a bit of a low point...

In our endless hours of culture preparation, we learned about culture shock and the ups and downs of study abroad. Annnnd…I for sure am hitting a down point right now. The things that I realized before and told myself “Eh, I won’t let these things get to me” are really getting to me. So I’m going to warn you that the rest of this blog update is basically complaints. Read on at your own risk.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still having a great time over all, but some things are REALLY bothering me. I said before this is basically a 4 month vacation—which is BASICALLY is—but now I’m starting to realize that I do have work to do. In fact, one of our professors just reprimanded us today for not putting any effort into the class. Furthermore, I have two ten page research papers due at the end of March and I am traveling every single weekend this month. So in the last week or so, I figured I better start getting down to business. However a series of events and realizations made that extremely hard to do.

There are three things that bother me the most and which prevent me from getting the aforementioned work done: the internet, the library system and the lack of study places.

1) Internet: As I have said numerous times, the internet here sucks. But before I only needed it for fun stuff—chatting, uploading pictures, emails, etc. So when it conked out, it wasn’t the end of the world. But now that I have papers to write, words to look up, flights to book, emails to send to professors, research to do and online sources to read, it becomes somewhat problematic. At home, the internet works so-so and in university buildings, it normally works, though I can’t connect using my laptop. But most recently, the internet has been down in the whole university. This means I can’t even sign on using my user name and password to print or do word processing. Are you kidding me? What kind of university is this that you cant sign onto the internet NOR onto the computers in general? How much am I paying for this semester again?

Additionally, the machines that are used to refill the print cards that we use have been down for the last few weeks and/or the print cards don’t work correctly. Just to be able to print off a paper, I had to go to three different buildings and talk with about 5 different people until I was able to get a new print card, fill it with money, then find a computer that would let me sign in.

Let me just say that it makes me REALLY appreciate the library system that we have in Madison. I think if I went to study in a country like Uganda or Nicaragua (a country that is considered “developing”) I might have been expecting a run around like this. But here I am in Spain, Western Europe, part of the European Union, and I spend half my time just trying to find a darn working computer or a place with internet access.

2) So speaking of libraries. I have had some issues with them. The libraries here open at 8:30 am and close at 8 pm ONLY Monday-Friday. I found this out the hard way when I was planning to work all day Saturday and Sunday on a paper that was due the next week Wednesday. I start researching sources Friday night only to find out that I couldn’t go get them until Monday when the library opens again. So I basically screwed myself over by waiting til the weekend when I THOUGHT I was going to be able to get started. Instead, I had to wait until Monday and cram for two days to get this thing done.


Library complaint #2: You can only check out three books from a library at a time. I currently have two papers with the same due date both of which require books from the same library (library of philosophy and letters) but I will have to go back and forth to get the sources.

Library complaint #3: There are no e-resources like we have at Madison. For this reason, I thank the lord/UW Board of Regents that we have remote access to UW e-resources.

Library complaint #4: On the topic of resources… I am doing a paper on relations between Spain and North Africa. The resources that I came up with for this topic had publish dates from between 1915 and 1994. Is this a joke? I understand history doesn’t really change, but do they really expect me to do a comprehensive report on this topic with those kind of sources? Again, good thing that I have UW e-resources.

3) Study places: There are none. Like I said, the libraries and other university buildings are not open after 8pm nor on the weekends. In the resedencias, there is a “Sala de Estudio” (Study Room) which is a room with three tables in it and about 15 or so chairs. There is no bathroom connected so if you gotta go, you gotta walk back home, and the heat is not so hot. This means that before going I have to remember to not drink liquids for a few hours and wear various layers of clothes. I never realized how fortunate I was in Madison to have 40 different libraries to choose from, all with internet access, all with heat, all with bathrooms connected. I really didn’t think it was a big deal, but now I realize how lucky we are to have all those resources. Both the academic resources (up-to-date materials) and also comfortable places to study.

I’ve also started questioning the quality of University of Alcalá as an academic institution. I have no complaints about my professors; they are nice, helpful, and knowledgeable. However, how great can a university really be when there’s a three book limit at the library and when there’s really no where to do serious studying? Or when my master-student roommates watch movies all Sunday afternoon? I’m a little reluctant to think that it can be too challenging?
So basically I end up studying at home. I have mentioned before that I have 7 roommates. But now, curiously, I have 8. Hopefully no one from the residence administration is reading this, because I would imagine squatting is highly illegal, but I really don’t know what the deal is. To be honest I don’t care because she’s super nice and is learning English so she understands that there’s actually a person behind my broken Spanish. All in all we get along really well and its fun to have her around. HOWEVER… I was never informed of this house guest’s arrival. Its true that she’s not staying in my room or really invading my personal privacy, but im just wondering what would happen in any one of my living situations in the US if something like this happened (an unannounced house guest for an unknown period of time). Its almost like here, we’re 8 people, so what’s one more!


So whereas I’m still very happy with my living situation, its extremely hard to live in it.

