23.12.12

baptist church
-ok, not as warm and inviting as Adventist
-really good music service
-explored a deli and got a yummy pesto sandwich!

22.12.12

Adventist church
-first day of public transport
-smallish church
-very nice people
-Austrian dude with a traditional suit turned out to be a surgeon at the adventist hospital here in Berlin
-met a girl that goes to school in the uk
-very nice people in general
-communion
-potluck
-retuned back to hostel because it was so cold :p

21.12.12

day of the apocalypse
-Ritter sport museum and chocolate
-Christmas market hopping

20/12/12

end of the world eve
-walking tour
-didn't learn anything
-Brandenburg gate
-reichstag
-checkpoint Charlie
-Berlin wall
-Jew memorial (buildings/time tables)
-different cathedrals
-book burning
-

19/12/12

-early day to airport
-it was rainy
-flight was delayed an hour
-really annoying plane trip with children
-Raquel met her German exchange student after 3 years
-met her grandfather
- found hostel
-walked around Berlin for a bit
-Christmas market
-warm beverage
-donut hole look alikes
-lots of meat
-wonderful hostel with curtain

18/12/12

-day of rest
-slept till 12
-bread and breakfast lunch
-shopping and hanging out in Dublin
-spicy Mexican burritos

17/12/12

-Irish country tour
-early morning
-sleeping tour and green frogs
-very thorough your guide Gary
-Irish pub experience
-cliffs of mohr
-thatched roofs
-lots of sheep

16/12/12

-walking tour of Dublin
-rain, going in a cafe
-hostel planning
-planning for country tour

15/12/12

-miracle getting flight on time
-Ryanair
-walking around in Dublin

This Christmas Season

After multiple days off of school because of holidays and fun things like that, this week we embark on our first finals week. Everyone at ESDES (Escuela Superior de Espana-Sagunto) has approached this finals week with very different preconceived ideas of "dead week" and the actual finals themselves, whether its studying or the actual act of taking the exam.

Coming from Southern, our dead week isn't what I've heard what other colleges do for  dead week. For example, por ejemplo, Walla Walla has different activities for the students to relieve stress before the exams. Southern...has candy...and doesn't let up on class work..or very rarely. At ESDES...the first few days before finals (Mon-half of  Wednesday) has been a type of a dead week. Although, Aunque, for me, my dead week was when we did not have class at all last week. So far, i have had a DELE (a class for all extranjeros (strangers) in Spain to take, its kinda like the SATs...but not really) final, an Art history final, a pre-grammar final, and first thing tomorrow i will have my history final. And then finally on Thursday and Friday we have conversation, composicion, grammar, and another "level, or nievl" test so we are placed accordingly after we get back from christmas break.

I have aced all my exams except for the pre-grammer exam...lo siento Lidia, but I'm scared! But within the last few days i have had the most interesting experiences! Tis the season for giving and receiving. Pero, in Spain, tis the season for giving, receiving, and learning new practices for the celebration of Christmas and New Years.

Today we had a mini Christmas celebration during our 30 minute break and then the celebrating went through our class, which happened to be comp.! horray! The first thing we did was we had a lottery. Cause that is what Spaniards do, i didn't win, but then again, that's why i never have or will play the lottery! After the lottery the Folklore class people sang Silent Night in Spanish, La Noche de Paz! Despues la cancion we began giving out our secret santa gifts that we have been building up till that moment. I got my secret amigo pens and highlighters like no ones business! and it just so happened that she was absolutely needing highlighters at that moment! SCORE!! my secret santa...oh my secret santa, turned out to be my roommate's best friend! She got me a cute bear beanie with fluffy ears and owl earrings...they were so cute and i absolutely loved both of them i wore them for the remainder of the day. My head/body was so warm i had to take the hat off because i was so warm!

after that all happened we had a New Years celebration. For new years in Spain, they have a tradition of eating one grape at each toll at midnight. Sounds awesome right? well it is...if you can actually eat 12 grapes.. WITH SEEDS mind you...within 12 mas o menos seconds. The Spaniards (Ana Hernandez, Juan Antonio, and the others DEMOLISHED the grapes. Me and mi amigos on the other hand MAYBE consumed 2 at MOST, i only got 1 down in fear of the seeds. Then promptly after the bell rang 12 times we popped the "sparkling cider" that was placed on our tables, threw confetti, clinked glasses and gave each other glad tidings of great joy! Ana Herdandez and our comp. teacher then began to flamenco together...it was grand! i know of one video of it out there, so i will try to attain it!

The experience was grand. and even though i will be in Hungary for New Years does not mean i wont be looking for seedless grapes at stores and will be continuing the grand tradition! We will get back to Valencia in time for the Day of the Magi, which is a main present giving holiday in Spain and for some kind of bread thing a friend was trying to explain to me. I am very excited for this holiday season, but at the same time I'm not looking forward to it...even if i think about it i can feel the tears welling up. But i will only allow them on one day...which is Christmas. other than that...i will be staying busy traveling and being with my dear friends :)

The Christmas season is upon us, remember those in need, and away from home for many different reasons, but above all, remember the original reason why Constantine felt like he needed to combine Jesus and Paganism, for community. Ok, so that's not what you should really remember, but be extra kind at your job, be extra special for your loved ones, and above all honor the Creator of the universe :D

why am i awake, you wonder?...dont worry about it :p

29/11/12

This is a wee bit late but i shall tell my tale about the time i went to my first bull fight.

First of all, there was supposed to have around 30 people going, which i believe is why it was free to us. When it came time to go, there was around 8 people going...oops! That same day there was a rock climbing excursion, so maybe that is why people had to ditch. The group that actually went was a nice group, we all were friends, and that made half the experience. We met in the central parking lot where we met other people going, including the group D tutor, Maria Jose, creo que, y otras personas, puede ser la inglesia, pero no se. The person that was leading the group looked like one of the students here, which was pretty funny. the situation turned out that he was the actual Torero. The road to the "fight" was long, bumpy, but very fun, singing, bumping to the road.

When we got to the Ganaderia, the place was at the top of a mountain. We walked to rotunda of a stadium and saw the bulls (which were smaller than i thought) getting proded on by the people. We sat down in the "stadium" and the guy that we had met before came out in a traditional torero outfit. The outfit was as follows: a short vest, pants that went up to his chest...i wouldnt recommend these pants for the normal guy..because they were t-i-g-h-t. That is all i will say.

Bull fighting commenced. The bull was let out and the guy had the big ol' "flag" thing that was pink and yellow. Followed by the traditional red "flag" jave. This whole process was supposed to end with "the killing of the bull" but yea, no, this was a bull-friendly bull fight :)

After various people tried to "torero" and various people (cough Christian and Cedric) getting knocked around a little bit. We had lunch, where we got 2 lunches (because they made more than people were there). We ate lunch in a little cabin looking thing izquirda del stadium. In all the experience was very fun, and i believe it was a good first bull fighting expierence :)

ANIMALS WERE NOT HARMED IN MAKING OF THIS BLOG

My week
Internet is getting more and more crappy. But everyone is complaining of the same thing, even the teachers, so it will get fixed...if not this semester, hopefully after we get back from break :D

Laundry is another story, although i am pretty sure its just because my laundry soap is not the best, but its totally not working and my clothes are not clean when they are supposed to be clean. Never had that problem, but its ok, i get experience of washing my own clothes and drying them ALL by hand!

What really made my week happy was a very special package from my mother. From the time that she has been looking for coats, what we always have been looking for is coats that have fuzzyness EVERWHERE. Well, she has found one, and shes letting me borrow it!!! how epicly amazing is that? i will always think of her when i wear it and when i feel its warmth, its like she is hugging me :)) When i just opened up the package it smelled like home, oh i miss that smell!

This week hasnt been a hard week homework wise, so a few friends and i have been getting together for marathons of Friends episodes. We basically watched the whole second season! Good times. Oh and also truth and dare...that was pretty fun/funny :p

About two more weeks and we will be on our way to Ireland for christmas break :)
<3

Sabado

Sabbaths are a time to reflect and have time with friends that you normally wouldn't have. Today some friends and I went down to the tangerine orchards that line the driveway up to the school and hung out and talked about nothing while searching for tangerines. some "tangerines" were the size of oranges!

