I might prove her wrong within a week of being home. Meanwhile, we have some really delicious pears in our house right now, and that is enough to make me shuffle out of bed every morning and start my day.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
December 1st!!
It is December 1st, meaning... I GET TO START EATING THE CANDY FROM MY ADVENT CALENDAR!!!
Okay, so I´m not just excited about treating myself to a piece of chocolate every day, I just love this time of year. Though it is really different this year to be here instead of home, and really hard to think that I´ll still be here for Christmas and New Years, I still love this time of year. This is probably going to be one of the hardest Christmas´s ever, and yet I will probably remember it for the rest of my life. You know, one of the hardest parts of being here for Christmas instead of home is going to be missing the Christmas Eve service at my church, missing reading the story of Jesus´ birth with my family before we open presents Christmas morning, missing making desserts with my mom to take over to my grandparents´ house.. Okay, so I guess I´m going to miss a lot. And it will be hard. But I´ll make it through, and I get to have the awesome opportunity to experience Christmas in a new culture and to participate in the traditions and customs of my host family. This is just another step in my life to help me grow... meanwhile the chocolate pieces every day will help, because chocolate solves everything, right?
When did growing up become so hard? As much as it is amazing to see where God leads me in my life, it is hard too... I mean, I trust that He is guiding me, but I´ve never liked change. And the change never ends. Once I come home from here, I just get to deal with more change, only this time I´ll be speaking English.. Hmm.. I think I´ll try and make friends with Peter Pan so I can fly off to Neverland.
Okay, so I´m not just excited about treating myself to a piece of chocolate every day, I just love this time of year. Though it is really different this year to be here instead of home, and really hard to think that I´ll still be here for Christmas and New Years, I still love this time of year. This is probably going to be one of the hardest Christmas´s ever, and yet I will probably remember it for the rest of my life. You know, one of the hardest parts of being here for Christmas instead of home is going to be missing the Christmas Eve service at my church, missing reading the story of Jesus´ birth with my family before we open presents Christmas morning, missing making desserts with my mom to take over to my grandparents´ house.. Okay, so I guess I´m going to miss a lot. And it will be hard. But I´ll make it through, and I get to have the awesome opportunity to experience Christmas in a new culture and to participate in the traditions and customs of my host family. This is just another step in my life to help me grow... meanwhile the chocolate pieces every day will help, because chocolate solves everything, right?
When did growing up become so hard? As much as it is amazing to see where God leads me in my life, it is hard too... I mean, I trust that He is guiding me, but I´ve never liked change. And the change never ends. Once I come home from here, I just get to deal with more change, only this time I´ll be speaking English.. Hmm.. I think I´ll try and make friends with Peter Pan so I can fly off to Neverland.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Rudolph the Red Nosed Melissa
I´m pretty sure my host parents, the directors of BCA, all of the BCA students, and all of my professors think that I am chronically ill. Once again I have a cold or sinus problems or whatever... I am all stuffy and my nose won´t stop running. I can´t keep myself from sneezing, and I have a red rash under my nose from blowing it all the time. Yep, it is very pleasant. The weird thing is that I don´t really get that sick at home.. I mean, I had that really bad sinus infection last spring, but that is about it. Normally I´ll get sinus problems every once in a while, but I take psuedophedrine and everything is all better within a few hours. Here, nope, not the case. Maybe it is the constantly changing temperatures or maybe it is being at a different altitude or by the water or I have no idea... Oh well, you can all picture my red nose, which I know will make you happy, because at least I am in the spirit of Christmas, right?! Just call me Rudolph from now on.
In other news, I now only have 3 days of class left for the semester and then 3 days of exams. Next Thursday is a holiday, so we only have classes Monday through Wednesday, and then the following week I have one final on Monday, three on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. I can´t believe that the semester is actually almost over for real! Now I just have to finish booking all my flights and hostels for January and I´ll be all set.. :-)
I also got a letter from my dad today, which made me the happiest person alive! You can picture me sitting in my room with my red nose and a tissue catching all the snot and tears coming down from my face while reading the letter. Yes, I know, such a cute picture, isn´t it?! But, for real, my dad hates talking on the phone, so he told me he would try and write me letters while I am here... and he finally did. He is super sweet... for those of you that know my dad, he is pretty quiet, but you would never know it when reading a letter from him. He even put "Dodia" on the return address of the envelope (which is a name I made up for him a long time ago, for those of you who didn´t know)!!!! Yeah, it pretty much made my entire day.
Okay, I already skipped my 10 AM class this morning because my head hurt, but I think I´m going to go back home and lay down now. Rest should make me feel better, right?
In other news, I now only have 3 days of class left for the semester and then 3 days of exams. Next Thursday is a holiday, so we only have classes Monday through Wednesday, and then the following week I have one final on Monday, three on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. I can´t believe that the semester is actually almost over for real! Now I just have to finish booking all my flights and hostels for January and I´ll be all set.. :-)
I also got a letter from my dad today, which made me the happiest person alive! You can picture me sitting in my room with my red nose and a tissue catching all the snot and tears coming down from my face while reading the letter. Yes, I know, such a cute picture, isn´t it?! But, for real, my dad hates talking on the phone, so he told me he would try and write me letters while I am here... and he finally did. He is super sweet... for those of you that know my dad, he is pretty quiet, but you would never know it when reading a letter from him. He even put "Dodia" on the return address of the envelope (which is a name I made up for him a long time ago, for those of you who didn´t know)!!!! Yeah, it pretty much made my entire day.
Okay, I already skipped my 10 AM class this morning because my head hurt, but I think I´m going to go back home and lay down now. Rest should make me feel better, right?
Monday, November 26, 2007
Birthdays.
This weekend was fun. It was Wendy's 21st birthday and we went out to celebrate Saturday night and went out to dinner on Sunday evening. You know, I never realized how important it is to so many people to be surrounded by lots of people and parties and whatnot on their birthdays until I came to college. I guess since my birthday always falls right around our family reunion in Michigan and I've spent most of my birthdays in the car on the way to Michigan, on the way home from Michigan, or in Michigan with all of our extended family, having a celebration isn't really ever a possibility. I mean, my dad has always gone out the morning of my birthday and bought a cake with a Disney character on it for me, which is the highlight of the day every year, but that is about it. It was fun, though, to make Wendy's day special for her here in a different country, especially since she was so convinced it was not going to be a good day at all! I like doing special things to make people appreciate their special days.. :) I guess I am really appreciative that I usually get to be with my family for or around my birthday, even if I share the birthday with the history of our family, right?
On another note, I think I have decided when I will officially be coming home. I am changing my ticket to either May 9th or 10th, depending on which is better for my parents. I decided that the professors of any University courses that I want to take next semester will have to allow me to take my finals early, or I just won't take the classes. This way I will be home within 3 or 4 days after my mom's birthday and before Mother's Day and graduation at Manchester. It also allows me a short bit of time to adjust back for a week or two before starting an internship or summer job, which will hopefully be lined up before I leave Spain. Ahh... there is so much to think about. At least one decision is made!!!
On another note, I think I have decided when I will officially be coming home. I am changing my ticket to either May 9th or 10th, depending on which is better for my parents. I decided that the professors of any University courses that I want to take next semester will have to allow me to take my finals early, or I just won't take the classes. This way I will be home within 3 or 4 days after my mom's birthday and before Mother's Day and graduation at Manchester. It also allows me a short bit of time to adjust back for a week or two before starting an internship or summer job, which will hopefully be lined up before I leave Spain. Ahh... there is so much to think about. At least one decision is made!!!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Lazy Day
I love lazy days full of yummy snacks, friends, useless outings, and tv in english! Thanks to my host parents for visiting family and leaving me the apartment today, I got to have one of those days... and it has been perfect. It's only Saturday, too!! That means I still have one whole day of weekend, and tomorrow I am going to eat xurros with Trisha while we hopefully get to see more traditional dances at our neighborhood festival. Tonight there was a concert of some sort, but I decided to take advantage of my empty apartment and appreciate the barrio fiestas outside tomorrow.
I counted, two weeks of classes left and then one week of final exams. Then, seven weeks of Christmas/January break for my traveling. Can you believe Christmas is only a month away?!? Now... if only I had remembered to bring Christmas music with me. I'll find a way to get some. The lack of Christmas music everywhere here has helped me to appreciate the abundance of it in every single store in the US from weeks ago until Christmas... I will most definitely have a new appreciation for it next year when I am home!
I counted, two weeks of classes left and then one week of final exams. Then, seven weeks of Christmas/January break for my traveling. Can you believe Christmas is only a month away?!? Now... if only I had remembered to bring Christmas music with me. I'll find a way to get some. The lack of Christmas music everywhere here has helped me to appreciate the abundance of it in every single store in the US from weeks ago until Christmas... I will most definitely have a new appreciation for it next year when I am home!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Yesterday
It wasn´t as bad as I thought it might be.