Speaking of living situation, yesterday (Sunday), I made an “American breakfast” for my roommates. I made pancakes (from scratch!), bacon, eggs with cheddar cheese, toast and a yogurt-banana-peanut butter smoothie. Everyone loved everything, but were REALLY confused by the yogurt-banana-peanut butter smoothie. (YES, I caved and bought peanut butter for 4 Euros per jar) Each person who tried it was like, “Wait, WHAT’S in here again?” and I do believe that they were pretty surprised that I could put something like that together. Its just that here in Spain, I am just getting used to brand names and different types of food to buy at the grocery store. I never thought about that before coming, but it really does make a difference in what you can and can’t cook. One of the first days I tried to make a cous-cous salad with cucumber, tomatoes and feta cheese. I didn’t have any measuring utensils so the cous cous turned out too soggy. The cucumber was really expensive, so I didn’t buy it, and the feta turned out REALLY salty so the salad was not how I usually make it. Another thing I never thought about is all the convenient kitchen appliances that I use on a daily basis in the US. Since all my roommates (including myself) are international students we have no George Forman (I miss you George!!), no toaster, no blender, food processor, sharp knives, spatulas, serving spoons, etc. Its just another thing I have to adapt to.

Another note: I never realized the variety of food that I ate until my roommates started staring at me and asking me so many questions. I also had forgotten how much I preferred eating in peace.

-What is this Maria?
-Cous-cous.
-Kooz-kooz? Is it like rice? Is it a grain?
-I don’t know.
-Is it like oatmeal?
-I don’t know, read the dang box!
-And felafel? Is that also a grain?
-no. Its made from garbanzos.
-Oh! And you’re going to fry it with hardly any oil in that pan?

NO, DON’T KNOW WHAT COUS COUS IS, AND YES IM GOING TO FRY MY FELAFEL WITH JUST A LITTLE OIL IN THE PAN.

Anyhoo…after making the breakfast, it made me realize that we do have a culture in the United States. Funny what how a small act can change my attitude so much, but when I saw my roommates pile their plates high with eggs, bacon and pancakes and then pour way too much syrup on it, it made me think of Paul Bunyan’s up north! I made a comment like “Aww it makes me so happy to see you guys eating that stuff because it reminds me of my country!” And then I laughed because that’s the kind of thing I would say in a George Bush accent normally, but it was true that it made me happy to share “my culture” with my roommates. The thing about the United States that everyone can share American culture, but in each case it will be different. To me, American culture is Paul Bunyan’s buffet food and the John Legend and Jack Johnson music that I put on while eating, but to the next American I can imagine it would something totally different.


Ah… thanks for listening. Hope you’ll still tune next time in after this rant.

peanut butter withdrawl begins

1. A few of their favorite things
2. Granada
3. Alicante/Alcoi
4. Classes
5. Reassessment of Goals for Study Abroad
6. What is it with the dudes here?
7. Realization that this is a 4 month vacation
8. America in a buffet restuarant

1. So I have been in Spain for about 2 months now, and I have learned a few things about contemporary Spanish society. Among these things, I have learned the most popular topics of conversation. They are "la crisis" and the weather. It's actually kinda funny. Every ad mentions the crisis. How can you avoid the crisis? Buy this car. Or for example, I passed a cafe yesterday and they had written on the chalkboard outside " crisis coffee" for 1 Euro. Yeah, like buying a car and buying 1 euro coffee will help.
And the cold. I honestly haven't heard people complain so much about the cold. Lets just say if cold weather actually made people sick as it does here, there would be no human population left in Wisconsin.

2. Last weekend I went to Granada in the south of Spain. What a beautiful city! The two highlights were going to a "Baño Arabe" (Arab Bath) and Alhambra (http://www.alhambradegranada.org/historia/alhambrahistoria_en.asp). At the Baño Arabe, there is one big room with about 7 different pools with different temperatures of water. It’s a low-lit environment with typical "Arabic" music playing in the background. The package we bought included 1.5 hours use of the pools area and then a 20 minute massage by a good looking Spanish man. I've never had a massage before so I'm not sure how valid my opinion is, but that massage could probably be considered one of the most pleasurable things I've ever experienced. Imagine it yourself: You're relaxing in a hot tub and a hot Andalucía man calls you over for your turn. You lay down and he pours hot aromatic oils on your back.... Actually I just realized this is not appropriate for a public blog that my family reads. You go ahead and make up the rest.

As I said, I also visited the Alhambra. When we first walked up to the castle (which is obviously on top of a hill) the view of the city was absolutely breathtaking. And the castle itself is so meticulously detailed that you wonder how it was ever built and you question the meaning of dedication and perseverance. It's like, if some people in the 12th century were not only able to build this palace/fortress/community/castle but also able to decorate it with the utmost detail, how could you ever give up on something as simple as, I don't know, learning a language, a homework assignment, a diet plan. There are some points in your life where you just have to stop for a second and be like, "WOW... I can't believe I am here seeing this right now. How the heck did I get here and why am I here?"

This has happened to me twice before: once when I went skiing in the Austrian Alps (thanks Gisela and Martin!) and I got off the bubble that takes you to the top and as I was looking out onto the snowcapped peaks and feeling a combination of the suns rays and brisk mountain air, I realized that some people wish for their whole lives that they could go skiing in the Alps. But here I was an 18 year old from Waukesha, Wisconsin who considered Alpine Valley real skiing.

Another time in Egypt in the White Desert (pics: http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/Egypt/Farafra/WhiteDesert.htm). I wandered off a little so that the group I was with was not in sight. I had to alternate drinking sips of water and taking breaths because the air was so dry. There was this odd orange haze in the air that made you feel like you were on another planet. I thought about the camel that I just saw run by and the fact that the trucks that we came in took the strength of 4 men's pushes to get them started. That was another moment when I just sat down in the sand and thought "How in the world did I get here?"

