Sunday’s=Lame

Sunday February 3, 2008

To spare you the pain of writing about an extremely boring day, here are the basics in an outline:

n               I woke up and had breakfast.

n               I took a freezing shower, and broke the curtain rod, again.

n               I loaded pictures from Carnival onto my computer and we laughed about the    adventure that we had yesterday.

n               I talked to people from back at home, checked my e-mail, and did homework.

Sundays are always kind of a recuperation day from the previous week and a day to catch up on schoolwork and e-mails. Thus ends the day and now its time for bed. I’m sure this is too much excitement for you, so you might want to go and take a nap now as well. Adios from Spain. 

Pirates, Gnomes, and Monks, OH MY!

Saturday February 2, 2008

At 6:15am the alarm clock went off and I did not want to get out of bed. After finally pushing myself to move, I headed to the bathroom to shower. Breakfast preceded my cold shower and I was off to start our trip to Cadiz. We collectively threw together sack lunches and headed to the bus stop. I’m going to conquer this bus system even if it kills me. We hopped onto the C1 bus headed for the train station. Our train left at 9am but we didn’t know how early we needed to be in the station before we left, so we planned in about an hour of extra time. While waiting for our hour to go by we spotted a group of guys dressed up in neon yellow suits (I call them the highlighter people) that were also going to Cadiz. They asked me to take their picture so I did to kill some time. We quickly learned that we had tourist class tickets without assigned seats so it was up to us to get onto the train and find a seat. Thank goodness we did because we would have been standing for 2 hours if we hadn’t. We finally arrived in Cadiz at about 11am and we were off to find Carnival. We didn’t have any maps with us so we took a picture of the huge map board in the train station as a reference if we needed it later. We head towards the city and to our surprise we stumbled upon Carnival! It was a lot of people dressed in crazy costumes, venders (kind of like at the fair but with better food, cheaper prices, and more teeth), lights and chaos. We walked around for a bit and then went on an adventure up a road, when we happened upon…the Mediterranean Sea. It was gorgeous, bottom-line. There is a large stonewall about two feet wide that borders the water. We were up high but we decided that it was a perfect place to indulge in our sack lunches. We took a few pictures and then decided that we were going to come back to Cadiz at the end of February to go to the beach, which we could see just up the road. After we were done eating we decided to walk up the coastline. On our way, Sam spotted some ancient Roman ruins so we decided to explore. There was a lady at the entrance who gave us brochures and we headed down the stairs to join up with the tour (in Spanish) that had just begun. We got to go down inside the old Roman theatre and ruins into a set of underground tunnels and rooms, one of which was used as a jail cell for Christopher Columbus back in the day. The best part was that it was a lot of culture and it was all for free! We headed back into the center of Carnival and decided that we were overdue for some ice cream. We got our cones and headed to the Cathedral stairs. Apparently the stairs are where all of the groups of people and young people gather to hang out and drink. I have never seen so many people drinking from bottles. They don’t have an open bottle law during festivals, so it was somewhat of a free-for-all. Some where in there a group of guys tried to stop me and guess where I was from because of my blonde hair. They guessed Poland, Switzerland, and Germany before I could walk away from their chaos. I was kind of happy that for the first time someone didn’t distinctly pin me as an American. After our ice cream was gone we walked around some more to warm up and then decided to stop at a café called “Catedral” (Cathedral) for drinks. While we sat and talked I got out the face paint and I painted Allison and Sam’s faces. After sitting for a while two old men, who were probably in their 70-80’s, came up to us and wanted to take pictures with us. We learned that these men were actually from Seville (small world) and we chatted with them for a while. After traveling the entire city to find a bathroom, they don’t believe in public facilities here, we finally found some nasty port-a-potties to use. We walked around and looked at shops some more and decided to stop at “100 Montaditos” for mini sandwiches. As we were walking out of the store we ended up running into Kathy and Jackie, 2 students from our program, and we went to talk with them for a while. While we sat on the steps talking there were these 3 guys in neon Afros that kept trying to talk to and bother us. I just turned my back to them, until one of them poked me. I thought I was going to kill a Spaniard at that point, but I ended up just telling them off and they left shortly after. After being stressed/annoyed about the creepers we decided that we needed some chocolate. We stopped at a vender and got chocolate covered apples and headed to the beach again. A group of three drunken Wisconsin kids came up to us and talked to us for a while and annoyed the crap out of us. They are the reason that Europeans that hate Americans, I’m almost sure of it. After walking around for a bit while window-shopping, we decided to get some churros before we left for home. I know that it sounds like all we did was eat, but lets be serious A. its part of the culture and B. we were there for 9 hours! We headed to the bus station around 7:30pm right as all the crazy people started showing up. There were thousands of people getting off of the trains now and they were all dressed in ridiculous apparel. Our costumes, which consisted of bright colored tops, scarves, masks and face paint, were bland compared to these peoples. Some of my favorites were: the Duff Beer men, the old hairy man in the belly dancer costume, the monks (who were drinking beer), and a group of guys who were dressed up as different Tetris shapes. The big “party” scene is at night and I am glad that we went home before all of that chaos started. As we started towards the train station we ran into about 7 other classmates from Simpson, they were in for a long night, and we chatted for a bit. We kept walking and just as we had arrived to the train station we saw a group of guys dressed as nuns, so we decided that we needed to get pictures with them. They were more than friendly and I had to block party my face from them. After that whole experience we were good to go home. I got a Coke while waiting for the train and we went to our platform for our train…and there were the highlighter guys again. This time they came up and asked if they could take a picture with me so I dragged Sam and Allison along. We ended up talking to them for a while and figured out that they were from Seville. We took the train back, which was 30 minutes late, and arrived at the station in Seville at about 10:45pm. We caught the packed bus back and got home a little bit later. When we got home we made hamburgers and then headed to bed! It was a long eventful day filled with our first Spanish festival and lots of crazy happenings. 

