It's Tuesday night and that means my week is halfway over! Woohoo :) Less than 48 hours til Thursday Ice Cream.
Everything's been going well.
I feel like I have been stuffing myself lately though! It's a combination of the food being so good, and finally being comfortable to think about having seconds, and also I feel bad denying Carmen when she tries to put seconds on my plate. They keep leftovers but sometimes she dishes things up for us right away and it's like, ugh come on I can't eat all this!
Megan asked for a couple bars we could go to to speak Spanish to people and meet people who aren't American or English speaking. No time to do that this weekend though!
I did almost all of my homework for tomorrow and Thursday. I am going to try to finish my literature paper tonight so tomorrow I am stress free!
I'll let you know how that goes.
Other than that, nothing exciting going on! Oh, but it is supposed to rain and be windy starting tomorrow :( And our senora just said today that the next sunny weekend will spring the growth of the orange blossoms! Darn.
Hasta luego!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
You might enjoy knowing
1. I prefer America's teeth cleaning. My gums are scabbed and bled again when I brushed my teeth tonight because of that metal drill thing the lady "cleaned" my teeth with. Ow :(
2. Red Pants Man got a new outfit this week! He now has jeans and a red coat. Red Coat Man.
3. Megan and I both got Valentine's Day packages today and we are very happy to eat chocolate and American snacks. We are buying Carmen a Valentine's gift for Sunday, also. She has had about 50 students stay at her house since she started hosting in 2001!! We hope we stick out. :)
4. We are also addicted to this spy show that is on TV Monday nights here. We watch it with our senora and it's just a grand old time.
5. Carnaval is Saturday! It is a party for the body.. Carnaval. It was outlawed during Franco's dictatorship to "protect the people." Seems like he did a lot to "protect" his people.
Time for bed! Hasta manana!
2. Red Pants Man got a new outfit this week! He now has jeans and a red coat. Red Coat Man.
3. Megan and I both got Valentine's Day packages today and we are very happy to eat chocolate and American snacks. We are buying Carmen a Valentine's gift for Sunday, also. She has had about 50 students stay at her house since she started hosting in 2001!! We hope we stick out. :)
4. We are also addicted to this spy show that is on TV Monday nights here. We watch it with our senora and it's just a grand old time.
5. Carnaval is Saturday! It is a party for the body.. Carnaval. It was outlawed during Franco's dictatorship to "protect the people." Seems like he did a lot to "protect" his people.
Time for bed! Hasta manana!
The park next door..
...is great for exercising in! Today I decided it was time for some physical activity that wasn't just walking to school and back. I walked across the street to the park and ran there for a little while. They had lots of benches and just cement block type of things so I was able to do tricep dips, lunges, step-up block things, etc. It was actually kind of fun thinking of what I could do to utilize the things I had. Let's see if it continues being fun...
My legs are really killing me today though, so I am just thrilled to see how they are tomorrow. I did lots of lunges Saturday that made me sore and showed me how out of shape I was. I'd like to build up a little work out routine to do atleast 2 or 3 times a week. I'm not too concerned since we are walking a ton but I don't want to have to have a gigantic wake-up call the next time I try to do something physical.
It is really convenient that the park is right next door to our apartment. Other people were there walking/ jogging around so I didn't feel like a weirdo. I was the only one doing calisthenics but I didn't mind. And thanks to my new iPod arm band I could do all of these activities without having to worry about what I was doing with my iPod! :)
PS- Guess I picked a good day to do a workout because I got Alan's package today! His camera works just great and I am very happy to have one that works! What I might be more happy about are the Valentine's Day treats in there ;). I think I already ate half a can of Pringles. Whoops. Ohh, how I love care packages!
My legs are really killing me today though, so I am just thrilled to see how they are tomorrow. I did lots of lunges Saturday that made me sore and showed me how out of shape I was. I'd like to build up a little work out routine to do atleast 2 or 3 times a week. I'm not too concerned since we are walking a ton but I don't want to have to have a gigantic wake-up call the next time I try to do something physical.
