31 October 2011
29 October 2011
The Rain in Spain . . .
Last week it rained on the whole damn country. And starting on Wednesday, it looks like we are in for the same treat once again (luckily after my vacation ends!). However, Madrileños are just breaking into the rain boot (aka best invention ever) business and it appears as if only some folks are on board with the style. Even if they make me stand out in a place where I want to fit in, my rain boots are one thing I am not compromising.
Midterms and Baby's First Buñuelos
Basically the last week and a half was consumed with midterm exams. For the first six weeks of classes, we were never bogged down with work. The professors just wanted us to pay attention and gave some homework and books to read here and there. However, midterms rolled around and they basically buried us alive. Info from three new books, a creative presentation (where I dressed up as Zorro), a sizeable chunk of the art on display in the Prado, the history of Spain from 1800-1960, and more all had to be stuffed into my brain ASAP. I know what you’re thinking, I just procrastinated and I should have been doing my work all along. Incorrect. This is just the way midterms are here, apparently. There is some twisted joy in throwing all of this at us at once and seeing how we handle it. Good news – I survived. How well I did? That has yet to be determined.
But I survived. Which luckily for me, means that I have a glorious five-day weekend! Thank you, Spanish government, for closing the city frequently to celebrate a bunch of Saints. Thank you again, for believing that we shouldn’t work in between such special times. Here, folks, we call that puente (bridge). For example, when there’s a holiday on a Tuesday, you don’t work on Monday either. However, I get the pleasure of an acueducto (aqueduct), as I have off every Friday (wahoo!!), so from Thursday after my last final, through Wednesday morning, I am on vacation! (Get the bridge/aqueduct joke? It’s one of my favorites.)
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| Buñuelos - a traditional dessert for All Saint's Day (which is on Tuesday). They look like DD's Munchkins but they surprisingly taste nothing like them. |
What exactly am I doing for this long weekend? The plans changed about 4 dozen times, and I am more than pleased with the final decision. Here’s what was in the running, none of which I could try to argue as bad choices: Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Canary Islands, southern France, Rome (to visit Paul and Amanda! Happy birthday, Paul!), Athens, etc. Although most of this has yet to be checked off of my travel bucket list, I have no doubts that eventually I’ll be fortunate enough to see all of these places. So what exactly am I doing this long weekend? I am reuniting with my best friend Madrid. We haven’t hung out in a while, and we have a bit of catching up to do.
I’m off to enjoy some quality time with my favorite city. Hasta pronto, friends!
PS – Happy Halloweekend everyone! I might just have to dress up and ask my neighbors for candy. Social experiment? I have until Monday night to work out this genius plan…
Food for Thought
Some things I’ve been pondering on sleepless nights, long bus rides, and boring classes:
-The cultural similarities and differences in body language
-How much does Spanish sign language differ from American Sign Language?
-Can you study the linguistics of a Sign Language? That could be cool…
-Old Spanish traditions of eating immense amounts of food, and how that clashes with the modern, socially “acceptable” image of women (everyone is pretty judgmental and talks about how they are fat, their friends are fat, and the people on TV are fat; rarely is this true).
-The interconnectedness (in my opinion) of punctuality, reliability, and responsibility and their relationship to judging character in a person; especially when these traits are less important here
-People are never expected to be on time (and rarely ever are), but the public transportation is scheduled to the second
-Table etiquette differences (hands and/or elbows should be on the table when eating here, etc.)
Most recent ridiculous thing to consider:
There are what seem to be an extremely high number of blind people here. But then again, it’s a huge city, and there’s a lot of just about everything. I was waiting for the metro last week when a blind woman walked by. I noticed she kept her eyes closed pretty tightly. Well, that made me think about that proverb about how eyes are the windows to the soul. But, would this be true from someone who can’t see? Would we still show our emotions and personality through something that serves no purpose (as in, do we control this; is it something we learn)? Yep, these are the fascinating things I think about…
Caught with my shoes off
Let me tell you, I am fairly certain it’d be more acceptable to be caught in the nude than shoeless.