Blue Sparkles, Scarves and Face Paint

Friday February 1, 2008

Today we woke up around 9:30am and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Encarna was in the kitchen and was making freshly squeezed orange juice. What a great way to start the day off! It was already a better day than yesterday. During breakfast Encarna asked if we had made our minds up about going to Cadiz for Carnival yet. We hadn’t decided yet, but Encarna decided to make the decision for us, she said that we had to go. “You are in Sevila! Why not?” So she offered to drop us off close to the train station, so we could get tickets, on her way to the doctor. We gladly accepted the invitation and were headed to the station 20 minutes later. We went inside, figured out how to actually get a ticket and we were booked to go to Cadiz from 9am to 8pm the following day. Cadiz is a huge version of Mardi Gras/Halloween that lasts for about two weeks long. There are parades, shows and tons of people come dressed up to Cadiz for the celebration. We came home, ate lunch and then headed to Republica to book a hostel for Paris. I also had a group meeting for History at 6pm, which didn’t even start until 6:45pm because that’s when everyone actually decided to show up. After booking a hostel, with literally one-minute left before my computer died, I met with my group and then we came back home. We still needed to get costumes for Carnival. We were thinking about being schoolgirls with shirts that our host sister found around the house for us, but we had trouble finding ribbon and neon tights that were big enough. We finally decided that we would get sparkly masks, bright colored shirts, scarves, face paint, and call it good. After searching for a while we assembled our costumes for less than 15 Euros apiece from a few different discount stores. We went to the grocery store next to get sweets and more importantly Coke. We returned home and showed our sister our costumes. She liked them so we are set to go for tomorrow! Tonight we are having a chill night because we have to leave our apartment around 7-7:15am to get to the train station in time for our departure. 

