Soo this week has been pretty crazy - hopefully it's the end of the horrible weather! It rained most of the weekend, hailed some Monday night & was just awful! BUT Monday luckily it wasn't raining long enough for me to find the gym - which was a task within itself - and get a membership. It was a pretty confusing process, like everything seems to be here. But I got to workout Monday morning before class & this morning. This gym is kind of interesting - there's machines with weights in the middle - like where you pull on the bar or whatever, not any free weights. Then around the outside of the room are the bikes on one wall (about 20 facing the outside window), 5 rowing machines & 5 stair-steppers on another wall facing a mirror, then 4 ellipticals on another wall facing the middle of the room. Mostly all I've seen is old people. And I talked to my host mom this morning & I guess she has a membership there too and swims & does yoga, haha.
But Monday night we had our basque folkdance class which was very interesting. We learned 3 dances (one for kids) and I know I'm not that coordinated or graceful or anything but some people were just awful. It really wasn't difficult, kind of humorous. Not as fun as I was hoping but maybe it'll get better.
Yesterday it was finally pretty nice! I walked home after class and stopped in a plaza to read and drink some coffee. It's about a 45min - 1 hour walk from school to my apartment but it was nice - and most of it is along the beach. I like this place alot better when it isn't raining! Also yesterday I had my first exam (eeeh)! So I studied alot for that.
Today I got to get up and go work out and I walked there in the sun and walked back in the sun!! Sunshine is starting to seem like a much bigger deal than it used to be - we all get really excited when its nice outside. There's no way anyone is going to want to be in afternoon class in a couple months or so when it's warmer! But today I got to ride my bike to school - about a 20-30min. ride so that was fun. The people here are so...inconsiderate? No one will move out of their way or do anything for people on their bikes. There is a bike path but there's construction so it makes things difficult. So I get stuck pretty much walking on my bike behind people that won't move. And I've almost hit quite a few people. I cannot understand this cause if I hit them it'd hurt them alot more than it'd hurt me!
ANYWAYS...we just finished with class for the day & I'm just getting in some internet time before heading home. I think Kelly, Maria, Tiffany & I are going to go out for pinxtos or ice cream or something tonight so that should be fun. And tomorrow after our morning class we're going to France (Biarritz - cute little fishing town with a chocolate museum)! The roundtrip bus ride is only 12 euros and then we'll pay for meals and a hostel. Then we'll return Saturday evening sometime. And I'm planning on going to church with Maria & Kelly on Sunday - they found this cute evangelical church in Gros with really nice people - alot of whom are from Latin America. So we'll go to church & eat with them so it should be good. Hopefully it won't be another stormy weekend, that would just dampen my spirits.
More later.
Love, Jill
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Torrential Downpour
Ah, so this weekend has been CRAZY! I can't even remember everything that happened. I have never experienced weather like this - which was rough since Elizabeth visited (my roommate from last summer that's studying in Barcelona)!
Thursday Kelly & I went shopping and out to lunch before class. I bought a black turtleneck & a white scarf for pretty cheap. It seems pretty easy to find cheap stores here - especially in El Centro - the main shopping district. But I really really need to buy a coat that is warmer than my peacoat or Columbia and will withstand all the stinkin rain! But we had class and then I just came back home and did some homework before Elizabeth was going to come. I ended up eating dinner with my host mom's granddaughter - Paula. She was pretty cute, I would guess around Amanda's age - so of course I was a little kid again - I couldn't understand anything she said but we played some game with placemats and our empty yogurt containers, haha. I think my host mom was really happy we were bonding. This girl just had a great time & laughed & laughed - I guess something about my "ojos azules" (blue eyes) but I don't really know. But then Elizabeth arrived around 10pm, we hung out at Kelly & Maria's apartment since she couldn't stay with me & she got to meet some of my friends.
We've started having morning class on Friday - our teacher requested it so we can travel. It's alot better but it was kind of hard to get up for 9am class that would last until 1245pm! I'm glad we got it out of the way though. Anyways, Elizabeth tried to come meet us but it was raining super hard & she only got halfway walking - which it was a dumb idea to walk anyways cause its a really long walk. I ended up having to meet her on the way back to my apartment on the bus & we found a cute little taberna to eat at. Then we just hung out for the afternoon catching up. That night we went to dinner at this place my teacher had good mexican. Most of the food here is pretty bland & they don't like spicy (i'm definitely not opposed). But Elizabeth was excited to have a burrito & I had a chicken burger - yum! Then we just hung out for the night at my friends' apartment. I ended up trying to go home around 1 since we were going to Bilbao for the day Saturday but my host mom had locked my out since I thought I was staying at my friends' so I had to come back & sleep at their apartment.
Saturday we were planning on leaving around 9 to go to Bilbao for the day (an hour & 1/2 bus ride away) so I woke up at 7 to go back to my apartment to get ready. We had received an e-mail from USAC saying not to go outside between 6pm & 6am because of 90mph winds! So I tried going home & I really think the winds were just about that strong. So we all ended up going back to sleep - after I had to pound on the door, ring the doorbell & call my host mom to finally let me in - and we didn't get up until like 11. But I had to trek back over to their apartment with the awful wind & rain! Elizabeth & I went out to get lunch & ended up buying a baguette & lunch meat so we made our own sandwiches! I felt bad that we weren't doing anything so we took a bus around town & I tried to show her some sights but the weather was just awful. Then we tried to walk around later & couldn't. But finally we went out around 5pm & made it to the shopping area - we had to fight the wind, it was kinda humorous. We stood on the bridge & everyone was watching the waves & we all ran away when they splashed up. But we shopped - I bought 2 more cheap turtlenecks at one of her favorite stores - Bershka! And then we met up with Maria Kelly & Heather. We went out for pintxos (tx = ch) and that was fun! They're just little portions - we had some little salad things, some bread with like meat and cheese on them and even some seafood. Then we got ice cream which was delicious! Then Elizabeth & I just hung out - watched some of the office that Kelly had. Pretty American but it was fun.
Elizabeth & I in the midst of the storm!
Today we just got up and showered & I showed Elizabeth my apartment. Surprisingly (i thought i couldn't bring anyone home) my host mom loved meeting her & made us coffee & gave us some cookies. It was pretty fun the three of us talking spanish. Then we had quite the adventure. My umbrella broke because the wind & rain was soo bad and she didn't bring an umbrella and i didn't have time to buy another. We had to walk to this certain bus stop today to get on a bus to go to the airport - it was still raining so we got DRENCHED but we had to - and we had to get on a bus at 1, so we basically ran there & got there right at 1 and it wasn't there so she kinda started freaking out cause the next bus didn't come until 2 & it was a 30min. drive & her plane left at 2:55 & a taxi to the airport costs like 30 euros. SO we stood there drenched & cold & tried to communicate to the old ladies to try and figure it out & the bus was just 15mins late & then we didn't know what stop to get off on & she kept asking people cause she was so paranoid but we finally got there & she made it on time. Then I missed the next bus back to San Sebastian & ended up sitting in the airport doing homework for an hour or so and finally got on the bus & got back to my apartment (wet & freezing) around 5pm!
One of the pinxtos we tried - bread with meat, cheese & a red pepper - yum!
So NOW i'm sitting on my computer in a cafe close to my apartment. I've been skyping alot of friends & just catching up on things. It was good talking to my parents on skype today and a few Tulsa friends! Tomorrow morning hopefully I'll finally get my gym membership since it hasn't been opened when I've had free time and I start my basque folkdance class tomorrow night!
