Spanish men have a notorious stereotype for being really...um, flirtatious. And it's kind of true. I can't really be completely sure because I'm mostly around engineers all day, and that drastically changes the stereotype. But, for the most part, if a guy wants you, you'll know! That being said, catcalls are sort of normal here. And now that I'm wearing sundresses, skirts, and cute, summer-y outfits, they've pretty much multiplied.
Wolf whistles happen a lot. The first time it happened I was confused and was like, "what? Me??" But then I realized I was the only girl around, so yes, it was for me. After that, you just learn to ignore the various types of whistles. Still weird, though. I thought this stuff only happened in movies or cartoons!
Another common word has been "guapa," which translates to "beautiful," "good-looking," or "sexy." The first time I heard that, I almost laughed out loud to myself because it was so amusingly similar to catcalls in English. Like, the most common phrase that uses "guapa" translates to "hey, sexy!"
The weird part is, these are directed at me, and it is SO BIZARRE. I dress pretty conservatively too, so it's like, "what the heck dude, I'm wearing a turtleneck today!!" It sure makes you feel awful sometimes, though. I haven't gotten anything really dirty yet. But still, some of the looks they give you make you just want to go home and take a shower because you could practically SEE their thoughts! Ugh...
Either way, the best way to avoid it is to button your cardigan up all the way and ignore any "anda guapa" 's til you get to school. I can't let it bug me too much because it's just the way things are here! ...And, actually, it's one of the only things I won't miss about Spain.
More to come later about Kruse's and my trip to Toledo! We got gelato and saw fish jumping up a waterfall, so that tells you about how epic it was. Miss you all!
Ariel
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Life Lessons, Learned in Spain
I've been thinking lately about what I've gained from studying abroad and choosing Spain. I used to worry because studying here is putting me back another semester at U of I, so I'll graduate in 4.5, if not 5 semesters (depending on how the Aerospace classes work.) But I figured out that what I've changed in ways that would not have changed if I had stayed in the USA. So, I came up with this list of ways I've grown.
The first thing is independence! Ohhhh my gosh, independence. If I thought I was independent at U of I, oh man was I wrong! I don't know if I can describe it correctly but, to me, Madrid, Spain is the real world. Not that college in the states isn't the real world, it's just so pre-structured for us. Right now, everything is up to me. I have to figure out which metro tickets I need, pay my bills, book my own hostels, figure out how to get to other cities I want to visit, and the list goes on and on. It's so hard to explain it, but I have so many more responsibilities here, and I'm okay with that :)
Courage. I didn't have a lot of courage when I came here. Actually, I was kind of scared of everything and I just didn't realize it until later. Two months ago, if I had seen a crowded Spanish bar with no free tables and only standing room at the bar, I wouldn't have gone in. But I've learned to just go stand up at the bar and order something. Some of the most delicious tapas I've ever had were at bars like that! I don't have to muster up the courage anymore; I just do it. And, it was really intimidating and scary at first to ask a store clerk something in Spanish, but now I've learned to swallow my pride and just ask in the best way I can. If I get confused about what they say, I can just ask and there's nothing lost. Overall I've just become a braver person. Haha, well, that's not to say I would go bungee-jumping off a bridge or something, (not exactly my cup of tea,) but I know I'm much, much more courageous.
Strength. Somedays, it feels like the world is out to get me, and it would be easy to just sit down and cry and whine. It's okay to cry sometimes, but then you wipe your tears and move on. Like, there will always be mean people that make me feel sad that I have to talk to on a daily basis, but I've grown to be a lot more resilient to the things they say. Now I'm a lot stronger when it comes to the things those people say, and I don't take it seriously or let it affect me anymore. I will just say very generally that this was a hard lesson to learn for me, and if we've been talking, you'll know what I mean. But, now that I'm getting stronger, it's so much easier to get over the sad, frustrating moments in life, and that makes me a lot happier.
