Over the course of the past few weeks, it has been brought to my attention that I might be the only true-blooded southerner on this Sweet Briar program in Spain. What defines one as a true-blooded southerner other than the frequent use of the word yall? Well, for one, a southerner who chooses not to leave the south to receive a fine education. (Grey and Liz might be from the south...but they bailed for a northern education!) And who also might have a cute little southern accent occasionally. And, this story explains more...
Spencer: My middle name is Earl. It's a family name.
Me: 'Caus Earl had to die...
5 seconds of awkwardness in a group of 8 people...
Joan: I got it Sarah.
For those of you who haven't caught on, that was a reference to a dixie chick's song that every southerner knows/should know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw7gNf_9njs
See this youtube video for enlightenment if need be.
In any case, in a southern situation, at least 3/4 of the group would have either a) laughed at my joke or b) thought of it before me. But no, I'm in a very northern situation, and so everyone gets to make fun of me (with love in their hearts, i know) for being a small town southern girl. :)
On another note, I went to the beach this weekend! We took a group trip to Chiclana, but went first to Jerez, where we did a sherry tasting. I hate sherry. It. Is. So. Gross.
Chiclana was lovely! We stayed in a really nice 4 star hotel with an incredible buffet for dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Why is a buffet so impressive? Well, for 3 weeks (and for the next 3 months), none of us get a say in what we eat. We eat what our host families prepare, which might be delicious or might be a plate full of asparagus (true life, that was my dinner Thursday night...with little bitty shrimps and onions in a plateful of asparagus). So having so many delicious choices in front of you really rocked our worlds. They also had absolutely delicious french fries...like the thick cut kind they have at steak houses. If the ketchup hadn't tasted like non-American ketchup, I might've felt completely American. And they had omelets made-to-order (I miss commons!).
In addition to eating like a pig, I went to the beach, took some sun (a direct english translation from a great spanish phrase), and finished reading the first Harry Potter book in spanish. It was lovely! Harry beat Voldemort! Who would have guessed? Kate bought the second, and Maria bought the third, so Kate is bringing me the second tomorrow. I'm pumped.
Tomorrow is the first day of university classes! Ah! I have five hours of class in a row: 2 hours of The Projection of the 3 Cultures: Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Spain; 2 hours of The Arabic Influence on Spanish Literature; 1 hour of Artistic Techniques...a course directly in the university with a bunch of spaniards and a professor who won't slow down for foreigners. In any case, it'll be a long 5 hours of classes, but it'll be nice that I'm completely done with class at 2! I'll stick some magdalenas in my purse (muffins) to snack on between classes...since apparently it's a faux pas to munch in classes in Spain. Not that I ever munch during classes at Davidson, but the option is always there...
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Replaced by a Spanish/Scottish Baby.
Any older siblings out there? Remember that feeling of utter rejection when your younger sibling was born and no one cared about you anymore? Well, let's be real; I'm that cute little younger sibling, and I'm sure Jay had a terrible time of being rejected for my preciousness as a wee child. But I've got a problem now! My host sister (who lives en casa con her boyfriend from Scotland) just had a baby. And when I say just, I mean just. She brought that baby home from the hospital on Sunday. Baby Esperanza! She's so precious! I'm not sure of cultural norms with babies, so when I sit next to them, I always wonder, "could I poke that baby's belly and talk about how cute it is, or would that be crossing a line that might not exist in the US of A?" So I sit there awkwardly and say things like "Que preciosa!"
In any case, the baby really is adorable! But what's gotten less adorable is dinner time. The whole fam is enamored by Esperanza (and who can blame them?)...that well...the older children (who also happen to be 20 year old Americans) have been rejected a bit. Lots of sandwiches...which, well, can be strange in Spain. Example: Last night's dinner: white bread, hot dogs cut in half, mayonnaise, lettuce, white bread, cheese, butter, white bread. I wasn't quite feeling it. Another sandwich tonight, but it was much better. Still not fantastic. We're supposed to tell our fam's when we don't like something, but my southern upbringing is making that difficult. Every day, when she asks, "Os gusta?!" how can I really say no?! Well, i tried it out tonight. It was difficult, but I said, well, I don't really like sausages alot.... (hoping that saying that about the sausage in my bocadillo tonight would also encompass the "sausages" aka hotdogs from last night).
But I don't blame them, really! I mean, they have tons of family coming over all the time (hide yourself in your room so as not to interrupt family time? what's appropriate?) to see this precious new baby, and they don't wanna make me a good dinner! I just like good dinner....