Oh, and my friends & I got really into planning out our travels, so here are my tentative weekend plans:
Jan. 30 - South France (Biarritz & Bordeaux) with USAC people
Feb. 6 - Portugal with USAC people
Feb. 20 - Germany or South Spain with USAC people cause we have a 4-5 day weekend!
Feb. 27 - Barcelona with Jessica & Elizabeth
March 13 - Ireland with Jessica
March 19 - Vienna & Prague - with Jessica, Elizabeth & maybe USAC people since we have a 4 day weekend (a few of my Tulsa friends are studying there)
March 27 - Elizabeth wants to go to Portugal but if I go in February I won't go
April 3 - 19 is my spring break - Italy to see my friend in Florence and hang out with Jessica in Rome then go over to Greece for a few days
April 24 - USAC excursion to Burgos
May 1 - possibly south Spain with USAC people if I don't go in February
May 8 - last day of class
May 11, 12 & 13 - final exams
May 15 - back to the US!
Thursday Kelly & I went shopping and out to lunch before class. I bought a black turtleneck & a white scarf for pretty cheap. It seems pretty easy to find cheap stores here - especially in El Centro - the main shopping district. But I really really need to buy a coat that is warmer than my peacoat or Columbia and will withstand all the stinkin rain! But we had class and then I just came back home and did some homework before Elizabeth was going to come. I ended up eating dinner with my host mom's granddaughter - Paula. She was pretty cute, I would guess around Amanda's age - so of course I was a little kid again - I couldn't understand anything she said but we played some game with placemats and our empty yogurt containers, haha. I think my host mom was really happy we were bonding. This girl just had a great time & laughed & laughed - I guess something about my "ojos azules" (blue eyes) but I don't really know. But then Elizabeth arrived around 10pm, we hung out at Kelly & Maria's apartment since she couldn't stay with me & she got to meet some of my friends.
We've started having morning class on Friday - our teacher requested it so we can travel. It's alot better but it was kind of hard to get up for 9am class that would last until 1245pm! I'm glad we got it out of the way though. Anyways, Elizabeth tried to come meet us but it was raining super hard & she only got halfway walking - which it was a dumb idea to walk anyways cause its a really long walk. I ended up having to meet her on the way back to my apartment on the bus & we found a cute little taberna to eat at. Then we just hung out for the afternoon catching up. That night we went to dinner at this place my teacher had good mexican. Most of the food here is pretty bland & they don't like spicy (i'm definitely not opposed). But Elizabeth was excited to have a burrito & I had a chicken burger - yum! Then we just hung out for the night at my friends' apartment. I ended up trying to go home around 1 since we were going to Bilbao for the day Saturday but my host mom had locked my out since I thought I was staying at my friends' so I had to come back & sleep at their apartment.
Saturday we were planning on leaving around 9 to go to Bilbao for the day (an hour & 1/2 bus ride away) so I woke up at 7 to go back to my apartment to get ready. We had received an e-mail from USAC saying not to go outside between 6pm & 6am because of 90mph winds! So I tried going home & I really think the winds were just about that strong. So we all ended up going back to sleep - after I had to pound on the door, ring the doorbell & call my host mom to finally let me in - and we didn't get up until like 11. But I had to trek back over to their apartment with the awful wind & rain! Elizabeth & I went out to get lunch & ended up buying a baguette & lunch meat so we made our own sandwiches! I felt bad that we weren't doing anything so we took a bus around town & I tried to show her some sights but the weather was just awful. Then we tried to walk around later & couldn't. But finally we went out around 5pm & made it to the shopping area - we had to fight the wind, it was kinda humorous. We stood on the bridge & everyone was watching the waves & we all ran away when they splashed up. But we shopped - I bought 2 more cheap turtlenecks at one of her favorite stores - Bershka! And then we met up with Maria Kelly & Heather. We went out for pintxos (tx = ch) and that was fun! They're just little portions - we had some little salad things, some bread with like meat and cheese on them and even some seafood. Then we got ice cream which was delicious! Then Elizabeth & I just hung out - watched some of the office that Kelly had. Pretty American but it was fun.
Elizabeth & I in the midst of the storm!
Today we just got up and showered & I showed Elizabeth my apartment. Surprisingly (i thought i couldn't bring anyone home) my host mom loved meeting her & made us coffee & gave us some cookies. It was pretty fun the three of us talking spanish. Then we had quite the adventure. My umbrella broke because the wind & rain was soo bad and she didn't bring an umbrella and i didn't have time to buy another. We had to walk to this certain bus stop today to get on a bus to go to the airport - it was still raining so we got DRENCHED but we had to - and we had to get on a bus at 1, so we basically ran there & got there right at 1 and it wasn't there so she kinda started freaking out cause the next bus didn't come until 2 & it was a 30min. drive & her plane left at 2:55 & a taxi to the airport costs like 30 euros. SO we stood there drenched & cold & tried to communicate to the old ladies to try and figure it out & the bus was just 15mins late & then we didn't know what stop to get off on & she kept asking people cause she was so paranoid but we finally got there & she made it on time. Then I missed the next bus back to San Sebastian & ended up sitting in the airport doing homework for an hour or so and finally got on the bus & got back to my apartment (wet & freezing) around 5pm!
One of the pinxtos we tried - bread with meat, cheese & a red pepper - yum!
So NOW i'm sitting on my computer in a cafe close to my apartment. I've been skyping alot of friends & just catching up on things. It was good talking to my parents on skype today and a few Tulsa friends! Tomorrow morning hopefully I'll finally get my gym membership since it hasn't been opened when I've had free time and I start my basque folkdance class tomorrow night!
Oh, and my friends & I got really into planning out our travels, so here are my tentative weekend plans:
Jan. 30 - South France (Biarritz & Bordeaux) with USAC people
Feb. 6 - Portugal with USAC people
Feb. 20 - Germany or South Spain with USAC people cause we have a 4-5 day weekend!
Feb. 27 - Barcelona with Jessica & Elizabeth
March 13 - Ireland with Jessica
March 19 - Vienna & Prague - with Jessica, Elizabeth & maybe USAC people since we have a 4 day weekend (a few of my Tulsa friends are studying there)
March 27 - Elizabeth wants to go to Portugal but if I go in February I won't go
April 3 - 19 is my spring break - Italy to see my friend in Florence and hang out with Jessica in Rome then go over to Greece for a few days
April 24 - USAC excursion to Burgos
May 1 - possibly south Spain with USAC people if I don't go in February
May 8 - last day of class
May 11, 12 & 13 - final exams
May 15 - back to the US!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
La Tomborrada, etc.
Wow, I have not been able to write in such a long time. Whenever I get on the internet I have too many things I need to do all at once – and if I’m on skype then I’d rather talk to people then blog so I apologize. I am now sitting downstairs in Bar Ondarra listening to techno music & failing at getting good internet. I learned today one of my friend’s has it in her homestay – I’m jealous. I have definitely tried and cannot pick it up anywhere in my apartment so I just go to Kelly & Maria’s and lay by the window.
