Wow! The last 4 weeks have FLOWN!! It seems like just last week we were going out to crepes and tea to celebrate the halfway point, and now, as of this coming Saturday, I will be home in 3 weeks!
A lot has happened in the last month...my program went to Madrid for 5 days which was incredibly fun! We got to visit the Prado museum, which has lots of works by famous Spanish artists such as Goya, El Greco, Picasso, etc. It was really neat to get to see those works in person. We also got to go to El Escorial, which is a palace-church-monastery-school-library-and more all-in-one, commisioned by King Felipe II of Spain; and Valle de Los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) which is a monument commissioned by Franco to bury and honor all those who were killed in the Spanish Guerra Civil (Civil War). Franco himself was buried there. It was very neat but sad and austere at the same time. We also got to visit 2 small cities about 1.5 hours outside of Madrid each. The first was Segovia, which I think has definitely been my favorite place that we've visited as a group. It is very small, and all the leaves there were changing colors, so it looked just like fall, and made me think of the Pacific NW. (In Granada, the leaves are just now changing colors and falling...and it's almost December!! I had been missing fall...) There is also a huge castle in Segovia called Alcazar that Walt Disney actually based his Snow White castle off of, so we got to check that out which was amazing. Segovia is also famous for it's Roman Aqueduct, which is completely intact and still standing today. Toledo was our last day...it is known for its steel and gold work so there were definitely no shortage of jewelry and sword shops. I felt like I was in the mediaeval days.
Since getting back from that trip, I've just had a few busy weeks. Lots of tests and midterms etc. I'm also DONE with the DELE!!! It feels great! For those of you who don't know, the DELE is a standardized test put forth and produced by the Spanish government. Passing it or not determines whether or not you are proficient in the Spanish language (supposedly). It's basically like the SAT in Spanish. Parts of it were tough, but I'm just glad that it's done with and I can move on to other things.
The weekend after the DELE, we took our last group trip, which was to Sevilla. It was only for one night, so not nearly as long as our trip to Madrid, but it was fun all the same, and great to be able to hang out with everyone from our program. We went on a walking tour of Sevilla, and also checked out the Cathedral (which is the 3rd-biggest in Europe supposedly), and visited a monastery and an ancient Roman city called Italica. I would have liked to stay in Sevilla a little longer, but it was neat to see what we were able to.
I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and that I'm sad I won't be home, but that's ok. A bunch of us are going to a restaurant that is making a Thanksgiving dinner American style on that night. We'll see how it is...it won't be home, but at least it'll be something, and we'll still be with all our friends who we love, here. It'll be hard, but I just have to think of it as a unique experience.
Time has really flown, here! I leave for a week-long trip to London/England in a week from Thursday, and after I get back from that, I literally have 10 days until I'm home. I can't believe there's so little time left. It seems like just yesterday we were sitting and talking and trying to get a little situated in our hostel on our first night in Madrid, although at the same time, I feel like that was years ago. I'm going to be so unbelievably happy to be home, but sad to leave Spain at the same time. I've really gotten accustomed to the life here, and I'm going to miss that, as well as the friends I've made with ILACA, but it's going to be so nice to be home at last.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Quick Update :)
Hello all!
Just a quick update before I head off to Madrid on Thursday for 5 days with my program...haven't been up to much in the last week or so. I've just relaxed at the house the last 2 weekends, which, although I do certainly enjoy traveling, I will admit that it's really nice just to relax, watch some movies, sleep, and study on the weekend. Last Thursday I went out to midnight tea with my roommate and another friend. I got some yummy jasmine tea and we just sat and talked for a while, so that was really fun. I'm giving my presentation in my culture class on Olive Oil on Wednesday, which is pretty interesting, but it'll be nice to get that done with so I don't have to worry about it anymore. Other than that, I'm just excited right now to go to Madrid!! We're going for 5 days and get to see lots of important buildings, and experience lots of things in Madrid that I didn't get to when I first arrived in Spain, before I came to Granada, so it'll be really nice to be able to experience it with the program. We also get to go to Segovia, which is known for the roman aqueduct, and Toledo, which is known for its steel and gold. Should be fun!
Hope everyone's doing well. Talk to you later!
