Churros, Peacocks, Potatoes

Well, another week later, and a lot has happened in just a few days. First I guess I will start with last weekend. One of my roommates went to Madrid with a friend for the weekend, so it was just me and Femke. On Saturday, we decided to head to some of the big supermarkets in the center of the city because we were looking for cheddar cheese and sour cream in order to make twice-baked potatoes. Apparently, cheddar cheese and sour cream are commodities here, because we went to four little supermarkets and the two big ones (roughly the size of a Kroger or something). We never found either of those ingredients, so we had to make due, but the potatoes still turned out pretty well. Femke had never had them, so she was incredibly excited to try them, which she thoroughly loved, so that made me happy.

On our way to the supermarkets though, we stopped in this little chocolateria, and we shared a plate of ¨churros con chocolate¨ which are these long fried pastry things. They give you a cup of liquid chocolate to dip them in...a truly authentic Spanish breakfast food. They were amazingly delicious, so I'm really glad I got to try them. They are in the the picture at the top.

After the supermarkets, Femke and I walked through one of the bigger parks in town, just because it was on our way home. It was really cool because it was like an oasis in a concrete jungle. I mean, it just really peaceful to see some trees and grass and dirt. Plus, they had peacocks in the park, which was awesome. They weren't in cages or anything, they could just walk wherever they wanted. I saw at least 20 of them, and one of them was even white, like completely white. Overall, I really like that park, so I think I will head down there sometime soon to take pictures and maybe do some reading.

So that was basically last weekend. Then, this week started, and it has been a stressful adventure to say the least. First, I had my group project due on Wednesday for my law class, so that was really stressful meeting with everyone and trying to finish the project. But, within that, I realized that I didn't need this law class. It doesn't fit in with my degree program at home (and not just because it is a law class, but rather because it is an extra class in general that I don't need). However, in order to keep some of my scholarships, I have to have at least 4 classes, so I can't drop it unless I pick up another one, which I have decided to do. My alternate class? History of the United States of America. No seriously, I think that is the class I am going to take. A little ironic, yeah, but it will be easier for me, and I will actually learn something useful instead of a bunch of legal jargon and laws that don't apply to my studies. I have emailed the professor, but he hasn't responded yet, so if he doesn't by Monday, I will just go by his office. True, it is late in the semester, but I think he will let me in considering my situation. Plus, the Spaniards have a different concept of time, so I think to them basically as long as I get in before the final exam, I can join the class!

Anyway, back to my group project. Once I found out I could change classes, I didn't stress too much about the project. But when we presented the project, the professor basically told us that we did it all wrong and that it wasn't what he was looking for. In my opinion he was kind of a jerk about it, because he interrupted us WHILE we were presenting, and he said it in front of the whole class. We had spent the better part of three weeks working on this project, so it wasn't because we didn't put in the effort. So, the professor is yet another reason why I wanted to change the class.

So, that has been my week so far, pretty exciting and stressful, but I am glad that it is over. I hate administrative red tape like figuring out whether or not I can drop a class, and having to talk to five different people about it (advisors, financial aid, study abroad coordinators, professors)...yeah, it's a real pain. Anyway, Remember that I am thinking of you all, and I will be home in 97 days! Yes, I'm keeping track. :) Take care of yourselves!

St. Patty's Day in Spain

Although I haven't been doing anything incredibly spectacular lately, I did get the opportunity to spend St. Patty's Day in an authentic Irish pub (or at least as authentic as you can get in Spain!). I went out with some friends, just for a little celebration to relax and fellowship. The atmosphere was really cool: dark, rustic wood everywhere, very dim light inside, a mountain of beers to choose from, two stories with a balcony, exposed rafters in the ceiling, etc. It was a really cool place. I had something that my friend told me was a ¨black beer,¨ which I think was some sort of Guinness. It had a really strong flavor, but it was still pretty good. We went to another place after that, but it wasn't any good, so we decided to just go home. Overall, it was a great night with friends, a much-needed escape from the daily grind of school.

