So I got back from Lisbon late Monday night, and I leave for Morocco tomorrow night. That gave me about 72 hours in between to do productive things. But, as usual, I do everything possible that is "productive" in my world but not so much productive for school. Por ejemplo, I have uploaded my pictures onto facebook, roughly figured out what I want my schedule for Fall quarter at WWU to look like, done laundry, and am currently listening to Kenny Chesney and writing to all of you. While some of the more important things on my to do list include, but are not limited to, my linguistics paper, my Civ & Culture paper, and my Women in Spanish Literature paper. Anyways. I will now proceed with storytime.
First I'll start off with a MacKenzie being totally pissed off recount. So last Tuesday, my friends and I get all hyped up to go dancing to Mae West, because it's free on Tuesday nights. We get all ready, go to the Chupiteria (shot bar, if you can't remember by now) and Marisma, and by the time we're ready to head to the Mae, we are all significantly intoxicated. We hoof it to Mae West, which is about 10-15 minutes away from where I live. Allison, Emily, and Adam were ahead of King, Alyssa and I, and they got into the discoteca with no problems. Then come King, Alyssa, and I, and the jerkface bouncer asked us for our ID's. First of all, I have been living in Granada since August and never have I been asked to show an ID at a bar, discoteca, nowhere. Thus, I do not carry it with me. The bouncers surely know this, because this was just their way of not letting us in. So we called the others, who drunkenly tried to contest the final answer, but to no avail. We walked away with heads hung a little lower, wondering why we weren't allowed into the discoteca. We were all dressed up! I can only think to explain that Allison, Emily, and Adam are all tall (over 5'10"), and thin. And I made up the tallest of our little clan at not even 5'9". In addition to that, which we think is the main reason we didn't get in, King is Filipino, so obviously he is darker and Spaniards are bastards. So we watched a bunch of ugly ass Spanish girls get into the club, and I will never be returning to Mae West, as I don't condone their racist/anti short/chubby folk getting into their discoteca.
Academically life has been interesting. I have discovered that a few of my teachers do not mark off the days when we miss class, so I fill in the blanks when I do go and skip more class. Devious, yes? The reality is that in my Hispanic American Lit class, there is absolutely no reason for me to be there. It is utter garbage. And the final is a paper that I've already completed, so this gives me no reason to go. However, outside my classes I have been enjoying my work. For my women lit class I had to read a contemporary novel, and I chose a book called La Voz Dormida (The Sleeping Voice) and it's about women who were imprisoned during and after the Spanish Civil War and the beginning of Franco's regime. Once I got beyond the difficulty of reading a Spanish novel, I became used to the vocabulary and surprisingly got totally into this book. And for my essay for class I had to compare it to a movie we watched in class, Las Trece Rosas (the 13 Roses). It's hard to explain how I was affected the last few weeks by the book and the movie. Las Trece Rosas is a true story about 13 women who were executed for a crime they didn't commit, as a way for Franco to kill off the Communists who were imprisoned. It is incredibly sad, but when it comes down to it, it's a story of hope, dignity, and fighting for what you believe in. Cheesy, right? Wrong. I had tears streaming down my cheeks when we watched the movie in class, and they didn't escape me when I watched the second time at home. It still continues to amaze me the wrongs that were committed in Spain during that time, and that nobody stepped in to help them. I don't know where I'm going with this. Basically, I will always remember those women, although their story has been lost in history, more or less.
Brief note. I've decided to up the honesty in my blog. However much I love my roommates Ana & Jess, I am more than excited to be living at 6720 Oakwood Place, Arlington, WA 98223 starting May 26 until I move back to Bellingham. Our kitchen is always absolutely disgusting, and we have cockroaches. Yep.
OK, now for Portugal. Awesome trip, absolutely perfect! Emma, Allison, Emily, Alyssa and I went for 4 days to Lisbon, and I absolutely fell in love with that city. It's beautiful, clean, open, and full of so much more diversity than Granada, or pretty much Spain in general. We didn't do much touristy stuff, which of course I loved. Only downside of the weekend was that apparently Portugal is allergy world for MacKenzie. Here's the rundown:
Day 1: Friday
-extreme exhaustion due to being up late on the overnight bus from Granada to Madrid
-after meeting Emily & Alyssa, who had an earlier flight, we bussed to our hostel and then embarked on some initial exploring of the city. This was when I first discovered that I love Lisbon
-SHOPPING. i know, I'm an addict. But you see, when H&M and I get together, we love to be friends. Thus I decided to lend my friend 75 euros that I probs won't be getting back anytime soon. Though I did make an awesome find for myself & bff Shayna, though I can't reveal it here in the very unlikely case that Shay Shay reads my blog.
-we ate at the not so good Wok, which wasn't horrible but not as good as Seville.
-and then we went to bed. And I slept like a rock.
Day 2: Saturday
-Day Trip to Sintra-we took a train an hour north of Lisbon, and visited the quaint little city there
-Emma, Alyssa, and I paid to visit the Moorish castle which looked remarkably like the Great Wall of China, and was fun because I felt like I was at a playground made for grown people.
-We reunited with Allison and Emily at Pizza Hut by the train station and downed 2 family size pizzas. We think this is the first time Pizza Hut in Sintra had experienced a purchase of such gran cantidad (so freaking enormous)
-After some nice napping, we went to McDonald's for dinner (just raking in the health food, I know)
-Pub Crawl: 5 euro, and after Allison's dress was blown halfway up her body when walking over a subway grate, we found Miguel, our fearless, drunken pub crawl leader. Lisbon has basically free for all botellon, aka drinking all throughout the streets. We went to bar number one and had some sangria that was supposed to be better than Spain's but this was totally bogus. There we met two Finnish girls who taught Alyssa and I the phrase "Helgen Gelgen!" which apparently meant Cheers in Finnish. (later we discovered that Helgen Gelgen is not cheers but in fact a word that Finnish people teach foreigners in order to make them laugh--nice). Bar numero dos was a salsa-ish club, and apart from being 500 degrees it was a total blast. Emily and I found ourselves in quite a bind a few times when we were completely surrounded by males staring at us, but all was well again when the other girls returned and Lady Gaga's Bad Romance came on....and then things got crazy. Let me just say, when Jordan and I go to Gaga August 22, it's gonna be nuts. And when you add Sexy Bitch into the mix at a good dance club, that's when I call it a good night out. Anyways, the night was great and we danced and danced and danced, and then at some point Allison decided to speak in "British" to Miguel (the half British/half Portuguese pub crawl leader) and I believe there is nothing significant left to report. Helgen Gelgen!!
Day 3: Sunday
-All intentions of going to the beach failed. It was too cold (in the morning) and there was no bus.
-So then we began a trek to Belém to find Starbucks. This was the longest walk of my life. I was fine, because my new sandals are awesome. However Emma and Allison had shitty footwear, and Alyssa had a popped blister. So Emily and I kept the troops trucking, and after many hours we reached Belém. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED this walk. There's basically the Golden Gate Bridge (see fb pictures) and the Jesus statue from Rio de Janeiro. It was sunny and breezy and hot and just the loveliest walk ever. And when we finally reached Starbucks, I was completely red eyed from allergies but that Mocha frappucino was delish!
-Dinner that night was the Hard Rock Cafe. This wouldn't have been our first choice because 1. it is very touristy, and 2. it is very expensive. However, it was basically the only thing open besides McD's, and veggie girl Allison couldn't handle more french fries. So we splurged. I had a BBQ Burger & a chocolate milkshake and it was quite possibly the most delicious thing I have ever consumed in my life.
Day 4: Monday
-checked out of our hostel & Emily and Alyssa went to their flight, so Emma, Allison, and I waited for ours by sunbathing in the grass in our clothes. Not quite the beach but as close to it as we could get!
-many hours of traveling by bus, metro, plane, ending in Granada at 2:30 am and finishing off my night with a shawarma.
I go home in 20 days, which is a sad fact. I live a fabulous life.
MacKenzie Jo
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
LIFE.
well I just wrote an extraordinarily long blog updating you all on my trip with my mom. And not much has really happened since then. On Easter I went to a procession and saw some people who looked like the KKK, but they weren't, just some Catholic sinners. I am becoming somewhat overwhelmed with the amount of work that keeps piling up in school. I think I'm in denial that I have to do work in Spain.
Last week we went to see Tensión Sexual No Resuelta, a Spanish film with API, which was basically a porno, no surprise there. Then this week my friends and I went to see Querido John (Dear John) and I thought it was the dumbest Nicholas Sparks movie I have ever seen. It was depressing and I felt that I left the movie less of a person than when I arrived.
I have been trying to go out a lot more because I realize that after I get back to the US, it will be a very long time before I can go out again (aka 9 months), and the nightlife in Granada is way better anyways. And, though I didn't expect it to happen, I am getting sad that I am leaving people again. I don't know why but I didn't expect to make good friendships like I did last semester, but I must be crazy. Now I have amigas in Wisconsin to go visit! haha. But luckily Allison, Jess, and King live in the Pac NW, so I will be seeing them this summer and hopefully for years to come. :)
Travel news: In two weeks the girls and I will be in Lisbon, Portugal! It's going to be a lovely beach weekend (weather permitting) and I'm totally pumped. And the weekend after that...the girls (minus Emily) are flying to MARRAKECH!! This will be Africa experience #2, for 5 days this time, and I'm expecting it to be 10 billion times better. I am nervous because we're going with girls, no boys, and we're not going with a tour group. But this is what it's all about. ADVENTURE.
As for now though, I need to get some school work done, unfortunately. I have been reading up a storm for my Images of Women in Spanish Lit class, and I would really like to get a head start on my papers that are due at the end of the term. If only I could just be here in España, sans school.
TIME GOES BY TOO FAST.
un besito,
MacKenzie
Last week we went to see Tensión Sexual No Resuelta, a Spanish film with API, which was basically a porno, no surprise there. Then this week my friends and I went to see Querido John (Dear John) and I thought it was the dumbest Nicholas Sparks movie I have ever seen. It was depressing and I felt that I left the movie less of a person than when I arrived.
I have been trying to go out a lot more because I realize that after I get back to the US, it will be a very long time before I can go out again (aka 9 months), and the nightlife in Granada is way better anyways. And, though I didn't expect it to happen, I am getting sad that I am leaving people again. I don't know why but I didn't expect to make good friendships like I did last semester, but I must be crazy. Now I have amigas in Wisconsin to go visit! haha. But luckily Allison, Jess, and King live in the Pac NW, so I will be seeing them this summer and hopefully for years to come. :)
Travel news: In two weeks the girls and I will be in Lisbon, Portugal! It's going to be a lovely beach weekend (weather permitting) and I'm totally pumped. And the weekend after that...the girls (minus Emily) are flying to MARRAKECH!! This will be Africa experience #2, for 5 days this time, and I'm expecting it to be 10 billion times better. I am nervous because we're going with girls, no boys, and we're not going with a tour group. But this is what it's all about. ADVENTURE.
As for now though, I need to get some school work done, unfortunately. I have been reading up a storm for my Images of Women in Spanish Lit class, and I would really like to get a head start on my papers that are due at the end of the term. If only I could just be here in España, sans school.
TIME GOES BY TOO FAST.
un besito,
MacKenzie
far too late=Mom's visit!
I have now showered and french braided my hair, cut my nails, mascara-ed my lashes, and settled into bed. What? Something isn't adding up...shouldn't I be going out? NO. First of all, I'm sick, and I went out last night which did not help matters. Second of all, I have an ever-growing list of things to do that is about to take over my life. In conclusion, the last possible thing I could possibly do to procrastinate is write in my blog. Which is actually on my list of things to do....so I'm being productive...right? Anyways.
Hey, it's been awhile! I haven't written in over a month, and I have done so much since. I'm going to try to remember everything but we'll see. So Mom arrived to Spain about a month ago (can't believe so much time has passed since she was here!) I met her in Madrid, and we spent her first evening in Spain at dinner (eating raw fish-yikes!) and then exploring the area near our hotel. There wasn't much touristy stuff around, plus it was like 11 pm, so we just walked to the Plaza del Toros in Madrid, which I thought would be a nice starter for Mom's European experience. It was funny having Mom here, very refreshing actually. Because she really reminded me of just how different Europe is than home. I've been living here so long, and I've done so much traveling, that I am kind of getting to the point of realizing that people are people no matter where you go, and despite the differences in appearance and food and language, the world is really the same through and through. But Mom had never been to Europe, so she commented on everything, because everything she ate and saw and heard was completely brand new to her. The street signs. The street. The buildings. The windows. The lampposts. The gas stations. The cars. I could keep going. =) But it was really fun to start to be the tour guide for Mom's first adventure in Europe!
On Sunday, March 21st we tried to fit as much Madrid culture as we could into the day. Although we had a late night the night before, we were out of bed at 7:30 to get ready to explore. We had some difficulties though. We could NOT figure out how to get the shower to work!! Only the tub. So after trying to wash my hair under the faucet with no success, I took the first bath I've taken since I was like 6. And really, I think baths are kind of gross. Soaking in your own filth? Ick. Anyways. After we got all ready we took the metro over to the city center and visited a few museums. We went to the Reina Sofia Art Museum, which is really famous for contemporary art. I had already been there when I was in Madrid in August, and I didn't like it too much but since it was free on Sundays I wanted to show Mom Picasso's Guernica painting (super famous-look it up if you haven't seen it before). Then we went to the Prado Museum which has more traditional art and is one of the most famous art museums in the world for paintings. I loved the Prado in August, I loved it in March, and I hope to go back again someday. Mom enjoyed the Prado much more than Reina Sofia also. After our museum visits we were pretty tired from standing for so long so we hopped into a restaurant that seemed full of Spaniards (when in Europe-do not go to a restaurant unless you see people who live in that country dining there-it usually isn't good if there aren't) and Mom had her first paella! I was a little nervous because no paella amounts to the deliciousness of Marí Carmen's, but this was the best paella I have ever eaten in a restaurant. Score! Plus it was a huge meal for a real good price, which is hard to find when you're surrounded by tourist traps. Looks like I'm becoming less of a tourist maybe?? We hopped a bus to Granada and had a very long awkward ride in which Mom was sitting behind this nasty guy who had his seat leaned back and was snoring and making strange noises the whole time. Mom wanted to say something (naturally) but did not have the language capabilities, and I of course could not be assertive and say something myself. I need help. I really do.
Our time in Granada was absolutely amazing. I loved all the time we spent together during Semana Santa too, but my favorite part of Mom being here was getting to be the tour guide, showing her all around my city. I honestly feel like I have more of a relationship with this city than with Bellingham! I couldn't believe how many places I wanted to take Mom--the tourist places, all of my usual places, tapa bars, regular bars, my gym, etc. I would never have that many places to show anyone in Bellingham! The only crappy part about Mom visiting at that time was that it was midterm week, so I had to waste some of my time studying. But I guess that's why I'm in Spain at all....anyways. There wasn't anything wildly exciting about anything we did, but we spent our days exploring the city, and our nights wandering to tapas bars for dinner. Mom agrees with me that tapas are the best invention in the world, and we want to start a tapa bar someday! I can't say it isn't a serious goal, it would be amazing. Tuesday we made the hike up to the Alhambra so Mom would be able to say Granada's, and even Spain's, most famous landmark from the Muslim reign in Spain. She thought it to be pretty cool, as do most people who visit Granada. It's impressive. However, on the way up to the Alhambra Mom, not so surprisingly, tripped and twisted her ankle.....which didn't seem like a problem at the time but proved to be a significant hinder to her activities for the rest of the 2 weeks she was here! I always made fun of her (obviously) but I really did feel bad that that happened, because it was clear that she hurt herself and her ankle really bothered her the rest of the time. When I was in class Monday-Wednesday Mom usually read in the sun or I sent her to Cafe Futbol (where my friends and I get churros) or Hannigan's (the Irish pub by my school). She wanted to walk around a little, but not having a phone and Mom being slightly directionally challenged, I didn't think this was such a good idea, because I don't know what I would do if I lost my mother in Granada. So we walked around a ton together when I wasn't in class. One day we went to the Cathedral in Granada which was a cool experience because although I've seen 7,000 other cathedrals/churches in Europe, I hadn't been to the one in Granada and Mom had never been to one ever! It is huge, and I thought it was really cool for Mom to see. We also got to see something I didn't even know was in Granada! Next to the cathedral (though I think it's technically part of the same building) lie the remains of the Reyes Católicos (Catholic Kings) who threw out the Muslims and who sent Christofer Columbus off the the Americas in 1492. We actually got to go down into the crypt and see their coffins through a glass window! It was very cool, and I felt remotely lame I didn't even know that was there until now!
One quite hilarious event was when we went to the Flamenco show with the rest of API. We walked up to the Albaicin (which hurt mom's ankle, and her lungs, a bit) and everyone crammed into one of the refurbished caves that they use for flamenco shows. I loved it! Everyone last semester said it was kind of lame but I thought it was really cool, especially since we had been learning about it in my Spanish Civilization and Culture class. Oh, but the comical part. Well, at the end of the show one of the bailadores (dancers) grabbed mom's hand and pulled her up to dance with him. Out of all the people in the room, all the young college girls, he grabs the visiting American mother's hand. And she of course went for it and began to SHIMMY when the dancer guy began to shimmy. I do not think I have ever laughed SO hard in my entire life. It was so hysterical. And I thought I got it on video but the memory card was full so all I captured was about half of a shimmy! What a bummer. But a few of my friends got some good pictures. So that was memorable. Good times at flamenco!!
