Casa Nueva!

So I am sitting in my new house and I love it! There is furniture everywhere! And I feel very comfortable here, especially compared to my previous living situation. My new house mom is so nice and cooks really good food! The apartment is big and has lots of rooms and places to sit. My room even has a TV in it! Oh, and we have a cat! Her name is chicatica and she is a very large cat but very sweet and nice. I am so much happier here and I am glad I switched houses. It is definitely worth it. I don’t think we have internet here, but I can pick up a lot of wireless networks, but they all have passwords! Maybe I will get lucky and guess correctly one day! Espero que si! However, even if I don’t have it, this is still a much better place than before and it is closer to the school and town. I love it here! This makes my experience so much better and I am very happy.

Belly Dancing!

Those of you who know me know that I have taken a lot of dance classes throughout my life. I have taken ballet, jazz, tap, modern, pilates, yoga, etc. But these classes have all been taught in English. Now imagine taking a dance class in another language and add in the fact that it is a belly dancing class! That was our group yesterday.

I was a little timid to take this belly dancing class, but figured, why not take it? When else would I have the opportunity to not only learn how to belly dance, but also take a dance class in Spanish? It ended up being a great experience and a fun distraction from the loads of homework I knew I had to finish.

Our teacher was great and full of energy. Each one of us was given a skirt with beads on it ”so that we could feel our hips and bottoms moving.” That set the tone for the rest of the class. Belly dancing is a surprisingly good work out – I was definitely a little sore the next day. A lot of what our teacher said I didn’t completely understand, but could watch her movements in order to know what to do. We learned a few different movements and steps that I was not good at, but it was still fun to laugh at each other…no one really knew what they were doing. Hopefully we will be able to take some more classes and get better!

I am about to move to a new house - wish me luck!

CHEESE

It still amazes me at how much the little things become big things here. For example, any time I would want to buy cheese in the United States, I could do it, with relative ease. However, here in Spain, it becomes a much bigger task in my mind.

Every time I walk home from school, I see a store that sells cheese and ham and other little things. And every time I pass it, I think, “I really want some cheese.” Well, this past weekend, we went to Valencia, but before leaving, I thought, hmm if I bought some cheese and Kerry bought some bread, then we could make sandwiches for the weekend. There are a lot more things to consider when buying cheese than I realized. For example, they don’t use pounds here, what was I supposed to say? I want a little bit of cheese? After calling our director, Kit Brown, I learned that I could say I want a ¼ kilo de queso para hacer bocadillos. I walked up to the store, took a deep breath and walked inside. Whew, made it past step one. But then, what kind of cheese do I need? Should I buy ham too? I decide to just look things over, observe other customers and take my time in making my decision.

After watching 2 customers order, I decide that it is cured cheese that I want because I have had that before and know that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated- perfect for a weekend trip. So I smile at the man behind the counter and place my order. He was so nice and patient and helped me through the process and even sliced my cheese into little triangles. SUCCESS!

That little task made me so excited. It’s funny to think that cheese could make me so happy. That was the best cheese I think I have ever tasted.

Homework for ML 250 - Traveling

I had a different paragraph already written for this assignment before I left for Valencia, but now that I am back from that trip, I realized I need to write a new one.

The first weekend trip I took was great most of the time, but there are definitely some things I learned from it. First, and most important, keep in mind the number of people travelling with you. This was the first trip we took, and there were 13 of us. This was a nightmare. A couple of us decided that we wanted to go to Granada. Great. Except then everyone else decided they wanted to go to Granada too. At first, this seemed like a great way to get to know everyone so I said sure, whoever wants to go to Granada, make these travel arrangements and come! We all booked separate bus tickets, and I made one big hostel booking. So far, so good. Then it came to the actual weekend traveling and I never realized how stressful it could be to watch out for 12 other people and yourself. None of us had taken a bus before so we all learned that together which was good, but very frustrating. Once we got to the hostel and got settled, everything was much better. But the moral to this story is travel in smaller groups – I would say 6 or 7 or less is ideal. I learned my lesson and next weekend only 7 of us traveled together, which was much better as far as numbers go.