28 October 2011
Barcelona, Take One.
Yes, I went to Barcelona. When? Two weeks ago. Apologies for the delay. So what did I do? More like what didn’t I do! But pretty much every European city has its own twist on the same things. So… we saw cathedrals, museums, monuments, and food.
The memories of exactly what we did when are a little hazy (strictly from lack of sleep and the amount we walked). I think I’ll leave this post to the pictures with a small commentary.
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| Barcelona's Cathedral. Nothing special.. |
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| Fruit stand in Mercat de Santa Caterina. Delicious. |
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| Picasso Museum. Awesome. |
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| Chocolate Museum. My entrance ticket was a chocolate bar. Enough said. |
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| Beautiful view on the four-mile walk to the beach on a chilly day. Why were we going to the beach when it was cold? Because we could. |
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| Sagrada Familia (famous Gaudi Cathedral). I'll save the pictures of the inside for Barcelona, Take Two in a few weeks! |
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| This sums up Barcelona in four words. |
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| Parc Guell (Gaudi, again) |
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| One of the many protests going on here. |
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| Protests. |
And I'll just save the rest of my pictures and thoughts for my next visit to Barcelona in a few weeks. My thoughts on the city: interesting, modern, lots of neat architecture, pretty crappy metro, and mostly, NOT SPAIN.
The Silver Lining
When I got home from the miserable Elena experience, I sent a well-worded email to my program staff who had arranged the interview. The next day between classes I met with one of the staff members. She explained to me that Elena was new and was filling in for someone on maternity leave and my program has never worked with this newbie before. She too was shocked that she insulted my Spanish, considering I am in level 5 here (which is where they stick us people who understand Spanish grammar but don’t quite speak like natives). She offered to speak to Elena on my behalf, but I told her I wasn’t interested in such a hostile environment. Volunteering isn’t supposed to be such a stressful task. Said staff member went on to tell me that my interview wasn’t at the school I had wanted. This is the confusing part.
I had signed up to volunteer to teach English to little kids. By signing up for this, I was also saying “Oh yeah, I want to volunteer anywhere, give me lots of awesome interviews!” Did I know this? Absolutely not. Was I the only one that this happened to and was sent to hell with Elena? Again, absolutely not.
Phew, okay, I was feeling better already. I was sitting in my least favorite class (Politics) waiting for it to start, when another staff member came in the room to talk to me. Second great (not sarcastic) staff member tells me I have another interview (at the school where I had wanted to work) and I’d be excused from class. That, my friend, is a kick-ass situation. No boring politics class with a professor who write in hieroglyphics, and an interview at the right place.
Let me just tell you, the second day of interviews was the polar opposite of previous day. I met with three amazingly warm and welcoming staff members. They were all really excited for us (there were three students and a staff member from my program at this interview) come work with the kids. They even commented on our Spanish skills. It was like I was dreaming.
Needless to say, I started volunteering there as soon as I could (I'm a Teaching Assistant!). I’m really behind in my writing; I’ve been there five times already. On Mondays I work with 11-year-olds and on Thursdays I work with 10-year-olds. At first I was disappointed because I really wanted to work with the youngest kids (4-6 year olds). However, I adore my classes (and they love me back!). As soon as the kids see me walking in the hallway they always run up and all say hi, give hugs, ask a million questions, etc. They are so funny and I love working with them.
Mostly it’s been a lot of reading to them and correcting their pronunciation, and explaining the differences between American English and British English (because I do not speak brilliantly and I have got an American accent). I’ve been able to practice my Spanish and learn from them too. I got to help correct written work and explain in Spanish different verb conjugations (yeah, really boring to all of you readers, I know), teach them tongue twisters, and teach them about Halloween (once again, I’m not British. I do not play Bob-Apple and eat the apples, and I do not make Halloween lanterns.). A taste of their cuteness:
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| Acting out a scene from a story. |
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I’ve even considered a career path including some teaching here and there. I was about 62% sure I wanted to do TEFL upon graduating, now I’m hanging out around 89-94% sure. Oh helloooo, potential future plans...?
