Tag Archives: classes

The Top 5 Types of Things You’ll Notice in Spain

As it would be assumed, Spain and the US have their fair share of differences. While there are an unlimited number of them, there are a handful of things that stick out more than others.

1. Time
Everything is much more relaxed. In certain situations, it’s perfectly acceptable to say you’ll meet somewhere at 8:30 and not show up until 8:35/40. For example, social outings are much looser than things like the starting time of class. That being said, even class is more relaxed. We have a start time of 9 everyday but if someone doesn’t come until 9:05 it’s still seen as on time, not five minutes late.

Siesta takes place every day from about 2-5 and is both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to have a break to nap or get ahead on work, but it’s frustrating when I want to go shopping for groceries or whatever else I may need right after school. In the bigger cities that we went to, siesta is less common but still occurs with the smaller, non-touristy, family owned shops. In Ronda, almost everything closes except the hospitals (of course) and the few tourist shops and restaurants near the New Bridge.

2. Attire
EVERYONE WEARS PANTS. ALL. THE. TIME. It doesn’t matter what the temperature is, nor the time of day. ¾ of the people in Ronda are always in pants when you walk around town. In fact, only tourists wear shorts really so it becomes a dead giveaway. Every once in a while you’ll come across someone in shorts, but it’s definitely a rarity. It’s also frowned upon to wear sweatpants or athletic clothes out of the house unless you’re en route to the gym. To this day, I have yet to see any Spaniard wear any at all.

3. House Etiquette
One must not go barefoot in the host house. Wearing shoes is a sign of courtesy—typically they’re slippers, but for the most part I wear flip flops since the weather is warm which makes the house warm.

I have yet to see a window screen. The windows and the doors are almost always open, but without screens attached. I’ve made a game out of getting flies out of my room via the window. It’s been quite successful so far.

In the US, it’s a common thing to see showers that have a mount on the wall but can also be moved out of the holster. My host house has this kind of shower, but without the mount…I put it between my knees every day when I shampoo.

Toilets don’t have actual handles to flush, but rather buttons, which are the most common substitute. At my host house, it’s a metal piece on top of the water bowl that pulls upwards.

4. Eating Schedule and the Food Itself
Food hours are more spread out than ours at home. Breakfast is still in the morning around 8 or 9, but lunch happens during siesta (a break during the day where all shops close and reopen later, meant to be a rest for those who are working to go home and eat lunch and/or take a nap aka siesta) which is from 2-5. Dinner falls between 9 and 12 am. People at restaurants ate between 9-11, but my host family commonly eats around midnight. Meal size is also different. Breakfast is about the same, but lunch and dinner are switched. Dinner is smaller whereas lunch has a few courses. And of course, actual food eaten at each is different too. For breakfast, my host family eats toast with chopped tomatoes and olive oil. Lunch can be anything from tortilla de patatas to soup to sausage or fish or all of the above. Our host mom likes to feed us A LOT. Sometimes I skip dinner because I’m still full from the hours before.

The weirdest things I’ve eaten thus far have been pig cheek and bull tail, both very good and unlike any other type of meat I’ve had. The pig cheek is tender with a lot of flavor, but it’s mostly meat and not a lot of fat. The closest comparison I can give it is a cross between veal and filet mignon. I had the bull tail in a burger and it might be my favorite thing that I’ve tried to date here. It has more fat than the pig cheek but less fat still than an average steak. Bull tail is also very tender but not really comparable to other meats. It’s definitely one to try for yourself. Other people have eaten morcilla (mor-see-yuh) which is a type of sausage made of (get ready) cooked blood and fat. My friends have had mixed opinions of it. A few like it, but most can’t get past the composition or the aftertaste. I’m not brave enough to try it myself, so I can only go by what they say. I guess one can consider it to be an acquired taste.

