I would like to begin by saying that I have had three apples so far, and each one has been incredible. I know that is no of value, but a useful tidbit none the less.
So, what do I have to say that I have not already said!? Hrmm....
Well, yesterday I went to a cafe with a few friends, had a drink and got a free tapa of a plate of fresh shrimp. If I ate seafood, I would be all excited. However, I do not. It was still impressive though. My goal now, is to find someone to try boquerones with me, which is fried ANCHOVIES. I have actually found that Spain surprisingly really likes to deep fry. I mean, more power to them, but its still a pretty bad for you life choice.
I finally pinpointed a way to describe this place, it is half way between Italy and Miami, there is gelato and cafes on every corner, people smoke and are really tan and wear skimpy clothing, and eat deep fried things. There is no McDonalds or Starbucks, but there is a Pizza Hut and a Burger King. I find it wierd that they imported such gross restaruants here, Pizza Hut, really!? Even Domino´s is better. Its extremely hot, but not steamy. The dry heat actually lets my hair dry significantly faster. I was impressed by that.
Walking to school today, I realized that naming my dog Pablo is cool, but naming it Ignacio is even better! I will call him Nacho, and it will be grand.
The weekend after this one, I will have four days off. I have heard some talk of driving to Portugal, so I may get into this whole idea. We´ll see. But, seriously, it would be incredible.
I will try to post pictures on Sunday, if possible. I have only taken a few, but I hope to catch up in the next few weeks.
Sorry. I am just rambling right now, but I hope all is well and I miss everyone so much and thats about it!
Love Love Love,
Me.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Some Description ....
First, we shall start with the food. Since everyone seems to be interested...what am I eating? Well, a lot of carbs. A LOT! My host mom prepares a light breakfast that I had already mentioned. I have a two hour break between my classes at 11 and 1, so I usually go out for coffee, sometimes a small baked good is ordered. Yesterday, we had, what I always thought was a traditional Mexican dish, but is actually of Spanish origin (unlike nachos or burritos!): churros and chocolate (as in cho-co-la-tay, hot chocolate) Splitting an order of churros seemed like a good idea. Ordered together at Cafe Futbol, about one block from my school, first came the chocolate. The consistancy of hot, melting pudding, it was pretty rich and creamy, but definitely had some gelatin for thickener and was not as sweet as I had imagined. The churros, well, I expected we´d each get one, about a foot long, and an inch in diameter, a la the US Churro stands. But alas, its was completely different, a plate of about ten churros came out, the size of a hot dog. They are really just fried soft dough that isn´t even sugared, like a donut, but less sweet. So the chocolate is a neccesity if you´re craving something sweet. Overall, a very delicious and traditional snack. Also, extremely healthy. haha.
My senora packs me bocadillos to eat if I don´t get home for siesta hours, and a bocadillo is..... A SANDWICH!!! WOW!!! So unique. Yesterday, I had some chicken noodle soup that was homemade, and a grilled tuna sammich...yupp!! What surprises me is that my señora gives me huge portions! I got a huge bowl of soup, and one and a half sandwiches. Yeah. A LOT. Also, a huge plate of cut up melon, and brie cheese and crackers, and bread. All for our SMALLER meal. I´ve had chicken fried up with french fries, a salad of pasta, tuna and fresh cheese, a potato omlette with fried eggplant, and well, that´s all I can remember. Yeah, the thing that surprises me is the portion my Señora gives me, and that she takes approxiamately the same amount and finishes it all and still remains a normal size. I do not exactly understand how this happens, but it does, so I hope that I can somehow follow in her footsteps.
In general, there is a lot of ice cream here, and a lot of bakeries and croissanteries. Unfortunately, Spain does not seems to love candy as much as I do, but thats okay because I get to have some croissants whenever I want (although I have yet to really have one!). I live right next to a bakery and pass it every morning on my way to school...but so far, I haven´t actualy gone in. I also pass about four during my walk to class.
