Monday, bright and early at 7:30am, my alarm went off, and I opened my eyes, listened to the beautiful birds sing, hopped out of bed, skipped to the shower, came back to my room, tossed some fairy dust in the air and twirled around a few times and ta-da! I was dressed with perfect hair and make-up with a full stomach, and everything was ready for school.
Just kidding. What really happened was this:
My alarm went off at 7:30am, and my first thought was, "Ughhh why is my alarm going off?!" Then I remembered it was the first day of school, so I groaned and shut my alarm off and sat up with my eyes closed. Five minutes after literally just sitting there trying to convince myself to move, I stumbled to the bathroom, got a shower, got dressed with the first clothes I touched, threw my hair up in a not-so-pretty bun, haphazardly put on a coat of mascara, rushed to shove food into my mouth, frantically ran around my room throwing things in my bag for school, and then somehow made it out of the door only like five minutes later than originally planned.
Genisis, Isis, and I have the same 9am class on Mondays and Wednesdays, so we met up at the esquina (corner) to walk to class together. The walk was surprisingly beautiful, and as we were crossing the windy Bridge of Death, the sunrise was pretty breathtaking.
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| Okay, it looked way better in real life... |
The first class I had was Poesía de Hispanoamérica (Hispanic-American Poetry). It seems like it'll be a good class, but unfortunately I can't gauge that for sure because we have a temporary professor, because the real professor is out on vacation doing research. Right now it's a fun class (probably because our professor is actually a professor of Education Science, so he knows what he's doing when it comes to teaching), so I'm kind of afraid for the real teacher to come back on Wednesday.
After that class, we all had two hours to waste until our next classes at 1pm, so we just went to 100 Montaditos and got café and toast. We also went to the office after we finished our food for a reason I can't really remember, because I just went with Genisis and Isis since I didn't have anything else to do...plus it's always warm in there and there's free wifi, so why not?
My next class was Mitos Literarios (Literary Myths). I have a super nice professor, and the class syllabus sounds really interesting. I think this is going to be my favorite class (well, one of my favorites). This is what our syllabus says we're going to cover:
-Introducción genérica al concepto de mito literario: motivo, argumento y arquetipo
-La bruja casamentera: Celestina
-El pícaro: Lazarillo de Tormes
-El caballero andante: don Quijote de la Mancha (I had a whole class on him last semester, so that'll be easy but also super interesting because even though I hated that class with my entire being, I really did enjoy don Quijote)
-El seductor: Don Juan Tenorio
-La femme fatale: Carmen la Cigarrera
I'm super ready for this class. Bring on all the Spanish literary myths!
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| This is Celestina, the first one we'll be learning about! Creepy... |
That's it for my classes on Mondays (and Wednesdays). So after my 1-3 class, I went home for lunch, took a siesta, and then went for a walk with Genisis and Isis. Then it started drizzling, so we headed home where I spent the rest of the evening doing nothing (actually, I just really don't remember what I did).
Tuesday, I got to wake up at a more reasonable hour of 9:30am and left the house at 10:30am. My first class of the day was escritura creativa (creative writing). I'm really excited for this class because I definitely think it will help me improve my Spanish grammar and writing, which I feel isn't too strong. It will also just be nice to have a fun class where I can be creative!
After that, I had a class called Literatura y la ciudad: El caso de Sevilla. I'm super super conflicted, because at first I totally only signed up for that class because we have to sign up for five classes (but only have to take four), but after that one class, I was almost convinced that I should take it. It sounded like it would be super interesting, and now I really want to take it. But you see, I'm conflicted because:
#1. I don't have to take it.
#2. I don't want to take five classes, because last semester I had five classes and I was drowning.
#3. Although I had five classes last semester and was drowning, I also had a billion internship hours last semester which I think was the main contributor to my stress because it left me with no free time and also no sleep time. Also, I'm not sure if that's exactly it or if five classes was actually too much for me to handle.
#4. I got B's in all of my classes with my crazy schedule last semester, so it probably wasn't too much to handle...and this semester won't be so crazy so I should be able to do the same or better...