Kailey
p.s. I'm still working on getting pictures up, but for some reason it still won't let me...sorry!
Just a quick update before I head off to Madrid on Thursday for 5 days with my program...haven't been up to much in the last week or so. I've just relaxed at the house the last 2 weekends, which, although I do certainly enjoy traveling, I will admit that it's really nice just to relax, watch some movies, sleep, and study on the weekend. Last Thursday I went out to midnight tea with my roommate and another friend. I got some yummy jasmine tea and we just sat and talked for a while, so that was really fun. I'm giving my presentation in my culture class on Olive Oil on Wednesday, which is pretty interesting, but it'll be nice to get that done with so I don't have to worry about it anymore. Other than that, I'm just excited right now to go to Madrid!! We're going for 5 days and get to see lots of important buildings, and experience lots of things in Madrid that I didn't get to when I first arrived in Spain, before I came to Granada, so it'll be really nice to be able to experience it with the program. We also get to go to Segovia, which is known for the roman aqueduct, and Toledo, which is known for its steel and gold. Should be fun!
Hope everyone's doing well. Talk to you later!
Kailey
p.s. I'm still working on getting pictures up, but for some reason it still won't let me...sorry!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Finally back in Granada
Whew...the last 2 1/2 weeks have been so fun, but so busy and frankly I'm thankful to have a few weeks or so to rest in Granada and take things at my own pace. We got back from Valencia a week ago today and I've still got a week and a half until we head off again, this time to Madrid for 5 days with our program.
Valencia was very fun. We started it off a little rusty by taking a 9-hour busride that started at 2:30 in the morning but luckily I was able to sleep most of the time and we got there at a decent hour. The first evening there we discovered that it was the Valencia holiday so we got to watch a really neat parade with tons and tons of groups of people carrying swords and dressed up in neat costumes which looked like they had some Middle Eastern influence. It was really neat to see...and there were SO many people!!
The next day we went to check out a market and silk exchange that a travel guide suggested, but it turned out just to be a produce market, and all that was left of the silk exchange was the building. Neat, but not exactly what we were looking for. Paella the next day and a trip to the beach made up for it, though. In the morning we attempted to go to the aquarium at the "Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias" (literally meaning The City of the Arts and Sciences--it's their HUGE museum complex there, in Valencia), but we were silly and didn't think of the fact that there would be lots of people there on a Saturday morning. We foolishly got there at around 11:00, thinking there'd be no line. But oh well, it wasn't meant to be. After that we headed to the beach, which, I must say, is very pretty, although there is no shade. I've definitely seen pretty much all types of beach in Spain--the ones in the South, in Nerja; in the North in San Sebastian; and in the East in Valencia on the Mediterranean. We headed to lunch at one of the many beach-front restaurants that line the shore. It was delicious! One of my friends and I shared a lobster paella. The flavor was so delicate, and it had just the right about of "fishiness." I'm definitely going to try and replicate that one at home, Mom, though I doubt it will compare to real Valencian paella. There's a reason why that city is known for its paella. Later that night we also went to a Flamenco show. There were only probably around 70 people and it was in a pretty small venue so it felt really personal and it was neat to watch of course, too, since Flamenco really is THE Spanish dance.
Since getting back from Valencia, all I've really been doing this past week is trying to relax and get work done. Next week I've got a presentation on Olive Oil which, although it sounds like a simple topic, includes a 10 minute presentation to the class, in Spanish of course, and lots of research, too, but it'll be fine. It's an interesting topic anyhow, because for those of you who know me, know that I'm a complete foodie, so anything that has to do with cooking or food will be of interest to me.
Today I started a volunteer position where I work in a local school, called El Caramelo, and teach english to 7 and 8-year-olds there. It's just for an hour on Mondays after my culture class, but I think it's going to be a wonderful experience. It was pretty simple today--all they had me do was take pairs of kids out of the class and go over simple things like the months of the year, days of the weak, numbers, and how to ask basic questions, with them. Next week they want me to do a presentation thing on Halloween so that will be fun. It's all in English, too, so it's easy, but at the same time, the teacher has told them that I don't speak Spanish and it's really hard not to slip up and just explain something to them in Spanish if they don't understand in English. It was really fun today, though. At the end of the class, when I left, they all said together, "Goodbye teacher. Thank you very much. See you later," in perfect english. Very cute! It sorta makes me want to do education.