Yesterday I had two classes to distract myself from the fact that it was Thanksgiving. I had class in the morning, a makeup test from when I was sick, and then went home for lunch. At lunch, I explained, once again, to my host parents what Thanksgiving was.. and I´m still not quite sure they understand. After lunch I came back to the University for another class and then returned home to get ready. We had a Thanksgiving meal with a mediterranean twist to it lastnight in a restaurant that our BCA directors arranged for us. So, I had an excuse to get all dressed up, met up with a bunch of friends and spent some time together before our dinner. Then dinner was super fun because it was the first time since orientation that most of us have been all together again. The food was... well, not my mom´s... but I got to eat turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy. I think the best part was looking around and realizing what a great time everyone in the room was having... we really have made a sort of family here and it was nice to come together and celebrate by stuffing ourselves silly with the familiar flavors from home.
I did talk to my mom and Emily yesterday... I actually talked to Emily for a really long time, which is quite shocking because she hates talking on the phone. But it was really good to be able to wish them Happy Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving... and, we ate at the same time!! My mom was very excited when she told me they were eating at 3 and I told her I was too, only it would be 9 PM here... so, in a strange sort of way I ate Thanksgiving dinner with my family yesterday, only there was an ocean in between us.
It wasn´t bad, not at all... I think I can make it through all of these holidays here. It will be more challenging around Christmas, I know it, but my host parents have started to get very excited about sharing their Christmas traditions with me. So, I know that I have a family here who want me to be here... It really is strange how often I am shown that His plan works out so much better than I think it will.
Yesterday really was a good day.
Yesterday I had two classes to distract myself from the fact that it was Thanksgiving. I had class in the morning, a makeup test from when I was sick, and then went home for lunch. At lunch, I explained, once again, to my host parents what Thanksgiving was.. and I´m still not quite sure they understand. After lunch I came back to the University for another class and then returned home to get ready. We had a Thanksgiving meal with a mediterranean twist to it lastnight in a restaurant that our BCA directors arranged for us. So, I had an excuse to get all dressed up, met up with a bunch of friends and spent some time together before our dinner. Then dinner was super fun because it was the first time since orientation that most of us have been all together again. The food was... well, not my mom´s... but I got to eat turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy. I think the best part was looking around and realizing what a great time everyone in the room was having... we really have made a sort of family here and it was nice to come together and celebrate by stuffing ourselves silly with the familiar flavors from home.
I did talk to my mom and Emily yesterday... I actually talked to Emily for a really long time, which is quite shocking because she hates talking on the phone. But it was really good to be able to wish them Happy Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving... and, we ate at the same time!! My mom was very excited when she told me they were eating at 3 and I told her I was too, only it would be 9 PM here... so, in a strange sort of way I ate Thanksgiving dinner with my family yesterday, only there was an ocean in between us.
It wasn´t bad, not at all... I think I can make it through all of these holidays here. It will be more challenging around Christmas, I know it, but my host parents have started to get very excited about sharing their Christmas traditions with me. So, I know that I have a family here who want me to be here... It really is strange how often I am shown that His plan works out so much better than I think it will.
Yesterday really was a good day.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thanksgiving!!!!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!! And I am here... and you are all there... but it is going to be okay! Because, the directors of our BCA program here know the importance of good food on a holiday that is all about eating, so we get to have a Thanksgiving meal with turkey and all the fixings tomorrow in a restaurant down the street. I am pretty excited, first of all about eating in a restaurant for free, and secondly about eating Thanksgiving food!! The last food I had that tasted like something from home was when we went to Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate the end of exams.. and it was expensive. But, turkey and stuffing and mmmmmm... Yes, I am actually mostly excited about the turkey because we really only have ham here. If you know me and my eating habits at all, I don't eat ham at home, and if I do, it is a very special occasion. Needless to say, I often eat sandwiches (called bocadillos) that my host mom makes me with only the cheese and bread because I feel bad telling her yet another meat that I won't eat. I mean... I've already knocked off fish (which my host parents eat A LOT of), most types of sausage (which is the second most common bocadillo meat), and I rarely eat steak if she makes it for me. So, I just choke down the ham if it is served at dinner and throw it away if it is sent with me on a bocadillo... but now I get to eat TURKEY!!!!!
Alright, I just realized that I have been rambling on for an entire paragraph about food. I guess that's what you get when you are a fat kid and you are being denied fat kid friends and food. (For those of you who just got offended by me calling myself a fat kid, let me explain: Being a fat kid does not mean that you think you are fat, it simply means that you enjoy eating a lot, and the types of things you enjoy eating consist of many things that have a tendency to be high in fat and sugar content. This term simply means that at home I eat ALL the time and that I have a tendency to enjoy candy and sweets and ice cream and pizza and other delicious things that are bad for me.) See, at school, my best friends are fat kids with me who are always up for a Dairy Queen run no matter how cold it is outside, and at home I sort of force my non-fatkid friends (and sisters) to be fat kids with me and eat ice cream or any other junk food I can find. Ask my little sister if you would like confirmation. My mom is actually very happy about the change of diet and my high consumption of salads and whatnot since I've been here because she thinks that I am now going to be a much healthier eater. The problem is this: I actually really enjoy fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods, but at school when I have very little money, it is much cheaper to invest in junk food, and it tastes sooooo good!!! So, much to my mother's dismay, my eating habits will not be changed forever once I return home. I am actually quite certain that they will return to their normal state very quickly in order to make up for all the lost junk food consumption time.
Okay, I realize this has been a pretty useless post. All the same, if any of you would like to send a package of candy this way... I wouldn't be too upset by that!! Again, sorry about the randomness... but then again, none of you would expect anything less!!
OH!!! And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!
Alright, I just realized that I have been rambling on for an entire paragraph about food. I guess that's what you get when you are a fat kid and you are being denied fat kid friends and food. (For those of you who just got offended by me calling myself a fat kid, let me explain: Being a fat kid does not mean that you think you are fat, it simply means that you enjoy eating a lot, and the types of things you enjoy eating consist of many things that have a tendency to be high in fat and sugar content. This term simply means that at home I eat ALL the time and that I have a tendency to enjoy candy and sweets and ice cream and pizza and other delicious things that are bad for me.) See, at school, my best friends are fat kids with me who are always up for a Dairy Queen run no matter how cold it is outside, and at home I sort of force my non-fatkid friends (and sisters) to be fat kids with me and eat ice cream or any other junk food I can find. Ask my little sister if you would like confirmation. My mom is actually very happy about the change of diet and my high consumption of salads and whatnot since I've been here because she thinks that I am now going to be a much healthier eater. The problem is this: I actually really enjoy fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods, but at school when I have very little money, it is much cheaper to invest in junk food, and it tastes sooooo good!!! So, much to my mother's dismay, my eating habits will not be changed forever once I return home. I am actually quite certain that they will return to their normal state very quickly in order to make up for all the lost junk food consumption time.
Okay, I realize this has been a pretty useless post. All the same, if any of you would like to send a package of candy this way... I wouldn't be too upset by that!! Again, sorry about the randomness... but then again, none of you would expect anything less!!
OH!!! And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!
Monday, November 19, 2007
An experience to remember but not to be repeated.
The 24 hour or 36 hour or however many hour stomach flue or virus or whatever it is called attacked me this weekend and it was not fun at all. Remember my post about it being so cold on Friday? Well... after I left on Friday and then was coming back to take a test that afternoon, I threw up in the metro. That's right, I THREW UP IN THE METRO!!!! No, it was not a pleasant experience and is one I hope to never ever experience again. Needless to say, I didn't take that test that I was coming for and instead went back to my apartment, where I barely made it before spewing my guts all over the place once again. (Sorry for the graphic details, but it wasn't a fun thing, and I am trying to clearly paint a picture for you.) My host mom was very worried as soon as I walked back in the apartment and told me to get into bed right away.
I basically spent the next two days in my bed, excluding the few trips to the bathroom to throw up some more. My host parents even went to the farmacia to get me some medicine!! It was really sweet how they were taking care of me and fed me only food the pharmacist told them they could give me. They even turned the heat on in the apartment on the second day that I was confined to my bed! As of yesterday I was feeling much much much much much much better, but the stomach is still a bit quesy. It is for this reason I still haven't eaten much of substance, but I know I am getting better.
Besides being deathly ill all weekend, I did have a sort of fun and interesting day yesterday. All of the family came over again, this time to celebrate Ingrid's pregnancy with she and Joel!! So, we had some really delicious food (which I had a little of), some champagne (which I passed on), and these delicious cake things (which I also had a small slice of). It was interesting to see the difference between this dinner together and the first one that we had on my second day living with my host parents. I actually understood the conversation this time and could participate in some of it. It really amazes me how much the family just accepts me into it. I mean, it has got to be interesting for them to see new students come and go from their parents' house all the time, but they are great at just making me feel like I am wanted there. It is still a bit awkward at time, but after yesterday I feel like Christmas will be okay and I won't be intruding. Instead, I think they are happy I'll be there to share it with all of them.