So far I have been two places in Spain – Granada and Valencia. I loved both of them, but Granada was definitely my favorite by far. You just can’t beat La Alhambra. If you have a chance, don’t miss it. Anyway, to get to both of these places, I took buses. You almost always have to go to Madrid before going anywhere else. There are buses that go from Madrid to Toledo every half hour and they cost 4.68 euros and it takes about an hour to get there. There is also the high speed train – AVE – which is more expensive (about 8 or 9 euros), but gets you there in half the time. I have not taken the AVE yet because it doesn’t seem worth it to me. The bus works fine and is easy to connect to other buses. To book buses, consider booking them as early as possible because sometimes prices change. We used the company, ALSA to book our buses online – just make sure you are going to where you think you are going. We made the mistake of booking Madrid-Valencia Don Juan, which apparently is not the same as Madrid-Valencia. We ended up having to buy completely new tickets when we got to the bus station…ugh!

The other thing I have learned from traveling is that it is crucial to have some sort of guidebook. I didn’t really think this would be necessary, but mine has been the most useful thing I have brought. I have the Rick Steve’s 2008 edition, which works just fine. He gives up to date information and helps you plan your time in each city. I don’t have any experience with other guidebooks, but I am sure there are other good ones out there.

Other things to consider-
-Pack light, you will have to carry your luggage with you everywhere…sometimes for longer than you would like.
-Any hostel that is over 20 euros is probably not worth it
-Bring things that you can share – like one person bring shampoo, one hair dryer, etc.

The World is SO Small

Friday night, I had the coolest moment of my life.

We spent the weekend in Valencia – a very modern, but old, pretty city. On Friday night, we did a pub crawl that a couple of the hostels participate in – it was a great deal and a good way to meet a lot of different people. We paid 10 euros and got whisked away to 3 different bars where we got free and discounted drinks at each one and free entry to a discoteca. The total group was about 50 people, I think. Some of the people on the tour were students from the University of Florida! Instantly I thought of the Lovells and Allyson! This was seriously amazing and I swear I am not making this up. I start asking around to see if there are any connections to Allyson. I don’t really get anywhere until we start talking Greek. I remembered that Allyson’s boyfriend is a SigEp and I know that she is a KD. Everyone says they love the KDs but no one in their group is in it. So I go to plan B, SigEp. I find out that one of the guys from UF is a SigEp…jackpot! I go over to talk to this guy, Jesse was his name, and sure enough he knows Alex (Allyson’s boyfriend)! How incredible is that? I was so excited at the time – the world is so small. I am still amazed that this happened. WOW.

Other than that strange, exciting moment, Valencia was fairly calm. Besides all of our travel mishaps, it was a really great, relaxing weekend. It felt like we were in Florida on some kind of break. The weather was amazing and the city was beautiful. It seems like a very young, hip town. We met a lot of people from all over the world. The hostel we stayed in was perfect – about 11 euros a night and we had our own bathroom. It’s the best deal I have experienced thus far. We saw the beach on our last day there – the water was cold and it was incredibly windy, but it was so much fun to be at a beach in January! Overall, it was a great weekend.

Obamanation

I meant to write this post earlier, but here it is anyway…

It was very interesting to watch a presidential inauguration in another country. As a group, we had an activity planned at the time of the live inauguration, but that got cancelled because of it. We were allowed to go to school to watch it live all together. Before we started watching, a Spanish radio personality interviewed some of us about what we thought about Obama and what we thought was going to happen. A lot of the questions focused around the economy, Guantanamo and the current conflicts in Palestine. It is incredible to think that the United States has such a big role and influence in other countries.

We watched the Inauguration on a Spanish news station and were hoping that at least Obama’s speech would still be in English, with Spanish subtitles. However, this was not the case. It was very frustrating to watch. The speech started strong as just Obama, but then Obama’s voice slowly got softer and a Spanish voice over was all we could hear. Thank God for CNN. We caught the live version on cnn.com. Although it was a very frustrating moment, it also put things into perspective. It was inspiring to know that this speech meant so much to so many more people than I ever realized.

A lot of people that I have talked to are very excited for Obama and think that he is going to change everything and make it all better. The news stations replayed his speech over and over again the rest of the day. It seems like everyone was just fed up with Bush and now is ready for something new.

I think it is also amazing how much people from other countries know about the United States and our politics. People know so much more than I do (and I thought I knew more than the average American…) I feel very ignorant and dumb almost every time I have a political conversation with someone from another country. Each day I have been here I broaden my perspective of the U.S. There are some positives and some negatives. Don’t take that the wrong way, I still love living where I do and would not want to necessarily spend the rest of my life in Europe, I just wish Americans could be more conscious and less selfish. It’s something to improve on and hopefully change in the future.

