A long walk, Week 3: Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday:

Today Bailey and I went, once again, to the library to get books for our history papers. My paper is a biography of Hernán Cortés.

Lunch: Chicken and rice, it tasted like home :)

The computer lab at school

Most of the kids in our class are going to Peñafiel, a little town with a castle, this weekend. Bailey and I walked to the bus station today to buy our tickets ahead of time and to find out how much they were for everyone else. The walk was about 1.7 miles one way, and it was 100 degrees. 100 degrees here is not as bad as home because there's no humidity (it was 11%) but it was still a long walk for that weather. When we got there, the ticket seller told us that we can't buy the tickets ahead of time and we have to get them on Saturday. Although it was a good walk, it was still frustrating. We didn't even remember to ask how much they would cost. We went back to the school for movie night right after our walk.

Supper: Tortillas de patatas

Thursday:

Lunch: Fried ham and cheese things, pasta, yogurt

We took a long siesta today, then went to the school and worked on homework in the computer lab for a couple hours. For our conversation “test” tomorrow, we'll be given a topic, and we just have to talk to each other (in pairs) in front of the professor for ten minutes. Bailey and I went over the possible topics and practiced conversing for awhile. We won't find out which topic we'll have until tomorrow. The possible topics are: my life in Spain, cultural stereotypes of Spaniards and Americans, food and drink, and cultural differences between Spain and the U.S.

Supper: Salad, eggs, french fries, and peaches (melocotones). I think they peel their peaches here too.

Run: 1.5 miles, then workout stations on beach

Shopping and Basketball: Week 3, Monday and Tuesday

Monday

I woke up at 7:40 this morning, so getting ready was a little frantic. I was actually thankful for having a really small breakfast so I could consume it in about 30 seconds. I still made it to class on time.

Plaza de toros in Valladolid

My history presentation went fine. We got to do them from our seats again, and for some reason that makes them SO much better. At the start of every class, Sergio asks us if we have questions about anything. In literature, evidently a group planned ahead, because they asked Sergio as many questions as they could about what to see in Valladolid, castles near here, what to do in Barcelona, methods of transportation, and good things for kids to do here (because one of the girls brought her son). Sergio played along and answered all the questions and gave us lots of information. By the time the class was half over, he was encouraging us to ask more questions so we didn't have to start our literature topic. He said we're not allowed to ask any questions in class tomorrow :) I must be taking a lot of notes in my classes or all my pens are reaching their end at the same time, because I've thrown away four already. I think I only have one left.

Plaza de toros in Valladolid

After school, Bailey and I went to the library and got library cards. We didn't have time to check out anything because we had to go home for lunch, but I might go back tomorrow during my school break.

Lunch: Garbanzo beans with potatoes and hot dogs with yogurt on the side

El Corte Inglés

We had plans to see Spiderman, but when we got to the theater we found out they were only playing it in 3D, which we didn't want. Instead, we took a city bus to the plaza de toros and El Corte Inglés. We've been to the other El Corte Inglés in Valladolid, but this one is much, much bigger. It's the biggest department store I've ever been in. I believe it had six floors, and every floor is massive. All the products ranged from generic and cheap to name brand and really expensive. For example, some purses were in separate rooms for certain designers. We went in the Carolina Herrera section, and Bailey saw that a tiny wallet was 70 euro. We left the are before I checked the price of a big purse though because the clerk was giving us a look that said: “You're not going to buy anything so why are you in here?” I bought a dress (yes, that's right, I said dress) and a shirt for 30 euro. No more clothes shopping for me.

Supper: Ham omelets and yogurt

Run: 2.5 miles

Tuesday:

Today on my school break I went back to the library, got myself acquainted with the layout, and checked out a book for my literature paper.

Lunch: Stew with veal and potatoes

Today was a pretty hot day, in the mid 90s. Tomorrow's supposed to be in the upper 90s as well, but then I think it's supposed to cool down again after that. Bailey and I went to the beach for a little while, then to the school for homework. We also bought tickets to go to Barcelona August 3-5.

Supper: Hot dog type sausages, french fries (always homemade!), salad, and watermelon

Bailey bought a basketball last week so tonight we went to the beach and played 2 on 2 with the guys. I was no good but it was still fun.

