I'm done with classes and exams!! YAY!! My finals were really hard and I studied like crazy for both of them. I kept track with tallies and I studied for thermo for something like 55 hours. Jeeeeez. Still not sure how I did that. But now I'm done and I can relax!...sort of.
I guess I should explain myself: I leaving for a crazy Eurotrip on Wednesday and I have to prepare everything tomorrow!! I'm starting off in Barcelona, then going straight to Paris for Disneyland Paris (!!), then taking the chunnel into London, then flying off to Venice to go hang out with my mom in Italy for a week. I finally got almost everything figured out tonight.
It's actually 1:30 am so I should probably go to bed, but I'm gonna try to blog as I go on this trip to keep everyone updated. (Also, I hope I don't laugh out loud too much at random intervals in London because their accents amuse me a lot more than a normal person. PS, Gail, I will be thinking of you!! :D)
Anyway, it's good to be done, but sad to be saying goodbye, but I'll technically have 1.5 more days in Madrid after I come back from Rome. It cost too much to change my ticket so eh I'm just going back from Spain. Plus I need to say goodbye to Madrid properly! Keep an eye out for updates on Barcelona, Paris, London, and Italy!
See you all soon! (Really)
Ariel
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Paris FranceFranceFrance!
Earlier this month, I went to Paris for the weekend to visit my friend Krista, and oh my gosh, it turned out to be one of the most magical weekends I have ever had. It was even more magical than Disney World, if you can even imagine that! I'm already planning another trip :)
I flew out of Madrid on a Thursday afternoon to get into Paris that night. We actually cut across the Atlantic instead of going over the mountains, which really surprised me when I looked out the window and saw...the ocean?! (Haven't seen that in awhile...) But it was really cool to fly over the French Basque Country and to see the coastline.
Krista met up with me at the airport and there was much hugging and excited yelling :D It was so cool to hang out with a friend from U of I, in Europe! Very surreal but very awesome. So, while we took the RER train into Paris, we decided to get dinner and then catch the Eiffel Tower as it lit up instead of checking into my hotel first...definitely a good decision! French cuisine is so delicious and healthy too, and the portions were smaller than the Spanish Menu del Dia so I was excited about being able to finish almost everything. And my main dish had FRENCH FRIES! I ordered this nice steak and was confused about why it had French fries on the side until it finally dawned on me the next day when I was eating breakfast, because holy crap that means I ate french fries, in France! (This obviously amused me much more than a normal person would be amused.)
And wow, the Eiffel Tower, where do I start!?!
First of all, it's absolutely gorgeous, even more at night when it's all lit up. It was so weird to actually see it with my own eyes because I've seen it in pictures and movies so much. And as I was sitting there, gushing at it, the clock hit 11 and...IT SPARKLED!! Every hour, on the hour, the Eiffel Tower sparkles, and it's so pretty! I could have stared at it for ages.
The next day, I went around exploring Paris while Krista had class, and oh man I crammed so much sight-seeing into one day! I ate a crêpe with chocolate for breakfast (delicious,) hung out around the Eiffel Tower some more, got lost and saw some beautiful buildings, visited the Louvre, and saw Notre Dame inside and out, including its bell tower! After Krista was done with
class, we met up and walked along the Champs-Élysées, saw the Arc de Triomphe, got some Haagen Dasz, walked around to Les Invalides, and then finally watched the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower...bliss.
Oh, and the Louvre! The Louvre is ginormous, and I'm not even kidding you. If you took the Museum of Science and Industry and multiplied it by like, 12, you'd get the Louvre. I explored it for two hours and saw so many different, amazing things, and in those 2 hours, I didn't even see half of it. They had Napoleon's living quarters, Les Esclaves by Michaelangelo, the Venus de Milo, and oh, guess what else I
saw...
YES! I mean, how do you even react when you are staring right at the Mona Lisa?! It was the coolest thing ever! She was behind so many walls of glass and security barriers, but gosh, it was the most awesome thing. There's another thing to cross off my bucket list!
