Extracurricular fun

Alright so I know that this semester abroad was supposed to give me a chance to relax and maybe not be as busy as I always am at Stonehill. At the same time, I am still the same person that I have always been and I do not do well with free time. Therefore, I have found some things to keep me busy during my semester here and I think they will be more enriching than stressful. So, I figured I’d share all of these fun extracurricular updates with you all in list form!

1.       Flamenco dance classes – Loving dance as much as I do, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take dance classes here. Brittany, Sarah, Naomi, and I have signed up to take 8 flamenco classes with Ana who is a wonderful and fun teacher. We started two weeks ago and have already taken four classes. We have started by learning the Sevillana and it has been going really well, we have finished the choreography and hopefully tomorrow in class we will impress Ana with our skills! Also, during class this past Wednesday we learned how to play the castanets which are waaay harder to learn than they seem (especially if you have zero musical talent like me). Wednesday’s class was a bit frustrating since we focused on the castanets which were difficult to me as opposed to dancing which I pick up quickly. Anywho, it was still cool and I’m sure by the end of the classes my castanet skills will improve. Here’s a fun video to show you some flamenco dancing and people playing castanets. I believe the first dance that they do is the Sevillana which I am learning.

2.      Fútbol – This past Tuesday we were informed that every Tuesday until the end of the semester we will be playing soccer. Upon hearing this I was not thrilled; why can’t the Spanish be obsessed with a sport that requires hand coordination as opposed to foot coordination which I am lacking? But I was happily surprised when I actually had a great time playing soccer this week. This week it was just the nine of us in our group plus Teresa and two Spanish guys, Pablo and David who are actually legitimately good at playing soccer and showed us all up but Teresa said throughout the semester we will have more Spanish friends to play with! I think this will be a good opportunity to stay active, relieve a little stress, and get to meet more Spanish people! This week I took a little tumble and scraped my knee a bit but I am ok and am hoping my wound heals quickly and that I won’t injure myself again for the rest of the semester (fingers crossed). Overall, I was happily surprised by the soccer experience.

3.      Iglesia San Francisco – As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I have been going to mass at a church across the street from my house called Iglesia San Francisco. I decided in a personal effort to meet more Spanish people my own age and get involved in some sort of community here outside of the school that I would try to get involved in the church. Lucky for me, last Sunday after mass there was a girl handing out flyers about activities that go on in the church. I spoke with her asking how I could get involved/meet other young people in the parish and she invited me to an oración on Thursday night. On Thursday I returned to the church and met up with Maria. The oración was really beautiful and peaceful. Everyone, young and old, gathered in the basement of the church and read scripture and prayed and sang praise and worship songs and it was really just a great and peaceful time. Afterwards, Maria introduced me to a woman who was in charge of youth ministry and she told me of some other ways to get involved and Maria introduced me to her friends. They all seem really nice and invited me to go back next week and to join what I am assuming is their form of youth group which begins in two weeks or so. I am really looking forward to getting more involved in the church and getting to meet more Spanish people my age. All of the girls seemed really nice and I’m proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and approaching Maria to get more information and meet more people.

4.      Intercambio – This semester as part of our program, all of us are getting intercambio partners who are Spanish people who are learning English and who are going to help us with our Spanish. The idea is to meet once a week and talk for an hour in Spanish and then an hour in English so that we both can improve in our respective languages of study. On Thursday I met my intercambio, Alba who is 21 and lives here in Granada. She is super nice and two of her friends are also intercambios with Brian and Naomi and so aside from just meeting one on one I think we’ll also be meeting as a group to do stuff together. It’s really cool not only to have someone to work on my Spanish with but also to have a Spanish friend who knows fun things to do around the city. Alba and I met on Saturday for coffee and chatted in Spanish and she told me next week we’ll work on English although she did say she was a little shy because she thinks my Spanish is better than her English. I really doubt that but I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to help her out and also to have her help me improve my Spanish!

