Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Back in London
Last night I took the metro to the royal palace, but found out when I got there that the signs all over Madrid were wrong, and that it wasn't really free that day. Very disappointed, but oh well. At least I got to see the outside. Right now I'm sitting in the lobby of an airport hotel in London. We had to fly through London to get home, and it was a lot cheaper if we spent the night here. So....here I am. Very tired and ready to go home and dreading having to get up at 5 am to catch my very long flight tomorrow. Today was spent flying from Madrid to London. It went ok, but I'm so tired! The rest of my time in Spain went well. I was very tired of speaking Spanish, but it was really good for me. The person sitting next to me on the plane today was an American from Chicago who had just taught a year of ESL there. I got the name of the organization who hired her. Seems like an awesome opportunity. I eat McDonalds for dinner tonight since it was the cheapest thing around. Tasted pretty much the same, but the fries were skinnier and less salty. Anyway, I guess this will be my last post from Europe. I honestly didn't have many expectations before I came, and it's hard to process the experience while I'm still here. When I get home I'll post one last conclusion for the trip as a whole. I can't to see you or speak to you when I get home. Soon!
Monday, July 6, 2009
More stuff from Spain
Don't have much time, but here's a little bit of an update. I went to church yesterday. Enjoyed singing in Spanish, but was quite lost during the sermon! After church there was a pot luck. I was determined to speak a bunch of Spanish, but then met an American from Holland, MI! We talked a mile a minute all afternoon. Great to connect with an American. The food was amazing; paella, bread, fruit, the works. Oooops. Just ran out of time. More to come about my shopping experience today.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Sweating in Spain
Sorry this is going to be so long, but this is probably my only shot at the internet before I’m back in the States. I’m going to attempt to put up some pictures on facebook; I think most anyone reading this is my facebook friend, so I won’t bother putting up too many here. One of the first things I discovered was that the keyboards are different here. The letters are in the same place, but all of the punctuation marks are in different places, and it really slows you down when you can’t find a comma! I’ve never been so happy to have the internet back! It’s only been 5 days, but so much as happened that it’s hard to be away for so long. I’ve realized how spoiled I am in the States with regards to Internet (and a lot of other things). I don’t have internet in my apartment in GR, but I can drive or walk the half mile to work and use it there, or walk the half mile to the library in the other direction. Here, I’m in the middle of the suburbs and there isn’t a library or internet café to be found. I can take the subway for an hour to get to downtown, but I haven’t tried that on my own. I’m over at an American’s home for dinner, and they graciously allowed me to use their wifi, which the Spaniards pronounce wee fee.
I’ve been in Spain less than a week, but I already have developed a sort of pattern. Everyone wakes up around 9; I wake up much earlier because I don’t sleep that late in the States, but mostly because my bedroom faces east and I wake up with the sun every morning (there are no shades or curtains on my window). My room is in the basement, thank goodness, because it’s the coolest room in the house. Actually, my “bedroom” is the wine cellar with a bed in it! Kind of ironic, since I don’t drink! It’s been over 100 every day and we don’t have air conditioning. Dad, you wouldn’t last 5 minutes in Spain! The humidity isn’t too bad, but 105 is hot not matter what way you look at it when you don’t have any relief from the heat. I have my own half bath next to my bedroom, which is a nice change from Oxford. My favorite part of the bathroom is the F and C on the knobs for Fria and Caliente (cold and hot).
Everyone lulls around till about ten when we eat breakfast. I can’t figure out if this is the only meal for breakfast, or just this family’s favorite, but they eat toasted Spanish bread with jam, and they dunk it in their tea. The bread here is very hard on the outside and very soft and light on the inside. It’s eaten at every meal. After breakfast everyone goes their separate ways until around noon when everyone goes swimming (there’s a pool in the back yard) until 3:30 or so when we eat “lunch.” I quickly learned to eat a large snack around noon or I don’t make it till lunch! Lunch is the big meal of the day. So far we’ve had meatballs, breaded chicken, spaghetti, etc. Except for salad (with green olives, tuna, LOTS of dressing, onions, tomatoes) they don’t eat any vegetables and they fry everything! They are constantly telling me to eat more, and I have to politely refuse 3 or 4 times a meal. After lunch everyone takes a siesta if they so desire, and then it’s back to the pool at 6 or so until 10 or sometimes later when it’s time for dinner. It’s so hard for me to eat a meal so late at night, but it can’t be helped, so I eat. Of course, we are staying with a retired couple, so if you’re an adult and work, your day wouldn’t look quite like this, but in general, the culture is waaaaay more laid back then I’m used to. Time has no meaning, which of course drives me nuts!!! Two of my days were spent babysitting, and I’ll babysit another half a day on my last day here.