PS - Want to hear some irony? After all that "Elena" put me through, I received an email this week requesting me to volunteer. I politely declined.
The Interview from Hell
[Quick back story - I had an interview to do volunteer work for the semester.]
If I were to believe in hell, I’d imagine it more or less as a giant red lava pit with rivers of lava and fire and horned devils with pitchforks running around or steering the fire-proof gondolas (or as my flamboyantly gay literature professor would describe it, a fire-filled place with tons of men chasing each other wearing only banana hammocks). However, my hell came in the form of a cluttered office with a patronizing [roughly] 28-year-old Spanish woman.
Why was it hell? Here’s the short version:
The building itself was semi-hidden in what appeared to be not the safest or well-maintained area of town. Locals had never heard of the foundation or the street it was on. The street signs list local names, not the actual names (and only half of the streets have signs). It was 95+ degrees and I was wearing professional clothing.
The woman I interviewed with (let’s call her… Elena) was not expecting me (bad sign already). When I tried explaining why I was there and who sent me, she remained clueless and cold. I showed her the emails I received about the interview, and continue attempting to explain myself, but it all proved fruitless.
Elena went on to tell me that my Spanish sucked (in only slightly nicer words) and I was the one who was mistaken. (Seriously). She told me I couldn’t VOLUNTEER with her. Elena continued to insult me in Spanish, because she was either a huge bitch (pardon me), or honestly thought I couldn’t understand her. By this point it was taking every ounce of energy I had to not cry and/or yell at her. I haven’t learned to be tremendously witty or snide in Spanish yet, so I stuck with the “kill ‘em with kindness approach.”
I felt my face burning with embarrassment and anger. The combination of the heat and the situation made me feel like this really was hell. I was expecting that any second Ashton Kutcher would come barging the door because I genuinely thought I was getting “punked.”
I got out of there as fast as I could, sulking my way home on the hour-long metro ride. I had never felt so embarrassed or small in my life. Elena was taking pleasure in talking down to me.
Like you always tell me, Mom, everything happens for a reason. And luckily, it took less than 24-hours to find this reason.
PS – another huge shout out to those of you who spent the rest of the night cheering me up <3
18 October 2011
New Additions to the Casa
There are two new and very exciting additions to my Spanish household!
Not ranked:
-A toaster: six-week long craving for toast is officially satisfied.
-A Spanish sister: twenty-year long interest, also satisfied.
09 October 2011
A Crazy Film Director, Rice Krispie Treats, Football, and Figs.
Okay, the highlights of the last week or so….
-I’m taking a class on the famous director Almodóvar and he has a new movie out (premiers in American October 14). It’s called La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) and I saw it in theaters recently. You should see it and let it mess with your mind Inception-style (although with subtitles you may be a little less daunted than I was). Read about it here (in English). Watch a trailer here. Note: America tends to have a bit (okay, a lot) more censorship than in Spain so it may be edited in theaters for you, but if you're squeamish you may not want to see this..)
-My friend and I made some Rice Krispie Treats last week. However, it was a challenge locating two out of the three ingredients. Therefore, we used Choco Crack, a store brand of Choco Krispies since we couldn’t find regular Rice Krispies, and pink candy marshmallows, since regular marshmallows are hard to find too. Even though we used different ingredients, they turned out really well! I have to say, the chocolate twist is definitely worth repeating! We made them at our friends’ apartment and then took them home to share with our host families. My Spomma adored them, despite her preference for fruit desserts. And get this – she wants the recipe! Turns out these aren’t Trix and they’re not just for kids. (A week and a half later I was able to find marshmallows for 4 euros and bag and regular Rice Krispies. Good to know for next time.)