Haha but all is well!! It really doesn't matter, because I do love the family, the baby, la vida sevillana! In fact, I've been trying to find more ways to immerse myself in la lengua espanola. I just googled popular Spanish songs to add to my "canciones espanolas" playlist on itunes! Most of the songs I found were in English, but I added a few, including some Shakira excellence. I'm also reading the first Harry Potter in Spanish. Harry's about to try on the Sorting Hat! Ah! Don't pick Slytherin!
Writing this blog doesn't exactly help my Spanish immersion, but lucky for all of my faithful readers, I will continue to update you on my life every now and then! :)
Last weekend, I went to Italica, a city about 30 min from Sevilla with a whole bunch of Roman ruins! It was cool, but not superguay. Guay means cool. Add super in front of it, and you have superguay! Then on Sunday, we went on a hike aka senderismo. It ended up not being a hike through any mountains but more of a 18 km walk on a pathway next to the mountains. At the end, we swam in this beautiful litter waterfall that was also FREEZING, like knock the breath out of you cold. On the bus back from rando town to Sevilla, well, we were stranded when the bus broke down. Got on another one, and eventually made it home.
This weekend, well, I don't quite yet know what's in store! I do know I'll be going to a futbol game! There are 2 Sevilla teams: Betis y Sevilla. Neither is something to write home about (although I guess you could say I'm writing home about both right now...), but Sevilla is slightly better. I don't yet have allegiance to one or the other, but we're watching Sevilla play on Saturday!
We're almost done with week 2 of orientation classes! I also plan on taking my first ballet class (in Spanish? with French words? Crazy) tomorrow. I'm ready to get my regular schedule going with University courses! We still have one more week of orientation classes, and then on to the cool classes!
In any case, the baby really is adorable! But what's gotten less adorable is dinner time. The whole fam is enamored by Esperanza (and who can blame them?)...that well...the older children (who also happen to be 20 year old Americans) have been rejected a bit. Lots of sandwiches...which, well, can be strange in Spain. Example: Last night's dinner: white bread, hot dogs cut in half, mayonnaise, lettuce, white bread, cheese, butter, white bread. I wasn't quite feeling it. Another sandwich tonight, but it was much better. Still not fantastic. We're supposed to tell our fam's when we don't like something, but my southern upbringing is making that difficult. Every day, when she asks, "Os gusta?!" how can I really say no?! Well, i tried it out tonight. It was difficult, but I said, well, I don't really like sausages alot.... (hoping that saying that about the sausage in my bocadillo tonight would also encompass the "sausages" aka hotdogs from last night).
But I don't blame them, really! I mean, they have tons of family coming over all the time (hide yourself in your room so as not to interrupt family time? what's appropriate?) to see this precious new baby, and they don't wanna make me a good dinner! I just like good dinner....
Haha but all is well!! It really doesn't matter, because I do love the family, the baby, la vida sevillana! In fact, I've been trying to find more ways to immerse myself in la lengua espanola. I just googled popular Spanish songs to add to my "canciones espanolas" playlist on itunes! Most of the songs I found were in English, but I added a few, including some Shakira excellence. I'm also reading the first Harry Potter in Spanish. Harry's about to try on the Sorting Hat! Ah! Don't pick Slytherin!
Writing this blog doesn't exactly help my Spanish immersion, but lucky for all of my faithful readers, I will continue to update you on my life every now and then! :)
Last weekend, I went to Italica, a city about 30 min from Sevilla with a whole bunch of Roman ruins! It was cool, but not superguay. Guay means cool. Add super in front of it, and you have superguay! Then on Sunday, we went on a hike aka senderismo. It ended up not being a hike through any mountains but more of a 18 km walk on a pathway next to the mountains. At the end, we swam in this beautiful litter waterfall that was also FREEZING, like knock the breath out of you cold. On the bus back from rando town to Sevilla, well, we were stranded when the bus broke down. Got on another one, and eventually made it home.
This weekend, well, I don't quite yet know what's in store! I do know I'll be going to a futbol game! There are 2 Sevilla teams: Betis y Sevilla. Neither is something to write home about (although I guess you could say I'm writing home about both right now...), but Sevilla is slightly better. I don't yet have allegiance to one or the other, but we're watching Sevilla play on Saturday!
We're almost done with week 2 of orientation classes! I also plan on taking my first ballet class (in Spanish? with French words? Crazy) tomorrow. I'm ready to get my regular schedule going with University courses! We still have one more week of orientation classes, and then on to the cool classes!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Sevilla! Sevilla! La Mejor Ciudad en el Mundo!
Sevilla!! Prepare yourselves for a relatively long post, because I’ve got lots o stuff to talk about!
