...3 days...
I'm ready to be back!!
...the end...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Reverse Culture Shock??
So, today after our classes, the school had all of us (or all of us that hadn't strategized a plan of escape earlier) stay for a little half hour-ish session on reverse culture shock/ re-entry into the US...I had already started realizing how much it's going to suck when it hits me (I say "when," not "if"...I know myself well enough by this point), but after that little meeting thing, I'm just getting rather apprehensive of the whole thing...I'm bracing myself for the worst...I figure it will probably hit me when January rolls around and I have to get into a new routine...I'm just afraid that it will be bad...
This is the part of study-abroads that they never tell you about!!
Well, I hope all of you are having a good, safe week and I hope the weather is cooperating for you! (oh, btw, it's finally gotten cold here...it's like 15ºC...which, I know, isn't that cold...but I'd still consider it as cold...) Good luck with the end of the semester and/or the beginning of Christmas preparations!!
This is the part of study-abroads that they never tell you about!!
Well, I hope all of you are having a good, safe week and I hope the weather is cooperating for you! (oh, btw, it's finally gotten cold here...it's like 15ºC...which, I know, isn't that cold...but I'd still consider it as cold...) Good luck with the end of the semester and/or the beginning of Christmas preparations!!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The end is near...
Um...let's see...
Well, first off, I believe there are only 10 days left until I'm back in the States...
Second off, the dollar is crap...although the rate has gotten better in the last couple of days...but really?? $59.something for 40€?!?! Kind of ridiculous...and yet, I need to have money if I want to be able to get to the airport to get home...bleh...
Other than that...um, on Monday night there was this cool music thing that I think was for whatever holiday yesterday was (Virgin of the Immaculate Conception Day, I think)...it started at midnight, so technically it was yesterday...but anyway, there were a ton of people in the plaza that we went to, a bishop-y-looking guy came and said a prayer and mentioned something about "keeping the Virgin in your hearts" at which point it felt cult-esque and I felt very uncomfortable (all the people around us were like "yeah! right on!" except without actually saying it...) But anyway, then all the music groups from the different parts ("facultades") of the University of Sevilla came around and played/sang songs and they were all dressed up...it was like a cross of marching band and the serenading-at-the-window thing that you see in movies...it was fun and interesting, but it was also late and "raining" (which, translated into Iowan, means "misting")...it was worth it though, I guess, even if I did have to miss my favorite TV show for it...(Salud even told me that I had to miss the show, which means it was a pretty big deal...)
Well, hope you have a great (rest of the) week! (the school week's just beginning for us!)
Well, first off, I believe there are only 10 days left until I'm back in the States...
Second off, the dollar is crap...although the rate has gotten better in the last couple of days...but really?? $59.something for 40€?!?! Kind of ridiculous...and yet, I need to have money if I want to be able to get to the airport to get home...bleh...
Other than that...um, on Monday night there was this cool music thing that I think was for whatever holiday yesterday was (Virgin of the Immaculate Conception Day, I think)...it started at midnight, so technically it was yesterday...but anyway, there were a ton of people in the plaza that we went to, a bishop-y-looking guy came and said a prayer and mentioned something about "keeping the Virgin in your hearts" at which point it felt cult-esque and I felt very uncomfortable (all the people around us were like "yeah! right on!" except without actually saying it...) But anyway, then all the music groups from the different parts ("facultades") of the University of Sevilla came around and played/sang songs and they were all dressed up...it was like a cross of marching band and the serenading-at-the-window thing that you see in movies...it was fun and interesting, but it was also late and "raining" (which, translated into Iowan, means "misting")...it was worth it though, I guess, even if I did have to miss my favorite TV show for it...(Salud even told me that I had to miss the show, which means it was a pretty big deal...)
Well, hope you have a great (rest of the) week! (the school week's just beginning for us!)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Boredom reigns
Well, turns out that I did indeed go in search of some WiFi, at the cost of a 1,30 Euro chamomile tea...
And now I have nothing better to do, so I figured I'd write a blog post...
