Yesterday I went out for lunch with a few others from the school for a meeting for those who had volunteered to be prayer group leaders, and we headed to a Chinese restaurant...for those of you who have ever considered going to a Chinese restaurant when I've been in the group, you will remember that pretty much I can't eat Chinese...So, knowing that the group was going to head to a Chinese restaurant put me on the defensive. The gal in charge asked if I could handle like a salad or something there, and I figured that was doable, so we headed onward...Once in the restaurant, she talked with the employees, and came to tell me that they did not use peanut oil there, being as we were in Spain...I was excited at this point, but still cautious--Chinese food has been considered my enemy for a long time now...But, I looked in the part of the menu that they had recommended and found something that looked like it was worth a try...I got a meal special thing that included a salad (with crazy looking things that I don't think I've ever seen before), noodles (in soy sauce, I think), sweet and sour chicken ("pollo agridulce"), and it came with dessert, so I picked flan...The best part was that I could eat it all, and--I discovered that I like Chinese food! Or, at least, I like the Spanish version of the American version of Chinese food...It was good...I ate way too much...And, being as this was my first time eating flan, I was startled by the wiggliness, so I took a video of it...unfortunately I have just realized that I decided to leave my camera at home today, and as such will be unable to upload the video...maybe another day...
¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Update: Wiggling flan video has been posted!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Córdoba and la playa
Hola todos...
So, the past few days have been pretty good here; not super exciting by any means, but good nonetheless...On Friday the school had a trip to nearby Córdoba to check out a church-turned-mosque-turned-church for the art class students' benefit; they're learning about the architecture styles,from what I can tell...I, on the other hand, figured why take the class if I can go on the field trips for free anyway? I think there's a bit more freedom on the trips for those of us who aren't in the class, so I'm liking my decision...
Saturday some of us headed to the beach at Matalascañas, which was like an hour or hour and a half away from here...that would also happen to be my first experience with the Spanish bus system, and oh my, was it fun...We had bought our tickets the night before (the 4 of us Northwesterners, that is) and learned about the concept of lines in Spain--they mean nothing; whoever steps to the front gets served first; waiting is worthless...So, we got there on Saturday morning and headed down to where the buses were...We met up with the other Acento students who had wanted to go too...since they hadn't purchased tickets the day before, they didn't know that the bus didn't leave until 11am, and so had arrived at the station at about 9:30...So, when the bus finally starts letting us board, we realize that there is a giant horde of people trying to get on one bus, and that not everyone will fit on that one bus...So we take our newfound knowledge of lines in Spain to heart and try to get on the bus...I think 4 out of about 12 of us got on the bus...the rest of us wondered what to do next; fortunately, they brought another bus, and we all managed to get on that one...The ride was fine and we went through a national park and saw what I like to think of as "fairy tale trees"--I didn't get any pictures, and describing them just wouldn't do them justice. We got to the beach and wondered if the other people had gotten off at the first or the second stop; we guessed that they had gotten off at the first one and so did the same; thankfully we guessed correctly! The beach was gorgeous, the weather was gorgeous, and I didn't even get sunburnt! All in all, a great day...
Well, I uploaded a few pics, so we'll see if I can get the link posted here...http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahloveseric/Spain# I think it worked...
Have a great day!!
So, the past few days have been pretty good here; not super exciting by any means, but good nonetheless...On Friday the school had a trip to nearby Córdoba to check out a church-turned-mosque-turned-church for the art class students' benefit; they're learning about the architecture styles,from what I can tell...I, on the other hand, figured why take the class if I can go on the field trips for free anyway? I think there's a bit more freedom on the trips for those of us who aren't in the class, so I'm liking my decision...
