Spain 2008

The Hardest Week

2008-07-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Nothing much new on this side of the world. They are busy trying to kill us with homework over here. I just finished a 5 page paper and gave a short presentation today. Tomorrow I have over an hour's worth of homework, an interview with 6 different Spanish people about the public transportation system. Wednesday I have a final exam, a book to read on Spanish culture, a 3 page critical analysis of my cultural experiences here, 2 pages on my favorite historical sites, and 2 pages comparing Spanish and United States' cultures. Thursday I have an oral interview critiquing my Spanish pronunciation, and my other final exam. Oh, and not a word of all that involves the English language. After Thursday, I am FREE FREE FREE! In the meantime, however, they are not joking around with this study abroad stuff.

Kelsey and I hung out at the beach today. It was hotter than normal, and my face is the color of a tomato. It was fun, though. A nice couple gave us their beach mats when they left, and we bought sarongs. I swam in the ocean awhile to cool off, and just floated on my back for the longest time. The salt water increases your buoyancy, so you can just lay back and stay afloat. Pretty relaxing. One presentation in class today involved drugs and alcohol, so we got so sample some vino. The first and last time I will be able to drink alcohol in class I'm guessing!

Francia!

2008-07-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

This morning we left for another village. We stopped along the way for a little more hiking. We went up quite a ways, eventually reaching an amazing waterfall and white water rapids. With each clearing we passed, the number of climbers dropped off. Only 7 of us made it all the way to the end of the trail. There was a bridge across the falls, so we sat on it and ate our lunch. We filled our bottles in the spring, so hopefully I’m not stricken with diarrhea or anything crazy in the near future. The whole experience was amazing, though. Being up in the mountains was one of the most peaceful, beautiful things I have ever seen. I would’ve loved to keep going, but we didn’t have time. One day I hope to take a full-on camping trip and hike all the way to the top of a small mountain.

We stayed the night in Viehla, a town not much bigger than Boi. I was soaked with sweat from the hike, so the first thing I did at the hotel was shower and take a long nap. Pretty soon Ian knocked at the door, wanting to know if we wanted to go to France. It was a little over an hour’s drive, so we got in the charter bus and just took off! We went to a tiny little skiing town, and rode gondolas up to the town of the mountain. We got there just before it closed, so we didn’t have time to walk around up top, but it was still an amazing view there and back.

Kelsey, Brendan, and I ate paninis and crepes at a little shop before walking around the city. On the bus ride back we got out Kelsey’s cards, and played Speed, Golf, and Go Fish. We got a pretty big group going, so it was fun. It’s amazing to me how close I’ve grown to some of the people in my group, considering we were complete strangers just a month ago. It’s also weird to think that after this week, some of us will never see each other again.

Hasta Luego,

Becca

I have found heaven on earth, and it's called the Pyrenees

2008-07-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Sorry I haven't written much this past week. I can sum it up in one sentence: school, school, and school. Taking two four week classes is no joke! I keep consoling myself with the thought that one week from today I will be done again for a few weeks. This weekend was our group excursion to the Pyrenees in NE Spain. The bus ride was about 4 hours, after which we pulled up to this tiny village of about 500 people. It’s weird to say that considering the size of Goodrich, but it was this little town nestled in the valley, with stone buildings and shacks everywhere. “Quaint” is the most appropriate word I can think of.

After we checked in, we went on a hike. Clayton and I separate off because we wanted to do a little off-roading, but we couldn’t find a way down to the river. We caught up with everyone else and drank some wine at the next village Tallua, the next village up from Boi. We came back for dinner, which was pretty good. We had beans, potatoes, trout, salad, bread, wine, and flan. Our bus driver, Manólo, is the sweetest guy ever. He bought us all sangria in honor of his 7 yr. old daughter’s birthday and we sang to her over the phone.

In our absence a bunch of the girls had drinks, which affected them double considering the altitude factor. They were all pretty drunk, but Alix was really bad. She would’ve slept through dinner had I not went upstairs to shepherd her down. After the meal she went straight back to bed. There was a fiesta in a neighboring town, so most of our group took taxis there. Brandon and I had talked about taking a hike, so we left just as it was getting dark. We ended up hiking for over 2 hours, eventually running out of trails and blazing our own through the brush. We made it really far up the mountain, which is even more impressive considering it was nighttime and we had only a flashlight to guide us (besides our incredible mountaineering skills :-O .) It was a lot of fun, and on our way down we stopped at a bar and got beers and Spanish omelettes. Otherwise it was a pretty relaxed night. That altitude change wears a person out!

Hasta Luego,

Becca

Adios Roma!

2008-07-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Today we got to Rome much earlier, thanks to our wake-up call (the front desk literally knocked on our door, pretty funny). We wanted to go to Italian mass, and decided to head to the Basilica di San Ignazo. When it was built, they ran out of money for the dome. The artist was a master of perspective, so he painted the illusion of a dome onto the ceiling. Even though it is completely flat, it’s impossible to tell. The light through the dome’s windows even appears to change as you walk from one end to the other.

We made friends with the church caretaker, especially after Kelsey asked to go to confession. She whipped out her cell phone and called up the priest, so we felt pretty privileged. After Kelsey was all sin-free, we still had some time before mass started. We decided to walk over to the Pantheon. I never imagined I would kill time by walking around the Pantheon! It was different than I pictured. The dome inside was awesome, though. Its diameter equals the height of the building: 142 feet. It was the widest dome in the world until the 19^th century. Rafael is buried there, so we saw his tomb as well.