The most important lesson I've learned is to be positive all the time. If something bad happens here, it's easy to let it ruin my day, but come on, I'm studying abroad in Europe! Nothing should be able to ruin my experience. So, I always think of something positive about the situation, no matter how bad it is. Actually, doing that always makes me feel a lot better, and then I forget about the bad things before I even know it! I'm definitely going to keep it up when I come back to U of I. It makes me feel like a whole new person sometimes.
So, those are the biggest lessons I've learned here! Sorry this was such a sappy self-discovery blog, but I mean, I hope someone reads this and reconsiders studying abroad if they weren't going to before. Like, not only have I had the coolest experience living, studying, and partying in Europe, but I've learned some really awesome life lessons too. I'm coming back a different person!
The first thing is independence! Ohhhh my gosh, independence. If I thought I was independent at U of I, oh man was I wrong! I don't know if I can describe it correctly but, to me, Madrid, Spain is the real world. Not that college in the states isn't the real world, it's just so pre-structured for us. Right now, everything is up to me. I have to figure out which metro tickets I need, pay my bills, book my own hostels, figure out how to get to other cities I want to visit, and the list goes on and on. It's so hard to explain it, but I have so many more responsibilities here, and I'm okay with that :)
Courage. I didn't have a lot of courage when I came here. Actually, I was kind of scared of everything and I just didn't realize it until later. Two months ago, if I had seen a crowded Spanish bar with no free tables and only standing room at the bar, I wouldn't have gone in. But I've learned to just go stand up at the bar and order something. Some of the most delicious tapas I've ever had were at bars like that! I don't have to muster up the courage anymore; I just do it. And, it was really intimidating and scary at first to ask a store clerk something in Spanish, but now I've learned to swallow my pride and just ask in the best way I can. If I get confused about what they say, I can just ask and there's nothing lost. Overall I've just become a braver person. Haha, well, that's not to say I would go bungee-jumping off a bridge or something, (not exactly my cup of tea,) but I know I'm much, much more courageous.
Strength. Somedays, it feels like the world is out to get me, and it would be easy to just sit down and cry and whine. It's okay to cry sometimes, but then you wipe your tears and move on. Like, there will always be mean people that make me feel sad that I have to talk to on a daily basis, but I've grown to be a lot more resilient to the things they say. Now I'm a lot stronger when it comes to the things those people say, and I don't take it seriously or let it affect me anymore. I will just say very generally that this was a hard lesson to learn for me, and if we've been talking, you'll know what I mean. But, now that I'm getting stronger, it's so much easier to get over the sad, frustrating moments in life, and that makes me a lot happier.
The most important lesson I've learned is to be positive all the time. If something bad happens here, it's easy to let it ruin my day, but come on, I'm studying abroad in Europe! Nothing should be able to ruin my experience. So, I always think of something positive about the situation, no matter how bad it is. Actually, doing that always makes me feel a lot better, and then I forget about the bad things before I even know it! I'm definitely going to keep it up when I come back to U of I. It makes me feel like a whole new person sometimes.
So, those are the biggest lessons I've learned here! Sorry this was such a sappy self-discovery blog, but I mean, I hope someone reads this and reconsiders studying abroad if they weren't going to before. Like, not only have I had the coolest experience living, studying, and partying in Europe, but I've learned some really awesome life lessons too. I'm coming back a different person!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Semana Santa
So many things to update on!! I've been so busy for the last few weeks studying for exams like a nut. I mean, if you think Thermodynamics and Circuits would be hard to understand in English, try it in Spanish!! Yikes! I had my last exam Wednesday morning so now I can finally relax, thank goodness.I still haven't explained my Semana Santa ("Holy Week,") even though it was forever ago; it was amazing and memorable. I went with my aunt and uncle to Sevilla, which is famous for its processions during Holy Week. We also took a day trip to Cordoba and visited Italica on the way out of Sevilla, finally ending the trip in Toledo.