We walked A LOT. I recently learned that Mom lost 6 pounds on the trip, whereas of course I remain the same or gain weight. But we also determined this is because I do this all the time, and Mom doesn't really work out and came and got the workout of a lifetime with all that walking! But don't be fooled, we also did a lot of eating. I took her to Café Fútbol, Café Bar Playa, Feng Shui, Poë, and then we explored tons of new tapa bars that I hadn't been to before. One day in Granada we walked up to the Albaicin/Sacromonte neighborhood, where you can see a beautiful view of the Alhambra and just more beautiful and older buildings than the city center or where I live. We went to Parque de Garcia Lorca and walked along the river...I feel like we did everything! I was just trying to make sure she got a feel for what my life is like here. It was frustrating sometimes because there was so much I wanted to fit in and so little time, but we surely made the most of her time here in Granada.
And then the second leg of her trip=travel time, for both of us! On Thursday, we headed out of Granada on a Ryanair flight to Barcelona (Mom's first and probably last--she thought we were in trouble when the plane turned abruptly and everybody on the plane started screaming...yes this is a cheap airline if I've ever seen one!). Allison and her sister Jessica were already there and staying in the same hostel as us. The hostel was really nice and a really good price for the quality of it. We arrived at the bus station in Barcelona and the next objective was to locate the hostel. Which was difficult. We had a bunch of luggage, no map, some very vague directions, and no real sense of where we were. So Allison directed us in the right direction finally, and after we realized we must be lost, she told us we had passed the street. And how in the world did we pass the street!? Let me just tell you. You see, on our little journey we happened upon a gas station on a corner, in which Mom thought was the coolest thing in the world, and rambled on and on about how we should come back to take a picture because the gas station is so different than the US. We then moved on. When we went back to retrace our steps after Allison informed that we were lost, we saw the gas station once again, and realized, oh! that was where we were supposed to turn. So Mom named it "the station of our wayward wanderings." I couldn't have said it better, madre! We ended our long day with some delicious Indian food with Jessica and Allison and it was really fun chatting with the girls. I was glad Mom got to spend some time with Allison because she's my best friend here in Spain now! :)
Friday we had a whirlwind tour of Barcelona. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in all of Europe, and I'm glad I'd already been there before so that we could execute a 7 hour tour of what I loved when I went with Court and Shan back in October. We went straight to the Sagrada Familia, because one can't visit Barcelona without seeing the strange, eclectic cathedral looming above the normalcy of the city. We didn't go inside though, because I learned last time that it was a total ripoff! After grabbing some Starbucks--it's been awhile--we walked all the way down to Park of the Citadel. We walked around the Park and headed to the Chocolate Museum-something I missed with the girls because it was closed when we were there. It was totally fun! Our entrance tickets were dark chocolate bars-score! We then headed through Park of the Citadel, which was absolutely stunning and filled with huge groups of kids on field trips, on our way to the beach. I just love Barcelona. It is so laid back, but such a huge city at the same time. I want to go back...maybe even live there? Who knows! Just before hitting the beach (without swimsuits or shorts because we weren't expecting the nearly 80 degree weather!) a man rode by us on a bicycle...COMPLETELY NAKED!! He was at least 50 years old, maybe even 60, and at first I thought he was wearing a speedo like every other European man at the beach, but no. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Naked man on bike, riding through Barcelona. Only in Europe, only in Europe.....it was totally halarious though, I will probably never forget that moment we were cracking up so much. We spent a few hours walking through the sand, went to lunch on the beach, and then this Asian woman asked if we wanted massages, so we got massages on the beach! Only 5 euro, which I thought was quite the deal! It was kind of awkward though because she whipped my shirt up and basically took my bra with it, so that was kinda.....well, awkward. But whatever. Then we finished our Barcelona circle by walking along the pier, scrambing up Las Ramblas (famous but in my opinion highly overrated street) and made our way back to the hostel to grab our luggage. Nearly cruise time! We grabbed the metro and soon enough were on the cruise.
Our Semana Santa week was a blast. I have a few things to say about the cruise.
1. I had a fabulous time.
2. The service we had at dinner was horrendous, we missed nearly every show on the boat because of that. The food wasn't very good either.
3. I met some awesome people, and our dinner table was a ton of fun, despite the terrible service. We sat with Kevin (studying in Barcelona, my age) and his mom Geri, Travis & Carol (the old newlyweds), Nyree and Katherine (The Aussie girls who work in the UK), and Jim (the FL travel agent cruisin solo)
4. Mom and I got a bit tipsy when we had XL Strawberry Daiquiris and drank them in the 30 minute "Bubble Lady" show. It was fun. PS. Who devotes their lives to creating bubble performances, really?
5. I had a huge crush on one of the guys who worked on the cruise. My hopes for an Italian wedding were crushed on 70's night when I saw him chatting with some tall, leggy Italian girls, dang.
6. My mother and I really cannot sleep in the same room. Our accomodations were fabulous (we paid for a room with no windows but ended up staying in a huge room with a balcony!) but we clearly have different sleeping needs. She is ALWAYS hot, so I had sweats and blankets on while we slept with the AC on...kill me!
7. The first night at the "buffet" that only served pizza, I spilled boiling hot pizza, which scalded my leg through my jeans, that was stressful.
8. The most fun night on the cruise was the group dance party, when Mom and I danced to YMCA, We Are Family, etc.....my mother and I also have very different dancing styles. And then she gets mad at me for laughing at her. :)
9. I had my first experience gambling. We both lost 10 euros. I can see how people get addicted to this.
10. This was the best possible way for us to see so many different parts of Europe in such a short period of time. Everyone else who had been on a cruise before, especially an American cruise, said this was the worst cruise they've ever been on. And yes, I will definitely go on an American cruise before I judge cruises. But, I have to say it was so worth it, and a total blast!
I have now decided lists are much easier and more fun for me to write. So now I will describe where we went/highlights.
Marseilles, France (Saturday, March 27):
1. We were total guiris (foreigners, in Spanish) and thought it was summer weather. It, in fact, was windy and freezing despite the presence of sunshine, so we were miserable in our shorts and dresses.
2. So, we spent 1.5 hours in H&M. I spent about $200, and promptly changed into/added some of the clothes I bought to further warm myself.
3. We went to lunch, visited a church, and tried not to be blown away.
4. Marseilles was not the best example of our travel skills.
Savona, Italy (Sunday, March 28):
1. Beautiful, beautiful place. I am in love with Italia, as usual.
2. In Savona we went to the cathedral and sort of attended mass, and for some reason I got all weepy because they were all singing and it was just really weirdly emotional. We also went to a street market and sampled lots of cheese and say a pig's head. Gross!
3. We completely one-upped our travel skills of the previous day and utilized our hand motion skills to communicate and hopped a public bus to a nearby town, Celle Ligure, where we further fell in love with Italy.
4. We consumed the most delicious gelato I have ever had. YUM.
5. Captured beautiful photographs and I just love how all the families were out and about that Sunday, enjoying the beach, playing soccer, eating, smiling, laughing....the place just really put us in a fabulous mood.
Naples, Italy (Monday, March 29):
1. Visited a castle. Castles, like churches, get boring after awhile. But we did see skeletons in the ruins of the castle!!!
2. I met the love of my life, the Italian man Giovanni, at a pastry shop in Naples. He told me, I quote, "Your eyes, they make me feel like I could fly...." and the sweetheart that I am, promptly replied, "You can't even see my eyes, I'm wearing sunglasses." No wonder I don't have a boyfriend. Anyways, I will be returning to Naples one day, expect to be flying far for my wedding people! He was so beautiful.
3. Here, I discovered that I am much either much prettier in Italy than in Spain, the men are whores, or Italian men are just reasonable people and don't expect their ladies to weigh 20 pounds. My mother and I got lots of attention, let's just say that.
4. I loved Naples. It was exciting and fast paced and beautiful all at the same time. A different vibe than Rome or Savona...unlike anything I've experienced.
5. We got to make our own pizza. Yes, in Naples, pizza capital of the planet, we happened into a little pizza/pasta place, and we thought it was closed but the employees told us to come in anyway. Then since we were the only customers we got to go back into the kitchen and make our own pizza! It was so cool!
Palermo, Sicily, Italy (Tuesday, March 30)
1. This was the craziest/dirtiest city I've been to in Italy. Maybe in the world.
2. When we were exploring, we somehow found ourselves in a plaza filled entirely with men. We were frightened, and then we left, not without being hounded by them. Why was there a plaza filled only with men? Creepy!!
3. I loved the Bavarro (I think) Market. It was really different than other markets I've been to. I could tell there was more poverty, and that these people were truly out here every day to survive. The life in the market was unlike anything I've ever seen, loud, colorful, stressful, kind of put me on edge but at the same time I loved it.
4. We walked very far to find the Catacombs. And they were so cool! Who would've known walking through underground hallways filled with dead bodies could be so cool.
5. A boy on a moto tried to come and capture me, I think he wanted me to stay in Italy with him. Uh-oh!
Tunis, Tunisia, AFRICA (Wednesday, March 31)
1. This marked Mom's and my 4th entry into a new continent: North America, Asia, Europe, Africa.
2. We were a little disappointed with the overall experience, for it being our first time in Africa. We paid for a tour through the cruise, and it was probably the best idea because of the time constraints, but it felt like we got ripped off and didn't see the authenticity of Tunis.
3. Mom thought our Tunisian tour guide, Morad, was rather attractive. We then determined that North African men in general are rather attractive.
4. At the carpet store, mom was pulled out of the crowd to sit on one of the carpets during the presentation. How does this always happen? Apparently my mom just looks like someone who wants to participate!
5. At our final stop (a shop to barter and buy some cool stuff) mom was offered like 200 camels for her hand in marriage, and I was chased down upon leaving by one of the sales guys, giving me his facebook info. Oh Africa.
Palma de Mallorca, Spain (Thursday, April 1)
1. Newsflash, Costa Cruises!: next time you plan a cruise, don't set aside 6 hours for AFRICA and 12 hours for a Spanish island, where there is nothing to do. Now that's just common sense!
2. We arrived at 2 pm. For those of you who aren't aware, Spain has siesta time from 2-5 pm, thus, nothing was open.
3. We were all pumped to go to the "Caves of the Dragon" with the people from our dinner table. It was one of the excursions through the cruise company but I figured we could go for cheaper on our own. I put half the group in a taxi, thinking the taxi driver said "uno setenta," like 1.70 per person. When we went to get in our cab, the English driver said it would be 70 euros each way, because the Caves were an hour away. So then I quickly had to run and stop the other taxi so that I didn't send my friends on an hour long drive with a nearly 200 euro taxi bill. So unfortunately we didn't get to go to the caves. I'm just glad my miscommunication didn't cost my friends a LOT of money.....
4. So instead we walked around, ate gelato, paella, and basically were bored. But it is a really beautiful place!
5. That night we paid for the excursion to go to this "Son Amar" show through the cruise, and it turned out to be amazing! It was like a Vegas show, Mom and I were having a total blast! The music was fabulous, the dancers were amazing, and there was this totally awesome magician. I was in heaven.
And that was our cruise. In reality, so much more happened, but it was a month ago, and I figure this is a pretty decent synopsis. I'm sure more stories will come up in the future. The truth is though, I had a blast spending so much time with my mom. Never in my life have I spent so much time with just her! And I was so fortunate that she got to go on a vacation, because she hasn't done that in years. Thanks so much to Dad & Lena, who made it possible. I'll never really be able to express my gratitude for sending Mom over here. After we returned from Barcelona, our last evening and day in Granada was relaxing. Mom tried (and loved) shawarma, and got to meet my Moroccan shawarma friend Morad. We spent all day Saturday shopping in a Granada that was so packed because of Semana Santa tourists. And I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty sad when she left. I absolutely despise saying goodbye. When I took her to the bus station, I was proud of her for going to Madrid on her own (braving the subway at 5 am in a huge metropolitan city where you don't know the language is scary) and sad to see her go. I definitely cried when she got on the bus, and again when the bus left, but then Allison came over and we chatted and I watched the Biggest Loser so life was all better.
Love you Mama!! and Dad & Lena love you so much, none of this would've happened without you. Everyone else, hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures, it was 2 weeks I'll never forget! But now I need to do homework, but look for another blog soon!
Un beso,
MacKenzie
Hey, it's been awhile! I haven't written in over a month, and I have done so much since. I'm going to try to remember everything but we'll see. So Mom arrived to Spain about a month ago (can't believe so much time has passed since she was here!) I met her in Madrid, and we spent her first evening in Spain at dinner (eating raw fish-yikes!) and then exploring the area near our hotel. There wasn't much touristy stuff around, plus it was like 11 pm, so we just walked to the Plaza del Toros in Madrid, which I thought would be a nice starter for Mom's European experience. It was funny having Mom here, very refreshing actually. Because she really reminded me of just how different Europe is than home. I've been living here so long, and I've done so much traveling, that I am kind of getting to the point of realizing that people are people no matter where you go, and despite the differences in appearance and food and language, the world is really the same through and through. But Mom had never been to Europe, so she commented on everything, because everything she ate and saw and heard was completely brand new to her. The street signs. The street. The buildings. The windows. The lampposts. The gas stations. The cars. I could keep going. =) But it was really fun to start to be the tour guide for Mom's first adventure in Europe!
On Sunday, March 21st we tried to fit as much Madrid culture as we could into the day. Although we had a late night the night before, we were out of bed at 7:30 to get ready to explore. We had some difficulties though. We could NOT figure out how to get the shower to work!! Only the tub. So after trying to wash my hair under the faucet with no success, I took the first bath I've taken since I was like 6. And really, I think baths are kind of gross. Soaking in your own filth? Ick. Anyways. After we got all ready we took the metro over to the city center and visited a few museums. We went to the Reina Sofia Art Museum, which is really famous for contemporary art. I had already been there when I was in Madrid in August, and I didn't like it too much but since it was free on Sundays I wanted to show Mom Picasso's Guernica painting (super famous-look it up if you haven't seen it before). Then we went to the Prado Museum which has more traditional art and is one of the most famous art museums in the world for paintings. I loved the Prado in August, I loved it in March, and I hope to go back again someday. Mom enjoyed the Prado much more than Reina Sofia also. After our museum visits we were pretty tired from standing for so long so we hopped into a restaurant that seemed full of Spaniards (when in Europe-do not go to a restaurant unless you see people who live in that country dining there-it usually isn't good if there aren't) and Mom had her first paella! I was a little nervous because no paella amounts to the deliciousness of Marí Carmen's, but this was the best paella I have ever eaten in a restaurant. Score! Plus it was a huge meal for a real good price, which is hard to find when you're surrounded by tourist traps. Looks like I'm becoming less of a tourist maybe?? We hopped a bus to Granada and had a very long awkward ride in which Mom was sitting behind this nasty guy who had his seat leaned back and was snoring and making strange noises the whole time. Mom wanted to say something (naturally) but did not have the language capabilities, and I of course could not be assertive and say something myself. I need help. I really do.
Our time in Granada was absolutely amazing. I loved all the time we spent together during Semana Santa too, but my favorite part of Mom being here was getting to be the tour guide, showing her all around my city. I honestly feel like I have more of a relationship with this city than with Bellingham! I couldn't believe how many places I wanted to take Mom--the tourist places, all of my usual places, tapa bars, regular bars, my gym, etc. I would never have that many places to show anyone in Bellingham! The only crappy part about Mom visiting at that time was that it was midterm week, so I had to waste some of my time studying. But I guess that's why I'm in Spain at all....anyways. There wasn't anything wildly exciting about anything we did, but we spent our days exploring the city, and our nights wandering to tapas bars for dinner. Mom agrees with me that tapas are the best invention in the world, and we want to start a tapa bar someday! I can't say it isn't a serious goal, it would be amazing. Tuesday we made the hike up to the Alhambra so Mom would be able to say Granada's, and even Spain's, most famous landmark from the Muslim reign in Spain. She thought it to be pretty cool, as do most people who visit Granada. It's impressive. However, on the way up to the Alhambra Mom, not so surprisingly, tripped and twisted her ankle.....which didn't seem like a problem at the time but proved to be a significant hinder to her activities for the rest of the 2 weeks she was here! I always made fun of her (obviously) but I really did feel bad that that happened, because it was clear that she hurt herself and her ankle really bothered her the rest of the time. When I was in class Monday-Wednesday Mom usually read in the sun or I sent her to Cafe Futbol (where my friends and I get churros) or Hannigan's (the Irish pub by my school). She wanted to walk around a little, but not having a phone and Mom being slightly directionally challenged, I didn't think this was such a good idea, because I don't know what I would do if I lost my mother in Granada. So we walked around a ton together when I wasn't in class. One day we went to the Cathedral in Granada which was a cool experience because although I've seen 7,000 other cathedrals/churches in Europe, I hadn't been to the one in Granada and Mom had never been to one ever! It is huge, and I thought it was really cool for Mom to see. We also got to see something I didn't even know was in Granada! Next to the cathedral (though I think it's technically part of the same building) lie the remains of the Reyes Católicos (Catholic Kings) who threw out the Muslims and who sent Christofer Columbus off the the Americas in 1492. We actually got to go down into the crypt and see their coffins through a glass window! It was very cool, and I felt remotely lame I didn't even know that was there until now!
One quite hilarious event was when we went to the Flamenco show with the rest of API. We walked up to the Albaicin (which hurt mom's ankle, and her lungs, a bit) and everyone crammed into one of the refurbished caves that they use for flamenco shows. I loved it! Everyone last semester said it was kind of lame but I thought it was really cool, especially since we had been learning about it in my Spanish Civilization and Culture class. Oh, but the comical part. Well, at the end of the show one of the bailadores (dancers) grabbed mom's hand and pulled her up to dance with him. Out of all the people in the room, all the young college girls, he grabs the visiting American mother's hand. And she of course went for it and began to SHIMMY when the dancer guy began to shimmy. I do not think I have ever laughed SO hard in my entire life. It was so hysterical. And I thought I got it on video but the memory card was full so all I captured was about half of a shimmy! What a bummer. But a few of my friends got some good pictures. So that was memorable. Good times at flamenco!!
