Hola :)
By now, I think everyone knows the story about why I haven't updated my blog recently. So I won't say it again, but I have been here for almost 2 MONTHS. I feel like I haven't been here that long. Everyone said time would fly but I didn't know it would go this fast. I have gotten into a routine now, which makes it feel like a normal life. (This intro has nothing to do with my title in case you were wondering)
One Sunday I wanted to go for a run and I figured that since I've been here for almost 2 months I could find my way around Corazno by myself. Ha ha I was so wrong. I started out good, I had no problem going into Corazno and went down some roads that looked familiar. I was running along and there's a part where you can go either right or left (to get back home you need to go right) but of course I thought I had to go left.
As I'm running everything looks less and less familiar and I'm thinking oh craaap. So I turned around and realized it was starting to get dark and I didn't know where I was. And there was a lady standing outside. Then started the debate in my head. Part of me wanted to ask her where I was and how to get back, but the other part didn't want for multiple reasons:
1. She was old and scary looking
2. My Spanish is bad
3. I'm sure I looked lovely and sweaty
But I really wanted to get home. SO I went up to her and told her I was lost and she gave me the weirdest look ever. I told her where I lived (somehow I remembered my address, weird because I don't remember anything in Spanish) and she told me she didn't understand me. So she tells me to wait and yells for her husband to come down and try to explain to me how to get home.
While we were waiting for her husband to come down, she starts asking me all these questions like where I'm from, why I'm in Spain, why I'm running in Corazno. After I told her I was from the United States, she told me I was stupid! And then just stared at me. It was the most awkward moment ever. But her husband came down and he was a lot nicer and explained how I could get home.
I haven't gone running since.
This week has been freeezing cold. The type of cold here is so different from the kind in Wisconsin. Here, it rains instead of snows in the winter but there is also really strong winds. The cold in Wisconsin is drier, if that makes any sense but I'm freezing everyday. I don't think the school has heat. My school in Wisconsin is so hot in the winter, we can wear tshirts and guys can wear basketball shorts if they want without being cold. I definitly didn't think I would ever say this but I think it's colder than Wisconsin here. Everyone told me to wait until December. Great.
I'm looking forward to this weekend because it's Halloween. They don't really celebrate halloween like we do but on Saturday I think we are going out to Cambados to "celebrate" ;)
Then on Monday and Tuesday we don't have class because of Day of the Dead.
Adios!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Hola :)
Hola :)
Today was Christopher Columbus day here in Spain, so we didn't have to go to school. My host parents didn't go to work, actually no one had to work today and pretty much all the stores were closed in Vilagarcia. Today was not a free day like a huelga, we went to the church because my host grandpa used to be the police captain of Galicia, I think (?) that's what I understood from him telling me about it, but let's keep in mind my Spanish issn't the greatest
But anyways, we went to the church because they were giving him an award and the current police captain. After the mass, we went to a casino where they had tapas and I tried a lot of new seafood today.
Like squid, and clams. I have to admit, they weren't that bad. After the tapas, we went to a resturant and had Paella. But this one just was not good, I'm not really sure why, but I was looking foward to some really good paella.
For those of you who don't know what paella (pie-a-ah) is, I'll explain.
It's made in a huge skillet. On the bottom it's rice, not white rice, yellow rice because it's made with saffron. Paella can have any type of meat or seafood and veggies in it but the one's I have eaten had shrimp, clams, chicken, onion, squid, octopus and other seafood. It's delish
Hmm what else is going on in my life here?
School is getting easier, I think. Some days I can understand a lot of what is said to me and other days I just can't process Spanish. We don't have a lot of homework but every night Lorenzo and I study, review notes and do practice problems in math. Math is the most difficult subject here for me. Weird, I know. But they do all types of math every year, algebra,geometry,advanced algebra, calculus...
When I took algerbra 2 years ago I was good at it, but algebra here... way more intense. So there's a lot I don't remember or know how to do.
Today, I found out in order to get an 'A' in gym here, at the end of the year we have to run for an hour.
AN HOUR. No walking, no breaks, nothing. Just running. I think I might die.
I have an AFS meeting coming up on October 21st-23rd. I'm excited to see some of the people but I really don't want to be gone for 3 days, on a weekend. Well whatever...
I think my next post is going to be about some of the differences I've been keeping track of here, so keep checking back :)
Adios!
Today was Christopher Columbus day here in Spain, so we didn't have to go to school. My host parents didn't go to work, actually no one had to work today and pretty much all the stores were closed in Vilagarcia. Today was not a free day like a huelga, we went to the church because my host grandpa used to be the police captain of Galicia, I think (?) that's what I understood from him telling me about it, but let's keep in mind my Spanish issn't the greatest
But anyways, we went to the church because they were giving him an award and the current police captain. After the mass, we went to a casino where they had tapas and I tried a lot of new seafood today.
Like squid, and clams. I have to admit, they weren't that bad. After the tapas, we went to a resturant and had Paella. But this one just was not good, I'm not really sure why, but I was looking foward to some really good paella.