We returned to St. Ignazo in time for mass. After we sat down, the caretaker came over and asked us in Spanish to do something. We thought she said to move when the service started, because we were in the reserved seats. We were talking about it after she left, when we realized that she actually asked us to read during the mass! She wanted us to do the scripture—in Italian. We quickly found her and declined, narrowly avoiding a very embarrassing situation!

After mass we checked out Augustine’s Arch and la Fontana de Trevi. It’s the largest fountain in Rome. Speaking of fountains, there are drinking fountains everywhere in Rome leftover from ancient times. They are flowing, so you just walk right up and fill your bottle. I was a little skeptical at first, but you know how it goes. When in Rome...

We needed to find the number 64 bus to take us to the Vatican city. We decided to eat before starting our search, so we grabbed paninis and sat by the road. Just like magic, our bus pulled right up to us! We got to St. Peter’s Basilica early enough to miss the security queues, which can get over a mile long I guess. They have to check your bags and make sure you are dressed appropriately—no shorts or bare shoulders allowed.

St. Peter’s Square was cool to see. In the center there is a giant obelisk from 13^th century B.C. Egypt. It is the largest standing obelisk in the world at 131 feet. We also toured the Crypt of the Popes, and saw where John Paul II is buried. It was covered in little strips of paper with prayers scrawled on them. We also walked around the Basilica. Technically it isn’t a cathedral because it isn’t the seat of a bishop, but mass is still held there sometimes. It took forever to walk around, because there was so much to see. We climbed the 320 stairs to the top of the dome. We walked around the inside of it, which is covered in paintings and mosaics. It is 448 feet at the top, making it the tallest dome in the world. We also went outside, which was amazing. There were panaromic views of the entire city, and it was so beautiful we sat up there for a good hour. We needed a rest after all those stairs anyways. We wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, but didn’t realize it is closed on Sundays.

By the time we got back to the metro it was about time to head out for the airport. We got back to our dorm about 1:30 AM, and then started working on homework. Didn’t exactly do a lot of that this weekend! It was an amazing experience though—having the freedom to take off for Rome is something you can never take for granted.

Arriverderci,

Becca

Roma Day Two

2008-07-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

We didn’t get to the city until about noon today. It is much hotter here than Barcelona, and the heat just radiates off of all the concrete and bricks, especially at the ancient ruins. We escaped the hottest part of the day underground, though. We toured ancient crypts from the 2^nd -8^th centuries AD. The site served as both a secret meeting place for Christians during Roman paganism, as well as a burial site for many popes and saints. There were over 500,000 tombs in total, with four floors extending over 60 feet below the surface. After it was full, it was abandoned for almost 1000 years. Since then it has been the subject of restoration and research. It was amazing to see all of the artwork and frescoes on the walls, some of which are almost 2000 years old. You can check out the website: http://www.catacombe.roma.it/en/dettaglio.html

After our tour we hopped back on the metro to the Colosseum. Much of ancient Rome is within 10 minutes walking distance, so we saw a lot today. The tour of the Colosseum took awhile, but it was definitely worth it. It was finished in 80 AD, with four floors seating over 55,000 people. There are over 80 entrance arches alone. They used to have all the gladiator games, bullfights (that’s where Spain got it from), and other performances there. During the inaugural games alone over 9,000 wild animals were killed. When the ground became too blood-stained, they used to spread a layer of sand to absorb it to keep the games going continuously.

We walked around a marketplace for awhile and bought some souvenirs. Kelsey was asked twice if she was Indian—I think that’s a sign we’ve been out in the sun too much! We grabbed some pizza for dinner, with gelato to follow. We figured we ought to eat the real thing when we have the chance. We also got some wine—boxed, for .65. Italy on a budget J--and headed back to our Happy Village.

Arriverderci,

Becca

Off to Roma!

2008-07-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

We took off to Rome today. Kelsey and I got up early to make our flight. We took the metro to a direct airport shuttle train. I was worried about getting lost or missing the train, but we made it without any problems. It was a short flight, and we landed in Rome before noon. It looks just like Kansas from the plane window! We caught a train from the airport to the main metro station. It was a big place, but somehow we found our train, and switched three more times before catching a shuttle to our hostel. Pretty good considering it’s all in Italian! Knowing Spanish definitely helps, however, since so many words have similar roots.

We are staying at Happy Village and Camping. The train we took to catch the hostel’s shuttle took us way outside of Rome. It was so ghetto, as was the metro station we got off at. There was graffiti, rust and trash everywhere, but it didn’t really surprise me since that seems to be typical of the entire city. Rome is definitely not a clean place. I needed band-aids from a nearby pharmacy, and you weren’t even allowed to enter. You had to tell them what you wanted, and then they would hold up your choices to the glass. You exchanged the goods and money through a tray in the door.

After our Happy bus took us to check-in, Kelsey and I headed back into the city for a few hours. The best part about our trip is that we have no itinerary. We just rode the metro, got off at a random stop, and started walking. We stumbled upon a few palaces, obelisks, and eventually made it to the Spanish stairs. We watched the sunset up there before heading back for the night. There was this crazy guy at the fountain we were taking pictures of that kept jumping in front of our pictures. I talked to Rachel, and she remembered seeing him when she went to Rome during high school! Small world.

The hostel where we are staying is very clean and safe, but definitely has no frills. Maybe that’s why it was so cheap. We are staying in a tiny cabin without air or water, and share outdoor bathrooms and showers with the rest of the guests. It is definitely oriented more towards camping, and a lot of people have trailers or tents. That said, we have hot water, so I’m not complaining too much.

