Culture and more culture...
Still don't know my classes. We had an academic orientaiton Friday morning, but they did not have our placement tests graded like I figured they would. It was rather difficult to figure it all out at home, and I found that my advisor and I thought wrong about having to take a Spanish class (specifically gramar, convo, and comp, not a content class) and what taking one in fact meant. We'll see what happens on Monday, when we start classes. I'm hoping I did well enough on my placement test so that I don't have to take a Spanish class, because if you take one that means you have to take two others: and I don't necessarily want to review or to not take interesting content courses. ANYWAY.
After that, which only took an hour, we went to the big mall here so that some friends could get cell phone service. It's always interesting dealing with service people in Spanish, especially when you lack some of the specific vocabulary necessary. It's all in the learning experience, though, as I'm glad they either don't speak English or don't revert to English with us--forces you to communicate better on the spot.
Lunch at home at 2 pm. It's strange having family obligations, again, specifically I mean having to be home for meal times. My host mom is insistent on us all eating together; she's not mean or anything but just loves having the family together for meals. It's tough when you're in a group with a bunch of people who don't have home stays or don't have to go back for meals, but in the end I believe it's better for me both in language and culture.
After lunch, my friend Stephanie and I walked around Casco Viejo for a loooong time. Casco Viejo, the Old Port, is a beautiful section of the city, filled with little shops, many of them selling clothing, shoes, or accessories. There is a big "monte," or hill, which you can ascend via stairs (or if you're not really cheap you can take an elevator and save yourself a workout) from Casco Viejo, and it has a view over all the city, but there's also a town up on the hill with a beautiful basilica. I felt bad going into the church in shorts, but if I had worn pants I think I would've passed out from heat. It's been pretty hot these past weeks, in a weird way. High 80s, with lots of humidity, but the sun is just a killer. It's a lot hotter, in my opinion, than back at home. Anyway, came back for dinner, and had a discussion with Jorge and Javi (my host dad, short for Javier) about the best "sitios para irse" (places to go out). He told me of a bar, and that turned me into the planner for the night. Just like at home, it's kinda fun to take charge but stressful at the same time. I found a little cultural difference when, before I left, I asked Jorge and Javi if my student or Ohio IDs would be sufficient identification, and they just laughed and said this is Spain, you don't need anything. The other surprise of the night was that wine is cheaper than beer. Wine is cheaper than Coke, too. Strange to think about: imagine the same in the US. Or even imagine beer being cheaper than Coke!? We had a couple drinks earlier at this hamburger joint while waiting for a friend, and glasses of white were 40 cents. I couldn't get over that fact. 40 cents, while draft beer was 2 euro. There's a shock.
We finally get to this bar around 12, and it's empty. Not completely, but somewhat. Jorge told me that it wouldn't be as packed as others in its area later at night and that people go to this group of bars elsewhere then make an exodus (he used "mar de gente"=sea of people) out of the area. I didn't really want to lead a group of 10 from one bar to another, so we ended up staying at the same place all night. It got packed in about an hour and a half, and I managed to get a lot of my friends to dance, like everyone was doing at that point. It was a lot of fun, our first time really encountering Spanish night life. You just have to get over the bartenders and some patrons laughing at the token Americans.
It was interesting getting everyone back, though. Every night except Saturdays (when it runs all night), public transportation shuts down at 2 am. So, most of the group lived in the dorm, and they had to walk back. Long way! Luckily, I live close to this area, as I'm right in the city, and the dorm is further north. I'm within walking distance pretty much within any part of the main city itself. We lost a friend, though, evidently when we left the bar. He was somewhere near the Guggenheim, and I went to go get him, but was nowhere to be found. I got in touch with people 15 mins later, went back there, and he appeared. Oh well. Everyone got home safely.
This morning, you could tell some people were pretty hungover or just tired. We met at 11 am to go to the Guggenheim, which is tough to do when you're really tired (and I was damn sore from my walk all over the city yesterday (and still am!)). It's an amazing architectural feat, though, designed by Frank Gehry. http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/images/museu_gug.bilb.1.lg.jpg We're lucky to have it so close, as it literally right across the brige in front of the university. This was the last weekend for hte Russian exhibit, and it didn't occur to me until we were about to enter that I had seen this last year in the NY Guggenheim! I was proud of myself, for some reason--felt like I'm starting to really try to appreciate fine art. I need to go back to our Guggenheim and look at the same stuff a few more times, to really comprehend everything, especially when I'm not tired.
Went back for lunch today, and after that I was going to go to the beach with my friends, just a 15 min metro ride away, but I wanted to take a 15 min nap first. My body had no intention of getting up after only 15 mins, so I took an extended nap
Dinner later, then some more Spanish-style fun with my friends. Lovin' life, here. I was discussing with my friend, Stephanie, yesterday, how we hope this jubilation will last. I hope that every day I can be so thankful for this opportunity, to be studying and living and experiencing everything in a foreign country. Let's see how good I am with this!
