Some days are hard... and thats ok! 27/02

This morning I had my Mitos class where we all had to share something we have learned so far and my professor forgot to call on me! So I raised my hand and shared that I loved learning about the history of unicorns in eden.  Unicorns were a symbol of masculinity and power, which I find very interesting. Then in my next class, Gladys had a political science teacher come and talk to us about the crisis in Spain and we all learned a lot. It was interesting actually to see how Spain got here, what kind of trouble they are in, and then in perspective with the world how they stand. I loved it! After class I walked home through a little bit of snow (cold air+my throat=bad, but snow=VERY pretty here).  We had a nice lunch together and then I met up with Mariah to go to Correos (post office).  We waited in line forever (not typical) to send out a few post cards.  We then stopped by a cafe to get some tea for my throat which was getting sadder and sadder (boo).  When we left the cafe to walk home it was snowing so hard! It was absolutely beautiful. It is so pretty here in the snow and the snow never sticks which is really nice.  I got back and spent the afternoon learning a few new vocab words, relaxing, and trying to rest up.  My throat was getting progressively more sore which is not fun.  Before dinner I caught up with mom, dad, and sis which was wonderful because being sick makes me particularly homesick.  I've said it before but I'll say it again, being sick here sucks. And knowing that we have this tiring (but fun) trip coming up just makes it worse because I feel pressure to get better. My throat hurts worse than the first time I got sick and my ears are starting to hurt too. I think I'll go see the nurse tomorrow if I'm not feeling better. For dinner we had tortilla (which is one of my favorite things here), salad with fresh carrots (I was SO happy about this), and melacaton yogurt (peach) which was SO tasty. I was pretty happy with dinner except that after eating, my throat was killing me even worse. So I asked Puri to look to see if it looked ok and she said that it does which is good. I also don't have a fever so I am ok! She had me drink lemon and honey and gave me more salt water to gargle.  I called mom and dad back for some more love and support before washing up and going to bed.  I am so appreciative of my support system, I love knowing that they are always here. I am growing and learning a lot here which at the time is hard but I know this is good.  So I'm off to rest, fingers crossed that my throat is better tomorrow.

Whale whale whale 26/02

I had a nice lazy morning of doing my homework lazily and just relaxing. When Sakina (yes I finally got her name down) got home from school, she heard me blowing my nose and coughing and came in with her spanish/japanese phrase book and said "mejorate pronto" which means "get better soon" and then she gave me a hug. It was the sweetest thing! We had lunch and then I went off to my one class for the day. After class I was really tired and the cold air outside hurt my breathing/throat so I retreated to my bed to take a nap. On my way home from class there was a guy walking towards me, eating a sandwich or a burrito (couldn't tell), he was so happily enjoying his sandwich that he walked into a short pillar that they have on the sidewalk and almost fell over! I was glad he didn't fall, but I couldn't help but think that what he was eating must have been pretty darn good. It felt good to rest this afternoon, I think I still need it! Dinner was fun, Sakina is learning really quickly (still can't really communicate but now she knows words for fork, knife, plate, table, chair) it is fun! We ate these little eggs (that we've had before) which are like normal eggs except the size of like robin's eggs candy except they are actual eggs. They come from little birds. Very rich, and cute. After dinner I bantered with Kristin, killed some time on Pintrest, and then decided I should go to bed. Jammin' out to KP <3 yes.

bolsillo- pocket
cartera- wallet

Hoy es Lunes! 25/02

I slept pretty well last night which fared well for me waking up and having three classes this morning! I normally eat breakfast alone (ask Sarah and Kels, I don't talk before I eat!) but today I had a nice and awkward breakfast with the Japanese student (I should really try to get her name down... awk) which was consisting of charades (thanks Luke) and a whole lot of NOT communicating. Haha oh the funness.  Classes went fine, as usual. I didn't fall asleep which is always great. I got to catch up with all my buds, heard about the trips to San Sebastian, Portugal, and Madrid. I think people had some great weekends which is great! I'm excited because this weekend we get to go to Andalusia and then the weekend after that mom and dad are coming to visit which I'm just so excited for. YAY parents! I sent Kristin some #classicjokes because those are awesome, can't wait for her to come either. Today at lunch was as awkward as our dinner last night/breakfast this morning. How hard that this girl doesn't speak any spanish! I'm just not really sure how to communicate, I try really hard and nothing gets through. Then I give up. Not sure how 20 days of this will go, we will see. I give her props for being such a good sport! She's 19, but as Puri says, she looks 13, which she does. After lunch I lazily did some homework, spammed Kristin's wall with music, talked to mom for a while which was really nice, and then did some more homework. Dinner was just as much as a struggle. Puri was on the phone for a big chunk of it, which she does all the time now. Also we had corn on the cob (like my 3rd time here) it is so gross here. It is like the worst corn ever! It is hard and gross! I'm like ummm pretty sure this is animal feed but ok I guess I'll eat it... haha. After dinner I had the loveliest of skypes with miss Katrina :) Made my day! I feel pretty good getting to bed because I got so much homework done!


Words:
Mostacho- big mustache
Bigote- small (hitler) mustache
Estropeado- broken, damaged

Songs:
Eminem- Almost Famous
So Long Arletta- We might as well call it a third grade teacher
Jeremy Camp- There will be a day
Flobots- Combat
Push Play- Starlight Addiction
Say Anything- Cemetery
So Long Arletta- Ghosts and Skeletons
Say Anything- Death For my Birthday
Death Cab for Cutie- Passenger Seat
Roe- Atlas
Jeremy Camp- Carried Me
Sufjan Stevens- Oh Detroit, Lift your weary head! (Rebuild! Restore!)
Swimming with Dolphins- Up in the stars
Go Radio- Goodnight Moon

I'm almost to 900/1725 songs :)

Inferma, todavia 24/02

Today I'm feeling a bit better but still not great.  I had to get up and be productive today though.  I said goodbye to Puri's son, did my homework, met the new Japanese student we have here, and had a nice lunch with her and Puri.  After all of that I was wiped so I took a nap, colored (thanks to Kristin), read People magazine and watched Transformers.  Despite relaxing, I was wiped before dinner and could have gone to bed without eating.  The Japanese girl (not quite sure her name...) cannot speak more than 5 words of spanish and the same with english. Puri and I cannot communicate with her at all! It is kind of funny, we end up just laughing a lot. I haven't been sleeping well so I hope I can rest up tonight before my three classes tomorrow.  I can take it easy this week which is good :) But we have a busy weekend next weekend so I must get better before then.