Sunday the three of us tried to get up and go to church – we had directions from the USAC office but I think we were a couple minutes late for the bus (on time by our phone time though). So we wandered over to a catholic church nearby but the bilingual service had already started, the next one was Basque in about an hour and then the Spanish one. None of us wanted to walk in late to a service and be those dumb Americans so we remembered times for next week and just went to a café for a little while. We looked at the newspaper and some Spanish magazine that Maria helped us translate about famous people (kind of like People in the US I guess) and she showed us the royalty in Norway and we talked a lot about politics. The rest of Sunday was pretty boring – I did homework, read, listened to music, sat around a lot. I hate that dead time that I have. My host mom wasn’t even home but I was just bored out of my mind – but it was cold and rainy so you can’t really just go wander around. I ended up calling Kelly & Maria that night & they were going to a movie so I met up with them. We saw “Cuando Ella me encontró” which had Bette Midler, Helen Hunt, Matthew Broderick and Colin Firth. I’d never heard of it but it was dubbed with Spanish voices so we couldn’t read lips and Maria had to tell us most that was going on – definitely missed the little jokes. It was also funny because, maybe it’s a Sunday night thing, but we were definitely the youngest in there by like 40 years – and one man was snoring during the movie (ahem – mom, grandma, haha). But it was a good experience. But that was the fun event for the night.
The Plaza de la Constitution - it just turned midnight so the festivities have begun!
Monday in class we got to learn about La Tamborrada which is the HUGE festival for El Día de San Sebastian (the 20th). I don’t know all the background info but basically they play drums for 24 hours and it’s like soldiers vs. chefs. The chefs have their aprons & big white hats and are very disorganized playing with sticks and canisters. The soldiers are much neater – in very straight lines with their drums and red coats and soldiers’ hats. Some famous guy gets to lead the soldiers – they play the same song OVER AND OVER for 24 hours – the song for San Sebastian or whatever. The words are in Basque though so we didn’t understand. But for dinner Monday, Kelly, Maria & I got groceries and made pasta & salad. Then we went to our other friends’ apartment to hang out for awhile. A group of like 6 of us decided to go to Plaza de la Constitucion for the big event. It all starts at midnight & the plaza is PACKED and everyone is jumping around and singing and going crazy. It was quite the sight to see; definitely a once in a lifetime cultural experience. Most people stayed out until at least 7am, but Kelly, Maria, Tiffany (another friend) and I still can’t do that so we went to bed at like 2, haha. It was pretty fun and crazy though – EVERYONE in San Sebastian is out.
Me with one of the chefs!
Tuesday morning is actually El Día de San Sebastian and there’s the largest kids parade in the world (I think) – with like 5000 kids. They parade around in their chef or soldier outfit and all bang their drums. They were pretty organized and impressive. The sad thing though is that on Monday and Tuesday it was definitely cold and rainy. (Parents – good thing I packed my rain boots I’ve definitely worn them a lot, including Monday & Tuesday) But Maria, Kelly & I got up Tuesday and went and watched a little bit of the parade – soo cute. I took tons of pictures but internet is slow like always so I can’t really upload them now. We slept til noon so that was nice, and went to the parade for like 30mins or an hour – I couldn’t really handle it and then came home. I relaxed the rest of that day – nothing is open and the drums are playing the whole day – literally NONSTOP. But I ended up going to Maria & Kelly’s cause they don’t live on a big main street like I do so the drums weren’t as loud. But I got on internet for awhile, chatted with Mom Dad & Sara and did some homework. I went back to my apartment around 9 and my host mom had a bunch of her divorced girl friends over – I guess they all cook and have a big dinner to hang out and celebrate. One of them invited me to eat with them but that was way too overwhelming for me. So I just worked on homework and pictures. I finished my first book and am almost done with the Nicholas Sparks one that I brought!
The kids parade
Then finally, today I had class at 2 – I had dropped my phone and broken it (of course, with my luck) so I had to go get it fixed – and since it’s the day after El Día de San Sebastian nothing opens til 11 so I had to wait around for that. But then we had class – always a fun time and now I’m just hanging out in this bar with wifi. OH and Kelly & I rode our bikes to class today but it started raining on us halfway there which was miserable but it wasn’t raining on the way home so it was fine. And I haven’t done laundry since I’ve been to Spain – hopefully my host mom did it today like she told me she would – so I left my jeans at home and am wearing tights & a skirt. Not the best outfit for a cold bike ride. But Kelly & I are planning on getting gym memberships tomorrow or Friday. And tomorrow night Elizabeth (my roommate from last semester who is in Barcelona now) is coming to visit for the weekend. And Kelly & I are planning on shopping tomorrow before class – I need a much warmer coat & they have some for like 30 euros.
But that’s it for now. Hopefully more before too long. Sorry for the super long post!
Miss you all.
Love, Jill.
Sunday the three of us tried to get up and go to church – we had directions from the USAC office but I think we were a couple minutes late for the bus (on time by our phone time though). So we wandered over to a catholic church nearby but the bilingual service had already started, the next one was Basque in about an hour and then the Spanish one. None of us wanted to walk in late to a service and be those dumb Americans so we remembered times for next week and just went to a café for a little while. We looked at the newspaper and some Spanish magazine that Maria helped us translate about famous people (kind of like People in the US I guess) and she showed us the royalty in Norway and we talked a lot about politics. The rest of Sunday was pretty boring – I did homework, read, listened to music, sat around a lot. I hate that dead time that I have. My host mom wasn’t even home but I was just bored out of my mind – but it was cold and rainy so you can’t really just go wander around. I ended up calling Kelly & Maria that night & they were going to a movie so I met up with them. We saw “Cuando Ella me encontró” which had Bette Midler, Helen Hunt, Matthew Broderick and Colin Firth. I’d never heard of it but it was dubbed with Spanish voices so we couldn’t read lips and Maria had to tell us most that was going on – definitely missed the little jokes. It was also funny because, maybe it’s a Sunday night thing, but we were definitely the youngest in there by like 40 years – and one man was snoring during the movie (ahem – mom, grandma, haha). But it was a good experience. But that was the fun event for the night.
The Plaza de la Constitution - it just turned midnight so the festivities have begun!
Monday in class we got to learn about La Tamborrada which is the HUGE festival for El Día de San Sebastian (the 20th). I don’t know all the background info but basically they play drums for 24 hours and it’s like soldiers vs. chefs. The chefs have their aprons & big white hats and are very disorganized playing with sticks and canisters. The soldiers are much neater – in very straight lines with their drums and red coats and soldiers’ hats. Some famous guy gets to lead the soldiers – they play the same song OVER AND OVER for 24 hours – the song for San Sebastian or whatever. The words are in Basque though so we didn’t understand. But for dinner Monday, Kelly, Maria & I got groceries and made pasta & salad. Then we went to our other friends’ apartment to hang out for awhile. A group of like 6 of us decided to go to Plaza de la Constitucion for the big event. It all starts at midnight & the plaza is PACKED and everyone is jumping around and singing and going crazy. It was quite the sight to see; definitely a once in a lifetime cultural experience. Most people stayed out until at least 7am, but Kelly, Maria, Tiffany (another friend) and I still can’t do that so we went to bed at like 2, haha. It was pretty fun and crazy though – EVERYONE in San Sebastian is out.
Me with one of the chefs!
