tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17545021658764380712024-03-18T02:10:34.245-07:00Studying Abroad in AlcalaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-26648832064350240432011-11-13T15:54:00.000-08:002011-11-13T15:54:45.468-08:00Intercambios, Mexican and El RetiroSo my school here has this program called Intercambio, where basically you and someone from Spain get matched up by the school for the purpose of bettering your language skills. They practice their English with you, and you practice your Spanish with them. I was a little eerie about doing it at first, due to the inevitable awkwardness of the first time you guys meet up, but I decided it was a good opportunity to take advantage of. I am SO happy I did it. First off, my first meet-up with Patricia wasn't awkward at all. We went to a restaurant a few blocks away from my house for tapas, and we just talked about how I'm liking Spain, things I want to do, and places she's been. She also showed me around Alcala, including a lot of areas I never knew existed, and she taught me some cultural stuff about Spain. She's super outgoing like me, so it was easy to jump into personal conversations. Since our first hang-out, she's been an awesome friend to me, which brings me to my next point. My American friends and I have been craving Mexican food extremely badly, and Patricia said she knew of a place in Madrid with really good Mexican, so she offered to take us all. It was really cool to finally mix my intercambio and my American friends together, and the food was absolutely AMAZING. She also took us to this park in Madrid called El Retiro. It's really famous, and absolutely beautiful. We went around sunset time so it was perfect. There's also a lake in the middle of the park where you can rent rowboats and paddle around. Apparently it's a really big attraction because my friends and I wanted to do it, but the line was so long. Instead we sat by the lake and watched everyone else :) it was really an awesome day.<br />
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Going to Barcelona this weekend which I'm REALLY excited for! I cannot believe there's only one month left of my program...I'm already trying to plan a way to come back to Spain.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia and I</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lake in El Retiro (with my friend from New York!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Arielle Hornedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118366596794996170noreply@blogger.com281tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-68527456699301306262011-10-22T15:42:00.000-07:002011-10-22T15:48:42.970-07:00Sevilla, Córdoba y Segovia<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did quite a bit of travelling over the past week. Took a weekend trip to Sevilla and Córdoba with my friends. We spent one day/night in each of those places, they're both in the south of Spain. Also, the University of Alcala offers free day trips to a lot of the main cities in Spain. This week we went to Segovia, which was also awesome. Since I have way too much to talk about for one blog, I'm just going to talk about my favorite parts of each city.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rio Guadalquivir, Sevilla</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plaza de Espana, Sevilla</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) <u>Sevilla</u>: literally the most romantic beautiful city I have ever seen in my life. This was by far my favorite one. The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful and the city in itself was what I imagined all of Spain to look like. It had such an antique feel to it, the streets were super tiny and the people were all so relaxed. Some of my favorite things that I saw was the Torre de Oro and the Rio Guadalquivir. But most of all, the one thing that absolutely took my breath away was the Plaza de <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">España. My friends and I took a trip over there around 11pm thinking it would just be something quick and cool to see, but we didn't realize how absolutely gorgeous it was. Though I'm kind of sad I didnt get to experience it during the day so I could really take in all of the details, seeing it at night was amazing as well. There weren't tons of people around taking pictures and getting in your way. It was just my group of friends and I walking around and taking it all in. I'd love to explain to you guys what it was like, what I saw and how I felt but it would be nearly impossible to put it into words. All I can say is, if you find yourself wandering in Sevilla, it is something you MUST go see. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">El Puente Romano</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">2) <u>Córdoba</u>: Another beautiful, relaxed and cultural city. My two favorite things that I saw in Córdoba were La Mezquita and El Puente Romano. La Mezquita is the main attraction in this city, due to it's historical significance. Besides the fact that is an absolutely ENORMOUS and intricately constructed cathedral, it has an interesting story. It used to be a Muslim mosque, but after the Christian conquest, it was transformed into a cathedral. What's cool about La Mezquita is that you can still see the muslim influence in the architecture, the color choices and the decorations inside. I'm not big on seeing cathedrals because they don't happen to interest me very much, but La Mezquita was a really cool experience. It's hard to appreciate all of the work that was put into it because of how massive it is and how much there is to see inside, but to think that it was built hundreds of years ago, without the technology we have today, is incredible. El Puente Romano was beautiful as well. It passes over Rio Guadalquivir (the same one I had mentioned that ran through Sevilla), and was actually the only bridge in all of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Córdoba for over 20 centuries! It was pretty packed when we went, but the scenery that surrounded the bridge was gorgeous. Took WAY too many pictures. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">the Aqueducts, Segovia</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">3) <u>Segovia</u>: As I said before, my friends and I went here as a free school trip (basically everyone in the program took advantage of the opportunity). We started off our day going to La Granja, which is a huge palace in Segovia. It also has a beautiful garden in the back, and an amazing view of the mountains. Afterwards, we went to more of the downtown city area of Segovia, where we were left off by our bus at the Aqueducts. This is what Segovia is famous for, and was definitely one of the coolest pieces of architecture I've seen thus far. I can't really describe what they looked like, so i'll just leave you guys with a picture instead. At the top of the aqueduct you can overlook a lot of Segovia, which was beautiful. Segovia was the kind of city that I imagined all of Spain to look like before I came here. Very European, with golden/orangey buildings and roofs, and random narrow alleyways that had balconies with plants and flowers and stuff. You could tell it was an extremely cultural historical city. We also visited el </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><em style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Alcázar de Segovia, which is a castle in Segovia that resembled the Disney World castle so much it's crazy! Yet another beautiful city I got to visit, </em></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><em style="color: black; font-style: normal;">and it was my first time going north of Alcala!</em></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Overlooking part of Segovia!</span></td></tr>
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</span></em></span>Arielle Hornedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118366596794996170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-57892456270428194532011-10-13T07:07:00.000-07:002011-10-22T15:50:54.957-07:00León<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spent this last weekend in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><em style="color: black; font-style: normal;">León with my host family for my sister's birthday. My host mom invited me to go with them, and to stay at her parents house. At first I'm not going to lie, I was a little eerie about going. I didn't know how I'd feel staying at her family's house, and I kind of felt like I was going to be a tag-along. I also knew there was going to be a big party for my host sister, and the concept of having to talk to strangers all weekend kind of scared me! But, I realized it was a great opportunity to see another city, to get to know my host family better, and to submerge myself in real Spanish culture. Let me just say that I am SO happy I went. Not only did it make my host mom and I a lot closer, but </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><em style="color: black; font-style: normal;">León is beautiful and is also a city I wouldn't have seen unless I went with her. The first day we were there, my mom wanted to give me a tour of the city she was born in (she takes a LOT of pride in being from </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><em style="color: black; font-style: normal;">León). We walked around by the river and the cathedral, and afterwards we went and got tapas together. At night, there was a big party for my sister's birthday and her cousin as well. I'm not going to lie, at first it was definitely a little overwhelming for me. Over time though, I realized that her family wanted to talk to me and wanted to get to know me, and definitely did not want me to feel uncomfortable or out of place. They reminded me a lot of the Puerto Rican side of my family back home; so much talking, so much food and a whole lot of yelling. We played a charades-type game at night (they tried to help me out as much as they could), and it was just really cool to see my mom and sister in their own environment. The next day my mom and I walked around again and talked a lot about her past and stories from growing up. Met up with the family again at night and went to a few different places for tapas. I did a lot more talking this time; my mom's brother was actually really interested in the things I had to say, which made me feel so much better. I was just really honored that she invited me to go, wanted me to see a very personal side of her, and opened up her parents house for me to sleep at. Overall it was a really good weekend :). Leaving tonight for Sevilla and C</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><em style="color: black; font-style: normal;">órdoba with my friends, lots of pictures to come!</em></span></span>Arielle Hornedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118366596794996170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-77303755123395067012011-10-05T06:39:00.000-07:002011-10-05T06:53:40.517-07:00Valencia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJv4OxZCpll3fRBe7c_xOLq1KYHJQbSNz0yNgB82iofKSg73VaRao6eJz59KmTPHTLoDcg3XMNR4HGZTacuiE3xUd5pGMXYAHpc0LvDVlCvrzSM4gZDxtFbFU6hxSbHCUiYbdSmFgc20k/s1600/SAM_2345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJv4OxZCpll3fRBe7c_xOLq1KYHJQbSNz0yNgB82iofKSg73VaRao6eJz59KmTPHTLoDcg3XMNR4HGZTacuiE3xUd5pGMXYAHpc0LvDVlCvrzSM4gZDxtFbFU6hxSbHCUiYbdSmFgc20k/s320/SAM_2345.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Hey guys! Went to Valencia this weekend with some of my friends, it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Breathtakingly beautiful. We spent most of our days at the beach, relaxing on the softest sand. Now normally if I was still back in New York and I even THOUGHT about going to a beach the first weekend of October, I'd 1) be called crazy and 2) probably freeze to death. But Valencia's coast is on the Mediterranean, and the water was so warm. I couldn't believe it was actually October and I was swimming. It was decently hot out too! I couldn't have asked for better weather. My best friend in the program, Christian, is from Missouri and had never been to a beach before. Being from Long Island, I forget how amazing beaches are and how fortunate I am to live so close to one, and it just made the experience that much better for me. Apart from the beach, the city itself is gorgeous. The buildings have an older feel, but there's so much modern architecture as well. There was this big white bridge by my hostel that looked so modern and cool, and there were also tons of beautiful fountains and things of the sort around the city. I highly suggest visiting if you guys come to Spain, it's definitely a great place to go.<br />
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</div><div>At the hostel, we met a kid named Mica who's from the Netherlands. We wound up hanging out with him a lot and really getting to know him, and he was telling us all about where he lives. We actually just booked a trip to head over by him for a weekend, and to Belgium too, for the end of November. It's incredible how many cool people you meet in hostels!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coolest sand castle I've EVER seen!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpBgecWODj8Pf3aXQiveUvhETsgB_uuPuGUaXr_-WBKlauW3ah2B3PSzybOnT8p15GMkvTJ1QogncxauE5EKT6UzFaUOhg1Wk3_y3P68MGqmVnhvJGU3QB7hrVq8dmFICdzI3jPTtxrs/s1600/SAM_2406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpBgecWODj8Pf3aXQiveUvhETsgB_uuPuGUaXr_-WBKlauW3ah2B3PSzybOnT8p15GMkvTJ1QogncxauE5EKT6UzFaUOhg1Wk3_y3P68MGqmVnhvJGU3QB7hrVq8dmFICdzI3jPTtxrs/s320/SAM_2406.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church in the center of Valencia</td></tr>