It is really convenient that the park is right next door to our apartment. Other people were there walking/ jogging around so I didn't feel like a weirdo. I was the only one doing calisthenics but I didn't mind. And thanks to my new iPod arm band I could do all of these activities without having to worry about what I was doing with my iPod! :)
PS- Guess I picked a good day to do a workout because I got Alan's package today! His camera works just great and I am very happy to have one that works! What I might be more happy about are the Valentine's Day treats in there ;). I think I already ate half a can of Pringles. Whoops. Ohh, how I love care packages!
Wisdom Teeth
Well, I had my dentist appointment today at 12:20. Carmen picked me up at 12 after my class and we went to the dentist's office. It was very nice of her to take me there and go with me for moral support/ another person telling me what was going on.
First someone cleaned my teeth (I wasn't expecting that). She like sanded my teeth right away which was somewhat frightening. The only time I've had that before was when I was getting a cavity filled. It bothers me when I can see tooth dust flying around me.
ThenI did that little x-ray thing where you bite the plastic and they scan your teeth.
Here's the odd part, when I went into the other room to look at the x-rays and talk to the doctor, he said my wisdom teeth looked completely normal (and they really did! Not like before where they looked tilted towards the other teeth.) He said I have a small mouth and big teeth, so it's more of a spacing issue. They could give me a retainer for top and bottom teeth for 216 Euro (roughly $300 I think) to spread them out. I am not sure how much a retainer is at home.
The doctor said if I decided I wante them, I could obviously take the retainers home with me and then have my dentist re-fit them or something if I needed to later on. He said to wait another year or so and get an x-ray again and see if my teeth changed any more, and that some people wait 15 or 30 years until their teeth start bothering them to get their wisdom teeth out! Sounds good to me, ha.
That's all for now!
First someone cleaned my teeth (I wasn't expecting that). She like sanded my teeth right away which was somewhat frightening. The only time I've had that before was when I was getting a cavity filled. It bothers me when I can see tooth dust flying around me.
ThenI did that little x-ray thing where you bite the plastic and they scan your teeth.
Here's the odd part, when I went into the other room to look at the x-rays and talk to the doctor, he said my wisdom teeth looked completely normal (and they really did! Not like before where they looked tilted towards the other teeth.) He said I have a small mouth and big teeth, so it's more of a spacing issue. They could give me a retainer for top and bottom teeth for 216 Euro (roughly $300 I think) to spread them out. I am not sure how much a retainer is at home.
The doctor said if I decided I wante them, I could obviously take the retainers home with me and then have my dentist re-fit them or something if I needed to later on. He said to wait another year or so and get an x-ray again and see if my teeth changed any more, and that some people wait 15 or 30 years until their teeth start bothering them to get their wisdom teeth out! Sounds good to me, ha.
That's all for now!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
La Carboneria
Last night Megan, Kevin and I ventured out to the famous La Carboneria for a night of flamenco shows and fun, and boy was it fun.
We are sure that this place is a mystical little location because we had to walk around and around the little streets of Barrio Santa Cruz before finally coming to Calle Levies. Once we found the place we thought was right (we had to follow some people, all heading down the same deserted road into a building) the place didn't even have a sign on it. So, naturally, we asked the friendly smokers outside the door "Que es esto?" and he proudly answered "La - Carboneria."
So we walk inside and it's unlike any place I've been to thus far. There are little fire pits in corners and fire places on the wall to warm the place up. Then we walked into the next room, which was a lot bigger and more open but packed with people. There was a bar on the left side of the wall, a stage on the front wall, and tables filling up the rest of the place. The ceiling had rows of wood that hung potted plants. Nightly flamenco shows start at 11. We got there more at 11:15 so the place was jam packed and we didn't get to see a whole lot of the main event, but they'd take breaks and then continue a singing/ clapping act with the occasional dancing. We each got a drink to enjoy the shows.
After the shows were over the place cleared out a lot and we were able to get a table to enjoy our (drum roll please): Agua de Sevilla. Oh yes, the famous La Carboneria drink. 
One website claims "Your night will end as quickly as it started if you aren't careful."
One website claims "Your night will end as quickly as it started if you aren't careful." A pitcher of this beautiful mix: pineapple juice, cava (a Spanish sparkling wine/ champagne), whiskey, and triple sec topped with loads of whipped cream to take the edge off is 20 Euro. The table next to us split a pitcher between 6 people. We're from Bonas, keep in mind, so we split a pitcher between the three of us.