Basically my point is that I'm only 1/4 of the way through my life (an estimate...knock on wood), and I've already seen some of the most breathtaking sights in the world. Have you ever read The Giver by Lois Lowry? Well remember the part when Jonah is escaping his utopian community and he's cold and weak? In order to get by he thinks of some of the memory of sunshine that The Giver gave him so he can feel better and carry on with his journey. These experiences--in Granada, in Badgastein, in the White Desert--are my "sunshine" that I use to get by. When its -13 and cloudy in Madison and I have class and work and studying and I know I won't get to sleep until 3 AM the next day, these are the memories that I use to keep me going.

Alright, enough of that cheesy-metaphor stuff.

3. Two weekends ago, I went to Alcoi, a city in the east of Spain. My friend Georgia (another American student on the same program) has a Spanish friend from the US whose family lives in Alcoi. So they invited Georgia for the weekend, and Georgia invited me! It was really nice to stay with a Spanish family for the weekend since I do live in the Residencias here in Alcalá and I don't get to experience family life/Spanish culture too much. On Saturday, we went to a few historical places in Alcoi (a underground bomb shelter built during the Spanish civil war and a museum explaining a cultural festival which takes place every year) and went to a great tapas place for dinner. The museum we went to that day commemorates a festival that takes place every year in which hundreds of people dress up and basically reenact the history of Spain. First the Christians come out in a parade, dressed up in pre-medieval clothes. Then the Muslims parade their way through the streets and finally make it to the main plaza and conquer the Christians. Then the next day of the festival, the Christians do their parade and conquer the Muslims in the Plaza. Then everyone parties. Imagine Bristol Renaissance fair to the max. But honestly, Spanish people are serious about thier history.

On Sunday, we went to Alicante--a city on southeast coast of Spain. Another gorgeous view. For me, a regular old joe-ette from Wisconsin, there are so many sights in Spain that just make me gasp and open my eyes wide when I see them. This happened a lot in Alicante and Alcoi. On either side of the highway there would be acres and acres of olive trees and then a random castle on top of a hill. For me--gorgeous. For them--normal.

4. CLASSES. Let me just say that classes here are extremely dumbed down. Part of me is happy because I’ve had to read about 50 pages of reading in 6 weeks of class (what I usually read in one night at Madison). But on the other hand, I’m a little frustrated because we get WORKSHEETS for homework which brings me back to the good ‘ol days of Butler Middle School. And while it’s all very nostalgic, they’re not helpful. I’m here in Spain to learn about the world from the viewpoint of Spaniards and my Spanish professors. But if my studies consist of reading guidebooks and filling out corresponding worksheets, that’s kind of difficult. Additionally, I’ve realized why Madison is such a good university. Its because we do learn facts and dates and peoples names, the exams are not written so that we spit back this information. They are written so that we synthesize information and are able to think critically about the information that we have learned.** Luckily I’m not afraid to speak up and ask questions about the material. I may be the most annoying student in class, but at least I’m getting my $12,000 worth!


**This statement excludes a geography class I took where all we had to do was memorize the names of different winds, rocks and land formations.

5. REASSESSMENT OF GOALS: When I came here, I was all about Spanish, Spanish, and Spanish. I wanted to speak Spanish 100% of the time and I got so annoyed when Americans would not even try to speak Spanish. I have since done some reassessing. I realized that #1) if the other people don’t want to speak Spanish, that’s their deal. And #2) the most important part of my experience here is not the Spanish. While it is important that I improve my Spanish, my experience is made up of a combination of all the things I do: meeting new people, traveling, learning about different cultures, improving my Spanish, etc. I never thought I would be one of those Americans who have no problem speaking English in public in a foreign country, but here I am doing just that. The only thing that does bother me, is taking LOUD in English in public… which I still refuse to do.

6. DUDES: I don’t know if I give off a certain scent or some type of signal which I’m not aware of, but the guys that I’ve met here are absolutely crazy! I’ve been told by a guy that I knew for about an 2 hours that he would fall in love with me if he had more time with me. I’ve been asked if I was a dance teacher because I was “such a good dancer.” Someone else told me that all he wasn’t looking for anything else but for me to “regalarse mi sonrisa” or like, give him my smile. I’ve even been given a poem. Whereas these guys probably think they’re being super romantic and using great pickup lines, all I do is laugh in their faces when I hear these things. I won’t lie, they are super flattering and every night that I go out, my self-esteem is boosted more and more, but seriously, where do these guys get this stuff!!! I was so surprised by the non-stop lines that I asked one guy “How did you learn to be so romantic?” And ready for his response…its GREAT. He goes “de tu mirada” (from your look). Gentlemen, take note on that.


7. So, I have come to the realization that these four months of my life are more less a non-stop vacation. I get 8 hours of sleep almost every night. I sleep in every Saturday and Sunday. I have time to run. I watch at least one movie every week. I go out 2-4 times a week. I drink wine and eat cheese. I take naps. I spend afternoons at the shopping center which includes clothing stores, cafes, restaurants, shoe stores, a movie theater and is a 10 minute walk from my Resedencia.

I almost feel like I’m living the life of someone else. It’s weird to go from a life where I have a meeting every night, study about 2-4 hours a day, have two jobs, and have to plan a week in advance to get coffee with someone to a life where I stop at the mall on the way home from class, go out for wine and tapas on a regular basis and then do my homework/studying on the side. It’s just strange.