Do Not Use Public Transportation

Thursday January 31, 2008

Today was like any other day. After our first two classes we headed to “Casa del Libro,” a large bookstore, in search for a book to buy for our Literature class. For class we have to read a novel throughout the semester and then towards the end of the semester we have to write a paper analyzing the book. We could pick whatever kind of literature that interested us; the only catch is that it has to be a book by a Spanish author. As I wandered around the bookstore I quickly noticed that this wasn’t going to be easy to find a book. I have trouble picking out books in English, let alone in Spanish. After some suggestions and about an hour later, I finally found a book that sounded interesting (from what I could understand of the back cover). The book is entitled, “El Maldito Amor”- “The Cursed Love.” It is about 330 pages, so now I have something to do to fill any downtime that I may have. We left the bookstore frustrated and hungry and headed home for lunch. After lunch we worked on a little bit of homework and took a siesta before Sam and I headed to our ONG, where we volunteer doing physical therapy in a pool for disabled children. We left our house about an hour before our ONG started and we took bus number 5 to get where we needed to be. We were still a little iffy about this whole process since last time we ended up getting lost. Our professors had told us to take bus numbers 5 or 6 and it should get us close to the pool. With a leap of faith we hopped on bus number 5 and began our ride. We got dropped off somewhere near the pool and I ended up asking a lady for directions. We found like pool just before we were supposed to arrive. It was a rocky start, but at least we found our destination. Today we worked with Maria and there were 3 of us volunteering. I’m pretty sure that we swam laps for at least 30 minutes straight. Needless to say I wasn’t thirsty on our way home because I think that I drank a good three-fourths of the pool. The other challenge in the pool was keeping my swim cap on. Every time we go to volunteer they give us swim caps to use and I got an infant sized one this time. Every time I went underwater, the thing fell off. I think I spent more time actually trying to put the cap back on than anything. Just as we were about to leave, Antonio, the lifeguard/swim lesson teacher, showed up. Just as I had expected, except this time he was clad in a Speedo. I couldn’t help but bust out laughing and point him out to Sam. I think he was trying to show off, but I’m sure that we killed his self-esteem laughing at him. But we weren’t the only ones because the other lifeguards had taken notice to his fashion show and secretly made fun of him as well. We got out of the pool and headed to the showers. There is nothing better than fighting off 7 year olds who are running around half naked for a shower. We waited a while, finally showered and then found a plug for the hair dryer. The place had significantly cleared out and a lady came in and started mopping the floor. She impolitely informed us that the pool closed at 8:30pm and that we needed to leave. So we threw all of our things in the bag, finished getting dressed and basically ran from the lady with the mop. We were walking to the bus stop when we saw bus number 6 approaching. “CRAP-that’s our bus, we need to book it.” After sprinting across the street to our bus we finally got on at 8:20ish and sat down with a sigh of relief. We started riding around and after about an hour had passed we still had no idea where we were. Sweet, we were completely lost at 10pm at night, no phone, no map, no numbers, and no money. We sat for a while and plotted what we should do; to us the bus seemed like the safest option. We rode around for about another half hour and finally went up to the bus driver (the only other person on the bus) to tell him where we thought we were going and where we wanted to be. The conversation went as follows:

Sam: Hi, sorry but I have a question. Our Spanish teacher said that we should take bus 5 or 6 to get to the Alameda de Hercules, are we close to there?

Driver: No, this is the wrong bus.

Sam: Ok, well...do you know what bus we should take?

(Silence)

Sam: Hello?

Driver: (more annoyed this time) No.

And that was the “helpful” conversation with the driver.

So image us: stranded on this bus that we’d already gone in circles on for about an hour and a half, we are late for dinner, we are cold and hungry, without any way of knowing how to get home, and no one is on the bus to ask for help except our driver, but he is a complete jerk. It was a really pleasant situation. I was freaking out, I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. Then the bus driver’s shift ended and another drivers shift began. I don’t know if that gives you any perspective of how long we were actually on that bus or not? But it was a while. We decided to keep riding, what else could we have done? I finally saw a fountain that I thought that I knew, so we got off. I ended up knowing exactly where we were when we got off…but we still had a 35-minute walk home. We finally arrived home at 10:45pm and threw our stuff down and went to the kitchen. Remember how I said I wanted to cry and scream early, insert those emotions now. I just went off explaining the story to Allison, who thought we were dead, and I think my host mom look scared. Allison was trying to listen and to translate and it was a horrible mess of tears and Spanglish. I didn’t eat dinner because I couldn’t even think about eating at this point. Rocio came up to me and gave me a big hug and they collectively tried to calm us down. The said that tomorrow they would get a bus map for us and show us how to use it and gave us their numbers to always have with us. I think I’m going to get it tattooed to my arm after what happened tonight. The first thing that Encarna said when she figured out all that happened was, “Oh my poor daughters! I would have come and gotten you in my car. I think Emily needs chocolate and Coke. Where’s the Coke? Do I need to buy some?” I couldn’t tell at this point if I was laughing more than I was crying or if I was crying more than I was laughing. After talking for a little while we decided that we needed some American food tonight and Sam went to go get her jar of peanut butter so we could make PB and banana toast. They don’t have PB here so it was fun sharing it with Encarna and Rocio. Encarna even got out chocolate and cookies to eat the PB with. After a long, frustrating, stressful night, somehow everything seemed to be all right thanks to our host family and peanut butter. After looking back on the day I have learned a few things:

1. I completely dislike public transportation.

2. Peanut butter is not only a delicious snack but can inter-culturally bind people.

3. Our host family is amazing.

Look Out Paris…Here We Come!

