back in Valladolid

*October 13*

Back in Valladolid! It was fun being able to talk to everyone about their weekend trips! Most people went to San Sebastian or Barcelona... I think only 3 people in our program stayed in Valladolid, and went grape picking at a vineyard on saturday.

Argh being back in class isn't so much fun though. I feel somewhat lost on my Spanish classes. I understand what we are learning, but it is still challenging when I don't always understand what my professors are actually saying. I don't know what I would do if they didn't write everything on the board. I am definitely more of a visual learner than an audio learner. Our grammar professor is also getting more and more impatient with us. We don't think we've seen her smile in over a week... and we heard she is dating our culture teacher? No idea if that is true, but he is soo nice and patient, and she is, well, the opposite.

I did have a conversation with my mama though! Usually Emily is there, so I don't feel the pressure to respond as much, but it was just me and her since Emily was in the shower. We talked about my future weekend traveling plans, and she told me that she went to University in Granada. We also talked about how excited she is for me to be planing to travel to a lot of places in Spain, and I showed her some of my Nerja pictures.

Oh and I booked my tickets to Ireland today! We are going in December during our 4-day weekend... it's going to be freezing! And now I'm working in my tickets for Sevilla and Granada for the next 3-day weekend. Ah! So excited!

Málaga? ...Nerja!

*October 9 - 12, 2009*

What an AMAZING weekend in southern Spain!

We left town around 7 pm from the Valladolid train station. Natalie, Aubrea, Tiffany, Hanna, Kristen and I were going to Málaga for the weekend! (or so we thought)

The train ride there was one such a great way to start out the trip. Since it was a night train, I expected us all to sleep on the train, but we ended up talking the entire time. I feel like I can't say it enough, but these ladies just continue to amaze me, and I can't believe how we just keep getting closer.

So we got into Málaga around 1 am. As we were leaving the train station, an older man with a Scottish accent approached us asking if we were lost... he turned out to be Natalie's relative, Ian. We followed him outside, where Ian had gotten us a minivan/taxi for us. Inside was Ian's wide (Natalie's grandpa's cousin) waiting for us).

Turns out, they don't actually live in Málaga like we thought, but they live in this town called Nerja, about an hour east of Málaga on la Costa del Sol.

When we got to Nerja and to their home, we realized that they rented us the two apartments next door to them! Four of us stayed in one, and Natalie and Aubrea stayed in the other apartment. Before we went to bed, Ian asked us if we were hungry, and although we said no, we ended up having a midnight (well, 3 am) feast! He brought us pizza, some sort of dip (which I learned later was a home-made mackerel paste), octopus, toast, and champagne and orange juice! So nice of them... and we went to bed very content :)

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The next morning, we were in awe at the view! Through the front door, we had the view of the ocean, and we also had a balcony overlooking the pool of the complex, and also a view of the ocean! To our surprise, Ian brought over some cereal and milk for us for breakfast, along with some cappuccinos mixes. We definitely didn't expect them to provide so much for us, but their generosity didn't stop there (you'll hear more about it as the weekend goes on).

(Ian, Natalie, and Pat)

After breakfast, we walked down to the old town, and took a ton of pictures at the lookout point over the ocean, and did some shopping. When we met back up with Pat and Ian, we got some gelato, then headed towards the beach. We ended up finding a place for lunch, and sat down to eat some pizzas - with an ocean view of course. Nerja is so beautiful!

Ian and Pat left us there to head to the beach to go play, where he told us that if we follow the water around the rocks to the other side of the beach, we will find a man with a bunch of paddle boats - he had reserved one for us! So we slowly wandered down to the beach, and walked along the water's edge. As we headed down towards the paddle boats, we discovered that nudity is allowed on public beaches. Many kids were playing in the nude, along with a TON of older women just sunbathing without tops. Strange, and somewhat awkward, because I wanted to take pictures of the view and beautiful beach, but didn't want to accidentally capture the, umm, other people.

Anyway, so we found the guys who had the paddle boats, and just had to tell them that we were "The Six," and we were able to take a paddle boat out on the water for an hour.

Well, we of course chose the most outlandish looking boat: a HUGE pink flamingo! We paddled it out for a while... and jumped in! I couldn't believe how clear the water was! It was about 20 feet deep, but you could clearly see the bottom! The water was also super calm, since there are no waves in the Mediterranean. It is such a weird concept too that the tide never changes.

Back in the paddle boat later, we noticed these huge jellyfish. They were the size of a basketball, and had fish swimming underneath them! At that point, we were glad we had gotten out of the water.