8. Speaking of that shopping center, there is a restaurant there called “Salad & Co” which is a 9 Euro buffet. It’s basically like a all you can eat Pop’s Clubs/ Ed’s Express in the dorms. But for some reason it tastes 10 times better. In addition to the salad and pizza bars, there are FREE REFILLS (a rare commodity here in Europe) and a SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM machine.

9. PEANUT BUTTER: While we’re on the topic of food (I know, this blog installation is going downhill fast) I just want to say… SEND PEANUT BUTTER IF YOU LOVE ME. I’m going through withdrawal. Apples and bananas just aren’t the same anymore ☹
I was talking to my roommates about my peanut butter cravings and telling them I could really just go for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And they look at me and go “ Peanut butter and JELLY? Are you serious? What a WEIRD combination!” Oh, if they only knew…


Again, thanks for tuning in. Much love to all yall across the pond.

I only have three months left WHATTTT

3.Obama party
4. Luis' birthday party/ parties in general
5. Music
6. advice to the US government
7. I joined a choir and a book club
8. observation about age
9. I'm not retarted, I just don't speak Spanish




1. I hope you are all surviving the frigid temperatures over there while I am basking in the 50 degree weather over here (although today it is raining). It honestly doesn't feel like winter. But now I can understand why people were freaking out when it hit the negatives (Celsius). When it was about 53 the other day, I went outside without a jacket and I was getting stares from all around. That's when I took the clue to put my jacket on. (when in rome... )

2. I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like Spanish food. Lucky for my I'm not living with a Spanish host family so I don't really have to eat it ever. There seems to be ham in everything and fries come on the side of every dish. Nooo thank you. Luckily the Turks have infiltrated Spain and implanted various Doner Kepab restaurants on various street corners. Alhamdulillah for that. I have eaten way too many Doner Kepabs in the last month and I just can't stop because they are sooo delicious. CALLING ALL ENTREPRENEURIAL TURKS: please come to Madison, WI and open some Doner Kebap restaurants. Thank you.

I will add two things that I DO like though. 1- the "menu," or the set options that you can order at a restaurant. for 8 euros (or more depending on where you go of course) you can get two courses, wine/beer/beverage, and a dessert. not bad. 2-one type of tapa--smoked salmon and cream cheese on top of a baguette. delish.


3. As we all know, Obama was sworn in about two weeks ago. I had a little gathering at my house for all the Americans in the CIEE program. It was interesting to watch from abroad because they dubbed everyone (excluding Aretha Franklin) in Spanish. It was hard to choose if I wanted to try to focus on Obama's speech in English which was covered by the Spanish, or listen to the Spanish which was almost equally as difficult because they were speaking fast to try to keep up with Obama. It was also interesting that all my roommates wanted to watch. Can you imagine a group of Americans being so interested in the swearing of another country's president? The picture above is of the "toma de posicion de Obama" party.

4. Last weekend, it was my housemate's birthday (Luis). All I have to say is FUN. Tapas were made, drinks were served, music was played and the dancing began. I admit that I'm not the best dancer in the world, but if I have a good dancing partner then I'm all set. And there were plenty of quality dancing partners at this party. The music was a mix of bachata, merengue, salsa, Spanish/flamenco pop, reggaeton and even House of Pain's Jump Around. Oh and my friend Sam Sandifer from Madison (who is currently studying in Madrid) joined us for the party! If you know Sam, you know that he was in his element at this party. In fact, he was the one who supplied the music for the night from his IPOD. And he was probably the one who danced the most. And every time someone mistook him for a authentic Latino his face would just glow. oh, sam. how great you are.

In addition to being in Latin culture up to my ears that night, I also met two Palestinians who live in the Resedencias. So of course I whipped out my Arabic and you can only imagine I was in heaven. Going from speaking Spanish to dancing merengue to speaking Arabic to eating salmon tapas to saying Alhamdulillah and Inshallah to drinking 1 Euro bottles of Tinto de Verano to Jumping Around....WHAT MORE CAN A GIRL ASK FOR. i personally can't think of anything.

Another thing that's great about living in the Resedencias is that you don't have to leave to find a party. I thought it would be really annoying to go out on weekends because we do live a 15-20 minute bus ride from the Centro. However, we have a cerveceria (restuarant/bar) and a bar right inside the residential community. And for example this last Friday night, I went to two different parties that were right next to each other. The music at one was more Techno and House (because it was run by our friend Manuel Miguel, or as he likes us to call him "Manny Mike") and the other one was pure Bachata, Merengue and Reggaeton due to the high number of Dominicans there. You would honestly think that you are in Santo Domingo here in the Resedencias because there are so many Dominicans! Dont worry though, I'm not complaining.

5. Music. In the last 3 weeks, I've uploaded about 600 new songs onto my itunes just from music that people have given me. Mom, Dad: just let me know when the next international party will be because I am READY.

6. Dear US Government: I understand you are not a fan of Fidel Castro, but why must you limit who I can and can't be friends with. When I started meeting Cubans here, I realized I've never met anyone from Cuba before!! I was having a conversation with this one guy at a party and in the middle of the conversation I asked where he was from (he knew I was from the US) and he said, "don't be scared...but I'm from Cuba." Oh how politics can get in the way of world peace.