We walked A LOT. I recently learned that Mom lost 6 pounds on the trip, whereas of course I remain the same or gain weight. But we also determined this is because I do this all the time, and Mom doesn't really work out and came and got the workout of a lifetime with all that walking! But don't be fooled, we also did a lot of eating. I took her to Café Fútbol, Café Bar Playa, Feng Shui, Poë, and then we explored tons of new tapa bars that I hadn't been to before. One day in Granada we walked up to the Albaicin/Sacromonte neighborhood, where you can see a beautiful view of the Alhambra and just more beautiful and older buildings than the city center or where I live. We went to Parque de Garcia Lorca and walked along the river...I feel like we did everything! I was just trying to make sure she got a feel for what my life is like here. It was frustrating sometimes because there was so much I wanted to fit in and so little time, but we surely made the most of her time here in Granada.
And then the second leg of her trip=travel time, for both of us! On Thursday, we headed out of Granada on a Ryanair flight to Barcelona (Mom's first and probably last--she thought we were in trouble when the plane turned abruptly and everybody on the plane started screaming...yes this is a cheap airline if I've ever seen one!). Allison and her sister Jessica were already there and staying in the same hostel as us. The hostel was really nice and a really good price for the quality of it. We arrived at the bus station in Barcelona and the next objective was to locate the hostel. Which was difficult. We had a bunch of luggage, no map, some very vague directions, and no real sense of where we were. So Allison directed us in the right direction finally, and after we realized we must be lost, she told us we had passed the street. And how in the world did we pass the street!? Let me just tell you. You see, on our little journey we happened upon a gas station on a corner, in which Mom thought was the coolest thing in the world, and rambled on and on about how we should come back to take a picture because the gas station is so different than the US. We then moved on. When we went back to retrace our steps after Allison informed that we were lost, we saw the gas station once again, and realized, oh! that was where we were supposed to turn. So Mom named it "the station of our wayward wanderings." I couldn't have said it better, madre! We ended our long day with some delicious Indian food with Jessica and Allison and it was really fun chatting with the girls. I was glad Mom got to spend some time with Allison because she's my best friend here in Spain now! :)
Friday we had a whirlwind tour of Barcelona. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in all of Europe, and I'm glad I'd already been there before so that we could execute a 7 hour tour of what I loved when I went with Court and Shan back in October. We went straight to the Sagrada Familia, because one can't visit Barcelona without seeing the strange, eclectic cathedral looming above the normalcy of the city. We didn't go inside though, because I learned last time that it was a total ripoff! After grabbing some Starbucks--it's been awhile--we walked all the way down to Park of the Citadel. We walked around the Park and headed to the Chocolate Museum-something I missed with the girls because it was closed when we were there. It was totally fun! Our entrance tickets were dark chocolate bars-score! We then headed through Park of the Citadel, which was absolutely stunning and filled with huge groups of kids on field trips, on our way to the beach. I just love Barcelona. It is so laid back, but such a huge city at the same time. I want to go back...maybe even live there? Who knows! Just before hitting the beach (without swimsuits or shorts because we weren't expecting the nearly 80 degree weather!) a man rode by us on a bicycle...COMPLETELY NAKED!! He was at least 50 years old, maybe even 60, and at first I thought he was wearing a speedo like every other European man at the beach, but no. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Naked man on bike, riding through Barcelona. Only in Europe, only in Europe.....it was totally halarious though, I will probably never forget that moment we were cracking up so much. We spent a few hours walking through the sand, went to lunch on the beach, and then this Asian woman asked if we wanted massages, so we got massages on the beach! Only 5 euro, which I thought was quite the deal! It was kind of awkward though because she whipped my shirt up and basically took my bra with it, so that was kinda.....well, awkward. But whatever. Then we finished our Barcelona circle by walking along the pier, scrambing up Las Ramblas (famous but in my opinion highly overrated street) and made our way back to the hostel to grab our luggage. Nearly cruise time! We grabbed the metro and soon enough were on the cruise.
Our Semana Santa week was a blast. I have a few things to say about the cruise.
1. I had a fabulous time.
2. The service we had at dinner was horrendous, we missed nearly every show on the boat because of that. The food wasn't very good either.
3. I met some awesome people, and our dinner table was a ton of fun, despite the terrible service. We sat with Kevin (studying in Barcelona, my age) and his mom Geri, Travis & Carol (the old newlyweds), Nyree and Katherine (The Aussie girls who work in the UK), and Jim (the FL travel agent cruisin solo)
4. Mom and I got a bit tipsy when we had XL Strawberry Daiquiris and drank them in the 30 minute "Bubble Lady" show. It was fun. PS. Who devotes their lives to creating bubble performances, really?
5. I had a huge crush on one of the guys who worked on the cruise. My hopes for an Italian wedding were crushed on 70's night when I saw him chatting with some tall, leggy Italian girls, dang.
6. My mother and I really cannot sleep in the same room. Our accomodations were fabulous (we paid for a room with no windows but ended up staying in a huge room with a balcony!) but we clearly have different sleeping needs. She is ALWAYS hot, so I had sweats and blankets on while we slept with the AC on...kill me!
7. The first night at the "buffet" that only served pizza, I spilled boiling hot pizza, which scalded my leg through my jeans, that was stressful.
8. The most fun night on the cruise was the group dance party, when Mom and I danced to YMCA, We Are Family, etc.....my mother and I also have very different dancing styles. And then she gets mad at me for laughing at her. :)
9. I had my first experience gambling. We both lost 10 euros. I can see how people get addicted to this.
10. This was the best possible way for us to see so many different parts of Europe in such a short period of time. Everyone else who had been on a cruise before, especially an American cruise, said this was the worst cruise they've ever been on. And yes, I will definitely go on an American cruise before I judge cruises. But, I have to say it was so worth it, and a total blast!
I have now decided lists are much easier and more fun for me to write. So now I will describe where we went/highlights.
Marseilles, France (Saturday, March 27):
1. We were total guiris (foreigners, in Spanish) and thought it was summer weather. It, in fact, was windy and freezing despite the presence of sunshine, so we were miserable in our shorts and dresses.
2. So, we spent 1.5 hours in H&M. I spent about $200, and promptly changed into/added some of the clothes I bought to further warm myself.
3. We went to lunch, visited a church, and tried not to be blown away.
4. Marseilles was not the best example of our travel skills.
Savona, Italy (Sunday, March 28):
1. Beautiful, beautiful place. I am in love with Italia, as usual.
2. In Savona we went to the cathedral and sort of attended mass, and for some reason I got all weepy because they were all singing and it was just really weirdly emotional. We also went to a street market and sampled lots of cheese and say a pig's head. Gross!
3. We completely one-upped our travel skills of the previous day and utilized our hand motion skills to communicate and hopped a public bus to a nearby town, Celle Ligure, where we further fell in love with Italy.
4. We consumed the most delicious gelato I have ever had. YUM.
5. Captured beautiful photographs and I just love how all the families were out and about that Sunday, enjoying the beach, playing soccer, eating, smiling, laughing....the place just really put us in a fabulous mood.
Naples, Italy (Monday, March 29):
1. Visited a castle. Castles, like churches, get boring after awhile. But we did see skeletons in the ruins of the castle!!!
2. I met the love of my life, the Italian man Giovanni, at a pastry shop in Naples. He told me, I quote, "Your eyes, they make me feel like I could fly...." and the sweetheart that I am, promptly replied, "You can't even see my eyes, I'm wearing sunglasses." No wonder I don't have a boyfriend. Anyways, I will be returning to Naples one day, expect to be flying far for my wedding people! He was so beautiful.
3. Here, I discovered that I am much either much prettier in Italy than in Spain, the men are whores, or Italian men are just reasonable people and don't expect their ladies to weigh 20 pounds. My mother and I got lots of attention, let's just say that.
4. I loved Naples. It was exciting and fast paced and beautiful all at the same time. A different vibe than Rome or Savona...unlike anything I've experienced.
5. We got to make our own pizza. Yes, in Naples, pizza capital of the planet, we happened into a little pizza/pasta place, and we thought it was closed but the employees told us to come in anyway. Then since we were the only customers we got to go back into the kitchen and make our own pizza! It was so cool!
Palermo, Sicily, Italy (Tuesday, March 30)
1. This was the craziest/dirtiest city I've been to in Italy. Maybe in the world.
2. When we were exploring, we somehow found ourselves in a plaza filled entirely with men. We were frightened, and then we left, not without being hounded by them. Why was there a plaza filled only with men? Creepy!!
3. I loved the Bavarro (I think) Market. It was really different than other markets I've been to. I could tell there was more poverty, and that these people were truly out here every day to survive. The life in the market was unlike anything I've ever seen, loud, colorful, stressful, kind of put me on edge but at the same time I loved it.
4. We walked very far to find the Catacombs. And they were so cool! Who would've known walking through underground hallways filled with dead bodies could be so cool.
5. A boy on a moto tried to come and capture me, I think he wanted me to stay in Italy with him. Uh-oh!
Tunis, Tunisia, AFRICA (Wednesday, March 31)
1. This marked Mom's and my 4th entry into a new continent: North America, Asia, Europe, Africa.
2. We were a little disappointed with the overall experience, for it being our first time in Africa. We paid for a tour through the cruise, and it was probably the best idea because of the time constraints, but it felt like we got ripped off and didn't see the authenticity of Tunis.
3. Mom thought our Tunisian tour guide, Morad, was rather attractive. We then determined that North African men in general are rather attractive.
4. At the carpet store, mom was pulled out of the crowd to sit on one of the carpets during the presentation. How does this always happen? Apparently my mom just looks like someone who wants to participate!
5. At our final stop (a shop to barter and buy some cool stuff) mom was offered like 200 camels for her hand in marriage, and I was chased down upon leaving by one of the sales guys, giving me his facebook info. Oh Africa.
Palma de Mallorca, Spain (Thursday, April 1)
1. Newsflash, Costa Cruises!: next time you plan a cruise, don't set aside 6 hours for AFRICA and 12 hours for a Spanish island, where there is nothing to do. Now that's just common sense!
2. We arrived at 2 pm. For those of you who aren't aware, Spain has siesta time from 2-5 pm, thus, nothing was open.
3. We were all pumped to go to the "Caves of the Dragon" with the people from our dinner table. It was one of the excursions through the cruise company but I figured we could go for cheaper on our own. I put half the group in a taxi, thinking the taxi driver said "uno setenta," like 1.70 per person. When we went to get in our cab, the English driver said it would be 70 euros each way, because the Caves were an hour away. So then I quickly had to run and stop the other taxi so that I didn't send my friends on an hour long drive with a nearly 200 euro taxi bill. So unfortunately we didn't get to go to the caves. I'm just glad my miscommunication didn't cost my friends a LOT of money.....
4. So instead we walked around, ate gelato, paella, and basically were bored. But it is a really beautiful place!
5. That night we paid for the excursion to go to this "Son Amar" show through the cruise, and it turned out to be amazing! It was like a Vegas show, Mom and I were having a total blast! The music was fabulous, the dancers were amazing, and there was this totally awesome magician. I was in heaven.
And that was our cruise. In reality, so much more happened, but it was a month ago, and I figure this is a pretty decent synopsis. I'm sure more stories will come up in the future. The truth is though, I had a blast spending so much time with my mom. Never in my life have I spent so much time with just her! And I was so fortunate that she got to go on a vacation, because she hasn't done that in years. Thanks so much to Dad & Lena, who made it possible. I'll never really be able to express my gratitude for sending Mom over here. After we returned from Barcelona, our last evening and day in Granada was relaxing. Mom tried (and loved) shawarma, and got to meet my Moroccan shawarma friend Morad. We spent all day Saturday shopping in a Granada that was so packed because of Semana Santa tourists. And I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty sad when she left. I absolutely despise saying goodbye. When I took her to the bus station, I was proud of her for going to Madrid on her own (braving the subway at 5 am in a huge metropolitan city where you don't know the language is scary) and sad to see her go. I definitely cried when she got on the bus, and again when the bus left, but then Allison came over and we chatted and I watched the Biggest Loser so life was all better.
Love you Mama!! and Dad & Lena love you so much, none of this would've happened without you. Everyone else, hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures, it was 2 weeks I'll never forget! But now I need to do homework, but look for another blog soon!
Un beso,
MacKenzie
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Life happens.
I last wrote just before we went to Seville, and the reality is, it was a perfectly normal weekend, nothing exciting happened really. We had rain rain and some more rain, as per usual this time around España, and Emily, Tina, Allison, Alyssa and I spent our time eating, sleeping, and shopping. Since we had already been to Seville we didn't have to tromp around in the rain at the Cathedral or Alcazares, so that was nice, we just had a 4 star weekend in the hotel! We ate at this delicious Wok restaurant, basically an Asian food buffet, with Chinese/Japanese/Thai food. Yum! And I hear there is one in Granada which I'll definitely be checking out soon.
This past weekend was a busy one! Thursday night I went out with my roommate Jess (also from Washington, not sure if I've mentioned that before-she's from the Federal Way/Tacoma area) and her friend Mischa, who's from the Czech Republic. We went to Hannigan's Irish Pub for karaoke, which I've done once before and I think through both times, I have decided that karaoke is somewhat lame and annoying. Especially when people get up and sing like they're actually trying..who does that? So after waiting an eternity with the same Spanish guy going up like 20 times and belting his tunes, Jess, Mischa and I went up and sang, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. Let's just say I don't think I'll be doing karaoke again. I think the negatives of being embarrassed, everyone looking at you strangely, not knowing all the words and feeling awkward are not worth the satisfaction of belting out a classic 70's song. I can do that on my own, anytime I want. When we finally left Hannigan's it was pouring down rain, and I had no umbrella, raincoat, or suitable shoes, so naturally I got soaked. I am beginning to truly hate rain. I live in Bellingham, I have never hated rain! It just absolutely does not work here in Granada. We darted into a club that I'd never been to before to escape the rain. It was called Havana Club, and immediately when I went in I noticed 2 things: I loved the music & the look of the club, and I was surrounded by middle aged men. I would say the youngest people besides us were 28-29, and there were maybe 4 other girls in the place. Surprisingly I ran into our favorite waiter Mauricio from Café Fútbol, but I kept it short and sweet and just said hello as I didn't want my fave waiter to get creepy, as they sometimes do in places like this. After 15 minutes I was totally uncomfortable and ready to leave, it's a shame that the clubs that have good music have to be filled with creepsters so that I can't go and enjoy myself.
Friday was dedicated to cleaning the apartment as it was the day of mine and Ana's birthday fiesta. Around 7 I ran up to Plaza Nueva and met up with Annie Thordarson, who I went to high school with and she was visiting with her program from Seville. It was so good to see somebody from home! Annie and I aren't even really that good of friends but she is super nice and we share a lot of the same friends in Arlington so that was really cool to see her. I took her and some of her friends to tapas at Feng Shui (CLARO!) and we just had a good time chatting and I liked hearing about their program/studying in Seville.
When I got home, Jess and I grabbed shawarma for dinner, and it was the most delicious shawarma I have ever had in my life! So crazy, because usually you don't want to be eating that stuff unless you're intoxicated enough to forget what it consists of. Then Sam came over and we all finished up getting ready for the party. Sam swept and mopped the piso for us--how convenient! :) I blew up balloons and set them up around the house, and then we all got ready in time for people to show up. Jess let me borrow one of her dresses and I got lots of compliments, plus I was totally comfy! I won't waste much time on the party--It was much like the Fiesta de Navidad the girls had here in December, except I knew way less people. It was a lot of fun meeting people though, including some of Ana's Spanish friends that I haven't met before. Mischa was so sweet and brought Ana and I bracelets for our birthdays! Her other gift to us was some sort of hard alcohol from the Czech Republic...that stuff was crazy! Yikes! haha. Again, the piso was totally crowded but it was a ton of fun. Afterwards I went to Vogue (a dance club near my apartment) with King, Allison, and Brian, and that was when I lost 20 euros...way to go MacKenzie! awesome....not. Dancing was fun but eventually we left and King and I grabbed some shawarma to top off the night. Yes that's right....2 shawarmas in one night. What is the world coming to!? haha
Saturday was pretty unproductive with the exception of a tapas date with Leah and her friend Katilin, Emily, Allison and I. We found a tapa place that has hot dogs! Epic...and of course went to POE because it's just delicious (thai chicken!) and then finished off at Feng Shui. That night I tried to get to bed early but could not fall asleep which was a shame because I needed sleep to be ready for SNOWBOARDING! Which is what we did on Sunday!