Another day in bed 23/02

I took the day off again after waking up and not feeling much better. I've been drinking lots of liquids and gargling salt water. It has been nice relaxing, watching movies and playing solitaire. I feel bad because Puri's son is here for the weekend and I've spent the whole time in my room. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better and then will be up for meeting new people :) I'm starting to feel a bit better which is good, I hope it continues!

Sick :( 22/02

Today was spent skipping class, laying in bed, having a fever and sore throat, and not doing anything. Fever is back. Off to bed. It's really hard being sick away from home :(

I'm glad it's Thursday... 21/02

Class with Gladys today was extremely frustrating, as it can be at times.  We had a very simple quiz over some reading that we had to do and the whole class went crazy. We didn't understand the reading, quizzes aren't fair, you should give us the quiz questions ahead of time, you give us too much reading, bla bla bla complain complain. If any of them actually read, they would have known that the quiz she gave us was super easy. Then later in our discussion I was just frustrated because I was the only one in the group that even tried to read it/understand it. I don't get it, we don't get much homework, we have a lot of down time, and these classes are so easy compared to CSB, why is it so hard for people to just put in the little work that Gladys asks of us? I get frustrated. After class I came home and ate lunch alone because Puri was out with a friend.  I took some time before class to go for a nice walk even though it wasn't very nice outside.  Our art class today was then also outside, we walked around and saw four churches throughout Segovia.  It rained the whole time! But it was fun and we applied what we were learning in the classroom to these churches.  Brooklyn, Marissa and I then went to get a deal at Telepizza which was a pizza for one euro and little things of ben and jerry's for a euro (so cheap!). We all split a personal pizza, which was perfect and then got some ice cream too. By the time I walked home it was pretty cold out because the sun was down! Unfortunately I've gotten sick again, or it's coming back, or something but after spending that much time outside my throat is hurting pretty badly. We had a trip planned for this Saturday but Gladys moved it to another weekend because it is supposed to be snowing all day.  Some students are going to skip class tomorrow and fly to Portugal for the weekend. I plan on staying here, resting up, and maybe exploring some more of Segovia. There is still so much to see here! I couldn't imagine doing a big trip this weekend after Barcelona last weekend and Andalucia next weekend. I'd never get healthy! After a quick dinner and skype with mom and dad I am off to take NyQyuil and sleep...

And the business never ends... 20/02

Waking up today was extremely difficult! I could have used a few more hours of sleep, but I know I will catch up eventually.  Classes were hard to sit through because of being tired, and readjusting to this eating schedule is hard after having had control of when/what I eat for so many days. I was so hungry before lunch! After lunch I had to get a lot of homework done for tomorrow, obviously not the most fun, so I took a nap instead (and did some reading). Very productive... :)  But after that Puri took me to a piano concert.  The pianist was a 20 year old guy who was amazing! He played such complicated songs and rocked all of them. I was extremely impressed with him! I'm really happy that she took me to see the concert.  We got back to have a late dinner and then she went to bed early because she didn't sleep well last night. I then had to finally sit down and power through the homework I've been putting off for a while... whoops :)

búho- owl
alce- moose

BARCELONA!! 15/02-19/02

Friday
This morning we hopped on the bus at 6:30am for our trip to Barcelona. I woke up with a cold which was not the best way to start the trip, but I started taking medicine and had a cup of tea with honey.  The bus ride is eight hours long and we had one 45 min break in the middle.  During that break I found the spanish equivalent of gatorade called "Aquarius"and bought two which was a great choice. We got to Barcelona in the afternoon and checked into our very odd hotel that had a great location (right on the corner where Las Ramblas meets Plaza Catalunya). The whole place was covered in green floral wallpaper and the rooms are all pink. Pink towels, pink comforters, pink wall paper, pink everything! It is a very odd place. I am rooming with two girls Anna and Madie who I don't know well but they seem very nice.  We put our stuff away and then went out to a nice market on Las Ramblas where they have fruit, fish, meat, and all kinds of fun things to look at! After wandering around there we walked down all of Las Ramblas and ended up at the Christopher Columbus statue/the port were we got to take some pictures.

At the end of the port there is a nice little mall where we went to shop for a while.  After that we were all pretty tired so we walked back to the hotel where we attempted to eat dinner.  The hotel has a 24/7 buffet that consisted of fruit (which was good), bread, cereal, and a few main dishes that were the same at every meal and were always cold.  I avoided all of the "real food" because a lot of it had meat and it just looked scary.  So after that a few of us decided to go for a short walk outside and then we got some ice cream.  I got crema catalana ice cream which was wonderful! A lot of people decided to go out at night but since I'm sick, I decided that it would behoove me to go to bed.

Saturday
Today was our big touring day of Barcelona.  We meet up with the bus in the morning and it took us to a nice monastery.  It was really cool looking because it used to be a palace! There are only a few monks that live there today but I think it would be cool to live there.  The building was a square shape with a set of gardens in the middle, all nice old architecture. Most of the students were not interested (as usual) but I hung out with Gladys and she explained everything to me as we went along which was fantastic! After that tour we went outside to meet the bus, but the bus was missing! Gladys called the driver 10 times before we decided to just start walking towards our next destination.  After about 15min of walking the bus driver called and we reconnected with him. He took us to the Sagrada Familia where we had to wait in line for over an hour to get in! But it was worth it, the basilica never ceases to be breathtaking.  There is something so special about it there. I think it is great!

With a little bit of time before needing to meet the group, Katie DSA and I went to the old Hultgren apartment/school and said hello! It was fun to see it again.  It seems like the stores nearby change all the time.

On our way back we stopped and got stuffed churros (stuffed with cream) from a place that we had gone to several times before (most recently a few years ago with Krisp and Kels, they are the best churros ever).