Speaking of politics...
Warning--if you are sensitive about the Israel/Palestine issue, please do not read on.

I recently got together with one of the Palestinian students that I met to practice my Arabic and help him with English. I asked him to tell me a little about his life in Palestine just because what we see on the news is limited and most likely skewed. He was talking about how when he was in college in Palestine, he had to live on campus and stay there for one year at a time. Even though he only lived 30 minutes away from his university, he couldn't go home because there were Israeli checkpoints that stopped him from crossing over into his hometown. Can you imagine that!! And then I asked him "Well, why wouldn't they just let you across, seeing at how you were just a student?" He said that if he tried to pass through the checkpoint they could stop him for whatever reason they wanted. One time, a man in front of him in line was stopped and told to wait for an 5 hours until he could leave. This man started getting angry because he had to go to work and started yelling at the Israeli guards saying that why wouldn't they just let him through because he was going to be late for work (which was on the other side of the checkpoint). So what did the guards do? They shot him dead, then took a knife, put it in the dead man's hand and took pictures to make it look like he was threatening the guards with a weapon.

first of all, CAN YOU IMAGINE SEEING THIS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!? and then not even being able to do anything about it? second of all, can you imagine going to school in Milwaukee and not being able to come home to Waukesha for a YEAR??

And we, the United States, are supporting the country that is doing this? I really don't understand.

7. On a lighter note, I joined a choir and book club here. The choir meets twice a week and so far so good. It's harder than I expected just because I have to learn the music (tone-wise) and then also the words (some of which are in Castellano--the spanish that we learn and speak normally, some of which are in Catalán--another more regional language spoken in northeastern Spain). I might end up just doing the whole green ap-ple, wa-ter-mel-on, moving-your-mouth trick.

The book club also seems like it will be fun. It will be a great way to practice both my written and spoken Spanish.

The good thing about these activities is that they are with only Spaniards. At home and on the weekends I spend my time with Latin Americans (which im not complaining about) so its nice to be able to learn about Spain and Castellano Spanish during the week.

8. One thing that I've noticed is that Spain seems to have a much more intergenerational social life. For example, although its a University choir that I joined, there are 20 years olds to grey haired men and women. Same with the book club; students and professors alike are part of it. Also, at the parties that I've been to, there have been just as many 30 and even 40 year olds as there were 20 year olds. I danced salsa with this guy at a party the other night and then when talking to him after, found out he was 33 years old! Whereas I would be extremely creeped out in the US to be at the same party as a 30-something year old, I wasn't so much here. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying themselves all the same--no matter what age they were. I suppose it is a unique situation because I live in the Resedencias where a lot of people live while doing their Masters or Ph. D's. In fact I have yet to meet anyone in the Resedencias (other than the other Americans) who are doing undergraduate studies. Furthermore they're all doing their Masters in computer science or some type of engineering. I'll admit that it does make me feel a little dumb, but I suppose I'd rather be the dumbest among all smart ppl than be the smartest among all dumb people.

However-- there is this one 40 year old who is definitely a creeper. In fact he is the Van Wilder of the University of Alcalá. He has been here for 14 years (or so the story is told) all the while working on various undergraduate majors. A bad ass living the dream or a wierd old man who needs to get his life together? you decide.


10. So the other day, my Cuban professor roommate had another Cuban professor friend over to eat. And being 3 in the afternoon, everyone (including me)was in the kitchen cooking lunch. I was introduced to the friend, but then something interesting transpired. It is obvious that I'm not a native Spanish speaker, but I thought it was also obvious that I can at least understand Spanish. However, this woman kept asking questions ABOUT me TO others in the room. "Where is she from?" "Does the girl cook?" "How long is she here?" Hey lady! I'm not retarded... I just don't speak Spanish fluently!!

Well guys, thanks for tuning in. Much love to all of yall.

todo aqui está jeeeeevy

Hola!

Here are the topics for this entry:

1. Snow storm last week
2. Awful internet connection
3. Difficult living situation
4. Going out in Madrid



1. As I promised in the last update, I would talk about the snowstorm. Two Fridays ago (just a few days after I arrived) there was a “serious” snowstorm. It must have been about 5 or 6 inches. Being from Wisconsin, I really didn’t think anything of it until I began to notice everyone else’s reactions. First of all, two days of orientation were canceled. All public transportation was shut down (including taxis) and a few bridges around town were closed. On Monday, I showed up for a class but it turned out that our professor cancelled it because she was at home sick due to the extreme cold weather (about 25 degrees Fahrenheit). Additionally, the students in the Resedencias were going crazy. It looked like a scene from a movie in which a bunch of young people were out in the snow laughing and frolicking, building snow men and having snowball fights. My housemates were especially excited because they either had never seen snow in their lives or just not this much. My roommate from Panama went out and took pictures for hours while my other housemate from Cuba looked out the kitchen window bundled in her winter jacket and hat proclaiming “ ¡Ay mi madre… por dios!”
Everywhere you went, people would be complaining about the weather. “Its just unbearable!” When we would pass one of those LED signs that flashed the time and the weather, there would be people on the bus that would gasp and point to the sign “Negative -2!” like the end of the world was coming. And remember that’s Celsius so it’s only about 25-30 degrees Fahrenheit for us. So overall, it was quite a funny sight.
Now it’s in the 40s and 50s and birds are chirping. This is the Spain I was looking for. Still, people are complaining of the “cold.”