My experiences in Europe snowboarding have been so different than going to Mt. Baker at home. But that's ok because the point is that I'm here so it probably should be different! I woke up at 6:30 and Jess and I got ready to go, and Allison met us at our piso just after 7. I was a little antsy about making it to the bus station on time, but sure enough we did! It was the set up for an interesting day-Allison has been snowboarding for awhile, I am just fine at snowboarding but nothing special, and Jess was planning on trying out skiing with her friend Alejandro who works up at the Sierra Nevada. We got up there and waited for him, then bought our lift tickets which he got us on discount for 35 euros. We found a shop to rent snow pants for Jess and gloves for Allison. Then the adventure began with finding equipment. At this point it was already 10 am, and we waited for nearly an hour only to find that there were no snowboards left at that rental shop. 11 am. We go to a different rental shop and quickly get outfitted in snowboards (Jess ended up snowboarding because her friend had to actually work that day) and by 11:30 we were hitting the chairlift. Not as early as we had hoped, but finally we were taking to the snow. It was going to be a different sort of day for me because this was only Jess' second time snowboarding! And the teacher in me came out because I wasn't just going to leave Jess! After all if I was in her position, especially on a strange mountain in Spain I wouldn't want to be left. I didn't really know how to teach how someone how to snowboard but I guess I know what I'm doing because Jess couldn't really do anything at first but at the end of the day she was totally doing toe-side and heel-side turns and linking them and sometimes taking big spills but the majority of the time just taking her time and doing awesome! I was so proud of her! And proud of myself too because I doubted my abilities to help her out. But I just tried to stay really patient and teach her everything that I know. I love teaching! It's a good thing that I'm pretty sure that's the direction I'm headed in life. And maybe someday if I improve immensely I can be a snowboarding instructor! Anyways as far as weather goes the day was alright, there were periods of straight sunshine but by the end of the today the mountain was totally foggy and it was kind of stressful snowboarding. I didn't have my typical sort of snowboarding day because I was mostly with Jess the whole time, but I did get a few quick runs in. New experiences, that's what it's all about.
My friends have I have been becoming big fans of Asian food here in Granada. Little did I know, the Oriental cuisine goes so far beyond Feng Shui and I had no idea! I really am going to miss Granada's cheap meals and tapas when I leave this place. Yesterday Emily, Alyssa, Allison and I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant and the night before we had tapas at a sushi place! Delish! :) Oh and in other news the beautiful weather is back! Today I wore a dress and leggings and a cardigan and flip flops, and the cardigan was only so the fur coat wearing Spaniards wouldn't think I had completely gone off my rocker. But it's like 70 degrees today! Yahooo!!
Another update is that API had two basketball games through the CLM against other programs. The first was last Tuesday and we kicked butt, I discovered my friend King is a total baller, I had like 10 points and it was a lot of fun except for me nearly getting killed by the completely out of control person named Sam on the other team. But we won, so that was exciting! Then yesterday we had our next game (the intramural system is kind of set up like a tournament, play until you lose, and we unfortunately lost. The team was way better, we weren't playing together like the week before, King was off, I turned the ball over every time I touched it, etc. Not so good. It was a bummer though because the next game would have been next week and my mom would have gotten to see it! That's alright though we still have volleyball beginning in April.
On a much more serious note, my roommates and I have had a very interesting past week. We found out on Saturday that Ana's mom has breast cancer (we knew something was up because she always came to Granada to visit the doctor but we didn't know for sure) and she had an operation yesterday. I don't feel weird writing about this because it's been really emotional and it's a huge part of my life right now. In the operation they learned that there was more cancer than they thought, so she'll be in the hospital for another week and they're waiting to see if the glands surrounding the tumor are cancerous. Ana has obviously had a really hard time with all of this and I'm just trying to do my best to be here for her. Her family has been in and out, and her dog Tim is staying with us right now, which has been frustrating for me because whenever everyone is gone (all the time because they're at the hospital) he barks and barks and barks and cries and it's just so terribly annoying because I can't get him to stop. I have been taking him out when he needs it, I figure it's the least I can do for Ana during this tough time. But everyone, keep Ana's mom Simona in your hearts and thoughts! :) She's a wonderful woman and I know she can fight through this.
Among all the chaos and the good things as well, Mom is coming on Saturday. The timing isn't very good what with the complications of Simona's health, but I still can't wait for her to get here. I miss her so much and it is so unreal that she is actually going to be in this apartment in just a few days! On Saturday I'm taking the bus up to Madrid to meet her at the airport and to get 5 hrs of quality study time in. Oh yeah...school...well I officially have SIX essays to write this semester (IN SPANISH) not to mention midterms and finals and travel travel traveling! It's overwhelming but wonderful. This has been an interesting week but I just need to keep my chin up because there is always something positive. Always. :) Life happens, there's no avoiding it, and there's no reason to want to avoid it. I'm not a religious person, but I think things happen for a reason, and there truly is good in everything.
This past weekend was a busy one! Thursday night I went out with my roommate Jess (also from Washington, not sure if I've mentioned that before-she's from the Federal Way/Tacoma area) and her friend Mischa, who's from the Czech Republic. We went to Hannigan's Irish Pub for karaoke, which I've done once before and I think through both times, I have decided that karaoke is somewhat lame and annoying. Especially when people get up and sing like they're actually trying..who does that? So after waiting an eternity with the same Spanish guy going up like 20 times and belting his tunes, Jess, Mischa and I went up and sang, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. Let's just say I don't think I'll be doing karaoke again. I think the negatives of being embarrassed, everyone looking at you strangely, not knowing all the words and feeling awkward are not worth the satisfaction of belting out a classic 70's song. I can do that on my own, anytime I want. When we finally left Hannigan's it was pouring down rain, and I had no umbrella, raincoat, or suitable shoes, so naturally I got soaked. I am beginning to truly hate rain. I live in Bellingham, I have never hated rain! It just absolutely does not work here in Granada. We darted into a club that I'd never been to before to escape the rain. It was called Havana Club, and immediately when I went in I noticed 2 things: I loved the music & the look of the club, and I was surrounded by middle aged men. I would say the youngest people besides us were 28-29, and there were maybe 4 other girls in the place. Surprisingly I ran into our favorite waiter Mauricio from Café Fútbol, but I kept it short and sweet and just said hello as I didn't want my fave waiter to get creepy, as they sometimes do in places like this. After 15 minutes I was totally uncomfortable and ready to leave, it's a shame that the clubs that have good music have to be filled with creepsters so that I can't go and enjoy myself.
Friday was dedicated to cleaning the apartment as it was the day of mine and Ana's birthday fiesta. Around 7 I ran up to Plaza Nueva and met up with Annie Thordarson, who I went to high school with and she was visiting with her program from Seville. It was so good to see somebody from home! Annie and I aren't even really that good of friends but she is super nice and we share a lot of the same friends in Arlington so that was really cool to see her. I took her and some of her friends to tapas at Feng Shui (CLARO!) and we just had a good time chatting and I liked hearing about their program/studying in Seville.
When I got home, Jess and I grabbed shawarma for dinner, and it was the most delicious shawarma I have ever had in my life! So crazy, because usually you don't want to be eating that stuff unless you're intoxicated enough to forget what it consists of. Then Sam came over and we all finished up getting ready for the party. Sam swept and mopped the piso for us--how convenient! :) I blew up balloons and set them up around the house, and then we all got ready in time for people to show up. Jess let me borrow one of her dresses and I got lots of compliments, plus I was totally comfy! I won't waste much time on the party--It was much like the Fiesta de Navidad the girls had here in December, except I knew way less people. It was a lot of fun meeting people though, including some of Ana's Spanish friends that I haven't met before. Mischa was so sweet and brought Ana and I bracelets for our birthdays! Her other gift to us was some sort of hard alcohol from the Czech Republic...that stuff was crazy! Yikes! haha. Again, the piso was totally crowded but it was a ton of fun. Afterwards I went to Vogue (a dance club near my apartment) with King, Allison, and Brian, and that was when I lost 20 euros...way to go MacKenzie! awesome....not. Dancing was fun but eventually we left and King and I grabbed some shawarma to top off the night. Yes that's right....2 shawarmas in one night. What is the world coming to!? haha
Saturday was pretty unproductive with the exception of a tapas date with Leah and her friend Katilin, Emily, Allison and I. We found a tapa place that has hot dogs! Epic...and of course went to POE because it's just delicious (thai chicken!) and then finished off at Feng Shui. That night I tried to get to bed early but could not fall asleep which was a shame because I needed sleep to be ready for SNOWBOARDING! Which is what we did on Sunday!
My experiences in Europe snowboarding have been so different than going to Mt. Baker at home. But that's ok because the point is that I'm here so it probably should be different! I woke up at 6:30 and Jess and I got ready to go, and Allison met us at our piso just after 7. I was a little antsy about making it to the bus station on time, but sure enough we did! It was the set up for an interesting day-Allison has been snowboarding for awhile, I am just fine at snowboarding but nothing special, and Jess was planning on trying out skiing with her friend Alejandro who works up at the Sierra Nevada. We got up there and waited for him, then bought our lift tickets which he got us on discount for 35 euros. We found a shop to rent snow pants for Jess and gloves for Allison. Then the adventure began with finding equipment. At this point it was already 10 am, and we waited for nearly an hour only to find that there were no snowboards left at that rental shop. 11 am. We go to a different rental shop and quickly get outfitted in snowboards (Jess ended up snowboarding because her friend had to actually work that day) and by 11:30 we were hitting the chairlift. Not as early as we had hoped, but finally we were taking to the snow. It was going to be a different sort of day for me because this was only Jess' second time snowboarding! And the teacher in me came out because I wasn't just going to leave Jess! After all if I was in her position, especially on a strange mountain in Spain I wouldn't want to be left. I didn't really know how to teach how someone how to snowboard but I guess I know what I'm doing because Jess couldn't really do anything at first but at the end of the day she was totally doing toe-side and heel-side turns and linking them and sometimes taking big spills but the majority of the time just taking her time and doing awesome! I was so proud of her! And proud of myself too because I doubted my abilities to help her out. But I just tried to stay really patient and teach her everything that I know. I love teaching! It's a good thing that I'm pretty sure that's the direction I'm headed in life. And maybe someday if I improve immensely I can be a snowboarding instructor! Anyways as far as weather goes the day was alright, there were periods of straight sunshine but by the end of the today the mountain was totally foggy and it was kind of stressful snowboarding. I didn't have my typical sort of snowboarding day because I was mostly with Jess the whole time, but I did get a few quick runs in. New experiences, that's what it's all about.
My friends have I have been becoming big fans of Asian food here in Granada. Little did I know, the Oriental cuisine goes so far beyond Feng Shui and I had no idea! I really am going to miss Granada's cheap meals and tapas when I leave this place. Yesterday Emily, Alyssa, Allison and I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant and the night before we had tapas at a sushi place! Delish! :) Oh and in other news the beautiful weather is back! Today I wore a dress and leggings and a cardigan and flip flops, and the cardigan was only so the fur coat wearing Spaniards wouldn't think I had completely gone off my rocker. But it's like 70 degrees today! Yahooo!!
Another update is that API had two basketball games through the CLM against other programs. The first was last Tuesday and we kicked butt, I discovered my friend King is a total baller, I had like 10 points and it was a lot of fun except for me nearly getting killed by the completely out of control person named Sam on the other team. But we won, so that was exciting! Then yesterday we had our next game (the intramural system is kind of set up like a tournament, play until you lose, and we unfortunately lost. The team was way better, we weren't playing together like the week before, King was off, I turned the ball over every time I touched it, etc. Not so good. It was a bummer though because the next game would have been next week and my mom would have gotten to see it! That's alright though we still have volleyball beginning in April.
On a much more serious note, my roommates and I have had a very interesting past week. We found out on Saturday that Ana's mom has breast cancer (we knew something was up because she always came to Granada to visit the doctor but we didn't know for sure) and she had an operation yesterday. I don't feel weird writing about this because it's been really emotional and it's a huge part of my life right now. In the operation they learned that there was more cancer than they thought, so she'll be in the hospital for another week and they're waiting to see if the glands surrounding the tumor are cancerous. Ana has obviously had a really hard time with all of this and I'm just trying to do my best to be here for her. Her family has been in and out, and her dog Tim is staying with us right now, which has been frustrating for me because whenever everyone is gone (all the time because they're at the hospital) he barks and barks and barks and cries and it's just so terribly annoying because I can't get him to stop. I have been taking him out when he needs it, I figure it's the least I can do for Ana during this tough time. But everyone, keep Ana's mom Simona in your hearts and thoughts! :) She's a wonderful woman and I know she can fight through this.
Among all the chaos and the good things as well, Mom is coming on Saturday. The timing isn't very good what with the complications of Simona's health, but I still can't wait for her to get here. I miss her so much and it is so unreal that she is actually going to be in this apartment in just a few days! On Saturday I'm taking the bus up to Madrid to meet her at the airport and to get 5 hrs of quality study time in. Oh yeah...school...well I officially have SIX essays to write this semester (IN SPANISH) not to mention midterms and finals and travel travel traveling! It's overwhelming but wonderful. This has been an interesting week but I just need to keep my chin up because there is always something positive. Always. :) Life happens, there's no avoiding it, and there's no reason to want to avoid it. I'm not a religious person, but I think things happen for a reason, and there truly is good in everything.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Photo Blog
Oh! I nearly forgot! With the inspiration of Floe, I have started a photo blog, just through this same Blogspot website, to showcase my photography and look for input/advice/comments from anyone who is experienced or just anyone who is interested! All of the photos are on facebook from one time or another, but I just wanted to organize it so all of my favorite, quality photos are in one spot. There isn't any particular order, and I'm not done loading everything, but if you're bored and have extra time after reading my novel-esque blogs, feel free to check it out! Here's the Link:
http://photomack.blogspot.com/
http://photomack.blogspot.com/
people & talking.
I want to talk about people. And how much I love them. I have been finding so much joy in the littlest things lately. People & Spanish are concepts that go hand in hand and skyrocket my confidence and joy and curiosity and every other emotion. This may seem confusing. And it is, to me even. But the reality is, learning this language is opening up so many doors for me. And not doors like careers or resumes or grad school or all that bullshit. But doors to the lives of the people who live in Granada. It's like I have a secret code to find out who they are, and the more I know, the more I can explore and delve into the lives of the people who live here.
I am getting much more comfortable with my roommates. I have always liked them and enjoyed them, but now I can really just talk to them, and it's getting easier to talk to Jess in Spanish, even though our common tongue is that of Washington! The more Spanish I master, the better I get to know my roommate Ana, and she is going to be my friend for a very long time, I know it. Today though, we were just sitting in our sala (living room) chatting and laughing and I don't even have to think. I don't even have to think. That is what is so amazing about this process. I feel like in the last week or so I have had some sort of breakthrough, I know that I can communicate and when I realize that, just the confidence boost alone improves everything else.
Today I went to a salon type thing near our piso called Solarium and got a full leg/bikini wax (sorry if that's too much info), but hey we must pamper ourselves once in awhile. Anyways, for all of that it cost me 14 euros, which is equivalent to $19. Nineteen US Dollars!! A full leg and bikini wax at Gene Juarez in the US costs WELL over $100....unbelievable! I have found that the US is so CONSUMED with money. I can't even really explain it, but seriously-WHY should something cost so much? Anyways, this was not why I brought up my waxing experience, nor was it to make you uncomfortable. Back to talking about people, and Spanish. After the whole salon thing, I was just laughing and talking with the salon girls like I would in any situation in the US...and it is so silly how happy that made me, how invigorating it is to be able to be understood, to joke, to do things that are so normal for you in your native language but are so hard to be comfortable with when you're learning your second...it was lovely. :)
Life is so good. When I pass Cafe Bar Playa (where I used the internet last semester) I give a smile and a wave to Antonio and Pepe, the bartenders who know my name! On my way home from my last class I say hello to my Moroccan friends Morad and Josef who work at the shawarma place near my house. I am just so happy being a part of this city. One notable change from last semester is that I do not go out or drink as much as last time. This is both a good and bad thing. It is good because it is healthier, it saves money, I don't spend my days sleeping or my classes wanting to kill myself because I want to be sleeping. It is bad because I feel less social, haven't met as many people as last semester, I know when I get home I will will wish I had gone out more, etc etc. But honestly, I am enjoying a lot more just going out for tapas and chatting with my girlfriends than going to botellón or discotecas or drinking like a fish. And I think that's just fine! :)
Last Monday was a really nice turn of events, because one, the weather was BEAUTIFUL (it has since returned to it's dreary state, please don't be alarmed!) so Alyssa, Allison and I went on a hike for a few hours. I didn't know where we were going really and we just walked along the river until it turns into a dirt road, and leads out of Granada towards an outside pueblo. We crossed the freeway away from the river and started up some trails into the hills outside of Granada. It felt so amazing. I can't even express it. I live in Bellingham, I am not a city girl, there is nothing I love more than getting outside and roughing it a little (with access to a shower afterwards of course, I'm not that rough as we all know). It was so adventurous, just hopping through the mud and brush and climbing up hills that weren't so easy as I was holding on to roots and the dirt was crumbling beneath my feet! Don't worry, it wasn't dangerous, just a little more outdoor-sy than I'm used to, what with being in the city for so long. We finally reached the top of the mountain, and sat and ate crackers and hydrated ourselves, just chatting and looking out at the Sierra Nevada and the pueblo beneath us. It was so beautiful, quiet, and peaceful. It felt like we weren't even in Granada, like we were the only people in the world that day! Eventually though, we had to make our way back to the city, and to be honest, I can't wait for the next nice day to retreat into the campo again!