It was then time to reconnect with the bus and go back to the hotel for lunch where I again ate basically fruit and bread. We then got back on the bus and it took us to Park Guell which is the famous park by Gaudi with the Mosaic lizzard and huge bench. I learned that Gaudi turned an ancient aqueduct into part of Park Guell which was really cool because I never knew that before.  The Romans built so many aqueducts and hardly any (except Segovia) are still around. But it was cool of Gaudi to turn crumbling aqueduct into a piece of art. It was fun to see it there in the winter, there were a lot less people which was nice!

On our way back to the hotel the bus stopped at the foot of Mont Juic where there is a fountain/light show which was really fun to watch.  The water and the lights moved with music!

Gladys then walked a group of us (those interested) into the gothic quarter where they were having celebrations for some saint whose name I don't remember.  After wandering around we found a parade with giant puppets and a laser show which were both really fun! We then got ice cream with Gladys, I got the same flavor again (too good).  Like last night, people went out tonight, but I still need my rest because I'm still sick.  So I chatted with Katie DSA, Tara, and Katelin for a while and now off to bed it is!

Sunday
This morning we went into the gothic quarter to go see the Picasso museum.  When we got there we found out that they changed the times of when the museum is free and that it was only free after three.  So we shifted our schedule and decided to do the full tour of the gothic quarter.  We went into a gothic style church and a gothic style cathedral which were both beautiful.  There was mass going on in the Cathedral, but they let people in to see it anyways because it is so big that people coming in and taking pictures in the back didn't bother mass at all.  We then went to some ancient ruins of Roman pillars which was anti climactic, it was three pillars inside of a courtyard of a building that smelled like urine. But the fact that something so old has been preserved is really cool! We then started walking to the teleferic (gondola) but stopped on the way for a brief snack (I was impressed that 28 people could just stop for a snack but it was great). I got a giant heart shaped chocolate chip cookie which was delicious!

The teleferic is quite a walk away, it is right by the Barcelona beach which was beautiful to see. Too bad it is so cold! The gondola goes from the beach up to Mont Juic which is a mountain in Barcelona with the best views.  The views from the gondola were spectacular because it went over the ocean and offered a 360 degree view of Barcelona.  Once we got to the top we didn't stay long because it started to rain and it was really cold. Luckily I was wearing my NEW rain jacket that I got for my birthday!

 Once down we all went our separate ways to find some food that wasn't from the hotel.  I went in a small group with Gladys to a place that she had eaten at the day before that she said was good.  I got some pizza which was delicious and very reasonably priced! It was a successful lunch, I had been craving a real meal that would fill me up. A few of us then decided to go for a walk which took a lot of motivation because our feet were hurting and we were tired! But we stumbled across the Arc de Trionf which was a great find and then we turned back to the hotel.

While a big bunch of the group was getting ready to go out/pre gaming, Katie DSA, Tara, Katelin and I decided to go out for tapas and drinks.  We found a place with cheap tapas and decent wine! I got a salad with tomatoes (weird for me, I know), mozzarella cheese, oregano, and olives with a glass of white wine. I was in heaven.  We chatted there for hours and it was really nice. I really like those girls! It was then time for our nightly trip to the ice cream stand where I branched out and got spanish cookie flavor ice cream.  When we got back we went up to the boys room to chat with them before they went out. Katie DSA was on the balcony and some freaky chain of events happened that ended up with her phone falling 4 stories down off the balcony onto Las Ramblas.  She went sprinting downstairs and I followed her.  When we got down there luckily it hadn't been stolen but it was shattered.  We all decided to then go to bed and let Katie have some time because she was really upset.

Monday- Free Day
The thought of having a free day in a city where we had already done so much and had had so much free time already was intimidating. But we set out and decided to just take the day as it came.  Tara, Katelin, Mariah and I started the morning off by going shopping near the hotel, hitting up all of the sales that were going on.  I didn't need anything but ended up buying  two skirts, one for two euro and one for six euro. How could I turn down such good deals!? After wandering around and seeing all the stores we went to the hotel to eat and drop our bags off before heading out again.  We took the metro to the bull fighting stadium that two years ago was converted into a shopping mall because bull fighting is now illegal.  The outside looks the same which is cool but on the inside is a mall! There weren't very good stores but we had fun walking around and there is an outside observatory on the top floor with beautiful views of the city.

We then took the metro back to the hotel and walked around Las Ramblas again because it is always fun! I taught the girls about shell games because we ran into one while we were walking.  We decided we should start a shell game to raise funds for our study abroad trip! When it started getting late we went back to the hotel to meet up with Gladys and a few other students to go out to dinner. We stumbled across a Mexican restaurant in the university neighborhood that had cheap food and drinks. I got ceviche which was delicious! It hit the spot. The white wine I got was terrible and undrinkable but at least the food was good.  It being our last night and all, we stopped to get our last crema catalana ice cream.  We stood and watched some street performers on Las Ramblas, it was a group of men breakdancing and they were really good! When they had a pause in their show Katie DSA hopped in and did a cartwheel and a breakdance move which was hilarious! The crowd went wild. Then we decided it was time for us to leave because we had been watching them for a while and their show just repeated. We were having our nightly pillow talk, I was almost asleep, when people come in and say "you're going out". And just like that I was going out! I put on my new two euro skirt and was ready to go! We took a cab to a club on the beach that was free to get into. For a Monday night, there were a decent amount of people there and it was a really fun time! In Spain, clubs are free for girls but they make boys pay which is the case in some places but not all. The boys got in free tonight but couldn't other nights. I guess it just depends! We got back and in bed by 5am which is a sign that we had a wonderful night. I'm really glad I was feeling up to going out on our last night!

Tuesday
Today consisted of waking of early and then hopping on the bus. I slept for the full four hours before we had our lunch stop and then I slept most of the second leg of the trip as well! I was tired after such a long night.  The bus ride was awful for a lot of people because at least half the group is sick with either the stomach flu or a cold.  People were throwing up at the hotel all night before the bus, but luckily no one threw up on the bus.  Everyone on this trip is so sick all the time! I feel like it is worse than the first year of college! I got home and felt gross after being on a bus for 8 hours with all of these sick people. Puri greeted me so nicely, like she does, and we chatted for a few minutes before she told me to go shower, unpack, and rest up and that we could chat at dinner. I really appreciated that! So I did all of that and then had time to finally write this beastly blog that took forever to write. We did so much and when I can't write everyday, I struggle to remember all that we did! Overall it was such a blast being in Barcelona, but I couldn't imagine having been there for another day. It was quite sufficient and I am very happy to be home :)

Valentines Day! 14/02

I was able to catch up on some needed sleep and have a relaxing morning.  After my classes, because it's Valentines Day, most of the group came to watch a movie and eat snacks. Everyone brought a snack and then we each took a bit of everything while watching 10 Things I Hate About You! It was a fun time with the whole group, very relaxing.  I got home to pack and then get to bed. We have to get up so early in the morning! Days like this I wish we could eat dinner at a normal time and then I could go to bed early. But since I ate a lot of snacks I decided to skip dinner and head to bed! Gotta rest up.