Arriverderci,

Becca

Back to the city

2008-07-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

We left Tossa del Mar of Costa Brava today around 3:00 pm. It was about a 2 hour drive straight back, mostly because we beat the traffic. Beforehand, however, we got a little more cliff jumping in. We headed out right after breakfast, and stayed out until the last minute before the bus left. I was a little sad to leave, because the beach there was so beautiful.

Some of the sorority girls showed up after we had been jumping awhile. I guess they were way out on another beach and everyone there was watching us jump. They figured it was us crazy Americans, so they hiked their way out to us. I was surprised, some of them got up the nerve to jump. Jumping wasn't even the scariest part, it was more climbing up the side of the rock itself.

There were a bunch of nudists out today, including one artist with his dog. He sat and drew the cliffs the entire time we were there. I guess being naked helps release his creativity? We drew quite an audience today, between the beach-goers in the distance, the nudists, and the random people in boats or kayacks. It was a really fun time, I'm happy to cross cliff jumping off my list of crazy things to do. It's a long one, but I'm making a dent at least :)

Hasta Luego,

Becca

Cliff Jumping North Dakota style

2008-07-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

It’s official—I’m a cliff jumper! It wasn’t what I had pictured in my head, though. The cliff was maybe 40 feet is all, but it was still a rush to jump off. I originally went to the beach with Mel and Brandon, right after we finished breakfast. We found this cove away from all the tourists, and climbed out to this huge rock in the bay. Brendan, Mia, and Ian ended up coming there too, and next thing I knew we were rock climbing on an even bigger rock, looking for a good place to cliff jump.

We jumped off a 10 footer or so, just to scout out the depth a little better. The water was at least 40 feet deep, but we wanted to be sure. Brandon was being a little chicken, so I jumped first. I also climbed up the big rock first, but I let Ian jump before me. Mia isn’t the greatest swimmer, so she hung out on the ledge and took pictures and videos. She eventually jumped off the smaller cliff; Mel really surprised me. She jumped once off the big one—I never expected her to climb up that rock or be willing to jump off. The worst part? I kept getting water in my ears, which hurt a little.

After we were all worn out from rock climbing and swimming, Mel and I laid on that rock and got some sun. We slept for a good 2 hours before heading back for bocadillos and a long shower. I started working on my presentation for class on Wednesday, and chilled out a little before dinner. We have free breakfast and dinner at the hotel every day, and it’s amazing. A lot of Mediterranean-style food obviously, which I love. Tonight we just hung out at the hote. Our original plan was to go watch the sunset on the beach, but we were rained out. Tomorrow we head back to Barcelona, but we might get some beach time in first.

Hasta Luego,

Becca

Costa Brava Here We Come!

2008-07-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

We left for our group excursion today. We drove first to Figueres and toured the Salvador Dalí museum. He rebuilt an old theater as a museum to his work in the 1950s. He was a talented man for sure, but an equally strange one. Lots of surrealism, naked body parts, beds, weird fetish stuff…not my thing at all. Mel and I stayed together the entire time, and actually spent the last hour resting on a bench in the center garden. Afterwards, we drove to some ancient ruins, one of a Greek city and one Roman. They were built in the 1^st century B.C., which was awesome to see. The only bad part was that we had a tour guide, and it took forever. I am sick to death of guided tours and historical sites, and after the 10^th explanation of the sistern of some ancient house, I wasn’t even pretending to be interested anymore. Then again, neither was anyone else in our group.

There were some interesting parts: we saw the public baths and public toilets in the Roman city. Men would sit naked on this long board with holes cut out, use the bathroom, and chat. They used to talk about whatever—business, relationships, politics, nothing was off-limits. They had slaves of course (they lived in the basements of the houses), and one would run back and forth to wipe them as men finished their business. If that isn’t disturbing enough, he would use the same sponge to clean everyone. That’s what I call a dirty job!

A water pipe for the air conditioning in our bus broke on the drive to Costa Brava, and water started pouring out of the nearest vent onto the girls sitting there. We had to drive with the emergency door popped out of the bus ceiling. I slept each time we got back on the bus, I just couldn’t seem to catch up. This bus was smaller, so I couldn’t have my own seat. I sat next to Clayton, so he entertained me during the short time I was awake. He wants to go cliff jumping here, which sounds fun. He claims if you do it wrong though, you end up with a very forceful enema. Don't know if I want to take that risk!

Who wants a tattoo?

2008-07-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Class today with Antonio wasn’t really that bad. Definitely not as boring as the first few, but still not the best three hours I’ve spent. Afterwards, we headed to the beach. A bunch of the other girls were there too, so when all of them left around 5:30, Kelsey went with. Mel and I didn’t get home until 9:15 pm. We met a guy named Carlos that gave us henna tattoos. I got a bracelet, which turned out really cool. If I didn't want to get a job in the future, I would love a real one. I don't think most people would take Ms. Feickert, Lawyer/Accountant very seriously though.

Our tattoo man, Carlos, was a pretty funny guy. He’s definitely a free spirit, but in his words, “I’m not a hippie. I hate hippies.” He is originally from El Salvador, but has lived all over. He says he’s a tourist, but he just stays longer in on vacation then most people. He also claims he’s an alchemist, because he can turn anything into gold, even the “atoms of sound.” Makes sense when you think about it; he plays music and is paid for creating it, which he could use to buy gold if he wished. A weird way of looking at it, but true I guess.

Mel and I decided to go out last night again. We could’ve gone to a famous club called Pacha for 5 euros, but got free entrance and champagne to Club Sol, so we did that instead. Bad choice—I wouldn’t say last night was a complete bust, but kind of boring compared to most times we go out. First of all, we tried to walk to Sol and went in the completely wrong direction. My fault, I was the navigator. We asked some guys and they said we were a long ways from it, but we could go to club Elefante instead. So we did, like dumb Americans. We got in free and the place was amazing, but there was hardly anyone there, and the longer we sat there the weirder the vibe felt. We eventually figured out that it was a gay bar!