Thanksgiving Away From Home

My first Thanksgiving away from home. Need i say more? I didnt really think about what that meant or how that would effect my emotions.

First of all, yesterday i twisted my ankle for the 3rd time since i have been here. JOY! But let me get to the actual day. This morning i had the intention of taking advantage of having no school and sleeping in until my body could not handle any more sleep, little did i know that my body had enough sleep after falling asleep at 11 and waking up at 9. I wanted to go to breakfast but breakfast had just ended so i just stayed in bed. My early morning consisted of one American TV show, gummy bears from home, and staying in bed. At 11 the people here had a series of games of flag football! it was raining so my rain jacket had a good work out! I took videos and pictures! But the games were definintly not boring, Christian, one of our teachers (of conversation), played and he actually made a touchdown!! A few people got knocked about, but no one really died :D

After football everyone had lunch, which was not bad, and i had to help with the final preperations for thanksgiving dinner including making the salad, baked mac and cheese and the final preperations on the other food (stuffing, sweet potatoes and other things). It didnt last long so i went back to my room and chilled, thinking of what i would wear and such (ended up wearing my cute black halter dress with the crocheted looking top). At 6 i had to go to the play practise that the theatre people were doing for the dinner. I was a pilgram that died because it was so cold in winter (with my short sleeved white shirt that i picked up in the girls dorm lobby give away box).

Finally at 7:30 the dinner began, we sang the National Anthem at first, had prayer, did the play of Pocahontas and John Smith, then finally we ate. The dinner was the greatest thanksgiving dinner i have ever had. Probably because the food was homemade by us, and it had AMAZING flavor. A. the salad was amazing B.the potatoes were the best...i dont know how or why but they were good! C. Bakcd Mac and Cheese. sigh....i had a good thanksgiving dinner :) After dinner we sat around talking, listening to music. a few people sang special songs and did little cute things, one group of persons sang Baby Its Cold Outside! I giggled!! Stuff like that. To drink was fake wine, like what is sold at the VM, sparkling grape juice without the sparkling, i think it was real grape juice! After some people sang we had dessert, apparently there was enough pie for people, 50 pies with 8 pieces a pie! COMO UNOS JEFES!!!

today was a blast, and i believe i have never had a better thanksgiving ever and it will be pretty hard to beat when i get back state-side.

FU(tbol)N

In Spain, in order to have a dull day, a person only has to stay in their room and not socialize. To have a fun day the only thing a person has to do is to step out into the wild and get their feet wet. Today, for me, i jumped in the ocean of fun in Spain. 

Today started out with sleep, i like to take a Sabbath's rest literally and enjoy the rest that God gives in times of stress and strangeness. But after i lived God, for sabbath school a few folks and i got together and sang sabbath songs that we all knew in english and spanish. Had lunch, which i was fairly unimpressed with, and then commenced the afternoon with playing Phase 10. Most of the people got to a fairly good "phase" by the time we had to end. 

We sadly had to end phase 10 because of an event which is unique to Europe, but is humongous in Espana, futbol! I had signed up for a Valencia vs. Espana futbol game for tonight! The game was in Valencia so the group of us got in the bus, picked up the people that were attending  a bible credit class, which was a camping trip over the topic of sex. I'm pretty sure they were relieved to come to the futbol game! When we got at the stadium finally, after climbing the total height of the stadium, Valencia had just gotten their first goal, tying the game 1-1. There were a lot of people there, duh, and it was the classic scene that you see on TV. Everyone was yelling cheers, chants, and revelries while decked out in their Valencian or Espana gear. The spectacle was quite entertaining and interesting from a sociological view. There were people yelling the total length of the game, people in our group were like "how can they yell that amount of time" and i thought about it, maybe its because they've been raised with the yelling, and its just thing thing that you do when you come to a game? practicing once or twice a week, their voices would probably get used to it! 

Yes, the game in whole was very entertaining for me, as an American raised on baseball. But the last 5 minutes were the most interesting out of the whole game while each of the teams were trying to get out of a tie. Many things progressed. 1. yellow cards were given for such things as tripping people, 2. RED cards were given for headbutting, mooning, yelling at the ref, 3. goalies getting a work out. 

In whole this day has been one for the books folks! FIRST futbol game....thats pretty big for me :D

Afterwards we went to the mall in Valencia until late and walked around goofed off in stores and talked to people i dont normally talked to, that was fun :D 

 

14 de Nov.: protest day

For the last few days i have not been able to sleep well. Either because i have been worried about SAU next year or just insomnia in general. Sunday morning/afternoon group C went over to Lidia's house (our tutor) and had an home cooked meal for the first time (for me) and talked and had fun. it was a nice change of pace, and plus i got to see her new house! it is located in the city near by- Petres! Sunday night my friends and i had a break from cafe food and made our own food in a kitchen located in the bottom of the girls dorm, which happens to be right under my dorm room! who knew! maybe this will prepare me for living on top of a pizza shop! Anyways, we made mexican food! included: fresh salsa made by raquel, pico de gallo by maria and rachel kearby, guac by rachel v, tortillas by me then rolled by a multitude of people and then "cooked" by cedric. OH and amazing mexican rice by..i think raquel :) it was a grand meal and we plan on making that again, if not just the torillas...they were amazing!

getting used to actual school may be the problem of sleeping. But last night i slept amazingly. went to bed around 11 ish and woke up at 9! right after i got two messages from friends at SAU on facebook, had a nice chat with both of them. one looking for a job and the other suffering from a broken foot :P so that was a nice refresher from the bog of people from spain. I love the people here dont get me wrong, but the people from home have a quality to them that brings a feeling of home, which is always welcome in my mind!

Today is protest day in Spain...Italy, Greece and Portugal. Jobs being at 50% doesnt sit so well in these parts so what do they do? they tell people and alert people to what they are suffering. In America, we just rant on facebook. Like the elections. and not getting enough sleep (i can say this because i have not posted anything on facebook about my lack of sleep lately). I say this speil about the protests because of one simple reasons (among other more complicated ones): because i was planning on going out for Horchata with the school. really spain? you have denied me the fruits of your beautiful country!

History class was fun. We are starting to learn about the Inquisition in spain, starting at siglo XI. When we started about talking about isabel and ferdinand my ears perked up. we had the option of asking a question that was not addressed in the assigned reading for the previous night, so i set upon the task of figuring something out so the teacher would realize that i am an interested student and that i am paying attention. I came up with the question "was ferdinand a king along side isabel or was he just a prince like prince philip in england?" of course it was in spanish, but that was the only difference. He said "muy bien" to me, aka AN A+ bam! i love history! and it was the first class of the day, which meant i actually understood a good percentage of what he was saying!



This post has been brought to you by: the gummies my mommy sent to me :D

Musings

The last couple of days I've had a lot of time to think and ponder over many different subjects. whether it was during worship, while zoning in class, or while i was waiting for passport dealings to happen and end. Not really over the elections, because all the people ranting and raving over them on Facebook made me SICK. Mostly over life in general.
How do i plan on spending it.
Where will i work?
Will i keep contact with the amazing people i am meeting here?
Will i learn Spanish in time to leave Spain?
Do i cut my hair, dye my hair, both, or neither?
I miss my parents
What homework do i have for the next day?
Plans for Christmas
What will happen on my first Christmas away from home? (this makes me teary)
Is there really the right guy out there for me?
Did i make a mistake?
What it would be like to drive after a whole lot of months not driving?
When should i buy a stick-shift car?
These are only a portion of what goes through my mind on a daily basis. But i need to realize that i shouldn't worry. I think that it is good that i forget all these musings a couple of minutes after they enter my brain, so i don't get overloaded and explode. Granted i try to think in Spanish, but that skill is still on its way.