Classes are going alright. I absolutely love my Spanish Civilization and Culture class. My professor is so nice and funny and all the topics we cover are so interesting to me. We covered briefly the history of Spain including the Moorish rule, Franco's dictatorship, and now we are talking about gypsies! History is just so much more interesting to me when I can see remnants of it all around me, when I am living in the result. And I am really enjoying how a lot of things I learn in my classes are intertwining, relating, overlapping with one another. For example, the treatment of women in Spain comes up in a lot of my classes-in Civ & Culture, obviously in Images of Women in Spanish Literature, and also in Hispanic American Lit. I love it because it all connects for me and I feel like I'm actually learning something. That feminist lit class is getting a lot better, and now that I'm used to my professor's accent, it's a lot easier to get into and I am really enjoying analyzing the literature from this perspective because it's a complete new topic for me. My Hispanic American Lit class is pretty boring, all we do is read the works out loud in class and a lot of it is old Literature so it's difficult to understand, sort of like reading Shakespeare is difficult to read in English because the style of old English is different. Linguistics...ahhh what a class. I always feel anxious because we have to actively participate, but I guess that's good because if we didn't have to participate I would completely check out and have no clue what's going on. Back to Civ & Culture...one thing I think is amazing is that before coming to Spain, I knew nothing of their history. From the 30's until 1975 Spain was under a horrendous fascist dictatorship, and I had never heard any of this in the education that I've received in the US. I understand that we can't learn everything, but it frustrates me that the United States does not teach us about anything unless they were directly involved in it. Here, we learn that Franco is a name that goes RIGHT alongside and is associated with Hitler and Mussolini, but before coming to Spain, I had never even heard of this dude Franco. It's amazing to me. Hitler helped bring Franco to power, and Franco reigned a completely isolated, controlled Spain for 40 years or so, killing thousands of his own people. I know this is probably not exciting at all to you, but to me it is SO interesting, and appalling that I had no idea this happened until moving here. My POE class is funny and manageable, but it's frustrating because I won't receive credit towards my Spanish major for it so I have no motivation to do anything in that class. But overall it's just a bunch of laughs, and we learn important ways to communicate in Spanish and a lot of coloquial terms that the young people use, so I guess overall it's helpful.
In other news, I received my first phone bill of the semester, and was horrified to see that it was $179! I had no idea that using my phone in Switzerland would be so harmful, but my one week staying there and sending a few text messages/having a few short phone calls brought me down about $100. Soooo frustrating. That is one thing the US has on Europe, the dang phone system. Come on guys, doesn't unlimited texting/1000 minutes a month for like $40 sound nice? YES.
Two weeks ago we went to see the Spanish movie Nacidas para Sufrir, which was very strange, I don't like Spanish cinema all that much from what I've seen but it's good to go and practice the Spanish. Last week a few of us girls went to see Valentine's Day, which was a fun little outing, and the movie was nothing special but it was fun to see in Spanish. I don't think I would've thought it was worth seeing in theaters in the US, but in Spanish yes. Last Thursday we had an intercambio with API and it went really well. Allison and I talked for a little while with a woman in her thirties and a younger guy who studies engineering, and it was fine but overall there wasn't a lot of conversational chemistry and it was kind of boring. But then I met this guy Pablo and we spoke in Spanish the entire time which was really fun! Again, it's so exciting and makes me so happy to have experiences like that where you can just TALK to people.
Tonight we're going to Seville, I have to leave in like 45 minutes actually. We went last semester so I'm not going to visit the cathedral or Alcazares (kind of like the Alhambra here in Granada) and it's supposed to rain the entire weekend so that's a bummer. But it will be nice to shop and stay in the hotel and just walk around and stuff. Mom comes two weeks from tomorrow! I am very excited because last weekend I was slightly homesick missing Jordan's show (I watched the videos online though, if you haven't gone and you're within 2-3 hours driving distance from Arlington-you MUST go! It looks incredible) plus I am just really pumped for Mom to be in Spain! Excited to see her, excited for her to get the opportunity to travel, and PUMPED for our cruise during Semana Santa! Looking forward to everything. Also just booked tickets to Lisbon for April 30-May 3, and my friends still have to buy their tickets but they haven't done so yet. So....I'm definitely going...hopefully not alone! haha.
okie dokie I should go because this is getting long and I need to get ready to leave. I will write again sometime next week!
I am getting much more comfortable with my roommates. I have always liked them and enjoyed them, but now I can really just talk to them, and it's getting easier to talk to Jess in Spanish, even though our common tongue is that of Washington! The more Spanish I master, the better I get to know my roommate Ana, and she is going to be my friend for a very long time, I know it. Today though, we were just sitting in our sala (living room) chatting and laughing and I don't even have to think. I don't even have to think. That is what is so amazing about this process. I feel like in the last week or so I have had some sort of breakthrough, I know that I can communicate and when I realize that, just the confidence boost alone improves everything else.
Today I went to a salon type thing near our piso called Solarium and got a full leg/bikini wax (sorry if that's too much info), but hey we must pamper ourselves once in awhile. Anyways, for all of that it cost me 14 euros, which is equivalent to $19. Nineteen US Dollars!! A full leg and bikini wax at Gene Juarez in the US costs WELL over $100....unbelievable! I have found that the US is so CONSUMED with money. I can't even really explain it, but seriously-WHY should something cost so much? Anyways, this was not why I brought up my waxing experience, nor was it to make you uncomfortable. Back to talking about people, and Spanish. After the whole salon thing, I was just laughing and talking with the salon girls like I would in any situation in the US...and it is so silly how happy that made me, how invigorating it is to be able to be understood, to joke, to do things that are so normal for you in your native language but are so hard to be comfortable with when you're learning your second...it was lovely. :)
Life is so good. When I pass Cafe Bar Playa (where I used the internet last semester) I give a smile and a wave to Antonio and Pepe, the bartenders who know my name! On my way home from my last class I say hello to my Moroccan friends Morad and Josef who work at the shawarma place near my house. I am just so happy being a part of this city. One notable change from last semester is that I do not go out or drink as much as last time. This is both a good and bad thing. It is good because it is healthier, it saves money, I don't spend my days sleeping or my classes wanting to kill myself because I want to be sleeping. It is bad because I feel less social, haven't met as many people as last semester, I know when I get home I will will wish I had gone out more, etc etc. But honestly, I am enjoying a lot more just going out for tapas and chatting with my girlfriends than going to botellón or discotecas or drinking like a fish. And I think that's just fine! :)
Last Monday was a really nice turn of events, because one, the weather was BEAUTIFUL (it has since returned to it's dreary state, please don't be alarmed!) so Alyssa, Allison and I went on a hike for a few hours. I didn't know where we were going really and we just walked along the river until it turns into a dirt road, and leads out of Granada towards an outside pueblo. We crossed the freeway away from the river and started up some trails into the hills outside of Granada. It felt so amazing. I can't even express it. I live in Bellingham, I am not a city girl, there is nothing I love more than getting outside and roughing it a little (with access to a shower afterwards of course, I'm not that rough as we all know). It was so adventurous, just hopping through the mud and brush and climbing up hills that weren't so easy as I was holding on to roots and the dirt was crumbling beneath my feet! Don't worry, it wasn't dangerous, just a little more outdoor-sy than I'm used to, what with being in the city for so long. We finally reached the top of the mountain, and sat and ate crackers and hydrated ourselves, just chatting and looking out at the Sierra Nevada and the pueblo beneath us. It was so beautiful, quiet, and peaceful. It felt like we weren't even in Granada, like we were the only people in the world that day! Eventually though, we had to make our way back to the city, and to be honest, I can't wait for the next nice day to retreat into the campo again!
Classes are going alright. I absolutely love my Spanish Civilization and Culture class. My professor is so nice and funny and all the topics we cover are so interesting to me. We covered briefly the history of Spain including the Moorish rule, Franco's dictatorship, and now we are talking about gypsies! History is just so much more interesting to me when I can see remnants of it all around me, when I am living in the result. And I am really enjoying how a lot of things I learn in my classes are intertwining, relating, overlapping with one another. For example, the treatment of women in Spain comes up in a lot of my classes-in Civ & Culture, obviously in Images of Women in Spanish Literature, and also in Hispanic American Lit. I love it because it all connects for me and I feel like I'm actually learning something. That feminist lit class is getting a lot better, and now that I'm used to my professor's accent, it's a lot easier to get into and I am really enjoying analyzing the literature from this perspective because it's a complete new topic for me. My Hispanic American Lit class is pretty boring, all we do is read the works out loud in class and a lot of it is old Literature so it's difficult to understand, sort of like reading Shakespeare is difficult to read in English because the style of old English is different. Linguistics...ahhh what a class. I always feel anxious because we have to actively participate, but I guess that's good because if we didn't have to participate I would completely check out and have no clue what's going on. Back to Civ & Culture...one thing I think is amazing is that before coming to Spain, I knew nothing of their history. From the 30's until 1975 Spain was under a horrendous fascist dictatorship, and I had never heard any of this in the education that I've received in the US. I understand that we can't learn everything, but it frustrates me that the United States does not teach us about anything unless they were directly involved in it. Here, we learn that Franco is a name that goes RIGHT alongside and is associated with Hitler and Mussolini, but before coming to Spain, I had never even heard of this dude Franco. It's amazing to me. Hitler helped bring Franco to power, and Franco reigned a completely isolated, controlled Spain for 40 years or so, killing thousands of his own people. I know this is probably not exciting at all to you, but to me it is SO interesting, and appalling that I had no idea this happened until moving here. My POE class is funny and manageable, but it's frustrating because I won't receive credit towards my Spanish major for it so I have no motivation to do anything in that class. But overall it's just a bunch of laughs, and we learn important ways to communicate in Spanish and a lot of coloquial terms that the young people use, so I guess overall it's helpful.
In other news, I received my first phone bill of the semester, and was horrified to see that it was $179! I had no idea that using my phone in Switzerland would be so harmful, but my one week staying there and sending a few text messages/having a few short phone calls brought me down about $100. Soooo frustrating. That is one thing the US has on Europe, the dang phone system. Come on guys, doesn't unlimited texting/1000 minutes a month for like $40 sound nice? YES.
Two weeks ago we went to see the Spanish movie Nacidas para Sufrir, which was very strange, I don't like Spanish cinema all that much from what I've seen but it's good to go and practice the Spanish. Last week a few of us girls went to see Valentine's Day, which was a fun little outing, and the movie was nothing special but it was fun to see in Spanish. I don't think I would've thought it was worth seeing in theaters in the US, but in Spanish yes. Last Thursday we had an intercambio with API and it went really well. Allison and I talked for a little while with a woman in her thirties and a younger guy who studies engineering, and it was fine but overall there wasn't a lot of conversational chemistry and it was kind of boring. But then I met this guy Pablo and we spoke in Spanish the entire time which was really fun! Again, it's so exciting and makes me so happy to have experiences like that where you can just TALK to people.
Tonight we're going to Seville, I have to leave in like 45 minutes actually. We went last semester so I'm not going to visit the cathedral or Alcazares (kind of like the Alhambra here in Granada) and it's supposed to rain the entire weekend so that's a bummer. But it will be nice to shop and stay in the hotel and just walk around and stuff. Mom comes two weeks from tomorrow! I am very excited because last weekend I was slightly homesick missing Jordan's show (I watched the videos online though, if you haven't gone and you're within 2-3 hours driving distance from Arlington-you MUST go! It looks incredible) plus I am just really pumped for Mom to be in Spain! Excited to see her, excited for her to get the opportunity to travel, and PUMPED for our cruise during Semana Santa! Looking forward to everything. Also just booked tickets to Lisbon for April 30-May 3, and my friends still have to buy their tickets but they haven't done so yet. So....I'm definitely going...hopefully not alone! haha.
okie dokie I should go because this is getting long and I need to get ready to leave. I will write again sometime next week!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
updates
Well I have a few stories to tell...and a bit of time to tell them, so here we go!
Carnaval is a celebration that occurs immediately before Lent, with two weeks of celebrating! The most famous in the world is in Rio de Janeiro, and the most famous in Spain is Cadiz. So when we heard about a 22 euro round trip bus ride to Cadiz, we were hooked. I crafted my Greek goddess toga costume out of Jess' costume from Halloween, Allison dressed up as a flapper, Emily as farm girl with my American Eagle plaid shirt, and Tina as "stripes" (just dressed all in stripes!) and we were off. The bus ride to Cadiz was boring but manageable, and when we got there the streets were alive! Kids everywhere, adults everywhere, alcohol everywhere, but most of all COSTUMES! Music filled the air along with the screaming and laughter of everyone around, and although the wind was brisk and the sky overcast, it seemed to be the beginning of quite the night! (And oh how it was...more on this to come) One thing I noticed was that it seemed the majority of people were dressed up in groups, either all identical or had costumes in some way relating to each other. There were groups of chickens, babies, American football players, gladiators, etc. I loved seeing all the costumes, but they did make me feel very non-creative. But Emily said that the Spaniards take this costume thing very seriously, and put a lot of time/money/effort into their Carnaval get-up. I didn't put any of those things into my costume so I guess that's ok then! We spent a short amount of time by the water, but it was extremely cold over there so we hung out mostly by the cathedral and were just talking to people. Meeting Spaniards, meeting more API people, it was really fun to just chat, especially in Spanish! I love that I'm at the point where I can completely have a conversation with someone, now I just need to start creating more opportunities for using Spanish. I would say that right now, 70% of my life is in Spanish. and that is when Ana hasn't been home (her & Jess are in Paris for over a week). I want to make it so about 90% of my interactions this semester are in Spanish! What a goal....Oh, anyways, back to Carnaval. So it was pretty dang fun, and around midnight, it started to rain. No big deal, I brought out my rain jacket and my fleece underneath to stay warm, we pulled out some umbrellas, no pasa nada, right? WRONG. so....very....WRONG! The rain got increasingly worse over the next half hour so we decided to try to find some sort of cover...So for an hour or so we were crammed in with hundreds of Spaniards who were blowing whistles, screaming, just completely drunk and pushing us all over the place. This is only the beginning of the misery. Honestly, I would love to elaborate with every hour of the night, but it was so awful I don't really want to recall the entire thing, and I can safely write that we were STANDING for six hours waiting for the rain to stop, which it never did. The bus wasn't going to be unlocked until 6 am, so it was a tortuous wait, and at first we tried to be positive and chatty and play games, but that lasted maybe 45 minutes. And after that it was all about taking my mind elsewhere, trying to forget about how my feet were wet, the wind was blowing, I was freezing and unhappy and REALLY wishing I hadn't dished out 22 euro for this clearly NOT FUN evening. It was so hard to not be outwardly negative so I kind of did the turtle thing and retreated into my shell for the entire evening so as not to bitch at any of my friends unintentionally. But I think they understood, because we were all in the same boat.
Finally Sam called me and yelled over the people with him and all the crazy Spaniards with me, "COME! THE BUS IS UNLOCKED!" And from there it was go time. Emily, Tina, and I just started to book it to the bus which was located about 15 minutes away from where we'd been standing. The rain had picked up and the streets were mostly flooded. My polka dotted Vans were filled with water, my toga was drenched and nearly falling off, my North Face was completely soaked but thank god it protected my fleece and tank top underneath. It was a mad rush to get to the warmth of the bus, and on the way in the lakes of water on the road we saw abandoned umbrellas, shoes, costumes, garbage, CHAOS. I felt like we were in the movie The Day After Tomorrow or something, it felt, sounded, and looked like we were in a small scale hurricane. Finally we reached the bus, and everyone was half naked, trying to get as far away from their drenched clothes as possible. Thank the Lord, I had a pair of jeans and a tshirt that I had worn on the way to Cadiz before changing into my toga, otherwise I would've been a disaster, I don't know what I would've done, sat naked? sat completely freezing and soaked for the 5 hour bus ride? Who knows. Once the bus started going I was drifting in and out of sleep, but it was really uncomfortable because I was trying to keep my feet off the soaking wet floor of the bus. When we got back to Granada it was fairly sunny and I wished more than anything I had never left. I got home, and my violently growling stomach induced me to make a huge bowl of pasta and crash for the next 7 hours. So my sleep patterns this week have been a little off, what with Carnaval and yesterday, my birthday!
We started with the negative, now we'll go with the positive! After class yesterday Allison, Tina, Emily, Emma, Sam and I went to Chile Grande (the same restaurant where we ate Thanksgiving dinner last semester) for my Mexican dinner! I of course ordered chicken fajitas and Allison oh so sweetly paid for me as my birthday present! Tina bought me a BOTTLE of rum, which I am going to share with my friends the next time we have a gathering. She also made me a cupcake, but since cupcakes don't exist in Spain, it was made out of clay from the Chino store! Aaahhh it was so funny and crafty and sweet! I loved it. Allison and I had ice cream on the way home, and since Sam didn't want to go home he just came to my apartment and we hung out for a while waiting for everyone to come over. But...surprise surprise, Ana's mom and aunt showed up at the apartment at almost 11 pm, announcing they were staying the night. This was so awkward, and so confusing, and kind of frustrating because it was my birthday and I wanted to have a few of my friends over before going out dancing. But, it's their apartment, so what could I do? I got changed and then we headed to the Chupiteria & Bar Marisma (two of my favorite places in Granada), and then eventually went to Mae West for dancing. I loved that club! It was super fun, the music was really good, there weren't any Americans there really, the only disadvantage was it was absolutely PACKED. We left at like 4 am and I skipped my morning class today. It was such a good birthday!!
Speaking of my morning class, it's Spanish Civ & Culture and I love it! I'm trying really hard to get into my literature classes, they're just designed so differently from my lit classes at home. I think POE is a stupid waste of time but it's easy so whatever, and Linguistics is the bane of my existence, but I'm trying really hard to focus in the class so that I can be more enthusiastic about it. On the positive side, I feel like this is the first time since taking like, math, that I've had to use that part of my brain and learn concepts like that! Haha.
Tonight we're going to see Valentine's Day, which in Spanish is called Historías del día San Valentín, and tomorrow I have an intercambio with API, hope I meet some more Spaniards! Mom comes in 3.5 weeks and I couldn't be more excited! It's going to be such a blast. And I'm pretty close to booking a trip to Portugal for the end of April. I want to get my hair cut and highlighted (first time ever!), because it's cheaper here and Ana has a place in her pueblo she says is good. Which also means at some point I'll be going to Ana's pueblo which should be fun! Exciting things to come! I feel like this weekend I will be emotionally torn a little because I will be missing home like crazy. Jordan's show is this weekend and I'm soooooo sad that I'm missing it. He's such a talented singer and I love watching him sing! I am just thankful it's not his senior year and I'll be home to watch him finish out jazz choir next year. But my friends from Western are going, so he'll have a support system! It's still going to be hard though.