Saturday some of us headed to the beach at Matalascañas, which was like an hour or hour and a half away from here...that would also happen to be my first experience with the Spanish bus system, and oh my, was it fun...We had bought our tickets the night before (the 4 of us Northwesterners, that is) and learned about the concept of lines in Spain--they mean nothing; whoever steps to the front gets served first; waiting is worthless...So, we got there on Saturday morning and headed down to where the buses were...We met up with the other Acento students who had wanted to go too...since they hadn't purchased tickets the day before, they didn't know that the bus didn't leave until 11am, and so had arrived at the station at about 9:30...So, when the bus finally starts letting us board, we realize that there is a giant horde of people trying to get on one bus, and that not everyone will fit on that one bus...So we take our newfound knowledge of lines in Spain to heart and try to get on the bus...I think 4 out of about 12 of us got on the bus...the rest of us wondered what to do next; fortunately, they brought another bus, and we all managed to get on that one...The ride was fine and we went through a national park and saw what I like to think of as "fairy tale trees"--I didn't get any pictures, and describing them just wouldn't do them justice. We got to the beach and wondered if the other people had gotten off at the first or the second stop; we guessed that they had gotten off at the first one and so did the same; thankfully we guessed correctly! The beach was gorgeous, the weather was gorgeous, and I didn't even get sunburnt! All in all, a great day...
Well, I uploaded a few pics, so we'll see if I can get the link posted here...http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahloveseric/Spain# I think it worked...
Have a great day!!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Nothing much
Hola todos...I don't know how many people actually read this on a regular basis, but even so I figured I should update today since I won't be on the computer again until Monday...
Tomorrow we're taking a roadtrip with the school to Córdoba, and Saturday I think we might go to the beach, but I'm still not sure which beach...Our señora recommends Matalascañas, but others want to go to Cádiz...we shall see...
Last night was Encuentro, which was like Praise&Worship time, pretty sweet...It was a very refreshing time and a great chance to spend some non-scholastic time with the other students as well...
School has been going well, classes aren't too difficult, and the weather has been a couple of degrees cooler the past few days, so that has been an absolute blessing!
Karla and I walked around town last night after Encuentro, and we checked out a store that was all about cleaning/hygiene...I mean, really, just stuff for the bathroom or cleaning...that was all that it was...It's such a different concept from how stores are here in the US...they have shops with just fruit and vegetables, as well as a just meats and cheeses store...similar to a deli, but somehow different...and I'm pretty sure that there's one store that's just pantyhose and stockings and yarn (to make your own), but we haven't actually been in it, so it's only my hypothesis at this point...
Take care!
Tomorrow we're taking a roadtrip with the school to Córdoba, and Saturday I think we might go to the beach, but I'm still not sure which beach...Our señora recommends Matalascañas, but others want to go to Cádiz...we shall see...
Last night was Encuentro, which was like Praise&Worship time, pretty sweet...It was a very refreshing time and a great chance to spend some non-scholastic time with the other students as well...
School has been going well, classes aren't too difficult, and the weather has been a couple of degrees cooler the past few days, so that has been an absolute blessing!
Karla and I walked around town last night after Encuentro, and we checked out a store that was all about cleaning/hygiene...I mean, really, just stuff for the bathroom or cleaning...that was all that it was...It's such a different concept from how stores are here in the US...they have shops with just fruit and vegetables, as well as a just meats and cheeses store...similar to a deli, but somehow different...and I'm pretty sure that there's one store that's just pantyhose and stockings and yarn (to make your own), but we haven't actually been in it, so it's only my hypothesis at this point...
Take care!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Noche de Chicas
So last night we had a "Noche de Chicas" (Girls' Night), and it was amazing...I think God knew exactly what we all needed...and probably the staff here knew what they were doing too...but it all worked out wonderfully, and I feel like we're all a little bit more comfortable with each other. First we went around and shared a high and low of our first week here...all 36 of us girls plus the three staff ladies...it took a while, but we were in AC, so we were fine with that :) Then, we walked down to the Guadalquivir River and took rides on the "hidropedales" (paddleboats)...we had been given numbers and had to find the other girls with the same numbers to see who would share our boats...it was a great way to mix it up and get to know new people! I took a few pictures, and I'll try to get some up...
Praise be to God for knowing just what we need when we need it!!!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Just another day...
So, I have plenty of time to just sit here on the computer while I wait for my classes to start everyday, so I might end up paying a lot more attention to this blog than I thought i would...