#5. It's at such a crappy time (1pm-3pm). I hate 1pm-3pm classes, especially since I have another class at 5pm. So I walk for 30 minutes to get home, then I'm only home for an hour, then I go 30 minutes back to the University. I mean I could just ask for a bocadillo (sandwich) for lunch and stay at school, but honestly Toni always seems so distressed when she has to make me a bocadillo because apparently vegan bocadillos are super intense and make her brain gears go into overload, and she can only spit out two types of bocadillos: one with mushrooms or one with a tortilla española (the vegan version ;) ). I don't even know what to suggest to her because I never eat sandwiches back in the States. Plus, bocadillos for lunch are lame and sad in a country when lunch is supposed to be the main meal of the day. Also I just hate all that walking back and forth.
So yeah. Still not sure if I'm going to take the class. I probably will end up taking it because the interestingness of it trumps the other things, but I still can't say for sure. I probably won't decide 100% until next Tuesday when it's time to go to class.
After that class, I went home and ate lunch, and then headed back to school for my class at 5pm: fonética y fonología españolas. I sat down and was ready for class to start when some guy came in and told us that class was cancelled.
Class was cancelled because our professor actually had the flu...soo sucks for the professor, but good for me. (She was doing a lot better by our next class! :) )
So with my newfound two hours of free time, I went to Starbucks (I promise I wouldn't go there if I could just find another place that has soy milk/almond milk/etc.) and bought a soy latte and read my book, Si decido quedarme, (If I decide to stay...) to pass the time until 7pm. At 7, Vanessa, Genisis, and Isis and I went to an intercambio in Nervión. I'd never been to this intercambio before, and I really liked it. We met a really cool group of Spaniards who helped us learn some new phrases, and of course we taught them some stuff in English, too.
Wednesday was basically just a repeat of Monday, except that night I went to a improv show in Triana with Vanessa, Genisis, Isis, and Vincent. We got there a little late, so our seats weren't the best, but it was still really funny and good. I understood more than expected, but there was one skit I didn't understand at all. It turns out I didn't understand because it was about this lady Juana la Loca, who I've never heard of before (and if I had heard of her, I didn't remember...). Still not sure who she is, so I guess later I'll Google her and figure out who she is.
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| According to Google, this is what Juana la Loca looked like. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Juan_de_Flandes_003.jpg) |
Thursday was also a repeat of Tuesday, except I skipped the class that's making me feel conflicted so I could see what life would be like if I didn't have the class. It was only ten past 1 and I was already at a loss with what I should do with my time, so I just almost went to class late, but then decided against it. I ended up sitting by the river on a bench in the sun reading my book about an hour ("read" = people watched, river watched, day dreamed, read a few pages) until my fingers were congelados (or as my host mom would say, cogelao), aka frozen.
On the way home, I was on this little street called Calle Maestro Arrieta, which is like 30 seconds from my house. I never usually see too many people on the street because it's just kind of like a super small residential alleyway street, but this time, there was this old lady headed in my direction and she was hardcore staring me down. Now let me tell you, she looks like just any run of the mill typical Spanish old lady. She's not gitano (gypsy), she was pretty well dressed, and her hair was done really well. So...at first I thought she was looking at someone behind me, so I tried to casually look behind me to see if there was anyone there, but there wasn't. Then I thought I had something in my hair or on my face, so I checked as best as I could, but nope...nothing there. By that time, I was getting pretty close to the old lady, and she said to me:
(Conversation translated from Spanish except for the last line):
Old lady: I'm looking at you. You know why?
Me: No....
Old lady: You look just like this muchachita (girl) I saw yesterday. She was walking exactly where you were, and...*starts speaking unintelligible Spanish*...oh, the pobrecita (poor thing), they just left her right there, you know? So, when you cross the street, you have to be careful, okay? Crossing the street is dangerous and you should only cross when the light's green. ¿Vale? (Okay?)
Me: Oh, yeah, pobrecita, I can't believe it...well I gott-
Old lady: POR DIOS (Oh my God), la pobrecitaaa. This street can be dangerous, you see all these cars? It's easy to get lost...
*Side note: All of the cars are parked, it's a one-way street, there's never traffic, and there's not even crosswalks with lights on the street because it's small and that would be unnecessary*
Me: *thinking that I either have no idea what this lady is saying which is why it's not seeming to make sense or that this lady actually ISN'T making sense* Yeah, well I have to leave...adios! (Bye!)
Old lady: *spots random man on street* OYE, I'm telling this girl about the muchachita I saw yesterday! You remember the muchachita?
Random guy: Yeah, the muchachita...*walks away*
Me: Haha okay well bye!
Old lady: Oh wait! You're a foreigner aren't you?