MILK COMES IN A BOX! Think about a box that soup broth would come in at a grocery store, but a bit bigger. When you buy milk here, it’s on a refrigerate-after-opening basis which is so rare to me. It’s unheard of in the States to let milk sit out for more than a few minutes let alone indefinitely like a juice box. My host mom keeps a few boxes at a time lined up in the pantry. They blend in with the cereal boxes. Apparently it’s perfectly safe to do it the way that they do because it’s very pasteurized, but I don’t think it’s a custom I’ll adopt myself when I’m back home.

4. Atmosphere and Environment
The climate and geography are more similar to the southwest than the northeast where Penn State is. For the most part, the air here is dry with little humidity and greenness is to a minimum. There’s more brush than anything else. When we went to Marbella though, a beach on the south coast, the humidity increased because of the nearness to the water. The north is supposed to be very green as well, so my understanding is that the climate is overall varied just as the US happens to be. (I’m writing this in Madrid’s airport and looking out the window at the mountains and realizing that I probably won’t be here again for a very long time because I’m flying home in an hour and this is extra weird to be leaving after so long—I feel like this place is my second home and even though I’m starting to miss things at my actual home it’s weird to think that it’s all over and this is very sentimental and shall be reflected upon at a later date. TEARS)

5. Miscellaneous Observations
In the US, we pull doors open to enter a building and push them to exit. In Spain, most doors are push to enter and pull to exit. Strange stuff.

Festivities are more frequent and extravagant. There’s a parade at least once a week for a holiday.

Getting married earlier than 35 is considered very young. It’s also normal to live in your parents’ house around that age and older.

There is no set side of the street to walk on. While we walk on the right, Spanish walking has no structure and is more similar to that of pedestrian traffic in a city.

The strangest part to me about all of the things that I’ve noticed that are different than what I’ve been used to in the States is that they don’t seem too different to me anymore. As I wrote this post, I had to think about what wasn’t the same. And I feel like when I go home all of the things that I thought were normal before are going to seem strange. I don’t feel like I experienced a lot of culture shock when I arrived, but I think that the reverse will almost certainly happen. We shall see how it actually turns out.

Semana Número Uno

Friday: First Exposures

I’ve learned that there’s always something to celebrate in Spain. Whether it is a citywide festival or one for a church, everyday there’s something new. Only a few hours after we arrived in Spain, we set off to Ronda Romántica, a festival celebrating the history of the city.

Around 8 o’clock on Friday night, tourists and locals alike began to line the streets in the small town, patiently awaiting the procession.

La Plaza de España holds the festival's procession

People gather around the sides of the Plaza de España to watch the procession

Smurfs in Spain?

The parade was meant to showcase Ronda’s history throughout the years, displaying the different attire worn in each era and acting out different sorts of scenes. But due to the heavy flow of people and relative shortness of the group, we decided that we would get to better know the city if we did so in one of its most important avenues that we could actually see—the food.

And so began the hunt for our first tapas experience. (Tapas are similar to small appetizers, and typically for dinner a person orders two or three.) There are an unbelievable amount of restaurants around the town. To try every restaurant on a side street for dinner, it would take at LEAST a week. With so many to choose from, we naturally had to walk around and see which would be the best pick. And unlike the US, everything in Ronda looks like art. The flowers on the terraces and the thatched roofs of buildings create something so picturesque for people like me who don’t live there, but something so normal for those who do. Sure, this is to be expected, but at the same time I can’t imagine ever getting tired of the scenery.

View of the opposite side of the cliff as seen from Puente Nuevo

One of the many restaurants off of La Plaza de Toros, seen in the backround

After walking around for a half hour or so soaking everything in, we settled on a place on a side street off of the Plaza de España, where the parade had been held. Since all of the restaurants are in such close quarters, no one is really sure as to what the name was of the one that we went to, but one thing is certain—we are never going back. I can speak for all of us when I say that we were expecting a nice first tapas experience, but it turned into anything but that. Being that the majority of the group had only been in the country for a few hours, the language gap was still very real. While we were directing questions to our professor, Dr. Blue, about what each dish was, the waiter was barking at one of the students to tell him her order. It had been two minutes from the point that we sat down to when this happened. Once he got flustered enough, he let us alone for a few more minutes to look over the menu further. This was especially tricky for me because I have some pretty serious food allergies and didn’t want to have anything happen. On the bright side, it was one hell of a vocabulary lesson.

