Easter, Sun, and Vineyard Fun

So, I have had yet another lovely week in Spain.  We had our second exam (blegh) but then we got to go to a vineyard with our culture class.  The vineyard turned out to be pretty darn cool, and the whole place was organic.  It was really interesting, and the wine was AMAZING.  I mean really, absolutely wonderful.  I’m kind of obsessed. 

I’m also kind of obsessed with Marbella, we went there for Semana Santa, but before we went everyone warned us that it was supposed to rain the whole week.  However, like the reckless American youths we are, we decided to throw caution to the wind, pave our own paths, and take life as it came. 

Or, you know, maybe we had already paid for the hotel and didn’t want to waste the money.  

Whichever seems more plausible. 

But I am glad we did!  It was absolutely marvelous, the whole coast/mountain landscape is breathtaking, and the weather was practically perfect.  

PLUS the dirt cheap ‘hotel’ we booked turned out to be a resort,  it was fantastic.  It was absolutely amazing, and there was a kitchen in our little apartment so we could cook.  A kitchen.  

AND to top it all off, I didn’t even get burned!  I know, it’s amazing.  My dedication to applying some serious SPF every ten minutes worked wonders.

We spent Easter in Ronda, and got so see a few of the big Semana Santa parades.  We also got to see this teeny carnival type set-up in the park.  There were several rides for kids, and some food vendors, overall it was pretty cute.   What was slightly less cute was the transvestite train dancer who wacked kids with brooms.  

I’m not even kidding.

The train ride was run by the worst cross-dresser I have ever seen in my entire life and he would seductively dance on the train and whack kids with straw brooms, the kids would try to steal the brooms from him, and if they succeeded they got to keep them as souvenirs.  The Spanish kids/parents thought it was great fun.  The little girl I went with was horribly offended and hurt when she got smacked. 

I was mostly just confused. 

I guess evil-cross-dressing-train-dancing-violent-children’s-ride-conductors are some of those things that just get lost in translation.  

But overall, Easter in Ronda was a success!

Me Encanta España

So, three things of note have happened in Spain this week. 

1)    I realized how long it's been since I've posted a blog.  I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this whole dedication thing.  BUT today I posted several things and tried to catch up a little on what I've forgotten to tell you.  Please don't hate me. 

2)       I had to give an oral presentation in my Spanish Conversation class.  I wasn’t sure what to present on, until someone suggested I talk about TIP.  I was immediately sold on the idea.  I gave a 40 minute talk all about camp, and Texas, plus I showed a termbook video with Spanish subtitles.  Win.

)



     3) The radiator in one of the classrooms decided being a water fountain was cooler than being a radiator.  The people in charge of the school disagreed. The heater sprung an ENORMOUS leak in its imitation of a fountain, and made HUGE mess.   It was pretty funny, but only because it wasn’t my classroom :)

Hakuna Matata

There’s this really cool thing in Spain.  It’s called the Gibraltar Straight, and it’s the reason why people here can say things like “oh you know, just went to Africa for the weekend, no big”  and mean it.

So, since I’m basically Spanish now, I’m going to tell you that I went to Africa, and it was no big. 

Except it was SO AMAZING I CAN’T EVEN HANDLE IT!

Seriously, I LOVE Morocco.  I’m in love with it.  Everything was so awesome, and our hostel was ridiculously adorable.  I definitely want to go back.

We took a ferry from Algeciras to Tangier that was supposed to take 30 minutes.  It didn’t.  It was closer to 3 hours, we found out later that it’s normal, and people just assume that you have to double triple, or quadruple the suggested boat times to Morocco. 

When we got there, the 6 of us piled in for a two hour taxi ride, 2 in the front seat and 4 in the back. We are all very good friends now.

While we were in Asilah we got mobbed by like 23984532 kids who wanted their pictures with us.   I’m still not sure if they were making fun of us, or if they really wanted the pictures, but either way it was very, very strange.

Anyway, the moral of this story is that I LOVE Asilah, and Morocco, and my life right now is pretty darn awesome.  