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</div>Arielle Hornedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118366596794996170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-17758702975272963092011-09-21T14:27:00.000-07:002011-09-21T14:27:10.397-07:00First Encounter With MadridI'm sorry that I'm updating this blog so sparingly, but I'm sure you guys are understanding of the fact that I have a million different things going on at once while I'm over here!<br />
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My host family is still absolutely amazing. My host mom and I have had some super personal conversations lately, and it made me realize how much host families really let you into their personal lives. For most of them, their house and their families are all they have. It's not like in America where you have a house in upstate NY, maybe somewhere in Florida, or anything like that. This is their house, their ONLY house, and it is a very valued possession of theirs. Not only do they give you an inside look at their home, but they let you live in it, and become a part of their lives. My mom has really opened up to me about things that happened in her past, and I've done the same as well. If this sort of thing kinda creeps you out, by all means you don't have to do it! But for me, I love to talk, I love to learn about other people and about what makes them who they are, and my host mom is giving me the opportunity to really get to know her and become a part of her life.<br />
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So I must tell you all about my first encounter with the beautiful city of Madrid. First off, as I mentioned in my previous post, Madrid is about half an hour away by train which is awesome. My friends and I decided we were going to spend a whole day/night there. The trains are kind of confusing I'm not going to lie, there are so many different trains at the station when you walk in and I'm just used to the Long Island Rail Road, having one train to wait for and not having to think much about it. But thankfully, my friends had a much better idea of what to do than I did. Anyways, we walked around the Puerta del Sol area in Madrid for a few hours, where you can find a LOT of different kinds of entertainment. Anything ranging from clowns and jokes, to people dressed up as dogs laying around on the ground. There was actually a guy blowing giant bubbles, bigger than your body, and trapping people in them and stuff. Seeing Madrid was such a cool experience for me, because I'm so used to New York City. As many of you know, you have to constantly be walking fast, no one pays attention to any of the entertainment that you pass on the streets, and I feel like everyone is just angry about tourists! But my friends and I were walking at a snail's pace, taking in everything around us, stopping to watch stuff as we pleased, and NOT getting yelled at by people behind us! It was rather refreshing.<br />
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At night, we decided to go to a club called Kapital, which is actually really famous in Madrid (known for its tourist visitors). It's a seven-story night club, each with a different genre of music on every floor. They even had live entertainment at certain points in the night, and they blast the crowd with a cool air mist every once in a while. It was absolutely AMAZING! Nothing like the night life in New York, not even in NYC! Everyone was having an awesome time, everyone was dancing, and the place itself was absolutely gorgeous. After we left, we had decided to stay in a hostel. This happened to by my first experience ever with a hostel, and I didn't know what to expect. We booked a 19-bed room which is considered really big. The beds were all bunked; it kind of reminded me like a college dorm room. But the hostel we stayed at, Cat's Hostel, is a 'youth hostel' and is geared towards the younger crowd. They have a lot of events that they organize to get people together, so if you guys are ever interested in meeting new people and staying over in Madrid, definitely check out Cat's Hostel. It was super cheap too. We met a few people from France, someone from Germany, and a girl from Malaysia who we actually wound up inviting out with us! Hostels are definitely places unlike any other, but the concept is awesome. My friends and I loved Madrid so much that we're actually going back tomorrow night, so maybe I'll have more stories for next time :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AIVEgbH2jqaVFOxqXmb9d7p7VvQae2R48ASU_cQkcgsb11kzentBlmTGbUHDm5cVzY68OJso0i3aj0CxvHtyfSZhBT_U2WEeCiuy19aN42vrD0xcaR_DFYKwrNelLof04DHvhY0c-wg/s1600/SAM_2155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AIVEgbH2jqaVFOxqXmb9d7p7VvQae2R48ASU_cQkcgsb11kzentBlmTGbUHDm5cVzY68OJso0i3aj0CxvHtyfSZhBT_U2WEeCiuy19aN42vrD0xcaR_DFYKwrNelLof04DHvhY0c-wg/s320/SAM_2155.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Walking around Madrid<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekG4TLCebsa8oQgh1Lu6XWVXDYXCzWPO7k9HoNjiZZqvyDp7WGg7vc1I1a5YaDEOgn7SjP_l7RFi3eEkYry0fFV2Gz4vvuhJtOBqFT6HsM7Jv_NVRZogof7oB9uGWnAoBQoPGXzbE1wA/s1600/SAM_2192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekG4TLCebsa8oQgh1Lu6XWVXDYXCzWPO7k9HoNjiZZqvyDp7WGg7vc1I1a5YaDEOgn7SjP_l7RFi3eEkYry0fFV2Gz4vvuhJtOBqFT6HsM7Jv_NVRZogof7oB9uGWnAoBQoPGXzbE1wA/s320/SAM_2192.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cat's Hostel</div>Arielle Hornedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118366596794996170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-82612783055862937812011-09-10T07:59:00.000-07:002011-09-10T08:00:52.272-07:00First Week In Alcalá!