Hmmm...what´s new? Well, for one thing, keyboards in Spain are different than in the US, like when you go to use the question mark, and it's not there, or the apostrophe for that matter... :) It´s going to take a little getting used to...The weather is still nice and warm and I don't expect it to be any less than 40ºC today either...Quite the change from our unusually cold summer back in Iowa! In fact, our senora told us that they haven't had this hot of weather in like 50 years and that if it's still hot this weekend, the three of us should go to the beach! I, of course, must use sunscreen...Karla evidently is not required to do such...
Classes started yesterday (and I totally forgot that yesterday was Labor Day in the States and tried to make a couple of phone calls at 6:30am (: ), and I think they'll be fine...I´m taking a course called ''Tres Culturas'' (Three Cultures) about the Islamic, Judaic and Christian influences in southern Spain; the second class is ''Teatro del siglo XX'' (Theater of the 20th Century) and it will probably be a challenge---we're starting with a play by Federico García Lorca that´s called Bodas de sangre (Weddings of blood, or something to that effect) and uses lots of symbolic language :S yikes!; the last class is the advanced grammar class, and that should be interesting as well--i hope to learn a lot!!
Please be praying for me--that God will continue to use this experience to teach me whatever it is that he wants me to learn and that I will learn to be more like him through it!!
Thanks all! ¡Que les vaya bien! ¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Hmmm...what´s new? Well, for one thing, keyboards in Spain are different than in the US, like when you go to use the question mark, and it's not there, or the apostrophe for that matter... :) It´s going to take a little getting used to...The weather is still nice and warm and I don't expect it to be any less than 40ºC today either...Quite the change from our unusually cold summer back in Iowa! In fact, our senora told us that they haven't had this hot of weather in like 50 years and that if it's still hot this weekend, the three of us should go to the beach! I, of course, must use sunscreen...Karla evidently is not required to do such...
Classes started yesterday (and I totally forgot that yesterday was Labor Day in the States and tried to make a couple of phone calls at 6:30am (: ), and I think they'll be fine...I´m taking a course called ''Tres Culturas'' (Three Cultures) about the Islamic, Judaic and Christian influences in southern Spain; the second class is ''Teatro del siglo XX'' (Theater of the 20th Century) and it will probably be a challenge---we're starting with a play by Federico García Lorca that´s called Bodas de sangre (Weddings of blood, or something to that effect) and uses lots of symbolic language :S yikes!; the last class is the advanced grammar class, and that should be interesting as well--i hope to learn a lot!!
Please be praying for me--that God will continue to use this experience to teach me whatever it is that he wants me to learn and that I will learn to be more like him through it!!
Thanks all! ¡Que les vaya bien! ¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Monday, September 7, 2009
bleh...culture shock?
Hola todos...Aquí estoy en España...and i'd really rather not be...i think culture shock is starting to set in...everything is so very different from what I'm used to....starting with the weather: it's been about 40 the past several days--that doesn't sound like it means anything too important, until you realize that 40 in Celsius is like 104 degrees fahrenheit...yuck! And, air-conditioning isn't too horribly prevalent.
Next, the food...very different...Breakfast is always pan tostada and cafe; normally it would be cafe con leche, but that just wouldn't be a good deal for me...so, every morning we each get a small loaf of bread, cut in half and toasted, plus our beverage...then "lunch" comes at like 3 in the afternoon...and is always very oily, even if it's salad! And, of course, Salud (my senora) tries to make us eat WAY too much, although she herself would never think of eating similarly sized portions of the same food...and, i'm fairly convinced that she thinks olive oil is like a health food, and is convinced that it doesn't have "grasa" (fat), or at least not like the fatty American foods (oh yes, my normal diet has so much more fat than all this completely oil-saturated food! agh!) Yesterday, it was pretty good actually, we had calamares--pretty much octupus rings instead of onion rings...Salud said she bought a medio kilo of calamares, so it shouldn't be difficult for Karla and I to eat the whole plate full; she then went back and said that maybe she had purchased the whole kilo after all....2.2lbs of deep fried octopus...yeah, that doesn't sound like too much for two petite girls in one meal at all! Then, at 9:30 we eat supper...it usually starts with soup--yummy--however, it is then followed with a plate full of food and mas pan, and then probably some fruit...but, you had better not go to bed right after, because as Salud says, eating then sleeping is a great way to get fat...but we can't not eat--it's not an option...grr...