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| They're pink ovals with white centers. |
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| That's cereal, not raw meat. |
-A met my intercambio (Spanish conversation partner)! She’s from Toldeo (city near Madrid) and studied PR in college, and now works at an advertising agency. She’s just a little older than I am, and we hit it off right away. She’s been studying English since she was three, so she has a bit of a leg up on me, but that’s okay. The whole point is to help each other learn. We met at a terrace bar last Wednesday and talked for over two hours! It was awesome!
-Last night my friend and I decided to tailgate a football game. But not just any football game - the Penn State vs Iowa game! More excitingly, I am the sole Nittany Lion rep in Madrid this semester, and she’s the only Hawkeye. It was awesome! We got tons of snack food and huddled around my laptop in our friends’ apartment. Even our non-Big 10 friends got in on the snack and football action, and we made a night of it. Even though it took the first 35 minutes of the game to get the videos working (and we eventually settled for just audio), it was well worth it. A successful night – and yes, PENN STATE WON!
-My favorite part of every week is weekend meal times with my Spomma. This is when we have the most time to just sit and talk to each other. It’s always so funny and interesting. We can talk about nothing and everything at the same time. Today’s conversation (over some fabulous potato and rib stew type thing) led to discussing hand gestures, figs, hiccups, and tongue twisters. Fantastic.
Examples of a few fun trabalenguas (tongue twisters):
Tres tristes tigres triscaban trigo en un trigal.
Un tigre, dos tigres, tres tigres trigaban en un trigal.
¿Qué tigre trigaba más?
Todos trigaban igual.
Como poco coco como, poco coco compro.
Poquito a poquito Paquito empaca poquitas copitas en pocos paquetes.
Canning!
Last weekend was the first THON canning (to can: verb: to stand, dance, jump around, etc. with cans labeled "Help Kids Fight Cancer" requesting donations from generous witnesses) weekend of the season! In case you haven’t heard, THON (Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance MaraTHON) is the largest student-run philanthropy organization and is devoted to conquering childhood cancer by partnering with the Four Diamonds Fund. For those of you who haven’t heard me rant and rave about my favorite part about Penn State (I'd be surprised if you haven't), check out these links for more info!
Here’s my favorite video from THON weekend (the 46-HOUR NO SITTING, NO SLEEPING, DANCE MARATHON FOR THE KIDS).
Finally, HERE’S WHERE YOU CAN DONATE TO THON! (If you kindly choose this option, PLEASE CHOOSE ORGANIZATION: STUDENTS ENGAGING STUDENTS!)
Shout out to my SES family – I heard you did a fabulous job CANNING FTK!!!! I was so excited and inspired by this that I explained THON to my host mom (in Spanish obviously), and can now cross that off of my bucket list. She was so impressed by what THON is and does! FTK!!!
PS - Last year alone, THON raised $9,563,016.09 For The Kids. Let's do it again!!
02 October 2011
How To Fake Your Way Into Appearing Spanish 101
2) Walk into people and don’t excuse yourself. Gently bumping into someone on the sidewalk or even pushing them to the point that they lose their balance is nothing to apologize for. If you want to blend in, you should actually try to bump into others.
3) Put your Metro map away. Enough said.
4) Don’t wear sneakers and white socks. These were the wise words from the po-pos in the security meeting. While you’re at it, ditch the baseball cap, the camera, and the fanny pack. But that’s just if you don’t want to be an American tourist.
5) Be late. By 9:00, I really meant 10:30.
6) Talk with your hands. If they are still while you speak, you’re doing something wrong. Hand gestures convey just as much meaning as the words themselves. When in doubt about how to say something in Spanish, wave your hands around like you’re talking about something important.
7) Vale. That is the one word you need to know to get by. It means “okay” and you can answer questions and fill awkward pauses with it. It’s a question, a statement, and exclamation all in one.
8) Douse yourself in perfume. A whole bottle should suffice.