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey everyone, my name's Arielle Hornedo, and you guys are going to follow my life for the next four months. A little bit about myself, I'm a Junior at Binghamton University, Psychology and Spanish double major, and I still haven't a clue about what I want to do with my life. But that's kind of what this whole study abroad thing is about; finding out about yourself, what you like to do, what you want to do, etc. I'm currently studying in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><em style="font-style: normal;">Alcalá de Henares, which is considered a part of Madrid, but is sort of on the outskirts of it. Regardless, it's about a 30 minute train ride away from the downtown area of Madrid, and this town is absolutely awesome. </em></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">When I arrived last Thursday, the bus took all the students to Plaza de Cervantes to meet our host families, and I have to admit I was extremely nervous. I'm not fluent in Spanish, I came to Spain all by myself, and I was afraid I'd meet my host mom and we wouldn't be able to communicate. I was completely wrong. First of all, I hate to be biased but my host mom is probably the best one out there. She's so funny, generous, extremely understanding of the fact that I'm here to learn Spanish and am not fluent, and she makes me feel like a part of the family. I've been here for about 10 days, and I've already gotten dinner with her friends a few times, gone shopping with her, and even done a few one on one things in town. She is an amazing woman!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Everyone is given the option to either stay with a host family or go in the dorms, and if you guys are on the fence about it AT ALL, stop thinking about it! There is no better way to become a true part of the culture than to live with a host family. You get to eat what what they eat, be on their same daily schedules, and live where they live. If you wanted to live like an American and eat like an American, then what's the point in coming here?! None of my friends who I met through the program have regretted choosing a homestay in the slightest; everyone loves their "parents" and "siblings" (my host sister is constantly facebook chatting my friends saying "me llamo Aroa, soy la hermana de Arielle").</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">As you can probably tell, I could talk endlessly about how this first week has gone, but I'll try and keep it as brief as possible. Classes aren't bad, you have a lot of options about what you can take. I'm currently taking a contemporary women's lit class, a spanish business class, a spanish art class and another spanish lit class. I chose to take two lit classes cause those transferred over for me at Binghamton, but there are a ton more options. There are no classes on Fridays which is awesome for travelling if you're interested, or just for relaxing and enjoying not having to be at school. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The culture here is absolutely amazing; the lifestyle is so laid back. Siesta is probably my favorite time of day, where you get to take a nap that is basically built into your schedule. Another cool thing about this town is that all of the restaurants are outdoors. The chairs and tables are just on the sidewalk, sometimes right in the middle of the street (obviously cars can't go down those roads). You just seat yourself, it's really cool. Also if you order a drink, you get tapas for free. Tapas can be anything from an entire sandwich, to potatoes in different sauces, to seafood. You basically get a meal and drink, for the price of just a drink which is awesome. It's really popular for people to go out and meet up with friends, grab a glass of wine or something a little before dinner and just chat. I've done it a few times with my mom and her friends, I actually did it last night as well and met a few more people. The meal times are definitely something my body had to get adjusted to. Breakfast is basically the same time, 8/9 in the morning depending on when your classes start and such. Lunch is around 3, and is the main meal of the day. It's HUGE. I actually just finished lunch and my mom made me a soup with potatoes and all sorts of vegetables in it, ham, chorizo and some bread on the side. It was so good. Dinner is around 9/10 pm and is usually something pretty light like eggs or a sandwich of some sort. By the way, I've been a vegetarian for 5 years, but being here has opened my mind to trying different foods again. So if you're a picky person, coming here will absolutely help you expand your taste. Also, if you do have specific diets, the school will match you up with a family that can tend to your needs. My mom knew I was a vegetarian before I came here and NEVER forces me to eat meat or try anything I don't want to, and she always makes sure I'm comfortable and have something in the house I can eat.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay so this was a general "welcome to my life" blog, tried not to make it too crazy lengthy, but the next one will be more detailed about whats going on over here. If you guys have absolutely ANY questions about the food, families, classes, the town in general, nightlife, literally ANYTHING, feel free to leave the questions on here, or you could email me at ahorned1@binghamton.edu</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">^ me and my host sister, she's a nut :) </span>Arielle Hornedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118366596794996170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-32405894584517622732011-06-12T07:02:00.001-07:002011-06-12T07:21:14.187-07:00First Week, Pictures from ToledoOk, this first one is just a nice fixed gear bike I found when we took a tour of Madrid the first day here. Nice to see people riding here too.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu1FXjW6s4Q/TfTIjGlnHVI/AAAAAAAAAAw/m8k-FIdLP74/s1600/IMG_1146.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu1FXjW6s4Q/TfTIjGlnHVI/AAAAAAAAAAw/m8k-FIdLP74/s320/IMG_1146.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617335140627193170" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfaVs2m2o32oMZLRRI0bnmpXOQejtc3uSHYfa_RiYvBdyVs2kXyxuDpyYfP5ex-Qy6GvEElvC8qvWk8d0-1BxYR426XaKFsp6prFJpM81yUsOYnS1arSHhzMuyB_55DxK2YfeOQexuvU/s1600/IMG_1171.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfaVs2m2o32oMZLRRI0bnmpXOQejtc3uSHYfa_RiYvBdyVs2kXyxuDpyYfP5ex-Qy6GvEElvC8qvWk8d0-1BxYR426XaKFsp6prFJpM81yUsOYnS1arSHhzMuyB_55DxK2YfeOQexuvU/s320/IMG_1171.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617335131502845458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgiIQ_8jGjjgfRZK3j5xumbQ8E621u1xur3vnkxq1P6lwcmdPQ9j3Rs1vlSYlG5gTqbMi1-EDPfCl064jxoHM50ZHv5WZOuiWpfjgkvqApeTvDRnvf7BN_z6jX9A0090xKBm8r32GFG4/s1600/IMG_1168.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgiIQ_8jGjjgfRZK3j5xumbQ8E621u1xur3vnkxq1P6lwcmdPQ9j3Rs1vlSYlG5gTqbMi1-EDPfCl064jxoHM50ZHv5WZOuiWpfjgkvqApeTvDRnvf7BN_z6jX9A0090xKBm8r32GFG4/s320/IMG_1168.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617335126671196562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5JToIZxuKQw2I9qHDFFpP-nGu_-_fr6HRQKJPDhW7Dcsumu5sb-ENaYNVXVPEWo7XIUfBc8MBhTTlkDEZ8zyZHsxZWIEt8PHIeIa2LFblDdbxmXVYsRRdi73QQivMrjseUWff4cS6AI/s1600/IMG_1163.