Sick goal

They show this goal over and over on Sports Replays. It's the second one and it's soooooo sick!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

Food, Drink, and Clothes

Hola! One thing very interesting here is the food. They eat ham with everything! There are even ham flavored ruffles chips in our school's cafeteria. Coffee is also huge here which works out perfectly for me. They put so much milk in it though! We have instant coffee which is made with hot milk rather than water. It's very strange, but good. I've also been eating some sea food, which I don't love, but it's a lot more fresh here so it's not bad. The only difference is the way that they prepare things. My senora made us this dish with shrimp in it, only the shrimp was whole, with a head and outer shell! My host mom was very amused when I had no idea what to do with it. Otherwise, the food has been really delicious!
On Saturday night I went out to one of the gazillion bars here with a bunch of the ISA kids in my group. It was really chill and had a sweet atmosphere. The only thing that's annoying is all the smoke, since there aren't any laws about smoking in bars. Ick. And, almost everyone in Spain smokes cigarettes. I'm not sure why, but I see people of every age, everywhere, smoking. Everything starts so late at night, too! We didn't even go to a discoteca and still didn't get to bed until after 4:30 in the morning! There's so much night life here that's really fun. Soon I think we're going to try to find this jazz club that we've heard about.
I'm starting to get more homework, but it's still so much less than I have at school. The past week has been pretty rainy and cold but I think it's supposed to warm up soon. All the women here wear these awesome boots that don't have a heel. I keep looking for a cheap pair. There are so many fancy boutiques and at the same time so many cheap department stores. Today we went to a street market that is only open on Thursdays. There were so many booths! Some things were so cheap, like cute scarves, and clothes, and purses! I didn't buy anything, but one of the girls I was with bought a pair of cheap, awesome boots, and the other bought a scarf and jacket.
Hopefully it won't be as long till my next post.

Exploration!

Hola! Last night we had a scavenger hunt throughout the center of the city which is the older part of Valencia. There was a beautiful cathedral and some beautiful fountains. There was also this really cool marketplace. I definitely have to return to explore all the cute little shops in the plazas or cobblestone side streets. Some of the building are so ornate and beautiful. I'll have to take pics next time. At the end we all had horchata which is this really sweet ice cold drink that is soooo delicious!
Today, Jenna and I went running to the beach. It was a pretty decent run, through the park and city, that was about 3 miles each way. The beaches are amazing! But, since it's winter here, they were pretty abandoned with only some random walkers or people sitting on the beach reading. It was my first time seeing the Mediterranean Sea! And I think the water's not even as cold as Maine in the summer. It was a beautiful day. Hace mucho sol. And it had to be in the mid 60s with the sun shining on us. Everyone else was wearing thick winter coats and scarves though! It's a holiday so none of the stores are open and most people have the day off. So many of them were out walking! Running here was an interesting experience. I wore a t-shirt and shorts (it's hot!) and Jenna wore a tank top and shorts. People would stare at us in shock because we weren't all bundled up. One old woman even stopped us and asked if we were cold. And mom, we finally found the macchismo. We had guys yelling at us as we passed them. But...they were all old men. Probably the same that yelled at you many years ago. Hahaha. I think it really is a generational thing. When Franco staged a military coup in mid 1930's, he took away many women's rights, resulting in "macchismo", or cocky men yelling dirty things at the women who would pass them in the streets. People who grew up in that generation probably continued that sentiment, whereas today's youth have grown up in a democracy where Franco is infamous and his ideals are wrong.
Today I went for a walk in the park with a few people. We stopped in the skate park where tons of people had gathered. There were families teaching their kids to rollerblade, kids doing jumps on their bikes, kids throwing tires at each other while on bikes (Don't know why), and a bunch of kids break dancing. It was a really cool (spanish word for cool = guay) atmosphere. After that we took a walk down past the science museum to this HUGE bridge. Everything was all lit up and it looked really neat (see above, and look at almost invisible Jenna standing next to the insanely tall bridge).
Also. something really funny that I've noticed here is the music. For the most part, it's not even Spanish. On the news, in grocery stores, restaurants, in the park, for the most part they're random English songs, mostly from the 90s. The dancing kids in the park were listening to old rap songs, like "It takes Two" and "Insane in the Membrane". It's so weird! We know the words to their music better than them!