So, although I am going to get busy with school soon when official classes start in two weeks, I am really excited about all of these other activities that I have planned outside of class. I feel like in three weeks I’ve already seen my Spanish improve in all facets and I know that finding involvement in ‘the real world’ outside of the classroom will just improve my skills even more and I’m sure make me love Spain even more than I already do (if that’s even possible). Lately I have talked to so many people from home who just say to me, “You look like you’re so happy” which is really great to hear because I am having a great time. I have my days where I miss home or I get frustrated/discouraged with the Spanish or whatever but I know that I’m going to grow and learn so much this semester and I’m really looking forward to what the next three months have in store for me. This week ahead is full of preparation for Thursday’s placement test so please send positive brain waves my way and I’ll be sure to update you all soon! xoxo

I am quite possibly the worst blogger ever...

I am fully aware that I am quite possibly the worst blogger ever. My apologies for not updating the blog as frequently as I would like. Sometimes, reliving your day via blog is exhausting but anyways, I am going to do my best to update you all on some fun things that have happened since I last posted. WARNING: This is going to be a long post that probably only my mom will read but I peppered in some pics for those of you who just want to browse.

After a wonderful first weekend, it was time for things to really get started. Monday (9/5) we took our first placement exam and started our intensive course. I placed into a level 5 out of 10 and Amalia thinks that I can be at a level 6 or 7 by the end of the intensive course so I’ll definitely be doing a lot of studying for the upcoming placement exam. The intensive course is a lot of grammatical review so that we can be prepared to take our four regular semester courses in Spanish and to just overall improve our skills. We do written and oral exercises all of which have definitely been a huge help!

Tuesday (9/6) we had class in the morning and then in the afternoon we returned to the Albaícin and went to a Tetería. A Tetería is just like a Cafeteria except you get tea instead of cafe (coffee). It was a really cool place and they had a ton of different tea flavors to try. Definitely a place I plan on returning to when it gets a bit colder here!

Thursday (9/8) we took our first official class field trip to Capilla Real and the Catedral. The Catedral is located in the center of Granada and is just an absolutely stunning building inside and out. With Amalia as our guide, we learned about the history and stories about the Catedral and the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel are buried). As our first official class field trip this I had a lot of fun and feel like I learned a ton. Bonus for this being one of the most beautiful buildings ever!

 
Friday (9/9) instead of class we went to a museum (we go to a lot of museums). Also, Friday night was my first ever Spanish discoteca experience. Let us note that the Spanish live on a crazy schedule. According to them there are two days, one in the morning until lunch at 2:30 and then another post-siesta at like 5 pm. Thus, they deem it appropriate to be out until all hours of the madrugada (new vocab word meaning, very early morning i.e. midnight-the sun comes up). Therefore, no one in Spain really goes to discotecas until like 2 or 3 in the morning. Since we are not yet full-fledged Spainards, we went around 1 but still didn’t return home until about 4 am which for me, is clearly well past my bedtime however we had so much fun dancing and singing with a beautiful view of the Alhambra in the background – super guay.

Sunday (9/11) we hiked the Sierra Nevadas which sounds like a really cool experience and in hindsight was a really cool experience except for the fact that I was essentially miserable for 75% of the hike which was very hilly and on a path which was covered in slippery rocks. Our guide, Paco was hardcore and would just venture off the path and say “hey guys let’s just go down the side of this hill where there are prickly bushes and no path so just you know, slide down.” Alright, I’ll stop complaining but seriously, some parts of this hike were kind of absurd but no worries, I really did have fun. Especially because the shining light at the end of this hike in the Sierra Nevadas was a trip to the Baños Arabes. The Baños Arabes is an old Arabic bathhouse that has been converted into a type of spa. Essentially, you go in and change into your bathing suit and there are three pools of different temperatures: one that’s really cold, one that’s like a hot tub, and the other that is like normal bath water. So basically you venture through these different pools, drink some very good tea, and go in the sauna until your number is called. Then, you get to get an awesome massage. My description doesn’t really even do the baños any justice but it is such a cool place and I definitely plan to return and anyone who is thinking about visiting – you must go!

 Finally, at the top (well, almost).

Aerial view of Granada (I seem to have a lot of these)

So now, fast-forward to Wednesday (9/14) when we went to the most famous thing in all of Granada – the Alhambra! The Alhambra is essentially a royal city within Granada where the Arab kings lived and it has unbelievable architecture and decoration. Also, part of the Alhambra called the Generalife is this huge garden that has flowers all year round. This of course, made me think of you, Mom, so I took lots of pictures of flowers for you – they’ll be on Facebook soon. So, instead of going into detail about la Alhambra, I will let the pictures speak for themselves - sorry for the many awk solo shots.