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5JToIZxuKQw2I9qHDFFpP-nGu_-_fr6HRQKJPDhW7Dcsumu5sb-ENaYNVXVPEWo7XIUfBc8MBhTTlkDEZ8zyZHsxZWIEt8PHIeIa2LFblDdbxmXVYsRRdi73QQivMrjseUWff4cS6AI/s320/IMG_1163.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617335116429516962" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBX7C35WK0uZUFDyNa9W0n7b42qd1YCjN5iInMtQNr68IO_ii6aeDWdJNcv9S8-HO5PLkbGgjgOlzbu-XSiun-DFewe9ttcTJSFpA0UdEFqqAg3kiVO1NyjRyIO7PVdjAfZ8ZLSrLaXo/s1600/IMG_1160.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBX7C35WK0uZUFDyNa9W0n7b42qd1YCjN5iInMtQNr68IO_ii6aeDWdJNcv9S8-HO5PLkbGgjgOlzbu-XSiun-DFewe9ttcTJSFpA0UdEFqqAg3kiVO1NyjRyIO7PVdjAfZ8ZLSrLaXo/s320/IMG_1160.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617335104713814018" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-71418192169223459992011-06-12T06:53:00.001-07:002011-06-12T06:53:28.763-07:00First Entry... a week lateWell first off, my name is John Sanchez, and thanks for checking out my blog. Before I go into the details of my first week here at Spain, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'll be a senior this fall finishing up my music major as well as a spanish minor. In fact, this study abroad opportunity in Alcalá is the only reason I'm able to complete a minor before I graduate in the spring of 2012. I was always interested in studying abroad while at Stony Brook, but becoming a music major at the beginning of my sophomore year made it slightly more difficult to travel if I had wanted to graduate on time. When I began taking Spanish courses at Stony Brook during my sophomore year as well, I started seriously considering how I may study abroad without falling behind in the music major. Luckily for me, the summer programs don't interfere and they also have been very accommodating- they have assigned me a classroom that I may practice in every day. And that's how I'm here today.<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>I should probably note that my blog will be slightly different from the typical 4-week sumer session blogs. Since I need both sessions to help me complete my Spanish minor, I'll be here for 8 weeks, not just 4. Therefore, my blog will continue throughout the two months that I'll be studying in Spain.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>And now I can finally tell you something about Spain. <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; ">I feel like I've been here forever. I'm so happy I'm staying both sessions. One month wouldn't have been enough. And since tomorrow actually marks the halfway point of the normal study abroad session, I'm realizing how fast it really goes. For one, I love my host family. I live alone with a mother and daughter. Both are very nice and accommodating</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; ">. I have my own bedroom AND bathroom. I don't even have that at home. And living alone isn't bad. Originally I had hoped for a roommate, but I'm very content with my family. We get along very well and the daughter even takes me out to various places around Alcalá. I live less than 10 minutes away from school, and the center of Alcalá. It sort of feels like a hotel. Especially because everyday, I come home for lunch and my host-sister makes me the best meals. While she cooks, we talk and get along very well. I'm surprised that we're able to communicate so well. She speaks very little english, so sometimes when I don't know how to say something I can say it in english and she'll recognize it. Other times, we have to explain what the word means that the other one doesn't know. It's almost fun when these things happen. Going into the program, I didn't know what to expect, but apparently I'm able to hold my own here so that makes me feel better. At least I have a good base to work with for the next 2 months.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">As far as classes are concerned, they seem like they'll be challenging with a fair amount of work. Nothing unreasonable though. This session I'm taking Intro to Latin-american Literature and a class called techniques of writing. Both are interesting, but the first is definitely a little harder since we have to analyze texts. Since the texts we study start from Colombus's time, the vocabulary gets a little tricky. At least since I need to look up definitions more than once, some are beginning to stick. The teacher is very good though, and she goes at a pace that I'm comfortable with when speaking about the excerpts. The other class is a mix between grammer, writing, and conversation. I really like that teacher also, and the material is very useful. It's more aimed at writing, hence the course name, but it also really helps with pronunciation and speaking in general. Both of these classes are the equivalent to 300 level Spanish classes at home, so the homeworks do take some time to get through. But that also probably contributes to the intensity of the 4-week program. We only have classes monday through thursday, and classes are 2 and a half hours long each. That's really not as horrible as it seems when I say it. We start at 9 and get out at 2:30, just in time to take a siesta (nap) if we so choose. Also, every friday there are trips to various cities within the school. They're not mandatory for all of the students but I highly recommend that you do sign up to go if you're classes don't require you. I also recommend that you set your alarm for the right time, that way you don't sleep through the first trip like myself. Not only did all of the students say that the trip to two palaces in Madrid were amazing, but I also missed out on bonding a little more with my classmates. Basically, you want to go on the trips.</span><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>On my first saturday here, the study abroad program director organized a little unofficial trip to Toledo with the 4 students studying with Stony Brook, and some of our friends that we had met during our first week.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>We went by train, as we do when we travel to most places on our own, and it took us about 30 minutes. I should note that the train is very reasonable here in Spain. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span">What's cool, besides the fact that it's this old city on a hill surrounded by a river, is the fact that in the dark ages Toledo flourished. This is a city that translated books into different languages, like the bible, during this period and preserved everything really well. My favorite part of the city is the Cathedral though. We couldn't take pictures, so I have nothing to show you. But it was amazing. The architecture and artwork inside were incredible. And they had been around since the 16th century. When you walk in it's very overwhelming.