OK I need to go eat something and head to my Hispanic American Literature class, miss everyone!!
Besos,
MacKenzie
Carnaval is a celebration that occurs immediately before Lent, with two weeks of celebrating! The most famous in the world is in Rio de Janeiro, and the most famous in Spain is Cadiz. So when we heard about a 22 euro round trip bus ride to Cadiz, we were hooked. I crafted my Greek goddess toga costume out of Jess' costume from Halloween, Allison dressed up as a flapper, Emily as farm girl with my American Eagle plaid shirt, and Tina as "stripes" (just dressed all in stripes!) and we were off. The bus ride to Cadiz was boring but manageable, and when we got there the streets were alive! Kids everywhere, adults everywhere, alcohol everywhere, but most of all COSTUMES! Music filled the air along with the screaming and laughter of everyone around, and although the wind was brisk and the sky overcast, it seemed to be the beginning of quite the night! (And oh how it was...more on this to come) One thing I noticed was that it seemed the majority of people were dressed up in groups, either all identical or had costumes in some way relating to each other. There were groups of chickens, babies, American football players, gladiators, etc. I loved seeing all the costumes, but they did make me feel very non-creative. But Emily said that the Spaniards take this costume thing very seriously, and put a lot of time/money/effort into their Carnaval get-up. I didn't put any of those things into my costume so I guess that's ok then! We spent a short amount of time by the water, but it was extremely cold over there so we hung out mostly by the cathedral and were just talking to people. Meeting Spaniards, meeting more API people, it was really fun to just chat, especially in Spanish! I love that I'm at the point where I can completely have a conversation with someone, now I just need to start creating more opportunities for using Spanish. I would say that right now, 70% of my life is in Spanish. and that is when Ana hasn't been home (her & Jess are in Paris for over a week). I want to make it so about 90% of my interactions this semester are in Spanish! What a goal....Oh, anyways, back to Carnaval. So it was pretty dang fun, and around midnight, it started to rain. No big deal, I brought out my rain jacket and my fleece underneath to stay warm, we pulled out some umbrellas, no pasa nada, right? WRONG. so....very....WRONG! The rain got increasingly worse over the next half hour so we decided to try to find some sort of cover...So for an hour or so we were crammed in with hundreds of Spaniards who were blowing whistles, screaming, just completely drunk and pushing us all over the place. This is only the beginning of the misery. Honestly, I would love to elaborate with every hour of the night, but it was so awful I don't really want to recall the entire thing, and I can safely write that we were STANDING for six hours waiting for the rain to stop, which it never did. The bus wasn't going to be unlocked until 6 am, so it was a tortuous wait, and at first we tried to be positive and chatty and play games, but that lasted maybe 45 minutes. And after that it was all about taking my mind elsewhere, trying to forget about how my feet were wet, the wind was blowing, I was freezing and unhappy and REALLY wishing I hadn't dished out 22 euro for this clearly NOT FUN evening. It was so hard to not be outwardly negative so I kind of did the turtle thing and retreated into my shell for the entire evening so as not to bitch at any of my friends unintentionally. But I think they understood, because we were all in the same boat.
Finally Sam called me and yelled over the people with him and all the crazy Spaniards with me, "COME! THE BUS IS UNLOCKED!" And from there it was go time. Emily, Tina, and I just started to book it to the bus which was located about 15 minutes away from where we'd been standing. The rain had picked up and the streets were mostly flooded. My polka dotted Vans were filled with water, my toga was drenched and nearly falling off, my North Face was completely soaked but thank god it protected my fleece and tank top underneath. It was a mad rush to get to the warmth of the bus, and on the way in the lakes of water on the road we saw abandoned umbrellas, shoes, costumes, garbage, CHAOS. I felt like we were in the movie The Day After Tomorrow or something, it felt, sounded, and looked like we were in a small scale hurricane. Finally we reached the bus, and everyone was half naked, trying to get as far away from their drenched clothes as possible. Thank the Lord, I had a pair of jeans and a tshirt that I had worn on the way to Cadiz before changing into my toga, otherwise I would've been a disaster, I don't know what I would've done, sat naked? sat completely freezing and soaked for the 5 hour bus ride? Who knows. Once the bus started going I was drifting in and out of sleep, but it was really uncomfortable because I was trying to keep my feet off the soaking wet floor of the bus. When we got back to Granada it was fairly sunny and I wished more than anything I had never left. I got home, and my violently growling stomach induced me to make a huge bowl of pasta and crash for the next 7 hours. So my sleep patterns this week have been a little off, what with Carnaval and yesterday, my birthday!
We started with the negative, now we'll go with the positive! After class yesterday Allison, Tina, Emily, Emma, Sam and I went to Chile Grande (the same restaurant where we ate Thanksgiving dinner last semester) for my Mexican dinner! I of course ordered chicken fajitas and Allison oh so sweetly paid for me as my birthday present! Tina bought me a BOTTLE of rum, which I am going to share with my friends the next time we have a gathering. She also made me a cupcake, but since cupcakes don't exist in Spain, it was made out of clay from the Chino store! Aaahhh it was so funny and crafty and sweet! I loved it. Allison and I had ice cream on the way home, and since Sam didn't want to go home he just came to my apartment and we hung out for a while waiting for everyone to come over. But...surprise surprise, Ana's mom and aunt showed up at the apartment at almost 11 pm, announcing they were staying the night. This was so awkward, and so confusing, and kind of frustrating because it was my birthday and I wanted to have a few of my friends over before going out dancing. But, it's their apartment, so what could I do? I got changed and then we headed to the Chupiteria & Bar Marisma (two of my favorite places in Granada), and then eventually went to Mae West for dancing. I loved that club! It was super fun, the music was really good, there weren't any Americans there really, the only disadvantage was it was absolutely PACKED. We left at like 4 am and I skipped my morning class today. It was such a good birthday!!
Speaking of my morning class, it's Spanish Civ & Culture and I love it! I'm trying really hard to get into my literature classes, they're just designed so differently from my lit classes at home. I think POE is a stupid waste of time but it's easy so whatever, and Linguistics is the bane of my existence, but I'm trying really hard to focus in the class so that I can be more enthusiastic about it. On the positive side, I feel like this is the first time since taking like, math, that I've had to use that part of my brain and learn concepts like that! Haha.
Tonight we're going to see Valentine's Day, which in Spanish is called Historías del día San Valentín, and tomorrow I have an intercambio with API, hope I meet some more Spaniards! Mom comes in 3.5 weeks and I couldn't be more excited! It's going to be such a blast. And I'm pretty close to booking a trip to Portugal for the end of April. I want to get my hair cut and highlighted (first time ever!), because it's cheaper here and Ana has a place in her pueblo she says is good. Which also means at some point I'll be going to Ana's pueblo which should be fun! Exciting things to come! I feel like this weekend I will be emotionally torn a little because I will be missing home like crazy. Jordan's show is this weekend and I'm soooooo sad that I'm missing it. He's such a talented singer and I love watching him sing! I am just thankful it's not his senior year and I'll be home to watch him finish out jazz choir next year. But my friends from Western are going, so he'll have a support system! It's still going to be hard though.
OK I need to go eat something and head to my Hispanic American Literature class, miss everyone!!
Besos,
MacKenzie
Monday, February 15, 2010
Roma, no podré olvidarte!
In case anyone is wondering, the title means, "Rome, I won't be able to forget you!" And that's the truth. I must say that cities like Rome and Paris will constantly have me coming back, begging for more. I haven't felt that way with other cities like Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague, even Budapest. But with Rome and Paris, there's always something else to see. Which is why I will always be back.
I wasn't super excited about jetting off to Rome after only being in Granada for three full days. But hey, I paid for it, and a stay in a 4 star hotel, and what kind of selfish brat would I be not to go and appreciate it for what it was? And so, at 5 am on Thursday morning I was promptly meeting other API students at the bus stop to head to Malaga for our flight to Italia.
We arrived in Rome to overcast weather on Thursday, but it wasn't raining, so I was thankful. (I slowly met new API students throughout the weekend, which was good, but it's proving to be difficult to remember everyone! There are so many of them!) Allison, Sam, King (new person-awesome!) and I went to our first Italian meal at a restaurant called Pastarita near the hotel. I had some pizza and it did not fail to satisfy me--delicious! Then Allison and I relaxed and napped a little at the hotel. After showering we decided to walk over to Vatican City which wasn't more than a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel. We entered the "city" at dusk just as Mass was going on, and I must say it couldn't have been a more beautiful sight. People were gathered in the center of the plaza, in front of Saint Peter's Basilica that loomed above them, and each person held a candle in a red candle holder, giving the illusion of thousands of red tinted flames among the crowd. A choir sang hymns, and every so often the crowd would utter their prayers in complete unison, echoing throughout the giant courtyard. Allison knew the prayers they were speaking even though I think they were in Italian! Or Latin maybe. She was raised Catholic so she knew them just from the flow of the words. Darkness continued to envelop the Mass, and as we walked further away from Vatican City we could still hear the prayers, songs, and see the faint lights. It was really a calm, beautiful experience.
We wandered over to the river, and as we were walking, the shrieking sound of firecrackers hit our ears. So we ran over to the river for a better view, and for 15 minutes fireworks sailed over atop the Basilica and the river. "What a nice welcome to Rome?" I couldn't help thinking to myself. Sometimes when I'm here in Europe I just can't believe I'm actually partaking in the things that I'm doing. As we were walking, we were just thinking, oh, you know, no big deal, just walking along the Tiber river in Rome, underneath fireworks being shot off from the Vatican, on a Thursday night. Cool! :) I have these moments from time to time. I had a hunch that a collection of blue lighted arches on the other side of the river signified Gelato. So we crossed, following our stomachs, and sure enough, we happened across our first Italian Gelatería! I had chocolate (like always) and we walked back to the hotel completely satisfied with our delicious treat.
Thursday night Allison, Sam, King and I, along with a few other API people that I am not totally sure of their names, partook in a pub crawl. This was really fun because I haven't ever done a pub crawl before, and I've heard they can be rip-offs but this one seemed well worth the price. It began at the Colosseum, and from there a huge group of people headed off to this restaurant, where we received awesome t-shirts, had an hour long open bar, and got pizza included in the price. From there the entire group-I'm guessing over 50 people headed to another pub by bus, and then again to another. I spent most of my time at the second pub dancing with fellow API students, some Italian boys, and just having a really fun time! The pub crawl was really fun because I met Brits, Italians, Swedes, Spaniards, Americans--it was a blast!
Friday we awoke to a most curious sight-SNOW! Apparently we were fortunate enough to be in Rome during it's first snow in something like 30 years. So, while I was quite cold, and my feet were very wet, it was still a cool and very memorable experience that morning. We went on a bus tour of Rome, which I was quite sleepy during and kept nodding off in the warm bus, only to be rudely interrupted by random walks outside in the slush rain snow. Allison and I ditched the tour a little early because it was just extremely cold and wet and we were borderline miserable. So we hopped into a café and downed some hot chocolate, which is really more like melted chocolate than hot cocoa, and then headed back to the hotel. I had some quality bonding time with Allison, which was nice! We have a similar budget for our travels, and we'd both already been to Rome so we weren't interested in the touristy stuff so much. We started watching the Olympics! And took a nap in our lovely hotel room. Man, I miss that bed and those towels! haha. We were living the high life. Friday night after dinner we walked up to the Spanish Steps, had a nice little romantic time up there, ha! And then we took an early night in due to Thursday's late night out, and we were like a little married couple reading our books in bed in the hotel listening and half watching to BBC. Precious!
Saturday, our final day in Roma, was shockingly beautiful! Not a cloud in the sky, we could hardly believe we were in the same city as the day before where it had been snowing! Allison and I ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel and then set out on a leisurely stroll towards the Colosseum. We walked by the river the entire way, as it was a nice walk and a good alternative to getting completely lost in the streets as we headed to the Roman Forum. It was toasty warm to us Washingtonians, so we just walked around in our t-shirts. Yes it was probably like 55 degrees, but compared to the snow on Friday, it seemed like summer! We got many stares though from fur-coated Italianos. Don't be hatin! :) Seeing the ruins in Rome was cool as ever, I always imagine who walked around there thousands of years ago! We finished off our day with some shopping at H&M, I bought a new coat! and then spent the afternoon napping like usual. I know it sounds lame, and lazy, but I've been sick for two weeks, and after walking for four hours one is quite tired! We finished off our trip to Rome by meeting up with Tina, Emily, and Alyssa, some of the other "Year" girls. We grabbed our last gelati for the weekend and took another spin by the Spanish Steps.
And that was basically Roma! =) It was a blast, I loved every minute of it, from the naps to the walks to the buffet breakfast at the hotel, to the pub crawl. It was an amazing time.
And I am out of my funk that possessed me before leaving for Rome. Now I'm back in action, communicating a lot more clearly in Spanish, and ready to plan some trips! I just purchased reservations for the a Mediterranean Cruise for when my mom comes to visit me! It will go to begins in Barcelona and goes to Spain, France, Italy, and Africa!! It's going to be a blast, I can't wait for her to get here, and it's right around the corner. This weekend I'm going to Cadiz for Carnival, and I think Ana has come up with a good, warm idea for me to dress up as a kitty cat! :) Still trying to fit in trips to Portugal, Galicia, and Morocco, but we'll see how the rest of the semester treats me, both money/time wise. My 20th birthday is a week from tomorrow, and I'm excited to celebrate but bummed because Ana and Jess will be in Paris! But a whole week alone in the apartment will allow me to adjust and start a cooking routine for the rest of the semester. Life is lovely, I am very happy and settling in quite nicely at this point. I will go to the gym tomorrow for the first time, exciting! And my only wish is that the weather would improve a bit, so I wasn't so cold all the time! That's about it though. Anyways. Oh-Olympics--go US!! I hope I can catch a few events at a bar or something while I'm here! Love & miss everyone, hope to set up some skype dates in the near future!
Besos, MacKenzie
I wasn't super excited about jetting off to Rome after only being in Granada for three full days. But hey, I paid for it, and a stay in a 4 star hotel, and what kind of selfish brat would I be not to go and appreciate it for what it was? And so, at 5 am on Thursday morning I was promptly meeting other API students at the bus stop to head to Malaga for our flight to Italia.
We arrived in Rome to overcast weather on Thursday, but it wasn't raining, so I was thankful. (I slowly met new API students throughout the weekend, which was good, but it's proving to be difficult to remember everyone! There are so many of them!) Allison, Sam, King (new person-awesome!) and I went to our first Italian meal at a restaurant called Pastarita near the hotel. I had some pizza and it did not fail to satisfy me--delicious! Then Allison and I relaxed and napped a little at the hotel. After showering we decided to walk over to Vatican City which wasn't more than a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel. We entered the "city" at dusk just as Mass was going on, and I must say it couldn't have been a more beautiful sight. People were gathered in the center of the plaza, in front of Saint Peter's Basilica that loomed above them, and each person held a candle in a red candle holder, giving the illusion of thousands of red tinted flames among the crowd. A choir sang hymns, and every so often the crowd would utter their prayers in complete unison, echoing throughout the giant courtyard. Allison knew the prayers they were speaking even though I think they were in Italian! Or Latin maybe. She was raised Catholic so she knew them just from the flow of the words. Darkness continued to envelop the Mass, and as we walked further away from Vatican City we could still hear the prayers, songs, and see the faint lights. It was really a calm, beautiful experience.
We wandered over to the river, and as we were walking, the shrieking sound of firecrackers hit our ears. So we ran over to the river for a better view, and for 15 minutes fireworks sailed over atop the Basilica and the river. "What a nice welcome to Rome?" I couldn't help thinking to myself. Sometimes when I'm here in Europe I just can't believe I'm actually partaking in the things that I'm doing. As we were walking, we were just thinking, oh, you know, no big deal, just walking along the Tiber river in Rome, underneath fireworks being shot off from the Vatican, on a Thursday night. Cool! :) I have these moments from time to time. I had a hunch that a collection of blue lighted arches on the other side of the river signified Gelato. So we crossed, following our stomachs, and sure enough, we happened across our first Italian Gelatería! I had chocolate (like always) and we walked back to the hotel completely satisfied with our delicious treat.
Thursday night Allison, Sam, King and I, along with a few other API people that I am not totally sure of their names, partook in a pub crawl. This was really fun because I haven't ever done a pub crawl before, and I've heard they can be rip-offs but this one seemed well worth the price. It began at the Colosseum, and from there a huge group of people headed off to this restaurant, where we received awesome t-shirts, had an hour long open bar, and got pizza included in the price. From there the entire group-I'm guessing over 50 people headed to another pub by bus, and then again to another. I spent most of my time at the second pub dancing with fellow API students, some Italian boys, and just having a really fun time! The pub crawl was really fun because I met Brits, Italians, Swedes, Spaniards, Americans--it was a blast!
Friday we awoke to a most curious sight-SNOW! Apparently we were fortunate enough to be in Rome during it's first snow in something like 30 years. So, while I was quite cold, and my feet were very wet, it was still a cool and very memorable experience that morning. We went on a bus tour of Rome, which I was quite sleepy during and kept nodding off in the warm bus, only to be rudely interrupted by random walks outside in the slush rain snow. Allison and I ditched the tour a little early because it was just extremely cold and wet and we were borderline miserable. So we hopped into a café and downed some hot chocolate, which is really more like melted chocolate than hot cocoa, and then headed back to the hotel. I had some quality bonding time with Allison, which was nice! We have a similar budget for our travels, and we'd both already been to Rome so we weren't interested in the touristy stuff so much. We started watching the Olympics! And took a nap in our lovely hotel room. Man, I miss that bed and those towels! haha. We were living the high life. Friday night after dinner we walked up to the Spanish Steps, had a nice little romantic time up there, ha! And then we took an early night in due to Thursday's late night out, and we were like a little married couple reading our books in bed in the hotel listening and half watching to BBC. Precious!