Today was a regional holiday of sort basically called ¨Día de los Padres¨ or in English Parents' Day. It's actually a day dedicated to Saint José, or Joseph the father of Jesus. So, everything closes down, I mean EVERYTHING. There wasn't a celebration or anything. I think it is more a day to relax with your family. So, I didn't have classes or anything. I was able to do a ton of reading and other homework, like work on my group project I have due next week. I'll be happy when that is over with...haha.

My parents sent me a package in the mail last week, which I received on Tuesday. The bad thing was, I wasn't home when they delivered it, so they put a slip in out mailbox and I had to go to the post office to get it. The only problem is, there is only one post office in this city (which has 400,000 inhabitants, mind you), and it was on the complete other side of the town. It took me 30 minutes to walk their ONE WAY. It was terrible. But I got my package :) It had some Skittles in it, some peanut butter (which they don't really sell here), some Bottlecaps candy, and some Cheez Whiz, which they also don't sell here. So, I was very excited when I got the package.

My classes are going well, just maintaining a pretty steady pace. I'm actually trying to get ahead as much as possible so that I relax later on in the semester. I have two 15 page papers and one 6 page paper due at the end of the semester, so I want to finish those before I have to start studying for exams, which of course are over the whole semester.

So anyway, life is becoming pretty routine here. I miss everyone, and can't wait to see you all again in July. Take care guys.

Trip to Sevilla and More

Once again, I have to apologize for not updating this any sooner. Life has been pretty busy this past week and a half. I've had a lot of homework, as well as the fact that I went to Sevilla (Seville) this past weekend.

So first, I guess I will start with just catching everyone up on the daily stuff I have been doing here, since the information about Sevilla will be pretty extensive (I had some adventures, to say the least). Anyway, recently, our internet has been out, so we have had to borrow the neighbors when we needed it. Our landlord came by today, at which point I found out that we aren't the only ones who are having problems. In fact, the zone that we are in has been having issues for the last week or so, but of course, the company promises to fix it soon. Whether that will happen or not, well, I have my doubts.

Schoolwork has been very good. I mean, I am finally starting to feel rather comfortable in my classes. I understand probably at least 75% of what the professors say now, so I don't feel as stressed anymore. In other words, I am finally starting to feel like I fit in here. The one class that I don't like that much is International Environmental Law. Of course, it focuses on European law, which I know absolutely nothing about. It was interesting, because last week, my professor made me get up in front of the whole class and give a semi-presentation about off-shore windmills in the US. That was brutal. Not only did I have to talk to a bunch of law students about something I know nothing about, but I had to do it in Spanish, a language I am still learning. Pretty rough... But, I have a group project due for that class in about two weeks, so because of that, I have made some friends in that class which is good. My other classes are more interesting, and have less work to do throughout the week, so I enjoy them much more.

One problem I am having, however, is the food thing. Although there is variety, I feel like I am eating a lot of the same things, so I am getting sick of the food. I would kill for an American burger from Applebee's or something, or a maybe a steak and baked potatoes. I tried to make hamburgers tonight, but the supermarket didn't have any ground beef (sad but true), so I had to buy these pre-made patties that weren't very good. Anyway, my point is, I'm really starting to miss ¨American¨ food. The good news is, a good portion of the breakfast foods here are really chocolatey, so I thoroughly enjoy that =-)

Really quickly, one thing I noticed recently is that the people here do a TON of window shopping. I mean, whether it's a bookstore, a ¨dollar store¨ or an undergarment store, people will stop to look in the windows, much more than in the States. Shops change what they put in their windows almost everyday, I guess to attract more customers. But anyway, that is one more little thing that I noticed.

Other than my trip to Sevilla, my life has been pretty normal. I mean, I go to class, come home, eat dinner, watch a little tv, do some homework, call family and friends, and then go to bed. Monday and Tuesday are my busy days, so I usually enjoy the second half of the week more. Anyway, on to my trip to Sevilla.