9) Do not refrigerate anything perishable. That would be ludicrous. And potentially healthy.
10) Never use [the side of] your fork to cut food. That’s what a knife is for. Obviously.
Valencia - The Land of Paella, Oranges, and Humidity
I spent Friday and Saturday of this weekend I Valencia through an organized IES trip. Never heard of it? Impossible. Ever bought an orange? Well, there’s a good chance it was from Valencia. Yum! Unfortunately the orange trees that line streets and plazas are strictly decorative and the oranges are bitter and virtually inedible. At first I was annoyed that anyone would consider growing a decorative fruit. That seems stupid to me. But if the oranges were the delicious kind and just grew on the sides of the roads, the trees would always be bare because no one can resist a tasty Valencia orange. Other than oranges, Valencia is also known for its kick-ass paella! I was so thrilled to be reunited with one of my favorite foods! Madrid paella is kind of crappy and often resembles Rice-a-Roni, so I’ve been craving finely crafted paella for quite some time now. Horchata (a drink made from tiger nut and resembles sweet milk) is also pretty popular in Valencia. You can get it almost anywhere in Spain, but Valencia’s version is some of the best.
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| Huge paella pan. Odds are looking pretty good that I'll be bringing home a dish this size (aka giant) to make paella all the time. Unfortunately this wasn't all for me. |
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| YUM. |
As soon as our bus got to the hotel on Friday, we all ran to change into bathing suits to hit the beach in the little bit of free time we had before the walking tour. It was a gorgeous beach on the Mediterranean, but one of the windiest I ever experienced. I was pelted with sand for the two hours we enjoyed the sun and sounds of waves, and I am still finding it in my bags, shoes, pockets, and ears. I deemed Valencia the Guinness World Record Holder for Most Humid City Know to Man. It seemed appropriate since while on the beach my hair expanded. It may also be the Windiest City Known to Man. But that’s debatable.
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| Vamos a la playa |
We went on a walking tour of the older, historic areas of Valencia and saw some more beautiful buildings (they’re all the rage in Europe). I was glad to be in the group with my favorite tour guide (The same students from local universities give us tours every time we go somewhere, and Carmen is my favorite. She has a soothing voice, knows what seems like the history and legends about everything Spanish, teaches me fun phrases and vocab, and once told me I could pass for a Spaniard.). We saw the cathedrals (they’re everywhere), plazas, University, and various other buildings. Since a cathedral wouldn’t be complete without it, there was another massive bell tower. And what happens when you see a bell tower? You obviously have to climb to the top. So did I? Of course. Has Mother Nature gotten her revenge on me since I hiked against her will yet again? Certainly. But at least I got cool pictures.
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| Statue in the University. This guy was a famous grammar nerd. We'd get along. |
The tower had 203 steps that were stacked so steep that I didn’t think I’d make it to the top. They were also amazingly fashioned in a very dimly lit, incredibly narrow staircase. And for the record, there was only one staircase, so those climbing up and those descending were getting in each others' personal space as they tried not to send anyone spiraling to an untimely doom. Needless to say I had a death grip on the rusty handrail. If you have vertigo, this was not for you. Slow and steady was supposed to win the race, but everyone was so anxious to reach the top that it was a fast and steady sprint instead. If you have cardiac problems, this was not for you either. I proudly have pictures to remember this accomplishment, but less thrillingly I have a semi-swollen left knee and Charlie horses in my right calf. As tough as it was, Masada still takes the cake on knee-crushing hikes in my lifetime.
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| Proof. |
If Valencia were a person, she’d be a feverish, possibly menopausal woman. Saturday morning started off gray and chilly. Gray and chilly soon became mild thunderstorms. Thunderstorms later turned to toasty and sunny. You may also call her Florida (equally fickle, but more historic). That put a damper (literally) on my day at the aquarium (which was divided into multiple buildings based on exhibit, so I was frequently out in the rain). I took some pictures, but I didn’t use my camera at all at my favorite part – the seal exhibit. Who knew seals were so freaking cool? I just stood at their tank for about 20 minutes, completely mesmerized. They’re cute too! The aquarium was on the newer, more modern side of town. It contrasts (and kind of clashes) with the older, historic side that we toured the day before. However, the buildings are super cool to look at.