I have no real plans for this week/weekend...I have been pretty much sitting around at home and doing a tiny amount of homework every once in a while (for our Grammar class, the professor was like, oh hey, by the way, in the next six school days, I need you to turn in three composiciones...plus there's a "trabajo final" in Theater class that's supposed to be 6-7 pages typed...I chose the topic of "The concepts of destiny and tragedy in the three works we've studied this semester"; I know, it's like, how come I get to have all this fun, right? I really wish I could share the fun a little bit...oh well...I'm now done with all three composiciones and about halfway done on the trabajo final...so I guess I have done something this weekend, even if it doesn't feel much like it)
Anyway, that was a complete tangent from what I was going to say...
I was going to say, all of a sudden there are less than two weeks left for me here in Spain! I'm both excited beyond belief and horrified at the same time...There are so many things that I still haven't done that were on my to-do list at the beginning of the semester, and there's so little time! But, beyond that, I just don't feel like doing many of them...I think I've had an overdose of Spain and am just kind of sitting in shock, waiting for it to pass...As you can probably deduce, that doesn't leave a very good outlook for the to-do list that is still waiting for me to complete it; and yet, at this point, I don't even really care (which, I know, is bad; I mean, at least I care that I don't care...that counts for something, right?)
Well, I suppose that this feeling really isn't unique to my Spain experience...I think it's just an end-of-semester feeling combined with a very acute case of senioritis...I'm just ready to move on...sort of...
The end...
(hopefully I'll have a more fun and exciting post for next time)
Oh! I thought of something more fun...so, Salud yells at me whenever I play with my hair (just like you, Mom!)...and yesterday she caught me at it again, but she was like, "that's like a manía or something" (which means like a bad habit) and I was like, yeah, it is...and her solution: "You should come out on the terraza with me and have a cigarette and then you won't play with your hair anymore!" I just laughed...(she did too; she knew the irony of what she was saying)
Ok, really the end...
And now I have nothing better to do, so I figured I'd write a blog post...
I have no real plans for this week/weekend...I have been pretty much sitting around at home and doing a tiny amount of homework every once in a while (for our Grammar class, the professor was like, oh hey, by the way, in the next six school days, I need you to turn in three composiciones...plus there's a "trabajo final" in Theater class that's supposed to be 6-7 pages typed...I chose the topic of "The concepts of destiny and tragedy in the three works we've studied this semester"; I know, it's like, how come I get to have all this fun, right? I really wish I could share the fun a little bit...oh well...I'm now done with all three composiciones and about halfway done on the trabajo final...so I guess I have done something this weekend, even if it doesn't feel much like it)
Anyway, that was a complete tangent from what I was going to say...
I was going to say, all of a sudden there are less than two weeks left for me here in Spain! I'm both excited beyond belief and horrified at the same time...There are so many things that I still haven't done that were on my to-do list at the beginning of the semester, and there's so little time! But, beyond that, I just don't feel like doing many of them...I think I've had an overdose of Spain and am just kind of sitting in shock, waiting for it to pass...As you can probably deduce, that doesn't leave a very good outlook for the to-do list that is still waiting for me to complete it; and yet, at this point, I don't even really care (which, I know, is bad; I mean, at least I care that I don't care...that counts for something, right?)
Well, I suppose that this feeling really isn't unique to my Spain experience...I think it's just an end-of-semester feeling combined with a very acute case of senioritis...I'm just ready to move on...sort of...
The end...
(hopefully I'll have a more fun and exciting post for next time)
Oh! I thought of something more fun...so, Salud yells at me whenever I play with my hair (just like you, Mom!)...and yesterday she caught me at it again, but she was like, "that's like a manía or something" (which means like a bad habit) and I was like, yeah, it is...and her solution: "You should come out on the terraza with me and have a cigarette and then you won't play with your hair anymore!" I just laughed...(she did too; she knew the irony of what she was saying)
Ok, really the end...
Friday, December 4, 2009
La Blanca Navidad
...the title for today's post happens to be the title of a Christmas song that we sang last night at the "nursing home"...and now I have it stuck in my head...In English, that would be "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"
And because I have nothing better to write about today, I'll go ahead and write the lyrics for y'all to enjoy...
Oh, blanca Navidad, sueño
y con la nieve alrededor
blanca es mi quimera
y es mensajera
de paz y de puro amor
Oh, blanca Navidad, nieve
una esperanza y un cantar
recordar tu infancia podrás
al llegar la blanca navidad.