There is also a festival in my neighborhood right now, and there were all sorts of festivities going on yesterday. Since I actually felt good enough to venture outside of my apartment, I went on a walk and saw a group of little kids and a different group of adults doing all sorts of really fun and cool traditional dances dressed in really fun outfits. There were all sorts of vendors there with products from Spain like wine and honey and other fun things. There were even rides for the kids and stuff! Now, I only stayed out for about 25 minutes, but it was a pretty fun excursion around the block. I'm hoping now that I am feeling better it will still be there so that I can get some cotton candy!! (I know, I'm a fat kid... I just can't help it!)
Okay, I'm off... Hope you all had a more pleasant weekend than I did!!
I basically spent the next two days in my bed, excluding the few trips to the bathroom to throw up some more. My host parents even went to the farmacia to get me some medicine!! It was really sweet how they were taking care of me and fed me only food the pharmacist told them they could give me. They even turned the heat on in the apartment on the second day that I was confined to my bed! As of yesterday I was feeling much much much much much much better, but the stomach is still a bit quesy. It is for this reason I still haven't eaten much of substance, but I know I am getting better.
Besides being deathly ill all weekend, I did have a sort of fun and interesting day yesterday. All of the family came over again, this time to celebrate Ingrid's pregnancy with she and Joel!! So, we had some really delicious food (which I had a little of), some champagne (which I passed on), and these delicious cake things (which I also had a small slice of). It was interesting to see the difference between this dinner together and the first one that we had on my second day living with my host parents. I actually understood the conversation this time and could participate in some of it. It really amazes me how much the family just accepts me into it. I mean, it has got to be interesting for them to see new students come and go from their parents' house all the time, but they are great at just making me feel like I am wanted there. It is still a bit awkward at time, but after yesterday I feel like Christmas will be okay and I won't be intruding. Instead, I think they are happy I'll be there to share it with all of them.
There is also a festival in my neighborhood right now, and there were all sorts of festivities going on yesterday. Since I actually felt good enough to venture outside of my apartment, I went on a walk and saw a group of little kids and a different group of adults doing all sorts of really fun and cool traditional dances dressed in really fun outfits. There were all sorts of vendors there with products from Spain like wine and honey and other fun things. There were even rides for the kids and stuff! Now, I only stayed out for about 25 minutes, but it was a pretty fun excursion around the block. I'm hoping now that I am feeling better it will still be there so that I can get some cotton candy!! (I know, I'm a fat kid... I just can't help it!)
Okay, I'm off... Hope you all had a more pleasant weekend than I did!!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Cold and Snow
Through some awesome detective skills (aka... checking people´s away messages), I have discovered that it has been snowing back at home. Yay, beautiful snow!!!! This give me mixed emotions... I mean, I love the snow and it signifies that the holidays are coming, which obviously makes me miss home and everyone there. However, in the last few weeks here, I have been FREEZING!!! It isn´t even very cold here, but I feel like the coldness here somehow effects me differently from the coldness at home. Maybe it is just the fact that my host parents don´t believe in turning the heat on in the apartment, so I sit around with 12 layers of clothing on, a hood tied tightly around my head, and gloves on my hands all the time. I honestly don´t know how I am going to handle the cold when I go home if I can´t even handle it here... what has happened to me?!? I´m not even exaggerating when I say that I put my coat on in the morning and don´t take it off until I get home in the evenings and replace it with two sweatshirts. My gloves, they pretty much stay on all the time including in all of my classes. I shivered while I slept lastnight even though I have two comfortors on my bed plus an extra blanket, and I slept in shorts, sweatpants, two shirts, and a sweatshirt. Is there something wrong with me?!?!
Alright, that´s all I have for today. I hope it warms up soon.
Alright, that´s all I have for today. I hope it warms up soon.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Catch-up time
I know I haven´t done a really good job this week of writing in here. Honestly, I have been so busy with homework it has been difficult to think of anything else when I actually get to a computer. So here are my updates from the last week:
First of all, I probably will not be taking a cruise in January because the one I really wanted to go on (to Egypt and Turkey and Greece and other places) is all sold out for the cabins that I can afford. So, I am looking for other very inexpensive shorter cruises that I may be able to go on while beginning my travel plans to see a lot of Europe. My parents, I´m sure, won´t be too happy about this because they liked the idea of knowing I am on a boat and where I would be each day. They aren´t big fans of me traveling around Europe all by myself. But, they trust me and know I am capable, it just makes them feel a little uneasy. If you have any suggestions of where I should go and something to add to my itinerary, be sure to let me know!
Next, I got all of my grades back from midterms this week and my studying paid off. There was one class I wasn´t to happy with, but it looks like I will be okay with all this Spanish stuff! It´s weird that I am now teaching myself how to study after all those years of school... I just never really needed to study in high school, and now it is kicking me in the butt! I suppose it is better I learn how to study now than to wait and learn in grad school, right?!
Hmm... let´s see what else happened this past week. Well, last Thursday night we went to Hard Rock Café to celebrate being done with exams and got to eat some delicious American food. I basically eat a salad or sandwich sometimes with soup or a piece of meat for every meal here, so the pasta that I got was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed it tremendously. I really like having either a piece of fruit or yogurt for dessert, but the apple cobbler that I shared with a friend was soooooo good, I just had to have it to make up for all the calories I don´t get here!! Friday I pretty much just relaxed. On Saturday, one of my host parents´ daughters and her husband came over for lunch. As soon as I sat down, they told me that she was pregnant! This is my host parents´ youngest daughter and it is her first child. This will be the fifth grandchild! Conversation has centered around the baby pretty much since then. I think Ingrid is already in her second month, so she will be very close to having the baby by the time I leave in May, which is really exciting. Then, on Sunday, I went to the port to watch the beginning of the World Race that started in Barcelona. It is 9 sailboats that are racing around the world without stopping in 80 days... It wasn´t super exciting or anything, but the day was absolutely beautiful, which is a change from the past few weeks. I have been so cold, all the time, that I even wear my gloves in classes!! The professors think this is rather funny and usually say something about it, but that´s fine with me! Oh, random fact, if you want to say "It is cold" (english) or "hace frío" (spanish) in Catalan, you say "Fa fred." I know, it´s a pretty fun phrase. Anywho.. that was my weekend.
The next thing on my to do list is to pick classes for next semester. I have a meeting on the 28th with the director of our program to begin the registration process. So the emails to Lila (my registrar) are beginning, and I am trying to decide how many University courses I think I´ll be able to handle and if any of them really fit the classes that I need to take. It is going to be a long next couple of weeks while I´m trying to figure everything out. But, I have great advisors back at home and I´m sure it will all work out.
I´m trying to think of more exciting things that have happened this past week, but I think that is about it. Wish me luck on picking classes for next semester and for planning my January trip. Hope you´re all doing well, and I promise this time I will write again soon rather than waiting a week.
First of all, I probably will not be taking a cruise in January because the one I really wanted to go on (to Egypt and Turkey and Greece and other places) is all sold out for the cabins that I can afford. So, I am looking for other very inexpensive shorter cruises that I may be able to go on while beginning my travel plans to see a lot of Europe. My parents, I´m sure, won´t be too happy about this because they liked the idea of knowing I am on a boat and where I would be each day. They aren´t big fans of me traveling around Europe all by myself. But, they trust me and know I am capable, it just makes them feel a little uneasy. If you have any suggestions of where I should go and something to add to my itinerary, be sure to let me know!
Next, I got all of my grades back from midterms this week and my studying paid off. There was one class I wasn´t to happy with, but it looks like I will be okay with all this Spanish stuff! It´s weird that I am now teaching myself how to study after all those years of school... I just never really needed to study in high school, and now it is kicking me in the butt! I suppose it is better I learn how to study now than to wait and learn in grad school, right?!
Hmm... let´s see what else happened this past week. Well, last Thursday night we went to Hard Rock Café to celebrate being done with exams and got to eat some delicious American food. I basically eat a salad or sandwich sometimes with soup or a piece of meat for every meal here, so the pasta that I got was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed it tremendously. I really like having either a piece of fruit or yogurt for dessert, but the apple cobbler that I shared with a friend was soooooo good, I just had to have it to make up for all the calories I don´t get here!! Friday I pretty much just relaxed. On Saturday, one of my host parents´ daughters and her husband came over for lunch. As soon as I sat down, they told me that she was pregnant! This is my host parents´ youngest daughter and it is her first child. This will be the fifth grandchild! Conversation has centered around the baby pretty much since then. I think Ingrid is already in her second month, so she will be very close to having the baby by the time I leave in May, which is really exciting. Then, on Sunday, I went to the port to watch the beginning of the World Race that started in Barcelona. It is 9 sailboats that are racing around the world without stopping in 80 days... It wasn´t super exciting or anything, but the day was absolutely beautiful, which is a change from the past few weeks. I have been so cold, all the time, that I even wear my gloves in classes!! The professors think this is rather funny and usually say something about it, but that´s fine with me! Oh, random fact, if you want to say "It is cold" (english) or "hace frío" (spanish) in Catalan, you say "Fa fred." I know, it´s a pretty fun phrase. Anywho.. that was my weekend.