Seeing Notre Dame was surreal as well. The inside was really beautiful, except they were having mass and didn't close the church, which I found odd (in Spain, they always close the church during mass and only let people in who are really there to sit through the entire thing.) And, of course, after I saw the inside, I had to climb up to see the belltower! That was very cool. You could see all of Paris, and ahhh, it was beautiful. I even went all the way up to the very top of the rightmost belltower...what a view! I kind of couldn't stop thinking of the Hunchback of Notre Dame but hey I grew up on Disney, so I'm allowed to be a Disney nerd.
After the belltower, I met up with Krista since her classes were done, and we decided to get some ice cream and stroll along the Champs-Élysées. After we finished our delicious ice cream, we sat on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower and watched the sun set. It was definitely a postcard moment! I swear, it's almost impossible to stop looking at it, it's so pretty.
The next day, we ate breakfast at Angelina's, which is famous for its scrumptious hot chocolate. (AND I ATE A CROISSANT!! A real one!) Tuileries garden was right across the street, so we hung around there for a bit and then checked out the Louvre really quick before we went to the train station to head to Giverny. We saw the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa again, but then this alarm started going off and they closed off all the exits in our wing of the museum so we were kind of trapped (?!) Krista asked a guard in French how we could leave, and all I understood of what he said was "Oh, you can't. haha" But then he was kidding and showed us the way out. I have to say, though, I didn't mind being trapped in the Louvre. That place is awesome.
Then we were on our way to Giverny and I was on my second train ride in Europe! Giverny is famous for being the town where Monet lived and built his gardens. It's been a dream of mine since childhood to see it. (After Mr. Corsello showed us pictures of it in 1st grade art class, I knew I just had to go!) It was so, so amazing to see THE waterlily pond and THE Japanese bridge with my own eyes. And the gardens were absolutely beautiful. Monet's house was really cute, too; it was painted in pastel colors inside, just like his paintings :)
We ran around Paris so much that night! We got some delicious pizza and I finally had red wine. Krista showed me Place de la Bastille, and we saw Tour Montparnasse change colors, it was too cool! By the time we were thinking of heading back, it was already almost 1 am, which is about when the Eiffel Tower turns off, so we decided to head over so I could say au revoir and take a few more pictures. So, as expected, all of the tower lights turned off, but then the entire thing sparkled with a million lights, way more then before!!! It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
Well, I had too many pictures to post and too many things to say in this blog (if you can't tell!) This weekend seriously took the cake. This week and next week are my engineering final exams, and today I took my circuits exam so I just have termodinamica left. After that, though, I'm traveling to Barcelona, London, Paris, Venica, Naples, and Rome. (And when I go back to Paris, I'm seeing Disneyland Paris too!!!!!!!!!! ...Don't judge me, please?)
Anyway, I'm off to study for my last exam some more! I already have something like 40 hours of studying down but it never hurts to study termodinamica if your final is going to be in Spanish. I'll put up another blog later since this is my last weekend in Madrid (I can hardly believe it!)
Luegooooo!
Ariel
I flew out of Madrid on a Thursday afternoon to get into Paris that night. We actually cut across the Atlantic instead of going over the mountains, which really surprised me when I looked out the window and saw...the ocean?! (Haven't seen that in awhile...) But it was really cool to fly over the French Basque Country and to see the coastline.Krista met up with me at the airport and there was much hugging and excited yelling :D It was so cool to hang out with a friend from U of I, in Europe! Very surreal but very awesome. So, while we took the RER train into Paris, we decided to get dinner and then catch the Eiffel Tower as it lit up instead of checking into my hotel first...definitely a good decision! French cuisine is so delicious and healthy too, and the portions were smaller than the Spanish Menu del Dia so I was excited about being able to finish almost everything. And my main dish had FRENCH FRIES! I ordered this nice steak and was confused about why it had French fries on the side until it finally dawned on me the next day when I was eating breakfast, because holy crap that means I ate french fries, in France! (This obviously amused me much more than a normal person would be amused.)
And wow, the Eiffel Tower, where do I start!?!