For those of you who don't know what paella (pie-a-ah) is, I'll explain.
It's made in a huge skillet. On the bottom it's rice, not white rice, yellow rice because it's made with saffron. Paella can have any type of meat or seafood and veggies in it but the one's I have eaten had shrimp, clams, chicken, onion, squid, octopus and other seafood. It's delish
Hmm what else is going on in my life here?
School is getting easier, I think. Some days I can understand a lot of what is said to me and other days I just can't process Spanish. We don't have a lot of homework but every night Lorenzo and I study, review notes and do practice problems in math. Math is the most difficult subject here for me. Weird, I know. But they do all types of math every year, algebra,geometry,advanced algebra, calculus...
When I took algerbra 2 years ago I was good at it, but algebra here... way more intense. So there's a lot I don't remember or know how to do.
Today, I found out in order to get an 'A' in gym here, at the end of the year we have to run for an hour.
AN HOUR. No walking, no breaks, nothing. Just running. I think I might die.
I have an AFS meeting coming up on October 21st-23rd. I'm excited to see some of the people but I really don't want to be gone for 3 days, on a weekend. Well whatever...
I think my next post is going to be about some of the differences I've been keeping track of here, so keep checking back :)
Adios!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
I Know I've Been Slacking...
Hola!
So I've been in Spain for a little over a month and haven't written anything on my blog. I actually just realized I haven't written anything since August! Ahhh I know it's so bad and I'll admit it, I've been slacking. But I have some pretty good excuses. How often do you get to go to a beautiful country for a year to study? Yeah, not very often. So I've been enjoying my time here. I'll give you a quick recap of what's been going on the past month.
I started school 3 weeks ago and it is really different from my school in De Pere. First, there are 3 different buildings and during the day, we are normally in one classroom and the teachers change rooms. We only have to go to a different room for music and gym. Another thing that is different is there are no lockers at the school, so we carry our backpacks, which I don't mind at all. I'm sure if any DPHS kids are reading this, they are probably a tiny bit jealous since we got that privliage taken away last year. Anyways, my classes. Oh my god. I knew it would be difficult to understand but I had no idea it was going to be THIS difficult. I have 3 classes in Galego, the regional language of Galicia. It's like a hybrid of Spanish and Portugees. I don't even understand Spanish yet and I feel like some of the teachers expect me to understand when they speak to me in Galego. "Well I don't understand so you can speak as slowly and loudly as you'd like but I won't get it!" Is what I feel like saying sometimes.
My classes are as follows:
GYM: I hate this class. We actually sweat and have to play sports and run. This is not a Mrs.Vbergh gym class. The teacher likes to make an example of me and how I can't strech properly. Thanks bud.
Lengua: It's like English grammar class, but for Spanish. This class isn't bad, I think it will be actually really helpful, I'll be able to see how some of the Spanish words are formed and their origen.
History: Not bad, we are studying world history, which I learned about last year so I don't feel too lost when Lorenzo explains the important points from the lecture. The only bad part to this class is it's taught in Galego, other than that it's all good.
Philosphy: No idea what is going on in this class. Legit, first of all it's in Galego. The teacher makes all these weird random hand motions and walks around with his arms up in the air. And then he will randomly get quite, stare at us and continue on with his lecture. I honestly don't think I'm missing anything.
Galego: Obviously taught in Galego so this is one of the classes I kinda zone out in. The teacher is really nice but refuses to speak Spanish. Sometimes she asks me questions and I'm like What? and she repeats in Galego and I just give her a blank look because honestly I don't what she's saying, so I'll just nod my head and say "si". Somehow, Lorenzo convinced the school director to allow me to be exempt from taking the exams in that class. I don't have to do the homework either, so I'm just suppost to show up. Easy enough.
English: My favorite class for obvious reasons. It's the one time in the day that I don't feel completly lost. I'm able to do the homework really quickly but it's different here because they learn British English instead of American English. It's basically the same, except for a few words but I'm used to it since my stepdad is from England. I have to laugh sometimes because the teacher does NOT speak very good English and to reassure herself, she'll ask me to explain things to the other kids. For example, she's like "Erika, explain to everyone what present simple is." In school in America, we don't go to class everyday with the teacher greeting us at the door saying "Today we are studying the present simple" we just know what sounds good.
Ecomony: Good heavens, this class is almost as bad as philosphy. The teacher is hillarious but she can't explain anything. At all. We get these random assignments that she expects us to be able to do and none of us have any idea what the heck is going on. She also gets side-tracked really easily. So we start talking about the economy in Spain and the next thing you know we are talking about how someone lives in Madrid and then she wants to take a class field trip to Madrid. She also says "Si o No" after pretty much everything she says. There's a girl in my class who counts the number of times she says it everyday. The record is 30 times in a 50 minute period. Her other phrase is "Me entendeis?" (do you all understand me).
Music: This class is a joke. Some days we watch movies about how music effects water and other days we listen to conciertos and have to sleep to get a feel for the music. Yes, you read that right. The teacher talks really slow, not just because I'm in the class but just it's how she talks. I can actually understand her, yay. We also have to play the recorder, which I have no idea how to and I told her and she's like oh okay, just go home and practice.