The next thing on my to do list is to pick classes for next semester. I have a meeting on the 28th with the director of our program to begin the registration process. So the emails to Lila (my registrar) are beginning, and I am trying to decide how many University courses I think I´ll be able to handle and if any of them really fit the classes that I need to take. It is going to be a long next couple of weeks while I´m trying to figure everything out. But, I have great advisors back at home and I´m sure it will all work out.
I´m trying to think of more exciting things that have happened this past week, but I think that is about it. Wish me luck on picking classes for next semester and for planning my January trip. Hope you´re all doing well, and I promise this time I will write again soon rather than waiting a week.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
AAAHHHHH!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, now that I´ve gotten that out of my system, I AM DONE WITH MIDTERMS!!! I know this doesn´t sound very exciting to any of you, but four large exams in a 25 hour time span on spanish literature, history, and grammar make you want to kill yourself. So, sorry I haven´t written in a few days. I took my last exam this morning at 10, and I can honestly tell you I might not have passed it. It was for Literatura del Siglo Oro and there were only two questions on it. One was about a passage that she pulled from the first book we read in the class and we had to reflect on it and compare it to the rest of the book. I think I might have done fine on that question. The second question, however, asked us to point out the picaresca themes in one of Miguel de Cervantes Novelas Ejemplares... but that is quite impossible because Cervantes hated novelas picarescas... he created a new genre with his short novelas... So, I just wrote anything about the book that I could and pointed out all the ways that it was not a picaresca novel. Blah...
Right, I only have to keep C´s or above to get the credit at school. At first I thought that would be no problem whatsoever, but now I´m hoping that I get at least a 5.66 on each of the exams I took, which is the lowest I can get to have a C. I won´t even begin to talk about the History exam yesterday, it was brutal. However, I will tell you about how rude my history professor was to those of us that finished the final first!! I was the third or fourth person done with my final (which was, again, another essay one). We had the option of answering one very large question about one of the reinados of Spain, or five smaller questions about random facts from the different kings. Since I only felt really comfortable with three of the five smaller questions, I decided to go with the big essay. In writing essays here, they just give you a blank sheet of computer paper and you write. I started my writing on the sheet with the questions that he gave us to save paper (I know, Manchester has drilled it into me), and the questions only took up the first two or three inches of the paper. My handwriting can probably compare to single spaced size 12 font, maybe 13. So I wrote all I could remember about los Reyes Católicos and filled the rest of the front of the sheet. I was just about done when one of my friends finished and walked up to turn in her exam. My professor immediately began to ask her if she was sure she was done because her essay was very short and she didn´t take very much time. She just said sure and walked out of the room. The same thing happened for the next girl that finished. So I reread my essay, added a few more lines of summary, and decided I wasn´t going to think of anything else (even though I knew I had forgotten some stuff) by just staring at my paper longer. So I got up and turned in my essay. Little did I know that the other two filled the front of an entirely blank sheet of paper, not just the front of the paper with the questions, so he started in immediately telling me that I probably didn´t get everything in because my essay was much too short. He kept talking until I walked all the way to the back of the room and had my hand on the door for about two minutes. Finally I just told him that´s all I had and walked out of the room, but AH!! I guess it just makes me angry because I´ve been taking exams for a long enough time in my life that I know myself, and I know just staring at the paper doesn´t help me come up with anything else. Of course I missed some things, but I know that I covered a lot of the important points in my essay, and my handwriting is much smaller than a lot of people´s , so he really couldn´t judge my essay´s length against the length of others without first taking into account the line spacing and font size. I miss computers.
Okay, so that turned out to be a much longer explanation than I´m sure any of you cared about, but welcome to my rantings. Umm, besides that, I had a talk with the directer of BCA today and told her I wasn´t going to work with the immigrant children this semester because it was too frustrating. The last three times I´ve gone the directors won´t listen to me and just try to throw me and the others in with the kids to teach them English, when they won´t give us any time to prepare lessons to teach them English. So, I may work one on one with one of the kids next semester, but seeing as there are only 5 weeks left of this semester, I´m just going to take a break and focus on my classes.
Oh, about January and my traveling, here is the update. Stacey, unfortunately, may not be able to come anymore because it is so expensive to travel to Europe from Korea. So, I am seriously considering the cruise. One of my friends here really wants to go on the cruise with me, but she doesn´t know if her ticket has already been changed to come back too late from home. The cruise leaves January 5th, and it goes to Italy, Turkey, Greece, Egypt... Ahh, so exciting!! If, however, my friend can´t go with me, I´m considering doing the cruise by myself. And, if that doesn´t happen, then I will be traveling around Europe on my own for the month. I don´t really mind the idea of traveling by myself, but my dad much prefers the idea of me being with someone on a cruise. So, if any of you will be in Europe during January, let me know and maybe I´ll be able to come visit! Remember, I have from December 14th until February 4th off!! I really need to make a decision about it this week, so as soon as I do make my decision and start making my plans, I´ll let you know.
Okay, so this is probably long enough for today. One more day of classes and then it´s weekend again!!! I am really beginning to enjoy this four days of class, three day weekend schedule. Hopefully next semester I don´t have any University courses on Fridays to mess that up.. I´ll definitely take that into consideration in the next few weeks while I´m picking classes. Alright, hope all is well at home..
Okay, now that I´ve gotten that out of my system, I AM DONE WITH MIDTERMS!!! I know this doesn´t sound very exciting to any of you, but four large exams in a 25 hour time span on spanish literature, history, and grammar make you want to kill yourself. So, sorry I haven´t written in a few days. I took my last exam this morning at 10, and I can honestly tell you I might not have passed it. It was for Literatura del Siglo Oro and there were only two questions on it. One was about a passage that she pulled from the first book we read in the class and we had to reflect on it and compare it to the rest of the book. I think I might have done fine on that question. The second question, however, asked us to point out the picaresca themes in one of Miguel de Cervantes Novelas Ejemplares... but that is quite impossible because Cervantes hated novelas picarescas... he created a new genre with his short novelas... So, I just wrote anything about the book that I could and pointed out all the ways that it was not a picaresca novel. Blah...
Right, I only have to keep C´s or above to get the credit at school. At first I thought that would be no problem whatsoever, but now I´m hoping that I get at least a 5.66 on each of the exams I took, which is the lowest I can get to have a C. I won´t even begin to talk about the History exam yesterday, it was brutal. However, I will tell you about how rude my history professor was to those of us that finished the final first!! I was the third or fourth person done with my final (which was, again, another essay one). We had the option of answering one very large question about one of the reinados of Spain, or five smaller questions about random facts from the different kings. Since I only felt really comfortable with three of the five smaller questions, I decided to go with the big essay. In writing essays here, they just give you a blank sheet of computer paper and you write. I started my writing on the sheet with the questions that he gave us to save paper (I know, Manchester has drilled it into me), and the questions only took up the first two or three inches of the paper. My handwriting can probably compare to single spaced size 12 font, maybe 13. So I wrote all I could remember about los Reyes Católicos and filled the rest of the front of the sheet. I was just about done when one of my friends finished and walked up to turn in her exam. My professor immediately began to ask her if she was sure she was done because her essay was very short and she didn´t take very much time. She just said sure and walked out of the room. The same thing happened for the next girl that finished. So I reread my essay, added a few more lines of summary, and decided I wasn´t going to think of anything else (even though I knew I had forgotten some stuff) by just staring at my paper longer. So I got up and turned in my essay. Little did I know that the other two filled the front of an entirely blank sheet of paper, not just the front of the paper with the questions, so he started in immediately telling me that I probably didn´t get everything in because my essay was much too short. He kept talking until I walked all the way to the back of the room and had my hand on the door for about two minutes. Finally I just told him that´s all I had and walked out of the room, but AH!! I guess it just makes me angry because I´ve been taking exams for a long enough time in my life that I know myself, and I know just staring at the paper doesn´t help me come up with anything else. Of course I missed some things, but I know that I covered a lot of the important points in my essay, and my handwriting is much smaller than a lot of people´s , so he really couldn´t judge my essay´s length against the length of others without first taking into account the line spacing and font size. I miss computers.
Okay, so that turned out to be a much longer explanation than I´m sure any of you cared about, but welcome to my rantings. Umm, besides that, I had a talk with the directer of BCA today and told her I wasn´t going to work with the immigrant children this semester because it was too frustrating. The last three times I´ve gone the directors won´t listen to me and just try to throw me and the others in with the kids to teach them English, when they won´t give us any time to prepare lessons to teach them English. So, I may work one on one with one of the kids next semester, but seeing as there are only 5 weeks left of this semester, I´m just going to take a break and focus on my classes.