First of all, it's absolutely gorgeous, even more at night when it's all lit up. It was so weird to actually see it with my own eyes because I've seen it in pictures and movies so much. And as I was sitting there, gushing at it, the clock hit 11 and...IT SPARKLED!! Every hour, on the hour, the Eiffel Tower sparkles, and it's so pretty! I could have stared at it for ages.The next day, I went around exploring Paris while Krista had class, and oh man I crammed so much sight-seeing into one day! I ate a crêpe with chocolate for breakfast (delicious,) hung out around the Eiffel Tower some more, got lost and saw some beautiful buildings, visited the Louvre, and saw Notre Dame inside and out, including its bell tower! After Krista was done with
class, we met up and walked along the Champs-Élysées, saw the Arc de Triomphe, got some Haagen Dasz, walked around to Les Invalides, and then finally watched the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower...bliss.Oh, and the Louvre! The Louvre is ginormous, and I'm not even kidding you. If you took the Museum of Science and Industry and multiplied it by like, 12, you'd get the Louvre. I explored it for two hours and saw so many different, amazing things, and in those 2 hours, I didn't even see half of it. They had Napoleon's living quarters, Les Esclaves by Michaelangelo, the Venus de Milo, and oh, guess what else I
saw...YES! I mean, how do you even react when you are staring right at the Mona Lisa?! It was the coolest thing ever! She was behind so many walls of glass and security barriers, but gosh, it was the most awesome thing. There's another thing to cross off my bucket list!
Seeing Notre Dame was surreal as well. The inside was really beautiful, except they were having mass and didn't close the church, which I found odd (in Spain, they always close the church during mass and only let people in who are really there to sit through the entire thing.) And, of course, after I saw the inside, I had to climb up to see the belltower! That was very cool. You could see all of Paris, and ahhh, it was beautiful. I even went all the way up to the very top of the rightmost belltower...what a view! I kind of couldn't stop thinking of the Hunchback of Notre Dame but hey I grew up on Disney, so I'm allowed to be a Disney nerd.
After the belltower, I met up with Krista since her classes were done, and we decided to get some ice cream and stroll along the Champs-Élysées. After we finished our delicious ice cream, we sat on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower and watched the sun set. It was definitely a postcard moment! I swear, it's almost impossible to stop looking at it, it's so pretty.
The next day, we ate breakfast at Angelina's, which is famous for its scrumptious hot chocolate. (AND I ATE A CROISSANT!! A real one!) Tuileries garden was right across the street, so we hung around there for a bit and then checked out the Louvre really quick before we went to the train station to head to Giverny. We saw the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa again, but then this alarm started going off and they closed off all the exits in our wing of the museum so we were kind of trapped (?!) Krista asked a guard in French how we could leave, and all I understood of what he said was "Oh, you can't. haha" But then he was kidding and showed us the way out. I have to say, though, I didn't mind being trapped in the Louvre. That place is awesome.
Then we were on our way to Giverny and I was on my second train ride in Europe! Giverny is famous for being the town where Monet lived and built his gardens. It's been a dream of mine since childhood to see it. (After Mr. Corsello showed us pictures of it in 1st grade art class, I knew I just had to go!) It was so, so amazing to see THE waterlily pond and THE Japanese bridge with my own eyes. And the gardens were absolutely beautiful. Monet's house was really cute, too; it was painted in pastel colors inside, just like his paintings :)We ran around Paris so much that night! We got some delicious pizza and I finally had red wine. Krista showed me Place de la Bastille, and we saw Tour Montparnasse change colors, it was too cool! By the time we were thinking of heading back, it was already almost 1 am, which is about when the Eiffel Tower turns off, so we decided to head over so I could say au revoir and take a few more pictures. So, as expected, all of the tower lights turned off, but then the entire thing sparkled with a million lights, way more then before!!! It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
Well, I had too many pictures to post and too many things to say in this blog (if you can't tell!) This weekend seriously took the cake. This week and next week are my engineering final exams, and today I took my circuits exam so I just have termodinamica left. After that, though, I'm traveling to Barcelona, London, Paris, Venica, Naples, and Rome. (And when I go back to Paris, I'm seeing Disneyland Paris too!!!!!!!!!! ...Don't judge me, please?)Anyway, I'm off to study for my last exam some more! I already have something like 40 hours of studying down but it never hurts to study termodinamica if your final is going to be in Spanish. I'll put up another blog later since this is my last weekend in Madrid (I can hardly believe it!)
Luegooooo!