Paz y amor, y AMDG,
Anthony
After that, which only took an hour, we went to the big mall here so that some friends could get cell phone service. It's always interesting dealing with service people in Spanish, especially when you lack some of the specific vocabulary necessary. It's all in the learning experience, though, as I'm glad they either don't speak English or don't revert to English with us--forces you to communicate better on the spot.
Lunch at home at 2 pm. It's strange having family obligations, again, specifically I mean having to be home for meal times. My host mom is insistent on us all eating together; she's not mean or anything but just loves having the family together for meals. It's tough when you're in a group with a bunch of people who don't have home stays or don't have to go back for meals, but in the end I believe it's better for me both in language and culture.
After lunch, my friend Stephanie and I walked around Casco Viejo for a loooong time. Casco Viejo, the Old Port, is a beautiful section of the city, filled with little shops, many of them selling clothing, shoes, or accessories. There is a big "monte," or hill, which you can ascend via stairs (or if you're not really cheap you can take an elevator and save yourself a workout) from Casco Viejo, and it has a view over all the city, but there's also a town up on the hill with a beautiful basilica. I felt bad going into the church in shorts, but if I had worn pants I think I would've passed out from heat. It's been pretty hot these past weeks, in a weird way. High 80s, with lots of humidity, but the sun is just a killer. It's a lot hotter, in my opinion, than back at home. Anyway, came back for dinner, and had a discussion with Jorge and Javi (my host dad, short for Javier) about the best "sitios para irse" (places to go out). He told me of a bar, and that turned me into the planner for the night. Just like at home, it's kinda fun to take charge but stressful at the same time. I found a little cultural difference when, before I left, I asked Jorge and Javi if my student or Ohio IDs would be sufficient identification, and they just laughed and said this is Spain, you don't need anything. The other surprise of the night was that wine is cheaper than beer. Wine is cheaper than Coke, too. Strange to think about: imagine the same in the US. Or even imagine beer being cheaper than Coke!? We had a couple drinks earlier at this hamburger joint while waiting for a friend, and glasses of white were 40 cents. I couldn't get over that fact. 40 cents, while draft beer was 2 euro. There's a shock.
We finally get to this bar around 12, and it's empty. Not completely, but somewhat. Jorge told me that it wouldn't be as packed as others in its area later at night and that people go to this group of bars elsewhere then make an exodus (he used "mar de gente"=sea of people) out of the area. I didn't really want to lead a group of 10 from one bar to another, so we ended up staying at the same place all night. It got packed in about an hour and a half, and I managed to get a lot of my friends to dance, like everyone was doing at that point. It was a lot of fun, our first time really encountering Spanish night life. You just have to get over the bartenders and some patrons laughing at the token Americans.
It was interesting getting everyone back, though. Every night except Saturdays (when it runs all night), public transportation shuts down at 2 am. So, most of the group lived in the dorm, and they had to walk back. Long way! Luckily, I live close to this area, as I'm right in the city, and the dorm is further north. I'm within walking distance pretty much within any part of the main city itself. We lost a friend, though, evidently when we left the bar. He was somewhere near the Guggenheim, and I went to go get him, but was nowhere to be found. I got in touch with people 15 mins later, went back there, and he appeared. Oh well. Everyone got home safely.
This morning, you could tell some people were pretty hungover or just tired. We met at 11 am to go to the Guggenheim, which is tough to do when you're really tired (and I was damn sore from my walk all over the city yesterday (and still am!)). It's an amazing architectural feat, though, designed by Frank Gehry. http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/images/museu_gug.bilb.1.lg.jpg We're lucky to have it so close, as it literally right across the brige in front of the university. This was the last weekend for hte Russian exhibit, and it didn't occur to me until we were about to enter that I had seen this last year in the NY Guggenheim! I was proud of myself, for some reason--felt like I'm starting to really try to appreciate fine art. I need to go back to our Guggenheim and look at the same stuff a few more times, to really comprehend everything, especially when I'm not tired.
Went back for lunch today, and after that I was going to go to the beach with my friends, just a 15 min metro ride away, but I wanted to take a 15 min nap first. My body had no intention of getting up after only 15 mins, so I took an extended nap
Dinner later, then some more Spanish-style fun with my friends. Lovin' life, here. I was discussing with my friend, Stephanie, yesterday, how we hope this jubilation will last. I hope that every day I can be so thankful for this opportunity, to be studying and living and experiencing everything in a foreign country. Let's see how good I am with this!
Paz y amor, y AMDG,
Anthony
posted by Anthony Damelio at 1:06 PM
2 Comments:
You went to the Guggenheim...you lucky bastard. I <3 Frank Gehry's work.
frank gehry is the most recent designer for tiffany and co. amazingly cool stuff... http://www.tiffany.com/shopping/category.aspx?cid=130340&mcat=148204&menu=1&hppromo=FGUS7&
bring me some!!
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