...of my life

This post is titled “…of my life” because a lot of things that have happened to me recently have ended in this phrase. Some have been better than others and some more significant than others, but all have been learning experiences.

1. The coldest shower of my life: Last night I took a shower that was so cold, the only thing I could stand to do was wash my hair. It was so cold I almost started hyperventilating because I felt like I could breath. That is one thing that I still have not gotten used to – I like my long, warm showers in the U.S.
What I learned from this: Breath more, even if it is cold

2. Saw the coolest place: My last post about La Alhambra holds true – simply amazing.
What I learned: Travel to places you want to see because there could be cooler places out there

3. Ate rabbit for the first time in my life: Yesterday for lunch we had a piece of meat that resembled chicken, but did not really taste like chicken. When I asked what it was, Isabel said, “conejo.” My mind immediately went to 7th grade Spanish class when we learned about animals and pets. I frantically searched for what type of animal it was and it hit me: rabbit, bunny. AH! I just ate a bunny! But it was good…so it didn’t really bother me except that I kept thinking I was eating someone’s pet.
What I learned: Try things before you ask what they are. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it if I had known ahead of time that I was eating “ears” the bunny.

4. Scariest bus ride of my life: I have gotten accustomed to taking the bus, it’s not my favorite thing to do, but it is basically my only option. Anyway, this morning I caught the bus a little bit earlier than usual – around 8am instead of 8:15am. I could see that the bus was full, but that is normal for the morning. However, I didn’t realize just how packed it was. I stepped on the bus fully prepared with my card (I am a professional at scanning it now), I scanned it, laughed at Rihanna blasting through the speakers, and attempted to make my way to the back. This was not possible. All I could see were faces and bodies in every possible spot to stand or sit on the bus. A man was blocking the aisle way, followed by more and more people. I had no where to go but stand at the front, right next to the driver. He told me to move a little, so I turned and hit someone with my backpack. The drive to the plaza is hard enough to stay still, let alone in the front of the bus with nothing to hold on to and people pushing every time the bus moves.
What I learned: Take a different bus

Granada y La Alhombra

When I first arrived in Granada, it seemed like a very dirty city. However, once I got to the hostel, everything changed. The hostel was in a perfect location – close to major plazas in the city and close to the Alhombra. Granada is a beautiful city and very different from Toledo. It is much bigger and seems a little more modern.

The reason most people visit Granada is to see the Alhombra. I now know why this is the case. On any given day, only a certain amount of people are admitted to the Alhombra, and in strict time slots. Most of these people have reservations in advance. Our group did not make reservations, figuring that we could possibly get them from our hotel or walk in since it is the off season for tourists. However, we soon learned from our nice hostel check in that we would not be able to simply walk in. He informed us that we should go early around 7 or 7:30am to stand in line to ensure that we could get a time slot for the day. Turns out he was right and I am so glad I got up at 7 to go stand in line. It was well worth the time in line and the 12 euros to get in. Our time slot was for 2pm later that day, so we went back to bed for a little bit to prepare for the long day of walking ahead. I did not really know what to expect before going which made it even more exciting.

Words and pictures cannot begin to describe how I felt at the Alhombra. This place, which is most famous for its Moorish palace, is incredible. There is also a fort, gardens and the palace of King Charles the 5th within the grounds. If you ever have a chance to see it, you should never pass it up. The palace is famous for its use of water and its many detailed tiles and ceilings. I took 300 pictures total while at the Alhombra. Everything was so amazing - I couldn’t help but take that many pictures. I could not have asked for a more perfect day either – the weather was gorgeous – blue skies and sunny. I even took my coat off for a little bit. I think this place is the best place I have ever been to in my life. It was so relaxing to just walk around and experience everything. The entire complex was so beautiful. Again, I don’t know how to explain it in words…it was truly an unforgettable experience.

This weekend trip was a great way to start my trip in Spain. I did not experience any setbacks or obstacles and everything went smoothly. I hope all other travels are this memorable. I will try to figure out how to post pictures on this blog. If not, they will definitely be on facebook soon. Love you all.

Ya esta Deborah!