Segovia and Sculptures: Week 2, Saturday and Sunday

Saturday:

Gardens at La Granja

This morning we met the rest of our class at Plaza San Pablo for our trip to Segovia. We hadn't been to Plaza San Pablo yet even though it's just down the street from our apartment. It also has an amazing church, la iglesia de San Pablo, that was built in the 16^th century. We took the bus for a little over an hour and first we stopped at La Granja, which is a little town just outside of Segovia. There was a palace there and enormous gardens that we explored for a little while.

Cathedral in Segovia

When we got to Segovia, we got off the bus at the aqueducts, a two thousand year old Roman structure that they used to transport water through the city.  What is amazing about them is that the Romans didn't use anything to bond the stones together. They're just held together by gravity and the tension in the arches.

Sergio led us down the main street of Segovia, past shops and restaurants, and we stopped to look at the the cathedral of Segovia.  It was one of my favorite buildings so far because I love Gothic architecture.

El Alcázar in Segovia

We continued walking until we reached El Alcázar, a mix between a castle and a palace built in the sixteenth century. The tour of the Alcázar was amazing. It was full of suits of armor, furniture, tapestries, paintings, murals, stain glass windows, weapons, and had different ceilings in every room. We could also go outside on the walls. We climbed up a narrow spiral staircase of 152 steep stairs to the top of the tower, where we had a great view of Segovia. I have a lot more photos, mainly of the Alcázar and the aqueducts, on Facebook. To see them go to:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3553695803896.2132207.1317690207&type=3&l=6a42a74eb4 . We used the rest of our free time to go shopping before we got back on the bus.

Back in Valladolid, Alberto showed us more of his favorite places to go for tapas. They were delicious and very inexpensive.

Sculptures, Week 2: Sunday

Aqueducts in Segovia

Today we had a class trip to the sculpture museum in Valladolid. The pieces were really awesome, but I kind of wish we could have gone through on our own rather than had a guided tour. The guide talked for a long time about some pieces then sped us past others. Otherwise we just did homework for the rest of the day because I have a presentation about the conquest of the Aztecs tomorrow.

The Food is Looking at Me, Week 2: Wed, Thurs, Fri

Here Comes the Sun, Week 2: Wednesday

Medieval bridge in Simancas

Lunch: Sunny side up egg on rice with bread and a dessert called “natillas,” which is a kind of eggy pudding with cinnamon on top.

We went to the beach for an hour to lay out and read, then went to school for movie night, which was “El hijo de la novia,” or The Son of the Bride.

Supper: Chicken noodle soup, bread, watermelon, and “empanadillas de jamón y atún,” or small fried pockets of ham and tuna, which were amazing.

Mercedes' daughter is here and she was talking about how picky of an eater she is (she says she'll only eat four things). She said all the students she has eat and like everything she makes, but her own daughter barely eats anything!

Run: 2.25 miles

The Food is Looking at Me, Week 2: Thursday

In literature I had my first test today. I didn't do perfect, but it went fine.

Lunch: Chicken cooked in white wine with french fries

In Spain, if you're walking towards someone on the sidewalk or street, they don't move out of the way. If you play chicken with a Spaniard, you will always move first or just run into them. I wonder what happens when two Spaniards are walking towards each other, because I don't think anyone ever moves.

Medieval bridge in Simancas

In the afternoon, we met the guys at the beach and laid out for a long time and waded a bit in the river. After, Bailey and I went shopping. We both bought one shirt each.

The one fear I had before coming here was eating a fish or some type of food that was whole on the table in front of me, that still had eyes and all its parts. Well, tonight we had shrimp, which I LOVE to eat. However, tonight on the table in front of us were shrimp that still had their eyes, heads, tails, leg things, and feeler things. Bailey took the first one, and Mercedes showed us how to eat them: rip off the head, the tail, the leg things, and peel off the harder skin on the outside. We took it really well and ate a couple as I tried to avoid looking at them, but as soon as Mercedes went to the kitchen to get something, we looked at each other in horror! I was a little traumatized. They tasted great, but it was difficult for me to take them apart. I now appreciate what has to be done to shrimp to eat them, and I still love the taste, but I will never look at them the same way again.

Simancas, Week 2: Friday

This morning I had a history test and it went really well.