Let's just say that website knew what it was talking about.
A couple hours, a couple people hitting on us (I actually had a man go through his woman friend to ask me for my number. People amaze me. Not that I would have given it out anyway but you'd think maybe striking up a conversation and then asking for a number is more plausible? Or maybe creepy stares from across the bar has worked for him before?) a couple chats with Texas students studying here (they're on the same bus to Carnival!), and a couple more cervezas/ tinto de veranos later, we were ready to leave the bar.
Oh yeah, I talked the bartender into letting us take a picture by the board!
It took a while for us to find our way out of the mystical land that is La Carboneria's neighborhood (no streets are parallel and there is no sort of order among them). We finally found our way to someplace we were familliar with and then proceeded to walk home.
A fine night was has by all.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
February 6
Megan and I got female pharoah costumes for Carnival. Very funny. It was nice of our senora to take us!
The point of this post though was to tell you all that Megan and I just tanned on the roof of our apartment :). On February 6th. It's atleast 70 degrees here. I can't tell you how happy I was to lay out in the sun for a little while.
It's lunch time now so we are going to eat and hopefully go back up on the roof and do homework for the afternoon!
The point of this post though was to tell you all that Megan and I just tanned on the roof of our apartment :). On February 6th. It's atleast 70 degrees here. I can't tell you how happy I was to lay out in the sun for a little while.
It's lunch time now so we are going to eat and hopefully go back up on the roof and do homework for the afternoon!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Feb. 4-5
Hello all--
Last night after dinner Megan and I met Gina and her roommate Shannon for a glass of wine at a bar around our neighborhood. Two kids from our school Brooke and Chris were at the same place playing chess so after their game was over they sat with us for a little bit before the place closed around 12.
Then we walked over to Lazaga, a cafe bar on the corner of Felipe II where lots of ICS students hang out, to meet Kevin and Andrew. We sat there for a while with the group.
While we were sitting there this homeless man came over to ask us for money and just kinda stood there for a minute begging. Then he proceeded to walk inside the bar and ask people for money. This sort of behavior shocks me. Do you know how angry American shop owners get mad when people do that kinda thing?! These Spaniards do not seem to make any effort to stop it.
I don't know if I have written about the homeless man before, but I will now. Megan and I call him Red Pants Man because he wears red pants every day. (Surprisingly there is actually another homeless man who hangs around the same area and wears red pants so looks like I need to find a new name. Scared the heck out of me when I thought I passed Red Pants Man and then 3 stores later saw him again.)
So anyways he wears red pants and has these really, really bright blue eyes that are just scary. He stares Megan and I down as we walk from our apartment to class multiple times a day and smiles slightly as we approach. One time he walked towards us and behind a tree on the street as we passed. SO weird. One day when we had to walk separately to class we carried our umbrellas even though it wasn't raining so we could whack him with it if we needed to. This was before my mom send whistles :). Also this man lives inside the bank lobby. I do not understand it, but he does. At night here is a cardboard box with an umbrella over the top of it inside the little section in front of the ATM. And the bank allows it. I continue to be flabbergasted.
So yes that is Red Pants Man and he never bothered our friends at Lazaga before but did last night when Megan and I were there. Peculiar.
After Lazaga we walked to this bar Essencia where Hayley and Daraugh got jobs bartending Wednesday and Thursday nights. It was a pretty cool place. It had Victorian looking mirrors and wallpaper but with purple and green colored lights on the ceilings and walls.
After that we went to the famous Buddha del Mar, or Buddha Bar. It is a pretty awesome place. It is three stories, and each floor has a different music theme playing. The first floor is really chill with relaxing music and people smoking hookahs and stuff. The second floor turns into Latin/Hip-Hop kinda stuff, and the third floor is pretty much U.S. pop music. All floors have an Indian/ African decor theme and the same kinda purple and green lights. The top floor was sweltering hot. It had rained earlier in the night so Megan and I were carrying umbrellas and Kevin was wearing a rain coat. We didn't want to put them down and we weren't quite in the club mood so we headed out around 3:30. I was glad to finally go there, though, and hopefully we'll go back soon.
I was so happy to go to bed when we got home and didn't want to get up at 10 a.m. for our city visit but did. We went to Archeological Museum today in the Parque Maria Luisa. There were tons of Roman scuptures and stuff. So many different groups of people were in Spain/ Sevilla so they had lots of different artifacts. It was all really impressive.