Wednesday January 30, 2008

On the way to class this morning Allison and I realized that we had forgotten to do our homework for our Service Learning class. Our homework was to ask anyone, “Who is an influential woman in Spain and why?” Allison and I planned that we would just ask our host mom and sister, but apparently it slipped our minds. Normally on the way to school we walk past a small group of construction workers near our house. This morning they were the targets of our homework. We figured that they always talk to us, yes catcalls count, so why not talk back. We walked up to them and just before they had started their daily routine of calling us “guapa” (pretty) we interrupted with, “Who is an influential woman in Spain and why?” Their reactions were priceless; they didn’t know how to respond. After looking dumbfounded for a few minutes they finally answered. Their answer was La Duquesa de Alba, a woman who is Paris Hilton-esk except 85 years old. Amazing. I don’t think that they could have given us a better answer, but we had to run with it. Apparently it slipped their minds that the Vice President of Spain is indeed a woman. But lets be serious, she doesn’t have any influence…right? After completing our “homework” we headed to school. Needless to say, after five hours of Spanish class my brain hurt and I couldn’t wait to get home for lunch. After consuming spinach pasta with tomato sauce and chicken we decided that it was time to read for class. Have I told you how much I love homework here? After a while Allison, Sam and I set out on an adventure for a study break. We bought stamps, and then headed to Lidl, the cheap grocery store near our apartment. I must have been craving anything with salt or sugar because I decided to invest in fruit snacks, chocolate and chips. How American! Also, I finally found some hairspray and mousse that my hair greatly needed. We walked around Feria, a busy street near our apartment, to browse and explore for a while. After returning home we read for class some more and shortly after, we needed another break. Today we started a novel for Literature class entitled, “La Barraca,” which has been an adventure getting into.  We put down our Spanish novels and headed to Republica to search for our tickets to Paris. Allison and I decided earlier that day that we were going and that was the bottom line. After searching for flights we finally found one that was in our price range and within the dates that we wanted to travel. “Ok, click ‘book your ticket now’ on three? OK? One…two….three…” The deed had been done. We are officially going to Paris February 22-24! There are two other girls from our group that are going with us. Now we just have to figure all of the smaller details out, oh ya…and book a place to say! It was almost a relief finally booking the tickets after debating about it for so long. The question that kept running through my head was, “When am I ever going to get this opportunity for this cheap ever again?” I think I had my mind made up from the beginning. It only took time to convince my hands to log on and finally book the tickets. We returned home excited and antsy but we finally settled down enough to read the rest of the chapter in La Barraca for class and head to bed before midnight. 

Take Life a Paragraph at a Time

Tuesday January 29, 2008

Today went really well. I swear its almost like being on a rollercoaster here in Spain. Some days are really good while others are really bad, but I’m sure that is what’s expected in a four-month program. Class got out at 12:15pm today instead of at 1pm, so I felt like a million dollars because of those extra 45 minutes. It’s the little things in life, right? After class Sam and I set off to find the Post Office. After searching for a while we finally found the building. The line was about 25 people deep, so we decided to just find a small store that sold stamps. We wandered around until we found one and apparently we just happened upon just the right store. We bought our stamps and the guy even had a conversation with us! Many times people are too busy to talk to us or they think that we just don’t understand so it was nice to have a Spaniard strike up a conversation that didn’t start with a catcall. He asked if we were here on vacation and we said that we were studying for the semester and then he pointed us to the closest mailbox. It was all around a win for team Sam and Emily. After leaving the shop we headed in what we thought was the right direction towards home. We finally came to a point where we didn’t know where we were…until I spotted a street that I knew. We followed my instinct (Lord only knows why) and we actually ended up in the right spot! I actually helped out when it came to finding the way home, you can only imagine how stoked I was. I think for the next 5 minutes that’s all we talked about. Sam and Emily-2, Spain-0. After lunch we all worked on homework for a while. I learned today that you have to take life in Spain one paragraph at a time, and that is now the new motto for the trip (its more relative to the homework side of things, but it works overall). While the big picture and goals look overwhelming at times, I need to remember to focus on the little things that make me happy both here and back in the US. One of those “little happys” came in the form of a singing birthday card from Tish Lavrenz today. I was super excited to get the mail and then when it sung to me I just died. I think my host sister things I’m crazy because the moment I opened the singing greeting card she peaked her head around the corner and looked lost. I explained the card and reaction to her and I think she loved it too. Sam got a package today so we are rollin’ in the sweets. Nick called around 4:45pm and wanted to meet at Republica to find flights for a potential trip to Ireland. Allison and I met Nick around 5pm and we both began to search for trips, Allison for the Paris trip, Nick and I for the Ireland trip. I’m excited to travel but with the difficult academic schedule I don’t know when it’s going to be possible! Tonight is going to be a chill night because it has been a good day and we don’t want to ruin what we have going for us. 

Want to See Pictures?

If you want to see some pictures from Spain send me your e-mail address at emily.beckmann@simpson.edu and I will add you to my list and it will send you a link to look at my pictures! I wish I could put pictures up on here, but its too slow. THANKS!