We left from Valladolid at about 12:00 at night on Thursday, and we rode a bus all the way to Sevilla with about a 30 minute stop to use the bathroom and eat something, so the whole trip took us about 7 hours. About 50 of us went, all of which were exchange students. When we arrived, we found out that about half of our rooms had not been cleaned yet, so some of us had to sleep in the lobby for a while. Then, we found out that they had a three person room available, so five of us shared it for several hours until they cleaned our room. I ended up in two-person room with a guy from Holland named Bart. He is 34 years old, but is an exchange student here in Valladolid. He studies history.

Anyway, Friday morning started one of my adventures. We had to leave for our tour at 10:00, so we all woke up around 9:45 just to freshen up quickly and leave. (We didn't sleep very much on the bus ride down.) Things were a little hectic because we were in the three person room. Plus, at this hostel each room only had one key. Well, I went to use the bathroom before leaving, and when I came out, everyone had already left the room. Now is a good time to mention that two of the people in my room were coordinators for this trip, so they had the roster with everybody's names and such. Anyway, when I went to open the door, I realized that it was locked. Upon further investigation, I realized that you have to have the key to unlock the door even from the inside of the room. So essentially, I was trapped in my own room. We were on the second floor, so I couldn't jump out of the window (trust me, I thought about it). I waited for a few minutes, because I thought ¨Surely, they will notice that I'm not with them and come back to the room.¨ After about ten minutes, I realized they weren't coming back, so I started beating on the door. After another 15 minutes of beating, some other girls staying in the hostel (not from Valladolid) heard me and got the key from the office and opened the door for me. By this time is was 10:30, and I discovered that the group had actually left me to go on the tour. I decided to use the payphone to call my coordinator (Eliseo), but I realized that I only had a 50 euro bill, and the guy at the desk wouldn't change it for me, so I had to bum a euro off of some guy in the lobby to use the payphone. Then, I called Eliseo and told him that they had left me and that I wanted to go. Then, the phone cut off because I didn't have enough money to continue. I figured they would turn around and come get me, so I waited for about an hour, at which point I realized that they weren't coming back. Nobody came back to the hostel until 6:00 that evening. I decided to just meander around the city on my own, find something to eat, and otherwise relax until they got back, so that was my first adventure. It was frustrating at the time, but looking back is actually pretty funny.

So, because I missed the tour, I woke up earlier on Saturday to do my own tour. Our group tour didn't start until 2:00 that day, so I left around 10:00 and headed to the Real Alcázar de Sevilla, which is an old Roman castle that was converted by the Moors (Muslim empire that dominated Spain for hundreds of years)to a palace in the 700s. Anyway, it has extensive gardens behind the palace/castle, which are beautiful. I spent about an hour and a half there, just wandering around taking photos. Anyway, after I left there I went back to the hostel (it was about a 45 minute walk from where we were staying). I met up with the group and then we took a bus to the city center where we ate some lunch and then went to the bullfighting arena there in Sevilla. Although it is historical, it is still in use. The bullfighting season starts in April, by the way. I got to see all the ¨behind-the-scenes¨ areas of where they keep the bulls, where the ¨toreros¨ (bullfighter) enter the arena, etc. Anyway, that was really cool. Then, the group split up and some went back to the hostel. I went with four other people on an hour-long river boat tour. I got to see all the bridges and many of the important monuments in Sevilla, so that was really nice. After that, we ate some dinner before going back to the hostel. After getting showered and everything, the group of 50 headed to a club called Caramelo and we just hung out. I didn't get back to the hostel until 3:30ish, but many other people didn't get back until 6:00 or so.

On Sunday, we woke up and left at 11:00 and rode the bus back to Valladolid. We got back around 7:00 that evening and returned to the daily grind. I will mention that the weather was really nice in Sevilla. I didn't even need my jacket, and a few people with fair skin actually got a little sunburned. So it was really nice. Plus, everywhere there are orange trees, which you can see in the pictures. They are producing fruit right now, so it was really nice to see some color on the trees. The negative side of the city, however, was that it was really dirty for some reason. A lot of trash in the streets.

Well, now that I could have written a book, I think I'm going to call it quits, at least for now. Maybe I will add another post as more details come to my mind in the days to come. I hope you enjoy the pictures.