We thought it was pretty funny, will probably prank the boys in our group sometime and send them there. We caught a taxi to Club Sol—which took forever to find—and that was even worse. There was literally 7 other people there, but we got 2 free glasses of champagne and chatted up the bartender. He is a Cuban model, and it turned out he was at the Custo party we went to at the king's palace. He told us that Buda Bar on model's night is actually put on to scout potential talent. There is a big dinner with a lot of top agencies, and then everyone goes to the party upstairs later. I could've been discovered, haha.

We eventually talked about the war in Iraq, with him being pretty forceful about his opinions. It never ceases to amaze me how nonchalantly people in Spain discuss politics. It was really interesting to hear his perspective, since he lived in Cuba his first twenty years. He talked about Castro, the blockade, poverty, everything. He definitely didn't approve of the war or Bush, like everyone else we've met here. It is true, however--the whole world knows everything about American politics. We are definitely in the spotlight.

Hasta luego,

Becca

Almost Halfway...

2008-07-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Hard to believe I only have about three weeks left in my study abroad! It has gone really fast so far. Today we went to class, ate lunch, and then headed back to the beach. It was hotter today, but I slathered up with the sunscreen, and only got a little pink after two hours. Kelsey even burned a little, and she's naturally dark-skinned.

I bought a book in Spanish to read for fun. Antonio told us that is the most efficient way to achieve fluency, and I need something to read at the beach anyway. Something funny that happened today: we are riding the metro back when this guy and his son get on. The kid is wearing a Fighting Sioux hat! After about seven double-takes they could tell I was staring, so I struck up a conversation. It turns out that they are from Wisconsin, but the son went to hockey camp at UND a few weeks ago. They have relatives in North Dakota, and Lawrence too. I guess sometimes they even come down to Kansas for basketball games. It is such a small world.

Hasta luego,

Becca

P.S. I downloaded some pictures of La Sagrada Familia from our field trip on Monday.

Beach = Happiness :-)

2008-07-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Pretty tired today. I’m nocturnal now, I swear. Kelsey and I didn’t even go anywhere, but we still stayed up until 5:30 AM. I got up for breakfast and class. We had phonetics today, which is officially the most boring topic in the world. I am officially self-conscious to speak with native speakers now, because we had to record ourselves and analyze our pronunciation with António. Imagine a North Dakota accent speaking Spanish—that’s me. Frightening, I know. That class ran late as usual, so we went straight to lunch and then to the bookstore to finally pick up our textbooks.

Afterwards, we did some laundry (in the sink of course), and headed to the beach. I wasn’t expecting much considering we got there after 3 pm and it was only partly sunny, but we stayed for 4 hours and I actually burned a little. It will be a tan by tomorrow, though. I spent most of my time doing homework, but took a nice long nap too. The picture I tagged is of this guy selling donuts. He was running around, singing and balancing that tray on his head.

After we took the metro back, Mel went on a date, and I showered and ate some dinner. I took some fruit to the beach, so had some more for dinner with bread, tuna, peanut butter, and canned peas. Canned peas are my new obsession.

Later on that night we went to Buddha Bar downtown. It's a pretty exclusive place, you actually have to have your name on a list to get in the front door. Luckily we have a friend who we called to put us down. It was absolutely packed in there, with extremely beautiful people. We soon found out why: Tuesday is "Model Night," which explains the exclusivity. We met a lot of people, including a professional poker player from London named Sonny. The picture I put up of us three with "revivalanoche" in the corner was taken by a fashion photographer. I downloaded it off his website. Pretty crazy stuff!

When that place closed, we headed to Up & Down, a club really close to our dorm. Same connections, different place. It was a fun time, with people from all over the world. It was "New York" night, so all popular music from the States. A lot of bars here play American music, but this was especially on target. Hope everything's good back home!

Hasta luego,

Becca

You can't party like a rockstar every day...

2008-07-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Another boring day here. Went to class in the morning; it was the culture class, so we talked a little about Spanish history before taking the tram together to La Sagrada Família. It’s a gothic cathedral started in 1882 by Antoní Gaudí. It’s still under construction for at least 25 more years. It was beautiful (and strange), but I was tired and hungry so I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I should’ve. Definitely sick of museums and monuments and random art crap. We ate lunch in the cafeteria, then took another nap. I lifted today; the dorm’s weight room is definitely crap. No free bar, no incline bench, just a few free weights, bikes, wacky machines, and a swiss ball. Not even a medicine ball—not that I’m dying to lift anyways, but I don’t want to be a complete bum. Let me rephrase: not trying to die when I go back. I ran stairs last Thursday (9 flights of 20 steps 4 times, then our jumping sequence abbreviated). I am still sore, so I know I accomplished something.

I get really self-conscious as well when other people watch me work out. Some of our group was down there when I went, and they are constantly asking me questions. They're curious about everything from our running to what food is at training table. I never fail to be amazed at how obsessed with the secret world of athletics is. I really don't like it, not only because they are just standing there watching me, but because I feel like I’m representing the WBB team, all athletes in general, etc. I’m not doing everything I’m supposed to while I'm in Spain, so they probably think that the amount I'm doing is actually the norm for us. No matter how I portray life as an athlete to the outside world, I feel like I’m misunderstood. It either sounds a lot better or a lot worse than it really is; it’s hard to get across that it’s a trade-off. It’s neither all good or all bad, but plenty of both. I don’t think it’s actually possible to understand without going through it yourself, but I wish I could do a better job explaining it. The closest I’ve come is that it’s like a deal with the devil: you get everything you could ever want, but you sell your soul in exchange. They laugh when I say that, which is how I know that they definitely don't understand.