I’m here! On Wednesday, Jay arrived back home after 3 months in South America. We overlapped only about 2 hours at our lovely home in Oxford, GA before I left for the airport, but in that 2 hour period of time, he unpacked his backpack so that I could pack it up with a bunch of my stuff. We shared a delicious family meal—the perfect burger (I had to have a super-American meal before leaving for 3.5 months!), and I was on my way! I flew from Atlanta to JFK to meet with my group, then from JFK to Madrid, then from Madrid to Sevilla. A longgggg day of flying, but I was sitting between my new friend Kate who is on this program and a girl who was headed to study in Valencia with UVA. All in all, the long flight was enjoyable with fun people on either side of me! Kate was the first person I met on my program when I arrived at JFK. I was rather flustered trying to meet up with the group, and the Iberia terminal was a madhouse. A random security woman threw me in the middle of the line with another person with a Sweetbriar College Junior Year in Spain (JYS) tag. And that person was Kate!
When we arrived in Sevilla, I learned that my roommate would be Meital Caplan from Northwestern. About half of the people on the program are from Northwestern, but it’s funny because very few of them know each other particularly well! So Meital and I live with a really awesome family in a really awesome barrio (neighborhood): Los Remedios. Actually, as I write this, I’m sitting on the balcony of our homestay looking at some sort of café on the street below. It’s a beautiful day, in a beautiful area! We live on Calle Asunción, which is a medium sized-pedestrian friendly-shopping street. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk to the center of town, where the JYS office and Universidad de Sevilla are. Our apartment is soooo much bigger than I expected! Meital and I actually have our own rooms, which I was not expecting at all. In general, the apartment is much bigger than most in Europe. And it has wifi, so it’s easy for me to post my blog for all my fans!
My family is so nice! My host mom is Esperanza, but she prefers to go by Pechi, a nickname she’s had since birth (shout out to my mama Buncie, who has a similar situation!). Her daughter, Pechi 2, is probably in her late 20s, and lives at home in the room next to mine with her husband(?) or boyfriend from Scotland. She is very pregnant, so we’re going to have a baby in the house by the end of September! She met her husband/boyfriend in Scotland when she studied English there for 2 years. He barely speaks any Spanish, which is cute with the whole family. Pechi 2 has 3 brothers, but none of them live at home right now.
I love my family! And my roommate! Her Spanish is better than mine (both parents are Argentinian, so she gets to practice with them. Too bad my parents aren’t so cool. Just kidding!) But in no way does she try to speak for me when I get tongue-tied. In fact, today she was saying that she thinks roommate pairs were done by level, which means that I’m in the highest level! Yay!!! I should hope some of this travelling would pay off. Also, I didn’t even realize this, but apparently I have to take a class directly in the university because I’m in the higher level…which is cool, because I wanted to do it anyways. Yay immersion! Really, my whole home life here is an awesome situation. And since I have earplugs, I don’t think it’ll be too bad having a baby next door either. J
So! That’s the lay of the land in Sevilla! Now a bit about what I’ve been doing since arriving! I won’t go into detail about everything, so have no fear.
Throughout Sevilla, they have these bikes. Similar to community bikes at Davidson? Well, they’re all throughout the community, but that’s about it. You pay 10 € to rent them for 30 minute periods of time for one week. So Meital and I rented some for the week! It’s been so nice! There are parking stations all around the city, and I’m looking down at one right next to our apartment. You just type in your number, choose a bike, and ride! It’s a fun way to explore, enjoy the sun, and get some exercise. We rode all around yesterday, and it was lovely!
Last night, Meital and I went out for a night on the town with Kate and her roommate Maria. It was a hilarious night, largely because of this one incident con los tejanos. Seriously, they embarrassed Texans everywhere! So here’s the story:
As a group, we really try to speak a lot in Spanish. Everyone wants to improve, so we try to as much as possible. It’s really easy to fall into the English trap, and we do occasionally, but we definitely speak a lot of Spanish. In fact, this blog is totally messing with my Spanish flow, so my loyal readers, be grateful that I write it. J Anyways, the 4 of us only spoke Spanish for the 5 hours that we were out and about (yes, we were out from midnight to about 5 am, which is pretty typical for Spain). At one point we saw a bunch of Americans. Assuming that they might know some Spanish, and trying to keep with the language flow, we asked them their names and where they were from (in Spanish). They responded with slightly confused faces in English, but for whatever reason, Meital y yo continuabamos hablar en español. When they asked where we were from, I said Atlanta, but 10 minutes later, they asked if I spoke any English. I responded, “solo un poquito.” So you can imagine how the next hour went. Meital and I were both Sevillanas who only spoke a bit of English, and Kate and Maria became our translators when we were “confused” by the English the Texans spoke or when they were legitimately confused by the Spanish we spoke. We began referring to them as los idiotas, because truly, they were. We’ve got good Spanish, but we will always have an accent. And they literally had no idea. They said they were here to study Spanish and had taken a few classes but hadn’t learned anything. Again, an embarrassment to Texans everywhere.