2. In all those culture shock manuals, they tell you that you’re going to go through a phase where you start hating anything “Spanish.” Well I think I’m starting that phase because I HATE THE INTERNET HERE. Any new building you go to (say, the building where we take classes or an internet café), you have to “reconfigure” your internet settings. And in some cafes with wireless, you get a card with a password that lets you connect for 30 minutes. And wireless only works for simple things like checking emails or going on Facebook. I can’t connect to skype, MSN, upload pics or do video chat. ¡QUE COÑO ES ESTO! So much for keeping in touch with all of you on Skype. ☹


3. My living situation is getting difficult. Reason being, I tend to get caught up in conversation, watching TV with my housemates, helping them with English, or just hanging out with them in the living room when I really should be getting some reading done or updating this blog like I’ve been saying I would do for a few days now. I now know what people mean when they say its very distracting to study at home. I never really had distractions in my other living situations, but here, there’s always someone to talk to, listen to (which I’ll explain in a minute) or watch TV with. I’m really glad that I’m not living in a host family because most people who live in host families have just their Señora to chill with.
I don’t know how this happened, but I think I was placed in the perfect Resedencia. If you know me, you know I love to sing and I love music in Spanish. Well, my one of my housemates (Mexico) recently bought a guitar from the flea market in Madrid and will not stop strumming it. This causes another of my housemates to join in singing and then it’s just a domino effect. Cuba joins in with a song from her country then Dominican Republic joins in and then its not like I can just sit there without joining in myself. Last Friday night I was planning on going out to the bars in Alcalá, but when I came out to say bye to everyone, I got sucked in. It turned out that all I did was sit around all night singing, drinking wine, and eating tapas. GOD BLESS LATIN AMERICA!
One a another note, one of my housemates told me last week that he really wants to learn English for his job (computer sciences) so every night M-Th we decided to sit down and do 20 minutes of English for him and 20 minutes of Spanish for me. We’ve only had two “sessions” so far, but they have been really helpful for both of us. Another one if my housemates is also learning English and I’ve been helping him with his homework. I really like to help with English because it helps me with my Spanish too. Just another reason why I’m super lucky to live where I do.
That is to say, I have much more contact with Spanish and Spanish speakers than do a lot of other people on this program. Some people live with other Americans who refuse to speak Spanish or some have roommates who are married couples who mostly keep to themselves.

4. Last Saturday, I went out in Madrid with some girls on the program. I was finally able to meet up with my friend Sam Sandifer who just recently arrived in Spain. We went to a popular club in Madrid called Teatro Kapital with SEVEN FLOORS. The main floor is house music, then there was R&B and a Salsa/Reggaeton/Spanish pop floor. TOO MUCH FUN. But I am glad that I live in Alcala because going out in Madrid is superrrr expensive. First the ride there takes about an hour, and then we paid 15 Euros just to get in the club. Luckily we got a deal because someone had these discount cards which allowed us to get two free drinks and a discounted entry. So it was a good experience for one night, but I think I’ll have to limit these Madrid escapades to one night a month. Plus, we either have to leave at 1:30 (when the party hasn’t even started), or wait until 6:10 am when the commuter train back to Alcalá starts running. Probably not the most producting thing sleeping til 3:30 pm the next day…

HAPPY OBAMA INAUGURATION DAY! My roommates and I are going to throw a mini-party tonight and watch the ceremony. There will, of course, be wine and tapas.


Hasta luego!

dilemma

Hey everyone! Sorry for taking such a long time to post an update. It's been a busy week as you can imagine. Since I had some complaints that my blog was too long last time (haters...), I'll divide it into sections this time and you can pick and choose what you want to read:

1. Las Resedencias
2. Latin American vs. Spain Spanish
3. A Language Oops
4. Sweet Public Transportation
5. Classes
6. My name
7. Message exclusively for Joe Ramirez
8. Salsa version of Gangsters Paradise
9. My Dilemma

1. A week ago I was at home in Waukesha getting ready to go to Spain. Now I'm here and I feel like I've already experienced a lot. My summer in Egypt taught me that no matter if its bad or good, its always a new experience that you have to make the best of and take lessons from. I already feel

2. I just moved into the resedencias (dorms) last Friday. And oh man, am I loving it. The program didn't tell us how the resedencias are set up, nor did they promise that we would live with spanish speakers. So I didn't get my hopes up. But all the better, because now instead of being just happy with my living situation, I can be SUPER HAPPY. First of all, the resedencias are NOTHING like the dorms in Madison. They're more like apartments. In my resedencia, there are 4 bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), a big kitchen, a living room and then two common half-baths. I live with 8 people, 4 guys and 4 girls (including me). First of all, I never knew I would be living with guys. (But for all my male relatives out there: not to worry, our rooms are well separated.) Second of all, I shouldn't even call them guys and girls. They range in age from 24-30 or so. Most are masters students studying subjects ranging from industrial engineering to hydrology (hidrología) and one woman is a pharmacy professor from Cuba getting some continuing education credits (or whatever they're called). Despite the age difference, everyone is really nice. When I leave for class or for wherever, they remind me that I can call them if I have any question or problem. Also, they don't treat me any different than each other even though I appear to be retarted due to my limited spanish (excuse my political incorrectness) and even though I am younger. In fact, last night two roommates took me to the grocery store and then we cooked dinner together. ☺ They all told me they would teach me how to cook dishes from their respective countries.
Which brings me to another exciting point, that they're all from Latin America! Que suerte tengo yo! I'm here studying in Spain, but I get the best of both Hispanic worlds!! I can learn about Spain in my classes (which I’ll talk about later), but I can learn about cooking, music and culture from Latin America. I really feel at home with them. My direct roommate is from Panama, then there are 4 Dominicans, the woman from Cuba, a guy from Nicaragua, and guy from Mexico.
All these cultures definitely makes for a different environment than my last living situation. Last semester, I lived with 2 girls who I didn’t know previously. We got along great, but we didn’t talk too much and we didn’t go out together either. I’ve been here in the resedencias for less than 4 days and I already went out with my roommates, cooked dinner with them, and had long (but choppy) conversations with them. And there’s always SOMEONE singing!! I woke up Sunday to singing coming from the kitchen, and they told me that since they didn’t have a radio to listen to while doing cleaning and chores, they had no choice but to sing!! I love that I live in a place that FEELS lived in. Always people shouting at each other or singing or laughing or making fun of one another.