Hasta Luego,

Becca

Sunday: A Day to Finally Rest

2008-07-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Pretty uneventful around here today. We got home around 5 AM, so I slept until noon before going to run. I ended up running to the king's old palace, where we went to the Custo party on Thursday. It is even more beautiful in the daytime, with tons of walking paths, flowers, and fountains. Barcelona is really exercise friendly. Two blocks from our dorm is a main street with a whole separate sidewalk for bikes and runners. The stoplights even seem to be timed to make it easier for people exercising to cross the streets.

After I got back I took another cat nap. Kelsey was asleep the whole time, and didn't actually get out of her bed until 5 pm. We went to the supermarket for supplies (tuna, carrots, canned peas, and dark chocolate for me) before going to a group meeting about our excursion to the Salvador Dali museum this weekend. Tomorrow we have class, and will hopefully lay on the beach if it doesn't rain. Hope everyone is doing great.

Hasta luego,

Becca

P.S. Here's the link to my pictures from the past few days: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2249145&l=d6a70&id=16830714

Everyone knows the Olympic Stadium is better at night

2008-07-05T03:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

We slept until almost 2 pm today, we were so tired out from last night. It’s rough going to a dance club with break dancers! It’s like doing a duet with Pavarotti or something—you just can’t compete. We finally dragged ourselves out of bed and ate some lunch. We thought about going to the beach, but decided we should be responsible students and get some homework done. We went to the bookstore downtown to get our textbook, but they didn’t have it. I chatted awhile with Heidi and Laura, telling them all about my adventures so far. I think they were jealous that I met a friend of Enrique's. :)

Later on that night we headed to the Olympic Stadium for the Bacardi Party. It was invitation only, but luckily we had friends from the other night to get us in. There was a red carpet and doormen in nice suits. Since Bacardi threw the party, there was free drinks, and live entertainment all night. I posted some videos of the different acrobatic acts, but there was all sorts of things going on. They had a fireworks show, a few performances by some European singer, and an orchestra. Everything was Bacardi themed: the acrobats even formed a bat shape at one point. It was really cool to be there, although the music was techo which really isn't my thing. Still, we had a good time. Love and miss you all!

Hasta Luego,

Becca

2008-07-04T02:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day! Too bad no one cares here but us. We woke up today to eat breakfast, then went and slept again until lunch. After lunch Mel and I headed to the beach to get a little bit of a tan. There were tons of people there because the weather was so beautiful; it was hard to even find somewhere to sit.

We came back and showered, ate some supper (food stolen from the cafeteria, haha) and rode the metro back to the beach. We went to a discoteca (dance club) overlooking the water, and met some dancers from France. They travel around Europe as street performers, true nomads. They call themselves Echoliosse, and they could dance like no one I have ever seen. They were spinning on their heads, flipping in mid-air, break dancing on the floor, all in the middle of this dance club. We hung out with them the entire night, and I got a few videos but only one turned out.

They are leaving tomorrow for France, then moving on to Rome. I can’t imagine a life like that. They are planning to get up tomorrow, dance awhile until they get gas money, then take off. Pretty exciting, but they’ve been together as a group about 4 years, and I bet it gets old after awhile not having a home. Hope everything is great back home!

Hasta Luego,

Becca

I'm famous in Europe

2008-07-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Definitely had a crazy day today. Went to Antonio’s class in the morning, which is SO boring. It’s phonetics, so the study of pronunciation in the Spanish language and the variations in language and accents in different parts of Spain or Latin America. Boring material, but he’s pretty funny so he makes it interesting. We have to record ourselves once a week speaking Spanish, then do an auto-evaluation of our own pronunciation. Americans have a distinct accent when we speak Spanish, so part of the class is learning to minimize that and sound more like a native speaker. I was already self-conscious about my speaking because I am a perfectionist, but now that I know a little about different I speak I am really aware of it.

That hasn’t stopped us from mingling with the locals however. We talk a lot with people on the beach, on the metro, out at night, etc. Most people are really interested in the United States and are willing to talk about politics, Spain, whatever u want. Politics isn’t a taboo subject in Spanish culture like it is in the United States.

Tonight we decided to go out on the town since we don’t have class tomorrow. We didn’t get to the metro until after it closed, so we decided to walk a ways on the main drag, el Gran Vía Carlos III. We could see lights ahead and hear music, so we thought there might be a concert or something. When we got there, we saw a huge white wall with a wrought-iron gate. You could see a bunch of trees and flowers on the other side, and there were at least 200 people standing outside waiting for the doormen to let them in. Everyone was really dressed up in designer clothes, and looked really classy. We started talking to a group of guys, and asked them what was going on. They said it was a party for Fashion Week in Barcelona, and that you need a ticket to get in. We asked how much it cost, and they said it was invitation only but they would try to get us in with them. We sweet-talked the doorman, and the next thing we knew we were walked up to this huge house. We started asking more questions, and soon learned that it was a party thrown by Custo, one of Spain’s most famous fashion designers. We were at the King’s old palace, at one of the most exclusive parties in Barcelona. We were surrounded by celebrities, models, photographers, publicists, etc. I met a DJ from Madrid, a financial advisor from Italy, a publicist for Vogue out of New York, and a musician friend of Enrique Iglesias. There were models everywhere, and an open bar. We even got our picture taken by a tabloid photographer, so hopefully we made it to press!