In other news, we have a four-day weekend, so I probably won't be making another post until Wednesday, unless I get ambitious and take my laptop to a café with WiFi (in Spanish, that is pronounced "weefee", which definitely amuses me...)
Have a great weekend!
And because I have nothing better to write about today, I'll go ahead and write the lyrics for y'all to enjoy...
Oh, blanca Navidad, sueño
y con la nieve alrededor
blanca es mi quimera
y es mensajera
de paz y de puro amor
Oh, blanca Navidad, nieve
una esperanza y un cantar
recordar tu infancia podrás
al llegar la blanca navidad.
In other news, we have a four-day weekend, so I probably won't be making another post until Wednesday, unless I get ambitious and take my laptop to a café with WiFi (in Spanish, that is pronounced "weefee", which definitely amuses me...)
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Short Story
So last night I was walking home from the school...I was about 2 or 3 blocks from the apartment and pretty much in my own little world when I noticed that someone was coming toward me (not just like walking past me in the opposite direction, but approaching me)...I snapped back into the real world...I walked a little out of my way, but then the guy started talking to me...I was a bit nervous, because having random strangers start talking to you in a residential neighborhood is a bit "raro", but I figured I'd see what he had to say...
Random man (in Spanish): Excuse me? Excuse me??
Me (also in Spanish): Um, yeah?
RM: Do you know where the Plaza de Cuba is??
Me (very much at ease at this point, except for the fact that now I have to think about giving directions): Oh, yeah! It's...um, well...
RM: blah blah blah (which I think was him asking me if I spoke Italian)
Me: *blank stare*
RM: blah blah blah italia
Me: No (at this point, I realized that I was right when I thought that he didn't have a Spanish accent in his Spanish...)
RM: Oh, ok...
Me: But go down to that street and turn that way, and then Plaza de Cuba's at the end...
RM: Thanks!!
The end...
So, either I looked like I knew what I was doing, I looked unimposing, or I looked Italian...hehehe...
Random man (in Spanish): Excuse me? Excuse me??
Me (also in Spanish): Um, yeah?
RM: Do you know where the Plaza de Cuba is??
Me (very much at ease at this point, except for the fact that now I have to think about giving directions): Oh, yeah! It's...um, well...
RM: blah blah blah (which I think was him asking me if I spoke Italian)
Me: *blank stare*
RM: blah blah blah italia
Me: No (at this point, I realized that I was right when I thought that he didn't have a Spanish accent in his Spanish...)
RM: Oh, ok...
Me: But go down to that street and turn that way, and then Plaza de Cuba's at the end...
RM: Thanks!!
The end...
So, either I looked like I knew what I was doing, I looked unimposing, or I looked Italian...hehehe...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Random stories...
- Yesterday in Tres Culturas the professor, José María, was talking about how he's only been sick a very few times and never had to miss school because of it...he said,"Soy casi imortal; es el "casi" que me preocupa..." (which translates to "I'm pretty much immortal; but it's the "pretty much" that worries me"...lol)
- A couple of days ago I was sitting on the couch watching movies with Salud while we were both working on knitting and/or crocheting...Her friend came over...she watched me crocheting for a bit and exclaimed to Salud "Look! Look how strangely she's crocheting!!" And Salud was just like "Yeah, I know...when I first saw her doing that I didn't even know what she was doing"...Later I showed the gal how I did a certain knit stitch, so I cast on some stitches, only to hear how strangely I did that too...and when I finally got around to the knitting part, what do you know?, I did that strangely too!
- I packed up all the souvenirs and fun things I had bought, and the suitcase is nearly full...I mean, it is the small suitcase, but still--it's almost full! I might have to leave some things behind...
- I have to write a 6-7 page paper for Theater class...I don't want to...I know that that is really not that big of a deal, but does anyone ever want to write a paper? I don't think so...Well, maybe writers or something, but that's their own choice...
- I cannot think of anything else to say...but I'm very, very hungry...I think it's because I ate a big breakfast...or because we went out for coffee during Theater class (and the school paid!! I was surprised that we actually followed through on our random suggestion, but it was worth it!)...anyway, the tummy is a-rumblin'...
Oh, and: Happy first day of December!!
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