My House:
I live in a sky rise, for Granada standards, so about 7 stories, a little outside of the actual city, near the train and bus stops. I walk through the new part of town, near the University of Granada, and it takes about 35 minutes for me to get home. Its more difficult than its sounds because there is little shade and the hottest part of the day is also the time I walk home. Yay! My apartment is nice, there are marble floors, and plenty of space. The living room is really clean, actually all of the place is really clean, so I am always on my best behavior. The walls are painted in fun colors, my room is blue, the living room is the exact same color as my parents bedroom. There are paintings and prints, and also, A LOT of Christian memorbilia. A picture of Mary weeping lies directly above my bed, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but I´m pretty much over it.
Getting Lost:
I used to think I was good at directions, and had a pretty natural sense of which way is up. I no longer feel that way. Although I have been given numerous tours of our school-area, I have yet to have any idea where I am. I am hoping that I by getting lost I will inherently learn how to get around. We´ll see how that pans out.
======================================
I originally started this post as school, but I am back at the internet cafe and felt I should add some things. Today, I ate pasta with tomato sauce, and croquettas, deep fried dough with a chicken base, pretty good, pretty healthy. Seriously, how do these people remain normal sized!? I then sat around with my señora and told her about Jewish holidays, she asked and was interested. She told me how she is interested in the culture and believes in Christianity more than Catholicism and that she doesn´t really thinks it a big deal that I am Jewish. Seriously, I was really happy to hear her say that, and also, pretty surprised. Seeing as Spain is a really really Catholic nation, you really never know what to expect with people. Also, a REALLY funny thing happend.
Today, my senora told me to eat more, when I politely declined, she said something along the lines of ¨Am I not your Spanish mom!?¨ To which I replied, yeah, you are....Haha!! She is now my madre! Its over, sorry mom!! (PS She hates cats too, she would have a dog if she didn´t live in an apartment) Yeah, turns out, I like my señora, she´s really nice and friendly, and understands how stupid I truly am with Spanish...haha. WAY BETTER THAN MY REAL MOM!!! Obviously, totally kidding, I miss you momsky!
Yeah, just to clarify, no one speaks English in the house except me. That is in response to question, I am not trying to impress anyone, because trust me, I suck at Spanish. Takes a trip to Spain to realize how much I truly blow at the language. Oh well, I am here to learn, no?
My host mom had one student before, her name was Amanda, she was from Wisconsin, and was apparently pretty fat. My host mom kept telling me about how much Amanda ate, and how I little I do in comparison, and that Amanda came looking for a Spanish boyfriend, and how there was one for a day, and that she ate a lot of sweets, and that her dad had never left Wisconsin, and that she was always eating. Yeah, I think thats about all. She really reiterated how big Amanda was, and I kept thinking, ¨I am not that skinny by any standards¨ but whatever I guess. I feel that maybe a reason I am not cleaning my plate, also because a giant bowl of pasta now scares me. SO MANY CARBS!!! Side note: They love the candy I brought them.
Everyday on my walk to class, a guy hands me a free Spanish newspaper, so I read that now. Did you know that 20% of Spainards admit to being racist toward latin american people, and 77% don´t like muslims!!? CRAZY stuff.
I am really surround by computer nerds here, seriously, its all dorky Spanish guys, who look eerily similar to dorky american guys, down to the ´too comfortable´clothes. Also, I really need to take more pictures, I keep only taking a few, and thats pretty lame. They are pretty much all of the Alhambra, which was pretty much life altering for me. This weekend, I am going on a required group camping trips in the montañas of Spain, and let´s just say, I am not looking forward to it. I am not a nature person, but I guess we´ll all bond, or something. I dunno, I guess thats about all.
I miss everyone so much its not even funny. I have simaltaneous feelings of awe and amazing, c´mon now, I am LIVING IN FREAKING SPAIN!!! And sadness that the only way I can experience it with those I love is through words on this damn blog. I really hope that plans to visit me work out, because I am already planning walking tours and finding good bars and doing everything!! I mean, this will be my city by then, at least I hope.
Adios! Besos and Abrazos!