We have met people from all of Europe, Africa, and even the United States. We are being careful however, because not everyone has friendly motivations. We are obviously American by our mannerisms and dress, and especially by our accent, no matter how much we try to talk without it. We are always careful about sticking together and not walking alone anywhere. It’s a plus that we stay out all night I guess, because it’s light again when we walk home!

Hasta luego,

Becca

You mean this isn't all a vacation?

2008-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Another boring day here. I have started working out again (begrudgingly, after I heard horror stories about Marija's transition back into Hudy workouts), but today was my day off. We started class today, so I have it from 10-1 PM Monday through Thursday now. Today was the class with Teresa Nandin, the professor from Barcelona. She speaks really fast! Overall it went really well, however. We went over the syllabus, discussed maps of Barcelona and the layout of the metro system here, and talked a little of Spanish history. The title of her class is Spanish 446- History and Spanish Culture. That is the class I was originally not supposed to take. Instead, the petition committee at KU said I need to take an independent course under Antonio, but when I asked him about it he just said to sit in on the class and he will write me down for credit under the other one. I guess it will be our little secret :-) He is very laid back, and doesn't get caught up in red tape and useless rules. I think he knows I will get just as much out of that class as if I had taken Spanish 340, KU's stupid Spanish literature course that they mandate as a prerequisite.

Anyway, we jumped into homework pretty fast. I have a short composition for Monday, and have to give a 20 minute presentation on the history of immigration in Spain for Wednesday. I am the second person to do mine, just because I want to get it out of the way. Kelsey and I decided to hang out in the city this weekend. We looked into taking the train to Paris or the ferry out to Mallorca (a small island within Spanish territory), but it was really expensive and we want some free time to explore the city anyways.

Class doesn't get out until 1 PM, but our cafeteria doesn't serve lunch until 1:30. Spaniards eat all their meals much later, with the main one for lunch. It's killing me. I simply can't wait until 9:30 PM to eat dinner. My stomach won't let me. At least everything is consolidated into the building with our rooms, so we just have to go downstairs for meals or class. We get two meals per day here, so we're on our own for dinner. We don't have so much as a microwave to cook with, however. We have kind of made a contest out of saving money, so we go to the grocery store every day and buy super cheap stuff. For example, tonight I had a can of tuna, bread, canned peas, and fruit I stole from our cafeteria at lunch. I think my entire meal cost maybe 1 euro. Yay for being cheap!

After lunch Kelsey and I headed to the beach. Of course we immediately got lost and had to ask directions three times. We like to ask little old ladies, they seem to be the best combination of friendly and accurate. Anyone under the age of 30 will tell you where to go regardless of if they actually know. Apparently it is more desirable to make up something random then appear unknowledgeable. The metro took about 40 minutes, and involved switching trains three times. We do pretty good once we get to the actual station. It just finding the stupid thing that trips us up.

The beach we went to wasn't nearly as nice as the one in San Sebastian, but there was sun and sand and water so I can't complain. Kirk, a guy in our group, was stung by a jellyfish in San Sebastian, so now most of the sorority girls are too terrified to swim. He said it hurt less than a bee sting. I'm continually amazed at people's behavior here: it is no big deal for women to be topless, or men to be naked all together. That goes for all ages and sizes. Pretty terrifying if I do say so myself. We were laughing pretty hard at this one guy. He was about 50, at least 300 lbs, and wearing this tiny speedo. As if that didn't attract enough attention, he was standing by his towel belting out opera, shaking his big booty to the beat. Pretty amusing.

Guys here are funny too. They are so blatant and direct when they check out a girl, it is almost comical. It's just like a cartoon; I keep waiting for hearts to bulge out from their eyes. They are really comfortable with their sexuality, though. When I see two guys' behavior towards one another, my gay-dar goes crazy! A lot of hugging, kissing, closeness...foreign to our country. Just when I'm sure, a pretty girl walks by and their tongues drop to the floor.

Tomorrow is our first class with Antonio. It should be pretty funny, because he says the most random things, and he has a very distinct accent. The other day he was telling us (READ: dumb sorority girls) why we shouldn't get trashed to the point of oblivion, saying, "You don't know, somebody puts something in your drink. Next day, you wake up missing a kidney. I don't know where you are, I'm following your puke trail from the last place you were seen, and you are lying somewhere with stitches in your belly. That is just not a fun vacation." I was rolling.

Hasta luego,

Becca

Finally settled in

2008-07-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Pretty boring day here. I woke up this morning and went for a run on the beach. The sun was just rising, and it was like something out of a movie I swear. I ran almost the entire length of the harbor. After I came back and showered, we grabbed breakfast and got on the bus. It was a long bus ride, but I slept for a good portion. Antonio (the professor for the advanced class) kept getting on the mic to tell corny jokes in Spanish, so that gave us something to do at least. He is the one responsible for letting me come on the trip, and I like him a lot. He's originally from Portugal, and he's really laidback. His patience is tried pretty often with the sorority girls, though; two nights ago they came in drunk and yelling into the lobby. A bunch of guests complained, and the manager threatened to kick our whole party out into the street.

It felt so nice to move into our dorm room, and have a place to call "home." The rooms are really nice, because the building itself is only 2 or 3 years old. There are plenty of cupboards, and the A/C works great. As long as I have Internet I think I could survive just about anywhere. We ate supper in the cafeteria, and oriented ourselves a little with the area. There is a grocery store a block away, so we bought some supplies. They didn't have peanut butter, I was a little shocked. It is 5 euros per load to wash clothes, so I did my laundry in the sink tonight. It went pretty good, but I'm skeptical on the amount of time it will take to dry. It's official: I'm a hobo.