I think I'm starting to get tired of the weird foods everyday and the not having a say in when/what we eat... It gets a little tiresome.

When you answer the phone: "Soy Erin"

The next day.... 13/02

Today I slept through my alarm (surprise surprise) and got out of bed at 8:55 when I normally leave at 9:10.  Puri wasn't up either which meant that I had to get ready and then grab something to eat then run. I got ready really quickly and meanwhile Puri got up and set out some breakfast.  I had to take it on the run but I got to class on time (success!).  Mitos is normally a hard class to get through, but today even more so. I am def feeling the effects of the day after my 21st birthday... I got some down time before the next class which was nice.  In Gladys' class we watched a terrible movie, I mostly just struggled to stay awake.  Once home I took a nice hot shower to get rid of all traces of my crazy night out and then ate lunch with Puri.  During lunch the mailman came and brought me the package from the US! It was rude because I had to pay 26 euros to get it, but I am very happy to have it. Puri said she will pick up the other package hopefully tomorrow.  :) A quick shout out to my fam for fighting through all the annoying postal system issues and getting me some presents all the way in Spain!  I am so happy to not have afternoon classes on wednesday because I was able to "watch 27 dresses" which means I got into bed and slept for a solid two hours.  I woke up to the sound of the doorbell going off like 20 times, so eventually I got up to see what was happening like maybe Puri got locked out. Puri comes up to me and says shhh I'm not expecting anyone and I don't have makeup on and I don't want to talk haha so I went up and looked through the door, it was a boy (one of her patients) and she thinks he had the wrong day.  He rang the doorbell at least 200 times (at least), tried to break down the door, knocked incessantly, held the doorbell down for minutes at a time... It was a very weird situation for me to just sit through! Like ummm he is really persistent! Soon after I was able to get the whole fam on google hangout again so that I could open the box for my birthday. What a great box! It has so many fun things for me to play with :) Thanks! Puri went out to an Opera so I ate dinner early, worked on some homework, watched half of Tommy Boy (thanks krisp!) and am going to bed. I made it through the day!

My b-day!! 12/02

I went to bed last night without setting an alarm, and woke up this morning at 11:00 to the sound of the doorbell. Who knows when I would have slept in until if there hadn't of been the doorbell! It was glorious to be able to sleep in until then.  It was a bummer because there was no hot water today (Puri doens't know why) but I needed to shower so I just stuck my head in the tub and washed my hair in the icy water. I hope hot water returns soon! In the early afternoon Melissa and I went to Limon and Menta, a bakery by plaza mayor, to get a pastry. She bought me a delicious apple pastry which I enjoyed so much.  Puri got home a few minutes after me and gave me a present.  I was very surprised she got me a present, I was not expecting it.  It is a lovely elephant necklace that is simply beautiful.  It was a very thoughtful and wonderful present. I took off the necklace I was wearing so that I could wear it today! It looks great :) We then had a nice lunch together and I decided to stop by the post office before class to see if I could get my birthday package. I've had the worst luck with the Spanish mail system and it sucks, but it will be ok. The package from dad didn't have my name on it so Puri has to pick it up, but she won't have time until Thursday or maybe next week. I get she is busy but I wish she could go sooner :( The package from mom and sis got stuck in customs and we don't know when it will come/what shape it will be in. But I did get to open wonderful letters from dad (from Switzerland which included a lovely pocket knife with flowers on it, and a swiss shot glass- just simply the best), Sue and Tom, and Grammy and Pa while on Google Hangout with mom, dad, and kristin.  I had one class today which wasn't too bad, and in it one of my friends Katelin gave me a purse for my birthday. It is a cute going out purse with gems all over it! It was honestly so sweet.  At 8:00 a few of us went out to watch the parade which was fun but it was mostly the same parade that I saw on Sunday.  After I got back from that I had a while to rest, get ready, and eat dinner before going out again! Three bars, a lot of friends, all you can drink, rounds of chupitos (shots), getting home at 4:30...Yep I'm 21 :)

The calm before and after the storm 11/02

This morning I was pretty tired after such a long weekend! I had to drag myself out of bed to get to my three classes today. In two of the classes we watched movies so that was really great! We finished Juana la Loca and Los Girasoles Ciegos in those classes. Los Girasoles Ciegos is pretty depressing, but so was the book. I'm glad we are finally done with that book and movie! No more evil book! After class it was time for my lunch with Puri and our daily chat time.  I then took a glorious nap, did some homework, showered, and then sat around in anticipation of the night ahead of me. Too much excitement. After a nice dinner with Puri I got dressed to go out. I sported my wings, birthday crown, and jingly skirt (all which I will wear again tomorrow).  We went to a bar close by for some casual drinks. Katie DSA and Mariah each bought me a white wine and then Kaitlyn bought me a shot of vodka which I took promptly at 12:00am, the very start of my 21 BIRTHDAY! A few people left from there but the rest of us went to a bar/small club to hang out.  Melissa then got me another shot of vodka at this club which was really nice.  I was sent to dance on top of these platforms that they have, twice, because it is my birthday. I had a lot of fun :) A bunch of spanish boys kept trying to steal my crown, but I told them off. My drunk spanish is really quite great haha! We danced there for a while and then walked around seeing what else was up.  Seeing as it is only Monday, not a lot was happening so we decided to call it a night around 2:30 and tomorrow we will go out more. I had a really great start to my birthday :) and now I get to sleep!

