The weather has felt last night and today like home, for the first time since I got here. It has overall been nice, I am guessing in the 40s to low 30s, and really sunny and bright. Last night it got really cold, and windy, and the wind is something that does not seem to exist here anywhere near as much as in East TN. This morning, the air is so cold that it takes your breath, and you could see your breath, and this was at 10 this morning. Even though I really dislike cold, it was quite nice, and I enjoyed my brief walk to school, because it felt like it should feel. Cold. Of course, from what I am understanding, it is colder there than it is here, and by a lot. Everyone that talks about the weather here is upset, because it is supposed to be horribly cold, and snowy, and pretty much miserable. Of course, they love it, but I would probably be miserable. ;)
We are leaving really early tomorrow for Barcelona. I am quite excited! I hope to return frothing with pictures and stories and things that might actually be exciting!!!
(2/20/2008) Edit: the wind does exist here like it does at home, it just does not seem to do it as often. Before the recent rain started, the wind blew for like 3 days straight. Ice cold and strong enough to knock me off my feet...which almost happened this one time. ;)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
So...
I did not think to really describe what I am doing, so here goes.
I live with a family here in Spain, a husband & wife and their two kids, who are 22 and 26. I also have a roomie. It´s nice, the family is great! I had all of these expectations that I would live with a family who smokes, but I don´t. I wonder if they made arrangements for me, but either way, I appreciate the fact that I don't. So, basically, we are getting into the routine of classes. I have classes every day, the earliest being at 10, so it is a lot like my schedule in the states, except the classes are at different times each day instead of the same time. I think that is just a scheduling thing, because we only have two classrooms, and less of a Europe/Spain thing.
We aren't at a university, we are at a small classroom center in the middle of the city that is just for us. It is only a few minutes from where I live, which is on one of the best streets in the city, so I got lucky yet again.
I am still adjusting to the classes, to the schedule and such, but other than that life has fallen into a regular routine.
We go home for lunch around 2, which is the biggest meal of the day in Spain. Almost everything shuts down completely during this time, and people stay at home spending time with their families or sleeping. I am not a big fan of the siesta, as i am not much of a napper, but it is a great concept. My roommate loves it!
Things start waking up around 4:30, stores reopen, etc, and everything stays open until between 8 and 9. Then, things close for la cena, or dinner, and that is usually around 10, only bars stay open, where people can go out for dinner, etc. Then, after dinner, people go back out! We did that a little the other night, but not much. I think we might tonight, because we have no classes tomorrow. If this works, there's pictures above!
I live with a family here in Spain, a husband & wife and their two kids, who are 22 and 26. I also have a roomie. It´s nice, the family is great! I had all of these expectations that I would live with a family who smokes, but I don´t. I wonder if they made arrangements for me, but either way, I appreciate the fact that I don't. So, basically, we are getting into the routine of classes. I have classes every day, the earliest being at 10, so it is a lot like my schedule in the states, except the classes are at different times each day instead of the same time. I think that is just a scheduling thing, because we only have two classrooms, and less of a Europe/Spain thing.
We aren't at a university, we are at a small classroom center in the middle of the city that is just for us. It is only a few minutes from where I live, which is on one of the best streets in the city, so I got lucky yet again.
I am still adjusting to the classes, to the schedule and such, but other than that life has fallen into a regular routine.
We go home for lunch around 2, which is the biggest meal of the day in Spain. Almost everything shuts down completely during this time, and people stay at home spending time with their families or sleeping. I am not a big fan of the siesta, as i am not much of a napper, but it is a great concept. My roommate loves it!
Things start waking up around 4:30, stores reopen, etc, and everything stays open until between 8 and 9. Then, things close for la cena, or dinner, and that is usually around 10, only bars stay open, where people can go out for dinner, etc. Then, after dinner, people go back out! We did that a little the other night, but not much. I think we might tonight, because we have no classes tomorrow. If this works, there's pictures above!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Dear adoring public...
:)
Estoy en españa!!! Okay, so I´m in Spain. I´m trying to think of things that I might actually want to write on here. There´s the possibility that many different people will read this, people from school and my family and such, so I want to go ahead and say that if there´s anything you want to know about, you can feel free to ask, because I might not think to talk about things that I should talk about.
So, that being said, so far I have been surprised by Spain. There´s a lot that is very similar, and some things that are the same that I should´ve expected, but didn´t. Like, there´s a lot of Americanization here, maybe that´s just a global thing that is happening, but there are Coke´s and McDonalds and such. Today, we were in Madrid for a few hours, and I saw several McD´s, Burger King, KFC, etc. I can´t understand why people who have such fantastic food want to eat there, but maybe it´s the same appeal as things like Chinese & Mexican restaurants are for people in the states...it´s something that is different and not part of the culture.
The other thing that I´ve really pondered are the pedestrian rules...like there are so many streets that cars can´t drive on, and they are streets with busy shops and TONS of people...and then occasionally there are cars, just out of nowhere! It´s confusing...and it was the same in Madrid, in this incredibly busy and popular part of town, there were only certain streets that cars could go on...I just am in love with the idea of pedestrian only streets. Can we get those in the states?
I know I have a lot more, but I can´t think of it. Ask me questions!!!
Estoy en españa!!! Okay, so I´m in Spain. I´m trying to think of things that I might actually want to write on here. There´s the possibility that many different people will read this, people from school and my family and such, so I want to go ahead and say that if there´s anything you want to know about, you can feel free to ask, because I might not think to talk about things that I should talk about.
So, that being said, so far I have been surprised by Spain. There´s a lot that is very similar, and some things that are the same that I should´ve expected, but didn´t. Like, there´s a lot of Americanization here, maybe that´s just a global thing that is happening, but there are Coke´s and McDonalds and such. Today, we were in Madrid for a few hours, and I saw several McD´s, Burger King, KFC, etc. I can´t understand why people who have such fantastic food want to eat there, but maybe it´s the same appeal as things like Chinese & Mexican restaurants are for people in the states...it´s something that is different and not part of the culture.
The other thing that I´ve really pondered are the pedestrian rules...like there are so many streets that cars can´t drive on, and they are streets with busy shops and TONS of people...and then occasionally there are cars, just out of nowhere! It´s confusing...and it was the same in Madrid, in this incredibly busy and popular part of town, there were only certain streets that cars could go on...I just am in love with the idea of pedestrian only streets. Can we get those in the states?
I know I have a lot more, but I can´t think of it. Ask me questions!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Hello, out there!
This blog was set up so I could post to one blog about being in Spain, instead of the 4 I currently have. I hope to be able to update it quite frequently. I'm leaving in 3 days!!!
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