On An Evening In Roma

I love Rome, I’m officially obsessed. 

We got the tour the Vatican, which was super cool for anybody, but especially interesting since I went with a group of Catholics.  The art was ridiculous.  Seriously, you could spend days in there just looking at sculptures and paintings and tapestries. 

We, however, were on a pretty tight schedule because we had a date with the Pope. 

Oh Yeah, you heard me right:  we got blessed by the Pope.  Along with 324532223 other people, but whatever.

We also did the Coliseum and the Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, wandered Rome, found an amazing lookout, chilled on the Spanish Steps, ate the BEST paninis, pizzas, pastas, salads, bruschetta, etc and then went and hung out some more on the Spanish Steps. 

It was a beautiful adventure. 

Hey Now, Hey Now, This Is What Dreams Are Made Of...

That’s right folks, I’m talking about Italia. It was absolutely amazing.

We breezed through Venice, spending just enough time there to fall in love with it.

Next on the list was Verona, because we wanted to visit La Casa de Giulietta.   What we did NOT want to do in Verona was get in trouble with the Italian Police…

Our first ever bus in Italy was our downfall.  We tried to buy tickets on the bus, but the machine was broken.  We kept trying to pay, but it kept shooting our money back at us.  We alerted the bus driver to the problem, and tried to pay him, but he waved it away and motioned for us to just go sit down.  

Minutes later, who boards the bus with us?  Yes. That’s correct:  An Italian police officer checking for tickets. 

And we didn’t have any, because the stinking machine was broken. 

The officer was questioning us about it (in Italian/Spanish)  and we were trying to explain (in Spanish/English) but the conversation was not going in our favor.  He was just about to write us tickets when Dana managed to convince him to ask the driver.  After a conversation (in Italian) with the driver the officer helped us work the machine, found out it wasn’t working properly and let us off the hook.  Thank goodness. 

At this point, we had apparently missed our stop, and the driver pulled over and kicked us out because we were at the end of the loop.  We were on a sidewalk, with no idea where we were…in a city where we didn’t speak the language.  Perfect. 

We managed to come across a couple of Italian girls, who we showed the address to our hotel.  They only spoke Italian, but they were angels.  Complete angels.  They walked us all the way to our hotel just so we wouldn’t get lost again.  If I had an award to give to the nicest person on the planet, it would probably definitely go to them. 

The next day, we decided we weren’t going to chance our luck with the bus machine again, and prebought the tickets.  When the bus pulled up, who was driving?  That’s right.  Same guy.   He opened the door, saw us, we showed him our tickets, then he promptly smiled shut the door and drove away. 

I can’t particularly say that I blame him.

BUT we found another bus driver and made it successfully through the rest of Italy without any further run-ins with the law.  Thank goodness. 

Living La Vida Loca

On Saturday, we all went to Carnival in Cadiz.  And well…Carnival happened. 

It was absolutely insane, and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

 Mostly because I choose to never repeat it. 

There. Were. So. Many. People.

It was absolutely horrific.  We were told that people party all night in the streets, so we shouldn’t bother to get a hotel or a hostel.  We figured if that’s what other students experienced than it was good enough for us.   Right?  Wrong.  Most definitely, most seriously, most grievously wrong.   We were pretty much ready to go home by 2am, but the earliest bus back to lovely, clean, beautiful Ronda didn’t leave until 11. 

I can’t even begin to explain to you how gross it was.  We saw more people use the street as a toilet than I care to think about, and a couple people in our group stepped in what was most definitely human feces.  The streets were completely soaked. It wasn’t raining.  Just think that one over for a minute. 

We ended up sleeping for a couple hours in this super sketchy, teeny tiny bus station that was home to about 2934830 people that night.  The figurative seams were definitely bursting. 

The next morning we went looking for coffee, and couldn’t find anywhere that was selling any.  What we could find was people STILL DRINKING at 10am. STILL.  As in they never stopped.  As in WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!? We also found a trail of blood on the sidewalk.  