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>For those of you who haven't noticed yet, I have the tendency to ramble on forever. This seems like a good place to stop as any. I'll post pictures in a separate entry out of convenience. If you've made it to the end, congratulations. If you see me at the end of the semester when you're out of meal points, I'll owe you a coke. Of course, I'll also be out by then so never mind. Hope you've taken something from my experiences thus far.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span">-John</span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-49369552347876612132010-08-30T17:53:00.000-07:002010-08-30T18:51:26.190-07:00Summer Wrap Up, Fall Beginnings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMEXskfev5guViACbm1wzAc0WOHnXsB_dv4MLwkZej-fFP-kIL4cO9bBnNba3n8atm6iosRTIiU6KybIVgkOh8zBPn87I4cuYTvxhTIx1R8enkD7hPZcN6io3fiYeo-2tMAndsrAP9iBM/s1600/DSC01172.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMEXskfev5guViACbm1wzAc0WOHnXsB_dv4MLwkZej-fFP-kIL4cO9bBnNba3n8atm6iosRTIiU6KybIVgkOh8zBPn87I4cuYTvxhTIx1R8enkD7hPZcN6io3fiYeo-2tMAndsrAP9iBM/s320/DSC01172.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511384227772275154" /></a>Nightime setting in- Alcala<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKGO71tnNwgjbk9nnxPIdl0gZwqIMvtDcyFJBj1uSTL9mKI7BRJzh_t2VXjhTb67zP-LeJH-IX-a324MRj417n_ct4Gt-3m5BPgRPyIjtEkovV737C3L5g7MzFazBUcaYsMgr-QFhOAYy/s1600/DSC01125.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKGO71tnNwgjbk9nnxPIdl0gZwqIMvtDcyFJBj1uSTL9mKI7BRJzh_t2VXjhTb67zP-LeJH-IX-a324MRj417n_ct4Gt-3m5BPgRPyIjtEkovV737C3L5g7MzFazBUcaYsMgr-QFhOAYy/s320/DSC01125.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511384220024495650" /></a>La Sagrada Familia- Barcelona!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJDxdjCHgkJl8MVfTE6nXKL9KlfssC_VMKNCLCCG-1hg1gaYX5psNP93ymYSHhgUkBkwjXAdIJg6OLpCnVdpP-MsdXbhCVC0l4vcRguKojBIWGHyK8zKiDcGKW4dynGLGVabNs4qR8kBn/s1600/DSC00986.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJDxdjCHgkJl8MVfTE6nXKL9KlfssC_VMKNCLCCG-1hg1gaYX5psNP93ymYSHhgUkBkwjXAdIJg6OLpCnVdpP-MsdXbhCVC0l4vcRguKojBIWGHyK8zKiDcGKW4dynGLGVabNs4qR8kBn/s320/DSC00986.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511384213727527602" /></a>Streets of Madrid!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtyEpdFHZkrd9w0QnePqJWDfqlDF9gFsw6Sx4dmJqyCHr_6rqUhYANcXh9RupWN9W7Wb28GzV8qgb1Xi4lC7cXs2PiSx6uVhsAPiGsPja0GyTmi-ENhedwaU-AfEfTIT_c4mSIk40pNhyphenhyphen/s1600/DSC01088.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtyEpdFHZkrd9w0QnePqJWDfqlDF9gFsw6Sx4dmJqyCHr_6rqUhYANcXh9RupWN9W7Wb28GzV8qgb1Xi4lC7cXs2PiSx6uVhsAPiGsPja0GyTmi-ENhedwaU-AfEfTIT_c4mSIk40pNhyphenhyphen/s320/DSC01088.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511384202694525858" /></a>Palm Trees on the Beaches of Barcelona<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IRBHd-NyoMshWr81FwmB5d7Msd6qVmGoXcnT5DHy01KOQj_CXajNbm-tV6BP4eBsTFuku7Dt3p-LjomhHvPNo3wUGyZ0aN1sI9-J05Cjw4PVCCF4LSfOeoMHxWegDmwCA4IUy47DPE_t/s1600/DSC00975.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IRBHd-NyoMshWr81FwmB5d7Msd6qVmGoXcnT5DHy01KOQj_CXajNbm-tV6BP4eBsTFuku7Dt3p-LjomhHvPNo3wUGyZ0aN1sI9-J05Cjw4PVCCF4LSfOeoMHxWegDmwCA4IUy47DPE_t/s320/DSC00975.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511384197287097522" /></a>Madrid Scenery =0)<br />It is August 30th, the first day of school here at Stony Brook University. I just thought I would write wrap up blog to my summer and time in Spain and also finally include a few pictures! It was an interesting transition coming back from Spain and not waking up in my host mom's apartment! It did help that my mom and two sisters visited for a week and a half after the program so I was able to show them around Spain while at the same time get used to being back home. I really enjoyed showing them Alcala, Madrid and Barcelona. I was surprised at how much Spanish I picked up, as I was the only translator and had to get us from place to place! I am so grateful for all of my experiences that I have had here in Spain. Starting new at Stony Brook, I am so happy to be able to speak English to my friends and get around with out any problems! I also have a newfound sympathy for our large population of International students. I give them so much credit for navigating around our large campus and, of course, the larger New York area. As the new semester unfolds I will never forget the unique, important experiences and lessons learned while I was away in Spain. I will try my best to explain to other students how valuable going abroad is, even if it is just to gain a new perspective to appreciate and bring back home. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy some of the pictures =0) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3366FF;">Good luck to all! </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">Courtney =0)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-60240568102891648502010-06-27T14:23:00.001-07:002010-08-30T18:54:52.110-07:00Sevilla y Cordoba! =0)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GUqwCi6884y2jIs2g3E6inuEDX6-fKqg-XOyV7f7t-Ub1_gYna2Pfef6YMq_9TtSh5SQQsXJXg4FqO_HTg9Um9qDXsaPanV7UklLmAEHw5BOtx19KU2e9WWXTyXNHZEpkciTlla5JHtt/s1600/DSC01337.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GUqwCi6884y2jIs2g3E6inuEDX6-fKqg-XOyV7f7t-Ub1_gYna2Pfef6YMq_9TtSh5SQQsXJXg4FqO_HTg9Um9qDXsaPanV7UklLmAEHw5BOtx19KU2e9WWXTyXNHZEpkciTlla5JHtt/s320/DSC01337.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511386160339709026" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I decided to take a busy weekend with a few friends and tackle <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Sevilla</span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC00;">Cordoba</span> in three days. Clearly three days is not enough time to see both these amazing cities, but hey you gotta to work with the free time that you have in order to see the most places you can. For the first night, we rented a hostile in Sevilla. We took a bus from Madrid to Sevilla which took around 5 hours, and let's be real, my body was aching! Anyways, we arrived during the day around 3. What is great about Spain is that the days are so long, so even though we arrived a bit later in the day, we still had daylight until around 9:00pm! We were given a walking tour, ( in English, luckily!) and then were given some suggestions for places to eat and go out to at night. We got to see crazy sites like the Famous church and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">Giralda</span> tower in Sevilla. We also had a great tour guide who told us really entertaining and interesting stories about every key point in Sevilla. After the day