Well, I better get back to studying...hope everyone is doing well. I've already been here 2 months. Time sure flies! I've got less than 8 weeks left to enjoy. In fact, I'll be home exactly 2 months from today. Wow!
Hope everyone has a lovely Monday. Take care.
¡Hasta luego!
Kailey
Valencia was very fun. We started it off a little rusty by taking a 9-hour busride that started at 2:30 in the morning but luckily I was able to sleep most of the time and we got there at a decent hour. The first evening there we discovered that it was the Valencia holiday so we got to watch a really neat parade with tons and tons of groups of people carrying swords and dressed up in neat costumes which looked like they had some Middle Eastern influence. It was really neat to see...and there were SO many people!!
The next day we went to check out a market and silk exchange that a travel guide suggested, but it turned out just to be a produce market, and all that was left of the silk exchange was the building. Neat, but not exactly what we were looking for. Paella the next day and a trip to the beach made up for it, though. In the morning we attempted to go to the aquarium at the "Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias" (literally meaning The City of the Arts and Sciences--it's their HUGE museum complex there, in Valencia), but we were silly and didn't think of the fact that there would be lots of people there on a Saturday morning. We foolishly got there at around 11:00, thinking there'd be no line. But oh well, it wasn't meant to be. After that we headed to the beach, which, I must say, is very pretty, although there is no shade. I've definitely seen pretty much all types of beach in Spain--the ones in the South, in Nerja; in the North in San Sebastian; and in the East in Valencia on the Mediterranean. We headed to lunch at one of the many beach-front restaurants that line the shore. It was delicious! One of my friends and I shared a lobster paella. The flavor was so delicate, and it had just the right about of "fishiness." I'm definitely going to try and replicate that one at home, Mom, though I doubt it will compare to real Valencian paella. There's a reason why that city is known for its paella. Later that night we also went to a Flamenco show. There were only probably around 70 people and it was in a pretty small venue so it felt really personal and it was neat to watch of course, too, since Flamenco really is THE Spanish dance.
Since getting back from Valencia, all I've really been doing this past week is trying to relax and get work done. Next week I've got a presentation on Olive Oil which, although it sounds like a simple topic, includes a 10 minute presentation to the class, in Spanish of course, and lots of research, too, but it'll be fine. It's an interesting topic anyhow, because for those of you who know me, know that I'm a complete foodie, so anything that has to do with cooking or food will be of interest to me.
Today I started a volunteer position where I work in a local school, called El Caramelo, and teach english to 7 and 8-year-olds there. It's just for an hour on Mondays after my culture class, but I think it's going to be a wonderful experience. It was pretty simple today--all they had me do was take pairs of kids out of the class and go over simple things like the months of the year, days of the weak, numbers, and how to ask basic questions, with them. Next week they want me to do a presentation thing on Halloween so that will be fun. It's all in English, too, so it's easy, but at the same time, the teacher has told them that I don't speak Spanish and it's really hard not to slip up and just explain something to them in Spanish if they don't understand in English. It was really fun today, though. At the end of the class, when I left, they all said together, "Goodbye teacher. Thank you very much. See you later," in perfect english. Very cute! It sorta makes me want to do education.
Well, I better get back to studying...hope everyone is doing well. I've already been here 2 months. Time sure flies! I've got less than 8 weeks left to enjoy. In fact, I'll be home exactly 2 months from today. Wow!
Hope everyone has a lovely Monday. Take care.
¡Hasta luego!
Kailey
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Hi! 2 months later...
So clearly I'm horrible at keeping people updated by means of this blog...I'll try and be better about it, or at least better than updating it only once every 2 months. Sorry!
In the last, well, 2 months since I've written, I've finished my Intensivo course (a month-long intensive Spanish course where they drill it into your head for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks), and this week started my actual classes. I think they'll be really challenging but hopefully I'll enjoy them. I think I'm going to be taking an art history class covering the prehistoric age to the Renaissance, which should be interesting. I'm also continuing to take the Culture class taught by our program directors over here, as well as 2 grammar classes which should be good to help me solidify my grammar.