Tuesday morning is actually El Día de San Sebastian and there’s the largest kids parade in the world (I think) – with like 5000 kids. They parade around in their chef or soldier outfit and all bang their drums. They were pretty organized and impressive. The sad thing though is that on Monday and Tuesday it was definitely cold and rainy. (Parents – good thing I packed my rain boots I’ve definitely worn them a lot, including Monday & Tuesday) But Maria, Kelly & I got up Tuesday and went and watched a little bit of the parade – soo cute. I took tons of pictures but internet is slow like always so I can’t really upload them now. We slept til noon so that was nice, and went to the parade for like 30mins or an hour – I couldn’t really handle it and then came home. I relaxed the rest of that day – nothing is open and the drums are playing the whole day – literally NONSTOP. But I ended up going to Maria & Kelly’s cause they don’t live on a big main street like I do so the drums weren’t as loud. But I got on internet for awhile, chatted with Mom Dad & Sara and did some homework. I went back to my apartment around 9 and my host mom had a bunch of her divorced girl friends over – I guess they all cook and have a big dinner to hang out and celebrate. One of them invited me to eat with them but that was way too overwhelming for me. So I just worked on homework and pictures. I finished my first book and am almost done with the Nicholas Sparks one that I brought!
The kids parade
Then finally, today I had class at 2 – I had dropped my phone and broken it (of course, with my luck) so I had to go get it fixed – and since it’s the day after El Día de San Sebastian nothing opens til 11 so I had to wait around for that. But then we had class – always a fun time and now I’m just hanging out in this bar with wifi. OH and Kelly & I rode our bikes to class today but it started raining on us halfway there which was miserable but it wasn’t raining on the way home so it was fine. And I haven’t done laundry since I’ve been to Spain – hopefully my host mom did it today like she told me she would – so I left my jeans at home and am wearing tights & a skirt. Not the best outfit for a cold bike ride. But Kelly & I are planning on getting gym memberships tomorrow or Friday. And tomorrow night Elizabeth (my roommate from last semester who is in Barcelona now) is coming to visit for the weekend. And Kelly & I are planning on shopping tomorrow before class – I need a much warmer coat & they have some for like 30 euros.
But that’s it for now. Hopefully more before too long. Sorry for the super long post!
Miss you all.
Love, Jill.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Settling In
So I am finally able to blog again, getting internet is so difficult here because most people don't have wireless (pronounced wee-fee) in their homes. We're just so spoiled in the states, huh?
Thanks for the comments by the way - no I will not use dilly bar, haha. And no, I'll have to work on my name with a G maybe. I talked about it with my friends & they decided to start calling me Hill, haha. And I very very roughly translated Jack & Jill for my host mom and she thought it was just hilarious. I'm going to have my spanish teacher do it.
And Brenda - what are some of the questions? I'm glad I'm helping her, haha!
So, Thursday was the 2nd day of class. We have a solid 8 people so it's pretty fun. We all know each other or are getting to know each other and it's much better for learning. It's all review right now though so not too bad. After class Thursday Kelly & I sat in a cafeteria at school to use the internet. But I had so many people talking to me on either skype or facebook that I couldn't blog. But I did get to talk to my parents - we still need to work on the cameras though. But I came back to the apartment, ate dinner, did some homework and went to bed. I definitely have not gotten used to the Spanish way - staying up really late. And I guess Thursday night is popular for people around my age to go out. I was probably going to bed when alot of them were going out, ha. My friends in upper spanish don't have Friday classes so they were out late.
Friday we got to talk about food and family in class so I really enjoyed it. Also, Kelly and I walked to class which ended up taking like 45 minutes and we cannot do that every day! But it was a really nice day so we walked there & took the bus out. We also found information on renting bikes, finding a gym, the bus schedule and alot more. It was a pretty successful afternoon. Then we had class until 6ish and rode the bus home. We were exhausted so we just rested for awhile - we don't eat dinner until around 9 so we had time. Kelly, our other friend Maria that lives with Kelly, and I ended up going to our friends' apartment (Angela, Peter & Megan) for dinner. It was so cute. Angela (and Megan) is Italian so she can cook really well. So we had tortellini, salad & bread. It was sooo good. Instead of dressing we had like salt, vinegar & oil. But delicious! It was fun just to hang out. Then we went out. We went to the "popular" place for people our age so that was fun. We saw a couple people from our program and had a pretty fun night.
Today I got up around 10 - my host mom was shocked! She couldn't believe I wasn't sleeping later cause most of my friends probably are sleeping until 2, haha. But I met up with Kelly and Maria around noon to find bikes. Maria is from Norway but is also fluent in spanish and english so she basically did all the talking and just translated for us, haha. So we couldn't find a good deal on renting bikes so we're going to buy these ones from a secondhand store (segundo mano) called Bici Rent. The bikes will cost like $60, but the guy is fixing them up right now and we'll probably have them Tuesday. And if we ever have problems he'll help us so we figured that's a good deal so we can ride them to school and around every day. It's worth it.
Then I ate lunch with my host mom - I'm starting to understand more and more and she's trying to teach me. We pretty much just talk about school, my family and friends back home (I showed her all my pictures I have here), her family (I've met two of her daughters) and my friends here. Oh, and about how I can't understand her. It's pretty funny. She always asks if I know what she just told me - and I can finally understand that that's what she is always asking me, haha. But she was really happy that I wrote her a note to say I wasn't eating dinner at home and she said I wrote very well in Spanish - I don't think it was good but whatever. But then I met up with my group (the 6 of us) and we just wandered around. We walked around El Centro and around the three beaches (Zurriola in Gros where I live, La Playa de la Concha - the main beach & Ondarreta). It was a beautiful day - perfect for our walk! Then we sat and drank coffee in a little bakery. The weather has been wonderful but I guess it's supposed to rain for the next week or so. But then I just came home and read a little and now I'm at Maria & Kelly's apartment lying on the floor next to the window to get some internet - but it's still super slow. And we're about to eat dinner - they made something they got from the mercado.
The big thing that is happening here is the Festival for San Sebastian (the patron saint or whatever). And so starting Monday at midnight, I think, they start playing drums and play them for 24 hours til midnight Tuesday. People are everywhere in the streets and all over til all hours of the night - no one sleeps Monday night & there are no classes or anything on Tuesday - everything is closed. It's going to be crazy but it's a huge deal so I'm excited to get to see it. If you want to know more it's called La Tamborrada. And I'm going to meet up with the guy from here that studied in Tulsa last semester so that's exciting!
Hope all is well back home - everyone should come visit here because I'm having much better weather. I'm going to try and upload pictures or e-mail pictures when I have better internet - so probably tomorrow or Monday.
Miss you all!
You can e-mail me anytime - I'd love to hear what's going on!
Love, Jill
Thanks for the comments by the way - no I will not use dilly bar, haha. And no, I'll have to work on my name with a G maybe. I talked about it with my friends & they decided to start calling me Hill, haha. And I very very roughly translated Jack & Jill for my host mom and she thought it was just hilarious. I'm going to have my spanish teacher do it.
And Brenda - what are some of the questions? I'm glad I'm helping her, haha!
So, Thursday was the 2nd day of class. We have a solid 8 people so it's pretty fun. We all know each other or are getting to know each other and it's much better for learning. It's all review right now though so not too bad. After class Thursday Kelly & I sat in a cafeteria at school to use the internet. But I had so many people talking to me on either skype or facebook that I couldn't blog. But I did get to talk to my parents - we still need to work on the cameras though. But I came back to the apartment, ate dinner, did some homework and went to bed. I definitely have not gotten used to the Spanish way - staying up really late. And I guess Thursday night is popular for people around my age to go out. I was probably going to bed when alot of them were going out, ha. My friends in upper spanish don't have Friday classes so they were out late.