Oh, about January and my traveling, here is the update. Stacey, unfortunately, may not be able to come anymore because it is so expensive to travel to Europe from Korea. So, I am seriously considering the cruise. One of my friends here really wants to go on the cruise with me, but she doesn´t know if her ticket has already been changed to come back too late from home. The cruise leaves January 5th, and it goes to Italy, Turkey, Greece, Egypt... Ahh, so exciting!! If, however, my friend can´t go with me, I´m considering doing the cruise by myself. And, if that doesn´t happen, then I will be traveling around Europe on my own for the month. I don´t really mind the idea of traveling by myself, but my dad much prefers the idea of me being with someone on a cruise. So, if any of you will be in Europe during January, let me know and maybe I´ll be able to come visit! Remember, I have from December 14th until February 4th off!! I really need to make a decision about it this week, so as soon as I do make my decision and start making my plans, I´ll let you know.
Okay, so this is probably long enough for today. One more day of classes and then it´s weekend again!!! I am really beginning to enjoy this four days of class, three day weekend schedule. Hopefully next semester I don´t have any University courses on Fridays to mess that up.. I´ll definitely take that into consideration in the next few weeks while I´m picking classes. Alright, hope all is well at home..
Saturday, November 3, 2007
I forgot
So when I was blabbering on yesterday about my package, I forgot the real reason I felt like such a happy five year old yesterday... I got to watch High School Musical 2!! Yes, the dialogue was in Spanish (the songs were actually in English with Spanish subtitles), but my host mom was flipping through the channels right when it happened to be starting. She stopped and looked a little confused and then asked me if it was a movie and I explained that it was a musical and very popular with the preteen population in the US right now. So she left it on the channel and laughed at it because it is so dumb... I was sooo happy!! So, yes, I have proven once again that I am a 5 year old and I love it. Mmm... I think that´s all for today. Oh, I went out lastnight with one of my friends here and got a Strawberry Daquiri, and it was delicious! Because I am one of the officers of Facts for Life at school, I make all sorts of mocktails, strawberry daquiris being one of them. This, however tasted nothing like anything I´ve made before, probably because it is the first real one I´ve ever had. Anywho, it was just a fun night with the two of us getting a daquiri and talking for about an hour and then heading home. Very different from the usual loud group of 8 girls... fun times.
Friday, November 2, 2007
The wonders of being a 5 year old!
I GOT A PACKAGE TODAY!!!!
Yes, I know, such a little thing can make me so happy... the wonders of being a 5 year old. I even knew the package was coming and exactly what was going to be inside because they were all things I asked my mom to send, but I am still SUPER excited!! Besides, it really came on Wednesday, but none of us were home, so they left this little paper thing in the box telling me to come to the post office. I, of course, would have gone yesterday, but everything was closed due to it being All Saints Day/Day of the Dead. So, I found my way all by myself to the post office in my barri (neighborhood) and got my package. Yay for gum, facewash, nail files, a Time magazine article on birth order (that one I didn´t request, my mom said she was going to send it to me and then I requested the rest), peanut m&m´s, DARK CHOCOLATE peanut m&m´s, and medicine!!!
Umm... that´s about all I´ve got for you today. Midterms are this coming week, so that should be a very pleasant experience, especially since I have yet to read one of the books in one of my lit classes that the exam is over... Oh well, I have all weekend to prepare, right? More updates and pictures to come soon.
Yes, I know, such a little thing can make me so happy... the wonders of being a 5 year old. I even knew the package was coming and exactly what was going to be inside because they were all things I asked my mom to send, but I am still SUPER excited!! Besides, it really came on Wednesday, but none of us were home, so they left this little paper thing in the box telling me to come to the post office. I, of course, would have gone yesterday, but everything was closed due to it being All Saints Day/Day of the Dead. So, I found my way all by myself to the post office in my barri (neighborhood) and got my package. Yay for gum, facewash, nail files, a Time magazine article on birth order (that one I didn´t request, my mom said she was going to send it to me and then I requested the rest), peanut m&m´s, DARK CHOCOLATE peanut m&m´s, and medicine!!!
Umm... that´s about all I´ve got for you today. Midterms are this coming week, so that should be a very pleasant experience, especially since I have yet to read one of the books in one of my lit classes that the exam is over... Oh well, I have all weekend to prepare, right? More updates and pictures to come soon.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!!!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!
So I thought I would be festive today and write in orange even though I´m sure it is going to look funky on my background.
Back to Halloween... I hope you all are having a fantastic day and that you eat lots of candy! Things here are actually pretty festive for All Saints Day, which is tomorrow. We don´t have classes or anything! But, the holiday tomorrow is very different from Halloween. We don´t get candy at all really, and there is much more meaning to All Saints Day. At least we get some dulces... my host mom (who thinks she is fat and never keeps anything sweet around the house) even baked some delicious little cookies and things! I´m not quite sure what I´ll be doing for my 4 day weekend... I thought about traveling, but tickets to anywhere are about two or three times as expensive this weekend than any other weekend. AND, I have midterms next week, unfortunately. So, I´ll probably just hang around here joining in on some of the festivities while taking advantage of all the time to study.
Meanwhile, there isn´t much else going on here right now. It is getting colder, but I´m sure it isn´t as cold as it is in Indiana. It´s weird to me, though, that I just can´t seem to get warm here! Every day it seems like I just go from class to class and shiver... it doesn´t even matter what shirt I wear anymore because my coat never comes off, so nobody sees it! Anywho, that´s pretty much all the excitement I have for you today. I´ll have better stories later.
And in response to some of your comments... to Nick, no, I already paid $100 and took two trips to Chicago to get my visa, the 5 euros here are to pay for the student card that they are giving me... it´s been a pretty long process that started in the beginning of July and is just now being completed, YAY!! And good luck with your French... if you decide to follow her back to France, let me know and maybe I can come meet you there!! Tanasha... yes, the leaves do change colors here too, kind of. There aren´t really too many trees for me to appreciate the changing of colors since I am in the city. This past weekend when we went up to the northern part of Spain, I saw the most green I´ve seen since leaving Noblesville! I´ll try to post pictures soon. Mike - I love you too, my lil´ bro. I am so proud of you. And to Laura: the Catalan isn´t really too difficult, but I´ve unfortunately picked up the habit of starting to pronounce some of my Spanish words the catalan way... But I will gladly teach you what I know when we get back. Btw, hows the smoking and dancing coming along?
Okay, that´s all for now. Bye!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Random Excitement...
So... I am thinking about going on a cruise. WHAT?!?! I know!!! See, here´s the thing, it probably won´t happen, but for now I´m just going to be excited while I´m thinking about it. I have the whole month of January off and want to travel around Europe. Stacey is supposed to be coming here and we were going to travel together. However, we need to plan SOON if we are going to do it so that we can book our hostels and all that fun stuff. And, she and I just haven´t been having the best communication about it recently. So, I was thinking, what would help me to see a lot of different places and not have to plan so much? Right, a CRUISE!!! So, I´m just looking right now to see if there are any cheap cruises that I can talk Stacey into going on with me and another friend around Europe or the Mediterranean. Fun, huh?
Another random thing, I get to go get my student card this week from the immigration police! I already had my appointment a month ago to turn in all of my documents and get fingerprinted and stuff, but then I had to wait a month to be able to get my card. So, I´m thinking tomorrow´s agenda will include visiting the bank to pay my 5 euro fee and the immigration police to pick up my card. How exciting!
Okay, now for something weird... yesterday was kind of strange at my apartment. First off, I slept in until 10ish and took a shower. After my shower I could not get warm. I was huddled in a sweatshirt and sweatpants underneath my 3 blankets shivering for about an hour when my host mom walked in to hand me some clean clothes. (Yes, my host mom does my laundry for me, I know, AWESOME!) She asked if I was okay and I just told her I was cold, but that I was fine. Then, the buzzer rang and she was like "Oh, mi hija!" Meaning, once again, I was not informed that the family was coming over for lunch! So her daughter, husband, and two kids came for lunch and while we were eating, my host mom told everyone that I was cold. They had a long discussion about it and decided that I need to start eating breakfast because that is why I was so cold. The son-in-law also decided that I need to start drinking juice with my breakfast because it will help me a lot. So he told my host mom what to buy to make the juice that I should drink every morning. Finally, lunch ended.
I spent pretty much the rest of the day in my room just relaxing, playing war and solitaire with myself, and enjoying not doing anything since I went on a full day trip to a monastery in Girona and out to a club (until 3 AM) the day before. Here is the really awkward part... After dinner was over and we were still sitting at the table, I told my host mom that I was going out to get coffee at 10 with some friends. She then started talking to me about my classes and everything. I told her the classes were okay but that I just didn´t like the subject matter very much. Then, she told me that I was just feeling homesick and that of course I didn´t like my classes because I couldn´t understand. She went on to tell me that I don´t go out with friends enough just because I spent the whole day in the apartment! It was so strange! For about 10 minutes I was told by both my host mom and dad that I would be happier when my friend got here in January to travel with me and that I would be happier if I were to just go out more and not think about home so much. She also told me that I should take some vitamins and they would make me happier... The irony here is that I always feel guilty for spending so much time out and no time in the apartment! On the one day that I decided to just relax and not go out, it is interpreted that I am incredibly homesick!!! WEIRD! So, I guess the moral of the story is that cultural differences really do come out here at times. On the other hand, I won´t feel so bad about spending lots of time out and away from the apartment anymore!