 Just peekin' out of bushes in Generalife

 A patio in Generalife

incredible detail - this is on the walls/ceiling of basically ever single room in the Alhambra

 view of Granada from the top of Alcazaba

 All of the girls!

So, here we are – officially three weeks into my semester in Spain and I am really having a blast. There is so much to see/do and I’m having such cool new experiences every day. There is so much more to see and explore and I will do my best to update you all much more frequently! All of my love to friends & family back in the States! xoxo



First Weekend in Spain

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while but here's an overview of how I spent my first weekend here in Spain (with pictures)!

Saturday morning was uneventful, I slept late (I thought I had overcome jetlag but even five days in, I don’t think my body has fully adjusted; still very tired!) and had lunch with Belen and Adriana and spent the morning/afternoon at home. Later that afternoon we all met up with Teresa and walked to a part of the city called the Albaicín. This is the neighborhood next to the Alhambra. It is full of hills and lots of steps and small tiny roads that cars should not be going down (like many of the streets here in Granada) but nonetheless, beautiful. As we walked up we had an incredible view of the Alhambra as well as the entire city! Here are a few pictures from the trip.

 La Alhambra on the walk up.

 Another view of la Alhambra from higher up.

 First (very) awkward solo shot of the semester. This is at the end of our walk up to the top of the Albaicin.

 On our way back down. The Albaicin is a really cool area but there is a serious problem with graffiti there. Here's a shot of some steps we went down on our way back. Super guay! (very cool!)

A view of Granada.

The walk up through the Albaicín was very cool and the sights were beautiful but it was quite a hike and my legs were most definitely sore for a while afterwards!

In Spain, Sunday is a day for rest which means that basically all of the stores and stuff are closed and people just spend the day at home. However, since we knew the weather would be beautiful, Brittany, Kelsey and I decided to go to Alumuñecar to go to the beach! First, in the morning, we went to mass at the Iglesia San Francisco which is right across the street from my house. Belen recommended it to me and so we decided to go. It was certainly an experience. I had difficulty really understanding any of the readings/much of what went on due to the fact that it was all in Spanish. But, I did the best I could to follow along. Also, there was no singing at this mass which was kind of disappointing because that is one of my favorite parts and so it only lasted 30 minutes. I am definitely looking forward to returning and hope that by December I can more or less follow the whole mass!

After mass, we took a bus to the Granada bus station and once there bought our tickets and spent about an hour on the bus to Alumuñecar. I was a little aprehensive about the whole bus thing because we were basically on our own trying to figure it all out but luckily it was much easier than I anticipated and our travels went flawlessly. Alumuñecar is a pretty touristy area but it was still a great place to spend such a beautiful day. Here is one of the four pictures I managed to take at the beach:

Overall, I had a relaxing and enjoyable first weekend in Spain and I'm looking forward to the many more to come! 

Aventuras en la ciudad

 Today was the first official day of our program. This morning Belen walked me to la Fuente de las Batallas (fountain of the battles) where I met Amalia and the other GRIIS students. There are nine of us in all which is a great size. We then walked to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (CLM) where we will be taking our intensive Spanish class for the next three weeks. At the CLM we got our Blackberry’s (yippee!) and also talked about Spanish norms. Here are a few things I learned:

1.       You should not walk barefoot in your house (Strike 1. Did that yesterday because I saw my host mom walking barefoot but I was wearing socks, not sure if that counts. Today, I have kept my sandals on the whole time.)

2.      The Spanish like to stare at people in the streets (I’m sure this is especially true when you’re American)

3.      You do not have to tip waiters (yay!)

4.      The Spanish do not stop for pedestrians (which was evidenced by when Brittany almost got hit by a taxi.)

5.      The Spanish finish everything on their plates at meal times (it is rude to throw food away). (Strike 2. There is always so much food and I can’t ever seem to finish it!)

Afterwards I walked home by myself and didn’t get lost! That was probably the proudest moment of my day. I had the biggest lunch ever (probably like ¼ of a chicken and potatoes and bread, very good!). I’m still not getting used to the portion sizes here but I did manage to finish my very large lunch. It’s strange though, I have yet to really feel hungry since I’ve been here and so eating large meals has been a challenge.