Sadly, no coffee.  Blood yes, coffee no.

BUT on the upside, I got to dress up as a cowboy, which, you know, is always a good thing.  And we saw a ton of really interesting costumes.  I got to know some of the other students better, and one of the girls from Sweden tried to teach me how to salsa.  There were definitely some funny things that happened, and we met some definite characters. 

Pretty much life that night was the definition of cray-cray.

Am I glad I went?  Yes. 

Would I go again?  Nunca, jamas.   Never, ever, ever, ever, ever in todo mi vida. 

Please Let This Be a Normal Field Trip? With The Frizz? NO WAY!

We went to this adorable little town called Setenil.  It’s another of the ‘white towns’  and it is beautiful.  The entire town is built right into the side of a cliff, so the insides of some of the buildings are still half cave!  You also have to routinely walk under an overhang that covers the road.  It was amazing, and it felt midway between walking around a town and cave exploring.  Ok, maybe it was a little  closer to walking around a town, but still. 

Best of all, it was DURING CLASS TIME.  One whole day of town exploring for class credit.  Beautiful.  

Photo Credit to MaryElizabeth:  I always forget to take my camera. 

We’ve also gone on two field trips with my culture class.  One was to get tapas…you know, hanging out, eating food, chilling with the teacher, not too shabby for a way to spend class.  The other was to a history museum,  I only caught about half of what was going on, but it was really interesting,  we learned all about prehistoria and cave paintings. I love field trips.

On Friday, in class, we also got to play this really cool Spanish game that’s a cross between Cranium and Trivial Pursuit.   It was a blast, and let me just say that Taboo in Spanish is WAY harder/funnier than in English.  There’s a whole new level of words you can’t use…because you don’t know how to say them…

Also,  things I’ve learned this week.  My host brother speaks PERFECT English.  Like, whoah.  I don’t know why we haven’t been talking and being best friends yet, but it’s totally going to happen.  We are going to be like Lucy and Ethel, Bert and Ernie, Peanut Butter and Jelly, serious best friend stuff.  Now I just have to figure out how to tell him…

Bienvenidos Al Lado Oscuro, Tenemos Galletas (Welcome To The Dark Side, We Have Cookies.)

That’s right. 

I’m walking on the wrong side of the road.

 I’ve done what I promised I would never do. 

Today I wore leggings.  As pants.

I’m slowly but surely conforming to the style here.  Unfortunately (as my good friends at the bank could tell you) I’ve been spending WAY more than I should in order to do it.  Everything I’ve bought so far has been superdiduper cheap….but… I was calculating last night, and superdiduper cheap adds up faster than stress during finals. 

It is totally worth it though.  Plus, when I come back to the New World, I will either look super European or SUPER ridiculous.  Possibly both.

My host mom took me to an outdoor market on Sunday, and I LOVED IT.  They had everything, and everything was crazy cheap, like 5 euros for a nice purse.  Seriously.  Everyone was yelling prices at me, and trying to get me to their booths in a language I couldn’t understand to buy super cheap stuff.  It was like I was in Chinatown.  The only difference being that it might have been legal. 

I'm definitely going back as soon as possible.  Just another reason to love Ronda. 

Toros, Taurus, and Tajos

So here’s my problem with the bull ring: I’m simultaneously disgusted by what they do to the bulls, and completely fascinated by the culture.

Yesterday we went to visit the local (famous) Plaza Del Toros and it was SO FREAKISHLY COOL!  We wandered and took a ton of pictures (before we noticed the no pictures sign…)  and generally were amazed and appalled. 

The costumes, however, I have no qualms with.  They are beautiful.  We walked through the museum and did the obligatory touristy ooing and ahhing over the gorgeous outfits made for the (apparently) teeny tiny little men who are bull fighters. 

Seriously, my desk lamp would have to ask for a size up.

Anywhoo,  I’m absolutely loving my classes.  My brain and I get into a fight everyday about whether or not it will continue to accept even more new information.  Crazy fast paced, but pretty cool.  This week we learned about body parts, and cowboys, and drug dealers.  And then, we read our horoscopes.  Oh yeah, you wish your life was as cool as mine.  