I quickly realized that I don’t really speak Spanish! However, I am grateful for my dictator of a Spanish teacher, Mr. Perez, because without him I would be in a much worse place. I do remember a substantial amount of Spanish, but 3 years of high school Spanish does not cut it here! When someone speaks just to me, slowly, and uses hand gestures, I can usually get the main idea, but when everyone is talking a mile a minute to each other I usually tune them out because I can’t follow a thing. It’s kind of boring at meals to sit around for an hour and not be part of the conversation. It’s certainly been good for me, however, for a number of reasons. First, my Spanish is getting better after only one week. I can’t imagine how helpful it would be to spend a lot more time here; I can see how much easier it is to learn a language in the environment. Secondly, I’ve got a new appreciation for ESL students. I’ve never spent so much time in a place where I feel so out of place and am so confused! I’ve learned a lot about the Spanish culture. As I said in my last post, they are blunt!!! Not mean, per say, but will tell you like it is, and don’t really have much tact. It’s not necessary to thank people when they do something for you; it’s considered strange, because they assume that they are supposed to do things for their guests. It’s just totally unnecessary to show appreciation for certain things, and much to my mother’s dismay, I’m sure, I don’t have to write a thank you note! I’ve learned you can’t be barefoot inside the house, and that Spaniards dress very formally when they are out and about, but dress very immodestly at the pool or beach! I feel like a prude in my one piece bathing suit. Every woman wears a bikini from babies to grandmas, regardless of whether you have the body for it or not. Much to my father’s dismay, it’s considered a bit rude to put your hands/arms/elbows in your lap at the table; they are to be left on the table.
I’ve only left the house twice since I got here. The first time was to go to La Plaza Major (The Big Plaza), in the center of Madrid. We took the Metro, or subway. It makes Chicago’s EL look like nothing, but I must say that the EL is much easier to understand and use! We didn’t have much time in the Plaza, but I got the main idea. There are tons of souvenir shops, and I picked up a few postcards. In the center of the square there are lots of people trying to earn money by various means; music, balloon animals, costumes, etc. Everything is really expensive in Spain, so I’ve quickly realized that I won’t be buying much while I’m here. I was dying of thirst, so I bought a bottle of water for 1.70, which equals about 3 US dollars. I try to take water with me everywhere because you sweat so much in this heat. I can drink a whole bottle of water and still be thirsty. A few days I’ve not drank enough and have become very dehydrated.
My other time I’ve left the house was to go to Segovia, which is about an hour and a half by car. We first stopped by the church and burial ground of Franco, a famous and terrible Spanish dictator. There was a civil war in Spain in the 30’s and he won and took over until he died in the 70’s. The monument is beautiful; the cross above the church can be seen for miles, since it’s on the side of a mountain. I wasn’t able to take pictures inside the church, but it was very simplistic after seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral! There was an incredible view from the church steps, so I took a bunch of pictures. We then headed to Segovia. We found a place to eat lunch, and I decided to have Paella, Spain’s most famous dish. You are first served drinks (I had something similar to Sprite, but better, actually), and some really delicious bread that reminds me of American hard roles that you’d get at any restaurant. After that course you are serviced the second course, Paella, which is yellow rice with various kinds of meat cooked with the rice. I ate it all except for the some of the shellfish. Then you are served the third course; I had pork kabobs and fries. Then you are served dessert. Each of these courses was like an entire meal for me! It’s hard not to eat it though, because it’s good and because it’s so expensive. My meal was about 12 Euros, which would be about 18 dollars. And that was the cheapest place we found by far!!!!