Mas en Valencia!

Hola! I'm having so much fun here! I've been exploring the city some more and I love it. Valencia is far less touristy than Madrid and Toledo were. This means that people don't immediately switch to speaking in english when they hear your awful accent in just responding with "hola". It also means cheaper prices. Food is equivalent in price to the united states, but in Euros, which are actually 1.5 times the U.S. dollar. So, we've been looking around for cheap markets and stores. Today we found many rebajas (sales) and bought some cute clothes. The cheapest stores are "tiendas de chinos," which basically means that they're owned by Asians. I'm not sure why this is, but saying "Chinos" somehow seems politically incorrect. Haha. We also went to the supermercado and bought some chocolate, water, and fanta limon! Fanta limon is really delicious and isn't available in the United States for some reason. The Coke here is also way better than the U.S., I think because they use real sugar. Sometimes, you can even find it in glass bottles. Basically the only things here that are cheaper than the United States are water, which was .25 euros for about half a gallong of water (conversion = about 39 cents U.S.), and wine and beer. Otherwise, everything is kind of expensive. Foodwise though, everything is way more fresh than the United States. We've had clementines that were grown here and they were so good. I've even had some fish, which I usually don't like, and it's actually good here since they live right on the coast. My senora goes to the market everyday to get fresh food, rather than taking one big trip to the grocery store each week like we do. It's definitely healthier.
One other big difference here is how people socialize. People don't go over to each others' houses to hang out. The home is reserved for family. Instead, friends meet up at cafes or bars after class, or after comida (lunch), or dinner (which usually ends after 10). Stores are open until like 9 o'clock at night, but closed from about 2-5. This whole difference in times means that after dinner when people meet up with their friends, they stay out really late...sometimes even 7 in the morning. I'm not sure how people can do this and then wake up early the next day, unless the secret is a siesta during the long lunch break.
I've now had all of my classes. My spanish cinema class is really fun. We watched this really weird 17 minute movie called The Dog of Andalusia (a translation). It was very strange, but pretty interesting. There weren't any words, which helps. Our professor is also really funny. He's taught us a few spanish swears, as well as the history of Spain in the 1900s. It's really interesting and he's muy gracioso. I also had grammar which won't be all the thrilling but the teacher is nice and seems like she'll try to make grammar fun...if it's possible. Today I had my first Avant garde class. I love the professor. She talkes so quickly but really clearly and in words I understand so I'm able to understand her easily, even though it's really fast! She seems like she'll be a lot of fun and I think her class will be really interesting. Later we have a scavenger hunt throughout the center of the city for ISA so that should be exciting. We also have tomorrow off for Dia de San Vincente and there are going to be fireworks! Hasta luego!

First day of class!