October 31-November 3

The following days after the 30th were kind of long and tiring. Even though there was still a lot to see in Madrid, because it is the capital of our beautiful country, we were tired after the first three days. In the interest of money and space, my two friends and i changed rooms from a 10 bed room to a 12 bed room. It was a nice change. it got to the point where the people in the 10 bed room were being annoying and partying all the time, which is not a good environment to be staying in. When we changed we got to live on the second floor of the hostel. which we still are in love with, even after the trip. October 31 being halloween, we wanted to go out and have fun. Before the trip i had looked online and checked what Madrid had to offer for Halloween festivites and it said that they dont really dress up for halloween, only a few people and there are no places to go that night because no one in Spain celebrates it. So i was like, ok, that makes sense, i dont really have a costume, so sounds awesome. We go out that night on the town to see what was happening, and what do we see? a whole bunch of people dressed up and partying. WOW. Whatever, we hung around at few places and danced. to say the least we had a very good time, im glad we stayed out, even going back and forth to the hostel and back. HAHA. The next day we totally slept in and had a lazy day. For the most part we had Breakfast for free at the hostel about 9 am and then had a full day of walking around Madrid and exploring new streets and new places to go and then have a 10 euro lunch at a buffet or a 10 euro food something around 4 pm which would last us until breakfast the next day. Financially that is what worked, stomach wise that is what worked. Everything worked so everything was all good :D

October 30

Este día fue melancolía. Después desayuno fuimos al Museo del Prado con Tyrone, el chico en nuestro cuarto. Cuando fuimos afuera el tiempo fue mal. Fue lloviendo. Hay agua en las calles. La línea por el museo fue mas largo, muchas personas fueron ahí. Pero conocemos una mujer de Nueva York y ella nos dice sobre el huracán en los Estados Unidos. Ella dice que dieciséis personas murieron. Muy  mal. El museo fue bueno. Visitemos muchas pintoras famosas como “The Three Graces”, “Mary Tudor”, “Las Meninas” y “The Naked Maja”. Fueron muy interesantes. Fue muy divertido. Hay dos pizas pero nosotros solo fuimos al primero planta. Iremos a Madrid con la escuela, so fuimos a la segunda planta en Marzo con la escuela. Después el museo fuimos a buscar un pequeño almuerzo. Encontremos pan blanco y chips…un bocadillo con chips! Ese fue buen. Después la comida mis amigas y yo fuimos al hostal y <<hung-out>> por una hora o dos y fuimos de compras por zapatos  y chaquetas. Rachel compró una chaqueta bonita! Después compremos fuimos a Hard Rock Café. Americano pero fuimos tenemos muchas hambre y necesitemos muchas comida. El camarero fue un <<jerk-face>> porque en la cuenta el circuló el parte que dijo que IVA fue no incluyó. JERK-FACE. Solo 1,35 por una IVA.  

october 29

Free breakfast at the hostel started at 8 and ended at 10. we usually had breakfast about 9 during the first few days of the trip because we had scheduled different activities. The previous night there were people in our room that came back around 2ish from partying and they were pretty loud :/ Also there was a few new people that came during the previous evening that went out partying. So then in the morning of the 29th we saw two people in a bed. OH snap... so that was kind of aqward, and by far the worst thing about the hostel, other than the showers with no pressure (pathfinders helped prepare me for that one). Today we took a free tour around Madrid by a guy named Roberto, doing tours totally as a volunteer! We went around the city, seeing the various sites, some we never went back to, but some we visited more thoroughly throughout the week. After the tour two people that we met went out with us to lunch. Apparently buffets were the best value in the touristy section of Madrid. about 10 euros for all you can eat. it was pretty good food and the company was fun change from people we met at the school. After lunch we went around the area looking at little markets that were set up. We went back to the area of the hostel to look around and explore and we saw a commotion in one of the various squares so we went to find out what it was. Previously we had seen a big sign fore the new James Bond movie, Skyfall in that very square. We asked what was happening and the girl said they were setting up for the premiere for Skyfall! I really wanted to go, but i didnt want to drag people with me if they didnt want to go. We left and went to a music shop and i called my parents to tell them what just happened. i was very excited. a little later we went back to the premiere site and got our spots! there wasnt very many people there so waiting wasnt bad. we saw all the makings of the red carpet experience. People were walking up and down the red carpet, security guards and tv people all the same. the security guards started to give out different items. The items included a black marker/pen, a little poster of naomi harris and a bigger poster of the Skyfall poster with james bond on the front. These were the making of articles to have the actors sign stuff for us! they then started handing out posters saying "i love Daniel", the same for Javier. We didnt get those, but what we had was awesome enough! Things started to pick up after dark. People took the protective covering off the red carpet, cameras were starting to be set up, press were arriving, and eventually the premiere started. There were two personality news people talking to each other and to random people. Finally there was a rush of people to the entrance and we eventually saw the stars come out! First came naomi harris. she was beautiful! Then came Javier. again...beautiful, then the grand finale Daniel Craig. They were all wearing a ton of makeup granted. Going to the premiere was definitely the highlight of that day/trip. With souvenirs! Along with the premiere, there was a few protests going on beside us. we were worried and made a plan if riots broke out, but thankfully we didnt have to run away :D

October 28 2012 Trip To Madrid (October Break)

Nuestros premier dia de vacación, fuimos a Madrid. Tuvimos desayuno y entonces caminimos a Sagunto por el tren. Mis listas de tiempos del tren fue malo, no sé por qué, pero esperamos por una hora antes la comenzaba. Después el tren caminemos a la estación del autobuses en Valencia. Exploremos más de Valencia que antes en este año. Fue muy lejos de la estación del tren, pero el tiempo fue tranquilo. El tipo de autobús tomemos fue Avanza y el viaje fue muy confortable. Los asientos fueron de cuero y como clase de negocios en un avión. Hay películas durante el viaje, pero duerme por uno o dos horas. El viaje fue (más o menos) cuatro horas. Tomare Avanza otras veces en el futuro. Después el viaje tomemos un taxi ir al hostal, Cat’s Hostal en Madrid, fuimos muy emocionados. Fuimos emocionados por la noche y nuestros tiempos en Madrid sin la escuela y sin citas. La ciudad fue muy  horripilante por la noche, pero caminemos algunos calles ver la ente y los sitos de Madrid. Fue muy temprano pero fuimos a dormir en el hostal. Nuestro cuarto hace diez camas. Yo debajo, Raquel arriba y Rachel debajo Raquel. Por la noche hay música Americana. Música electrónica de Basshunter y más. Hay un bar/pub ahí y gente en el centro del hostal. El hostal es como un edificio Árabe. Fue muy bonito. El cerrojo por nuestro cuarto es muy difícil y solo Raquel lo abrió una vez. Hay más personas interesantes ahí, quiero tomar fotos, pero noooo, lol. Ese hostal tuve muchas actividades por los clientes, incluye un tour de la ciudad gratis, clases de flamenco, salsa y español. Hay muchas hacer ahí. Me gusta ese hostal y recomendé a otras personas por el futuro. 

26.10.12

It has been a whole week of school…well not officially, only tue-Friday. Friday (today)was the worst day ever! For so many reasons;
 A. its Friday, a reason enough.
 B. my understanding level went to an all time low, and we had a “quiz” today in grammar, did not do well on.
C. the lovely chicas in the girls dorm didn’t collect their laundry so I had to hang dry my clothes. Granted I did not have a problem with this, but my clothes don’t dry “properly” aka they don’t shrink a little before I wear them, idk why I like that fact but I do. And also its part of what my laundry is…its washing and then drying…AHH CHICAS WHY!?!?
D. 2 peoples Macs died, one of demon possession and one from milk. Yum milk, too bad I don’t have a supply of you here!
E. roommate’s wallet got jacked, shall I say anymore, I feel helpless in the situation, but she got everything under control in a record time. All I know is that I would be worrying about it until I got my replacement cards back…and then some for the fact that my wallet got jacked.
F. I skipped lunch. The first time I skipped lunch here…I overestimated the time I can go without the carbs that they give us here *sigh
I am thankful that I can leave Sagunto for ANOTHER week and go to Madrid, from what I can see online we have a beautiful hostel, and I am with 2 other beautiful ladies. I am so excited! We are going to a place that is famous on the NEWS, on the AMERICAN news! Granted its not good news but oh well!