After lunch we walked to a castle, which was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle at Disney Land. It was incredible, and for the first time since I got to Europe, this establishment didn’t mind letting me take pictures. I’ve been frustrated in the past to pay money for something and nothing to show for it. I like to take something tangible away from an experience. The view from the top was amazing and I took lots of pictures there too. My favorite thing, funny enough, was the moat around the castle. It was sooooo deep; probably 3 or 4 stories. I had no idea it would be so deep! I took a picture of it, but it doesn’t do it justice because you can barely see the bottom. After the castle I bought a few postcards and we headed back to the car for the drive home.
We leave on Wednesday, but have to fly back to England for a day. We’ll arrive in the afternoon to Heathrow, will stay in a hotel and get up really early on Thursday to fly home. If all goes well I should arrive in GR mid afternoon. I’m really glad that our flight takes place in one day and that it isn’t another overnight flight. I’m hoping that my jet lag won’t be so bad; it took 4 days before I didn’t feel terribly ill after we arrived in Oxford. I’ve had a great trip, but I can’t wait for the little things that I miss, like being in the same time zone as my friends and family, the dark curtains on my bedroom window, my roommate’s cats, TV in English, air conditioning, internet, pickles, peanut butter, vegetables (that one’s for you, Mom), being able to make change quickly at the store without having to turn all the coins over to read how much they are worth, my church, and being able to walk barefoot inside!
I’ve been in Spain less than a week, but I already have developed a sort of pattern. Everyone wakes up around 9; I wake up much earlier because I don’t sleep that late in the States, but mostly because my bedroom faces east and I wake up with the sun every morning (there are no shades or curtains on my window). My room is in the basement, thank goodness, because it’s the coolest room in the house. Actually, my “bedroom” is the wine cellar with a bed in it! Kind of ironic, since I don’t drink! It’s been over 100 every day and we don’t have air conditioning. Dad, you wouldn’t last 5 minutes in Spain! The humidity isn’t too bad, but 105 is hot not matter what way you look at it when you don’t have any relief from the heat. I have my own half bath next to my bedroom, which is a nice change from Oxford. My favorite part of the bathroom is the F and C on the knobs for Fria and Caliente (cold and hot).
Everyone lulls around till about ten when we eat breakfast. I can’t figure out if this is the only meal for breakfast, or just this family’s favorite, but they eat toasted Spanish bread with jam, and they dunk it in their tea. The bread here is very hard on the outside and very soft and light on the inside. It’s eaten at every meal. After breakfast everyone goes their separate ways until around noon when everyone goes swimming (there’s a pool in the back yard) until 3:30 or so when we eat “lunch.” I quickly learned to eat a large snack around noon or I don’t make it till lunch! Lunch is the big meal of the day. So far we’ve had meatballs, breaded chicken, spaghetti, etc. Except for salad (with green olives, tuna, LOTS of dressing, onions, tomatoes) they don’t eat any vegetables and they fry everything! They are constantly telling me to eat more, and I have to politely refuse 3 or 4 times a meal. After lunch everyone takes a siesta if they so desire, and then it’s back to the pool at 6 or so until 10 or sometimes later when it’s time for dinner. It’s so hard for me to eat a meal so late at night, but it can’t be helped, so I eat. Of course, we are staying with a retired couple, so if you’re an adult and work, your day wouldn’t look quite like this, but in general, the culture is waaaaay more laid back then I’m used to. Time has no meaning, which of course drives me nuts!!! Two of my days were spent babysitting, and I’ll babysit another half a day on my last day here.