That´s all for today... updates soon to come on the cruise!!!
Another random thing, I get to go get my student card this week from the immigration police! I already had my appointment a month ago to turn in all of my documents and get fingerprinted and stuff, but then I had to wait a month to be able to get my card. So, I´m thinking tomorrow´s agenda will include visiting the bank to pay my 5 euro fee and the immigration police to pick up my card. How exciting!
Okay, now for something weird... yesterday was kind of strange at my apartment. First off, I slept in until 10ish and took a shower. After my shower I could not get warm. I was huddled in a sweatshirt and sweatpants underneath my 3 blankets shivering for about an hour when my host mom walked in to hand me some clean clothes. (Yes, my host mom does my laundry for me, I know, AWESOME!) She asked if I was okay and I just told her I was cold, but that I was fine. Then, the buzzer rang and she was like "Oh, mi hija!" Meaning, once again, I was not informed that the family was coming over for lunch! So her daughter, husband, and two kids came for lunch and while we were eating, my host mom told everyone that I was cold. They had a long discussion about it and decided that I need to start eating breakfast because that is why I was so cold. The son-in-law also decided that I need to start drinking juice with my breakfast because it will help me a lot. So he told my host mom what to buy to make the juice that I should drink every morning. Finally, lunch ended.
I spent pretty much the rest of the day in my room just relaxing, playing war and solitaire with myself, and enjoying not doing anything since I went on a full day trip to a monastery in Girona and out to a club (until 3 AM) the day before. Here is the really awkward part... After dinner was over and we were still sitting at the table, I told my host mom that I was going out to get coffee at 10 with some friends. She then started talking to me about my classes and everything. I told her the classes were okay but that I just didn´t like the subject matter very much. Then, she told me that I was just feeling homesick and that of course I didn´t like my classes because I couldn´t understand. She went on to tell me that I don´t go out with friends enough just because I spent the whole day in the apartment! It was so strange! For about 10 minutes I was told by both my host mom and dad that I would be happier when my friend got here in January to travel with me and that I would be happier if I were to just go out more and not think about home so much. She also told me that I should take some vitamins and they would make me happier... The irony here is that I always feel guilty for spending so much time out and no time in the apartment! On the one day that I decided to just relax and not go out, it is interpreted that I am incredibly homesick!!! WEIRD! So, I guess the moral of the story is that cultural differences really do come out here at times. On the other hand, I won´t feel so bad about spending lots of time out and away from the apartment anymore!
That´s all for today... updates soon to come on the cruise!!!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thank you.
Today is a good day. In the last few days I have recieved some emails from some of my closest friends... it is in the kind words they send that I find I can go on each day. I love hearing from home from all of the people that have touched my life over the years. Somehow, being across the ocean from all of them makes me truly realize how important every single one of them is. I know it is a sad thing that it takes me being so far away for this to hit me, but I think we all take what we have for granted every once in a while. While I was at home, I become so comfortable with who and what was around me that I didn´t realize how lucky I was to have all of them. So today is a wonderful day. I am feeling much better with no sneezes, it is the first day of my 3 day weekend, I get to go on a trip to visit a beautiful monastery tomorrow for free, and the sunshine is absolutely gorgeous outside today... I couldn´t really ask for anything more! So thank you to each and every one of you who has sent any sort of encouragement my way in the last few months. You know, the grandfather of one of the other girls in my program died this week, and she immediately left to go home for the funeral. At first I was really jealous that she had the financial ability to go home like that and that I was stuck here when my grandpa died. Then, after thinking about it, I realized that I didn´t really need to go home for the sad funeral service just to be jetlagged and way behind in schoolwork when I got back, because I had so much support from everyone at home while I was here. So thank you all for helping me to be strong while I am here. You all know how much I hate change, and yet how I tend to throw myself into unusual and continually changing situations... but you all still support me. Thank you. I love you all.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
More sad news...
Okay, so I know I keep posting not so happy things up here, but I got another phone call from home earlier and my little sister told me that they had to put Grizzly, one of our 3 dogs, to sleep on Monday. For any of you that have ever been to my house, I´m sure you never forgot Grizzly, the big fat brown dog that looked like a mixture of a pig and a bear... but he was really sweet. Apparently he just got really sick in the last few weeks and there wasn´t anything more that could be done for him. This is the second one of my dogs that has died since I went to college. The first one died in the fall of my Freshman year and now Grizzly... They were both 12 or 13 when they died, so they lived good lives, but it will be very strange to go home in May and only have 2 dogs there. The other sad news is that another one of my dogs is pretty sick with arthritis and everything. He is already 13, and my mom isn´t sure that he will make it through the winter. I hope he does because I´m not sure how much more death I can deal with. So here´s to my good old Grizzly Bear...
More not so great news is I AM SICK!!! Like, I thought that I might just get over the cough and feel better, but NO! Now I have moved to nonstop sneezing (I´ve already sneezed 6 times since entering the computer lab) and a very runny nose. I think and I´m hoping this is just sinus problems due to the quick change in temperature here in Barcelona and that a couple days of psuedophedrine will solve the problem... since I only have a 3 day supply of the medicine left. At least the cough has stopped for the most part, right? The good thing is that I only have 3 classes left, one tonight and two tomorrow, and then I am done for the week. Hopefully my three day weekend will be full of plenty of rest and help me to get better.
Hmm... let´s see. I want to give you some good news... I did recieve a package last week as well as a letter from my grandma, so those were both very good things. My package was from Gould Farm, where I lived and worked two summers ago on a Pathways grant. It was a yellow tie-dyed t-shirt from Roadside Cafe, the cafe owned by the farm that I worked at every day. It made me pretty happy! And the letter from my grandma was very sweet and included a copy of my grandpa´s obituary made into a very pretty bookmark. (Oops... 7 sneezes) I also got a couple emails last week that made me very happy. So, life isn´t so bad, it is just full of getting through sicknesses and working past deaths... Hope you all are doing well!
More not so great news is I AM SICK!!! Like, I thought that I might just get over the cough and feel better, but NO! Now I have moved to nonstop sneezing (I´ve already sneezed 6 times since entering the computer lab) and a very runny nose. I think and I´m hoping this is just sinus problems due to the quick change in temperature here in Barcelona and that a couple days of psuedophedrine will solve the problem... since I only have a 3 day supply of the medicine left. At least the cough has stopped for the most part, right? The good thing is that I only have 3 classes left, one tonight and two tomorrow, and then I am done for the week. Hopefully my three day weekend will be full of plenty of rest and help me to get better.
Hmm... let´s see. I want to give you some good news... I did recieve a package last week as well as a letter from my grandma, so those were both very good things. My package was from Gould Farm, where I lived and worked two summers ago on a Pathways grant. It was a yellow tie-dyed t-shirt from Roadside Cafe, the cafe owned by the farm that I worked at every day. It made me pretty happy! And the letter from my grandma was very sweet and included a copy of my grandpa´s obituary made into a very pretty bookmark. (Oops... 7 sneezes) I also got a couple emails last week that made me very happy. So, life isn´t so bad, it is just full of getting through sicknesses and working past deaths... Hope you all are doing well!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Quick update...
I went to Tarragona this weekend, which is about an hour train ride south of Barcelona. It was BEAUTIFUL!! It is known for its Roman aquaducts and amphitheater (wow... it was really hard to spell those words in English...). I have pictures, but it will take me a few days to get them posted on here since I have to do it through someone´s laptop rather than the lab ones. Anywho, we left about 9:30 Saturday morning and spent a good part of the day there, just walking around and taking pictures. It was pretty fun. Then we came back. Yep, that was about it.
Meanwhile, there isn´t really anything else going on except that it is starting to get pretty chilly here in Barca. Changing of temperatures apparently means that everyone has to get sick. This means that we have all recently begun to cough, a lot. And, since you can´t just go and easily buy some cold medicine here, it is a pain to get "pastillas" (pills), which is all our host parents can tell us to do. Every time they hear a cough, "Do you have pills?" So, I am afraid that my supply of Dayquil and Nyquil that I brought with me are soon to be depleted and I, too, will be forced to buy pastillas from the farmacia.
On a really random note, I talked to my mom this weekend, and I have decided that I shouldn´t be allowed to leave the country ever again. My mom told me that Mr. Kirk, the janitor of my preschool/kind. died last week. He was one of the nicest men I ever met in my entire life. Years after I left the school, I would go back and visit, and he still remembered my name and everything he knew about me. I was even fortunate enough once to win the raffle of our spring festival, so I got to go out to ice cream and a bookstore with Mr. Kirk. I have only ever been to Ben & Jerry´s that one time, and I still have the book that he bought me. It was called Hailstones and Halibut Bones and was a book of poetry that I must have read about 3 million times. I know that he was ready to go considering he signed a do-not-rescusitate form, but it is still sad to know that such a nice man is gone now. I think I´ll dig that book up when I get home in May...