So today is Sunday, and I had planned to go to mass at the giant awesome Cathedral with some friends, but for whatever reason, my alarm didn’t go off. The alarm on my phone doesn’t seem to have an option of am or pm, so maybe it’ll go off tonight at 11:20? Yo no sé. In any case, I woke up at 12:30 this afternoon and began reading some Harry Potter in Spanish. We had some delicious gazpacho and pasta, and who knows what the day has in store for me now! We begin orientation classes tomorrow, but until then, I’m just chillin in Sevilla, la major ciudad en todo el mundo!
Oh, and a disclaimer about my blog for anyone who cares:
This will not be a work of art. In fact, I will probably write quite spazztically often! Please excuse the lack of poetry here. I frankly don’t want to spend that kinda time on this blog! Really, I just want people to know what’s going on in my exciting Spanish life, so I’m gonna write it, and I’m gonna write it fast. J
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
From Santiago, Chile back to the States!
I made it home! I arrived home Sunday morning at like 5:30 in the morning after a 10 hour flight. At least I had a friendly seat-mate...he was headed to the states as an exchange student for the next year. Even though his English was probably better than my Spanish (maybe?), we spoke in Spanish the whole time. It was nice to sit next to someone friendly and talkative!
Santiago was great! I really loved the city, although that might have had something to do with how absolutely beautiful the weather was. It was around 65 degrees and sunny the whole time we were there! Argentina had been so cold compared to that. When we arrived in Santiago (after our 10 hour bus ride through the Andes), we had been planning to go straight to Valparaiso. The bus was so late arriving, though, that there weren't any more buses to Valparaiso. So, we found a hostel and decided to stay in Santiago for 4 nights as opposed to the 2 we had originally planned. And I'm so glad we did! It's a really great city.
Our first day, we went on a four hour walking tour all around the city. It was an incredible way to learn about the history and politics of the city. There've been a bunch of protests going on for education reform. One protest involved calculating how much it would cost the government to pay for college for the country for an entire year. After the determined the number, they promised to run around the government building for that many hours. So you'd see people running by carrying black flags or Chilean flags.
Day 2 we spent going back to some of the sights from our tour: Pablo Neruda's house (the Nobel Prize winning poet who had an obsession with boats so designed his houses like boats), the Pre-Columbian Museum, the churches, etc. The weather was beautiful again, and the city was great! That night, we decided to go see Captain America...or Capitan America. It was in English with subtitles. We were running late for the movie, and the only place we could find for food was of course a McDonalds. In true American fashion we had McDonalds and a movie...a movie called Captain America no less!
Day 3 we spent taking a day trip to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. As soon as we got to the bus station, some tour company managed to convince us to go with them and ride around in their bus. We fell for it far too easily, but it was a good way to see both cities! It ended up being kinda hilarious. We drove around with a group of mostly Brazilians (Portuguese speakers), some Spanish speakers, a few French folks, and us. And every time someone new got on the bus, the guide re-introduced us all and where we were all from. And then he explained that the Americans in the back understood Spanish perfectly, so no one should worry! He then proceeded to speak Spanish, throwing in a Portuguese word every now and then, and throwing in an English sentence when he felt the need. All in all, I liked seeing the cities, but I probably would have preferred to wander through them without the funny tour guide! Oh, also, this tour did not let us stop for lunch until 4:00 in the afternoon. Seriously, fat Americans cannot handle that nonsense. At one of our stops, Jay and I ordered empanadas, but as soon as we'd ordered them, it was time to go! The guide said he didn't mind waiting, but we ended up holding the whole bus up for like 5 minutes. Then I had to walk onto the bus with a bag of steaming hot empanadas that smelled up the bus and made everyone jealous. Fat Americans, fat Americans, fat Americans. Don't mess with our food.
For my last day in Santiago and in South America, Jay and I went on a wine tour at a really cool vineyard! Concha y Toro was the vineyard, and it was beautiful. We also did a tasting section of the tour that involved 4 different wines paired with some delicious cheeses! As a part of the tour, the vineyard gave us each a wine glass that says Concha y Toro and also gave us the cutting board that our cheeses were on that has their name on it as well! Of course the tour lasted longer than it was supposed to, so then Jay and I had to run to get a taxi, to take the metro, to run to the hostel, to wrap his shirts around the wine glasses, to pack those and the cutting boards, to call a cab to the airport and GO!