My senora packs me bocadillos to eat if I don´t get home for siesta hours, and a bocadillo is..... A SANDWICH!!! WOW!!! So unique. Yesterday, I had some chicken noodle soup that was homemade, and a grilled tuna sammich...yupp!! What surprises me is that my señora gives me huge portions! I got a huge bowl of soup, and one and a half sandwiches. Yeah. A LOT. Also, a huge plate of cut up melon, and brie cheese and crackers, and bread. All for our SMALLER meal. I´ve had chicken fried up with french fries, a salad of pasta, tuna and fresh cheese, a potato omlette with fried eggplant, and well, that´s all I can remember. Yeah, the thing that surprises me is the portion my Señora gives me, and that she takes approxiamately the same amount and finishes it all and still remains a normal size. I do not exactly understand how this happens, but it does, so I hope that I can somehow follow in her footsteps.
In general, there is a lot of ice cream here, and a lot of bakeries and croissanteries. Unfortunately, Spain does not seems to love candy as much as I do, but thats okay because I get to have some croissants whenever I want (although I have yet to really have one!). I live right next to a bakery and pass it every morning on my way to school...but so far, I haven´t actualy gone in. I also pass about four during my walk to class.
My House:
I live in a sky rise, for Granada standards, so about 7 stories, a little outside of the actual city, near the train and bus stops. I walk through the new part of town, near the University of Granada, and it takes about 35 minutes for me to get home. Its more difficult than its sounds because there is little shade and the hottest part of the day is also the time I walk home. Yay! My apartment is nice, there are marble floors, and plenty of space. The living room is really clean, actually all of the place is really clean, so I am always on my best behavior. The walls are painted in fun colors, my room is blue, the living room is the exact same color as my parents bedroom. There are paintings and prints, and also, A LOT of Christian memorbilia. A picture of Mary weeping lies directly above my bed, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but I´m pretty much over it.
Getting Lost:
I used to think I was good at directions, and had a pretty natural sense of which way is up. I no longer feel that way. Although I have been given numerous tours of our school-area, I have yet to have any idea where I am. I am hoping that I by getting lost I will inherently learn how to get around. We´ll see how that pans out.
======================================
I originally started this post as school, but I am back at the internet cafe and felt I should add some things. Today, I ate pasta with tomato sauce, and croquettas, deep fried dough with a chicken base, pretty good, pretty healthy. Seriously, how do these people remain normal sized!? I then sat around with my señora and told her about Jewish holidays, she asked and was interested. She told me how she is interested in the culture and believes in Christianity more than Catholicism and that she doesn´t really thinks it a big deal that I am Jewish. Seriously, I was really happy to hear her say that, and also, pretty surprised. Seeing as Spain is a really really Catholic nation, you really never know what to expect with people. Also, a REALLY funny thing happend.
Today, my senora told me to eat more, when I politely declined, she said something along the lines of ¨Am I not your Spanish mom!?¨ To which I replied, yeah, you are....Haha!! She is now my madre! Its over, sorry mom!! (PS She hates cats too, she would have a dog if she didn´t live in an apartment) Yeah, turns out, I like my señora, she´s really nice and friendly, and understands how stupid I truly am with Spanish...haha. WAY BETTER THAN MY REAL MOM!!! Obviously, totally kidding, I miss you momsky!
Yeah, just to clarify, no one speaks English in the house except me. That is in response to question, I am not trying to impress anyone, because trust me, I suck at Spanish. Takes a trip to Spain to realize how much I truly blow at the language. Oh well, I am here to learn, no?
My host mom had one student before, her name was Amanda, she was from Wisconsin, and was apparently pretty fat. My host mom kept telling me about how much Amanda ate, and how I little I do in comparison, and that Amanda came looking for a Spanish boyfriend, and how there was one for a day, and that she ate a lot of sweets, and that her dad had never left Wisconsin, and that she was always eating. Yeah, I think thats about all. She really reiterated how big Amanda was, and I kept thinking, ¨I am not that skinny by any standards¨ but whatever I guess. I feel that maybe a reason I am not cleaning my plate, also because a giant bowl of pasta now scares me. SO MANY CARBS!!! Side note: They love the candy I brought them.
Everyday on my walk to class, a guy hands me a free Spanish newspaper, so I read that now. Did you know that 20% of Spainards admit to being racist toward latin american people, and 77% don´t like muslims!!? CRAZY stuff.