Saturday, our final day in Roma, was shockingly beautiful! Not a cloud in the sky, we could hardly believe we were in the same city as the day before where it had been snowing! Allison and I ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel and then set out on a leisurely stroll towards the Colosseum. We walked by the river the entire way, as it was a nice walk and a good alternative to getting completely lost in the streets as we headed to the Roman Forum. It was toasty warm to us Washingtonians, so we just walked around in our t-shirts. Yes it was probably like 55 degrees, but compared to the snow on Friday, it seemed like summer! We got many stares though from fur-coated Italianos. Don't be hatin! :) Seeing the ruins in Rome was cool as ever, I always imagine who walked around there thousands of years ago! We finished off our day with some shopping at H&M, I bought a new coat! and then spent the afternoon napping like usual. I know it sounds lame, and lazy, but I've been sick for two weeks, and after walking for four hours one is quite tired! We finished off our trip to Rome by meeting up with Tina, Emily, and Alyssa, some of the other "Year" girls. We grabbed our last gelati for the weekend and took another spin by the Spanish Steps.
And that was basically Roma! =) It was a blast, I loved every minute of it, from the naps to the walks to the buffet breakfast at the hotel, to the pub crawl. It was an amazing time.
And I am out of my funk that possessed me before leaving for Rome. Now I'm back in action, communicating a lot more clearly in Spanish, and ready to plan some trips! I just purchased reservations for the a Mediterranean Cruise for when my mom comes to visit me! It will go to begins in Barcelona and goes to Spain, France, Italy, and Africa!! It's going to be a blast, I can't wait for her to get here, and it's right around the corner. This weekend I'm going to Cadiz for Carnival, and I think Ana has come up with a good, warm idea for me to dress up as a kitty cat! :) Still trying to fit in trips to Portugal, Galicia, and Morocco, but we'll see how the rest of the semester treats me, both money/time wise. My 20th birthday is a week from tomorrow, and I'm excited to celebrate but bummed because Ana and Jess will be in Paris! But a whole week alone in the apartment will allow me to adjust and start a cooking routine for the rest of the semester. Life is lovely, I am very happy and settling in quite nicely at this point. I will go to the gym tomorrow for the first time, exciting! And my only wish is that the weather would improve a bit, so I wasn't so cold all the time! That's about it though. Anyways. Oh-Olympics--go US!! I hope I can catch a few events at a bar or something while I'm here! Love & miss everyone, hope to set up some skype dates in the near future!
Besos, MacKenzie
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
settled?
Right now I'm feeling slightly...annoyed with myself and with parts of Granada. First of all, the weather has been terrible since I arrived, which is really the only reason I'm annoyed with Granada. My boots are currently soaked, and I'm hoping it doesn't ruin them, because right now they look very...spotted with rain.
I'm annoyed with myself because I feel like I can't speak Spanish (though this has improved over the past few days). Sometimes when Ana talks to me I just feel like my mind is blank and I haven't a clue how to form the sentence of what I want to say.
I am not eating very healthy. Switzerland got me into a chocolate eating frenzy, and the giant Toblerone bar that Brigitte sent me off with is only getting smaller. I FEEL extremely bloated and fat...as all I've been eating really is carbs carbs carbs....counteracting everything I did over break. When I come back from Rome I need to do a serious healthy shopping trip-for meat, vegetables, eggs, and fruit. I need to not buy the junk I've been buying and limit those things to only once a week or even once a month! On a positive note though, Allison and I joined a gym today. It is 45 euros a month for students, with limited hours, but they're great hours for me. I can work out Monday-Friday from 7 am-4 pm, which is perfect because the majority of my classes are in the evening and I wouldn't want to exercise after class anyway. I am not sure if I'm actually gaining weight or if I'm just facing the grave realization that if I continue eating this way and not exercising I WILL gain weight. ahhhhh....so frustrating. Anyways though. The gym. Very nice, has a pool, cardio equipment, weights, and lots of fitness classes that I plan on partaking in. Allison and I have a meeting with a trainer next Thursday (we're not exactly sure why...the guy who registered just told us we have to). So we're not sure if we're having a training session or just learning the way the gym works...or what? Ha I don't know. But I'm very excited to go to the gym every weekday, and the weekends will be my rest days, or just days to run by the river or something.
Granada doesn't quite feel the same yet, I haven't gone out since I've arrived. Granted, I've only been here 3 nights but still. This city feels very strange without some of the people from last semester. I am walking the same streets and seeing the same places, but the faces are all unknown, different, and not Shannon, Eric, Courtney, Cory...I could go on. I don't want to seem like I'm dwelling on the fact that they're not here, because I'm not, but I do miss them very much and sometimes I feel antisocial because they're not here. I really love living with Ana and Jessica though, they are both just wonderful people and I'm enjoying getting to know them more. I also feel like part of the reason I've been somewhat anti-social is because Ana and Jess have finals going on and no class, so they're kind of holed up in the apartment all day long. It's just very different not having Courtney & Eric pestering me to go out nearly every night! Haha. I'm sure things will find their normal course when I return from my trip to Rome, but this week has just been kind of strange.
I had my first days of classes today and yesterday. I'll give a brief rundown. My first class yesterday was POE which seems like it's going to be an easy buy pointless class. Second class, Images of Women in Spanish Lit, is going to be tough. My teacher has a pretty strong Andalucían accent, and it just seems like it's going to be hard to follow unless I'm completely focused all the time. My third class, which gets exhausting, having 3 1.5 hr classes in a row, is Linguistics, and I can already tell that this class is going to kick my butt. Not only is the concept difficult, like I feel it would be hard to learn in English, but this professor also speaks rapidly with a strong accent. So...Tuesdays and Thursdays aren't going to be too much fun. But today was a lot better. First of all I have class from 11:30-1, Civilization and Culture of Spain. My professor speaks really clearly, the class seemed pretty interesting, and I get to go home for a few hours afterwards. This is nice because I walk twice to school on Mondays and Wednesdays, which can only help me, that's for sure! Then in the evening I have Hispanic American Lit with another clear speaking professor, and we started watching a movie today which was pretty good, but hard for me to understand because the accents were Argentine and it's really different from Spain's accent. Overall I feel like I need to put in a little extra effort to school compared with last semester. Which is ok with me, but I feel like I can't summon up the amount of energy it takes to focus completely in class! Hopefully this will improve once I start working out in the morning and eating a healthier diet.
Hhhmmm....what else? Well I have to meet at the API bus stop in...6 hours, we're off to Roma! I'm kind of excited, kind of not. I don't want to spend money doing anything touristy in Rome because I have already seen everything, and money is not something I want to waste. However, I am excited for the good food and the shopping! Kind of bummed because the weather is supposed to be rainy (also supposed to be rainy in Granada for at least the 10 day forecast ahead-which I don't get because it rained like 4 times last semester). But I think once I get going Rome will be fun. Allison and I are rooming together and we'll probably be hanging with Sam quite a bit. I also hope to see Liz and get to know some of the new people.
Oh! Today I had two great encounters, I ran into Marí Carmen, Pepe, and David walking to my first class this morning! I was so excited to see them and they seemed very happy to see me too. David is so cute!! And then on my way home in the rain from my evening class, I ran into Marí (the daughter), David (the husband), and David (the baby)! David was all excited and said "Camión" (truck). I couldn't believe he's learning new words! Both run-ins seriously lifted me up, I feel like so much that I'm experiencing is overwhelming new-ness....and it was just good to have some familiarity for once.
Overall, I would say I'm doing OK. I anticipated that re-assimilating back into life in Granada would be much easier. But what I'm realizing is that EVERYTHING I'm doing is completely different. My living situation. The style of my classes. My food preparation. My friends. It's pretty overwhelming. I hope I can get out of this slump soon...And really it isn't a slump, just a general uneasiness that I can't quite put a finger on what is at the heart of my troubles.
But, the show must go on. I'm going to Rome tomorrow! And I need to be thankful. :) Everything will turn out right, I just need some time to adjust.
Till I return...Miss you all!
Besos,
MacKenzie
I'm annoyed with myself because I feel like I can't speak Spanish (though this has improved over the past few days). Sometimes when Ana talks to me I just feel like my mind is blank and I haven't a clue how to form the sentence of what I want to say.
I am not eating very healthy. Switzerland got me into a chocolate eating frenzy, and the giant Toblerone bar that Brigitte sent me off with is only getting smaller. I FEEL extremely bloated and fat...as all I've been eating really is carbs carbs carbs....counteracting everything I did over break. When I come back from Rome I need to do a serious healthy shopping trip-for meat, vegetables, eggs, and fruit. I need to not buy the junk I've been buying and limit those things to only once a week or even once a month! On a positive note though, Allison and I joined a gym today. It is 45 euros a month for students, with limited hours, but they're great hours for me. I can work out Monday-Friday from 7 am-4 pm, which is perfect because the majority of my classes are in the evening and I wouldn't want to exercise after class anyway. I am not sure if I'm actually gaining weight or if I'm just facing the grave realization that if I continue eating this way and not exercising I WILL gain weight. ahhhhh....so frustrating. Anyways though. The gym. Very nice, has a pool, cardio equipment, weights, and lots of fitness classes that I plan on partaking in. Allison and I have a meeting with a trainer next Thursday (we're not exactly sure why...the guy who registered just told us we have to). So we're not sure if we're having a training session or just learning the way the gym works...or what? Ha I don't know. But I'm very excited to go to the gym every weekday, and the weekends will be my rest days, or just days to run by the river or something.
Granada doesn't quite feel the same yet, I haven't gone out since I've arrived. Granted, I've only been here 3 nights but still. This city feels very strange without some of the people from last semester. I am walking the same streets and seeing the same places, but the faces are all unknown, different, and not Shannon, Eric, Courtney, Cory...I could go on. I don't want to seem like I'm dwelling on the fact that they're not here, because I'm not, but I do miss them very much and sometimes I feel antisocial because they're not here. I really love living with Ana and Jessica though, they are both just wonderful people and I'm enjoying getting to know them more. I also feel like part of the reason I've been somewhat anti-social is because Ana and Jess have finals going on and no class, so they're kind of holed up in the apartment all day long. It's just very different not having Courtney & Eric pestering me to go out nearly every night! Haha. I'm sure things will find their normal course when I return from my trip to Rome, but this week has just been kind of strange.
I had my first days of classes today and yesterday. I'll give a brief rundown. My first class yesterday was POE which seems like it's going to be an easy buy pointless class. Second class, Images of Women in Spanish Lit, is going to be tough. My teacher has a pretty strong Andalucían accent, and it just seems like it's going to be hard to follow unless I'm completely focused all the time. My third class, which gets exhausting, having 3 1.5 hr classes in a row, is Linguistics, and I can already tell that this class is going to kick my butt. Not only is the concept difficult, like I feel it would be hard to learn in English, but this professor also speaks rapidly with a strong accent. So...Tuesdays and Thursdays aren't going to be too much fun. But today was a lot better. First of all I have class from 11:30-1, Civilization and Culture of Spain. My professor speaks really clearly, the class seemed pretty interesting, and I get to go home for a few hours afterwards. This is nice because I walk twice to school on Mondays and Wednesdays, which can only help me, that's for sure! Then in the evening I have Hispanic American Lit with another clear speaking professor, and we started watching a movie today which was pretty good, but hard for me to understand because the accents were Argentine and it's really different from Spain's accent. Overall I feel like I need to put in a little extra effort to school compared with last semester. Which is ok with me, but I feel like I can't summon up the amount of energy it takes to focus completely in class! Hopefully this will improve once I start working out in the morning and eating a healthier diet.
Hhhmmm....what else? Well I have to meet at the API bus stop in...6 hours, we're off to Roma! I'm kind of excited, kind of not. I don't want to spend money doing anything touristy in Rome because I have already seen everything, and money is not something I want to waste. However, I am excited for the good food and the shopping! Kind of bummed because the weather is supposed to be rainy (also supposed to be rainy in Granada for at least the 10 day forecast ahead-which I don't get because it rained like 4 times last semester). But I think once I get going Rome will be fun. Allison and I are rooming together and we'll probably be hanging with Sam quite a bit. I also hope to see Liz and get to know some of the new people.
Oh! Today I had two great encounters, I ran into Marí Carmen, Pepe, and David walking to my first class this morning! I was so excited to see them and they seemed very happy to see me too. David is so cute!! And then on my way home in the rain from my evening class, I ran into Marí (the daughter), David (the husband), and David (the baby)! David was all excited and said "Camión" (truck). I couldn't believe he's learning new words! Both run-ins seriously lifted me up, I feel like so much that I'm experiencing is overwhelming new-ness....and it was just good to have some familiarity for once.
Overall, I would say I'm doing OK. I anticipated that re-assimilating back into life in Granada would be much easier. But what I'm realizing is that EVERYTHING I'm doing is completely different. My living situation. The style of my classes. My food preparation. My friends. It's pretty overwhelming. I hope I can get out of this slump soon...And really it isn't a slump, just a general uneasiness that I can't quite put a finger on what is at the heart of my troubles.
But, the show must go on. I'm going to Rome tomorrow! And I need to be thankful. :) Everything will turn out right, I just need some time to adjust.
Till I return...Miss you all!
Besos,
MacKenzie
Monday, February 8, 2010
Estoy aqui. :)
Home Sweet Home. After just over 24 hours in my new apartment, I am feeling pretty dang settled. Not every single thing is in place, but everything is unpacked, I have groceries in the kitchen, I purchased sheets, which are not yet on my bed but in the wash along with my dirty clothes from Switzerland, and I am home.
Pedro Antonio de Alarcón 73 1C
18002, Granada, España
Ana and Jess welcomed me with open arms last night around 9 pm after my 13 hours or so of consecutive train, plane, and bus traveling from Chur to Granada. Ana had made some delicious pasta that I wolfed down gratefully, and Sam, Sabrina, and Allison came over to hang out for a while. It was great to see people! I was so tired and pretty out of it so I didn’t have the best time, but it was nice all the same.
Once everyone left I was exhausted and my room was full of bags, shoes, clothes, everything I own here in España. I didn’t know where to find anything or even where to begin with unpacking, and overall I was just extremely overwhelmed. However, I will note that I am very thankful that I arrived in Granada with a lovely piso (apartment/flat) waiting for me, where as many of my fellow API year colleagues were not so fortunate, and had the stress of being homeless/finding a place to live for a few days. That being said, I was still overwhelmed. ;) I knew the only logical solution at that point (1:30 am) was sleep, so after that fact being confirmed by good ol’ J Floe (love you bestie) I hit the hay.
Today, I can gladly say, was PRODUCTIVE. Slow kind of, but productive. I figured out my schedule, which is as follows, for those of you who care. ;)
Monday/Wednesday: 11:30 am-1 pm Spanish Civilization & Culture
6:30-8 pm Hispanic American Literature
Tuesday/Thursday: 3:30-5 pm Oral & Written Production (POE)
5-6:30 pm The Image of the Woman in Spanish Lit.
6:30-8 pm Intro to Linguistics
So tomorrow I’ll have class from 3:30 to 8. All my classes are in Spanish. I’m pretty happy with my schedule except for the fact that I have to take POE (it doesn’t count towards my major at WWU). It will be strange having class in the evening (never experienced this before) but also awesome that I never have to wake up early. Yay! And…sitting through nearly 5 hours of class on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be rough. But manageable I suppose.
Anyways. So the other things I accomplished today were grocery shopping, purchasing a pillow & sheets and other random things I needed, enjoying a nice slice of pizza and some quality hang out time with Miss Allison who I have dearly missed, and looking into joining a gym. There is one a block over from my street that is very big, very nice, and pretty expensive but I think I am going to join it because of everything they offer and the hours they’re open. Hooray for not getting fat again this semester!
This weekend, Thursday actually, API is going to Rome. This is weird to me for two reasons. One, I feel like I just got here, which I did. And two, I know basically nobody out of the nearly 70 spring API students. But, no pasa nada, I’m going to Rome this weekend, how many people can say that? It will be fun and I’ll get to know the new people. Things in API are strange though, Eli is now gone, she got a new job. So now it’s Carmen, Alicia, Jonathan, and Laura. So strange…And I introduced myself to a few new peeps but there’s so many it’s a tad overwhelming and I can’t even possibly imagine knowing all of them. Anyways, that’s all for the updates of program, travel, and life I guess.
Tonight for dinner I had strawberries, crackers, and a sandwich. And you know what I loved most? The fact that I chose exactly what I wanted to eat. Jess, Ana and I watched Internado, a Spanish telenovela (soap opera) which was silly, intense, and fun. I think I’m going to like this. Actually let me rephrase myself. I know I’m going to like this. Life is good. =)
Hasta pronto, y os echo de menos!
MacKenzie
Adventures in Switzerland!!
I apologize now for how ridiculously long this is. It covers a significant chunk of time & was written over a few different days! (Note, the random changes in time period)
Well, here I am. Switzerland, day number four. I finally feel totally adjusted to the time change, but apart from that I’ve developed a bit of a cold. Last night I slept over 10 hours, took Dayquil this morning (that drug is a blessing, I swear) and I’m feeling alright today but kind of drained. It’s so weird to me that my family is on the other side of the world, once again.