Some of you may have heard of a mysterious woman named Deborah who I thought was coming to live with us. Turns out I was right. She arrived late Tuesday night and is staying in our living room. This is a little awkward…especially in the mornings when I have to get up early and she is still sleeping where I am eating breakfast. However, she seems very nice, but I can barely understand her. She talks really really really fast and has a different accent than other people I have heard. Deborah became an ongoing joke in the group since I knew so little about her and didn’t really understand if she was coming to stay with us or just to visit. However the mystery is solved, but I still do not know how long she will be here…hopefully long enough so that I can begin to understand her.

In other news, we have had two tours since I last wrote – both of which were in Toledo. They were both very interesting, but very cold. One focused on the River Tajo, which surrounds the city on three sides and is one of the major reasons people came to settle in Toledo. The other tour focused on the three religious groups that have defined the city – the Muslims, Jews and Christians. Throughout the city you can see the influence of all three groups based on the architecture styles of the cathedrals/churches. The city has such a complex past, but most of it can still be seen through its buildings. Like I said before, they are always restore old buildings, but hardly ever building new ones.

This weekend we have planned a trip to Granada! I am very excited about this trip and to be able to explore another city. Granada is south of Toledo and is best known for the Alhombra, which is an intricate palace. I will update on that experience later – wish me luck!

Things I am so glad I brought:
Ugg Boots – as unstylish as they are here, they keep my feet warm on the long rutas (tours)
Hand Sanitizer – thanks to Grandma who put some in my Christmas presents! This has come in very handy in a variety of situations – mostly on when riding public transportation or after petting cats.
My long puffy black jacket – this jacket has kept me warm many a day in the city and is also very “in” here – everyone has a long jacket
Medicine from home – the pharmacies here are a little confusing and benedryl has helped me sleep
Scarves – I just change them out daily and have a new outfit!
Pictures – enough said

Things I wish I had brought:
The playing cards Grandma gave me – when packing I was worried that cards would take up too much space so I left them at home thinking I could buy some here if necessary. However, there is no general store here which sells these sorts of things and with no internet, cards are good to have
Febreeze – My clothes always smell like smoke – gross!

Restore

The visit to Madrid made me realize a few things: I love European cities, the United States is very young and if you sit down in a café you must order something.

When we first arrived to Madrid we all went to a little café for a “little treat” which was nice for those of us who had been up since 7am and still adjusting to the time. We left the café headed for the Prado. This was probably my favorite part and I wish I could have had more time there – definitely going to make a trip back there while I am here. It was so cool to see the actual paintings of things that I had only seen in textbooks. Everything was a lot bigger than I expected. It’s amazing to think about how much time these paintings must have taken and everything that went into producing them – the canvas, paints, brushes, wow.

Then we had about an hour and a half to explore and have lunch. The streets were packed with people. I’ve never been to NYC, but I would imagine it would be similar there.

Then came the walking tour of Madrid with a very nice woman who spoke slowly and I think I understood most of what she said. It was great to learn about the history behind some buildings. The city is so old and has such a different past than the U.S. I noticed while walking around, Spain never seems to be destroying buildings to build new ones; they just restore old buildings to make them new. I love this concept. It makes sense to me and I wish we had more of that back home. I took a lot of pictures of the city so look for those soon on Facebook and hopefully some on here too.

We ended the visit at another café. Some people wanted café con leche or water or whatever and some people just wanted somewhere warm to wait for the bus. Me, being practical decided that I did not need a café con leche, but only a place to sit and be warm. Apparently that is not ok. When asked what I wanted by the owner, I simply replied ‘nada’ and took a seat with friends. The man was very annoyed with the few of us who chose not to order anything and hinted that we needed to order something or leave. This concept is very strange to me especially since there were few other people in the café and no one else came in after us so we were not taking anyone’s seat. In the end, I opted to stay and order instead of wait 45 minutes in the cold for the bus. Oh well, guess I learned something.

Last night was really fun. Almost everyone in our group met at a bar called O’Briens which is like an Irish Pub and there were some other Americans there… It was good to interact with everyone outside of a school situation. Everyone seems to get along which is great!

We learned a new way to say cheers in Spain - you say arriba and put your glass up, abajo and put your glass down, al centro, put your glass to the middle, al dentro and drink! We did it a lot last night which was fun!

Today, Adrienne and I walked around some more and figured out that we can walk to town instead of taking a bus but it probably takes about 15 minutes to get to the Plaza then another 10 minutes to school...So I don't know if we will do that very often, but it was good to know that it is possible! I am at school now and have a lot to do - about 40 pages of Spanish theater to read and analyze. Should be a little difficult, but will be good.