I mentioned this in my Spanish blog but there has been a lot of people sick from the salad in Morocco, and probably the water in the various places we went to. Thankfully somehow I did not get sick, even though I chowed down on the salad in Morocco. But there has been a good plenty of people here that have had several ailments connected with food poisoning. Fun Fun! So I’ve heard random stories from several people and I cringe. I only have an annoying cough. Like that cough that just happens every once in a while? Well yea, I have that, and I still blow my nose once in a while…this has been taking half a week, and by this time I have started taking medicine. 

The weekend has arrived, aka sleep time, oh how I do not want to go to vespers….wait, have I ever wanted to go to vespers? Nope.

Oh and we have untold amount of homework for this break, cause you know, everyone is staying on campus (sarcasm), like we have a quiz on the Monday that we get back….we are not in America.

 

 

22 de Octobre

Para el último día nosotros fuimos a la Mezquita en Córdoba. En la mañana fuimos en grupos de autobús por desayuno porque la sala de desayuno fue pequeño, más pequeño para nuestro gran grupo. Nuestro tiempo para desayuno fue ocho de la mañana. Desayuno fue nadie cuando comparo del hotel antes este. Pero no problema. Nosotros ponemos nuestras ropas en nuestros equipajes para el último tiempo y fuimos al autobuses. El solo lugar fue el Mezquita. La Mezquita tiene muchos arcos en el lugar. Como los otros lugares, hay muchas cosas en cada curva del edificio, pero las cosas muchas fue espectacular fue los arcos. Los arcos son muy famosos en la historia del arte del mundo. El viaje a secuela fue larga y fastidioso (annoying). No dormía porque no fui confortable en el autobús. Hay películas, The Proposal y Nacional Treasure, pero en español. Yo sé muchas palabras en National Treasure porque yo sé mucho en los Estados Unidos. Fuimos en el autobús para seis horas con dos pausas por personas ir los aseos y para almuerzo. Para almuerzo yo tuve un bocadillo con tortilla española. Yo no quiero no más tortillas españolas por un tiempo larga. Finalmente fuimos a la escuela y fuimos a cenar y entonces a dormir.   

21 de Octobre

En la mañana del 21 de octubre el grupo fueron enfermos, pero nosotros teñimos dejamos el hotel. Los directores de nuestro grupo tuvieron muchas medicinas para los enfermeros. Yo fui no enferma. Pero muchas personas fueron miserables. Fuimos a otro lugar famoso, Reales Alcázares. Este edificio es como La Alhambra. Muchas similares de las salas de La Alhambra y las razones para La Alhambra. Hay salas con la regalía de España, visearon por los niños de la reina Isabela de Castilla y muchas otras razones. Hay guías audios para nosotros. Los jardines fueron muy bonitos y tranquilos. Pero hay muchas personas ahí. Personas más agradable, pero malo. Puede ser ellos fueron cansado como nosotros. Me gusta La Alhambra mejor  que Reales Alcázares. Mis amigos y yo fuimos cansado y no quisimos viajar a mas lugares, pero necesitamos ir a Córdoba para dos más días. La viaje en el autobús fue corto y fácil pero todos personas fueron enfermero o cansado. El viaje fue no divertido. Finalmente llegamos al hotel en Córdoba y ponemos nuestro equipaje en nuestros cuartos y fuimos el centro de la ciudad para un pequeño viaje. Vimos los edificios Romanos y las paredes del Mezquita. Por la noche fuimos dormimos.

20 de Octobre

La segunda día en Sevilla fue un día libre después la iglesia en el parque en el centro de Sevilla. En chico dijo una historia de su vida y Ana dijo una historia de su vida. Me encanta Ana. Los canciones después las historias fueron muy divertido, Welcome Table, We Are Soldiers, y mas canciones de mi experiencias en la escuela secundaria. La gente de ESDES fue a la plaza de España. Tomaron un photo del grupo y el día fue libre. Primero mis amigos y yo fuimos a un cafe a comer y caminamos las calles de Sevilla. En las afueras fueron muchas tiendas pequeñas. En un calle nosotros descubierto un tienda que tuvo camisas de varios tipos. Nosotros caminamos muchas y fuimos cansadas, pero caminamos más en la ciudad bonita. Despues centro d la ciudad. La gente caminando fue muy interesante. La gente cambiando fue muy interesante. Muchas personas tenían ropa interesante y la cultura de Sevilla fue más clara que otra ciudad. Me gusta la cultura de Sevilla. Quiero ir a Sevilla para una vacación en el futuro. Mis amigos y yo descubierto otro grupo de ESDES y caminamos con sus grupo. Nosotros comimos en un café más barato con tapas. Muy interesante. Mis amigos y yo fuimos otro café y compramos postres y bebidas, yo no compre nadie porque yo tuvo pan y agua al hotel, y no necesite dulce.

19 de Octobre

El primero día en Sevilla. Sevilla para mi es el último lugar yo quise ir. Fue más bonita que todos las ciudades a fuimos. Mi corazón es en Sevilla. Mi encanta el frase NO8DO. Es verdad. Los edificios en Sevilla fueron bonitos y la gente fue agradable. La comida fue deliciosa y el catedral en Sevilla fue número tres en el todo del mundo. En el catedral hay los “restos” de Cristóbal Colon, pero hay muchos restos de Colon en el mundo, así que nose. La cultura de Sevilla es espectacular. Después el catedral tuvimos tiempo libre. Mis amigos y yo caminos a un café con crees y granizadas. Fuimos al hotel. Ese hotel fue bonito y confortable. Tenía una flor colgado del cielo. Después el hotel Ana tuvo una supresa para nosotros. Estupendo. La supresa fue un carruaje tirado por caballos. Fue divertido. Nosotros vimos todos de la ciudad.  Los varios lugares populares en la ciudad y las calles populares. Después ese, nosotros llegamos a el hotel. Mis amigos y yo fuimos a comer a un restaurante mexicana. Fue muy delicioso, pero más caro que un café. Para la premio tiempo en España mis amigos y yo tomarnos el autobús de la ciudad ir a nuestros hotel. Autobús número 37, treinta y siete. Ese fue muy barato, 1, 20 euros. En el hotel mi compañera y yo fuimos a nuestro cuarto y vimos la televisión. Fútbol fue pasando. Sevilla a otro equipo, no recuero que fue un ganador.

18 de Octobre

Este es un nuevo continente. Fui muy emocionado pero soy decepcionado. Pero muchos de la viaje fue mas divierto. Primero nosotros tomamos un barco transbordador. Fui frio y cansada pero la viaje fue divertido. En el comienzo del tiempo en Marruecos la quía turístico fue cómico y el ayudamos con la historia de Tánger y Marruecos. Tánger fui llamo Tánger porque de los tangerinas/las mandarinas. La seguridad  fue una cosa ridícula. Las oficiales de seguridad no preocuparse por las personas caminando de un lado a otro.  La cosa solo que yo encanta fui cabalgador un camello. El camello fue más alto que yo. El camello era muy agradable a mí. Después los camellos fuimos a la ciudad de Tánger y vemos los edificios viejos. Una supresa para mí fue que los edificas tenían pintar. Yo piense que los edificios ser todos de arena, pero no. Recibe una henna de Marruecos por mi mano (izquierda). Los hombres de las tiendas en la ciudad fueron  malos. La ciudad de Tánger fue más sucia y puerca. El viaje de regreso fue difícil porque el mar fue malo y la comida en Marruecos fue mala. La comida vegetariano tenia malo lechuga por nuestros estómagos y muchas vegetarianas fueron enfermo por el residuo de la viaje. Pero no yo. Yo tome un video de la viaje en el barco transbordador. Muchas personas fueron vomitaron. Fue vulgar.