Lunch: Potatoes, scalloped, and pork chops

Castle in Simancas

We met Alex, another girl from the school, at Plaza Zorilla and took a city bus to Simancas, a little town just outside of Valladolid. To get into town, we crossed a medieval bridge from the middle ages. The town is built on the side of a hill and has incredibly steep streets. We walked up them to the castle, which was impressive on the outside. The inside was a little disappointing though because it had been turned into an archive, they made the interior look modern, and we only got to go in two rooms. We also walked to the cathedral and took a few pictures, and met an older couple from France there that took a picture of us. We walked back down to the edge of town to check out a cemetery that looked impressive from above, but it was already closed for the day.

Cathedral in Simancas

We took the bus back to Valladolid and got frozen yogurt at Smöoy again. Just yesterday, we read in the newspaper that Spain is raising its taxes from 18% to 21%. Mercedes said it has never been like this before. We saw on the news that there are protests all over Spain. At a plaza near the frozen yogurt place, a large group of people was forming, including the police, and people were protesting over megaphones. We avoided the crowd and went home.

Supper: salad, eggs, watermelon, bread

I can't believe we've already been here two weeks. It has gone so fast. Tomorrow we're taking a school trip to Segovia!

To see more pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3553695803896.2132207.1317690207&type=3&l=6a42a74eb4

Homework and Jungle Gyms! Week 2, Monday and Tueday

Monday:

Cúpula del Milenio

Today Bailey and I were both struggling to stay awake in our classes. Although we got a decent amount of sleep last night, our lack of sleep from the night before must have carried over.

When we got back for lunch, Mercedes' daughter and son-in-law were eating lunch before us. They talked to us a little bit and were really nice. For lunch we had a plate of garbanzo beans, potatoes, carrots, and hard boiled eggs.

We both have presentations in history tomorrow, so after our siestas we went back to school and used the internet for four hours. My presentation is about the wedding of Isabel, the oldest daughter of the Spanish king and queen Ferdinand and Isabella (back in the 1400s).

Supper consisted of sunny-side-up eggs, french fries, and watermelon (strange combination, right?).

After we watched the news, Bailey and I ran for two miles along the river.

Awesome jungle gym!

Tuesday:

Today, for our “presentations” in history, we got to do them from our seats, so it was laid back and easy.

It still hasn't rained once and it doesn't look like it will. The temperature is perfect, we don't have and don't need air conditioning.

Lunch: pasta, bread, watermelon, and what we think was pork chops, but I'm not sure if she ever said what they were called.

Baby peacock!

After siesta and homework, we met the guys near the beach and walked north along the river until the trail ended (the north edge of Valladolid), then crossed the river to the west and checked out the Cúpula del Milenio, a big building shaped like a soccer ball that lights up at night and hosts concerts and events. Outside was an awesome jungle gym that didn't have any kids on it, so we climbed on it and hung out. We also sat by a fountain on the river and went to El Campo Grande to check out the peacocks again.

Supper: bread, salad, apple, tortillas patatas

To bed early!

Madrid! Week 1: Saturday and Sunday

Our hostel

Saturday morning we slept in, then walked to the train station and met Jon and Zou to go to Madrid.  It was a high speed train, and got up to 300 km/hr (186 MPH), but when we were looking out the windows it didn't seem like it was going that fast.  It took about 50 minutes to get to Madrid.  From the train station we took the metro to get to our hostel.

Banco de Madrid

Our hostel was very nice, much better than I imagined a hostel to be.  It was just like a hotel except that the rooms had three bunk beds each.  There were two other Spanish speakers in the room with us.  They seemed nice but didn't say much.  The hostel also had a computer lab, a billiards room, and included breakfast in the morning.  To see more pictures than I have, go to the website ajmadrid.es.  All of the other people staying there seemed to be our age.  When we were waiting to check in, another couple there said they were from Vancouver and had been backpacking for the last three months (WOW!)  The people working there were all very nice, gave directions and maps, and also spoke English.

Palacio del Cristal

After checking in at the hostel and leaving some things in the lockers there, we walked down a main street in Madrid that had huge, beautiful buildings until we reached El Parque del Retiro, a massive park that included a lake that people could rent paddle boats on.  In the park, we went in el Palacio de Velásquez and el Palacio del Cristal, which both had art inside.

Next we made our way to El Prado, a world famous art museum that contained the works of Goya, Velásquez, Rembrandt, and many, many more.  It was really exciting to see paintings that I had learned about back home at UNK.