So I made it home safely! It's been a bit weird being back in the states. I'm used to wearing the same clothes over and over again, so I get a little freaked out every time I open my closet door. Not that I have THAT much clothing....but I do when compared to living out of a backpack for 2 months. I also hadn't driven in 2 weeks.
So no more blogging for the next few weeks! I assume no one really cares about the excitement of my life in Covington, GA. But have no fear, I will pick it back up once I arrive in Spain! I fly out on August 31st for 3.5 months in Seville, Spain.
Santiago was great! I really loved the city, although that might have had something to do with how absolutely beautiful the weather was. It was around 65 degrees and sunny the whole time we were there! Argentina had been so cold compared to that. When we arrived in Santiago (after our 10 hour bus ride through the Andes), we had been planning to go straight to Valparaiso. The bus was so late arriving, though, that there weren't any more buses to Valparaiso. So, we found a hostel and decided to stay in Santiago for 4 nights as opposed to the 2 we had originally planned. And I'm so glad we did! It's a really great city.
Our first day, we went on a four hour walking tour all around the city. It was an incredible way to learn about the history and politics of the city. There've been a bunch of protests going on for education reform. One protest involved calculating how much it would cost the government to pay for college for the country for an entire year. After the determined the number, they promised to run around the government building for that many hours. So you'd see people running by carrying black flags or Chilean flags.
Day 2 we spent going back to some of the sights from our tour: Pablo Neruda's house (the Nobel Prize winning poet who had an obsession with boats so designed his houses like boats), the Pre-Columbian Museum, the churches, etc. The weather was beautiful again, and the city was great! That night, we decided to go see Captain America...or Capitan America. It was in English with subtitles. We were running late for the movie, and the only place we could find for food was of course a McDonalds. In true American fashion we had McDonalds and a movie...a movie called Captain America no less!
Day 3 we spent taking a day trip to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. As soon as we got to the bus station, some tour company managed to convince us to go with them and ride around in their bus. We fell for it far too easily, but it was a good way to see both cities! It ended up being kinda hilarious. We drove around with a group of mostly Brazilians (Portuguese speakers), some Spanish speakers, a few French folks, and us. And every time someone new got on the bus, the guide re-introduced us all and where we were all from. And then he explained that the Americans in the back understood Spanish perfectly, so no one should worry! He then proceeded to speak Spanish, throwing in a Portuguese word every now and then, and throwing in an English sentence when he felt the need. All in all, I liked seeing the cities, but I probably would have preferred to wander through them without the funny tour guide! Oh, also, this tour did not let us stop for lunch until 4:00 in the afternoon. Seriously, fat Americans cannot handle that nonsense. At one of our stops, Jay and I ordered empanadas, but as soon as we'd ordered them, it was time to go! The guide said he didn't mind waiting, but we ended up holding the whole bus up for like 5 minutes. Then I had to walk onto the bus with a bag of steaming hot empanadas that smelled up the bus and made everyone jealous. Fat Americans, fat Americans, fat Americans. Don't mess with our food.
For my last day in Santiago and in South America, Jay and I went on a wine tour at a really cool vineyard! Concha y Toro was the vineyard, and it was beautiful. We also did a tasting section of the tour that involved 4 different wines paired with some delicious cheeses! As a part of the tour, the vineyard gave us each a wine glass that says Concha y Toro and also gave us the cutting board that our cheeses were on that has their name on it as well! Of course the tour lasted longer than it was supposed to, so then Jay and I had to run to get a taxi, to take the metro, to run to the hostel, to wrap his shirts around the wine glasses, to pack those and the cutting boards, to call a cab to the airport and GO!
So I made it home safely! It's been a bit weird being back in the states. I'm used to wearing the same clothes over and over again, so I get a little freaked out every time I open my closet door. Not that I have THAT much clothing....but I do when compared to living out of a backpack for 2 months. I also hadn't driven in 2 weeks.
So no more blogging for the next few weeks! I assume no one really cares about the excitement of my life in Covington, GA. But have no fear, I will pick it back up once I arrive in Spain! I fly out on August 31st for 3.5 months in Seville, Spain.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Extended visit in Mendoza: wine, horses, and unfortunate hot springs
I am currently on a bus headed from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, chile! As i write this, i look out my window at the beautiful snow capped andes mountains...such an incredible view! I was supposed to be on this bus yesterday according to our original plan. The pass from Argentina to chile through the Andes was closed yesterday and all weekend as well. So jay and I were stranded at our very comfortable hostel in Mendoza for one more night.
On Saturday morning, we arrived in Mendoza super early, around 7 I believe. Neither of us slept particularly well on the bus from cordoba, so we were sooooo happy when the hostel let us check in early and go to sleep. Important note: this hostel had a heater in the room. A serious plus. After our nap and some lunch, we went on a half day wine tour of 2 bodegas: one of young wines and the other being a family operated winery. We also stopped at an olive oil factory, which was fun.