Madrid manana! More to come later :)

CLASES!!!

Hola! Today was our first real day of class, but I only had one - Spanish fiction and literature. It seems very interesting and a lot of what we are learning I have done already. I am starting to get more comfortable in the city, but the streets are still very confusing! It seriously makes no sense when walking around. I bought a phone yesterday which made me feel a lot better at least now if I get lost I can call someone!

Tomorrow we have the day off so I think I am going to explore the city some more and around my house. My host mom is starting to warm up to me and we are starting to get into a routine. I feel a lot better about everything.

There are a lot of things here that are very similar to the U.S. but there are also a lot of different things.

SAME
-Music - Most of the music I have heard here is from the U.S. - like the Fray, James Blunt, Sheryl Crow, Beyonce, etc.
-Some stores - There is a McDonald's in the main plaza...a little controversial, but helpful for their free wi-fi

DIFFERENT
-Smoking courtesy - Everyone smokes everywhere and doesn't care if you don't smoke. Everything I have smells like smoke.
-The streets - There are very small and most of them are brick. If you don't get up to the side of the walls when there are cars coming, they will hit you and they won't feel bad about it according to Adrienne's host dad.
-The cars - are all small and people drive very crazy

So there is a start to the list - more to come soon. Tomorrow should be an adventure. Wish me luck!

Love and miss everyone! Keep me updated on your lives :)

BESOS

CK = Confused Kate

HOLA! So it is day 3 in Toledo and I am finally starting to understand some more things. The first days were pretty rough - I cannot understand my host mom very well because she speaks with an accent and mumbles a lot...but I just smile and nod and pretend I know what she is talking about. It is usually very awkward to talk to her, but we are both making an effort.

We live in a small 2 bedroom apartment that has one living room and one bathroom and a kitchen. The apartment is a little odd because there is no furniture in it...the living room is the first room that you walk into and it is the largest area but it only has a small table and two chairs and a bookcase. The walls are all white and have very few decorations on them - there is a poster of a cat licking a dog that I think has some kind of Bible passage written on it. She prays and blesses her food before every meal, but doesn't seem to mind that I do not bless my food. There is large window in this room which lets in a lot of light and has a good view of a clock tower.

My bedroom is pretty basic - just a twin bed (which is way too short for me), a closet and a desk. It is small, but ok.

Yesterday, we spent the day walking around the city - got a little lost but found our way back. The city is so beautiful - I feel like I'm walking around a movie set. Pictures to come soon on facebook - there are a lot!

We had orientation today and I am even more confused, but it seems like everyone else is too. My classes will be hard, but I think it will be for the best.

Ok, I have limited time with the internet so I will write again tomorrow! I hope you all are doing well...miss everyone! BESOS

Spain stays up late

So I have been here for two nights so far and already can tell that Spain likes to party. People stay out at the bars and discotecas until at least 3 am and some as late as 6 am. I am beginning to understand their rationale behind a mid day siesta. When we go out, a lot of people speak English, but we try to use our Spanish (but are often unsuccessful...). Going out for "tapas" (like little appetizers) and a drink is really fun. People will just go from bar to bar having a little food and one drink. It's all very social. The food is good - most everything is all natural.

So the first night we went out was very fun - we met lots of people and tried several different bars. I think we went all over Madrid that night - we seriously walked forever. When we were ready to go home it was about 3am and we had no idea where we were. It took us about an hour to finally get home. That was quite an adventure. Whew.

Today we are going out to walk around and see more of the city. Katie told us about a street that is like 5th avenue that we have to see. So I think we will do that and then grab some lunch. Tomorrow we have to be at the airport at 9:30 am so we are passing on the night scene tonight. The next time I write, I will probably be in Toledo! BESOS!!!

I MADE IT!!!

So after two uneventful flights...and one crazy adventure getting to the hostel...I made it to Madrid! A taxi from the airport to our hostel would have cost about 30 euros so we opted to go the cheaper route - public transportation. A great idea in theory, but add 4 clueless Americans and all their luggage and it is a disaster. The entire journey from airport to hostel took about 2 and a half hours when it was supposed to take about half an hour. The whole experience in the end was worth it - we learned about the metro system and how it is connected with the city. With the help of many kind pedestrians, we some how managed to get everything and everyone in one piece to the hostel. 

A quick siesta and I am ready to explore! More to come on the grand adventure! Love and miss everyone