2. So this mix of cultures brings me to my next point: difference between Latin American Spanish and Spanish Spanish. First of all I’ll say that I’m glad that I do live with Latin Americans because I don’t have to try to do the whole “th” pronunciation at home. (Because as you may or may not know, there’s a big difference between Latin American and Spanish pronunciation. One word where you can really note the difference is “civilizacion.” In Spain, it would be pronounced something like “thivilithathion” and in Latin American, the “c’s” are just as we would say them in Englush.) Also I can learn Spanish that will be most useful for me in the US. I will say that my roommates are hard to understand! But they are very understanding that I’m learning “poco a poco” and have no problem repeating things mil veces (a million times!) if necessary. Also some are learning English and are glad that they can ask me about phrases and words in Spanish. I was stupid enough to teach two of my roommates “Holy Fuck” last night and now they won’t stop saying it.

3. another oopsies of mine: I was talking to a friend of my roommate before going out on Saturday. He told me that he wanted to practice English with me. So I told him, “Sure! I’d love to. Just tell me whenever you want to talk with me!” So I told him, “solo dime cuando quieras hablar con yo!” I said “ with I” instead of “ with me” and in Spanish “conyo” (although its not spelled like that) means like something like motherfucker. So basically what I told this guy was, “just tell me when you want to talk, motherfucker!” Luckily I realized right away what I had just said, and he knew what I wanted to say so we just laughed.

4. Transporte Público: CALLING MADISON METRO PLANNERS. TAKE A CLUE FROM PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION HERE. The program manual said that one of the downsides of living in the dorms was having to take the bus to class. But it on Monday-Friday, it comes past the resedencias every 4-6 minutes. AND in some bus stops there are LED panels that say the number of the next bus that will arrive and in how many minutes it will arrive. Get with the program America!

5. Clases: I started classes today and seems like they will be sweet. The building in which we take classes just happens to be a 17th century monastery. Not bad. Also, I can understand all my professors which is a plus and I’m even starting to like their Spanish accent! What’s more important, one of my professors is hot. Like not even just for being a professor, for being a regular dude. That’s all I gotta say about that.

6. Mi nombre: I am no longer Mareeya Ramairaz (note the Wisconsin pronunciation). Here I am María Ramírez. Everyone is super relieved when I say that my name is Maria. Since it’s noticeable that I don’t speak Spanish fluently, they think my name will be something like Kelly Smith which is both hard to pronounce and remember. But one funny thing that that when I have to tell someone my name (as I have had to for forms or applications or whatever), I say María Ramírez, then they wait for a second, then look at me for a second, then ask, “second last name?” Then I have to tell them that I don’t have one. And I only have one first name. This is somewhat confusing for them that someone with a Latino sounding name would not have two first names and two last names. Also, a lot of my roommates after meeting me and finding out that that I was from the US were like, “that’s funny, because your face looks Latina!” Unfortunately I didn’t know how to say in Spanish at that time, “Well, that’s cuz it is.”

7. Un mensaje exclusivamente para mi hermano: When I was at the grocery store the other day, I bought some pasta noodles. Here they’re called maccarón. I have yet to figure out what chakkaron means. I’ll let you know when I do though.

8. I went to a salsa/bachata/merengue club on Saturday night and when we walked in a salsa version of "Gangster's Paradise" was playing. Wierrrrd.

9. So overall, I have a dilemma. Before coming, I thought I would want to travel every single weekend and see Europe and the rest of Spain. And I still do want to travel, but if the rest of the semester goes as well as the last week, then I also want to stay around here in Alcalá! Decisions, decisions.

I have to get to doing some actual work now, but tune in next time to hear about the grand (5 inch) snowstorm that shut down the whole town last weekend. And of course other exciting things about the life of yours truely.


Love yall and miss yall!

a mi no me gusta el pescado aqui

Another great end to a great day. Unfortunately my adventures are not as exciting as Alana’s in Kenya and all those other African countries that she’s been to, but I am enjoying myself here.

So far I am really impressed with the program. We’ve been taken on various tours of the city and campus. Not only were they tours that helped us orient ourselves with directions, but our tour guide also told us how to send and receive letters and the post office, how to buy a bus pass, etc. Very very helpful!