Overwhelming 10/02

Today I met up with Puri's friend Maite to go to a Carnival parade. We got to the plaza mayor early so we walked around and I met a bunch of her friends.  Once the parade started we got a front row viewing spot.  The way the parade works is that groups of Segovians dress up as the same thing and then walk in a group together.  There was a group of people with downs syndrome dressed as m&m's which was really sweet. After the parade a group of men sang acapella, one of the singers was Maite's son.  They were pretty good! The second they finished singing, it started snowing a lot so we went inside a building where the singers were all taking pictures. I somehow got pulled into said pictures and all of the men in the group were talking to me all at once and it was overwhelming! But they were all really nice and fun.  After pictures we stood outside of a bar and they bought me a glass of wine and we all shared some tapas.  I talked to a bunch of people and it was again, overwhelming but fun.  After a long while of this Maite and I had to leave to get back for lunch with Puri.  It was lunch with Maite, Puri, two women (sisters), and me.  We had a traditional Catalan lunch which was some sort of onions that are really messy to eat, potatoes and shrimp, and then a 'pastel de queso'. They gave me so much food and I had to eat it all and I was starting to feel so full/sick! Not to mention I wasn't feeling like drinking after all that sangria last night, but I had that glass of wine earlier, a glass of wine at lunch, and then a liquor for dessert (despite me saying no no no I don't want it). Too much alcohol and food and then coffee and then there was so much conversation! 5:30pm rolls around and we are still at lunch.  The women decided to watch Jane Eyre so I took this as the chance to run away and go do homework. I did have a lot to do but also I was tired (from alcohol and from so much talking!) and wanted to run away. I snuck in a brief nap, did some homework, and then spoke to the ladies a bit more before they left.  It was sweet because they said I speak the best spanish out of any of Puri's host students. I know I don't speak very well but it made me feel good :) I felt good today again about spanish, I spoke a lot and understood a lot.  In the middle of returning to my homework I got a text from Jorge, the 31 year old son of Maite and we ended up talking for two hours about places to see in Segovia/Spain and about Carnival and such.  It was a good practice for my spanish! It was then time for dinner and when I sat down I had to keep myself from laughing. I was so stuffed from lunch and puri had put out a whole tuna pie thing for me with just a fork and a knife (like no serving utensils or anything, all for me). I ate like one piece and then left it. I was not going to be pressured into eating a lot again! I almost died at lunch! After dinner I got a lovely chat with mom and kristin which then turned into avoiding my homework... I did the bare minimum and then went right to bed. I'm so tired, today was a long day!

Excursion! 09/02

The day trip today was to La Escorial and El Valle de Los Caidos.  It is luckily only 30 min away by bus, but we are all used to having such long bus rides to relax on that when we got there it was kind of like ohhh we have to get off the bus? But we started at La Escorial which is a palace built by Felipe II, a pretty legit king.  The palace is enormous it has a library, basilica, relics of 40,000 dead people, the entire royal family is burried there, there are graves for all the dead royal children (lots of incest so a lot of babies died, also the spanish exiled the Jews and the Jews were all of the good doctors), and an impressive amount of art.  We spent a couple hours there and probably saw less than 5% of it. Crazy! It was cool though.  The grounds were built in the shape of a BBQ/Grill because the patron saint of the palace is San Lorenzo, a martyr who was grilled to death because he was Christian.  The construction of the palace was very 'sencilla' aka simple because it was the time when the Protestants were getting a lot of Catholics to convert.  People thought the Catholic church was spending too much money on fancy buildings and clothes (they were) so with that in mind, trying to keep people in with the Catholic Church, Felipe II built his palace very simple.
After our long tour through there we took a quick bus ride up to El Valle de Los Caidos.  We had a quick indoor lunch break (thank goodness, it was in the mountains and very cold out. We were cold all day! The palace was cold, outside was cold...) which was great. After a chat about food yesterday, Puri made me an egg sandwich on real bread (like a baguette) instead of wonderbread and it was a great lunch.  After that we walked up to the Valle de Los Caidos which is an enormous basilica built into the side of a mountain, very cool.  The top is marked by a cross that stands 125meters tall (SUPER HUGE), very impressive.  It is a very interesting place, but it has such feelings and emotions tied into it. It is grey and austere.  We went inside the basilica which is run by the Benedictines (which come to find out today, our Benedictines don't associate with these Benedictines) and saw Franco's grave which is placed right by the altar directly in the middle of the church.  It was freaky knowing he was buried there. I think it was a great thing to see.  There wasn't much to see inside but outside had great pictures with the cross one way and a great view the other way.  We took some group pictures but that was when things got a big weird.  Some people got all like 'why would you take pictures of the cross, FRANCO built it' or 'I will not be in a picture with Franco's cross' and I'm like woah those are some harsh feelings for being an American who is in no way emotionally tied to the Spanish civil war.  Also it is one of the Worlds' Monuments (in books as one of the top places to visit in the world) not to mention an impressive piece of architecture.  I didn't think it was necessary for people to do that, but thats just me.
We then headed to the bus and came back to Segovia.  A few of us went to get ice cream and then go shopping.  I got a little gypsy skirt to add to my costume because it jingles and I couldn't resist. I'm really excited for Tuesday! The second I walked home Puri was like we are leaving and so I threw on some different clothes and then we went over to Jill's host families house.  Jill and I got some time to chat which was great, a bit of time to unwind before the crazy. Then Gladys came over and Jill, Gladys, and I learned how to cook Spanish tortilla which is very easy. For a small one 5 potatoes and 3 eggs, cook up the potatoes in olive oil, mix it with the eggs (and a bit of salt) then throw it in a pan and cook it kind of like an omelet. Very simple! It tasted delicious too.  Jill and I then excused ourselves from dinner to go meet some of the group at the Oso blanco to get some Sangria.  It was wonderful Sangria! The bartender, Jesus, puts ice and fruit in cups, like real fruit kiwi, orange, apple, banana and then makes the sangria.  It was sugar, lemon juice, orange juice (real oranges), cognac, three different fruity liquors (peach, apple, and something else), and then wine. Needless to say it was a lot of alcohol! But I had a great night chatting with people and got home around 2:15.  It was a good night after a long day :)