After lunch I had plenty of time before our meeting at 7:30 so I met up with Brittany and Kelsey and we walked around the city, getting familiar with the area and exploring the shops. (Side note: I live right around the corner from one of the main streets of the city which has tons of shopping. I’m looking forward to having time to do a little shopping although I keep reminding myself that I need to pace myself). We also stopped at Café Fútbol where we sat and chat. We then met up with Teresa and the rest of the group for our evening tour of Granada.

Teresa showed us around the city, stopping at various landmarks to explain the importance and also give us a sense of where we were in the city. I honestly can’t remember any of the names of the three or four plazas we stopped in (information overload) but it was helpful to explore a new part of the city and have some reference points. We did get to walk by the cathedral which we will be visiting later in the week and it was absolutely beautiful. Right next to it is this beautiful little church. I’m hoping I might be able to attend mass there on Sunday which occurs a las medias (new phrase I learned today meaning at the half hours i.e. 11:30, 12:30, 1:30.) I didn’t have a chance to take many pictures because I was just trying to take it all in but I’m hoping to return later this weekend to get in some good shots of the city.

After our little tour Teresa took us out for our first tapas experience! In Granada, anywhere you order a drink (even just soda) they bring you out free tapas. The bar we went to served great tapas! Also, for all my friends at the Hill, you will be proud to hear that I had my first drink ever tonight in Granada, whoo! For curious minds it was a tinto de verano (red wine with lemonade mixed in, I think). Anyways, it was very good and mom, I did discover that real wine tastes different than the wine they serve in church however, it did have a familiar tint…

Overall, I am starting to feel really comfortable here in Granada and I’m having a great time. There is so much to see and do and I can’t wait to get out and explore more parts of the city. I’m trying to set a few goals for myself for my semester here and two that I have for this upcoming week are to 1) attempt to take a different route home each day and 2) speak Spanish as much as possible (especially with the other American students as it is super easy to revert back to English).  I’m looking forward to what the weekend will hold and will do my best to post some pics soon!

Como se dice "freaking out?"

As of 2 pm this afternoon I have safely made it to my home stay in Granada! However, it is safe to say that this did not occur without a minor strike of panic.

When I wrote my last post in the Madrid airport I was feeling great; kind of nervous but overall, feeling ok and ready to go. I had left Boston and made it to Spain. I was ok, despite how unreal it still felt that I was no longer in America. I slept the entire plane ride to Granada waking up in time to peek out the window during the landing. Here's where the panic starts. First of all, in that moment, I realized that as soon as I got off the plane, it was a lot of Spanish, all the time and I wasn't just on vacation, I was here to stay. The whole study abroad experience was actually real and that was kind of scary. Secondly, as we approached the ground, I saw a lot of trees and open space; not much of anything resembling this city I was to be spending the next four months in.

After disembarking from the plane and claiming my luggage with my two new GRIIS friends from BC, we met Teresa (assistant director of the GRIIS program) who was to bring us to our home stays. We got on a bus (not what any of us were expecting) and as we made our way into the city, Teresa gave us our folders with a schedule and a map of the city. She drew on little dots to indicate each of our new homes and told us to pay attention because after tomorrow (Friday) morning, we are essentially on our own; great...

Throughout the entire bus ride, Brittany (GRIIS student from BC who I met at Boston Logan Airport) and I chatted about our nerves and general opinions of Granada. Teresa chatted with us, telling us things about city and some of what to expect. Between our nervous conversations (most of which regarded the overwhelming map we were just handed and the fact that we felt like we couldn't remember any Spanish) Brittany and I asked Teresa questions. My personal favorite of the day was when Brittany looked at Teresa and said, "Como se dice 'freaking out?'" (hence the title of this post). In my mind, this was a totally valid question. I was freaking out - were the just going to drop my off at the bus stop and let me fend for myself? Would my host mom be nice/like me? Would I actually remember how to speak Spanish? Would I ever be able to find my away around this city? In response to our question, Teresa just laughed telling us there was really no direct translation for such a phrase and telling us that we had no need to worry, we would be fine.