Last week, after midterms, I took a trip with 4 other girls to San Sebastian, a city in northern Spain in the Basque Region. It's so beautiful there--so much GREEN! It reminds me of the Pacific NW. The city is right on the water literally, so you get the best of both worlds--the green rolling hills which I've heard look like Ireland, and the Mediterranean/tropical feel of the beach. There is a castle on one side of the city, so on the first day we hiked up to the top of it to take in the gorgeous view of the city and the sea below.
The second day of our trip we went to Bilbao, a small city about an hour outside of San Sebastian, where the Guggenheim Museum is located. It was a neat museum, but very modern...almost too modern for my taste but it was interesting and enjoyable all the same of course. One of the works of art that is famous there is a giant dog made out of flowers that sits outside of the entrance to the museum. It's really neat, and so huge!!
We also did a number of other things in San Sebastian, including visiting a fresh produce market and going on a walking tour of the city. The last day we took a boat ride out of the bay and around a bit of the mainland, and hiked to the other side of the city where there is also a big hill/small mountain you can go up and enjoy the view from up top. It is supposedly "one of the prettiest views in all of Spain" and I definitely think that's true.
San Sebastian was really amazing! I miss the green :) But tonight, in 2.5 hours (it's midnight here so at 2:30 in the morning) we're leaving on a bus to go to Valencia for 4 days since we have another break this weekend. I'm really excited! Valencia is know for its silk, and paella. I just hope I can sleep on the bus since it's a 7.5 hours busride! Yikes! :)
Hope you're all doing well. I've already been here almost 2 months! (And I've only written in my blog like 3 times.) And that means I have 2 months left. Wow. Time flies. I'm enjoying it so much more now that I'm settled in.
Have a lovely Thursday! It's 4 minutes until Friday here, but most of you are still in the middle of the day...
Take care,
Kailey
p.s. I've tried loading pictures up here but it doesn't work for some reason...hopefully I'll figure it out so I can show you some of the places I've been :)
In the last, well, 2 months since I've written, I've finished my Intensivo course (a month-long intensive Spanish course where they drill it into your head for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks), and this week started my actual classes. I think they'll be really challenging but hopefully I'll enjoy them. I think I'm going to be taking an art history class covering the prehistoric age to the Renaissance, which should be interesting. I'm also continuing to take the Culture class taught by our program directors over here, as well as 2 grammar classes which should be good to help me solidify my grammar.
Last week, after midterms, I took a trip with 4 other girls to San Sebastian, a city in northern Spain in the Basque Region. It's so beautiful there--so much GREEN! It reminds me of the Pacific NW. The city is right on the water literally, so you get the best of both worlds--the green rolling hills which I've heard look like Ireland, and the Mediterranean/tropical feel of the beach. There is a castle on one side of the city, so on the first day we hiked up to the top of it to take in the gorgeous view of the city and the sea below.
The second day of our trip we went to Bilbao, a small city about an hour outside of San Sebastian, where the Guggenheim Museum is located. It was a neat museum, but very modern...almost too modern for my taste but it was interesting and enjoyable all the same of course. One of the works of art that is famous there is a giant dog made out of flowers that sits outside of the entrance to the museum. It's really neat, and so huge!!
We also did a number of other things in San Sebastian, including visiting a fresh produce market and going on a walking tour of the city. The last day we took a boat ride out of the bay and around a bit of the mainland, and hiked to the other side of the city where there is also a big hill/small mountain you can go up and enjoy the view from up top. It is supposedly "one of the prettiest views in all of Spain" and I definitely think that's true.
San Sebastian was really amazing! I miss the green :) But tonight, in 2.5 hours (it's midnight here so at 2:30 in the morning) we're leaving on a bus to go to Valencia for 4 days since we have another break this weekend. I'm really excited! Valencia is know for its silk, and paella. I just hope I can sleep on the bus since it's a 7.5 hours busride! Yikes! :)
Hope you're all doing well. I've already been here almost 2 months! (And I've only written in my blog like 3 times.) And that means I have 2 months left. Wow. Time flies. I'm enjoying it so much more now that I'm settled in.