TGIF 08/02

Soooo this morning in my Cine class we watched a movie called Juana La Loca. It is about the daughter of Queen Isabella and basically she is crazy.  Typical spanish movie, very intense but I like it. I feel like I'm going to be so knowledgeable about all the past kings/queens of Spain! A few of us then made the trek to the 'correos' aka post office to send off a few postcards/letters to various people.  We walked around a bit and ran into a group of elderly women dancing which was really fun to watch! Segovia is a whole different place on the weekends/friday because so many tourists come.  The streets were full of people! At lunch Puri and I talked about the place that we are going to tomorrow, La Escorial and El Valle de los Caidos.  Apparently it is where Franco is buried. She told me about our busy weekend plans, haha she always books up my weekends when we are here! After hearing a bit about this place from her, I went to go to art class to learn even more about it.  On my way to class it was blowing icy snow which was not appreciated. Nope. It was awful. It was blowing into my face and was actually painful! But once in class we learned more about those places and it seems very interesting.  Along with Valle de los Caidos having the grave of Franco, it also has a mass grave of thousands of people that Franco killed. It caused some tensions, I wonder why.  But apparently Benedictine monks care for the grave of Franco/are in charge of the area.  They love Franco and think he was the best. It makes me sad to be associated with people like that. I understand that Franco fought for the Catholic church but he killed a lot of people, exiled jews, sent people to concentration camps, killed innocent women and children, and lots of other terrible things.  People today go to his grave and do the whole Hitler salute thing. I think that would be hard if we see that tomorrow. I can't imagine people think he was good. But the funny thing is that a few years ago Gladys went off on the Abbot there about how she couldn't believe that a Benedictine would support such a horrible man and such.  She had to get escorted out! She is such a feisty woman and fights for what she believes in. I think it's hard because we associate ourselves with the Benedictines. I feel like tomorrow is going to be a long, cold, and emotionally tiring day.  After learning about our visit for tomorrow, I had my weekly lovely chat with Luke. Always wonderful.  As I was heading out from school I checked in our classroom to find some people to walk home with and ended up watching two episodes of the New Girl with a few girls. It was really fun! Now I am going to do dinner, maybe some hw (if I'm feeling it) and then go to bed. Easy night before a big weekend and then the carnival festivities begin!

Words:
Aseos- bathrooms
Aula- classroom
Luego (without hasta)- shortened see you later
Gruesa- large, thick, bulky, gross

Songs: Whoops haven't posted my fav songs in a while... I'm on song 524/1725. Crusin'
Say Anything- Ahhh... Men
Cake- Sheep go to heaven
The All-American Rejects- Damn Girl
Never Shout Never- Trouble
Cartel- If I were to write this song
Big Chocolate Ft. Weerd Science- Sound of my voice
Sufjan Stevens- Marching Band
The Wonder Years- Hoodie Weather
Coldplay- Swallowed in the Sea
Stereos- Throw ya hands up
Cake- Arco Arena
Jeffree Star- Miss Boombox
Bright Eyes- Vonnegut

El cine, otra vez! 07/02

Last night I went to bed early so this morning I had to wake up and write my art paper that was due today.  I got most of it done before I had to head off to Gladys' class where we watched the movie that was made from the book we are reading "Los Girasoles Ciegos" aka the sunflowers seeking sun/shaded/blinded. It is a powerful movie about the times when Franco was in power and people were being killed for their ideas.  My class tried to get Gladys to put on subtitles in English, but I spoke up as the annoying student. I was sitting right next to Gladys and I said to her, in spanish, the subtitles need to be in spanish because otherwise we will never learn.  And despite my opinion being contrary to the majority of the class (how annoying, we are here to learn and push ourselves!) Gladys put the subtitles in spanish.  I was pretty happy! After watching the movie I came home and ate lunch with Puri which consisted of salmon, garbanzos, and multigrain bread (finally, yum!). We had some olives that we had last night, I can't stomach them. Green olives stuffed with anchovies.  It doesn't help that I've been nauseous all day, I just hope it goes away and that I didn't catch the stomach thing. Grrr. After lunch I finished off my paper and then headed to school to print it and then go to class.  In art, as per usual, we learned about another time in history and the art and arcitecture that corresponds.  I hung out a bit after class and then came home to meet Puri.  We went out to the cine again tonight, I had no idea where we were going or what we were going to see! Turns out we went to the Juan Bravo theater in the Plaza Mayor, that is a theater theater, where they pull out a projector and a screen to show old movies.  We saw the movie Cabaret with Liza Minnelli which was great. I had never seen it before but I loved it! Her friend Maite drove us home and then we ate dinner which was eggs, bread, veggie soup, and a clementine.  It was a good dinner for my tummy! Now, like yesterday, I think I'll go to bed and avoid homework. 

In the car on the way home I was talking to some of Puri's friends and I felt good about understanding their spanish and also the spanish in the movie. :)

Shopping :) 06/02

Today class was such a mess! My first class, Mitos, the prof didn't show up. So after 40 min of waiting we decided it would be ok to leave (we don't know the rules here).  It was exciting! Woo no class! My next class wasn't for another 2 hours, so I set out to do homework but ended up talking to people. Seems like how my life usually goes! Then it was time for our class with Gladys, but when we got to the classroom my Mitos prof was there.  He asked to take Gladys' class time. BOO. So we had Mitos. What a disappointment.  It dragged on as we all counted down the minutes until lunch time.  I came home after class and ate salmon and artichokes for lunch with Puri.  We had a good talk about the upcoming Carnival (Fat Tuesday), costumes, life, etc.  After that I met up with some friends at the aqueduct (always our meeting point) and we walked up the shopping street.  We went in and out of a lot of stores which is always fun.  Then we went to this cute store called Pull and Bear where I successfully bought an adorable skirt and some jeans (courtesy of mom and dad, thanks!) The other girls got some stuff too. It was a success! We then went to Euromania to get a few drinks before heading out to look at costumes for the Carnival.  We were planning on just looking but we ended up just buying them! We all got different colored angel wings and I got a crown that says 'birthday girl' to wear. We then went to a makeup store where we got fake eyelashes and glitter! I think it will be a really fun outfit. We can wear the wings over our coats and be nice and toasty :) When I got home Puri was on her way out to a concert so I ate dinner early.  Leftover soup and bread and then some corn. Sadly then I had to do my homework that I have been putting off for... a while.  Now I'm wiped and am ready for bed!