First of all, I think Sevilla has got to be my favorite out of all the Spanish cities I've visited. It was just beautiful, quaint, and just so perfect all around! Since it's further south in Spain, it was warmer there, and there were orange trees everywhere, especially planted along the street. During Holy Week, the orange blossoms were finally blooming, and oh my gosh, I have never smelled a prettier smell. It's hard to describe, but it definitely didn't smell like an orange. It was more like this gorgeous, sweet floral scent, the kind that gets carried on the breeze so you smell it everywhere you go. So the city smelled beautiful, and it looked beautiful too. All the buildings and narrow streets were so authentically awesome; definitely something you don't see in Madrid.
Altogether, I explored the cathedral (3rd largest by volume in the world,) the Alcazar, the Alcazar Gardens, the riverwalk, and all kinds of little streets and places. I even saw a flamenco show. Kruse was there for a few days so we met up and went to the cathedral and belltower together, and wow, those were amazing. I even went to Palm Sunday mass in the cathedral and I understood everything!! The cathedral is home to all kinds of incredible things, like the tombs of Cervantes (author of Don Quijote) and Christopher Columbus, yes THAT Christopher Columbus!!!! It was amazing, but now I go around comparing other incredible churches to it...woops.
The best part, which I've already kind of talked about a little, were the gardens of the Alcazar. I could have spent days there, and I'm not even kidding about that. If you know me, you know I love flowers and gardens, and this was just heaven. Right now I'm holding myself back from putting like 100 pictures here on my blog, because I really want to! On Tuesday, I had the siesta time free to go wherever I wanted, so I explored the entire garden and got to sit on a bench on this beautiful terrace and just think. There is no better feeling than that, let m
e tell you.
Cordoba was amazing too. Their Mezquita, an old old old cathedral, has been there for at least a thousand years! I got to try Gazpacho there (a cold soup) and it was really good.
One of the coolest parts of the trip was Italica, or the old Roman ruins outside of Sevilla. The Romans founded it in about 206 BC while they were conquering various other Iberian cities, and the modern Spanish city close to it, Santiponce, has been excavating it for the past 230 years. We got to see the amphitheater, incredible mosaic floors, the old public baths, and so many more incredible things. I am absolutely in love with archeology so you can imagine how cool I thought this was!
Overall, it was an awesome break. I'm leaving out so many details because I feel like I write novels for every blog! Keep an eye out for pictures on facebook and another blog this week. See you all later!
Ariel
PS, Today is April 25th, the perfect date! It's not too hot, and it's not too cold, all you need is a light jacket! ;)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Adventures in El Escorial
I'm still in Sevilla, but I found some internet again to update you guys! I have a lot to add since I missed 2 weeks of updates.
Let's see, where did I leave off?
I got back from Las Fallas on a Saturday night, so my Sunday was free. Luckily, I'd heard that Matt the Mellophone was in town for the weekend! Matt is studying abroad in Sweden, but he decided to come visit Madrid and stay with Colin, yay! It was really great to see someone else from U of I in Spain. So we all decided to explore El Escorial, an old monastery/palace in another part of town.
I got a lot of pictures of the outside and a few of the gardens from afar, since pictures weren't really allowed inside. Ahem, but I did manage to get a few, ahem. Anyway, this place was huge! The Cathedral was the most impressive part. I've only seen churches that big in movies or video games, never real life.
The rest of El Escorial was filled with paintings, antique furniture, and different exhibits about the construction. Oh yeah, and...a mausoleum?! I couldn't believe the kings of Spain lived here with all the former kings of Spain just resting in peace in the basement, more or less!! There were a heck of a lot of tombs and corridors to other tombs. We found one room with a huge circular tomb with 60 different spaces for people to be buried, and I believe 47 of them were...ummm, occupied. (This is so weird to talk about...) The sad part was, it was in a room that was entirely dedicated to the burials of the royal children who never made it past puberty :( It was really interesting, but really morbid at the same time. Jesus H, if I could barely handle this, how am I gonna handle the crypts in Palermo!?!