El Palacio Real

Next we walked (and walked, and walked, I calculated we walked 7-10 miles in Madrid) to Puerta del Sol, a famous, super crowded plaza that includes kilometer 0, the point from which all the major roads in Spain originate.  Nearby was La Plaza Mayor, and we found a couple tapas places for supper.

Templo de Debod

After eating, we went to El Palacio Real (the royal palace), and then a park where an Egyptian temple had been reconstructed, called Templo de Debod.  We went back to the hostel to change, and Jon, Bailey, and I went to a nearby club.  We wanted to check out the seven story club, but it was a long way from our hostel and we didn't want to walk that far.  The one we found was really awesome though.  It was kind of small, but the music was good and some people were dancing, so we hung out there.

Sunday morning, after we checked out of the hostel, we took the metro to la Plaza de Toros de las Ventas, where the bullfights are.  We couldn't see a bullfight (and I'm still not sure I'd want to) but we went in the bullfighting museum there.  Afterward, we went back to the train station and returned to Valladolid.

To see more pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3553695803896.2132207.1317690207&type=1&l=6a42a74eb4

Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas

Discoveries, Week 1: Friday

Casa de Cervantes

Train Station

This morning, my alarm went off at 6:30, but I fell back asleep and woke up at 7:30. My hair was a mess, but I still had breakfast and made it to class on time at 8:00. I guess I've reached the point where I have to set my alarm across the room so I have to go get it. The classes here normally start about ten minutes late. Being on time isn't really a big deal here. Most of us students still make a point to be exactly on time, but the professors will chat with people outside or work in the computer lab until they feel like going to class. It's kind of nice :)

El Palacio De Santa Cruz

For lunch we had “sopa con lentejas, zanahorias, patatas, y chorizo,” lentil soup with carrots, potatoes, and sausage. We also tried “café con helado,” coffee with ice cream, which was pretty good until the ice cream was gone :)

We skipped siesta and met the guys at the tourism office to rent bikes for free. Bailey and I got bikes, but we found out they only had two available at the time. As a result, we didn't ride them very much and returned them, but now we know how to get them in the future.

University of Valladolid

Next all of us went to the train station to see where we would be leaving tomorrow, then we rested at a place calle La Plaza Circular and watched some kids play soccer. We also saw the house of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of “Don Quixote de la Mancha.” We also walked inside “El Palacio de Santa Cruz” (see pics for all the buildings) and the University of Valladolid. We walked around the cathedral of Valladolid, but it was already closed, so we'll have to go back another day to see the inside. Next to the cathedral was another beautiful church called “La iglesia de Santa María de la Antigua.” It was a day full of seeing many, many impressive buildings. There were several cafes by the cathedral, and we talked about how strange it is that, for some people, eating lunch next to a cathedral is a normal, everyday thing.

La iglesia de Santa María de la Antigua

Cathedral of Valladolid

On our way home, Bailey and I walked by “La Real Iglesia de San Miguel y San Julían,” a church we've been by many times, but tonight the doors were open. The altar was breathtaking so we stood in the doors and took a picture.

For supper, we had chicken noodle soup again with “salchichas,” pieces of sausage shaped like hot dogs. Afterward, we watched the news for a little while. Tomorrow is the running of the bulls in Pamplona, which is one thing I absolutely don't have any desire to see in person. From what it looked like on the news, Pamplona is already full of crazy, drunk people. I will happily go to Madrid tomorrow instead :)

La Real Iglesia de San Miguel y San Julían

Bailey and I found a bar near our apartment that has Wifi, so we went there to use the internet. The man that ran the bar was very nice. He gave us the password to the Wifi and asked if we were Americans. He pointed to a Green Bay Packers flag on the wall and said some students from Wisconsin gave it to him when they were here during the Super Bowl. I tried “calimocho,” which is a common drink here that is a mixture of red wine and Coke. It was all right, it wasn't strong. As we have already noticed in other stores and restaurants, American music is very popular here. The whole time we were at the bar, I think there were only two songs I didn't recognize. I used Skype to call my parents, and Bailey called some people too. There were a few other people there early on, but Bailey and I were the last ones. When I went up to get water, the bartender told me what time he would close, but asked me if we needed more time on our computers and said he could stay open longer. Of course I responded that no, it was fine and we would go, but I thought it was surprising of him to offer such a thing.

We get to sleep in tomorrow because we don't leave for Madrid until 1 P.M.!

To see more pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3553695803896.2132207.1317690207&type=1&l=6a42a74eb4