Math: I thought this would be one of my easier classes but I was wrong. In Spain, they do all kinds of math every year. Algerbra, geometry, advanced algerbra, calculus. They also go into further detail with these different subjects. I don't remember much algebra from 2 years and I feel so stupid. The poor teacher and Lorenzo have to explain and explain and explain things to me and then I'll kinda understand. I'm not good at math to begin with but then try teaching me new things in Spanish, yeah not gonna happen.
Sorry for such a late update, I'll try to make the next one within the next week.
Adios!
So I've been in Spain for a little over a month and haven't written anything on my blog. I actually just realized I haven't written anything since August! Ahhh I know it's so bad and I'll admit it, I've been slacking. But I have some pretty good excuses. How often do you get to go to a beautiful country for a year to study? Yeah, not very often. So I've been enjoying my time here. I'll give you a quick recap of what's been going on the past month.
I started school 3 weeks ago and it is really different from my school in De Pere. First, there are 3 different buildings and during the day, we are normally in one classroom and the teachers change rooms. We only have to go to a different room for music and gym. Another thing that is different is there are no lockers at the school, so we carry our backpacks, which I don't mind at all. I'm sure if any DPHS kids are reading this, they are probably a tiny bit jealous since we got that privliage taken away last year. Anyways, my classes. Oh my god. I knew it would be difficult to understand but I had no idea it was going to be THIS difficult. I have 3 classes in Galego, the regional language of Galicia. It's like a hybrid of Spanish and Portugees. I don't even understand Spanish yet and I feel like some of the teachers expect me to understand when they speak to me in Galego. "Well I don't understand so you can speak as slowly and loudly as you'd like but I won't get it!" Is what I feel like saying sometimes.
My classes are as follows:
GYM: I hate this class. We actually sweat and have to play sports and run. This is not a Mrs.Vbergh gym class. The teacher likes to make an example of me and how I can't strech properly. Thanks bud.
Lengua: It's like English grammar class, but for Spanish. This class isn't bad, I think it will be actually really helpful, I'll be able to see how some of the Spanish words are formed and their origen.
History: Not bad, we are studying world history, which I learned about last year so I don't feel too lost when Lorenzo explains the important points from the lecture. The only bad part to this class is it's taught in Galego, other than that it's all good.
Philosphy: No idea what is going on in this class. Legit, first of all it's in Galego. The teacher makes all these weird random hand motions and walks around with his arms up in the air. And then he will randomly get quite, stare at us and continue on with his lecture. I honestly don't think I'm missing anything.
Galego: Obviously taught in Galego so this is one of the classes I kinda zone out in. The teacher is really nice but refuses to speak Spanish. Sometimes she asks me questions and I'm like What? and she repeats in Galego and I just give her a blank look because honestly I don't what she's saying, so I'll just nod my head and say "si". Somehow, Lorenzo convinced the school director to allow me to be exempt from taking the exams in that class. I don't have to do the homework either, so I'm just suppost to show up. Easy enough.
English: My favorite class for obvious reasons. It's the one time in the day that I don't feel completly lost. I'm able to do the homework really quickly but it's different here because they learn British English instead of American English. It's basically the same, except for a few words but I'm used to it since my stepdad is from England. I have to laugh sometimes because the teacher does NOT speak very good English and to reassure herself, she'll ask me to explain things to the other kids. For example, she's like "Erika, explain to everyone what present simple is." In school in America, we don't go to class everyday with the teacher greeting us at the door saying "Today we are studying the present simple" we just know what sounds good.
Ecomony: Good heavens, this class is almost as bad as philosphy. The teacher is hillarious but she can't explain anything. At all. We get these random assignments that she expects us to be able to do and none of us have any idea what the heck is going on. She also gets side-tracked really easily. So we start talking about the economy in Spain and the next thing you know we are talking about how someone lives in Madrid and then she wants to take a class field trip to Madrid. She also says "Si o No" after pretty much everything she says. There's a girl in my class who counts the number of times she says it everyday. The record is 30 times in a 50 minute period. Her other phrase is "Me entendeis?" (do you all understand me).
Music: This class is a joke. Some days we watch movies about how music effects water and other days we listen to conciertos and have to sleep to get a feel for the music. Yes, you read that right. The teacher talks really slow, not just because I'm in the class but just it's how she talks. I can actually understand her, yay. We also have to play the recorder, which I have no idea how to and I told her and she's like oh okay, just go home and practice.
Math: I thought this would be one of my easier classes but I was wrong. In Spain, they do all kinds of math every year. Algerbra, geometry, advanced algerbra, calculus. They also go into further detail with these different subjects. I don't remember much algebra from 2 years and I feel so stupid. The poor teacher and Lorenzo have to explain and explain and explain things to me and then I'll kinda understand. I'm not good at math to begin with but then try teaching me new things in Spanish, yeah not gonna happen.
Sorry for such a late update, I'll try to make the next one within the next week.
Adios!
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