Me: (in English) YEAH ACTUALLY I DON'T SPEAK SPANISH BYE. *walks away quickly as she's still trying to talk to me*
That old lady was WEIRD. As soon as I got home I told Toni about what happened, and when I told her the street I was on, Toni gave me a dead-on description of this lady. Then Toni informed me she's media loca (half crazy), she lives on that street, and she stops everyone she sees to tell them weird crap. So that was interesting...
Anyway, so after lunch I went back to the University for my phonetics class, which wasn't cancelled this time. I think phonetics will be my most boring (but probably most beneficial to my spoken Spanish) class. On one hand, I'm not looking forward to it, but on the other hand, I'm excited to learn!
That night when I was eating dinner with Toni and Vanessa, Vanessa and I were talking about how Spanish numbers are difficult, specifically the number 500. Spanish numbers, like English numbers, follow a pattern. We have a super simple pattern for counting in hundreds: the number and then the word "hundred." For example, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, etc. Theirs is a little different. They have cien (100), doscientos (200), trescientos (300), cuatrocientos (400), and wait for it: quinientos (500). The word for 100 is different, but not so hard to remember, but quinientos?? What is that!! Why can't it just be cincocientos and follow the pattern like the rest of the numbers? So we explained that to Toni, and she got such a kick out of it. She seriously laughed for 5 minutes, and then she called someone and told them what we said. It was hilarious. Then we told her we were going to change the Spanish language to say "cincocientos" instead of "quinientos" and at first she was like, "Oh yeah? No one will understand you!" and then I told her that since I'm going to be a Spanish teacher teaching Spanish to students who don't know anything, what I say is "lo que hay." (what I say is just what there is). She also got a huge kick out of that.
After dinner, I went to a salsa club with Vanessa, Genisis and Isis. I really didn't want to go because I don't like dancing nor do I even know how to dance salsa, but I said I'd go with them if only to people watch. So, we went and it wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I don't plan on going back. I found a really nice song I like from the club, so that's something good that came out of the experience.
Oh, and as usual, I left something behind there when we left (my scarf). We were walking down the street headed for the churros stand at the Puente de Triana when the wind blew and I was thinking, "Man my neck is cold, what the heck..." and then I realized my scarf was still at the club. I obviously went back to get it since we hadn't even gotten like two minutes away from the club, and it was fine...just buried underneath some coats which is why I forgot it (out of sight, out of mind!). What is that, the 3rd time I left something behind in Spain? 3rd? 4th? I don't remember at this point! How am I so forgetful?? Anyway, I had a warm neck all the way to the churros stand, which is all that matters. So, then we had good ol' 2am churros before heading back home to acostarnos (to go to bed).
Like last semester, there's no class on Friday. Usually, I would have my internship all day on Fridays, but the internship doesn't begin until tomorrow. So I spent my morning sleeping, but I still got up at a reasonable hour to go to Café & Té with Genisis and Vincent to creep on an intercambio that Isis had.
BUT, on the way there, I had another "almost dead guy" incident, though. Why do these things always happen to me?? This time, I'm pretty sure they guy was dead because it didn't look like he was breathing...and some guys were beside him calling an ambulance. We didn't stick around to see what happened, but there was a crowd growing. Oh, Spaniards, always creeping...and always dying on the street?
Anway, Isis had an intercambio with some random guy who only wanted to meet one-on-one, and since that seemed sketchy, we were there to be her back up crew. At Café & Té, I got tostada which came with orange juice, and I've never had orange juice in Spain because I hate orange juice in America. It's so gross and bitter and just yuck...but since it came with my toast and since I was thirsty, I figured I'd just drink some to wash down the toast. Well, let me tell you something: orange juice in Spain is quite possibly the best orange juice in the entire world. I've never tasted such an amazing beverage. I almost cried. I also drank Genisis' orange juice too, because she didn't want it (her loss). The best part of this discovery? When I got home, I told Toni how much I love orange juice here, and the next day she bought me orange juice to have with my breakfast.
Oh, and Isis didn't die at her intercambio, so that's good, too.
Friday night, we went out to get sushi/maki, which was a lot of fun and super tasty.
Saturday morning, I met up with Genisis and Isis and we met Giulia, the JYS program director, to go to the vegan bakery. I was supposed to meet on the corner near my apartment with Genisis and Isis at 11:45, but somehow I lost major track of time and didn't leave the house until 11:47...I thought they'd be at the corner waiting for me, but they definitely weren't. So I called them and they were ALSO running late, so I felt super bad because Giulia was supposed to meet us at a different corner at 12:00, but the corner she'd be at was like 15/20 minutes away, so we met her late. Oops :/ Obviously we've been in Spain for too long (everyone's always late here). It was okay, though, and we had coffee and an assortment of things from the bakery. Super yummy, except for the strawberry cake. That was gross, which was disappointing because I love strawberry cake. My strawberry cake is better, just saying.