Meanwhile, there isn´t really anything else going on except that it is starting to get pretty chilly here in Barca. Changing of temperatures apparently means that everyone has to get sick. This means that we have all recently begun to cough, a lot. And, since you can´t just go and easily buy some cold medicine here, it is a pain to get "pastillas" (pills), which is all our host parents can tell us to do. Every time they hear a cough, "Do you have pills?" So, I am afraid that my supply of Dayquil and Nyquil that I brought with me are soon to be depleted and I, too, will be forced to buy pastillas from the farmacia.
On a really random note, I talked to my mom this weekend, and I have decided that I shouldn´t be allowed to leave the country ever again. My mom told me that Mr. Kirk, the janitor of my preschool/kind. died last week. He was one of the nicest men I ever met in my entire life. Years after I left the school, I would go back and visit, and he still remembered my name and everything he knew about me. I was even fortunate enough once to win the raffle of our spring festival, so I got to go out to ice cream and a bookstore with Mr. Kirk. I have only ever been to Ben & Jerry´s that one time, and I still have the book that he bought me. It was called Hailstones and Halibut Bones and was a book of poetry that I must have read about 3 million times. I know that he was ready to go considering he signed a do-not-rescusitate form, but it is still sad to know that such a nice man is gone now. I think I´ll dig that book up when I get home in May...
Thursday, October 18, 2007
So nothing too exciting has really happened since I posted on Tuesday. However, I have had closer to 99% days since then, which is a good thing. I don´t know if I have mentioned it yet, but I am taking a Catalan class through the University on Monday and Wednesday nights. Catalan is the other language spoken in Catalunya, which is where Barcelona is located. It sounds very strange, sort of like a mixture of french, spanish, and latin? I´m not sure... anyway, my reason for telling you that I am in this class is because of something funny that happened at dinner lastnight. My host mom speaks Catalan and Castillano (Spanish), but my host dad only speaks Castillano. They know I am in this class and it makes me late to dinner on Monday and Wednesday nights. Lastnight when I came in, my host mom asked me how class went, and I said three things to her: "Em dic Melissa. Soc dels Estats Units. Estudio psicologia." Now, though this looks very similar to spanish, it sounds like "Om deek Melissa. Soak dehls Ehstots Uneets. Ehstudeeu seekulujiya." When you´ve been working on getting the spanish accent down for over a month, it is sort of difficult to forget it and pronounce things completely differently! Anyway, after I said my three basic phrases in Catalan, my host mom got so excited and couldn´t stop telling me for the next half hour that I had such great pronunciation and that she was very proud of me for learning those phrases. (Did I mention that this is after 4 classes, and all I can really say is "My name is Melissa. I am from the United States. I am studying Psychology."?!?!) Meanwhile, my host dad just looked at me like I was crazy because I was trying to learn a new language when I am not yet really great at Spanish... but, I was happy to make my host mom happy. And now, she has decided that it is a good idea to speak to me only in Catalan... which is not so much fun. Hmm, lunch today should be interesting...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
1% day
I don´t know what it is that makes me feel like I just want to go home sometimes. 99% of the time I am happy to be here experiencing new things and meeting new people, but there is that 1% of the time that I just miss everything that is familiar. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss my school, I miss my professors, I miss driving my car, I miss AIM... Today, for some reason, is one of those days.
This morning I woke up in no mood to speak or even hear any Spanish, which is pretty ridiculous considering I live in Spain. BUT, I didn´t want to talk to my host parents or go to class and listen to my professors or do anything that required stretching myself. I think that is the real problem.. I have always struggled with change and clung to anything familiar. Here, it isn´t really possible not to change. Whether I want to or not, I have to think in Spanish to be able to communicate with the people I live with. I have been stretching myself since the moment I left my family at the security gates in the Detroit airport. I had to fly here alone, which is the first time I´ve ever flown alone in my life. Then, I had to find all of the BCA students in the airport in Paris and try to make friends with them since I am the only MC student in Barcelona this semester. Then, I had to start the Spanish part of living here, which has obviously been a constant stretching of myself. I know all of these things are helping me to grow, and for the most part I look at the positively. But sometimes it is hard. It is hard to deal with your grandpa´s death alone without the rest of your family. It is hard to listen to all the other groups of students from the same schools talk about people from back home that they all know when you can´t talk about people from your own school. It is hard to feel like you are a member of a family just because you have a room in their apartment and eat dinner with them every day. It is hard to get news about what is going on at home and to realize how much you are missing...
Meanwhile, I want to be here or else I could change it, couldn´t I? Or am I just doing this to prove something? To prove it to myself.. or my family.. or my friends.. or my professors? No, I am the one who decided to come, and I am the one who wants to stay. I´ll just have to live with the 1% of the time that I want to run back to my comfortable life in Indiana knowing that you will all be there for me when I return...
This morning I woke up in no mood to speak or even hear any Spanish, which is pretty ridiculous considering I live in Spain. BUT, I didn´t want to talk to my host parents or go to class and listen to my professors or do anything that required stretching myself. I think that is the real problem.. I have always struggled with change and clung to anything familiar. Here, it isn´t really possible not to change. Whether I want to or not, I have to think in Spanish to be able to communicate with the people I live with. I have been stretching myself since the moment I left my family at the security gates in the Detroit airport. I had to fly here alone, which is the first time I´ve ever flown alone in my life. Then, I had to find all of the BCA students in the airport in Paris and try to make friends with them since I am the only MC student in Barcelona this semester. Then, I had to start the Spanish part of living here, which has obviously been a constant stretching of myself. I know all of these things are helping me to grow, and for the most part I look at the positively. But sometimes it is hard. It is hard to deal with your grandpa´s death alone without the rest of your family. It is hard to listen to all the other groups of students from the same schools talk about people from back home that they all know when you can´t talk about people from your own school. It is hard to feel like you are a member of a family just because you have a room in their apartment and eat dinner with them every day. It is hard to get news about what is going on at home and to realize how much you are missing...
Meanwhile, I want to be here or else I could change it, couldn´t I? Or am I just doing this to prove something? To prove it to myself.. or my family.. or my friends.. or my professors? No, I am the one who decided to come, and I am the one who wants to stay. I´ll just have to live with the 1% of the time that I want to run back to my comfortable life in Indiana knowing that you will all be there for me when I return...
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Construction:
Alright, so outside my window they are building a new apartment building, meaning the loud construction begins at about 7:30 every morning, waking me up way before I need to get out of bed. Yesterday was a national holiday in Spain, so luckily there was no construction to wake me up and I definitely slept in. Well.. last night I didn't want to drink when we went out to this bar, so I made the mistake of drinking half of an energy drink that was leftover from one of my friend's vodka and red bull. I didn't really think anything of it.. then I came back home before 2 so I could use the metro instead of a night bus or taxi. Trisha has lovingly left her computer in my apartment this weekend because we discovered that we can get internet from here and I also need it to read some stuff for homework by Tuesday. So I was playing on the computer, then talked to my mom and dad and little sister until 4 AM!!! It was good to talk to them since I only get to about once a week or so, but I still wasn't tired when I got off the phone thanks to that half of an energy drink. I forced myself to lay down at about 4:30 and I think I finally fell asleep sometime after 5... and then the CONSTRUCTION starts at 8:00 in the morning!!! It is a Saturday, and a holiday weekend, why is there construction on a Saturday?!? I just don't understand.. so I was hoping to get a nap today, but my host parents came home from their weekend away and wanted to talk to me forever. Now, I get to look forward to another awkward lunch with their three kids, spouses, and children tomorrow... YAY!!!! (That was a very sarcastic yay considering there are 10 of them when they all come over and it is just really overwhelming.) This is the fourth weekend that I have been here (because one of them I was in Galicia and the other in London) and each weekend at least one of their children and his/her family has come over for lunch.... AHHH!
Anywho.. life is actually good right now. Since I did have the apartment to myself since Thursday morning, I've had a pretty relaxing weekend so far. Some of the girls came over Thursday night and we all hung out here, which was a lot of fun. Lastnight we went to La Fira, which is a pretty fun bar that is decorated like a carnival, so I had fun just people watching like I do most of the time when we go out. I finished reading a book that I was reading.. it was weird. And I get the unusual pleasure of using the internet from my apartment... all in all I would say I have had a great weekend and I even have one day left of it! Maybe I'll try to find a way of getting out of the family lunch tomorrow... I'll have to think about that one a bit.