The hotel that we’re staying in is very nice, and every meal that we’ve eaten is covered by the program. (And may I mention that we’ve eaten at some pretty sweet restaurants.) The only unfortunate thing is that we can’t order alcoholic beverages (aka wine) on the program’s bill. I guess I’ll have to wait a few days more to start my adventures in Spanish wineland. But anyhoo, this brings me to the food here. All I can say is good thing I eat meat. I do understand that we’ve been having very nice meals lately, but all the lunches (almuerzos) and dinners (cenas) have meat in every option. And a lot of pork. Usually I’m not a swine eater, but when in Spain…

Today I had an interesting experience at the restaurant were we went for lunch. There always has been two plates and then desert. And we can choose from three options for each plato (plate). So of course when I heard paella, I had to try it. I did and that wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out how to get the meat out of the un-shelled shrimp. I ripped the head off of one and tried to suck the meat out. No dice. Then I tried to peel the shell off another but the dang shrimp just kept slipping around in my hands. So I just gave up and crunched one in my mouth hoping some meat would squeeze out. I think I did get a little…

THEN, for the second plate, there was a option of either pork, salchichas (basically hotdogs) or fish. I decided to go for the lesser of all evils, the fish. But before ordering, I asked the waiter if the fish came with bones. He said yes, but they’re really thin and if you swallow them, they wont do you any harm. Since the majority of fish here is not deboned and in fact comes with head, eyes, mouth and all, I thought I was scoring big with this fish. But ah, to the contrary. What the waiter brought to me was a plate full of these little fried guys. The whole dang fish. Scales and all. MmmMmMmmMM. I was about to go for my neighbor’s salchicas, but then I remembered that my dad told me to try some sort of small fried fish. Which may have been this. Unfortunately, It was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever had. It was 1) fried, 2) a fish, 3) had scales, 4) had a head, 5) had a tail, 6) had little skinny bones that despite what the waiter said, do not digest easily!

Now as for my Spanish skillz. I’m already feeling a little better about them. ¡Y ESCUCHAN ESTO! Today as the group was waiting for the bus, the program coordinator and I started talking about our day tomorrow. In the evening, were going to take a placement exam for Spanish. She assumed that I would test into the class “Spanish for Spanish Speakers.” She thought since I speak Spanish at home I would make the same grammatical errors as would a native Spanish speaker. Then I of course had to explain to her that no, my family doesn’t speak Spanish (sorry Joe, Dad and Mom but let’s be real with ourselves), that instead I learned in school. But then she said, whatever, you’ll probably be part of that group anyway. So moral of the story, I can speak Spanish! WOOT WOOT.

I suppose I’ll stop now because I may be boring all you readers out there. If you’ve made it to this point, thanks for stickin it out while I pour my heart out to yall.

Y una cosita mas: I GOT A PHONE TODAY! My # is 618648243. to call from the US, you have to dial 011 + 34 +the number above.

I'm here!

Hola a todos!

Welcome to me very first post from Spain. Right now I'm in a hotel called Hotel Campanile in Alcalá de Henares. On the way here, both flights were delayed but luckily it was BOTH so that I had time to catch the second one out of Amsterdam. And I had a very plesant surprise when I ran into my friend Al from UW Madison in Chigao. Turns out she and her friend were taking the same flight to Amsterdam...what a small world!!

Last night I stayed with a family friend of my friend Federico (also from Waukesha/UW Madison). For being a total stranger to her, she was really kind and welcoming! She picked me up from the airport in her SmartCar and we headed to her house right outside of the city. Last night I slept from 7-9 pm, then from 11 pm-10 am. Hopefully that wont mess up my sleeping patterns too much!

This morning was somewhat of a fiasco, as I got a taste of the relaxed concept of time that the Spanish seem to have. Federico told Tula (the woman we were staying with) that we needed to be out of the house at 10:30. We left at 11:30. And since we couldnt all fit in her SmartCar, she drove us one by one to the train staion and we were going to take the train. But then we missed the train. So we took a cab to the airport. But by the time we arrived at the airport, we missed the group pickup. So, we had to take the metro to the Cercanías (commuter train) station, and then take a train to Alcalá de Henares.

Luckily, I always know that nothing is going to turn out as planned when traveling so I didn't mind spending way too much money and way too much time for a trip that should have only taken 1 hour max. (well to be honest I did care about the money, but as they say in Egypt ma3lish!). Of course I was chuckling to myself as Federico was pouting. :P I think this is due to my disorder which makes me laugh when I really shouldn't...

Federico and I arrived at the hotel just in time for the orientation. We went to eat at a nearby restuarant and now we have a time for a "siesta." If you know me, you know I love naps. Thus, I already love Spain. But to be honest, I'm not going to sleep now because I want to try to get used to the time change.

Anyhoo, the whole group here seems really nice and Cristina Blanco (the program director) is also great. It seems to be a diverse group from all over the US.

I'm really happy that I'm already speaking Spanish a majority of the time. I try to speak it all the time unless I want to make a joke or say something witty. I suppose I'll KNOW that i can really speak spanish when I can say those kinds of things.

It was most difficult at Tula's house because she would talk to me and I understood what she was saying but I didnt respond how I wanted so I usually would just say okay or sounds good or "oh really?" Which kind of made me look like an idiot. But whatever, I suppose its part of the learning process!

Tonight we're going for a walk around downtown Alcalá. Then tomorrow is another day of orientation! We're moving into the dorms and homestays (dorms for me) on Friday morn.

Well thanks for tuning in! Until next time...