Words words words 05/02

I have no idea how I always have so much to say, I mean I know I'm a wordy person but I never set out to write paragraph long blogs after each 'average' day here! But apparently either I have a special talent for being wordy wordy wordy (I do, yes, I'm aware) or 'average' days here are just much more exciting than elsewhere! Maybe it's a mix of both. So on that note, today was another 'average' day in the beautiful city of Segovia.  I love Tuesdays because I only have one class and it's in the afternoon.  I woke up late, ate breakfast slowly, got ready slowly, and was very relaxed. I did some homework until lunch time. Puri and I had salad, cauliflower, and eggplant. Tasty! I then made the trek to my one class for the day. haha I love school here. In art today we learned about when the Spaniards kicked the Jewish citizens out of Spain.  The Jews here were very influential people, rich, and smart.  Shockingly when they were all kicked out, it had negative effects on the economy.  It was very sad, the 'reyes catolicas' put out an edict saying "get out or convert".  But interestingly enough the word here for stingy comes from an old spanish word for a banker which was a job held by mostly Jews.  So the stereotype of Jews being stingy exists everywhere! After class I attempted some homework but ended up skyping mom for a while.  We discussed how I have to be patient with the language barrier because I'm continuously frustrated with the lack of expressing myself that I can do with Puri (wish I could transfer my wordiness from my blog into fluent spanish convo's with Puri).  It will come with time. I am also going to take learning more into my own hands and will hopefully get better! After skyping, a group of us walked back home.  Puri told me that we are going to be getting a Japanese student at the end of Feb for a month and then a group of them in March for four months and then three French girls in April! We will be a full house. She is really excited and I am too. It is always nice to have more people around. :) For dinner Puri made veggie soup which I had with bread, and then a yogurt. Little did she know it was the perfect dinner, my tummy has been feeling sad today and soup and bread is the best dinner for that! We had a great talk about feminism today and I learned more about her.  She fought a lot for women's rights when she was my age. Pretty cool! I'm not sure why but I'm tired, so I think it will be off to bed for me :) I do love sleeping.

We do actually attend class... 4/02

Mondays are my fabulous day where I have class forever and ever.  In my first class, Mitos, we learned about the differences between legends, myths, and stories and then when each of those is dead or alive. I hope that this class gets less boring! It is a bit dry.  Then in my next class, cine, we learned more about the history of the 'Reyes Catolicas' which is interesting and boring. It was just a lot of information in one class period, it seemed to drag on forever.  Finally in my third class, Glady's class, we discussed the reading from our book like we usually do.  Today I sat by some girls who made the class very hard to get through.  We work on questions as a group and then present the answers to the class. My group consisted of one girl who didn't read (she never does), a girl who reads but I swear does not speak a single word of spanish, and a girl who sits quietly never offering an opinion.  Gladys gave the questions to the girl who I swear can't speak spanish and that was annoying. Every time I asked 'what is the question?' she would translate it into english (usually wrong) and then we would discuss, in english. I'm getting frustrated that no one wants to speak in spanish here, and when I speak in spanish to this group of girls, I swear I can hear crickets. To not get so annoyed next time, I will sit with a different group of people.  We have many differing levels of spanish and I need to be with the higher level people so that I can speak in spanish and so that we can discuss the book. I'm here to learn spanish but I'm starting to wonder if other people just don't care enough to learn. I am going to be pushing myself, but it is hard when people drag you down.
After a frustrating class and being tired from so long in class, I walked home and had a great lunch with Puri and Tomo.  We had tortellini with special sauce that Tomo brought from Japan, it was interesting and very tasty.  I then took some time to unwind, watching Hitch for the first time in forever.  After some movie watching and some stretching, it was time to chat with Tomo for a bit and then say goodbye.  Puri cried, it was nice having him here, I will miss him too.  After he left, Puri was working so I started glancing around the bookshelves in my room and found a book called "El beso de Sahara". I read that a bit before chatting with Puri and then having some eggs for dinner.  Since it is Monday, it is the night that we watch the soap opera from her hometown.  Always so dramatic! But it is fun to watch it.  Now, as always, it is bed time.

I bought a tiny notebook today to always carry around with me to write down new words that I learn, because if I don't write words down then I forget!

Just another Sunday 3/02

Today I slept in for the first time since being here. No alarm, no need to wake up for anything.  I woke up at 11:00 and rolled out of bed to eat breakfast.  I had a slow late morning of painting my nails, doing homework, and getting ready to go out for lunch.  Gladys came over and then Gladys, Tomo, Puri and I headed over to lunch at Maria Jose's house.  Puri cooked stuffed peppers (stuffed with shrimp and oyster) and a bean/potato soup thing with shrimp (all meatless, for me of course) it was wonderful.  Maria Jose's house made a dessert that was like cheesecake in a cup, it was one of the best things ever! I'm going to learn how to make it.  We had another lunch like last time we were there, loud, lots of talking, fast talking, talking over each other, and Jill and I (and Tomo) sat there clueless and overwhelmed.  It was fun but by the time it was 6:00pm and we were still at the lunch table, I was tired! Eventually we moseyed over to the living room where Jill and I decided we should try to meet a couple times a week to talk to classmates in spanish.  It is sometimes easier to talk to someone in spanish when it isn't their first language either. Less pressure.  Then Puri saved the day, like last time, and said it was time to go.  Their family was telling me to come back in an hour for mass and I was like uhhh I don't want to go to mass but they didn't understand (not because of language but because they are super religious and always go to mass). But Puri, again, had my back and told them that she needed me at the house to help with some work. It was so sweet of her :) We got back home and Puri, Tomo and I took some time to rest.  I looked up spanish vocab to learn (lots of random words), caught up with mom and kristin, and then it was time for dinner.  We had eggs and potatoes, a dish that I love. Filling and delicious! It was nice to chat, we all have the best convo's.  I was unsure at first about having Tomo here, what to talk to him about and such, but honestly it has been really nice having him here. A third person to talk to, and just his presence in the house. It will be weird when it is just Puri and I tomorrow! But after a nice talk, I went back to my room where I got to skype with both Ryan and Katrina. What a swell night! I feel very lucky to have caught both of my beautiful busy besties in one night.  Now that they have kept me up well past my bed time, I am going to bed!