Um, let's move away from the crypts... The rest of El Escorial was beautiful. We found a
gorgeous painted ceiling in one part and snuck some pictures :o)
It took a long time to tour the whole place because it was so big. My favorite part was at the end when we saw the library!!! The books were all handwritten in latin, in calligraphy!! If you know me well, you know I love books and I love writing in calligraphy so this was pretty much heaven on earth for me :) They even had one book of hymnals, and all the scores were handwritten in calligraphy; it was just the coolest thing. The books were all hand-bound too, and all the illustrations were drawn one-by-one. They were just beautiful. I really didn't want to leave, but we had missed lunch and it was already 4, so we left after that.
I'll be back one day to explore the gardens since we didn't get to. Recently, I've been finding out that I'm kind of in love with European gardens. Kruse and I explored this garden in Sevilla the other day and I just would not shut up about how cool it was...woops. The picture here is of the gardens in Sevilla because they are so gorgeous and I just had to share a picture! I've been there twice and am considering visiting again, if I have time. Entrance is free for me because I'm a student so I can just visit whenever I want.
Anyway, I'm making a shopping list of gardens I want to see before I go back to the US, and I'm gonna try to work on being a little less awed when I visit, but we'll see how that goes ;)
See you all later!
Ariel
Let's see, where did I leave off?
I got back from Las Fallas on a Saturday night, so my Sunday was free. Luckily, I'd heard that Matt the Mellophone was in town for the weekend! Matt is studying abroad in Sweden, but he decided to come visit Madrid and stay with Colin, yay! It was really great to see someone else from U of I in Spain. So we all decided to explore El Escorial, an old monastery/palace in another part of town.I got a lot of pictures of the outside and a few of the gardens from afar, since pictures weren't really allowed inside. Ahem, but I did manage to get a few, ahem. Anyway, this place was huge! The Cathedral was the most impressive part. I've only seen churches that big in movies or video games, never real life.
The rest of El Escorial was filled with paintings, antique furniture, and different exhibits about the construction. Oh yeah, and...a mausoleum?! I couldn't believe the kings of Spain lived here with all the former kings of Spain just resting in peace in the basement, more or less!! There were a heck of a lot of tombs and corridors to other tombs. We found one room with a huge circular tomb with 60 different spaces for people to be buried, and I believe 47 of them were...ummm, occupied. (This is so weird to talk about...) The sad part was, it was in a room that was entirely dedicated to the burials of the royal children who never made it past puberty :( It was really interesting, but really morbid at the same time. Jesus H, if I could barely handle this, how am I gonna handle the crypts in Palermo!?!
Um, let's move away from the crypts... The rest of El Escorial was beautiful. We found a
gorgeous painted ceiling in one part and snuck some pictures :o)It took a long time to tour the whole place because it was so big. My favorite part was at the end when we saw the library!!! The books were all handwritten in latin, in calligraphy!! If you know me well, you know I love books and I love writing in calligraphy so this was pretty much heaven on earth for me :) They even had one book of hymnals, and all the scores were handwritten in calligraphy; it was just the coolest thing. The books were all hand-bound too, and all the illustrations were drawn one-by-one. They were just beautiful. I really didn't want to leave, but we had missed lunch and it was already 4, so we left after that.
I'll be back one day to explore the gardens since we didn't get to. Recently, I've been finding out that I'm kind of in love with European gardens. Kruse and I explored this garden in Sevilla the other day and I just would not shut up about how cool it was...woops. The picture here is of the gardens in Sevilla because they are so gorgeous and I just had to share a picture! I've been there twice and am considering visiting again, if I have time. Entrance is free for me because I'm a student so I can just visit whenever I want.Anyway, I'm making a shopping list of gardens I want to see before I go back to the US, and I'm gonna try to work on being a little less awed when I visit, but we'll see how that goes ;)
See you all later!
Ariel
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