Have a lovely Thursday! It's 4 minutes until Friday here, but most of you are still in the middle of the day...
Take care,
Kailey
p.s. I've tried loading pictures up here but it doesn't work for some reason...hopefully I'll figure it out so I can show you some of the places I've been :)
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wow! Much has happened in the last few days. I just realized as I'm writing this that's exactly one week ago, at this time, I was in the Portland airport getting ready to leave on the plane to Newark. Weird! Time is going fast but at the same time, it feels like I haven't been home in forever.
As of now, we're moved in with our host family and settling in. It's so nice to be able to come back to the same place every night and I'm beginning to have somewhat of a routine even though thus far, classes have been kinda scattered at different, random times. In the afternoon on this past Tuesday, my roommate, Kathryn, and I, took a taxi with all our stuff to what we thought was our host family at the address the program provided us with. We had actually walked to look at our house earlier that day which was lucky because it turned out that the construction near our house prevented the taxi driver from being able to drop us off at the door so we had to walk a few blocks with our stuff to get there. Since we had seen it earlier that day, however, it wasn't a problem. Anyway, so we arrived at the house, expecting it to be our host family, but it turns out they actually moved like 4 days earlier, so we actually had a different address. The family who lived there, however, must have been expecting us to show up there because they explained to us that our family had moved and that the daughter would come for us soon. (We didn't really get this at first because they were speaking really fast and our spanish wasn't back up to par at that point but eventually we got the picture.) But then the daughter, Paula, and her boyfriend came to pick us up. They greeted us with 2 kisses--one on each cheek (I'd forgotten they did that)--and we walked to the new house. It was only like 3 blocks away so it wasn't a big deal.
The houses here are very interesting. Most people live in apartment type things but they actually own them, but nearly everyone lives in a complex attached to other "houses." Our house is pretty big, by Spain standards I think. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a small kitchen, and a living room and dining room. It basically just consists of one really long hallway and then all the rooms branch off the hallway.
When we arrived, we greeted our Madre, Choni, and talked with her for a bit about the travels, etc., and she showed us our room which is really big compared to what I was expecting. We each have our own desk and closet/dresser and it's all color-coordinated and fairly roomy. Very nice!
The first night, we pretty much just had dinner and then our madre told us we should go to bed. The next day, we had orientation at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (Modern Language Center or CLM) which is about a 15 min. walk from our house. Choni took us there. We met with 4 other people and their Senoras at a Plaza nearby and the 6 of us students plus the Senoras walked there together. At first it was a little intimidating to get to the CLM and see all the other students in our program, but it wasn't too bad. I know everyone was nervous like us. Basically, that first day of "class" was just orientation--we got more information about the program, filled out some forms, etc. We also got some hw too which wasn't nice, but it wasn't bad and it was interesting--an article about bull fighting and we had to answer questions on it. (Remember, 100% of the work we do here is in Spanish.) We also had to take a big walk/scavenger-hunt type thing around Granada, looking for the locations of certain places and answering questions about them on a worksheet.
Yesterday, the second day, we had real class in the morning, talking about the history of bull fighting, and then in the afternoon we went on a really neat walk/tour around Granada. I got some pretty neat pictures which I'll put up. It was really neat to be able to see more of the city in an organized outing and to learn a little about it's very extensive history and such.
Today, we had class again in the morning where we talked about some of the politics and geography of Spain. It was interesting, and it's getting easier and easier to understand what's being talked about which is obviously good. I think my roommate and I are going to go out later for some gelato or something and just wander around the city and take it all in and enjoy it. It's so beautiful here. The architecture is amazing and so beautiful and old. There are fountains everywhere! It's hot but that's why you stay inside and take siesta during that part of the day. I'm definitely enjoying my time here now that I'm settling in, and can't wait to find my favorite haunts. The spanish is going well. I'm trying to speak in spanish all the time although there are some things that I have no idea how to say but I try anyway. It's a bit frustrating, though, because the majority of the other people in this program will speak spanish during class, but as soon as class is over, they stop and start speaking in English again. I want to get to know lots of people but I don't want to speak English with them. We came here to speak/learn spanish, so when they talk in english, I always answer in spanish. It's getting much easier to understand locals, though, and I feel like my spanish has already improved so much already, which is great!