We eventually got back to the apartment, by which time we had to get ready for dinner. Ian and Pat took us to one of their favorite restaurants (where they were each very adamant about how often they go there). Pat and Ian are in their 70s and are both super witty - they always crack jokes about the other, and never miss a beat. You can tell how much they adore each other though, even when they are always making quips about how they can't stand each other. They were very entertaining all weekend!

After dinner, they suggested we go to the "Feria" - since it is the National Holiday of Spain (celebrating Christopher Columbus discovering the Americas), there was a huge carnival/festival going on down by the beach. There were games, rides (we rode the roller coaster!), lots of junk food, and even a section with bars and a DJ, where we danced for a while.

It was an exhausting day, but one of my favorites so far :)

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The next day, we went to Nerja’s Sunday market, which was like a swap meet. We spent hours shopping, getting breakfast at a café nearby, and talking to the locals. I was surprised to find that a lot of the people who were selling things at the market were locals, but not originally from Nerja, or even Spain! I talked to people from Ireland, London, Thailiand – and almost everyone spoke English. There were also way more tourists shopping along with us than I expected. Apparently it is a huge holiday weekend, and since the southern coast of Spain is still really warm (it was 80 all weekend), it attracts a lot of tourists.

Ian and Pat took us to lunch later to what they call a “chiringuito” – a restaurant on the beach. Like last night at dinner, Ian just ordered a ton of different things on the menu, and we all shared them all. It is the true Spanish way to eat (they call is “tapas” in Spain).

We spent the rest of the day at the beach… and there was the most gorgeous sunset!

On our way home, we got ice cream and crepes, and just sat and enjoyed each other’s company. I really love traveling with these girls – we always have an amazing time, and I loved that Natalie joined us and was able to invite us all to stay with her family.

Ian and Pat were also amazing this entire trip…. They were so generous in getting us a place to stay, treating us to meals and other excursions, despite the fact that all six of us were complete strangers to them. They even made us packed lunches the next day for our trip back to Valladolid. They are some of the most generous people I have ever met, and we were all truly grateful for their hospitality.

Overall? It was an AMAZING weekend. I loved traveling with all 5 of these girls... this weekend was one that I will never forget :D

October 8

So I am starting to feel as if my Spanish *might* be improving. I understand a little bit more of what Maria is saying, and I don't feel as foolish responding sometimes, or ordering something in a café, or even speaking a little Spanish to the international students.

Tonight, the language school had an "intercambio" - where the students studying English, and us Cal Poly students who are studying Spanish, get together and try to speak in each other's languages. They called it "speed dating," since we are supposed to talk in Spanish for 4 minutes, then switch to English for 4 minutes.

It was more fun than I expected! Since a lot of the Spanish students knew just as much English as I knew Spanish, we had similar things to discuss and ask each other. We were easily able to find common ground, and everyone was understanding about having to talk slow.

Since tomorrow starts the weekend and everyone is going out of town, we decided to go out for the night! We found a place that has yummy Sangria, and just enjoyed the night. I am loving España :D

day... 16?

(October 7)

Okay so now that I am in a routine, it isn't so interesting to talk about my daily life. Instead, I would love to reflect upon things that I'm slowly discovering about life in Valladolid. I think Dr. H inspired this, since at the beginning of each Culture in Spain class, one person has to ask "Why do Spaniards do _____ this way?"

So the other day, while I was studying for one of my Cal Poly classes with my friend Rachel at the Facultad de Derecho (the UVa law school), a law student at the university approached us about what we were studying (I had a Spain map in my hand). We were explaining that we were studying the culture of Spain in Valladolid, as well as the language. So many people in Castilla y Leon have told us that this is the best place to learn Spanish, whether that is from ride or truth, I haven't determined, but it was interesting that this student, a guy my age, also said that this is the best place to learn Spanish. When we told him that people in our group are visiting places like Malaga and Barcelona, he continuously insisted that the Spanish they speak is "crap." Granted, he was born and raised in Valladolid - but my Mama was not, and she feels the same way. They have so much respect and pride in their country and province - it's refreshing and exciting to know that I am living in a place that is so valued by all of its inhabitants.

Sunday Cafe Days

So I do apologize because I am a bit behind a bit, but I will try to catch you all up this weekend!

The day after Burgos was a Sunday (October 4), and it might take me awhile to get used to almost everything being closed on Sundays. Luckily, we found a cafe that is open, and also has wee-fee (I'm in the habit of calling it "wee-fee" instead of "wi-fi," since that's how Spaniards pronounce it).