Unfortunately according to the horoscopes, everyone in the class was supposed to be best friends forever…except for me.  I was the only lonely Libra, and all the other signs that were represented were either supposed to dislike me, or not care.   No worries, I’m planning on breaking the mold.  I will be the most unlibra-like-libra ever and it will be fine.  Conforming is for ninnies.

We also went hiking in El Tajo (the Gorge).  I really, really can’t describe to you how awesome it is.  A picture is worth a thousand words and whatnot, but this doesn’t even begin to do it justice.  It’s like showing someone a picture of bread, and asking them to understand how delicious it is.  It can’t be done.

  

I mean seriously.  We look photo-shopped into the foreground of a fairytale kingdom.  

But no, that's just how awesome my life is right now. 

¿Dónde Está Mi Pan?

My host family consists of the nicest woman (who makes the best food), and her son, Jose.  Paqui, the mom, is always super talkative, and tells me all about her life, and her clases de pintura, (painting classes) and her singing group.  Jose doesn't really talk to me...it's kind of a coin toss over whether he's just shy or he hates me.  

I choose to believe that he's shy. 

It's hard to tell.  

Paqui, however, is ridiculously nice.  She lets me help set the table, but other than that she won't let me do anything to help her around the house.  I started cleaning up after my breakfast, and washing my dishes...because you know...it makes sense, and it seems like the right thing to do, right?  

No. 

Apparently that is NOT correct, because after she talked to me about it once, she started hiding the kitchen trashcan in the mornings so I couldn't help clean up.  Crazy sweet.  

Paqui and I have worked out a really good communication system that involves a lot of hand motions, noises and pantomiming.  It's especially interesting when we're trying to talk about animals....

One of the hardest conversations we've had so far, is me trying to teach her (in broken Spanish)  how to use her remote control and DVD player.   

Let's suffice it to say that electronics are hard enough in English...add Spanish and it's a regular 'Who's on First?'

But, it's getting better everyday.  So, when I return to the New World, I will either be proficient in Spanish or the reigning world champion in charades.   Too soon to tell.  

Another difficult thing is that I don't know where anything is, or where it's supposed to go.  Paqui always leaves breakfast out for me, but this morning she only left jam and butter, and forgot to leave out the bread and milk.  Jam and butter, though delicious, aren't particularly something I'm interested in eating plain.  I wasn't sure what to do, so I just ate some fruit and went on my way.  When I got home from school, Paqui laughed at me, and told me I was ridiculous.   So, today I learned that it's ok to search the cabinets if something doesn't seem quite right...like a jam and butter breakfast!

I'm learning, and I'm loving Ronda, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Going to Spain, Following Jesus, Taking Siestas, and Loving Life

I finally started a blog!  About two weeks after I was supposed to...but since you all know me, that probably doesn't come as a great surprise.

The flight here was really good.  To my GREAT relief, everyone on the plane and in the airports spoke English.  To my GREAT frustration, I realized I couldn't understand a word of Spanish when spoken with the Andalusian lisp.  It's ok though, I'm slowly but surely getting there.  I can now understand my host mom (she uses easy words and speaks at snail speed)  and two out of my three teachers!

I am officially in true love with Ronda.  Seriously, I'm obsessed.

On our first day, we went on a tour of La Ciudad Antigua (or the old part of the city).  Jesus, our tour guide was super funny and would say everything in Spanish, look at our confused faces, and then repeat it in English.  We learned all about El Tajo (the gorge, not the river)  and the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge)  which is over 200 years old, and is only called the '"new bridge" because the other two bridges are even older!   Seriously, this is like a history kid's dream come true.   

I'm also obsessed with the idea of the siesta.  I have absolutely NO idea why we don't have them in the U.S.  They are perfect.  You just get to nap, and no one makes fun of you.  Perfecto.

Hasta Luego,

Kayla de Espana