Friday we got to talk about food and family in class so I really enjoyed it. Also, Kelly and I walked to class which ended up taking like 45 minutes and we cannot do that every day! But it was a really nice day so we walked there & took the bus out. We also found information on renting bikes, finding a gym, the bus schedule and alot more. It was a pretty successful afternoon. Then we had class until 6ish and rode the bus home. We were exhausted so we just rested for awhile - we don't eat dinner until around 9 so we had time. Kelly, our other friend Maria that lives with Kelly, and I ended up going to our friends' apartment (Angela, Peter & Megan) for dinner. It was so cute. Angela (and Megan) is Italian so she can cook really well. So we had tortellini, salad & bread. It was sooo good. Instead of dressing we had like salt, vinegar & oil. But delicious! It was fun just to hang out. Then we went out. We went to the "popular" place for people our age so that was fun. We saw a couple people from our program and had a pretty fun night.
Today I got up around 10 - my host mom was shocked! She couldn't believe I wasn't sleeping later cause most of my friends probably are sleeping until 2, haha. But I met up with Kelly and Maria around noon to find bikes. Maria is from Norway but is also fluent in spanish and english so she basically did all the talking and just translated for us, haha. So we couldn't find a good deal on renting bikes so we're going to buy these ones from a secondhand store (segundo mano) called Bici Rent. The bikes will cost like $60, but the guy is fixing them up right now and we'll probably have them Tuesday. And if we ever have problems he'll help us so we figured that's a good deal so we can ride them to school and around every day. It's worth it.
Then I ate lunch with my host mom - I'm starting to understand more and more and she's trying to teach me. We pretty much just talk about school, my family and friends back home (I showed her all my pictures I have here), her family (I've met two of her daughters) and my friends here. Oh, and about how I can't understand her. It's pretty funny. She always asks if I know what she just told me - and I can finally understand that that's what she is always asking me, haha. But she was really happy that I wrote her a note to say I wasn't eating dinner at home and she said I wrote very well in Spanish - I don't think it was good but whatever. But then I met up with my group (the 6 of us) and we just wandered around. We walked around El Centro and around the three beaches (Zurriola in Gros where I live, La Playa de la Concha - the main beach & Ondarreta). It was a beautiful day - perfect for our walk! Then we sat and drank coffee in a little bakery. The weather has been wonderful but I guess it's supposed to rain for the next week or so. But then I just came home and read a little and now I'm at Maria & Kelly's apartment lying on the floor next to the window to get some internet - but it's still super slow. And we're about to eat dinner - they made something they got from the mercado.
The big thing that is happening here is the Festival for San Sebastian (the patron saint or whatever). And so starting Monday at midnight, I think, they start playing drums and play them for 24 hours til midnight Tuesday. People are everywhere in the streets and all over til all hours of the night - no one sleeps Monday night & there are no classes or anything on Tuesday - everything is closed. It's going to be crazy but it's a huge deal so I'm excited to get to see it. If you want to know more it's called La Tamborrada. And I'm going to meet up with the guy from here that studied in Tulsa last semester so that's exciting!
Hope all is well back home - everyone should come visit here because I'm having much better weather. I'm going to try and upload pictures or e-mail pictures when I have better internet - so probably tomorrow or Monday.
Miss you all!
You can e-mail me anytime - I'd love to hear what's going on!
Love, Jill
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
San Sebastian
So we're starting to get used to the city. We're working on finding our way around & learning where the important things are (banks, etc.).
Monday we had orientation in the morning & then I moved into my new house in the afternoon. We had to take a written & oral placement test for spanish. The written was 85 questions - like 45mins. all in spanish so that was a little rough but I guess my oral went fine cause I'm in the track for spanish I was hoping for. My host mom doesn't speak english so we have rough conversation - it will definitely help my spanish though. As of now I can understand about half of what she says to me & my sentences are pretty rough. So Monday I just moved in, we ate dinner together, and I went to bed early. Oh! And I watched a little Gilmore Girls in Spanish, it was pretty interesting.
Tuesday we had more orientation - we found out our classes and had to listen to this Basque history lecture which was super boring & we were supposed to have a walking tour in the afternoon but it was cold & rainy so we decided against that. Instead we changed into warmer clothes, came back to school so they could make the wifi on campus work on our computers & wandered around a little bit - Kelly bought a blanket & some friends needed bathroom stuff. I ate dinner at my house last night and then met up with friends later at a cafe just to hang out. We also got information - there's a local hiking club, ski trips sometimes, two excursions to little towns, gyms, pilates/yoga classes, we can get intercambios - students at our university that are around our age just to practice our spanish & so they can practice their english. Oh, and our director said they want to try "speed dating" (kelly & i wanna call it speed greet or speed friendship, haha) - which would be a good way to meet locals & make friends but we'll see.
Kelly just loves my weird thing for palm trees. This is my annual first day of school picture for my family.
Today was the first day of class. It was finally nice & sunny! Kelly & I don't have class until 2 so we met up this morning to buy cell phones finally (my number is 626845879) & that was a very interesting experience. I am so proud of us for that accomplishment. I feel like its kind of big. It was pretty confusing with our broken Spanish but we got it. Then Kelly had to buy some groceries & I ate with my host mom. She made some nasty beans (I can't remember the name of them) and pescado (seafood) - but it was some fish that was good and then shrimp that still had their eyes! I couldn't really handle it so I had to go buy a diet coke to get rid of the taste...ew! Maybe we should just stick to chicken, bread & pasta, haha.
But we had class for a couple hours this afternoon - there's only 7 in my class & two might switch to another but its going to be alot of spanish (15 hours a week - grammar-type classes, like what it is at home but more intense). I'm going to be such a spanish pro come may. And I'm going to start a basque folkdance class in a couple weeks & a popular class called de elvis al rap (sara - kinda like your from rock to bach one) in february. But now Kelly & I are just sitting in this cafe type thing near school so we can have wifi. We still need to buy bus passes which is alot more complicated than it sounds! And we'll get books tomorrow.
Something interesting...my name doesn't really translate well into Spanish because of the J and the two L's (geeze parents what were you thinking?). It makes them really confused - especially my host mom & her two daughters I've met. They can't make the J sound (Sara - you could have a job here!). So my host mom has been trying to say my name & she just doesn't understand. Today I met her daughter & they asked me how you say my name in spanish so i just had them pronounce it like hill which kind of worked for them - easier than jill. And then today I wrote down my name for my host mom so maybe she'd get it & she asked me where my name came from if it was like a saint or something. And I was like nope, just jill. And she asked if it was short for something & kept putting these weird endings on it like jillario, haha. And I tried to explain that its a nursery rhyme but i do not know enough vocab & just told her it was in a book for kids. So if anyone has any suggestions for how to explain my name to the spaniards just let me know & until then i am "hill" :)
I'm finally down to my last euros so I'll have to find a good bank in San Sebastian - but I'm doing pretty good on spending - so be proud parents. Oh, and of course I have to add I saw KU beat K-State :)
More later.
Miss you all!