Ariel
Saturday, May 29, 2010
A Sticky Subject
A few days ago, I was sitting upstairs at Starbucks, studying Thermodynamics. I noticed this guy going around asking people something; he looked kinda lost. He asked each table and finally came to me and said "please, will you buy me a meal? I'm starving."
There are a lot of homeless people in Madrid, and apparently the number is increasing due to the 20% rate of unemployment in Spain. They are everywhere, and sometimes have a regular location to beg. Lately, I've had 3 people ask me in one day if I would buy them a meal. For some reason, this has never happened to me in Spain until now, but as the seasons change, I've been seeing more and more homeless people.
But then: what do you do? You can never tell if someone begging is being honest or not. I've noticed one "beggar" by my school peeking at his blackberry when he thought no one was looking. And then others wear expensive clothing from name brands, but then you wonder, was it a gift from someone who pitied them?
At least it's almost better if someone asks you to buy them a meal, because if you give them money, they might just gamble it away in one of Madrid's thousands of gambling parlors. I can't give to everyone, but it just breaks my heart when I have to say no.
My school here runs a program where students make sandwiches and then go out together and distribute them after 9:00. I wanted to do it, but they wouldn't let me because I'm an exchange student. So, I've decided that I really want to do something other than St. Vincent's table when I get back to the United States. If anyone knows about a SRO at U of I that does things like this, let me know!
Ariel
There are a lot of homeless people in Madrid, and apparently the number is increasing due to the 20% rate of unemployment in Spain. They are everywhere, and sometimes have a regular location to beg. Lately, I've had 3 people ask me in one day if I would buy them a meal. For some reason, this has never happened to me in Spain until now, but as the seasons change, I've been seeing more and more homeless people.
But then: what do you do? You can never tell if someone begging is being honest or not. I've noticed one "beggar" by my school peeking at his blackberry when he thought no one was looking. And then others wear expensive clothing from name brands, but then you wonder, was it a gift from someone who pitied them?
At least it's almost better if someone asks you to buy them a meal, because if you give them money, they might just gamble it away in one of Madrid's thousands of gambling parlors. I can't give to everyone, but it just breaks my heart when I have to say no.
My school here runs a program where students make sandwiches and then go out together and distribute them after 9:00. I wanted to do it, but they wouldn't let me because I'm an exchange student. So, I've decided that I really want to do something other than St. Vincent's table when I get back to the United States. If anyone knows about a SRO at U of I that does things like this, let me know!
Ariel
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Slightly Concerned about My Sense of Fashion for When I Come Back
I was window-shopping a few days ago when the thought suddenly occurred to me that I have adopted European style. I mean, I don't look at things here and go "what would I wear with that?" Now it's like, "oh yeah, textured tights, ballet flats, 2 gold rings, and white jacket all would go with that dress." God, this is going to be such a girly blog, sorry guys!
What I'm worried about is... is any of this in style in the United States? I'm pretty sure if I wore some of the things I wore here, I would stick out like a sore thumb in the USA. I'm wearing stuff here that I'd be like "naw, too intense" in the US. It's kind of like dressing like the pictures in the fashion catalogs. Leggings with shorts, scarves, oxfords (YAY,) and floral print are all really in style here right now, but I dunno. I'm just going to have to hope I don't look like a tard when I go back.
Speaking of going back home, I have 48 days left!!? I have this really strange mix of emotions when I see that. It's going to be terrible and tragic to leave Spain, but awesome to come back and see all the people I've missed so much. And then eat Buffalo Wild Wings. Really though, it's such a short amount of time, and I'm going to be spending at least 3 weeks of it traveling, which is definitely cool beans. So I have to hurry around Madrid, crossing various things off my European bucket list and trying to study for finals all at the same time!
By the way, I've got plans to visit Krista in Paris next weekend! :) I'm so excited! I'll end up in the city of lights on Thursday night and will spend Friday and Saturday in France. We might even go see Monet's gardens, which have always been a childhood dream of mine to see. I remember learning about them in Mr. Corsello's art class a long time ago, and I was just awed, so seeing them in real life will literally be a dream come true. There's one to cross off my LIFE bucket list!
That's all I've got for now! I've been studying a lot lately, which is pretty boring to blog about, so I'll work on doing some interesting things this weekend :) See you all later!