The second part of the exhibition was short and sweet. It was the Treasure of Carambolo. From what I understand, the treasure was on a Spanish ship years and years ago and it sunk and no one could find it. Finally in the late 1950s Americans found it and wanted to keep it but it belonged to Spain. It actually belonged to the King of Tartessus, an old city filled with gold and riches. The city was so rich that some people actually thought maybe it never existed. Tartessus in the Bible and also Greek mythology.
The coolest part was that the real gold was actually in the museum! Not a replication! They are taking the real stuff out of the museum on Feb. 28 so I was excited I got to see it.
Last night after dinner Megan and I met Gina and her roommate Shannon for a glass of wine at a bar around our neighborhood. Two kids from our school Brooke and Chris were at the same place playing chess so after their game was over they sat with us for a little bit before the place closed around 12.
Then we walked over to Lazaga, a cafe bar on the corner of Felipe II where lots of ICS students hang out, to meet Kevin and Andrew. We sat there for a while with the group.
While we were sitting there this homeless man came over to ask us for money and just kinda stood there for a minute begging. Then he proceeded to walk inside the bar and ask people for money. This sort of behavior shocks me. Do you know how angry American shop owners get mad when people do that kinda thing?! These Spaniards do not seem to make any effort to stop it.
I don't know if I have written about the homeless man before, but I will now. Megan and I call him Red Pants Man because he wears red pants every day. (Surprisingly there is actually another homeless man who hangs around the same area and wears red pants so looks like I need to find a new name. Scared the heck out of me when I thought I passed Red Pants Man and then 3 stores later saw him again.)
So anyways he wears red pants and has these really, really bright blue eyes that are just scary. He stares Megan and I down as we walk from our apartment to class multiple times a day and smiles slightly as we approach. One time he walked towards us and behind a tree on the street as we passed. SO weird. One day when we had to walk separately to class we carried our umbrellas even though it wasn't raining so we could whack him with it if we needed to. This was before my mom send whistles :). Also this man lives inside the bank lobby. I do not understand it, but he does. At night here is a cardboard box with an umbrella over the top of it inside the little section in front of the ATM. And the bank allows it. I continue to be flabbergasted.
So yes that is Red Pants Man and he never bothered our friends at Lazaga before but did last night when Megan and I were there. Peculiar.
After Lazaga we walked to this bar Essencia where Hayley and Daraugh got jobs bartending Wednesday and Thursday nights. It was a pretty cool place. It had Victorian looking mirrors and wallpaper but with purple and green colored lights on the ceilings and walls.
After that we went to the famous Buddha del Mar, or Buddha Bar. It is a pretty awesome place. It is three stories, and each floor has a different music theme playing. The first floor is really chill with relaxing music and people smoking hookahs and stuff. The second floor turns into Latin/Hip-Hop kinda stuff, and the third floor is pretty much U.S. pop music. All floors have an Indian/ African decor theme and the same kinda purple and green lights. The top floor was sweltering hot. It had rained earlier in the night so Megan and I were carrying umbrellas and Kevin was wearing a rain coat. We didn't want to put them down and we weren't quite in the club mood so we headed out around 3:30. I was glad to finally go there, though, and hopefully we'll go back soon.
I was so happy to go to bed when we got home and didn't want to get up at 10 a.m. for our city visit but did. We went to Archeological Museum today in the Parque Maria Luisa. There were tons of Roman scuptures and stuff. So many different groups of people were in Spain/ Sevilla so they had lots of different artifacts. It was all really impressive.
The second part of the exhibition was short and sweet. It was the Treasure of Carambolo. From what I understand, the treasure was on a Spanish ship years and years ago and it sunk and no one could find it. Finally in the late 1950s Americans found it and wanted to keep it but it belonged to Spain. It actually belonged to the King of Tartessus, an old city filled with gold and riches. The city was so rich that some people actually thought maybe it never existed. Tartessus in the Bible and also Greek mythology.
The coolest part was that the real gold was actually in the museum! Not a replication! They are taking the real stuff out of the museum on Feb. 28 so I was excited I got to see it.