Then, today, Sunday, I went to meet with Mercedes again. We talked for like two hours in the park about all kinds of stuff. I learned some new vocab, like, "qué rollo" which you can use when you don't like something. I also learned that "vaca" doesn't just mean cow, but it can mean like that rack that goes on top of cars. Never knew that one! Also, she's from Málaga, and I'm going to Málaga on Friday for my birthday, so she told me some places that I should see while I'm there. I can't wait!
On my way home, I had to stop by a chino store to buy tape for my fichas (cards with your picture and basic information on it for the professors at the University), and on the way to the chino, I saw a Semana Santa ensayo (practice)! I stopped and watched the guys walk a little bit. It was really interesting to see. It looks like it takes a lot of hard work and practice to carry so much weight!
This next week will probably go by really slow since my birthday is on Friday...but I really like my new schedule, so this will probably be a good week regardless! :)
On the way home, I was on this little street called Calle Maestro Arrieta, which is like 30 seconds from my house. I never usually see too many people on the street because it's just kind of like a super small residential alleyway street, but this time, there was this old lady headed in my direction and she was hardcore staring me down. Now let me tell you, she looks like just any run of the mill typical Spanish old lady. She's not gitano (gypsy), she was pretty well dressed, and her hair was done really well. So...at first I thought she was looking at someone behind me, so I tried to casually look behind me to see if there was anyone there, but there wasn't. Then I thought I had something in my hair or on my face, so I checked as best as I could, but nope...nothing there. By that time, I was getting pretty close to the old lady, and she said to me:
(Conversation translated from Spanish except for the last line):
Old lady: I'm looking at you. You know why?
Me: No....
Old lady: You look just like this muchachita (girl) I saw yesterday. She was walking exactly where you were, and...*starts speaking unintelligible Spanish*...oh, the pobrecita (poor thing), they just left her right there, you know? So, when you cross the street, you have to be careful, okay? Crossing the street is dangerous and you should only cross when the light's green. ¿Vale? (Okay?)
Me: Oh, yeah, pobrecita, I can't believe it...well I gott-
Old lady: POR DIOS (Oh my God), la pobrecitaaa. This street can be dangerous, you see all these cars? It's easy to get lost...
*Side note: All of the cars are parked, it's a one-way street, there's never traffic, and there's not even crosswalks with lights on the street because it's small and that would be unnecessary*
Me: *thinking that I either have no idea what this lady is saying which is why it's not seeming to make sense or that this lady actually ISN'T making sense* Yeah, well I have to leave...adios! (Bye!)
Old lady: *spots random man on street* OYE, I'm telling this girl about the muchachita I saw yesterday! You remember the muchachita?
Random guy: Yeah, the muchachita...*walks away*
Me: Haha okay well bye!
Old lady: Oh wait! You're a foreigner aren't you?
Me: (in English) YEAH ACTUALLY I DON'T SPEAK SPANISH BYE. *walks away quickly as she's still trying to talk to me*
That old lady was WEIRD. As soon as I got home I told Toni about what happened, and when I told her the street I was on, Toni gave me a dead-on description of this lady. Then Toni informed me she's media loca (half crazy), she lives on that street, and she stops everyone she sees to tell them weird crap. So that was interesting...
Anyway, so after lunch I went back to the University for my phonetics class, which wasn't cancelled this time. I think phonetics will be my most boring (but probably most beneficial to my spoken Spanish) class. On one hand, I'm not looking forward to it, but on the other hand, I'm excited to learn!
That night when I was eating dinner with Toni and Vanessa, Vanessa and I were talking about how Spanish numbers are difficult, specifically the number 500. Spanish numbers, like English numbers, follow a pattern. We have a super simple pattern for counting in hundreds: the number and then the word "hundred." For example, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, etc. Theirs is a little different. They have cien (100), doscientos (200), trescientos (300), cuatrocientos (400), and wait for it: quinientos (500). The word for 100 is different, but not so hard to remember, but quinientos?? What is that!! Why can't it just be cincocientos and follow the pattern like the rest of the numbers? So we explained that to Toni, and she got such a kick out of it. She seriously laughed for 5 minutes, and then she called someone and told them what we said. It was hilarious. Then we told her we were going to change the Spanish language to say "cincocientos" instead of "quinientos" and at first she was like, "Oh yeah? No one will understand you!" and then I told her that since I'm going to be a Spanish teacher teaching Spanish to students who don't know anything, what I say is "lo que hay." (what I say is just what there is). She also got a huge kick out of that.