and night in Sevilla we woke up, did a bit more traveling about and headed to the train station to get on the fast train from Sevilla to Cordoba. <div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Luckily, they are not that far away so the train did not even take an hour. We got off, found our hotel, which was directly across from the famous <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;">Mesquita/Iglesia de Co</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;">rdoba</span> and then ventured out to get to know yet another beautiful city. I learned about both the Giralda and the Mesquita in my art history class so it was really amazing to get to see what we learned in person and really feel the grandiose architecture of each. the night we were on Cordoba there were Flamenco celebrations everywhere (this is where the picture comes from)! Every person in the town was out roaming about till the early early hours of the morning. I couldn't believe how many people come out to see these celebrations. I got to listen to a really heartfelt spanish Flamenco singer perform before we had to head back to our rooms in order to wake up for our early bus back to Madrid in the morning. I definitely would recommend these cities to other people, but of course, in the hopes that they will be able to spend a bit more time to enjoy the places than we were able to!</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> Nevertheless, they were amazing cities full of culture, architecture and new sites literally around every corner. I cannot believe how quickly my study abroad in Spain is coming to an end- Even though I am not able to put my pictures up, I really wish I could because I have so many from each place I have been to! Sometimes snapping photos is a bit excessive and annoying to me, but after you have taken them and you are looking at them, you are happy you took them. I hope my last few days in Alcala will be filled with sunshine and a few more closing experiences to soak up. </div><div>Will write soon, </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;">Hasta Luego</span>, </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;">Courtney =0) </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-43547299834786413532010-06-15T05:49:00.000-07:002010-08-30T18:59:26.793-07:00Adventures In Toledo & Barcelona<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5g9ao1Yny1cSbHrYGnzGUFdaz01aTrmrV8Vk0esCJ0lKHzxtJWuMjffQS4LvjCDi75ll6YHcbsnwk9qLZyi3j0LCjDtIdt0osf1QQ7N_DYH6psd8-a1jvCUfY7qNOILfxxR6PmY0RUwQk/s1600/DSC01082.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5g9ao1Yny1cSbHrYGnzGUFdaz01aTrmrV8Vk0esCJ0lKHzxtJWuMjffQS4LvjCDi75ll6YHcbsnwk9qLZyi3j0LCjDtIdt0osf1QQ7N_DYH6psd8-a1jvCUfY7qNOILfxxR6PmY0RUwQk/s320/DSC01082.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511387573322045202" /></a><br />Hola Amigos!<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I have had a pretty packed week and a half here in Spain. I went to the quaint, beautiful city of Toledo. We took the fast train from Madrid to Toledo, getting us there in just under 30 minutes. Stepping out of the train though, I felt I retrogressed many years- the simple natural beauty as well as the intricate architecture of every single building amazed us. The small streets are so different than the streets back home. Needless to say we got lost a few times due to the maze-like pattern the streets follow. Nevertheless, we accidentally found some hidden gems while lost. Toledo is known to be the city that is of three cultures because there is a synagogue, a mosque and a Cathedral all in the same area. We visited each and were blown away by both the inside and outside. Some places here do not look like much from the outside, but when you walk inside they are surprisingly beautiful. You can see the antique regal beauty everywhere you look.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> Luckily, when we arrived there were still decorations from the celebrations of Corpus Christi, a religious holiday that is celebrated in places in Spain. There were fresh flowers hanging from balconies and from building to building as well as plants roping the streets and fresh flower petals on the floor. We missed the actual celebration but it must have been very extravagant and lively. After hours of walking we found our way back to the bus and then the train, relaxing in our fast train seats calmly awaiting the mad rush we knew would be coming when we got off to catch our train from Madrid back to cozy and slower paced Alcala. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I had my first full week of school. I am taking an art history class and a spanish class. My art history is solely in Spanish while the other the teacher uses English when needed. I still need to practice speaking Spanish a lot! I am surprised how much I am picking up just from listening in classes and, of course, clutching a dictionary for those "just in case" moments- which for me happen quite often. I do enjoy the schedule of the classes. We have classes monday-thursday. Each class is 2 and a half hours long, 9-1130 and then 12-230. Then, of course, we go home for lunch and some people take naps, siestas. It took a little getting used to the eating schedule. We have lunch around 230- 3, then dinner around 930-10! It seems a little late to me, but I am pretty much accustomed to the time and the fact that there is daylight until around 945 at night! That is good for me because I love long days. The normal time to go to sleep, at least in my host apartment is around 11:30-12:00. It is so interesting to see how much how human bodies can really adapt and how quickly we can get used to a change.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>After the long week I went to Barcelona for the weekend with a few friends to see the sights and all the famous city has to offer. We went to many places, like la Sagrada Familia, this amazing cathedral that has stopped all construction, it has yet to be finished. What has been created though is crazy, tall and beautiful to look at. We also went to a famous market called La Boqueria which is on Las Ramblas, a well known road filled with places to eat, shop, browse, and many many tourists! A lot of people spoke English there, which is a lot different from Alcala. Others spoke Catalan or Spanish. I wasn't sure what to try to speak when I talked to someone! Many different cultures as well- which is also how Madrid is. Both cities have an array of people. Seeing my first beach here and touching the realllyy cold water was fun, even though the weather was not quite up to par for the beach. My face in the photo shows how cold the water really was! We snapped a few pics and went on our way. Although going to new cities are fun and adventurous, I was a little nervous about the metro system and how we would do getting around. Luckily, the metro was so much easier than in Madrid and we were able to figure it out relatively easily. That was nice to be able to get on the metro and know for sure where you are going and knowing you are on the right one! Barcelona was great but the weekend went very very fast! It seemed strange staying in a hotel rather than staying in my host family's apartment. I love hotels but it is also comforting residing with nice people in a homey-comfortable setting. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We had our midterms today- I cannot believe how quick everything is going! I am going to the Prado Museum in Madrid with my Art History class tomorrow. It is awesome to get the chance to learn about a painting or piece of art and then be able to go and actually see the real thing, apply our knowledge to real life objects. I mean lets be real here, it also makes you feel reall intelligent when you can identify the period or characteristics of a piece of art haha. Hopefully by tomorrow I will have plans figured out for where I want to go this weekend =0)</div><div>Hasta Luego!</div><div>Courtney =0) </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1754502165876438071.post-40513348211920984022010-06-03T10:37:00.000-07:002010-08-30T19:04:46.534-07:00First Week in Spain!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQQ_hP3jI1HmjnUSbi0X2jJBjtrU4McnHjtRdHL4aX0gT71e43GKqk90SrXBT6nwPBYKdyoMtaj-6KMOf8L5_aYv9msN_HPjxWyC4sSPL-ucMkvr-8-z0FyBGix52qBg9f21Jz66iRNMi/s1600/DSC01011.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQQ_hP3jI1HmjnUSbi0X2jJBjtrU4McnHjtRdHL4aX0gT71e43GKqk90SrXBT6nwPBYKdyoMtaj-6KMOf8L5_aYv9msN_HPjxWyC4sSPL-ucMkvr-8-z0FyBGix52qBg9f21Jz66iRNMi/s320/DSC01011.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511389072855781026" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0G2C0cBpb_Vn-rF81Z0RN-cns0Zo8RK93x_Upy8ldKEw-5VGm5zHWMNCRiLYLJb8_rsJhI2kVOoclP2TerrVeDTSpYec7E4KCaPa8aVfdNw6bGQNbs5zWL9NKKfn9HXzzZXnVvtvtEpwP/s1600/DSC00914.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0G2C0cBpb_Vn-rF81Z0RN-cns0Zo8RK93x_Upy8ldKEw-5VGm5zHWMNCRiLYLJb8_rsJhI2kVOoclP2TerrVeDTSpYec7E4KCaPa8aVfdNw6bGQNbs5zWL9NKKfn9HXzzZXnVvtvtEpwP/s320/DSC00914.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511389063311140418" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHor-2r0AB7CfemwedC3lkv8TlTAPoXvS-geKwBHqYiNc_T-l-kizcLSOKQ7AIAKTKNYXA31MWB7bctvH0PXSNY0LX0Tru1LocmUpzii5EiuD8NmX7yYBy_WTxsj50F94OOQepywsqSPH/s1600/DSC00886.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHor-2r0AB7CfemwedC3lkv8TlTAPoXvS-geKwBHqYiNc_T-l-kizcLSOKQ7AIAKTKNYXA31MWB7bctvH0PXSNY0LX0Tru1LocmUpzii5EiuD8NmX7yYBy_WTxsj50F94OOQepywsqSPH/s320/DSC00886.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511389056376000738" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>It is hard to believe that I am writing from <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b>S<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">p</span>a<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">i</span>n</b></span> right this very moment. I wanted to write sooner and put up some pictures but I just got my internet in my apartment today and I realized I forgot my usb connection from my camera to my computer. Luckily, this is only a small item that I forgot to bring, but of course just goes to show that when traveling it is best to quadruple check to ensure you have everything! So, even though I am a little late to this Blog Sesh, better late than never..<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Although we had a few delays, our flight over here was pretty smooth, as I slept a bit and anxiously awaited the ultimate land in a new country. We all met up at the airport and got on a bus that took us right into Alcala de Henares, the town we are all staying and going to school in. It hit me that I was in Spain when one of the people from the Institute that came to meet us, greeted us and told us he did not speak one word of English. With my Spanish being fair, but by no means strong, I knew that this was going to get realll interesting realll fast. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>My host mom is adorable and very accommodating. I have a roommate as well and she helps me so much because she can speak fluent Spanish- I am practicing and working on my spanish, trying to talk and intently listen. Still, it is so nice know to that my roommate is there to help me! Our apartment is just a short, less than ten minute walk to the school we are studying at. We usually go to school Monday through Thursday each week, except this week we have today, Thursday, off as well due to the fact that it is a religious holiday here and everything closes. We were given a short tour of Madrid, but I have to go there with some of my friends from the program in order to get to know the metro systems and directions of places. I do not want to find myself in an important situation where I need directions and can only get by with interesting hand signals and low grade Spanish! I am learning though, for sure. Each night I try to write down words that I learned, or words I wanted to say but did not know. I am definitely out of my element as I am usually a talker and love to hear people's stories. Although I can basically understand what my host mother is saying, it is hard to respond and keep a conversation going for long.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I felt a bit overwhelmed, which I realize in natural when a person goes to a place where there is a language barrier. I am feeling increasingly more comfortable with the language, but of course, it is only my fourth day here and I know I have a ways to go! A few friends and I just booked tickets on the fast train to go to Barcelona next weekend. I am really excited to see another part of Spain. It will be especially different from Alcala and Madrid because Barcelona is on the coast of Spain and will therefore have completely different scenery and probably a bit of a different weather situation! I have learned that this month in Alcala has been one of the hottest months ever on record! It has been getting hotter and hotter during the days here, so we will see if this sticky temperature sticks! </div><div>Tomorrow some people from the group and I are going to Toledo, another city in Spain, for the day. It will be interesting to see another area close by.</div><div>Will Write Soon, </div><div>Hasta Luego, </div><div>Courtney =0)<br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><br /><div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3