17 de Octobre

Primero nosotros fuimos los autobuses después partida del hotel. Ese día fuimos a lugares diferentes, no uno a dos lugares. El primero lugar fue Marbella. Ana dice nosotros llevar nuestros bañador porque la lugar tenía el mar. Yo lleve mi bañador. Cuando arribar a Marbella mis amigas y yo caminamos las calles y  comemos a un café. Tuvo una tortilla española y agua. La comida fue pequeña pero buena. Yo recibe lijar para un amigo en los estados unidos. La ciudad fue bonita y la gente fue agradable. Nuestro camarero fue más agradable. Después Marbella fuimos a Puerto Banua. Allí hay muchos barcos de la gente rico. Ese lugar fue pequeño y nuestro grupo lo rellenado. Después nosotros arribamos a Gibraltar. Una colonia de Inglaterra. Pero hay muchas personas con diferentes lenguas. Algunas personas vieron los monos en Gibraltar pero yo fui en la ciudad. Los artículos a comprar fueron caros y aburridos. El hotel después la ciudad fue agradable. El estilo fue el estilo de Marruecos. Tenía los arcos y las terrazas que son populares en el arte Marruecos. Fui muy cansada porque arribamos al hotel tarde y tenía tan hambre. Pero el próximo día es Marruecos. Soy emocionado ir a África y cruz un otro continente en mi lista.

16 de Octobre

Grenada es muy bonita y divertido. yo quise vivier aqui! el hotel fui limpio y desayuno fui muy bien. el hotel fui en la ciudad, muy conveniente y adecuado. por la noche antes, mi amigas y yo exploramos la ciudad. Nuestors viaje fuimos muy divertido. pero muetros viaje en la manana fuimos muchas mas divertido. nosotros fuimos a La Alhambra. La Alhambra fui bonita y tenia elementos de Arabia y Europa. Los monarcas Yusef I y Mohamed V son los grandes constructores de La Alhambra. Partes de La Alhambra includye la puerta de la justica, la torre de las damas, la sala de los Reyes y muchas mas. Hay partes de La Alhambra que tenia elementos intrincado. Despues La Alhambra yo fui con mis amigos a cena en la ciudad. Raquel, Rachel, Matthew y yo fuimos a un facec y to tuve patatas ali oli y tortilla espanola como la escuela pero mejor. despues la comida fuimos a las tiendas de ropa, joyas y otros mas. pero las tiendas cerrando muy temprano. Una tienda yo probe un vestido muy bonito. yo lo quise pero fui muy caro. despues las tiendas fuimos al hotel y jugemos con trajetas. entonces Rachel y yo fuimos a nuestros cuarto. Fuimos a dormir temprano porque fuimos muy cansada. muchas caminando y tomando photos pero lo fui muy divertido. mi parte favorita de La Alhambra fui los intrincados. El arte del sur de espana es mi arte favorito.

29 of September (Saturday) and that weekend

A precurser to Satuday was friday night. After vespers there was a afterglow sort of deal that happened in a little room under the guy's dorm (internado de chicos) called "La Frontera" The room isnt really evolved, but it has a bar area and plastic chairs and tables scattered about the room, like what is used for outdoor furniture. Everyone got some juice (zumo) or tea and sat around talking to people. A few of my girlfriends and i wanted to meet some of the Spanish people so we eventually started talking with two people, Lluia, and her friend, which i did not catch his name. The room was very loud so we had a hard time communicating, although the spoke very good english. The dude was from Romania and the chick was from the Ukraine, but the both spoke english and spanish! We talked about the most random of topics, what to do and what not to do (gestures, words etc). Talking with them was the highlight of that friday night.

Saturday started out like a reglar saturday morning, breakfast, church, sabbath school, BUT for lunch something extrvagant happened. we had HAYSTACKS for lunch! I made a mountain and i ate all of it very quickly! After that amazing lunch, a group of us went into Sagunto to walk whichever way the music led us. Little did we know that phrase would be taken quite literally. When we were on the outskirts of the town we heard music and then a loud CRACK CRACK sound. EYE, i, jumped in horror, with all the violence happening i thought those were gunshots..so what do you do when you hear loud scary noises? go straight towards them of course! (sorry daddy)! When we got to the source, there was no riot going on, but a festival of different groups walking around sagunto with a man and a woman walking in front, with a banner man walking infront of them, with a salsa band walking behind the couple. The couple and the banner man were wearing traditional clothing from their distinct region (i believe, creo) The most cute couples were the little girls with little boys. the girls' dresses were as wide as they were tall! very very cute! we followed all the groups to the roman ruins in which we went to earlier in the week and when we got there the stadium was full of people both in traditional clothing and some not in traditional clothing, but some supporting a certain person. What happened after we got seated and the "fiesta" got started seemed to be full of tradition. It seems sort of like a beauty contest, there were 18 chicas ranging from age 5+ and then two final chicas that were honored above the others. We had to leave before the fiesta ended so we dont really know what became of it, but there was fireworks and everything! When we were leaving some of us had to go to the bathroom so we went, after we came out there was two gentlemen standing outside putting their traditional clothes back together.

 I feel like i can draw it better than explain, but ill give it a try. There were two men, one of them dressing and the other helping the first. The scarf that the men wore around their waist was the stage they were at. The first man already had the scarf halfway wound, while the other man held out the scarf so it would go around the first man tightly (to stay on). WELL the man being wrapped was having some problems with keeping his vest out of the way of the scarf so he asked us (he was looking at me, but it was a general question) if one of us could help him. I rose to the occasion. As he wound himself into his scarf i kept his vest from being tucked into the scarf. I TOUCHED HIS COSTUME. it was the most amazing thing i have ever done. The scarf seemed like a burlap fabic while the vest was made out of fine silk, but a sturdy vest. After the escapade, he said thank you in french, and noticing that i wasnt french, he said thank you in english, i giggled and ran away...but that experience is one of my highlights.

My group and i continued to walk down the road back to the school. on our way there was one of the salsa bands playing music in the streets. i TOTALLY started moving my hips and "dancing" oh, it was a freeing experience! This has been my favorite Saturday so far...and im only into 2-3 weeks of my trip

And just to finish off the weekend, Sunday, for breakfast we had chocolate churros..yes...and we went into town and did our homework there...EPIC!!!

3 de Octobre, Wednesday

Tuesday night, leading up to Wednesday i went to the beach in Sagunto in the later hours in the evening with two other guys and another girl. We took bikes to the beach, tied them up and walked around the beach, and that area of the city. It was 10ish and there were a lot of people out. It was a really cool experience because ive never seen the nightlife of a spanish town! there were people, walking their dogs, kissing, eating, talking and hanging out and such. One of the guys that went there had said there was a guy that sold churros with chocolate right by the beach, that was our goal, but we decided that he had to go to the doctor's office, and that's why we couldn't have any churros, because he was gone :p We had horchatas though, so it was a yummy trade off, my limon horchata was very good, very sweet and tangy, but it was amazing all the same! We got back to the dorm right when they were closing the dorm doors, so the other chica and i felt accomplished by getting there at that precise moment!

Wednesday groups A, B, and C went to valencia for a tour...thing. I had never been to Valencia before so it was a nice change of scenery (other than Sagunto). Sagunto is a nice city, but Valencia is a developed city, with a lot more people, buildings, and shops! We basically had the first couple of hours with the whole group, visiting all the major historical sites. We went to a church that had three major parts, The first was built by the Romans, the second was Gothic styled, and the third was Neo-Classical/Baroque (if its not baroque, then dont fix it-beauty and the beast). This was very beautiful, and it was interesting to see the church in three different time periods. In this cathedral there was a tower in which the public could go up and see the surrounding area. it was magnificent! There was also a group of little kids when we first got up, and a couple of dudes started talking with them, it was very cute! (i have a picture of it).

After we finished the tour with our group we went off in smaller groups. i was with two other chicas and two other chicos, so i felt safe enough. One of the dudes that was with us had been here during the summer so he knew where he was going. We took the metro to one of the surrounding towns and went to his favorite Horchata shoppe. My limon horchata was pretty good, not as tangy as the one i had by the beach, but it was very very good all the same.