Love, Jill
My Room
Monday we had orientation in the morning & then I moved into my new house in the afternoon. We had to take a written & oral placement test for spanish. The written was 85 questions - like 45mins. all in spanish so that was a little rough but I guess my oral went fine cause I'm in the track for spanish I was hoping for. My host mom doesn't speak english so we have rough conversation - it will definitely help my spanish though. As of now I can understand about half of what she says to me & my sentences are pretty rough. So Monday I just moved in, we ate dinner together, and I went to bed early. Oh! And I watched a little Gilmore Girls in Spanish, it was pretty interesting.Tuesday we had more orientation - we found out our classes and had to listen to this Basque history lecture which was super boring & we were supposed to have a walking tour in the afternoon but it was cold & rainy so we decided against that. Instead we changed into warmer clothes, came back to school so they could make the wifi on campus work on our computers & wandered around a little bit - Kelly bought a blanket & some friends needed bathroom stuff. I ate dinner at my house last night and then met up with friends later at a cafe just to hang out. We also got information - there's a local hiking club, ski trips sometimes, two excursions to little towns, gyms, pilates/yoga classes, we can get intercambios - students at our university that are around our age just to practice our spanish & so they can practice their english. Oh, and our director said they want to try "speed dating" (kelly & i wanna call it speed greet or speed friendship, haha) - which would be a good way to meet locals & make friends but we'll see.
My First Day of School!
Kelly just loves my weird thing for palm trees. This is my annual first day of school picture for my family.Today was the first day of class. It was finally nice & sunny! Kelly & I don't have class until 2 so we met up this morning to buy cell phones finally (my number is 626845879) & that was a very interesting experience. I am so proud of us for that accomplishment. I feel like its kind of big. It was pretty confusing with our broken Spanish but we got it. Then Kelly had to buy some groceries & I ate with my host mom. She made some nasty beans (I can't remember the name of them) and pescado (seafood) - but it was some fish that was good and then shrimp that still had their eyes! I couldn't really handle it so I had to go buy a diet coke to get rid of the taste...ew! Maybe we should just stick to chicken, bread & pasta, haha.
But we had class for a couple hours this afternoon - there's only 7 in my class & two might switch to another but its going to be alot of spanish (15 hours a week - grammar-type classes, like what it is at home but more intense). I'm going to be such a spanish pro come may. And I'm going to start a basque folkdance class in a couple weeks & a popular class called de elvis al rap (sara - kinda like your from rock to bach one) in february. But now Kelly & I are just sitting in this cafe type thing near school so we can have wifi. We still need to buy bus passes which is alot more complicated than it sounds! And we'll get books tomorrow.
Something interesting...my name doesn't really translate well into Spanish because of the J and the two L's (geeze parents what were you thinking?). It makes them really confused - especially my host mom & her two daughters I've met. They can't make the J sound (Sara - you could have a job here!). So my host mom has been trying to say my name & she just doesn't understand. Today I met her daughter & they asked me how you say my name in spanish so i just had them pronounce it like hill which kind of worked for them - easier than jill. And then today I wrote down my name for my host mom so maybe she'd get it & she asked me where my name came from if it was like a saint or something. And I was like nope, just jill. And she asked if it was short for something & kept putting these weird endings on it like jillario, haha. And I tried to explain that its a nursery rhyme but i do not know enough vocab & just told her it was in a book for kids. So if anyone has any suggestions for how to explain my name to the spaniards just let me know & until then i am "hill" :)
I'm finally down to my last euros so I'll have to find a good bank in San Sebastian - but I'm doing pretty good on spending - so be proud parents. Oh, and of course I have to add I saw KU beat K-State :)
More later.
Miss you all!
Love, Jill
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The End of Madrid
El Escorial - palm trees & snow!
Saturday we went to The Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caidos) but we couldn't go look at it because of the snow! Our bus had problems - but its a Spanish civil war memorial type thing. So we went on to El Escorial which is a monastery, church & school combined. We stood in this room in the basement where all the past kings & queens are buried. So after El Escorial we went back to Madrid & went to the Reina Sofia - the modern art museum. The masterpiece there is Guernica by Picasso. It was pretty cool to look around there & see some stuff by Picasso.
Guernica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting)Museo del Jamon - that meat was everywhere!
This morning we had to get up at 630 - they sent us a wake up call! But we got to leave Madrid & head to San Sebastian, with a stop in Segovia. I loved Segovia - we walked around, looked at a cathedral, and got to go in a castle - the one that they model the Sleeping Beauty/Disney castle after! It was awesome. And we had some good chocolate caliente & pastries in the Limon y Menta.
Alcazar Castle
We had a 4 hour bus ride, with lunch in a truck stop (i had some egg & ham sandwich thing, not really sure). But I got to sleep and read alot. But we finally got to San Sebastian around 630 & drove through town. We're staying in a hotel tonight, had dinner where the people who weren't on the Madrid tour joined us (spaghetti, more chicken on the bone with french fries & ice cream - i was soo excited!) and we had a housing meeting. I'll be living with a woman named Maite in the Gros district - not too far from the beach. She lives alone but her son (that teaches surf lessons!) and his wife live nearby, and she has other family members in the area that I'll supposedly get to know. I'm her first student to host so neither of us really know what to expect - kind of scary.
Tomorrow we have orientation (don't have to be up til 10!) with a walking tour of San Sebastian and then get to move in!
Miss you all!
Love, Jill
Friday, January 9, 2009
Well we tried to communicate...
I finally got pictures to upload!
Kelly & I ventured into El Corte Ingles today - aka the store that has EVERYTHING. There were three stores within 500 feet and they all had at least 5 floors. We found her headphones, found where the straighteners were but I couldn't get myself to buy one (ahh, I'm such a tightwad these days), but we talked to the ladies & I asked which was the best one & we tried to figure out where to find a converter. We explained it & they kind of understood & brought over another girl that could speak english. But once we got to the converters we couldn't actually figure out what to get. Oh well, try again another day.
I got to skype Sara & my dad today! The internet kept disconnecting, but it is hotel internet with like a hundred American kids. We went to dinner around 9 - Kelly, Carter & I. We tried to find a couple places but they seemed too expensive & we didn't wanna punk out and go to what seemed pretty chain-like. So we ended up at this cute little place & all ordered pizza - I had the Hawaiian. Then, we wanted to take our leftovers & had seen others with boxes out of a restaurant the other day so we tried to figure out a way to say it so I had to ask our waiter & he was kinda confused but just laughed at us & took our leftovers. He got a couple others laughing as well but brought our pizza back in foil in a plastic sack. (guess they don't do leftovers there) I felt like a dumb American. And then we were walking out & I forgot my scarf & ran into him bringing it out to me. I bet we just made his day.
I tried my converter with my ipod and it works, so thats a plus. But when I plugged in my computer it made a funny noise. I'm so nervous, but I guess I'll have to try again sometime. They have computers in San Sebastian so at least I'll have that!
Tomorrow we're going to the Valley of the Fallen & El Escorial. Then in the afternoon to a modern art museum! I'm ready for Sunday when we finally go to San Sebastian. Madrid is just so stinkin big! So it'll be going from a population of 5 million to around 180,000 - much better.
More later.
Love, Jill
Me in the Plaza Mayor
Yay, we woke up today! So we got breakfast - where we got to know more san sebastian people (Sara - one guys name is Peter, you have no idea how hard it was to not say his name in my british accent every time) & I got my first Spanish cup of coffee - yum! And it was snowing & ended up snowing all day!