Anyway so Sundays have become homework days, and as the day went on, more and more of us collected at this cafe called Toledo, which is right next to the Plaza de Santa Cruz near our school. I am slowly becoming addicted to cafe con leche, but today tried the Spanish version of hot chocolate. It looks like chocolate pudding, but it is warm, and the tradition is to dip churros in it. Sooo delicious.

Oh but you might enjoy this story about lunch... so I always go home for meals, and today I was looking forward to it because Maria told us she was making Paella. I loved the Paella I tried in Madrid, so I was really excited to have home-made Paella. Well, turns out it was Paella with a variety of shellfish. For those of you who don't know, I don't eat shellfish. So I thought, okay, I can eat around the fish, and just eat the rice, but when Maria served it, I realized that the shrimp, or prawns, still had their eyes, and they were staring at me as I was eating O_0

So I couldn't do it. I felt bad that I didn't eat the food after she spent so much time preparing it, but I just didn't have the stomach for it.

But dinner was delicious! We had what tasted like chicken noodle soup... I hope she makes it all through the winter :)

Oh and we're for sure going to Malaga for the weekend! I bought my very expensive train tickets, but Natalie's family is being so generous and renting us our own apartment for the weekend. As long as I remember my bathing suit, I'll be set!

Beautiful Burgos!

Wow so Burgos is one of the most BEAUTIFUL cities I've seen in Spain so far. It isn't the biggest town, but everything is clean and colorful and wonderful! All of the buildings are painted different colors, and there are soooo many trees and lots of greenery.

So we spent the day touring the city (it was a planned day trip for UVa students - so all of the Cal Poly students and other international students at the University of Valladolid went together). It ended up being an anniversary of some sort, so there was a medival parade we managed to be in the right place at the right time to see. We walked around the market of local artists and such, and went to the cathedral Burgos is famous for (Catedral de Burgos).

For lunch, our tour guide took us up to a hill behind the city where we climbed a TON of stairs, but it was definitely worth it for the view of the entire city.

On the way home, we stopped at a mosque, where Alfredo (a teacher at UVa and our tour guide for the day) explained to us the history architecture and other things - all in Spanish. I was proud that I did understand a lot, but I did need someone to translate for me. He is an awesome tour guide and is interesting and entertaining to listen to, which did make it easier.

That night, the girls and I planned our next weekend, which we are planning on spending in Malaga, on the southern coast of Spain. Can't wait!

Yup, I live here!

Another day! We had Spanish again, like we will every morning. We are definitely moving quicly when it comes to grammar, which I am glad for. Although it is overwhelming, I have never been so motivated to learn a language. It's also fun since we have international students in our class - it's nice talking to a more diverse group of people, other than just Cal Poly students.Since it was Friday, we didn't have afternoon class, so I took advantage of time to explore the city I'll be living in for the next two and a half months. I ended up going shopping near the Plaza Mayor with Rachel, which was fun! We have so much in common, and I knew her before this trip so we are really comfortable with each other. There is always a difference in spending time with new friends than those you've known for while...

Anyway we met up with a bunch of other girls later in the day for gelato (delicious!). The guy who was working there was impressed with Rachel's Spanish, and tried to help us all ask for what we wanted correctly. That's how I feel most of the locals are here - they are very encouraging and supportive that are studying and try to learn Spanish in Valladolid, and are curious about us in general (besides the other group of students from Wisconsin, we are the only Americans in all of Valladolid, since it isn't a city that attracts many tourists).

I think their curiosity sometimes tends to be misconstrued though... I definitely get a lot of weird looks and stares when I am just walking down the street. And we are apparently obviously American, because when I was walking home with Emily one time, we passed a group of older women who I heard mention "chicas" and Estados Unidos" when we walked by. Hmm I guess I'll have to change something about the way I dress so I look more like a local. They definitely dress more sophisticated here, and I wouldn't mind coming home with more sophisticated clothing :)

After shopping and dinner (which were home-made deep fried cheesy mashed potatoes, I think), everyone met up to go out to celebrate Laurel's birthday. Oh but before I left the house, I showed my Mama my new outfit (which was a red dress and boots I bought that day), and she exclaimed "muy sexy." I guess they don't have a word for "sexy" in Spanish lol.

Going out in Valladolid for the first time was fun! We started at this bar called "La Biblioteca," which is funny because San Luis Obispo has a bar called "The Library" downtown. We spent the rest of the night bar hopping and dancing, and making sure Laurel had a memorable birthday. Then again, we are in Spain - who could complain about that?