Leaving this time was so much easier than the first. There was some general anxiety and unnecessary eating the few days before takeoff, but when I left Mom, Dad, Lena, Jordan, and Max, there were no tears as there were the first time I traveled to the further side of the planet. My flight went smoothly from Seattle to New York, and then from New York to Zurich. The only problem was I arrived in Zurich at 7 am Friday, after leaving Seattle at 5 am Thursday. And the goal was to remain awake until a reasonable bedtime! Sooooo difficult….anyways I promptly purchased an $8 grande mocha at Starbucks in the Zurich airport, knowing full well that I won’t be drinking my delicious chocolate-y pick me up for a long time, not to mention I needed it to jump start the rest of my travel process. I ventured over to the train station, not entirely sure how to use my Eurail pass but then discovered it to be pretty easy. The guy working told me where to go and I boarded a train headed for Chur, where Brigitte was going to pick me up. When I finally sat down on the train with my iPod and breathed for five seconds, I discovered how beautiful Switzerland is during the winter. I was here two years ago in summer, and I was even amazed then. But this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before! And that was only the beginning. I panicked a little when I couldn’t get a hold of Brigitte on her cell or at work, and then struggled to call my mom from my phone. I wasn’t sure if my cell wasn’t working or what, but finally Brigitte received my text, and we sorted out a meeting place. I know for a fact that I have spent an un-Godly amount of money already because the fees for using that phone outside of Spain are absurd. Oh well…that’s Europe I guess! I’ll just have to be extra frugal with my phone when I get back to España.
Brigitte met me at the train station in Chur, and we went grocery shopping then headed back to the house for lunch. Aita came home, and was surprised at finding me there! She thought I would be arriving in the evening. The three of us ate lunch (in most villages in Switzerland the kids come home to eat lunch for about two hours before heading back to finish their school day—Brigitte doesn’t like this so much because it basically requires at least one parent, usually the mother, to be home during the day which isn’t financially feasible for every family) and Brigitte headed back to work and Aita to school. I walked partway with Aita to school then turned off and did a scenic loop past their village, Zizers. The sun was shining, nobody was around, all I could hear was the crunching of snow beneath the boots of Brigitte’s that I’m wearing while I’m here. My friends here have no idea of the beauty in which they live. The scenery is like a fairytale, everything almost fake looking. Zizers is a small village nestled right in the Swiss Alps, mountains rising above it on both sides. Absolutely incredible. I was so exhausted from being awake for so long, that the walk took all my energy out of me, but it was so unbelievably gorgeous. I went back to the house and slept for 3 hours or so, and when I got up Aita had returned home from school. We talked for a few hours and pretty soon Gian Martin came back. When he came inside I heard him say hello before I saw him, and I asked Aita if it was Heinz (her dad) or her brother, and indeed it was Gian Martin! Ha I haven’t seen him in a year and a half and he has grown up so much and sounds so much older! Both of them actually. Aita is fifteen and her English is amazing from the last time I saw her (she couldn’t say anything!) and Gian is seventeen and is taller than me and I just can’t even believe how much he’s grown up since visiting Seattle in 2008.
I spent the rest of Friday afternoon chatting with them, trying so hard to stay awake. Aita made sort of a pizza thing for dinner and we watched Get Smart with Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway, which I hadn’t seen before and it was pretty funny, but I haven’t a clue how it ended because I kept drifting off. I went to sleep at 10, before both Aita and Gian Martin, and slept until Saturday at 9! I obviously had to catch up a bit. J Saturday morning was low key and relaxed, and Brigitte explained that they like to sleep in on weekends and have slow, lazy days! I immediately love them for this, reminds me of weekends at home with mom. I explained to them that Dad and Grammy do not function in this manner and it drives me crazy! Haha….So we went into Chur for a few hours, Gian had stuff to figure out for his new job (lifeguarding at a pool in Chur) and Brigitte had to run some errands so Aita and I just shopped around Chur and got to know each other. She is such a sweet girl and really mature for her age, I have enjoyed spending time with her! And she’s much younger than my brother, so obviously I’m not used to hanging out with 15 year olds!
We spent Saturday afternoon relaxing and Brigitte made some soup for dinner, then we piled in the car with Heinz and picked up Gian Martin’s friend Dario and headed to the outdoor ice skating rink! Now this is the first time in my life that I’ve ice skated outside, and it’s quite the romantic activity if you were with the right person!! Gian and his friends (another one, Stefan joined us at the rink) were racing around kicking a hockey puck, while Aita tried to help me not fall! Ice skating is surely not my forte. I am not terribly bad, I only fell once, but I definitely am not very graceful! But when Gian and Aita held my hand I went quite fast! Which was really fun. It was sooo cold though, but they didn’t think so, just me, only being used to Mediterranean & Pacific Northwest weather. I loved ice skating and I hope we can go again this Friday! It’s something I don’t really ever get to do. Everyone here knows how to though, and pretty much all the boys play “ice hockey” which is what we just call hockey haha. Even Heinz was good at ice skating! He played hockey when he was young. And Gian Martin is such a good skater and I missed his hockey game last night but I want to hopefully watch one of his other games before I leave.
After ice skating we went to the bowling alley! So much fun, even though I sucked at bowling. We played two games and it was just nice to have some good quality fun with the kids and Heinz. And the night was not yet over, we then headed to this party, Maskenball, which roughly translates to a costume party. It was a celebration in Chur as a preview for Carnaval. It is so strange because the drinking age here is 16 to buy beer and wine, and 18 to buy hard liquor. I was Aita’s “adult” so that she could get into the party, because I’m over 18. So that was weird…being old enough to get children into places!! And I won’t lie, I bought her a Smirnoff! Well, I guess it was Gian’s money, but I purchased it with my adult legal capabilities. Haha! This was all very strange to me at first because the last times I’ve seen Aita & Gian they were nowhere close to a party age but now, in Switzerland at least, they certainly are! J Anyways the party basically consisted of 8 or 9 bands that get dressed up in crazy costumes for Carnaval and play popular music, but it’s all instrumental. My favorite band was the one whose entire setlist was ABBA songs!! Loved it of course! The whole band vibe of the place reminded me a lot of my basketball games in high school, warming up to the pep band beforehand. So naturally I loved it. We danced and chatted and had a few drinks, and overall it was just a really cool new experience and fun to see Aita & Gian with their friends in a sort of social activity that’s normal for them in Switzerland. But towards the end of the night I was so exhausted, still feeling the effects of jet lag, and when we got back home past one, I totally crashed into bed as I had a big day ahead of me.
Sunday: Snowboarding!! ….in the Alps! Never thought I would check that off my list of things to do, but sure enough, I have done it now! It was different than home though, usually if I was going up to Baker for the day I have to wake up at 6, be there at 9, stay the whole day, and in general I usually dread it until I am actually snowboarding and then I remember that I love it. This was nice because apparently they spend shorter days at the mountain, which was good for me because it was a new mountain and I was tired anyways. Heinz took us down to the train and we caught it around 9:45, where Stefan was already waiting for us. I have to admit I was nervous, because one, I’m a nervous person in general, and two, I was about to embark on a snowboarding adventure in a very different environment than what I was used to, with two boys who were presumably FAR better on skis than I was on my snowboard. The train took about an hour and a half, and when we arrived, I was on edge. I had never experienced a gondola before. So we put our skis and boards in these little contraptions outside the gondola, and climbed in, as it took us up to the altitude where the base of the ski resort was. Second trial of the day was the first new chairlifts I got to experience. Keep in mind that I say first. I have only been to Mt. Baker and Stevens Pass in Washington, and our chair lifts don’t have bars that come down in front to keep us from falling. Which, looking back, I think every chair lift should have this! Safety you know………….
OK I’m back, I took a break from yesterday’s writing. So now it’s Wednesday and I’m still in the snowy Alps, but unfortunately the weather has changed and now it’s windy and snowy and not so beautiful as before. Anyways, back to snowboarding. So I sit down on the chair lift and Gian says, “Pay attention…” and I didn’t know why he was saying that until the bar came down in front of us and my leg was smushed because I wasn’t sitting in the right spot. The boys were chuckling and I felt so stupid! I had to explain to them that I had never been on a lift like this before, I’m sure they thought I looked as if I had never even been on a mountain before. The first few runs went well with a few falls as usual, and once I started to get my bearings things went more smoothly. Something seemed strange though. Overall, I felt like something was different, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then as I was sitting with the boys on a chair lift ride, the lightbulb came on in my head. “There aren’t any trees!!” I looked around me, relieved that I had identified the weird aspect of the mountain, and sure enough there wasn’t a tree in sight. Gian explained that with the high altitude there couldn’t be any trees, but it was still just so weird. Looking down on the slopes it was just vast fields of snow, and I loved the width of the runs, and how everything seemed gradual and nothing too steep. It was just all so different from Baker back home. Then, the last extreme challenge of the day was these entirely new looking chair lifts that I have never seen before in my life. Not even anything remotely close to it. Attached to the cables going up the mountain were not chairs, but little contraptions that I can only describe as looking like pick axes? And for skiers they were easy, all you had to do was sit on them slightly and the cable would essentially “slide” you up the mountain, with your skis on the ground. Naturally, things were different for snowboarders. Gian clearly did not understand that I had absolutely NO clue how to get on the thing, but it became clear when I repeatedly fell 3 or 4 times in a row. We kept letting people behind us in line pass (luckily there weren’t that many people, I was embarrassed enough! Haha) and finally the guy working the booth thing came out to help me. He said something to me in German which I obviously couldn’t understand, and I kept trying to sit on this chair pick axe thing. Finally though, they explained that while Gian’s side was to be sat on (the skier), I had to put my side BETWEEN MY LEGS so that my snowboard would be perpendicular to the mountain. The next “pick axe” arrived, Gian swiftly leaned back and I grabbed the bar and put it between my legs, and away we went! I had to hold onto Gian for moral and probably needed physical support, but I was excited and proud that I finally conquered the strange new chair lift! Now the only question was how to get off, which Gian said we would figure out at the top. Great. On the way up, which probably took 10-15 minutes, my left thigh and butt cheek just started burning like crazy, because I was in such an awkward position. I don’t care for these chair lifts, but apparently they are all over Europe! I was wondering if they’re anywhere in the US? I had never heard of or seen them, but I wonder. It was hilarious and interesting all the same! The first time up I totally fell disembarking from the “pulling lift” and the second time I made it off without hitting the ground! Yayy! Overall though the day was a ton of fun. The boys helped me a lot and were so nice and fun. Gian & Stefan were FLYING down the mountain, sometimes Gian would just you know, be cruising down on one ski of just go backwards a bit. I was stunned! I guess going snowboarding 3 times a year doesn’t make for cool skills like they have though. Stefan told me he usually goes 40 times a season. Dang. That’s a lot! But we left the ski resort around 3:40 and played a new card game (to me) called “Asshole” which was really fun and hilarious.
Sunday night we had dinner with the whole family, Brigitte had this grill in the middle of the table and we fried mushrooms, cheese, beef, bacon, and had pineapple and salad. It was so delicious! I remember having it when I was here Summer of 2007. I really am thankful that I have these friends here in Switzerland, and I am so glad I came here this winter before heading back to Granada. I am developing good friendships with Aita and Gian Martin, and I also love talking with Brigitte and Heinz. Heinz is such a good natured, kind man, who is very soft spoken but also very funny at times! And Brigitte is just a feisty woman if I’ve ever met one, she’s just different than other European women it seems. We spent the evening chatting, and then they had a visitor that they said was actually for me! It was their friends whose daughter, Silvana, is 21 and looking to study and maybe work in the US for 6 months. She was asking me about it and I wish I knew more details and specific places and programs she should look into, but for the most part I told her to avoid the middle of America and stay on the coasts! Haha. An unfair statement I suppose, considering I’ve never been to the middle of the US, but still. I added her on Facebook so now I am going to look into programs for her.
Monday I had a bit of an adventure on my own. I woke up early and went to Chur with Brigitte, then at 9 headed off on Bernina Express, a train that is celebrating it’s 100th year anniversary of scaling the Alps. If you ride the train completely, which I think you can only do during the summer, you go all the way from Chur to Italy. (I think, not positive.) But I just rode from Chur to a village in southern Switzerland, near the border of Italy, called Poschiavo. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the train had panoramic windows, and we climbed through the Alps, passing church steeples in small villages, hordes of cross country skiers, all the way up to the bare, treeless areas of the mountains, the sun bright and shining the entire way. It was absolutely beautiful. I took so many pictures but I’m not sure how any of them are going to turn out because of the glare on the train windows. But it was amazing nonetheless. I had my headphones in to block out the boisterous German family to my left, and it was really peaceful. I never get time completely to myself, and Monday was the perfect day of that. I was content and alone in my thoughts, and I just let my mind wander as we passed picturesque places. Nearly four hours later, I arrived in Poschiavo, and would have just under three hours there to explore. I quickly realized I could explore this village at a very slow walking pace in maybe 30 minutes tops! I didn’t mind though. A river ran through the village and similar to Zizers, the mountains rose high on each side of the village. The only strange thing was nothing was open! It seemed a lot like Spain, because the entire place was shut down and apart from the people like me who had come from the train, the village appeared to be empty. It was so quiet that at times it was a little creepy. I moseyed along, taking pictures and humming to myself, enjoying the fact that I was just hanging out in a small Swiss village instead of being at work in Marysville or in class at Western. This is the life! J I only saw two open restaurants, one of which was extremely expensive, and I wasn’t terribly hungry but I had walked around for an hour and a half and was starting to get cold, so I went to sit in an Italian restaurant near the train station. First experience dining alone. And I loved it. The restaurant was nearly empty, save for a mother and daughter who chatted with the one waitress, and an old man reading a newspaper towards the back. I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, and read my book (Three Cups of Tea-amazing…everyone should read it!) in the warm, quiet restaurant. I finished off my lunch with some delicious vanilla gelato and then headed back to the train station.
The adventure of the day decided to be that my train would break down in the mountains about 10 minutes from Poschiavo. With a four hour train ride ahead, I was not thrilled. We were stuck for well over an hour, and all the Germans were quite cheery, but the New Zealander chick next to me wasn’t too happy, and I would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been for the fact that when the train is stopped, the doors to the WC (bathroom) don’t open, so I was in a very uncomfortable position for an hour and a half, needing to pee terribly. There was no announcement or anything telling us what had happened, but I roughly learned from word of mouth that the wheels on the train wouldn’t turn, similar to a car stuck in the snow. So we ditched the last train car, which made our car a lot more crowded, but allowed us to keep moving. I was in and out of sleep until arriving back in Chur around 8 pm. It was a relaxing, beautiful, but VERY long day. Heinz picked me up at the train station and we went to Scheirs, another village about a half hour away, to pick up Gian Martin from his ice hockey game. I had hoped to see the latter half of it, but due to my train issues, I missed it, so that was a bummer.
Yesterday Aita and I did absolutely nothing, she stayed home from school and it seems we’re both a bit under the weather. I have a cold and am not feeling too hot, but my Dayquil and Nyquil are helping me get by. Today will probably be a fairly lazy day as well, and tomorrow Brigitte and I are going to see the Matterhorn! Cool! OK. This blog is so long. I apologize. And it’s only going to get longer because I am not posting it until I get back to Spain, because it’s on my laptop where I don’t get internet. So…I will write more soon!
………….Brigitte’s and my trip to Zermatt was a lot of fun. We had another fairly lengthy train ride across to the southwest of Spain. Our train was delayed for awhile, and we sadly learned it was because another train had hit a woman who jumped in front of it committing suicide…it was really sad. L and because of the delay, we didn’t end up getting to Zermatt until after dark. So Brigitte and I only saw a dark, shadowed outline of the Matterhorn, and sadly I did not get a picture of it. We had a hostel to stay overnight and after chowing down at the restaurant beneath the hostel we went out for a drink. I felt bad that I was not a very exciting party companion as my cold had taken over at that point and by 10:30 pm my energy was far from existent. Early the next day we woke and, still unable to see the Matterhorn, hopped the train to do a bit of a roundabout through Switzerland. This is very possible considering the size of this small country! We stopped in Bern for lunch and a very wet, rainy walk. I’d like to go back when the weather is better! I was so exhausted and when we finally got “home” to Zizers I couldn’t have been happier. But the time with Brigitte was so nice, I just love talking to her! That night we ate DELICIOUS cheese fondue and I got to look at pictures from when Gian Martin & Aita were little—so fun!
Saturday was my final day in Switzerland, and we slept in and spent the day relaxing until two pm when we headed down into their village (Zizers) to watch the parade for Carnaval. I am so ashamed that I did not bring my camera with me. Gian thought it would be boring but it was such a new experience to me that I thought it was awesome! The parade was filled with bands and organizations all dressed in the craziest costumes to celebrate Carnaval. Afterwards we went back to the house for awhile, then ate dinner with the whole family. Following dinner, Heinz, Brigitte, Gian and I went ice skating, and I improved greatly from the previous time the week before! Gian and I played hockey! And by played hockey I mean I kind of stumbled around with a large stick in my hand, trying to ignore the fact that I can’t really ice skate to begin with. ;) It was a ton of fun though. I was sweating and smiling and even when Gian barreled me over (barreled is probably an exaggeration) I was cracking up and just having a blast. Later I went down to the village to party, sort of, with Aita and Gian, which was fun but mostly I was freezing and tired. We got home and I said my goodbyes to Aita and Brigitte so they wouldn’t have to wake up for me the next morning, and when I left at 6:45 am on Sunday I said goodbye to Gian. Heinz took me to the train station and bid me farewell. I can’t wait to go back to Switzerland, whenever that may be. I can’t express enough how thankful I am to have such great friends, to know such an awesome family halfway across the world that I now feel like I can almost claim as my own. I look forward to seeing the Meiler family again!! J And then off I went to Granada….which will be discussed in the next blog…. ;) be prepared! Ha!
Hope you enjoyed my stories from the land of winter!
MacKenzie
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