Ariel
What I'm worried about is... is any of this in style in the United States? I'm pretty sure if I wore some of the things I wore here, I would stick out like a sore thumb in the USA. I'm wearing stuff here that I'd be like "naw, too intense" in the US. It's kind of like dressing like the pictures in the fashion catalogs. Leggings with shorts, scarves, oxfords (YAY,) and floral print are all really in style here right now, but I dunno. I'm just going to have to hope I don't look like a tard when I go back.
Speaking of going back home, I have 48 days left!!? I have this really strange mix of emotions when I see that. It's going to be terrible and tragic to leave Spain, but awesome to come back and see all the people I've missed so much. And then eat Buffalo Wild Wings. Really though, it's such a short amount of time, and I'm going to be spending at least 3 weeks of it traveling, which is definitely cool beans. So I have to hurry around Madrid, crossing various things off my European bucket list and trying to study for finals all at the same time!
By the way, I've got plans to visit Krista in Paris next weekend! :) I'm so excited! I'll end up in the city of lights on Thursday night and will spend Friday and Saturday in France. We might even go see Monet's gardens, which have always been a childhood dream of mine to see. I remember learning about them in Mr. Corsello's art class a long time ago, and I was just awed, so seeing them in real life will literally be a dream come true. There's one to cross off my LIFE bucket list!
That's all I've got for now! I've been studying a lot lately, which is pretty boring to blog about, so I'll work on doing some interesting things this weekend :) See you all later!
Ariel
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
Ok,
first off, I'm sorry for the terrible reference in the title of this post...!!! I just had to fit it in here somewhere :) Which means that last weekend, I went to Granada!
Granada is, like everything else in Spain, absolutely beautiful. But Granada has its own unique characteristics that make it very different from anything else I've seen. First of all, it's situated in this little valley in between all these awesome mountains, but it's actually warm there. It was a little strange to see snow-capped mountains but only need to wear a light jacket, but hey, I'm not complaining!! And, the entire town is built around this giant hill. The hill was sort of like a giant nature reserve/forest, which is really refreshing since I've been living in the concrete jungle for 4-ish months.
The things everyone's GOTTA see at Granada are the Alhambra and the Catedral/Capilla Real. We saw those and went shopping in the Arab quarter, and got tea too! :) But I'm getting ahead of myself, I have to talk about the Alhambra first!!
The Alhambra was built in the 14th century by the Moors and conquered by Ferdinand and Isabel in 1492 (yep, the year Columbus sailed the ocean blue!) So, not only is this place gorgeous, but it's rich with history, too. This was the place were Isabel told Columbus she would fund his expedition across the ocean...awesome. The level of detail in the palace is just insane, it's like almost every surface has intricately carved stone. Even the elaborate wooden ceilings are still intact, so that was really impressive too.
The gardens were even more impressive (although Sevilla is still my favorite, don't tell anyone.) There were hedges and so many roses, and amazing fountains and pools...I was in heaven. I mean, sitting under the shade on an ancient Moorish terrace, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance is probably as close as you can get to paradise for me.
By the way, if you were wondering, I haven't changed at all:
OH MY GOSH AND DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THE BEST PART? THERE WAS A BABY KITTEN THERE!! A BABY KITTEN!!!!! I'm sorry for shouting but IT WAS SO ADORABLE!!!!! IT MEOWED THE CUTEST LITTLE MEOW AND IT WAS SMALLER THAN THE PALM OF MY HAND and oh I have pictures of it:
So yes, my day was made, the Alhambra was amazing, and OH nerd alert! The fort at the Alhambra really seriously reminded me of this fortress in one of the Zelda games, and I felt really weird thinking that at the time. Actually that happens a lot here in Spain, like in Sevilla, I was in this garden and almost laughed out loud to myself because it reminded me so much of the castle gardens in Zelda 64. And yeah don't even get me started on the castles/churches! Ok nerd alert over, I promise.
The next day we visited the Cathedral and Royal Chapel, aka the place where THE Ferdinand and Isabel are buried. I even got to see their caskets...uhh yeah, that was a little weird. But the cathedral is just beautiful! For example:
Yeah, geez, they don't mess around when they build churches over here. The picture on the bottom is almost all solid gold, too.