On Sunday, we decided to go horseback riding with 2 other people from our hostel, one from holland and the other from Pennsylvania. Horseback riding was great! We drove like an hour to a spot in the mountains where a nice argentine gaucho had a ranch. After sipping mate (popular argentine tea that you drink with a group, sharing the same mate cup), we began our journey through the mountains on the horses. Mine was a really sweet horse named solito. The ride was beautiful! The mountains themselves were beautiful and we also were able to see some condors, which we weren't able to see in cordoba. At the end, jay's horse kind of fell on him....but all is well. Only a few bruises, nothing more!
On Monday, we hoped to head on to chile, but since that didn't happen, we went to some hot springs-also in the mountains. They were an epic fail. I left my bathing suit at my hostel in Tela, Honduras, so I brought a tank top and running shorts to wear. They had a sign up saying that women could not wear shorts and had to wear a bathing suit. So jay and I had to walk down the road so I could buy a crappy bathing suit that was like $20. When I went to put it on, the strap snapped off of the top. The bottoms were not quite as conservative as your typical American bathing suit. So, I was wearing a sports bra and skimpy floral bikini bottoms. People in Argentina don't seem to have a problem with butts like we do in america, but I was very aware of my slightly exposed tush while we were there. It really wasn't that skimpy, but just enough to make me uncomfortable. In any case, it was total b.s. that they wouldn't let me wear my shorts since they let men wear normal shorts...or even whitey tightees as I saw on one man. The springs were also not natural and were too crowded. There was a covering over them that blocked out the beautiful mountain view. Conclusion? Be wary of the brochures you find advertising lovely hot springs outside of Mendoza, Argentina.
Yesterday evening, I ended up spending the evening hanging out with people in the hostel. We ordered empanadas to be delivered, and just enjoyed hanging out. One girl I met is in Argentina teaching English on a Fulbright grant. I loved picking her brain about that. It sounds really cool, and who knows, I might try to apply for one!
On to chile! Hopefully, jay and I will be able to get a bus from santiago to valparaiso, where we had hoped to spend last night!
On Saturday morning, we arrived in Mendoza super early, around 7 I believe. Neither of us slept particularly well on the bus from cordoba, so we were sooooo happy when the hostel let us check in early and go to sleep. Important note: this hostel had a heater in the room. A serious plus. After our nap and some lunch, we went on a half day wine tour of 2 bodegas: one of young wines and the other being a family operated winery. We also stopped at an olive oil factory, which was fun.
On Sunday, we decided to go horseback riding with 2 other people from our hostel, one from holland and the other from Pennsylvania. Horseback riding was great! We drove like an hour to a spot in the mountains where a nice argentine gaucho had a ranch. After sipping mate (popular argentine tea that you drink with a group, sharing the same mate cup), we began our journey through the mountains on the horses. Mine was a really sweet horse named solito. The ride was beautiful! The mountains themselves were beautiful and we also were able to see some condors, which we weren't able to see in cordoba. At the end, jay's horse kind of fell on him....but all is well. Only a few bruises, nothing more!
On Monday, we hoped to head on to chile, but since that didn't happen, we went to some hot springs-also in the mountains. They were an epic fail. I left my bathing suit at my hostel in Tela, Honduras, so I brought a tank top and running shorts to wear. They had a sign up saying that women could not wear shorts and had to wear a bathing suit. So jay and I had to walk down the road so I could buy a crappy bathing suit that was like $20. When I went to put it on, the strap snapped off of the top. The bottoms were not quite as conservative as your typical American bathing suit. So, I was wearing a sports bra and skimpy floral bikini bottoms. People in Argentina don't seem to have a problem with butts like we do in america, but I was very aware of my slightly exposed tush while we were there. It really wasn't that skimpy, but just enough to make me uncomfortable. In any case, it was total b.s. that they wouldn't let me wear my shorts since they let men wear normal shorts...or even whitey tightees as I saw on one man. The springs were also not natural and were too crowded. There was a covering over them that blocked out the beautiful mountain view. Conclusion? Be wary of the brochures you find advertising lovely hot springs outside of Mendoza, Argentina.
Yesterday evening, I ended up spending the evening hanging out with people in the hostel. We ordered empanadas to be delivered, and just enjoyed hanging out. One girl I met is in Argentina teaching English on a Fulbright grant. I loved picking her brain about that. It sounds really cool, and who knows, I might try to apply for one!