This is what it looked like. We weren't allowed to take pictures (..not that I could have anyways..) but it was kind of nice to just walk around and not have the pressure of taking a perfect picture of everything.
After the museum we came home and had paella for lunch! It had chicken, snap green beans, these super-size cannelini beans, and lots and lots of rice. Very yummy.
Later we went to the We Love Spain office on Calle Sierpes and booked our trips to Carnival at Cadiz and Morocco Fantasy Weekend! I am so excited. I will give more information on both of them later.
Carnival is only a week away! It is supposedly huger than the Mardi Gras party at New Orleans. Everyone wears costumes and things. Carmen said that she can take us shopping tomorrow to look for costumes! We think we might be Greek goddesses or something and wear togas and headband things. Seems simple enough. I get the feeling that people dress up more as traditional things like gyspies, knights, jesters... Not like Michael Jackson, which was my Halloween costume this year.
After we booked the trips we got a postre (pastry dessert) at a really cute little pastry bar thing. There were markets that Megan and I went to after that. They were selling mostly scarves, jewelry, handbags, and leather goods. I bought a couple pairs of earrings. I liked them a lot. Actually, I am really looking forward to going back and getting more stuff while I am here. A lot of it seems pretty authentic and handmade.
Still exhausted from the morning, Megan and I came home, ate dinner, and hung out with out senora for the evening. We watched TV and wrote in our journals, etc. February is going to fly by! I am so excited for all the upcoming trips:
Feb. 13 Day- Italica-- pretty much Little Italy for the ancient Romans in Sevilla.
Night- Carnival at Cadiz! Bus leaves at 9 p.m., party all night, and leaves for home at 8 a.m. No hotel, no nothing. Just partying on the beach til the break of dawn!
Feb. 19-20 Overnight trip to Granada
Feb. 27, 28 March 1- Morocco Fantasy Weekend
March 5- Cordoba
And then it is time for midterms! Holy cow. I am very excited for all of this! Today was a successful day.
Hasta manana!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thursday = Friday in Sevilla!
We don't have Friday classes here so I'm about to have my last class of the week- hallelujah! And what better way to celebrate another week abroad than to get helado from a classy cafe/bar we walk past and admire every day? Megan and I scoped out what flavors we wanted yesterday after class so today after class we will be fully prepared to reward ourselves with an ice cream treat. My guess is that we will be charging out the door once 6:30 strikes and dodging bodies on the street to get to our ice cream. But that's just a guess... ;)
Tomorrow we have a city visit to the archaeological museum. Not sure what we are doing tonight. It will probably be short lived though, since we have to be up at a decent hour (ie- before noon) for our city visit.
I have been having dreams about friends and family back home a lot lately! Not bad dreams or anything, but just dreams. My friend Abbie (old hallmate and fellow cheerleader) has shown up atleast 3 times. I am not really homesick or anything but I guess my subconscious is reminding me that I do still miss my friends from home and Bonas. Also I made my team keep me on the e-mail list so I get notifications of hang-outs they're planning or words to a new cheer. I like staying in the loop but it is sad thinking of them doing fun things and me not being there.
I am going to finish my Spanish literature paper now (one page, so it was easy) and e-mail it to the teacher. Then off to finish our school week we go!
Hasta luego!
Oh, PS-- I had "Choco Pillows" for breakfast this morning. Different brand, same great taste.
Tomorrow we have a city visit to the archaeological museum. Not sure what we are doing tonight. It will probably be short lived though, since we have to be up at a decent hour (ie- before noon) for our city visit.
I have been having dreams about friends and family back home a lot lately! Not bad dreams or anything, but just dreams. My friend Abbie (old hallmate and fellow cheerleader) has shown up atleast 3 times. I am not really homesick or anything but I guess my subconscious is reminding me that I do still miss my friends from home and Bonas. Also I made my team keep me on the e-mail list so I get notifications of hang-outs they're planning or words to a new cheer. I like staying in the loop but it is sad thinking of them doing fun things and me not being there.
I am going to finish my Spanish literature paper now (one page, so it was easy) and e-mail it to the teacher. Then off to finish our school week we go!
Hasta luego!