I don't know if I can cram any more pictures into this post, oh man. I wish I could put all of them here because Granada was so beautiful and photogenic! I'm working on finding a website where I can just put all of my photos (I need to back them up anyway) so I'll put it on here when I figure that out, for anyone who's interested.
Anyway, I'm off to bed, and stay tuned for more! This week is the Festival of San Isidro, Madrid's patron saint, and it's pretty much a huge deal here. There's stuff going on all week, including the Madrid Symphony Orchestra playing a free concert in the park. Oh heck yes I'm in!
Besitos, miss you all!!
Ariel
(PS besito = little kisses :] )
first off, I'm sorry for the terrible reference in the title of this post...!!! I just had to fit it in here somewhere :) Which means that last weekend, I went to Granada!Granada is, like everything else in Spain, absolutely beautiful. But Granada has its own unique characteristics that make it very different from anything else I've seen. First of all, it's situated in this little valley in between all these awesome mountains, but it's actually warm there. It was a little strange to see snow-capped mountains but only need to wear a light jacket, but hey, I'm not complaining!! And, the entire town is built around this giant hill. The hill was sort of like a giant nature reserve/forest, which is really refreshing since I've been living in the concrete jungle for 4-ish months.
The things everyone's GOTTA see at Granada are the Alhambra and the Catedral/Capilla Real. We saw those and went shopping in the Arab quarter, and got tea too! :) But I'm getting ahead of myself, I have to talk about the Alhambra first!!
The Alhambra was built in the 14th century by the Moors and conquered by Ferdinand and Isabel in 1492 (yep, the year Columbus sailed the ocean blue!) So, not only is this place gorgeous, but it's rich with history, too. This was the place were Isabel told Columbus she would fund his expedition across the ocean...awesome. The level of detail in the palace is just insane, it's like almost every surface has intricately carved stone. Even the elaborate wooden ceilings are still intact, so that was really impressive too.
The gardens were even more impressive (although Sevilla is still my favorite, don't tell anyone.) There were hedges and so many roses, and amazing fountains and pools...I was in heaven. I mean, sitting under the shade on an ancient Moorish terrace, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance is probably as close as you can get to paradise for me.By the way, if you were wondering, I haven't changed at all:
OH MY GOSH AND DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THE BEST PART? THERE WAS A BABY KITTEN THERE!! A BABY KITTEN!!!!! I'm sorry for shouting but IT WAS SO ADORABLE!!!!! IT MEOWED THE CUTEST LITTLE MEOW AND IT WAS SMALLER THAN THE PALM OF MY HAND and oh I have pictures of it:
So yes, my day was made, the Alhambra was amazing, and OH nerd alert! The fort at the Alhambra really seriously reminded me of this fortress in one of the Zelda games, and I felt really weird thinking that at the time. Actually that happens a lot here in Spain, like in Sevilla, I was in this garden and almost laughed out loud to myself because it reminded me so much of the castle gardens in Zelda 64. And yeah don't even get me started on the castles/churches! Ok nerd alert over, I promise.The next day we visited the Cathedral and Royal Chapel, aka the place where THE Ferdinand and Isabel are buried. I even got to see their caskets...uhh yeah, that was a little weird. But the cathedral is just beautiful! For example:
Yeah, geez, they don't mess around when they build churches over here. The picture on the bottom is almost all solid gold, too.I don't know if I can cram any more pictures into this post, oh man. I wish I could put all of them here because Granada was so beautiful and photogenic! I'm working on finding a website where I can just put all of my photos (I need to back them up anyway) so I'll put it on here when I figure that out, for anyone who's interested.
Anyway, I'm off to bed, and stay tuned for more! This week is the Festival of San Isidro, Madrid's patron saint, and it's pretty much a huge deal here. There's stuff going on all week, including the Madrid Symphony Orchestra playing a free concert in the park. Oh heck yes I'm in!
Besitos, miss you all!!
Ariel
(PS besito = little kisses :] )
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Pancakes!! And Other Randoms
I ATE PANCAKES TODAY!!! I know it's retarded to get excited about something as silly as pancakes, but oh man, it definitely made my day!! I just had to share that right away because I am so excited!! Today started off good because of the pancakes (of course) and also because I got an answer correct on my Thermodynamics quiz this morning. To put that into perspective, Thermo is really hard here and like 15% of the class passed the exam and a 40% was the average score. So getting 1/3 on a quiz is really awesome!