After dinner, I went to a salsa club with Vanessa, Genisis and Isis. I really didn't want to go because I don't like dancing nor do I even know how to dance salsa, but I said I'd go with them if only to people watch. So, we went and it wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I don't plan on going back. I found a really nice song I like from the club, so that's something good that came out of the experience.
This is the song. The song in the club was the bachata mix, but this is the normal version.
Oh, and as usual, I left something behind there when we left (my scarf). We were walking down the street headed for the churros stand at the Puente de Triana when the wind blew and I was thinking, "Man my neck is cold, what the heck..." and then I realized my scarf was still at the club. I obviously went back to get it since we hadn't even gotten like two minutes away from the club, and it was fine...just buried underneath some coats which is why I forgot it (out of sight, out of mind!). What is that, the 3rd time I left something behind in Spain? 3rd? 4th? I don't remember at this point! How am I so forgetful?? Anyway, I had a warm neck all the way to the churros stand, which is all that matters. So, then we had good ol' 2am churros before heading back home to acostarnos (to go to bed).
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| Took this screenshot off of Google maps...that little stand is where we like to get churros. Obviously this wasn't taken at 2am, though. |
BUT, on the way there, I had another "almost dead guy" incident, though. Why do these things always happen to me?? This time, I'm pretty sure they guy was dead because it didn't look like he was breathing...and some guys were beside him calling an ambulance. We didn't stick around to see what happened, but there was a crowd growing. Oh, Spaniards, always creeping...and always dying on the street?
Anway, Isis had an intercambio with some random guy who only wanted to meet one-on-one, and since that seemed sketchy, we were there to be her back up crew. At Café & Té, I got tostada which came with orange juice, and I've never had orange juice in Spain because I hate orange juice in America. It's so gross and bitter and just yuck...but since it came with my toast and since I was thirsty, I figured I'd just drink some to wash down the toast. Well, let me tell you something: orange juice in Spain is quite possibly the best orange juice in the entire world. I've never tasted such an amazing beverage. I almost cried. I also drank Genisis' orange juice too, because she didn't want it (her loss). The best part of this discovery? When I got home, I told Toni how much I love orange juice here, and the next day she bought me orange juice to have with my breakfast.
Oh, and Isis didn't die at her intercambio, so that's good, too.
Friday night, we went out to get sushi/maki, which was a lot of fun and super tasty.
Saturday morning, I met up with Genisis and Isis and we met Giulia, the JYS program director, to go to the vegan bakery. I was supposed to meet on the corner near my apartment with Genisis and Isis at 11:45, but somehow I lost major track of time and didn't leave the house until 11:47...I thought they'd be at the corner waiting for me, but they definitely weren't. So I called them and they were ALSO running late, so I felt super bad because Giulia was supposed to meet us at a different corner at 12:00, but the corner she'd be at was like 15/20 minutes away, so we met her late. Oops :/ Obviously we've been in Spain for too long (everyone's always late here). It was okay, though, and we had coffee and an assortment of things from the bakery. Super yummy, except for the strawberry cake. That was gross, which was disappointing because I love strawberry cake. My strawberry cake is better, just saying.
Then, today, Sunday, I went to meet with Mercedes again. We talked for like two hours in the park about all kinds of stuff. I learned some new vocab, like, "qué rollo" which you can use when you don't like something. I also learned that "vaca" doesn't just mean cow, but it can mean like that rack that goes on top of cars. Never knew that one! Also, she's from Málaga, and I'm going to Málaga on Friday for my birthday, so she told me some places that I should see while I'm there. I can't wait!
On my way home, I had to stop by a chino store to buy tape for my fichas (cards with your picture and basic information on it for the professors at the University), and on the way to the chino, I saw a Semana Santa ensayo (practice)! I stopped and watched the guys walk a little bit. It was really interesting to see. It looks like it takes a lot of hard work and practice to carry so much weight!
This next week will probably go by really slow since my birthday is on Friday...but I really like my new schedule, so this will probably be a good week regardless! :)