Kelly & I at Toledo 
We bussed to Toledo - the San Sebastian group & the Bilbao group. Toledo is historic, beautiful & wonderful. It was really cold (I think in the 30s) but we still walked around in the tiny little streets, went to Catedral de Toledo, saw a Greco masterpiece & a synagogue. Then, Kelly, Carter & I wandered around in the shops & actually ate an authentic Spanish lunch. Soup w/beef, noodles, carrots & peppers (yes i actually ate & liked this!) then fish w/salad & french fries and un cafe for dessert.
We bussed to Toledo - the San Sebastian group & the Bilbao group. Toledo is historic, beautiful & wonderful. It was really cold (I think in the 30s) but we still walked around in the tiny little streets, went to Catedral de Toledo, saw a Greco masterpiece & a synagogue. Then, Kelly, Carter & I wandered around in the shops & actually ate an authentic Spanish lunch. Soup w/beef, noodles, carrots & peppers (yes i actually ate & liked this!) then fish w/salad & french fries and un cafe for dessert.Kelly & I ventured into El Corte Ingles today - aka the store that has EVERYTHING. There were three stores within 500 feet and they all had at least 5 floors. We found her headphones, found where the straighteners were but I couldn't get myself to buy one (ahh, I'm such a tightwad these days), but we talked to the ladies & I asked which was the best one & we tried to figure out where to find a converter. We explained it & they kind of understood & brought over another girl that could speak english. But once we got to the converters we couldn't actually figure out what to get. Oh well, try again another day.
I got to skype Sara & my dad today! The internet kept disconnecting, but it is hotel internet with like a hundred American kids. We went to dinner around 9 - Kelly, Carter & I. We tried to find a couple places but they seemed too expensive & we didn't wanna punk out and go to what seemed pretty chain-like. So we ended up at this cute little place & all ordered pizza - I had the Hawaiian. Then, we wanted to take our leftovers & had seen others with boxes out of a restaurant the other day so we tried to figure out a way to say it so I had to ask our waiter & he was kinda confused but just laughed at us & took our leftovers. He got a couple others laughing as well but brought our pizza back in foil in a plastic sack. (guess they don't do leftovers there) I felt like a dumb American. And then we were walking out & I forgot my scarf & ran into him bringing it out to me. I bet we just made his day.
I tried my converter with my ipod and it works, so thats a plus. But when I plugged in my computer it made a funny noise. I'm so nervous, but I guess I'll have to try again sometime. They have computers in San Sebastian so at least I'll have that!
Tomorrow we're going to the Valley of the Fallen & El Escorial. Then in the afternoon to a modern art museum! I'm ready for Sunday when we finally go to San Sebastian. Madrid is just so stinkin big! So it'll be going from a population of 5 million to around 180,000 - much better.
More later.
Love, Jill
Thursday, January 8, 2009
My "Everything Goes Wrong" Day
Mom - I did not wear my USAC shirt or eat the chicken. Dad - there are tons of banks especially by where I am in San Sebastian - I'm pretty close to those barclays we found.
Soo today was a day full of bad luck I would say. My alarm did not go off this morning. When I saw the time last night it was correct (but I guess it was am instead of pm) so we slept until 10 instead of 730. So we got up & were panicking - our group left at 9am to go to the Royal Palace and Museo del Prado. So we got ready by 1015 and breakfast was already gone (not supposed to be til 1030). So we rushed to the Royal Palace because we thought they would be arriving around the same time (took us a couple wrong ways til we found it) and our group happened to be leaving as we got there. So we got in line and went to Plaza Mayor and walked around then to the Museo del Prado. Its pretty cold here so we were all bundled but still freezing. So we had guides at the museo, but you know me - not too arsty so it was all I could do to not fall asleep.
But then we were done around 2 and decided to go with Kelly's friend Brady and her friend Nancy to get some lunch & head to the hotel. Kelly & I are very much map people and they just wanted to see where it took us since we knew the general direction. So we started heading & happened to find it & were all starving so we went to this place by our hotel called Nebraska. I got una ensalada con pollo (chicken) y beicon. It was delicious. We think the waiter hated us but oh well. We finally had some food then came back to the hotel & hung out for a little bit and I napped for an hour or so.
I finally got to shower since I was in a rush this morning & was too tired last night. So I think that was like 2-3 days without showering, eww. But I went to get my toiletries & my soap had opened and spilled. So I am low on soap & its only a few days in. So I had to clean off everything & soak my bag in water. Just a pain.
Then, I actually blew a fuse in our room. I tried blow-drying my hair & it worked. Then I tried the straightener (not turned up all the way) and it blew it. Everything went dark & nothing would work. So I went downstairs for a meeting & passed Kelly so we went & tried to talk to the front desk, which was a little rough but they got it fixed. So I'm using Kelly's converter for my computer now and will have to buy one, along with a new straightener. Another girl in my program said hair dryers & straighteners always break - why didnt anyone tell me.
At 620 I had a housing meeting. I am living on Calle Birmingham - and I'm actually right next to Kelly! We're in the Gros district - right by the beach though. You should google map it or something. It'll be like 30mins walking to the school, but the walk is along the beach so I could do that. Or ride a bus or taxi. I get more information about the family on Sunday night when we get to San Sebastian and will meet them Monday.
After my meeting we just have been hanging around the hotel, reading and I skype chatted with Jess & Elizabeth. (I video chatted with Tyrel & Ali last night!) And we went to a restaurant called VIPS. This time the waiter was really nice & was actually smiling. And on the way back to the hotel some guy goes "hola" and kelly smiles and says "Hola!" and then she realizes it wasnt a guy in our group. A little creepy but he thought it was funny.
So now we're going to bed (its 11:30pm) and hopefully we will awake in the morning for our trip to Toledo.
Miss you all.
Love, Jill
Soo today was a day full of bad luck I would say. My alarm did not go off this morning. When I saw the time last night it was correct (but I guess it was am instead of pm) so we slept until 10 instead of 730. So we got up & were panicking - our group left at 9am to go to the Royal Palace and Museo del Prado. So we got ready by 1015 and breakfast was already gone (not supposed to be til 1030). So we rushed to the Royal Palace because we thought they would be arriving around the same time (took us a couple wrong ways til we found it) and our group happened to be leaving as we got there. So we got in line and went to Plaza Mayor and walked around then to the Museo del Prado. Its pretty cold here so we were all bundled but still freezing. So we had guides at the museo, but you know me - not too arsty so it was all I could do to not fall asleep.
But then we were done around 2 and decided to go with Kelly's friend Brady and her friend Nancy to get some lunch & head to the hotel. Kelly & I are very much map people and they just wanted to see where it took us since we knew the general direction. So we started heading & happened to find it & were all starving so we went to this place by our hotel called Nebraska. I got una ensalada con pollo (chicken) y beicon. It was delicious. We think the waiter hated us but oh well. We finally had some food then came back to the hotel & hung out for a little bit and I napped for an hour or so.
I finally got to shower since I was in a rush this morning & was too tired last night. So I think that was like 2-3 days without showering, eww. But I went to get my toiletries & my soap had opened and spilled. So I am low on soap & its only a few days in. So I had to clean off everything & soak my bag in water. Just a pain.
Then, I actually blew a fuse in our room. I tried blow-drying my hair & it worked. Then I tried the straightener (not turned up all the way) and it blew it. Everything went dark & nothing would work. So I went downstairs for a meeting & passed Kelly so we went & tried to talk to the front desk, which was a little rough but they got it fixed. So I'm using Kelly's converter for my computer now and will have to buy one, along with a new straightener. Another girl in my program said hair dryers & straighteners always break - why didnt anyone tell me.