Oh, PS-- I had "Choco Pillows" for breakfast this morning. Different brand, same great taste.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Laptop meltdown in Ireland
When I first dreamed of traveling abroad as a child I knew I wanted to keep a journal of my experiences. As I grew older my 'journal' became electronic, like so many things this day in age. The blog was invented for people like me, so my words and memories would forever be saved in a medium unable to be corrupted or destroyed, because accidents always happen.
Accidents - such as my laptop crashing my second week in Ireland. Yes, I was the victim of a graphics card meltdown that would cost me 450 euro to replace, which roughly translates into $675. At that sum, I and the laptop repair technician at Lapteck agreed I would be better off replacing the laptop itself.
Leaving the store I called my father and gave him the news. My first large purchase while in Ireland wouldn't be a trip or a flight, it would be a new laptop. Using money I left in a U.S. bank account, with authorized access, my father promptly went out and bought me another laptop and sent it express through the U.S. Postal Service. A few hundred dollars later and a $90 shipping fee I recieved my new laptop a little over a week after the original crashed.
Grasping the box like a kid in a candy store I ripped open the box and plugged that sucker in. Drum roll please for annoying electronic curse... my new laptop didn't work.
Giddy with... joy as you can well imagine I packed up both the old and the new laptop into my backpack and walked the 15 minutes to the laptop repair shop. My new best friend the laptop technician took both computers with the promise of a) fixing the brand new one and b) transfering my user directory and all my files from the old laptop to the new one.
Four days later I had my brand new laptop, and it was working! Success! The technician also did all of the work for the cost of scrapping my laptop, which generally customers must pay for in the U.S. He probably will be tearing my old laptop apart for the usable parts I'm sure but I'm on to bigger... ok well smaller, and better things, equipped with a brand electronic friend.
Shout out to the gentlemen who work at Lapteck. They saved me by saving my laptop, which is my life and my connection to family and friends in the U.S.
I have much to catch up on and to blog about now that I have a working laptop. So be sure to expect new posts on all that is going on in Galway soon!
Accidents - such as my laptop crashing my second week in Ireland. Yes, I was the victim of a graphics card meltdown that would cost me 450 euro to replace, which roughly translates into $675. At that sum, I and the laptop repair technician at Lapteck agreed I would be better off replacing the laptop itself.
Leaving the store I called my father and gave him the news. My first large purchase while in Ireland wouldn't be a trip or a flight, it would be a new laptop. Using money I left in a U.S. bank account, with authorized access, my father promptly went out and bought me another laptop and sent it express through the U.S. Postal Service. A few hundred dollars later and a $90 shipping fee I recieved my new laptop a little over a week after the original crashed.
Grasping the box like a kid in a candy store I ripped open the box and plugged that sucker in. Drum roll please for annoying electronic curse... my new laptop didn't work.
Giddy with... joy as you can well imagine I packed up both the old and the new laptop into my backpack and walked the 15 minutes to the laptop repair shop. My new best friend the laptop technician took both computers with the promise of a) fixing the brand new one and b) transfering my user directory and all my files from the old laptop to the new one.
Four days later I had my brand new laptop, and it was working! Success! The technician also did all of the work for the cost of scrapping my laptop, which generally customers must pay for in the U.S. He probably will be tearing my old laptop apart for the usable parts I'm sure but I'm on to bigger... ok well smaller, and better things, equipped with a brand electronic friend.
Shout out to the gentlemen who work at Lapteck. They saved me by saving my laptop, which is my life and my connection to family and friends in the U.S.
I have much to catch up on and to blog about now that I have a working laptop. So be sure to expect new posts on all that is going on in Galway soon!
Differences
There are many different sayings and jesters between cultures. I think they are what make the country what it is. I have tried to pick up some new saying while in Australia. Here are some of the different saying I have noticed: ( First will be the American saying, then the Australian saying will follow)
"no problem" - "no worries"
"fries" - "chips"
"chips" - "crisps"
"gas" - "petrol"
"garbage" - "rubbish"
"sun glasses" - "sunnys"
"bathing suit" - "bathers"
"entrees" - "mains"
"cell phone" - "mobile"
"air-condition" - "air-conn"
"a lot" - "heaps"
"bar" - "pub"
"flip-flops" - "thongs"
"college" - "uni"
"shrimp" - "prawn"
"friend" - "mate"
There are many more, but I haven't caught onto them yet. Hopefully soon!
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