I have some more randomness to talk about, actually. The first random thing is...it's allergy season! Hooray! Haha, I have not been able to stop sneezing in rapid-fire succession. This morning I sneezed 24 times in a span of like 3 minutes before I finally gave up and got a kleenex out of my bag. I thought I would be safe in the heart of Madrid since there's not so many trees, but I forgot about wind, so there you go. It's more annoying than anything, don't worry. So, today I get to go on an adventure to the pharmacy because I'm a little tired of having to buy a new box of kleenex every 5 days!
More randomness: I saw the musical Chicago the other week! It's playing on Madrid's "Broadway" more or less, and I thought it was too funny to pass up. Of course, it was all in Spanish, but I actually understood a lot of it. I would just sometimes get lost with the song lyrics. The set was great, and the tickets were really cheap too. The weird thing was, you had to pay 1 euro for a program, so I ended up not buying one...I always lose them anyway!
Finally, last Friday I went to Toledo again with Kruse! We explored the Cathedral, lots of old chapels, and some very old synagogues. The whole city feels really traditional: narrow cobblestone streets, cute little shops selling things from pincushions to swords, and really nice architecture. And the building interiors were even better. The cathedral is absolutely beautiful, and the ceilings in the synagogues were just incredible. My camera died after a few photos, but I did manage to take a few.
OH my gosh! I forgot, the best part of the day was when Kruse and I went and stood on this old bridge from the 14th century and looked over to the Tajo River. There was this little waterfall down there, and I was looking at it, and all of a sudden THERE WAS A FISH JUMPING UP THE WATERFALL!! So Kruse and I started watching and there were all these fish, attempting to jump up this little mini waterfall, and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen! I know I'm easily amused, but it seriously made my day. Unfortunately I don't have evidence of this because my camera had died an hour earlier, but it really happened, I swear!!
Random synagogue ceiling picture:
Aw man, I always unintentionally make these so long. Anyway, I'm off to go visit the pharmacy and read some articles for my Spanish Culture class. Hasta luego!
Ariel
I have some more randomness to talk about, actually. The first random thing is...it's allergy season! Hooray! Haha, I have not been able to stop sneezing in rapid-fire succession. This morning I sneezed 24 times in a span of like 3 minutes before I finally gave up and got a kleenex out of my bag. I thought I would be safe in the heart of Madrid since there's not so many trees, but I forgot about wind, so there you go. It's more annoying than anything, don't worry. So, today I get to go on an adventure to the pharmacy because I'm a little tired of having to buy a new box of kleenex every 5 days!
More randomness: I saw the musical Chicago the other week! It's playing on Madrid's "Broadway" more or less, and I thought it was too funny to pass up. Of course, it was all in Spanish, but I actually understood a lot of it. I would just sometimes get lost with the song lyrics. The set was great, and the tickets were really cheap too. The weird thing was, you had to pay 1 euro for a program, so I ended up not buying one...I always lose them anyway!
Finally, last Friday I went to Toledo again with Kruse! We explored the Cathedral, lots of old chapels, and some very old synagogues. The whole city feels really traditional: narrow cobblestone streets, cute little shops selling things from pincushions to swords, and really nice architecture. And the building interiors were even better. The cathedral is absolutely beautiful, and the ceilings in the synagogues were just incredible. My camera died after a few photos, but I did manage to take a few.OH my gosh! I forgot, the best part of the day was when Kruse and I went and stood on this old bridge from the 14th century and looked over to the Tajo River. There was this little waterfall down there, and I was looking at it, and all of a sudden THERE WAS A FISH JUMPING UP THE WATERFALL!! So Kruse and I started watching and there were all these fish, attempting to jump up this little mini waterfall, and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen! I know I'm easily amused, but it seriously made my day. Unfortunately I don't have evidence of this because my camera had died an hour earlier, but it really happened, I swear!!
Random synagogue ceiling picture:
Aw man, I always unintentionally make these so long. Anyway, I'm off to go visit the pharmacy and read some articles for my Spanish Culture class. Hasta luego!Ariel
Friday, April 30, 2010
Catcalls...in Spain!?
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
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
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