I was able to talk on Skype to Mom last night. It worked pretty well, and I have both the webcam and the headset set up now. We start classes tomorrow, so I will have more of a set routine from now on. Tomorrow I plan to explore the city a little; if 4.5 million people can live here, I'm sure I will find something to do.

Hasta Luego,

Becca

Last night in San Sebastian

2008-06-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Today has been really fun. We went on a walking tour of the city this morning, and checked out the gorgeous views of the beach. A big group of us got pintxos (appetizers, small sandwiches, etc) at this little restaurant in old downtown. Our server was from Germany, and it was pretty funny because I kept talking in Spanish and he kept answering in English. All we hear is Spanish 24/7, so I get in this mode, and I don’t realize when someone switches languages on me anymore. It’s most common with hotel staff, guides, etc…keeps throwing me off.

After lunch we all headed to the beach (Playa Concha). We laid out for awhile, then swam in the ocean. We made it out to a floating dock with a slide and a diving board, and fell asleep on it for a few hours. It was really relaxing, I have a feeling we will make quite a few trips to the beach in the next month. I went running yesterday on the walking trail next to the ocean, so I counted the swim as my workout. It had to be over ½ mile in total. Beats Hudy any day!

Tonight we ate at a restaurant overlooking the ocean and watched the sun set. We walked on the beach back to the hotel, and played in the sand. It was so peaceful there. On the way back we saw all these snails crawling on the concrete. We leave for Barcelona in the morning; it’s a 7 hour bus ride. I should get there mid-afternoon, so about 10 AM your time. I will be glad to get there and stay in one place for awhile. I am sick of packing my stuff every night. Love and miss you all.

Hasta Luego,

Becca

Welcome to Basque country..now leaving Spain

2008-06-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Today we drove to San Sebastián. It was a pretty long bus ride, but thanks to my severe sleep deprivation I was knocked out most of the way. We stopped in Bilbao to tour the Guggenheim Museum. Not only am I sick to death of museums, the Guggenheim is really abstract. I don’t really get abstract, especially when the explanations behind the pieces are in Spanish. I was about ready to get out of there. We ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant, and I had some more doner kepap (pita, lamb meat, combination of ranch and Catalina dressing, lettuce, tomato). The U.S. is missing out, I think that will be my contribution to American history. I will bring that back with me to the States.

San Sebastián is in the Basque country (same as Barcelona), on the northern coast of Spain. The drive was up into the mountains, quite a change from Madrid, which is on a high plateau. Catalán (the Basque province) wants to be independent from Spain. They speak Euskera instead of Castellano (Spanish), so I don’t understand most of the signs. In Euskera, the city is actually called Donastia. People generally speak Spanish if they know you are foreign—which they do with us, because we stick out like a sore thumb—but there is a lot of nationalism involved so some people refuse.

It’s really easy to see the tension, between all the pro-Basque political graffiti or the fact that the Basque blue-and-white flag is above the Spanish one on the town hall. It was really evident at the Eurocup game last night. A bunch of us when to old downtown to watch it at a bar, and we were pretty surprised to see many people wearing German jerseys instead of Spanish. A few in our group wore the Spanish flag tied around their neck for the game in Salamanca, which isn’t Basque. People were celebrating in the streets after the win, it was great. When we tried that here, we were told to take it off because, “We aren’t in Spain anymore.” After Spain won, some people were celebrating in the street. All of the sudden, people started opening their windows from upstairs apartments and egging them.

Because of all the tension, it wasn’t very fun to be here when Spain won. I wish we could’ve been in any other province for the game. Those sentiments will continue for the rest of the trip, however, as Barcelona is also in Basque country. Other than that, San Sebastián is absolutely gorgeous. It is right by the ocean, with mountains in the distance. Every residence has flower boxes in the windows, and the buildings are very ornate. There is a huge statue of Jesus on the hill, and all the streets are cobblestone.

Since we didn’t want to get egged, we played it cool last night. We grabbed hamburgers (with egg on top…different) and ice cream, then got a couple of bottles of wine and hung out in the hotel. I don’t know what we were doing, but we didn’t go to bed until 4:30 AM again. Our sleep schedule is so random now that I don’t even know. I guess that’s what midday naps are for!

Hasta luego,

Becca

P.S. I posted a video of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca during the Eurocup game. Check out my previous posts.

P.P.S. I feel like I'm posting to no one. I'd love a comment...throw me a bone here!

Fiesta de San Pedros

2008-06-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

This morning we took off for Burgos. It was about a 4 hour bus ride, and you can tell we are farther north. It is way colder in the mornings and evenings. I slept most of the way. We took a walking tour of the city, including the cathedral. It was beautiful, but I feel like I am getting desensitized by all of it. After a while every cathedral and museum seem the same I guess. Some parts of the cathedral were cool: the statue of the Virgin Mary has 190 lbs of gold, and there’s a carriage drawn through the streets every Easter that has 425 lbs of silver. We saw a painting of Mary Magdalene done by Da Vinci, and horizontal organ pipes, which I guess are pretty unique. When we were walking to lunch we saw a parade of giant wooden men randomly walking down the street. Kelsey and I got bocadillos; I had one with eggs, potatoes and onions. I heard about morcilla today, which is a delicacy made from rice and pig blood. Pretty excited to try it.

The end of June has the biggest fiestas in Burgos (right now we are in the middle of the Fiesta de San Pedros) so tonight there was a mock bullfight, fireworks, and a parade at 3 AM. Kelsey and I got stickers from two older couples on the way to dinner. We had paella negra, which is a seafood dish made with black rice. Looks gross, tastes amazing. Everyone is really friendly and helpful here. Tomorrow we leave for San Sebastián, which is close to a 5 hour bus ride. We stayed up tonight until 5 AM, so my guess is I will sleep for most of that one too.