I am really surround by computer nerds here, seriously, its all dorky Spanish guys, who look eerily similar to dorky american guys, down to the ´too comfortable´clothes. Also, I really need to take more pictures, I keep only taking a few, and thats pretty lame. They are pretty much all of the Alhambra, which was pretty much life altering for me. This weekend, I am going on a required group camping trips in the montañas of Spain, and let´s just say, I am not looking forward to it. I am not a nature person, but I guess we´ll all bond, or something. I dunno, I guess thats about all.
I miss everyone so much its not even funny. I have simaltaneous feelings of awe and amazing, c´mon now, I am LIVING IN FREAKING SPAIN!!! And sadness that the only way I can experience it with those I love is through words on this damn blog. I really hope that plans to visit me work out, because I am already planning walking tours and finding good bars and doing everything!! I mean, this will be my city by then, at least I hope.
Adios! Besos and Abrazos!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A Little Less Scattered
Hey Guys,
I feel like my last post was a little scattered, so I hope this one is clearer. I am actually at my school right now, waiting for another, I dunno, two hours, until my next class. I would like to apologize for NOT answering yesterday, I kept not hearing my phone in general, and at one point, I went to answer, and as I picked up the phone it said ¨missed call¨, pretty sad right!? Well, happy birthday!!!! I´ll try again today and hopefully I will be on it and you´ll answer!
Alright, well, yesterday I actually went out and explored Granada at night. I few fellow classmates and I wandered about the town. Its still amazing to me that at ten at night, there are children still getting ice cream with their parents, and that the streets are flooded with people of all ages. From tiny babies to tiny old people. I got a melon gelato, sorry, couldn´t deny it, and walked a little less than two miles to meet with some people. Stopping in a few bars for some drinks, we got some pretty sweet free tapas (a small tuna sandwich and olives) but I just wasn´t very hungry, so I didn´t actually eat it. Now that I think about it, it could have easily been the grossest sandwich in the world, but hey, it looked nice!
It was a nice chill out, I went home and to sleep at around three am, when a few other people actually kept going and hit up a discoteca. I am actually happy with that choice, because, although I did take a two hour nap yesterday, I still don´t think three hours of sleep is ever a good idea! The whole time thing here is really different to what I am used to, but I am slowly acclimating, which is good.
Every morning, my senora wakes up especially to make me a cafe con leche, and throws me a few madalenas(I don´t know if that is spelled right). Its pretty much mini, super sweet muffins. Apparently, there is not nutella and toast here in Spain, its madalenas, which is cool too, I guess. I kind of was excited to have nutella. To furthur clearly describe cafe con leche, one must know that it is much creamier than a latte. I am fairly sure its half weak espresso and half cream. Yes, that seems about right. Although I have had at it many a restaurant, I would still have to say that I like my host mom´s version the best. Funny, no?
My walk to class is about 40 minutes, and I am actually not walking too slow. It takes me past through, well, nothing special, seems like I got screwed on the pretty views of the city. Today, in an effort to shorten my trip, I got lost but thats okay, I found my way back, and that is what is more important.....????
I guess thats about all for now. Miss you all!! Love you all (unless I don´t know you)
I feel like my last post was a little scattered, so I hope this one is clearer. I am actually at my school right now, waiting for another, I dunno, two hours, until my next class. I would like to apologize for NOT answering yesterday, I kept not hearing my phone in general, and at one point, I went to answer, and as I picked up the phone it said ¨missed call¨, pretty sad right!? Well, happy birthday!!!! I´ll try again today and hopefully I will be on it and you´ll answer!
Alright, well, yesterday I actually went out and explored Granada at night. I few fellow classmates and I wandered about the town. Its still amazing to me that at ten at night, there are children still getting ice cream with their parents, and that the streets are flooded with people of all ages. From tiny babies to tiny old people. I got a melon gelato, sorry, couldn´t deny it, and walked a little less than two miles to meet with some people. Stopping in a few bars for some drinks, we got some pretty sweet free tapas (a small tuna sandwich and olives) but I just wasn´t very hungry, so I didn´t actually eat it. Now that I think about it, it could have easily been the grossest sandwich in the world, but hey, it looked nice!