On to chile! Hopefully, jay and I will be able to get a bus from santiago to valparaiso, where we had hoped to spend last night!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Getting to know the Jesuits
After a few days in cordoba, we're headed to Mendoza! I liked cordoba...filled with religious history. The Jesuits pretty much created the city of cordoba, so there's a whole Jesuit block...church, university, and intense high school. The Jesuit churches are interesting. They want to be European, but have a bit of a south American flare. Our tour guide at the university was precious. She'd studied English in school, but had never been to an English speaking country, so she spoke super slowly and super clearly, enunciating every word. We were the only people on the tour, so we became best friends forever. Funny translation moment: she was talking about the cats that are randomly around the university are always meowing really loud. She said that the cats really just want to be 'cherished' or something to that effect. Cherished? Probably petted. I love awkward language moments.
On Thursday, we left cordoba and went to Alta gracia for the day. A small town famous for the museum of Che Guevara and it's Jesuit estancia, a old church/ranch thing that the Jesuits used to provide for their evangelizing of the continent. Slightly less cool than I was hoping, but still cool. We did the tour in Spanish, which was intriguing. Compared with the tours we did last summer in Cadiz, Spain, I understood so very much more. I really did feel pretty good about understanding the guide's Spanish.
The hostel in cordoba was nice. The guy that owned it told us everything we needed to see in cordoba and marked it all on a map. We met several groups of people who were taking or had taken a weeks worth of spanish classes in hopes that they would be able to get around and understand what people were saying as they traveled the continent for the next several months. I hate to break it to them, but I've been taking Spanish for years. It ain't that simple. A week is not going to get you even semi-comfortable with the language!
Today, jay and I took a chill day around the city. He'd been a bit sick, so we didn't go on a hike in a national park with condors. Instead, we went on a walk in cordoba's little park...an unattractive hunk of grassless land that led us directly to the zoo. So we spent about 2 hours looking at hippopotami, zebras, lions, etc, and even saw a show with a seal...in Spanish, a lobo aquatico. Literally? A water wolf. We finished the evening by going bowling on the top floor of a mall...space bowling to be specific. Jay barely beat me the first game, but let it be known that I dominated the second.
Now we're on our second and final overnight bus headed to Mendoza-wine country.
Sorry for the late post. This was written on Friday night but not posted til Monday evening!
On Thursday, we left cordoba and went to Alta gracia for the day. A small town famous for the museum of Che Guevara and it's Jesuit estancia, a old church/ranch thing that the Jesuits used to provide for their evangelizing of the continent. Slightly less cool than I was hoping, but still cool. We did the tour in Spanish, which was intriguing. Compared with the tours we did last summer in Cadiz, Spain, I understood so very much more. I really did feel pretty good about understanding the guide's Spanish.
The hostel in cordoba was nice. The guy that owned it told us everything we needed to see in cordoba and marked it all on a map. We met several groups of people who were taking or had taken a weeks worth of spanish classes in hopes that they would be able to get around and understand what people were saying as they traveled the continent for the next several months. I hate to break it to them, but I've been taking Spanish for years. It ain't that simple. A week is not going to get you even semi-comfortable with the language!
Today, jay and I took a chill day around the city. He'd been a bit sick, so we didn't go on a hike in a national park with condors. Instead, we went on a walk in cordoba's little park...an unattractive hunk of grassless land that led us directly to the zoo. So we spent about 2 hours looking at hippopotami, zebras, lions, etc, and even saw a show with a seal...in Spanish, a lobo aquatico. Literally? A water wolf. We finished the evening by going bowling on the top floor of a mall...space bowling to be specific. Jay barely beat me the first game, but let it be known that I dominated the second.
Now we're on our second and final overnight bus headed to Mendoza-wine country.
Sorry for the late post. This was written on Friday night but not posted til Monday evening!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Leaving Honduras and Making it to Argentina!
I made it to Argentina! But first, a bit about leaving Honduras...
Thursday was Megan's last day of camp, meaning that I had all of the second graders by myself for the day....a bit crazy. Thursday was also the day that the kids started to realize that their teachers wouldn't be around forever. They started getting sad, and so did I! Their hugs were so cute when they said goodbye to Megan. On Friday, after our Fiesta Friday party (cake, ice-cream, pinatas, and Montuca Sound System- a Honduran band, and water games), I got so sad saying goodbye to everyone!! There were a few boys in my class who had been pretty badly behaved in the beginning of camp. They improved drastically, and I loved them by the last week! On Thursday, I played basketball with a few of them, and they thought it was hilarious that 'la miss' was playing with them. On Friday when we said goodbye, they gave me hugeeeeee hugs...making me cry. After they left, I went to give Maria, A particularly sweet student, a hug. I was crying, so she started crying too. How pathetic of me, I know. I had really become attached to some of these kids though!