My trip to Valencia has been a grand start to many other trips, other days and weekends :)

photos

my general picture
http://photobucket.com/PicturasdeEspana

beginning of trimester
http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w46/dekizzle12/Espana/1st%20semester/

trip!
http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w46/dekizzle12/Espana/1st%20semester/Trip%20to%20Roman%20Ruins%20and%20Castilla%2026912/

27.1.12

There is not much to report on today...but a few things i want to hone into my memory and possibly expand someone elses knowledge. There is a "caminio"...a way, a walk, that people use as a backpacking adventure or biking adventure. El camino is called El camino de Santiago. Its like a pilgramage thing people did in the medieval times to the tomb of Santiago, the proclaimed saint of Spain, by Alfonso II i think, if i was reading it correctly. The walkway is through hills and towns. Cities contain epic cathedrals, and i think there are groups going in october or feb. i want to go.....:D also we filled out a worksheet and handed in our passports for some kind of identity cards....i think that is what i was worried about while in the US. so it feels a lot better to know the school is doing something about it :D

26.9.12

The school took a trip to Sagunto today. The trip was kind of like the trip i took with my friends last week. There were three major things we did, so in the interest of keeping everybody's thoughts organized i shall explain in paragraphs :)

We all met in the cafeteria at 9 o'clock where we were all given instructions to what we were doing, which was first, going to the Roman amphitheatere, the castle, and finally the market. At that time i thought the market was just an indoor venue with little shops and things, like a flea market or whatnot...even after all the markets i went to last summer...*facepalm. We then loaded up the buses and shipped out for Sagunto. The trip was so short compared to the hour bike ride we had taken sunday, obviously. The bus driver dropped up off at the bus stop at the edge of Sagunto and we continued to walk in through the city, a few of the sites that we had to pay attention to, and some i didnt know existed were: Iglesia de Santa Maria, Juderia (a form of a Jewish ghetto, not the bad kind of ghetto, but the place where they all lived. There was a museo that was dedicated to that which we had a chance to go to, but i didnt :/ ) and finally we arrived at our first destination: THE ROMAN THEATRE. The theatre was a roman amphitheatre which people had mistook as Greek, but after deliberation they came to the conclusion it was Roman because of the curved arches while the greeks usually had square. The theatre was half of a Colosseum, but with a stage and whatnot. On the backdrop of the stage was stone pieces left from when the amphitheatre was originally original (a pillar, pieces of the tops and bottoms of pillars and random stones that made up the building). The lady who was telling us all the information told us the history of Sagunto, There was a mix of cultures because of Sagunto being a big port city, which meant a trading city. The information was interesting, history+spanish=happy Kari :D

oh and by the way i think im going to start introducing myself as Kari, the babysitter from the Incredibles :P

After we explored the ampitheatre we traversed on an off-the-beaten track/hiking trail up to the castillo that i had only taken pictures of! When we arrived at the castillo we just explored!! So totally fun, the castillo is from the medeavl times (pronounced med-eh-val) so there was only stones set up in a few places. There was a spot where you could see the different rooms and things, there were a couple of main places we visited, due to a worksheet we had to fill out...fun...They were: a dungeon and an Arab arch. (pictures are included). The arch was amazing and big, with clover leaves on the top...like cut out of the building...you will see them. BUT the dungeon was creepy and cool. The stairs leading down to it were steep and worn down from lots of use! As we walked down, we were just emersed in darkness except for a small window at the end of the walkway. We then turned right and went down a hall way which stored the individual cells. VERY cool....except by the 2nd cell mi amiga and i were startled/scard-ed by a few dudes who thought it funny to scare everyone who came into the hall. They succeeded, we had a few laughs in spite of ourselves! After the fact we sat around, looking at the awe-ing view looking over Sagunto and the Med. Sea. My "ship radar" was triggered when i saw a ship in the sea, (daddy: i took a picture!). There were random pieces of broken stone...i think, around our feet and i found a piece that looked like it came from a pillar...totally grabbed it! it was very beautiful, old, but beautiful because of the age it held.

We had to be back at the bus by 1, so we started heading back to the town area. Wednesday is apparently Market day here in Sagunto. So when we got to the main street there were table after table of clothes (scarves((bufandas)), underwear, shirts, pants, shoes...), electronic's cases, jewelery, sunglasses (five euros!), and all kinds of food! There was a churro truck/cart that had 4 churros for one euro. Just the random things that make up someone's life! We were totally tagged as American though, it made me sad. How do i know this? around the market there were little boys asking for change and whatever-ness, and my friend and i were walking down a street when i could see this boy start RUNNING out of a store almost perpendicular to us and stopped right in front of us and asked us for change. *sigh...must take more blending in lessons, i guess it will come with time :) There was a lot of talking amongst the people buying things, and talking with friends and such. We was spanish police officers. NOT what i expected, they look like ours...but...skinnier (mas delgados). im not sure...but they were chilling, making sure everything went well.

Tomorrow it is back to classes and PICTURE DAY!!! Dont forget to look through a link so see pictures from today :D i wi

Martes

Today has been a good day, and there is excitement in the air because tomorrow the school is taking a trip to Sagunto! Yes, it is like 10 minutes away by bus, but the trip is still grand because we get out of our little mountain place. Pero, today i washed my clothes by hand. The process took about an hour, doing 3 little loads. everything dried in time, without sun, only aire, and there was alot of breezeness so that was great. It is sad, but i am already tired of blogging....i dont really have any deep thoughts, and my days are not very eventful other than the random events which i will post on here. :)

LUNES

Today...well a few minutes ago was monday. the twenty fourth...viente cuarto. Looking back at it...It was a rather emotional day. Today was my first day with two of my soon to be favorite classes: History of Art and History of Espana! The teacher was a man, a rather large man, but  he seemed to be a very knowledgeable history teacher. He also does a lot of gestures and movement around the classroom  to get his point across. He didnt really give any information that was useful to our lives, other than how Spain was started, and half of that i didnt really understand. Those two classes and the teacher was one of the highs of my day.

Another high was talking with my mom. I havent really had a long conversation with her about really anything, although i had a conversation with her sunday night, it was a good follow up conversation. Which was followed by a conversation about getting google voice. which ended up as a low. It was just so frustrating, all the ins and outs, and not able to find a place to get a number, and then i might already have a number, but i dont know it/where it is. and ofcourse google knows that i will have these problems so they dont give any customer service so i cant send them angry emails! psychics!!! pero, (but), thankfully my mommy can research it, i will try to continue with it as well, but i have other genes that makes me frustrated quickly and not being able to think straight and correctly....:) (thank you) I love my mom, she is always there to blabber with!

The second high was hearing my dad's voice! i havent really talked with him, and because i was so frustrated with him i just balled half the time i was talking with him...both because of the frustration and because i miss him so much. im not going to blabber on of how much im thankful for him...but hes da bomb diggity!

And i kinda booked a trip to Milan, Italy....with mis chicas....my heart made a few fist pumps with my ribcage...(right?) !!!

Its really late..and my emotional self needs sleep, hasta luego!

Sunday

Hola! im writing this on monday, incase anyone is confused about the date. Yesterday was a whirlwind of pain, enjoyment, fun, and more pain! Sunday is normally the day to study and do all the hard work you dont want to do for the rest of the upcoming week. Here in Spain, we like to have fun while studying! Some friends and i, about four other friends, went to the beach to study! Instead of walking there or taking a bus (it is about an hour to and from) we took bikes provided by the school! First we had to sign them out and we waited for our group to get situated with all the things they needed (towel, books, water, etc) and we started off. Since we are situated on a hill the ride down was quite easy with only one main upwards hill. I thought that was bad, but i didnt see what was coming! When we arrived at the beach it was muy fabuloso! The sand is very smooth and fine! There were a lot of people on the beach which was a change from the beach we went to with the school. The new beach was a nice change of scenery! We laid out then went to the water and played in the waves for while. The water is beautiful and clear, not cold, but not hot so it was enjoyable! after a while we went back onto the sand and did homework! Gramatica y conversacion. the work did not last long so we got to sleep on the beach, take pictures, and whatever caught our fancy! The way back was somewhat anti climatic :/ You know how i told you that it was all down hill from the school? well, the trek back was all up hill. (not underhill..hah) Let's just say the majority of us took mas o menos breaks every so kilometer. and the hill that serves as the driveway to the school was all walking. It was a great experience...my butt doesnt think so right now...but maybe ill do it again! That is what i remember mostly about sunday. The food was pretty good for supper, so that helped our aching muscles and such. I am writing this monday night and i still feel the burn  in my arms and legs...RAH!! working out FOR THE WIN!