It was a nice chill out, I went home and to sleep at around three am, when a few other people actually kept going and hit up a discoteca. I am actually happy with that choice, because, although I did take a two hour nap yesterday, I still don´t think three hours of sleep is ever a good idea! The whole time thing here is really different to what I am used to, but I am slowly acclimating, which is good.
Every morning, my senora wakes up especially to make me a cafe con leche, and throws me a few madalenas(I don´t know if that is spelled right). Its pretty much mini, super sweet muffins. Apparently, there is not nutella and toast here in Spain, its madalenas, which is cool too, I guess. I kind of was excited to have nutella. To furthur clearly describe cafe con leche, one must know that it is much creamier than a latte. I am fairly sure its half weak espresso and half cream. Yes, that seems about right. Although I have had at it many a restaurant, I would still have to say that I like my host mom´s version the best. Funny, no?
My walk to class is about 40 minutes, and I am actually not walking too slow. It takes me past through, well, nothing special, seems like I got screwed on the pretty views of the city. Today, in an effort to shorten my trip, I got lost but thats okay, I found my way back, and that is what is more important.....????
I guess thats about all for now. Miss you all!! Love you all (unless I don´t know you)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Surrounded by Computer Nerds
So, I have returned to BitWeb, my internet cafe of Choice, which is currently packed to capacity with computer nerds! Yeah!
Well, I had my first day of class today, and it was okay. I mean, our classses are small, and intimate, which definitely makes speaking less intimidating. Other than that, nothing special. My teachers seem nice enough, and everyone is okay.
It is incredibly hot, and I live very far away, so my walk today was a little worse than I expected.
In between classes, I actually had a cafe con leche with a few classmates in a little plaza in Granada, it was incredible. Sitting in the shade at noon in Spain, people and dog watching (there seem to be a lot of dogs here in Spain) we just spent a few minutes breathing in what was now our life. It was amazing, and then, a lady carrying a tiny amplifier, a microphone, and wearing high waisted green pants (sounds fashionable, was definitely not) showed up and began to sing. Right infront of where we were sitting. Then, after she sang, she asked for money. But during her concert, she just sang and sang, for what seemed like no apparent reason. That was a bit funny.
Ohh, MADONNA IS PLAYING. It seems like everywhere one goes in Spain, be it a internet cafe, a regular cafe, a nice restaurant, a discotheque, the music remains the same American hits and Dance beats mix. Seriously, this is the soundtrack of Granada Spain if there ever was one.
Also, I was speaking with my host mom´s daughter, my host sister, and she told me about Spain´s feelings toward Portugal, and I realized something...
Portugal is Spain´s CANADA!!! HILARIOUS!!!!
Also,
HAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
BBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHDDDDDAAAAAAAAYYYYY
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
the end for now!!!
Well, I had my first day of class today, and it was okay. I mean, our classses are small, and intimate, which definitely makes speaking less intimidating. Other than that, nothing special. My teachers seem nice enough, and everyone is okay.
It is incredibly hot, and I live very far away, so my walk today was a little worse than I expected.
In between classes, I actually had a cafe con leche with a few classmates in a little plaza in Granada, it was incredible. Sitting in the shade at noon in Spain, people and dog watching (there seem to be a lot of dogs here in Spain) we just spent a few minutes breathing in what was now our life. It was amazing, and then, a lady carrying a tiny amplifier, a microphone, and wearing high waisted green pants (sounds fashionable, was definitely not) showed up and began to sing. Right infront of where we were sitting. Then, after she sang, she asked for money. But during her concert, she just sang and sang, for what seemed like no apparent reason. That was a bit funny.
Ohh, MADONNA IS PLAYING. It seems like everywhere one goes in Spain, be it a internet cafe, a regular cafe, a nice restaurant, a discotheque, the music remains the same American hits and Dance beats mix. Seriously, this is the soundtrack of Granada Spain if there ever was one.
Also, I was speaking with my host mom´s daughter, my host sister, and she told me about Spain´s feelings toward Portugal, and I realized something...
Portugal is Spain´s CANADA!!! HILARIOUS!!!!
Also,
HAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
BBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHDDDDDAAAAAAAAYYYYY
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
the end for now!!!
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