I had also become attached to Cofradia. At some point that last week, I went into a store to buy a baleada. I was sitting there by myself waiting and felt so comfortable being a gringa in Cofradia...like really comfortable. So needless to say, it was a bit sad leaving Cofradia, the friends I made there, and my students!
But no time to dwell on any sense of sadness, because I was on to the next adventure!
I flew out of San Pedro Sula on Saturday afternoon, stopping in costa rica and panama city, and ultimately making it to buenos aires at about 5:30 on Sunday morning. After going through customs, etc, i took a taxi to jay's apartment. I slept maybe 45 minutes max on the plane, so jay and I both napped for about 2 hours before beginning to see the city! We went to the market in San telmo, ate churipan, went to the cemetery in recoleta which also had a market, and a famous bookstore called el ateneo-it's a theater turned bookstore. We went to a fancy restaurant for dinner and I almost fell asleep in my food because I was so tired...but still enjoyed the food! I slept like 11 hours that night in an attempt to recover.
On Monday, jay and I continued touring and eating our way through buenos aires, seeing el caminito en la boca and cafe tortoni. I also got a small taste of buenos aires nightlife with a group of jays roommates and also Liam Miner from Davidson...he's studying for the semester in b.a. Yay for davidson connections around the world!
On Tuesday, we toured the teatro colon and also did a wine tasting that jay's roommates gifted him for his birthday. I felt very cultured and fancy doing so. As a general note, I feel very fancy in pretty much everything I do since I've left Honduras. Life was so simple there compared to this! It's also cold, which is kinda no fun. It was so hot in Honduras, but I do love the summer.
Right now, it's about midnight on Tuesday night/Monday morning and jay and I are on an overnight bus to cordoba! I will post this when i arrive at the hostel. Let the backpacking/hostel-living begin! Yay for siblings traveling around the world together. Taxi drivers think it's precious.
Thursday was Megan's last day of camp, meaning that I had all of the second graders by myself for the day....a bit crazy. Thursday was also the day that the kids started to realize that their teachers wouldn't be around forever. They started getting sad, and so did I! Their hugs were so cute when they said goodbye to Megan. On Friday, after our Fiesta Friday party (cake, ice-cream, pinatas, and Montuca Sound System- a Honduran band, and water games), I got so sad saying goodbye to everyone!! There were a few boys in my class who had been pretty badly behaved in the beginning of camp. They improved drastically, and I loved them by the last week! On Thursday, I played basketball with a few of them, and they thought it was hilarious that 'la miss' was playing with them. On Friday when we said goodbye, they gave me hugeeeeee hugs...making me cry. After they left, I went to give Maria, A particularly sweet student, a hug. I was crying, so she started crying too. How pathetic of me, I know. I had really become attached to some of these kids though!
I had also become attached to Cofradia. At some point that last week, I went into a store to buy a baleada. I was sitting there by myself waiting and felt so comfortable being a gringa in Cofradia...like really comfortable. So needless to say, it was a bit sad leaving Cofradia, the friends I made there, and my students!
But no time to dwell on any sense of sadness, because I was on to the next adventure!
I flew out of San Pedro Sula on Saturday afternoon, stopping in costa rica and panama city, and ultimately making it to buenos aires at about 5:30 on Sunday morning. After going through customs, etc, i took a taxi to jay's apartment. I slept maybe 45 minutes max on the plane, so jay and I both napped for about 2 hours before beginning to see the city! We went to the market in San telmo, ate churipan, went to the cemetery in recoleta which also had a market, and a famous bookstore called el ateneo-it's a theater turned bookstore. We went to a fancy restaurant for dinner and I almost fell asleep in my food because I was so tired...but still enjoyed the food! I slept like 11 hours that night in an attempt to recover.
On Monday, jay and I continued touring and eating our way through buenos aires, seeing el caminito en la boca and cafe tortoni. I also got a small taste of buenos aires nightlife with a group of jays roommates and also Liam Miner from Davidson...he's studying for the semester in b.a. Yay for davidson connections around the world!
On Tuesday, we toured the teatro colon and also did a wine tasting that jay's roommates gifted him for his birthday. I felt very cultured and fancy doing so. As a general note, I feel very fancy in pretty much everything I do since I've left Honduras. Life was so simple there compared to this! It's also cold, which is kinda no fun. It was so hot in Honduras, but I do love the summer.
Right now, it's about midnight on Tuesday night/Monday morning and jay and I are on an overnight bus to cordoba! I will post this when i arrive at the hostel. Let the backpacking/hostel-living begin! Yay for siblings traveling around the world together. Taxi drivers think it's precious.
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