Besides the weather, lack of air-conditioning, and too much food, it's not too bad here...This weekend the 4 of us Northwesterners poked around the shopping area and then looked around at some of the sweet old buildings that are in the center of town...there's a giant cathedral (that was built on a mosque) and the giralda (watchtower) that we're thinking we need to get the tour of, and there are the Alcazares Reales (which is like some old fortressy thing) that we're also thinking we need to see, and there's the Archivos de Indias that has all the stuff that Colombus brought back from the Americas--might also be worth a peek...Classes start today, so we'll see what i think of them later on...I went ahead and dropped a class so that i would have more free time...hey, it's my last semester!!
Hope everyone's having a great time back home!!
Next, the food...very different...Breakfast is always pan tostada and cafe; normally it would be cafe con leche, but that just wouldn't be a good deal for me...so, every morning we each get a small loaf of bread, cut in half and toasted, plus our beverage...then "lunch" comes at like 3 in the afternoon...and is always very oily, even if it's salad! And, of course, Salud (my senora) tries to make us eat WAY too much, although she herself would never think of eating similarly sized portions of the same food...and, i'm fairly convinced that she thinks olive oil is like a health food, and is convinced that it doesn't have "grasa" (fat), or at least not like the fatty American foods (oh yes, my normal diet has so much more fat than all this completely oil-saturated food! agh!) Yesterday, it was pretty good actually, we had calamares--pretty much octupus rings instead of onion rings...Salud said she bought a medio kilo of calamares, so it shouldn't be difficult for Karla and I to eat the whole plate full; she then went back and said that maybe she had purchased the whole kilo after all....2.2lbs of deep fried octopus...yeah, that doesn't sound like too much for two petite girls in one meal at all! Then, at 9:30 we eat supper...it usually starts with soup--yummy--however, it is then followed with a plate full of food and mas pan, and then probably some fruit...but, you had better not go to bed right after, because as Salud says, eating then sleeping is a great way to get fat...but we can't not eat--it's not an option...grr...
Besides the weather, lack of air-conditioning, and too much food, it's not too bad here...This weekend the 4 of us Northwesterners poked around the shopping area and then looked around at some of the sweet old buildings that are in the center of town...there's a giant cathedral (that was built on a mosque) and the giralda (watchtower) that we're thinking we need to get the tour of, and there are the Alcazares Reales (which is like some old fortressy thing) that we're also thinking we need to see, and there's the Archivos de Indias that has all the stuff that Colombus brought back from the Americas--might also be worth a peek...Classes start today, so we'll see what i think of them later on...I went ahead and dropped a class so that i would have more free time...hey, it's my last semester!!
Hope everyone's having a great time back home!!
Friday, September 4, 2009
¡Estoy aquí!
Well, I´m here in Spain...we made it safely, the flights weren´t too bad, and the luggage arrived unharmed. The apartment that Karla and I are staying in is pretty nice, but nothing like what I´m accustomed to...no AC!!! (and really small everything)---BUT, we each have a very good-sized closet, so that´s really nice...the food´s been pretty good--only one allergic reaction so far (garbanzos en la sopa), but not too bad...the weather´s been really REALLY warm during the day, but it´s bearable if you stay indoors in front of the fan :)
Today, jet lag caught up with us...I went to bed at about 11pm...I woke up, thinking it was like 6:30 am (an hour earlier than i needed to be up)...about an hour later Karla woke up and asked what time it was; i told her about 7:30--time to get up...so she checked her móvil (cell phone) and informed me that it was 2 in the morning....and i think we dozed off again around 4:30 or 5...yay for siestas!!
¡Hasta luego! ¡Qué Dios les bendiga!
Today, jet lag caught up with us...I went to bed at about 11pm...I woke up, thinking it was like 6:30 am (an hour earlier than i needed to be up)...about an hour later Karla woke up and asked what time it was; i told her about 7:30--time to get up...so she checked her móvil (cell phone) and informed me that it was 2 in the morning....and i think we dozed off again around 4:30 or 5...yay for siestas!!
¡Hasta luego! ¡Qué Dios les bendiga!
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