I loaded some videos of the cathedrals; one is of the Sacristia, where the priest changed in the 1200s. The other is of the main chapel of the cathedral in Salamanca.

When Spain wins the EuroCup, it´s like the Jayhawks winning the NCAA tournament...

2008-06-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

I forgot to tell you that yesterday on the drive to Salamanca, a rock from a passing truck smashed the outside window next to Tammy. Luckily there were two panes of glass, because it instantly spider-webbed, then started to break off. It made a huge noise like a gunshot, so I immediately thought of the movie “Babel.” It was pretty strange.

It is a lot harder to get around in Salamanca than in Madrid, even though the population is only 160,000 compared to almost 4 million. The streets don’t run straight, and change names almost every block. If you get even one block over, it’s super easy to get lost. We watched Spain in the Eurocup in the Plaza (they won 2-0) and ran around Salamanca with all the Spaniards celebrating afterwards. Kelsey and I bought wine for only 3.60 euros and sandwiches for dinner. I was still pretty full from that amazing lunch. I realized today too that the Plaza de Mayor is the setting for the beginning of Vantage Point.

After the game I went back to the hotel with Mel and Kelsey. We got lost of course and had to ask for directions 3 times. We actually made an entire circle before we oriented ourselves, but we came back to the room to drink a little wine and relax before going out. We were so busy chatting that we forgot all about celebrating the victory until 3:30 AM. It was actually a really deep conversation about religion, which didn´t end until 5 AM. Most of the girls on this trip are a bunch of whiny, spoiled sorority girls, so I don´t know what we would all do without each other. They are rude to the Spaniards, complain constantly, and think that everyone conform to their American ideas of life. I am embarassed that they are representing the U.S. to these people. We didn´t start hanging out with Mel until yesterday, but we are starting to form our own little circle of friends within the entire group.

Today we did a walking tour of Salamanca. We saw the church of Jerónimos (amazing, I will upload video later), the Ursula monastery, and the University of Salamanca. The church was built in the 1300s and has the forearm of a martyr for its relic. There are tombs below the floors, and we were able to sit in the same chapel used by monks and priests more than 800 years ago. The University is the oldest in Spain as it was founded in the 1200s. There is red writing all over the walls in Latin from victorious bullfighters who mixed the bull´s blood with olive oil for paint. Pretty crazy stuff! We leave for Burgos tomorrow morning. I uploaded some pictures to the other blogs if you want to check those out.

Hasta luego,

Becca

I think I was a Spaniard in my past life :)

2008-06-26T07:32:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

I am in Salamanca right now at an internet café with a bunch of other students. We just ate at an amazing restaurant. Every one has a menú del día, which is a 3 course meal that includes dessert and wine for about 11€. Kelsey and I have been sharing most of our meals because it´s a lot of food, and cheaper to boot. The first course was a kind of beef stew, with mushrooms and potatoes. The main course was trout, but it was whole--gills, head, eyes, everything. It was really delicious though, but you had to watch for fish bones. It came with a salad, and then we had flan for dessert. I think I am becoming a wine conneisseur, too :) Actually I am clueless and usually ask what is good or stick with the house wine. Kelsey drinks a lot of wine back home, so she helps me out too. We are going to the Plaza Mayor tonight to watch the Eurocup soccer game. Spain is still in it, so if they win it should be pretty crazy to see. We stayed in Ávila yesterday, which is a walled medieval city. Kelsey and I went to a local bar. There was only a few guys in their 50s there, so they gave us some pretty strange looks when we first walked in. Most people over the age of 30 don´t speak a word of English. We struck up a conversation and ended up talking with them for over an hour. They were really nice, and we talked about everything from American politics and the election, to the war in Iraq and the price of gas. None of them have been to America, so they asked a lot of questions about what it´s like. I took tons of pictures already, but will have to wait until Barcelona to post them all. It is so pretty here! We also went to a monastery in San Lorenzo, and two museums with works by Greco, Goya, Picasso, and Dalí. Picasso doesn´t make any more sense up close! We met a lot of fun people in Madrid too from Brazil, London, and France. I love Spain! We are in Salamanca until Saturday, then move on to Burgos. Hope everyone back home is well, talk to you soon.

Hasta luego,
Becca

Madrid Day One

2008-06-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

We made it to Madrid! Kelsey and I ended up sitting next to each other on both flights, so we talked quite a bit. Then we had wine, popped some cold medicine, and knocked ourselves out for the overnight flight. It was a little less than 7 hours, so not bad. After we landed, we went through customs and got on the bus with the rest of the group. We came to our hotel, the Florida Norte, and checked in. We ran to the grocery store for snacks and shopped in the mall across the street before coming back for a much needed nap! I got a watch and a purse so far, but I plan to do some damage shopping in the weeks to come. It's pretty hot here, and no A/C in our rooms, so it gets really stuffy. Otherwise things are remarkably similar to the U.S. Of course we have to speak Spanish, which is actually going really well. We asked for directions, took the metro for Japanese food, shopped, and exchanged currency, all in Spanish with not too much difficulty. It takes a lot of concentration though to listen and interpret, so it tires me out. I'm sure it will get easier the longer I am immersed in it. Tomorrow we take a bus tour and explore Madrid a little more. I am on the hotel computer because wireless isn't working, but hopefully it will be fixed so I can use my own computer and set up Skype. I will keep you posted!

Love and miss you lots,

Becca