At 620 I had a housing meeting. I am living on Calle Birmingham - and I'm actually right next to Kelly! We're in the Gros district - right by the beach though. You should google map it or something. It'll be like 30mins walking to the school, but the walk is along the beach so I could do that. Or ride a bus or taxi. I get more information about the family on Sunday night when we get to San Sebastian and will meet them Monday.
After my meeting we just have been hanging around the hotel, reading and I skype chatted with Jess & Elizabeth. (I video chatted with Tyrel & Ali last night!) And we went to a restaurant called VIPS. This time the waiter was really nice & was actually smiling. And on the way back to the hotel some guy goes "hola" and kelly smiles and says "Hola!" and then she realizes it wasnt a guy in our group. A little creepy but he thought it was funny.
So now we're going to bed (its 11:30pm) and hopefully we will awake in the morning for our trip to Toledo.
Miss you all.
Love, Jill
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
My First Day
So I call it my first day but really it was two. I combine it into one. It has been a really really long day! This might get confusing but I'm going to try and tell about my day. The time is really messing me up.
Tuesday I woke up at 6am central time and mom and I left for the airport at 645am. We got up to MCI around 8 and hung around there til my flight that left at 950. I flew to Chicago which was pretty quick and got there at 11am. My flight didn't leave Chicago until 5pm so I had some time to kill. I talked to a few friends on the airport, got lunch, and hung out by my gate and watched the other study abroaders come in. Finally after one of the most boring afternoons ever I got to board around 445.
We sat on the runway for a long time before we left, we ended up leaving 30-45mins late. However, I had a window seat and no one sat in the seat next to me. I made friends with the aisle guy that was from Illinois and studying in Barcelona but he had tons of friends around him that were all in a group so I didn't talk much. It was a nice 7 & 1/2 hour flight. I got to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (which made me want to go to Greece even more), Harry Potter, Friends, The Office, and listened to plenty of music. Mom, don't worry we did get dinner on the flight. We had some chicken and pasta thing, a roll, salad with feta cheese & cranberries, apple pie and a kit kat. Haha, kind of a random mix. Then we got breafkast at like 5am - weird apple bearclaw.
But we finally got to London around 7am - this would be Jan 7 & London time. (oh and still hadn't talked to any of the USAC people) But once we got to London we had to get to a different terminal and I had to get on a couple shuttles so I just followed other people I recognized in their USAC t-shirts. Then I finally got the nerve and asked if I could follow around. So we walked around the airport, met up with more USAC girls, got lunch/breakfast at 10am and waited for our flight. Tons of other USAC people showed up and we all started talking and figuring out who was going where cause there are 3 different locations.
This flight left at 110pm. So then we had a quick 2 & 1/2 hour flight. The meal this time was a wheat sandwich - half egg mayo & tuna salad and half ham & cheese. We arrived in Madrid at 430pm (Madrid is an hour later than London, so 7 hours later than Kansas). I had met one nice girl named Katie that would be in San Sebastian with me so that was exciting. I had slept through them passing out the customs cards so I met another girl going to San Sebastian, Kelly from NAU, trying to fill out my card in line. We still hadn't seen any USAC people holding signs (which really worried one guy, haha). But we got our luggage & they ended up being outside the baggage area waiting for us - I probably don't have the most luggage, but definitely quite a bit.
So then we took a bus to our hotel and checked in. I'm in a room with Kelly and we'll be here til the 11th. We had a meeting tonight and dinner at 830 (or 20:30)- some noodles filled with spinach covered in cheese, then chicken ON THE BONE AND PURPLE/RED, but then kiwi for dessert - yum!
So now Kelly and I are really worn out so we're just checking the internet and about to go to bed.
Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Madrid - its going to be freezing so that should be fun. This was an extra long update so don't feel obligated to read it all. I miss you all!
More later.
Love, Jill
Tuesday I woke up at 6am central time and mom and I left for the airport at 645am. We got up to MCI around 8 and hung around there til my flight that left at 950. I flew to Chicago which was pretty quick and got there at 11am. My flight didn't leave Chicago until 5pm so I had some time to kill. I talked to a few friends on the airport, got lunch, and hung out by my gate and watched the other study abroaders come in. Finally after one of the most boring afternoons ever I got to board around 445.
We sat on the runway for a long time before we left, we ended up leaving 30-45mins late. However, I had a window seat and no one sat in the seat next to me. I made friends with the aisle guy that was from Illinois and studying in Barcelona but he had tons of friends around him that were all in a group so I didn't talk much. It was a nice 7 & 1/2 hour flight. I got to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (which made me want to go to Greece even more), Harry Potter, Friends, The Office, and listened to plenty of music. Mom, don't worry we did get dinner on the flight. We had some chicken and pasta thing, a roll, salad with feta cheese & cranberries, apple pie and a kit kat. Haha, kind of a random mix. Then we got breafkast at like 5am - weird apple bearclaw.
But we finally got to London around 7am - this would be Jan 7 & London time. (oh and still hadn't talked to any of the USAC people) But once we got to London we had to get to a different terminal and I had to get on a couple shuttles so I just followed other people I recognized in their USAC t-shirts. Then I finally got the nerve and asked if I could follow around. So we walked around the airport, met up with more USAC girls, got lunch/breakfast at 10am and waited for our flight. Tons of other USAC people showed up and we all started talking and figuring out who was going where cause there are 3 different locations.
This flight left at 110pm. So then we had a quick 2 & 1/2 hour flight. The meal this time was a wheat sandwich - half egg mayo & tuna salad and half ham & cheese. We arrived in Madrid at 430pm (Madrid is an hour later than London, so 7 hours later than Kansas). I had met one nice girl named Katie that would be in San Sebastian with me so that was exciting. I had slept through them passing out the customs cards so I met another girl going to San Sebastian, Kelly from NAU, trying to fill out my card in line. We still hadn't seen any USAC people holding signs (which really worried one guy, haha). But we got our luggage & they ended up being outside the baggage area waiting for us - I probably don't have the most luggage, but definitely quite a bit.
So then we took a bus to our hotel and checked in. I'm in a room with Kelly and we'll be here til the 11th. We had a meeting tonight and dinner at 830 (or 20:30)- some noodles filled with spinach covered in cheese, then chicken ON THE BONE AND PURPLE/RED, but then kiwi for dessert - yum!
So now Kelly and I are really worn out so we're just checking the internet and about to go to bed.
Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Madrid - its going to be freezing so that should be fun. This was an extra long update so don't feel obligated to read it all. I miss you all!
More later.
Love, Jill
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Practice Round
I'm just seeing if this blog works. I'm going to keep it updated while I'm in Spain. I leave from the KC airport at 9:50 Tuesday morning. Then my flight leaves from Chicago to London around 5:00pm. I will be trying to write in this once every day, or every few days.
If you want to leave a comment you can leave one as anonymous and just put your name on it, or if you have one of the registered accounts, or just e-mail me. Feel free to talk to me as much as you want :)
Hope this works!
Love, Jill
If you want to leave a comment you can leave one as anonymous and just put your name on it, or if you have one of the registered accounts, or just e-mail me. Feel free to talk to me as much as you want :)
Hope this works!
Love, Jill
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