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