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| Old architecture. |
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| Slightly more modern end of town. |
In retrospect, the city was pretty neat. But it still doesn’t rank in my Top 10. Future travelers, unless your paella or orange cravings are overwhelming, feel free to skip Valencia.
Ten Fé, En Tí - Salamanca
Last weekend nine of us went on a little excursion to Salamanca. The city is much smaller than Madrid, and beautiful. It was a nice break to be walking city streets and not feeling so crowded all the time. However, it is so easy to see virtually all of Salamanca in one day that I’m glad I didn’t choose to do my semester there. I’ve been in Madrid for about a month now and there is still so much more to discover!
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| Northwest of Madrid (near Portugal). |
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| Cute city street. |
So how was Salamanca? It was really fun! We walked the tours suggested by travel books and saw many (if not all) of the historic sites. We saw the cathedrals, the university, the library, etc. Legend has it that if you spot the frog on the façade of the University of Salamanca you’ll have good luck (I’ve also heard you’ll have good luck in studies, and you’ll get married soon. Silly legends). Yes, I found the frog (with assistance from the tchotchke vendor who kept shining a light on it). My host mom later told me I was supposed to look for an astronaut too. Guess I’ll have to go back and find it...
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| Public library |
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| Cathedral |
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| The bell tower we hiked. |
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| View from the top |
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| Proof that I was there. |
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| A bad angle of the University facade. |
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| A close up of the frog (that just looks like a blog) on top of the skull. |
I generally hate guided walking tours because they’re slow and boring, but just looking at historic buildings and reading a line or two from a guide book didn’t do this city justice. Lesson learned – find the free city walking tours.
I was impressed by how clean Salamanca was, especially compared to Madrid. There was so much less litter (and therefore fewer workers always cleaning up after people). There was also less graffiti. And the graffiti that I did find was much more upbeat and inspiring than the rebellious, angry graffiti of Madrid.
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| Motivational graffiti. ("Have faith in yourself") |
Since this was our first weekend adventure on our own, it was also our first hostel experience in Europe. I packed my bed bug spray, and didn’t even have to use it! Our hostel was cute and clean, and the owner was really friendly. With nine of us we rented the two biggest rooms and had ourselves a slumber party!
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| The walls inside were neon green. Sweet. |
A quick note on the nightlife in Salamanca – there was one bar that strictly sold shots for 1 euro each (which would be unheard of in Madrid, since you’ll be lucky if you can get a pack of gum for a euro). In many bars you can play pool (as in billiards). But in Salamanca, if you want to play pool, you’ll be able to play in a pool. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen if you ask me, but it was pretty funny to see a pool in the bar.
The perfect end to the wonderful weekend was enjoying an ice cream cone from what I voted the Second Best Ice Cream in Spain while soaking up the sun and people watching in the Plaza Mayor (I had fresh cherry and vanilla!!). We had some time to kill before our bus left, so we just sat in the middle of the plaza and relaxed. There were at least half dozen weddings that morning, so it seemed like the whole town was in the plaza in their dressiest attire waiting to celebrate. There were also a few bachelor and bachelorette parties in the plaza and a Forest Gump scene reenactment.
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| Salamanca's Plaza Mayor is modeled after Madrid's plaza of the same name. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? |
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| But just look at that Plaza. I'd want one just like it too if I had the space... |
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| All lit up at night. |
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| One of the many weddings. |
So friends studying abroad next semester (and all of you other worldly readers), definitely consider putting Salamanca on your travel bucket list!
PS – sorry for the delay in updating here. It was a struggle to remember the details, so I’ll try to post sooner next time.
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