Anywho.. life is actually good right now. Since I did have the apartment to myself since Thursday morning, I've had a pretty relaxing weekend so far. Some of the girls came over Thursday night and we all hung out here, which was a lot of fun. Lastnight we went to La Fira, which is a pretty fun bar that is decorated like a carnival, so I had fun just people watching like I do most of the time when we go out. I finished reading a book that I was reading.. it was weird. And I get the unusual pleasure of using the internet from my apartment... all in all I would say I have had a great weekend and I even have one day left of it! Maybe I'll try to find a way of getting out of the family lunch tomorrow... I'll have to think about that one a bit.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Pictures
Fun telephone booth... :)
There were statue people all over the place, and this guy looked like the real Captian Jack Sparrow!!!
Parliament from across the river!! Our hostel was about a 10 minute walk from here.
Yes, my entire goal of going to London was to see Platform 9 3/4... I know I am a nerd, but I LOVED it!!!I don't have enough time to really write much right now, so I just posted a few pictures from my trip to London and I'll try to write more either tomorrow or Monday... Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Since I´ve been here:
Okay... so I know that I´ve talked to or written most of you so far about my time here in Spain. However, I know there are others that I haven´t talked to at all. So, I am going to give you all a quick update on everything I´ve done here in Spain over the last month.
My plane flew out of Detroit on the evening of September 2nd. I spent the night before and the whole day with my aunt, cousin, her husband, their three kids, and her dad, stepmom, and half sister on a lake in Michigan. Since I usually only get to see all of my family twice a year, it was fun to see them to make up for not seeing them this coming Christmas. We went tubing and swimming and stayed up late playing cards and it was really fun. My mom and sisters were with me, and my dad drove up in the morning to meet us so he could go to the airport too. At the airport, it was really hard to say goodbye for 8 or 9 months to my family. I managed, though, and only cried a bit on the flight to Paris.
Once in Paris, I met up with a lot of the other BCA students and after a 4 hour layover, we flew to Spain. Our first week here in Spain was actually spent in Castelldefels, which is on the outskirts of Barcelona. We were in a hotel and had a language class and a conversation class every day. It was an interesting and long week. At the end of the week, we loaded up all our luggage and headed into the center of Barcelona where we waited at a hotel for a few hours to meet our host families. Let me tell you, that was one of the scariest moments of my life!!! All I kept thinking was "I want to go home... I can´t communicate with them... What if they don´t like me?" Finally, after about a 3 hour wait, my host mom came to pick me up. We chatted for a few minutes there at the hotel and then left to head to my new home. My host family is actually just a couple who have three grown children. All three of their kids are married and have children of their own. My third day at the house (which is actually an apartment) all of the kids and grandchildren came over... which was more scary than fun. But I survived the meal and retreated to my room quickly afterwards.
We moved in with our host families on a Friday. The next week, we continued our conversation and grammar classes at the university in the city while also beginning a History of Art class. We had 3 days of class the following week and then took a trip to Santiago de Compestela in Galicia to finish up our Art History course. The trip was fun, but also somewhat boring because I had already learned so much in ETA about the art and whatnot that I felt it was very repetitious. The day after we got back from Galicia, we started our real classes for the semester. We had a final that Friday over the Art History Pre-semester course and another final the next Friday over the Grammar part of the Pre-semester course. Unfortunately (I know some of you know this), I received a phone call from my mom on the first day of classes to let me know that my grandpa (my dad´s dad) had died the previous day. This wasn´t really the greatest way to start out my semester, and it distracted me quite a bit from studying for the two finals, but I had a lot of support from my host parents, friends that I´ve made here, and Maika (the director of BCA).
Since then, I´ve talked to my mom a few times and feel like I am doing pretty well with my grandpa´s death. I still don´t think it will be real to me until I go back to Michigan and he isn´t there. Meanwhile, I´m trying to do the best I can here. I feel like my language skills have gotten better and hope that they really continue to do so. My host mom keeps telling me that I speak very well, so that is encouraging.
Besides classes, I´ve kept busy with all of the fiestas here in Barcelona! In our first month here, we have already had 2 holidays (meaning there were no classes on those days and lots of fiestas), one of which was the Dia de la Merced (one of the biggest celebrations in Barcelona). I went out with a few of the girls studying here from Elizabethtown who live down the street from me and we had a good time with all of the concerts and parades. There is another holiday this coming Friday, but I already have no classes on Fridays, so it isn´t too exciting. The exciting thing about this weekend is that my host parents are taking a trip, so I have the apartment to myself for 2 whole days!
Okay... so I think that about sums up my life since I´ve been here. Besides London, which I will be posting pictures from in a bit. I´ll write more about that trip in the next entry since this has already turned into a novel... Meanwhile, I hope you are all doing well and can´t wait to hear from you!
My plane flew out of Detroit on the evening of September 2nd. I spent the night before and the whole day with my aunt, cousin, her husband, their three kids, and her dad, stepmom, and half sister on a lake in Michigan. Since I usually only get to see all of my family twice a year, it was fun to see them to make up for not seeing them this coming Christmas. We went tubing and swimming and stayed up late playing cards and it was really fun. My mom and sisters were with me, and my dad drove up in the morning to meet us so he could go to the airport too. At the airport, it was really hard to say goodbye for 8 or 9 months to my family. I managed, though, and only cried a bit on the flight to Paris.
Once in Paris, I met up with a lot of the other BCA students and after a 4 hour layover, we flew to Spain. Our first week here in Spain was actually spent in Castelldefels, which is on the outskirts of Barcelona. We were in a hotel and had a language class and a conversation class every day. It was an interesting and long week. At the end of the week, we loaded up all our luggage and headed into the center of Barcelona where we waited at a hotel for a few hours to meet our host families. Let me tell you, that was one of the scariest moments of my life!!! All I kept thinking was "I want to go home... I can´t communicate with them... What if they don´t like me?" Finally, after about a 3 hour wait, my host mom came to pick me up. We chatted for a few minutes there at the hotel and then left to head to my new home. My host family is actually just a couple who have three grown children. All three of their kids are married and have children of their own. My third day at the house (which is actually an apartment) all of the kids and grandchildren came over... which was more scary than fun. But I survived the meal and retreated to my room quickly afterwards.
We moved in with our host families on a Friday. The next week, we continued our conversation and grammar classes at the university in the city while also beginning a History of Art class. We had 3 days of class the following week and then took a trip to Santiago de Compestela in Galicia to finish up our Art History course. The trip was fun, but also somewhat boring because I had already learned so much in ETA about the art and whatnot that I felt it was very repetitious. The day after we got back from Galicia, we started our real classes for the semester. We had a final that Friday over the Art History Pre-semester course and another final the next Friday over the Grammar part of the Pre-semester course. Unfortunately (I know some of you know this), I received a phone call from my mom on the first day of classes to let me know that my grandpa (my dad´s dad) had died the previous day. This wasn´t really the greatest way to start out my semester, and it distracted me quite a bit from studying for the two finals, but I had a lot of support from my host parents, friends that I´ve made here, and Maika (the director of BCA).
Since then, I´ve talked to my mom a few times and feel like I am doing pretty well with my grandpa´s death. I still don´t think it will be real to me until I go back to Michigan and he isn´t there. Meanwhile, I´m trying to do the best I can here. I feel like my language skills have gotten better and hope that they really continue to do so. My host mom keeps telling me that I speak very well, so that is encouraging.
Besides classes, I´ve kept busy with all of the fiestas here in Barcelona! In our first month here, we have already had 2 holidays (meaning there were no classes on those days and lots of fiestas), one of which was the Dia de la Merced (one of the biggest celebrations in Barcelona). I went out with a few of the girls studying here from Elizabethtown who live down the street from me and we had a good time with all of the concerts and parades. There is another holiday this coming Friday, but I already have no classes on Fridays, so it isn´t too exciting. The exciting thing about this weekend is that my host parents are taking a trip, so I have the apartment to myself for 2 whole days!
Okay... so I think that about sums up my life since I´ve been here. Besides London, which I will be posting pictures from in a bit. I´ll write more about that trip in the next entry since this has already turned into a novel... Meanwhile, I hope you are all doing well and can´t wait to hear from you!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Excitement!
I´m going to London. Some of you know this, I think, but a lot don´t. I leave tonight for London and I´ll come back late Sunday night. I´m going with Emily, Wendy, and Trisha and don´t know what exactly we´ll do while we are there, but I KNOW I will be visiting platform 9 3/4!!! I am pretty easy to please... give me either Disney or Harry Potter and some food and I will be a happy camper. It should be exciting to find my way to the airport though since Wendy and Trisha left lastnight, Emily and I are going together tonight. I´m hoping we get to the airport alright and then easily find our hostel once we get there... if not, it should make for a good story!! Hmm, that´s about it for me right now. I´ll hopefully have good pictures and stories to post once I get back.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
I did it!
So I finally decided that I suck at trying to write emails and send them out to everyone. After considering my other options, I have decided to try this whole blog thing. I know I probably won´t write in it every day, but I´m sure I´ll do better with this than emailing... and then everyone can choose whether or not they want to read about my life here in Spain. Meanwhile, it will take me some time to figure out this whole thing, so have patience. Okay, so that´s it for now... I´m going to try and see what else I can do with this...
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