I quickly realized that I don’t really speak Spanish! However, I am grateful for my dictator of a Spanish teacher, Mr. Perez, because without him I would be in a much worse place. I do remember a substantial amount of Spanish, but 3 years of high school Spanish does not cut it here! When someone speaks just to me, slowly, and uses hand gestures, I can usually get the main idea, but when everyone is talking a mile a minute to each other I usually tune them out because I can’t follow a thing. It’s kind of boring at meals to sit around for an hour and not be part of the conversation. It’s certainly been good for me, however, for a number of reasons. First, my Spanish is getting better after only one week. I can’t imagine how helpful it would be to spend a lot more time here; I can see how much easier it is to learn a language in the environment. Secondly, I’ve got a new appreciation for ESL students. I’ve never spent so much time in a place where I feel so out of place and am so confused! I’ve learned a lot about the Spanish culture. As I said in my last post, they are blunt!!! Not mean, per say, but will tell you like it is, and don’t really have much tact. It’s not necessary to thank people when they do something for you; it’s considered strange, because they assume that they are supposed to do things for their guests. It’s just totally unnecessary to show appreciation for certain things, and much to my mother’s dismay, I’m sure, I don’t have to write a thank you note! I’ve learned you can’t be barefoot inside the house, and that Spaniards dress very formally when they are out and about, but dress very immodestly at the pool or beach! I feel like a prude in my one piece bathing suit. Every woman wears a bikini from babies to grandmas, regardless of whether you have the body for it or not. Much to my father’s dismay, it’s considered a bit rude to put your hands/arms/elbows in your lap at the table; they are to be left on the table.
I’ve only left the house twice since I got here. The first time was to go to La Plaza Major (The Big Plaza), in the center of Madrid. We took the Metro, or subway. It makes Chicago’s EL look like nothing, but I must say that the EL is much easier to understand and use! We didn’t have much time in the Plaza, but I got the main idea. There are tons of souvenir shops, and I picked up a few postcards. In the center of the square there are lots of people trying to earn money by various means; music, balloon animals, costumes, etc. Everything is really expensive in Spain, so I’ve quickly realized that I won’t be buying much while I’m here. I was dying of thirst, so I bought a bottle of water for 1.70, which equals about 3 US dollars. I try to take water with me everywhere because you sweat so much in this heat. I can drink a whole bottle of water and still be thirsty. A few days I’ve not drank enough and have become very dehydrated.
My other time I’ve left the house was to go to Segovia, which is about an hour and a half by car. We first stopped by the church and burial ground of Franco, a famous and terrible Spanish dictator. There was a civil war in Spain in the 30’s and he won and took over until he died in the 70’s. The monument is beautiful; the cross above the church can be seen for miles, since it’s on the side of a mountain. I wasn’t able to take pictures inside the church, but it was very simplistic after seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral! There was an incredible view from the church steps, so I took a bunch of pictures. We then headed to Segovia. We found a place to eat lunch, and I decided to have Paella, Spain’s most famous dish. You are first served drinks (I had something similar to Sprite, but better, actually), and some really delicious bread that reminds me of American hard roles that you’d get at any restaurant. After that course you are serviced the second course, Paella, which is yellow rice with various kinds of meat cooked with the rice. I ate it all except for the some of the shellfish. Then you are served the third course; I had pork kabobs and fries. Then you are served dessert. Each of these courses was like an entire meal for me! It’s hard not to eat it though, because it’s good and because it’s so expensive. My meal was about 12 Euros, which would be about 18 dollars. And that was the cheapest place we found by far!!!!
After lunch we walked to a castle, which was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle at Disney Land. It was incredible, and for the first time since I got to Europe, this establishment didn’t mind letting me take pictures. I’ve been frustrated in the past to pay money for something and nothing to show for it. I like to take something tangible away from an experience. The view from the top was amazing and I took lots of pictures there too. My favorite thing, funny enough, was the moat around the castle. It was sooooo deep; probably 3 or 4 stories. I had no idea it would be so deep! I took a picture of it, but it doesn’t do it justice because you can barely see the bottom. After the castle I bought a few postcards and we headed back to the car for the drive home.
We leave on Wednesday, but have to fly back to England for a day. We’ll arrive in the afternoon to Heathrow, will stay in a hotel and get up really early on Thursday to fly home. If all goes well I should arrive in GR mid afternoon. I’m really glad that our flight takes place in one day and that it isn’t another overnight flight. I’m hoping that my jet lag won’t be so bad; it took 4 days before I didn’t feel terribly ill after we arrived in Oxford. I’ve had a great trip, but I can’t wait for the little things that I miss, like being in the same time zone as my friends and family, the dark curtains on my bedroom window, my roommate’s cats, TV in English, air conditioning, internet, pickles, peanut butter, vegetables (that one’s for you, Mom), being able to make change quickly at the store without having to turn all the coins over to read how much they are worth, my church, and being able to walk barefoot inside!
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