Well, I think we're going to go out soon, and I'm exhausted even though it's only 4:00 pm here, so I think I might take advantage of the siesta today. Hope you are all doing well. Talk to you soon!
Adios! :)
As of now, we're moved in with our host family and settling in. It's so nice to be able to come back to the same place every night and I'm beginning to have somewhat of a routine even though thus far, classes have been kinda scattered at different, random times. In the afternoon on this past Tuesday, my roommate, Kathryn, and I, took a taxi with all our stuff to what we thought was our host family at the address the program provided us with. We had actually walked to look at our house earlier that day which was lucky because it turned out that the construction near our house prevented the taxi driver from being able to drop us off at the door so we had to walk a few blocks with our stuff to get there. Since we had seen it earlier that day, however, it wasn't a problem. Anyway, so we arrived at the house, expecting it to be our host family, but it turns out they actually moved like 4 days earlier, so we actually had a different address. The family who lived there, however, must have been expecting us to show up there because they explained to us that our family had moved and that the daughter would come for us soon. (We didn't really get this at first because they were speaking really fast and our spanish wasn't back up to par at that point but eventually we got the picture.) But then the daughter, Paula, and her boyfriend came to pick us up. They greeted us with 2 kisses--one on each cheek (I'd forgotten they did that)--and we walked to the new house. It was only like 3 blocks away so it wasn't a big deal.
The houses here are very interesting. Most people live in apartment type things but they actually own them, but nearly everyone lives in a complex attached to other "houses." Our house is pretty big, by Spain standards I think. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a small kitchen, and a living room and dining room. It basically just consists of one really long hallway and then all the rooms branch off the hallway.
When we arrived, we greeted our Madre, Choni, and talked with her for a bit about the travels, etc., and she showed us our room which is really big compared to what I was expecting. We each have our own desk and closet/dresser and it's all color-coordinated and fairly roomy. Very nice!
The first night, we pretty much just had dinner and then our madre told us we should go to bed. The next day, we had orientation at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (Modern Language Center or CLM) which is about a 15 min. walk from our house. Choni took us there. We met with 4 other people and their Senoras at a Plaza nearby and the 6 of us students plus the Senoras walked there together. At first it was a little intimidating to get to the CLM and see all the other students in our program, but it wasn't too bad. I know everyone was nervous like us. Basically, that first day of "class" was just orientation--we got more information about the program, filled out some forms, etc. We also got some hw too which wasn't nice, but it wasn't bad and it was interesting--an article about bull fighting and we had to answer questions on it. (Remember, 100% of the work we do here is in Spanish.) We also had to take a big walk/scavenger-hunt type thing around Granada, looking for the locations of certain places and answering questions about them on a worksheet.
Yesterday, the second day, we had real class in the morning, talking about the history of bull fighting, and then in the afternoon we went on a really neat walk/tour around Granada. I got some pretty neat pictures which I'll put up. It was really neat to be able to see more of the city in an organized outing and to learn a little about it's very extensive history and such.
Today, we had class again in the morning where we talked about some of the politics and geography of Spain. It was interesting, and it's getting easier and easier to understand what's being talked about which is obviously good. I think my roommate and I are going to go out later for some gelato or something and just wander around the city and take it all in and enjoy it. It's so beautiful here. The architecture is amazing and so beautiful and old. There are fountains everywhere! It's hot but that's why you stay inside and take siesta during that part of the day. I'm definitely enjoying my time here now that I'm settling in, and can't wait to find my favorite haunts. The spanish is going well. I'm trying to speak in spanish all the time although there are some things that I have no idea how to say but I try anyway. It's a bit frustrating, though, because the majority of the other people in this program will speak spanish during class, but as soon as class is over, they stop and start speaking in English again. I want to get to know lots of people but I don't want to speak English with them. We came here to speak/learn spanish, so when they talk in english, I always answer in spanish. It's getting much easier to understand locals, though, and I feel like my spanish has already improved so much already, which is great!
Well, I think we're going to go out soon, and I'm exhausted even though it's only 4:00 pm here, so I think I might take advantage of the siesta today. Hope you are all doing well. Talk to you soon!