Sabbath continued

I posted too soon. After a while we had dinner (consisted of a hardboiled egg covered in alfredo sauce, pasta, a processed donut, and some other random items) then a concert was held on the lawn in front of the boys dorm. Different people from the community came and sang at least two songs each, then the praise team that usually leads worships and the sort sang about 5 songs. the last song was the most lively. People here are so lively! There was a man about  late 40s early 50s with a portable strobe light... A STROBE LIGHT!! that made my night. I think that was the highlight of my night...and all i wanted to remember via here...oh, and for those who know Joshua Martin at SAU...theres a guy that looks like him here. He works in the cafe, and i see him everywhere...BAHA

Mi Primero Sabado!

Today i took a restful Sabbath seriously! Woke up around 8, got ready, i wanted to go to breakfast since i didn't have a full dinner last night, but apparently on sabbaths the cafe is only open half an hour of Saturdays. SO i missed breakfast as well, no worries (no precupes), i had bought 2 baguettes yesterday and had saved the other so i was able to snack on the remaining bread before going to church. I wore my dress/shirt with the green, blue, black, and white swirlies on it with my black tights and with my hair in a french braid! Thinking it would be hot. Well it was on the walk down to the guys dorm.
     
         [note: the campus of ESDES is situated on a hill. The primary schools are at the very top, then the cafeteria/our classrooms. After that is the girl's dorm across from a little shop, then finally is the boy's dorm which holds the church. Its muy pequeno,, about the size of the girl's dorm worship hall at SAU. so walking up and down to these various places multiple times a day is definitely building muscle!]

So the walk to the boy's dorm, to the church was hot, and such. We finally arrived and we were early. (we being my roommate and i) So we just waited around, finding random spainards to say hola, como estas a. Pero quando la inglesia comenzo' (but when church started) i sat with my friends and did the whole church thing, THAT is when it got cold. the aire condition was pointed directly to our sitting section! but i tried to pay attention to the service, understood mas o menos (more or less), then everyone dispersed to sabbath schools. They held sabbath school outside!!! it was so nice :D The sabbath school teacher was an older gentleman who talked about the end times, there was a little anti-Christ in the mix, i understood more than i thought i did, and sitting next to me and mi amiga were a few attractive chicos, so it was an added sabbath blessing :D Despues (after) Sabbath school we all hung around for like an hour. Mi amiga and i tried talked with the chicos  and the sabbath school teacher, then we walked around talking to random people, finally went up to lunch.. What was served for lunch was some form of veggie meat that kinda resembled fri-chick but it was bigger and more flat. Also there was a traditional dish, it looked like a belgian waffle, but it was a apple (and some other fruit) pie! muy bien! talked with my friends  about randomness with little inputs of ideas for winter break, and other breaks, horray!! After lunch we all dispersed to our rooms and i took a siesta!! mi primero siesta!! i woke up around 5. i felt very refreshed. Some people went hiking...well apparently the spanish consider hiking as we consider taking a walk (aka not very seriously XD) but i decided to stay. There is a concert later that people are preparing for (voices and music coming over the loud speakers around campus). i might walk around....im not sure yet. The humidity has subsided for today, so it feels nice outside, a bit breezy, but it doesn't matter :) Happy Sabbath everyone :) oh and HAPPY HOBBIT DAY!

first friday

This is the....first friday in Spain. It has been a whirlwind of a day, but exciting. Last night i thought i needed to have some homework done so i brought my homework to breakfast. Alas i didn't have to, but i had already done half of the assignment so i felt good about myself. Breakfast was yummy, met some other people from southern. whoop-ee! then we had our first day of full classes. First i had composition. the teacher talked so fast im not sure what really happened, but i have a pretty good idea. The next lady was the one we have for gramatica. That is the class that i thought i needed to do homework in, so i was prepared, and she was happy that i knew what we were talking about and such...so i will being doing that in the future! unless i start doing homework that i do not understand....i will just read the lesson and wait for her instruction. We then had lunch. EMPANADAS con queso! fue muy bueno! i had like 3! so that was pretty yummy. despues (after) lunch we had conversation class where we have to be talking with everybody and him as much as possible. which is kinda hard because you have to think what you want to say...then translate it...and get it out into the free air via your mouth. So that class was exciting, it was very similar to all the spanish classes ive taken, so it wasn't very stressful. 

After all the classes everyone split for like another hour until we had meetings for dorm information, which went for 20 minutes...somewhat pointless. THEN mis amigas y yo (my friends and i) went down to Sagunto to walk around and see the streets of our first city in Spain! the experience was fun! we saw groups of old men sitting and watching the people walking by. we were looking for a ice cream shop, but we didn't know where to go and no one else did really, so we just walked around and then finally ended up climbing up a steep road, encountered a few weird dudes on the way (avoided) and got a grand view of Sagunto and we saw the school on the other side of the town. we walked all that way?! it was a pretty good feeling, until we thought of having to walk back. by that time we were hungry and tired. after taking a few pictures, we headed back and stopped at a little market thing and bought some food. i bought a baguette and some strawberry jelly and ate that as we made our way back to the school. the way to and from sagunto was very....treacherous compared to regular sidewalks in the US. treacherous in the sense of walking on a somewhat popular road and walking on bridges and just sketchy places in general. but it was all fine and no one got hurt! We made it to the school in time for vespers! our first vespers was nice. we met some actual spainards! we talked with a few (me and a couple of other girls) and then we talked amongst our friends. blah blah blah...an hour later we all dispersed and went to our rooms for rest...now i am sleepy...it is 12:22am, breakfast is at 9, church at 10, sabbath school at 11. we will see :D

check out these pictures!!

http://photobucket.com/PicturasdeEspana

http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w46/dekizzle12/Espana/1st%20semester/

20 de septiembre

My second day in Spain has been a whirl! We first had breakfast in la cafeteria, yummy cereal with orange juice. the orange juice here is somehow different  from the processed orange juice that we have in America, somehow? It would be interesting to research the difference between processed/unprocessed foods in America versus foods in Europe. It had rained the night before so the ground was wet, not quite slippery, thanks to good shoes, but it definitely smelled like dew and wet ground. I usually have a friend that i hang out with for the most part, but we usually sit with different people every meal. I have met a good array of people doing the ACA thing as well. Here there is about 80 ACA students, with a quarter being from Walla Walla and another big percentage from PUC/California area. So i have met a lot of people from the West Coast. Only a few people from the East Coast... so it has been an interesting experience!

After breakfast we started our day at a class "orientation" thing. The director gave us a sheet of paper that had all the classes divided up in groups A, B, C, D, E, and F. A and B being Intermediate Spainish, C and D being Advanced 1, and then E and F being Advanced 2. Where we were placed depended on how we did on the placement exam yesterday. I thought i didn't do well, but alas, i was placed in group C, Advanced 1. That placement was pretty exciting because it was a surprise. Additional to the group placements we had to select an additional six credits to fulfill a single 18 credit trimester, so i chose to do History of Espana and Europe, Spanish Literature, and finally History of Art. Those are the main classes that i saw in the ACA calendar that i would of like to take, but i thought i wouldn't be able to place in the 300 level group to be able to take them. There was also the chance to take Flamenco classes, but group C can take them next trimester so i will be able to do that January time frame. After we chose all our classes and electives we handed in the paper and went off in our groups (In C with me were chicas that i met at the airport, and my friend that i have been hanging out with, and i met other new people!) and got our books, not very many books, but enough for our classes.