Obviously, she was right. I was the first of the three GRIIS students to get off the bus. Teresa helped me gather my luggage and Amalia (director the GRIIS program) and Belen (my host mom) were at the bus stop to pick me up. I greeted them both and then Belen and I took a taxi to my new home on la Camina de Ronda. Belen's apartment is nice, it has a living room/dining room, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small kitchen. I was given a small room in the back of the house next to the kitchen. It's nice and quiet and I think it will be a nice place to come home to. Belen has three children; her two oldest sons are married with two children each and her youngest, her daughter, lives with her en la Camina de Ronda. When we arrived, Belen's daughter-in-law was here with two of her grandchildren. It was nice to meet them and get settled. We had lunch around 2:30 and then I went back to my room to unpack and rest. I ended up sleeping for three hours since I was still incredibly jet lagged and worked on unpacking all of my belongings (which may or may not all fit in the drawers I have been provided - we'll see how the rest of the unpacking goes). We had dinner which consisted of a sort of grilled ham and cheese sandwich at about 9:30 pm. Getting used to these new foods, big late lunches, and small late dinners will be interesting but Belen assures me that within a week, I will be used to my new schedule, new foods, new living arrangements, etc.

I also forgot to mention that I'm staying alone with Belen's and her daughter. Originally, I was supposed to have a house mate but she unfortunately had to drop out of the program at the last minute. As bummed as I am not to have a fellow American my age here, I am hoping that this will give me an opportunity to more fully immerse myself in Spanish life and the Spanish language and form a close relationship with my host family. I know this little challenge will benefit me in the long run.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to explore the city at all today but I am very much looking forward to our first orientation tomorrow morning. I know I am going to have the time of my life here in these next few months and I'm trying really hard to stay positive, live in the moment, and take it all in. Here's to hoping that day one is a success and leaves me with many more stories to share!

Airport Adventures

Hello from Madrid! I have made it safely through my first flight and since I have another two or three hours to wait until my flight to Granada, I wanted to take this time to finally start my blog. And, lucky for you all, my adventures through Logan Airport and the flight to Madrid left me with a few interesting tales.

First off, for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of packing four months worth of clothing into two suitcases and a backpack, please note that it is harder than it sounds. As I finished up my last minute packing on Wednesday morning (the day of departure; I’m sure this last minute packing is a surprise to none) I was quite pleased with myself. I filled my one large suitcase, one carry on suitcase, and small North Face backpack with everything I thought I would need in the coming months abroad and still managed to leave a lot behind. In my mind, I had done a successful job packing only the essentials. We finally loaded up the car and drove down to Boston, not without getting a little confused with all of the signage at the airport as we tried to figure out where to park. Once in line we chatted with the friendly families of two other study abroaders headed for Barcelona, one of whose sister went to Stonehill (small world!). But, the real fun begins as we get to the counter.

Although I had done my best to pack reasonably, we knew without a doubt that we would be paying the additional €60 fee for my overweight luggage. Little did we know that I would be so grossly over the 23 kilo weight limit. After struggling to lug my large suitcase onto the scale the  weight flashes on the screen: 35.8 kilos. Whoops. Apparently, even though we paid the additional fee for my “heavy” (as marked on my luggage with a bright orange tag) suitcase, I was still only allowed 32 kilos maximum. So, we open up my luggage right there in the front of the check-in station with an absurdly long line of people looking on (probably laughing; I was too busy to notice) and started shifting things around. As embarrassing as it was, we succeeded after two tries and my bag proudly wore its HEAVY tag all the way down the conveyor belt. Needless to say, there is no way I’m making it home in January without purchasing another piece of checked luggage.

My flight to Madrid had plenty other study abroaders which made traveling alone more comforting. I also found kind men to help me lift my now quite heavy carry on suitcase into and out of the overhead bin. The flight was otherwise uneventful (thankfully) although the time change has confused my schedule a bit. We were served dinner at about 8 pm and then I slept for about two and half hours before the lights came back on and we were being served breakfast (at 11 pm EST). I felt the need to tell these people at Iberia that just because there is a time change does not mean that two hours of sleep is sufficient or that I need to eat breakfast at 11 pm. Regardless, here I am, in Madrid, doing well and strangely awake at 10 am (4 am EST).

The lack of English is as overwhelming as I supposed it would be although I have been able to mostly keep to myself this morning. Hopefully by the time I reach Granada I will gain a bit more confidence and comfort. But for now, I must check to see if a gate has been posted for my next flight. I will do my best to update you all once I arrive in Granada and begin my semester of adventures.

Sending all of my love back to The States! xoxo - Stephanie