Adios! :)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Estamos en Granada!
Hey!
First of all, sorry I haven’t really written at all since we’ve arrived here…I’ve been insanely busy trying to get from one place to another, etc. and it’s been hard to find a lot of time to actually sit down and write on my blog. That said, I’ll start from today so I don’t have to recount pages of things that we did in Madrid which would take forever. To put it simply, basically all we did in Madrid was sleep and walk around a little, since we were so tired and jet-lagged. But today, we took a 5-hour bus ride from Madrid to Granada. It actually wasn’t bad at all since I slept a lot of the time, and there was pretty countryside to look at. It was a relief for all of us to finally get to Granada and to know that we’re here now, and can maybe sort of start to get into a routine in the near future. We’re staying at a cute little place called Hostal Antares in Granada. It’s like a 10 min walk from the Alhambra. I haven’t been out much to walk around Granada yet since we just got here, but I know I like it way more than Madrid, which is more or less just like any big city, although there is some really neat architecture. We were going to go our for tapas tonight but were so hungry from our travels that we went out around 7:30, so there wasn’t much in the way of restaurants open, and the tapas places we checked out didn’t look too substancial. We found a little sándwiche shop instead which had yummy turkey and cheese sándwiches for 3 euro.
The Spanish-speaking is going alright. I’ve been trying to be good about asking locals things in Spanish and it’s definitely getting much easier, but it’s often still really hard to follow what they’re saying. Hopefully it gets better, though. Tomorrow, we’re off to meet our host familias—this will be both scary and exciting I think, since we don’t know what to expect at all. Hopefully, however, it will be good, and we can begin to settle in. Well, I think we’re all going to head off to bed soon. It’s actually Only 9:45 here but we’re all completely exhausted. Adios! Take care and talk to you soon!
First of all, sorry I haven’t really written at all since we’ve arrived here…I’ve been insanely busy trying to get from one place to another, etc. and it’s been hard to find a lot of time to actually sit down and write on my blog. That said, I’ll start from today so I don’t have to recount pages of things that we did in Madrid which would take forever. To put it simply, basically all we did in Madrid was sleep and walk around a little, since we were so tired and jet-lagged. But today, we took a 5-hour bus ride from Madrid to Granada. It actually wasn’t bad at all since I slept a lot of the time, and there was pretty countryside to look at. It was a relief for all of us to finally get to Granada and to know that we’re here now, and can maybe sort of start to get into a routine in the near future. We’re staying at a cute little place called Hostal Antares in Granada. It’s like a 10 min walk from the Alhambra. I haven’t been out much to walk around Granada yet since we just got here, but I know I like it way more than Madrid, which is more or less just like any big city, although there is some really neat architecture. We were going to go our for tapas tonight but were so hungry from our travels that we went out around 7:30, so there wasn’t much in the way of restaurants open, and the tapas places we checked out didn’t look too substancial. We found a little sándwiche shop instead which had yummy turkey and cheese sándwiches for 3 euro.
The Spanish-speaking is going alright. I’ve been trying to be good about asking locals things in Spanish and it’s definitely getting much easier, but it’s often still really hard to follow what they’re saying. Hopefully it gets better, though. Tomorrow, we’re off to meet our host familias—this will be both scary and exciting I think, since we don’t know what to expect at all. Hopefully, however, it will be good, and we can begin to settle in. Well, I think we’re all going to head off to bed soon. It’s actually Only 9:45 here but we’re all completely exhausted. Adios! Take care and talk to you soon!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
We're here!
Hola from Espana!
Well, it's official. We arrived in Madrid this morning and are about to head out this evening to just explore a little bit of the city. (It's 9:00 here). This is a super short post and I'll fill you all in with more details later, but I just wanted to let you all know that we arrived safe and sound in Spain. :) Thanks for your support! More to come soon!
Adios!!
Well, it's official. We arrived in Madrid this morning and are about to head out this evening to just explore a little bit of the city. (It's 9:00 here). This is a super short post and I'll fill you all in with more details later, but I just wanted to let you all know that we arrived safe and sound in Spain. :) Thanks for your support! More to come soon!
Adios!!
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