I have heard that the classes here are not very hard, but they will have the additional challenge of being in another language. This is true, although, when we actually went to class i was able to understand about 95% of what was being said! Talking about classes, we had two classes so far, gramatica y conversation. In gramatica, the teacher is very nice, her name is Licia, and she is known for teaching Spanish folklore! Her personality is beautiful and energetic! So far the class seems ok, mas o menos (more or less). After gramatica we all gathered together for lunch, pizza....and mashed potatoes..does that make sense? There are alot of carbs here so, im not sure whats going to happen :D, then went off to other classes. My next class was conversation with one of the guy's deans...i think. That class was interesting. He encouraged us, like we had any doubt, to speak in constant Spanish. After i got out of the class i felt like i needed to speak it 24/7, but i will do as much as i can for now. The day is yet to continue, with supper and some orientation javie. Maybe i will explore the campus and walk around for a bit afterwards, i need some exercise, especially after that lunch!

Airport and First Full Day

Hello from Espana! The last couple of days have been fun filled to the brim! this post will contain all my thoughts and whatnot from the last two days of traveling and then today, my first full day in Spain. 

My flight experience was delightful! At first when i went to Dulles I hung out with my parents for the last time for a while, we talked, made sure everything worked and was organized. When the time came to leave the moment was sad...a few tears, but it all worked. My flight from Dulles to Paris was exciting and heartbreaking all the same time. The plane i took was an AirBus, mike wahlen schooled me in what that really meant. The AirBus has two levels and is expertly made, too expertly made. The walls of the plane are curved, so when i usually lean against the wall to sleep on a regular plane, i was not able to because the wall was so far away from me. Therefore i got no sleep for the six hour flight. I watched Hugo!! it was a grand movie, and i read a good portion of Don Quixote, finally, (very good book) also i got to look out the window a whole bunch. 

When we got out in Paris we had to go to another terminal. I was not the only one so i was not alone! I met a lady who "couch-surfed" mind you that she was mid-forties, i was very impressed! We met in line of customs/passport check. The process took a while, but she was a nice distraction. She explained how the couch-surfing process worked, which seemed like an easy process! She was a "host" person in her home-base New York. After getting a France/Paris stamp i finally made it to my terminal. On the way i met a nice man who lived in Valencia and we talked about randomness. He told me lots of information about Spain/Valencia and the culture. one thing i specifically thought was interesting is that the cities build vertically, not horizontally. Because of the culture, the majority of la gente (people), live in apartamentos, apartments. Coming to Sagunto there is an abundance of apartments and i don't see a lot of actual regular houses as we see in the US. 

After getting to Valencia i went to the baggage check to wait for my baggage. I was extremely nervous about getting my bags because of my experience with Delta, but my bag was about the fifth bag to come through the baggage conveyor belt thing. I was excited! I did not get a Spain stamp in my passport... disappointed but not defeated...maybe when i leave they will have a tighter customs? AH i want a Spain stamp! 

At the school i was completely tired and all, but we got to the campus (a half an hour away from Valencia) and i moved into my room (first floor in a three floor girls' dorm). The rooms are quaint, one single bed and a bunk, although there is only two of us in the room. There is a desk and some shelves with three closets. The closets are alike those in SAU, not very wide, but deep enough for clothes with a shelf on the top. After a yummy supper I WENT TO BED. For the first time in the whole summer i slept almost 12 hours...like 10 hours. it was AMAZING. It was hot...but the hot was worth it. 

Today, was my first full day in Sagunto. woke up, had breakfast (sugar crisps for the win) and random fruit. We had various activities and orientation (school starting tomorrow). After orientation we went to the city of Sagunto and went to their version of Walmart, it was basically a supermarket, with all things that ranged to electronics to food to detergent. I got some detergent so i can have nice smelling clothes sometimes HAHA I met a nice chica and we hung out for the majority of the day. it was nice to hang out with her because we actually tried to converse in spanish, as much as we could :) Speaking in spainsh made the experience more...meaningful. At the orientation the director told us all to expect to have to do, including speaking spanish, when to go to classes, food whateverness. After the supermaket we went the beach. the Mediterranean, whaaat???!! yes...i put my feet in the Mediterranean sea :D it was pretty epic, but so far i have only laid on the beach, but soon :) Had pasta for supper today...it was rather good, there was also bread with cheese and tomato slices on top. muy bueno!  

One Day (giggle)

This will probably be the last post that i write in America, the beautiful country of the red,white,and blue! I have my suitcase all packed with everything that i can imagine i will need in the next year. Granted i did not leave alot of space for room to take things back to America, but maybe i will be able to downsize before i come back..if i ever :D I said good bye to my two dearest friends today. We have been by each other's sides through miles and miles, and this period will just be one of those miles, haha, if that statement makes sense. There are a lot of people i was not able to see before i left, but you, my dear friends, are treasured beyond all you can imagine. Without you, i would be a little less than i am now. <3

To all of you who like to text me, or just want to text me because you are curious for some reason or not, dont text my old number :) instead use 240-542-7321. (public service announcement :p)

I am nervous about my trip. Tomorrow i will leave home and pick up my dad and possibly meet Victoria at the airport, and ill be off on my adventure. My parents are going to see if they can walk me to the gate, so i don't get lost! HAHA i really need someone in the Charles deGaulle airport. I will be asking a lot of questions to everybody i can find! It will be interesting to see how the French airport will handle an American girl!

one week

in the picture you might just see a pile of stuff that doesnt coincide with each other, you might not even be able to distinguish between the items but those are all items that will help me to survive a year away from home, no USA trips, total immersion. the suitcase is also a representation of the state of my brain. my cranium is muddled with tips, facts, things I have to do for the next year concerning jobs, internships, and finishing school. I have to remember that I can trust in another who can see the future more clearly than I can. it's a bright and sun- shiny day, just like the days I dream of in Spain, ahh I am so excited! I will have to devote the next few days to organizing my room and in the process my suitcase and travel bag ( the beautiful leather being in the upper left corner of the picture gifted to me by my lovely madre!)



tips: leave tomorrow to the future and deal with the present

2 weeks till

September 3/4-exactly two weeks from my departure date from Dulles. Apprehensive, yes, nervous, yes, regretting the decision because of all the mind-boggling facts, absolutely not! I roamed the beautiful world wide web in search to make my travels that much easier, found a couple of useful tips, but nothing life changing. I guess this is because i have traveled before, good thing too, or i would be ten times more apprehensive. My baby pink bag is sitting by my bed, overflowing with clothes that are both piled and folded, along with random articles that i haven't been needing over the course of the summer. My room is quite messy at the moment, but is nothing compared to the scrambles of tips, facts, and information inside my brain.
Not really sure how this blog is going to turn out in the end, how it's going to be formatted or anything, so stay tuned and be ready for the unexpected. :)

If i ever have any tips for the study-abroad/frequent traveler i will be posting it at the end of the posts, for both my use and the possible use of others!

Tips
use large zip-lock bags to put small items (shirts, scarves, underwear, socks, etc..), then close the bag almost all the way, while keeping your hand to make sure the closed part stays closed, carefully sit on the bag (vacuuming the air out) then still while sitting on the bag, finish closing the bag, VOILA! now you can just stack things easier while saving space.

Disclaimer: while this provides more room in the bag, if weight is an issue on your travels, you are allowing extra weight...so just make sure you don't go over weight :)

While packing for an extended trip, pack as much underwear as you have, because that is the leading cause of having to do laundry. Less laundry trips/spending money= mas underwear :D

Hola! This will be my blog for the next year. I will be in Valenza, Espana learning and exploring the beautiful spanish culture. Right now i am preparing (packing, setting up stuff like this, fixing/buying clothes (not too many :p) also spending time with the people that mean most to me :D I will try to post pictures on here. If not on here, then on Facebook...im trying to figure out how to link this and Facebook, so we shall see how that pans out :)