Goal: speak more in spanish to my classmates, learn more spanish on my own (vocab online)

Toledo 2/02

Today was our day trip to Toledo. It is just over a two hour bus ride to get there. The bus took us first to a panoramic view of the city which was beautiful and then we got dropped off in town.  We walked through the old streets constructed by Muslims a long time ago.  The streets have no organization to them (no grid pattern) because 1. it offered them safety if an enemy came in (they would get lost) 2. there is a lot of shade (Toledo is one of the hottest cities in Spain). We wandered around to the Plaza Mayor and from there went to the Cathedral.  It was the first Gothic Cathedral built in Spain (the last one was built in Segovia, cool to recognize the differences).  The ceiling was very simple, and it used pointed arches instead of rounded.  It was very beautiful though! It doubles as a museum, it has a lot of wonderful art and a collection of clothes worn by bishops in the old days.  I thought the outfits of the bishops said a lot about the church of that day because they were ornate, made of gold, and very expensive.  How could men justify wearing these when their congregations were starving and homeless?  Not very Christian if you ask me. The church is also home to tombs of archbishops.  Tombs are on the floor of every Cathedral for people to walk over (very rich or important people get buried there) as a sign of not caring about the body. Gladys was walking on the tombs of the Archbishops saying "hola, wake up!" It was very funny. Toledo is a mix of Muslim influence, Christian influence, and Jewish.  A lot of the art reflects this combination.  The famous jewelry there is black and gold with geometric designs (muslim influence) which later had floral designs (christian influence) and the Cathedral mixed Muslim and Christian styles of art and architecture.  After the Cathedral we had free time to eat lunch and then shop around.  We got some good deals on the beautiful jewelry and on marzipan for dad (they are known for it in Toledo, I hope it is good).  It was supposed to be a beautiful day so we all wore light jackets, but as the afternoon came along, so did a cold front.  We were all freezing! But despite that we got some home made gelato (chocolate for me) from a very nice Italian man. It may have been the best ever.  Free time is always fun, getting to explore and dividing up into smaller groups.

Later that afternoon we met up again and walked through the Jewish quarter of Toledo.  After stopping by a museum , we ended up at a Jewish temple which was very cool.  The men prayed on the ground level and women prayed on an upper level, always separated.  It was beautiful and we saw similar things to the Jewish museum from yesterday. I feel like things that would have bored me to tour as a kid (or younger adult) are much more interesting to me now.  I love learning about all of the history and influences! The bus ride back was very relaxing, listening to music and dozing off. Day trips always take a lot of energy out of you! I came back and had spanish tortilla for dinner (LOVE) and some flan (a dec flan, however not my fav dessert).

A day for learning 1/02

Today in my cine class we watched the rest of the movie 1492 which is about Christofer Columbus. It was really interesting but because it was based off of a journal written by his son, it portrayed him in such a positive light (very holy, never violent) and I wonder how much of that is actually who he was.  A lot of the movie was violent though with the wars between the indigenous people and the Spaniards. But after that I came home for lunch with Puri and Tomo. We had veggie soup and veggie/tuna lasagna which were both tasty.  Lasagna here is made with white sauce, not red which is interesting.  Then I had to leave to meet the group for a tour of the Jewish quarters of Segovia. There is an old "barrio" that has original (or recreated) buildings from when the Catholics made the Jewish people live segregated.  Their neighborhood was blocked off by walls and doors and then eventually the Jewish people were fully expelled from the city.  We got to visit the inside of a convent (the church part) where the sisters are cloistered (they NEVER leave). They had to slip the key to us through a series of doors so that we could get the key yet not go inside the actual convent and so that they didn't go outside.  They don't accept tourists but they let us in because we are students.  This church used to be a synagogue before the problems with hating Jews started.  This church produced a lot of anti-jewish propaganda to help support this banishing of the Jews.  There was a story of how a Rabbi wanted a host so that he could torture it and humiliate it.  Just as he was about to throw it into boiling water, it flew away to the convent at our school and into the hands of a priest.  There is a hole in our school's church which is supposedly where the host entered the church.  The day this 'happened' is still a holiday here in Segovia which one would think would be protested by Jewish people.  The story is just a legend, however, it was created to make people hate Jews.  The celebration of it seems a little rude.

On my way home Brooklyn and I explored the library.  We got forms to apply for a library card and were gonna fill them out there but it was overwhelming! I had no idea what any of the fill in the blanks were so we ran away. I'll figure it out eventually... I hope. They had Dan Brown's the lost symbol in spanish which I would love to check out.  After a failed attempt at the library we went to get a pastry (chocolate covered elephant ear) which made my day better.  It was then time to go home and I got to Face Time with Luke for a while until he was silly and his computer died :p That was really fun though. A good end to the week! Puri left to go to movie group, and after hanging out for a while I went upstairs to get Tomo so that we could eat the pizza that Puri had left for us.  We ended up eating dinner and chatting for 3 hours! I learned so much.  He taught me that there are three alphabets in Japanese, in middle school they learn our letters and they can write their words using our letters which I think is really cool, he taught me how to say my name is Erin, how to write my name in Japanese, and much more.  We talked about sports, how dumb it is that people get tattoos in Japanese who don't speak Japanese (often times they say weird things), and I learned a lot. I am at an advantage learning Spanish because it has some similarities to english with cognates and some sentence structure.  Tomo had to learn a new alphabet, a completely new words, and a new sentence structure (in Japanese it is subject, object, verb).  But in some ways he is at an advantage and I am at a disadvantage: understanding temperature in Celsius, weight, measurements, distance, etc.  We spent a lot of time discussing the height of basketball players and trying to figure out how to communicate using different ways of measuring.  Then we talked about customs in our countries and what average heights are, what people think about tattoos, Japanese comics (normal to read there, loser if you read in the US), and the stereotypes we have heard in our country about the other person's country (he said in Japan they think of Americans as tall, blonde, blue eyes, and can't find Japan on the map- I fit most of that stereotype... whoops haha). But the point is that I learned a lot from him and it was so very interesting to talk to him. We come from such different places and talking was very fascinating. But now it is really late and I have an excursion tomorrow, so off to bed!

Songs:
The kill- 30 seconds to mars
Wheels- Cake
Stand up- Flobots
Where Would I Be?- Cake
The Start- Roe

Words:
cigüeña- stork (they are all over here, including the roof of our school. Their nests are HUGE!)