Last night I had my first dinner made by my senora. It was muy deliciosa! She made Jenna (my roommate) and me pumpkin soup that way so so so amazing. Then we had tortillas espanolas which have eggs and potatoes. It was also really good. Today we also had a placement exam and got to meet our teachers. I'm in advanced so all of my classes will be taught in spanish. Ahhhh! I'm taking:
-The avant guard in Literature, Painting and Film
-Spanish Cinema
-Spanish Culture: History, Art and Tradition
-Spanish Grammar.
My class schedule is way different from the United States. In Spain, there's classes and office hours for all businesses in the morning. Then, everyone has lunch at about 2:30 and everything closes from about 2 to 4:30. Then everything reopens. So I have one class that's at 6:00pm! I had my first class today and it was really interesting. I was actually able to pick up on most of what the professor was saying. I had Spanish Culture. One thing he talked about what was the difference in meal schedules. This goes back to the luch schedule. Even crazier to me is that dinner in mi casa is served at 9:30pm. I'm starving by then! Lunch is the biggest meal but there's a huge gap between it and dinner. During the gap, many people head to bars with friends where they enjoy "tapas" with a drink. Tapas are a variety of snack foods that are cooked and are really good. However, when one doesn't consume tapas, one becomes starved between lunch and dinner. Hopefully my stomach can adjust to the spanish food culture. Having a big lunch is supposed to be better than having a big dinner after all.
My spanish is continuing to improve and I'm using it more because I have to with my host mother...and to listen in class. Also today, me and a few other girls from the ISA program decided to explore a little bit. We went through the parque which goes through almost all of the city and used to be a river. Many parts are beautiful but a lot are under construction and kind of messy. Jenna and I are planning on going running there. There was also this huge playground modeled after Gulliver's Travels where you get to climb like a Lilliputian all over this gigantic person with crazy slides and stairs. It didn't really look all that safe for actual children, so I may have played around on it. We also walked down to the ultra modern science building and aquarium. The buildings are gorgeous and so different and interesting. The weather here is fantastic. It's been in the mid 50s which is winter here so everyone is bundled up. It's incredibly warm for me for january though, especially when you're walking everywhere...which is what we do. Thus far I have a lot more to see and learn about Valencia but so far I love it. The new buildings are beautiful and modern while the old ones are beautiful in a completely different way. There is a much greater contrast in the new world vs. old world than in Madrid. It's warm and when it gets warmer I'll be going to the beach that's nearby! The city itself is much bigger than I'm used to but it's a nice change from Barre and Oneonta. There's also a huge soccer stadium right near my school! it's for the Valencian team and I'm sure that I will go see a game. Until next time, hasta luego.

Madrid y Toledo

Hola! I'm in Spain now! For the past three days I've been in Madrid and Toledo. Madrid was really cool. It's a huge city and we ended up walking around most of it...kind of exhausting. We went to see the Prado which is a museum of Spanish painters like El Greco and Goya. The art was amazing. After that we saw the Palacia Royal, which is where Spanish royalty used to live. It was amazing. There were different rooms for the Kings to eat breakfast, put on shoes, get dressed, smoke, etc. Each room was decorated with gold and gorgeous decorations. Me and a few people in our group also visited LaPlaza Mayor, which is the main plaza in Madrid. There are so many stores and alleys off of it with brick streets and old style buildings. All of the buildings are so ornate! Even the stores are in really old elaborate buildings and some of the discotecas are in old churches! There are so many parques with beautiful statues. It's such a modern city but there are so many old world touches that add charm.
After that, we went to Toledo. It's a lot of Cesky Krumlov from the Prague J term trip. It's this big circular city with brick streets and all old buildings. There's also a huge gothic cathedral and other insane buildings. There were all of these narrow roads in the town that could only fit one car at a time and an old Roman aquaduct. There's also a winding road around that city that gave us some amazing views! Toledo's famous for its swords and I guess they even designed the swords for Lord of the Rings. There were lots of cute little shops but there were so many tourists.
The people in my group are really cool. Our group leaders only talk to us in spanish, which can be difficult to understand sometime. This is especially because of the spanish accent with the soft s and t that sounds like "th". They also use vosotros a lot, which I've learned the conjugation for but never really used since most of my spanish teachers have been from South America. The other students and I have started doing this strange thing where we talk in english to each other and then one of us will switch to spanish and the rest of us will just start talking in spanish and then someone will just switch back and we all will. It's very strange but kind of cool since we're all at a similar level. Being here has helped me realize how bad my spanish actually is. I feel like I have no idea how to say something the way I want to. The way I figure out to say it is formal and definitely not the way the locals talk. However, my listening comprehension has improved a lot.
Today we arrived in Valencia and I got to meet my host mother. She's really nice and speaks slowly and simply so that we're able to understand her. We watched some dramatic spanish movie that was on tv and she noted that one of the actresses in it was on one of her favorite tv shows, "mujeres desperadas." So I bonded with her over Desperate Housewives! The apartment we're living in is pretty small, but it's not bad. It's really close to the insanely awesome modern science museum and aquarium. She has a little dog that's really cute and an old cat. So far this has been very exciting but pretty difficult. Getting internet has been very difficult but hopefully soon I'll have everything figured out!