From tapas, to pasta, to pizza, tons of different things were ordered. Once they arrived, I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. I ordered ‘Arroz con leche’, which translates to ‘Rice with milk”. My allergies are to tree nuts and shellfish, so this seemed to be a safe bet. Initially, the waiter forgot it and was arguing with my professor, insisting that he was right. Once he realized that he forgot it he went back to place the order. Later on it came out with a questionable garnish on it. Was it an onion? Was it a string of white asparagus? Only taste buds could tell. Whenever this happens, I give a piece of the unknown substance to someone at the table to see what it is and if it’s allergy friendly. The lucky recipient this time was my professor, who then told me that it was a string of calamari, or squid for those who are unfamiliar. I passed it around the table after that so that it would go to waste, being that I couldn’t have it myself. Tapas: 1, Danielle: 0

Saturday: Viva la Fiesta

Prior to departure for Spain, our main faculty leader, Susana, told us to bring a long black skirt and a white shirt to match. The next morning after arrival, we were told to put them on (fret not, the three boys in the program were allowed to wear pants) and meet in the Plaza at 11. We had no idea what the occasion was or what they represented when we put them on, but as we walked from the Plaza to our unknown destination, we quickly found out why. Like the parade the day before, people were wearing clothing representing different time periods. Susana gave us cloth type scarves to wrap around our waists that were similar to theirs. Now, I wouldn’t say that we looked like Spaniards by any means, but we definitely fit in more than the rest of the foreigners. Our destination was at the intersection of a blocked off street and the patio courtyard in front of a church. There we met some more parade people, including some pirates and some horses that were also dressed for the occasion.

Townspeople dressed in clothing for the festival

Hanging out with the locals

The play took place on the church steps as seen here

Play taking place on the church steps

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(Click for video)

Though we hadn’t been immersed in Spanish much at that point, the show was still cool to watch. I’m a fan of theatre in the United States, so it was interesting to see how they did it in another country.

After the show, we walked through an open market where sellers had set up shop. From meat and cheese to giant doughnuts to jewelry to clothes, they had it all. I tried some ‘queso de oveja’, or ‘sheep cheese’. Picture a mix between Asiago and Manchego to get the taste. It was FANTASTIC. (A side note: As I write this, I’m on the bus to Madrid and we just passed a cheese shop going through town…YES)
Other students tried chorizo, a sort of Spanish sausage, while some tried some desserts that can only be named by description.

Later that night, we went to the Plaza de Toros for a horse competition. The seats in the audience were filled nearly all the way up on the bottom ring at first, but later on when they opened up the top section the majority of people moved into the shade, including us. Our teacher told us that back when there were bullfights in the Plaza, the pricing of seats was based on closeness to the fight and whether it was shady or sunny in that part of the colosseum. The participants dressed up in traditional clothing and the competition began, with each person showing their routine one after one.

One of the competitors performing

Handful of the PSU students at the show

Afterwards, we went out for tapas round two. This time, I ordered another popular item in Spain—jamón ibérico (ha-mohn ee-bear-ee-coh), or Iberian Ham. It’s comparable to prosciutto, but with a little more salt and a slightly different texture. In my time here I’ve learned that Spaniards LOVE ham and that it’s incorporated into the majority of their dishes (We actually just passed a museum solely dedicated to ham in Madrid—more on that later). Within a day, we’d gotten better at ordering in Spanish and speaking to the waiters in general, too. Progress!

Sunday: Siestas and Sacerdotes (Naps and Priests)

After a busy day Saturday, we had the following one free. Since most of the shops are closed on Sundays here, we decided to observe another staple of the Spanish culture—mass. The cool part about Ronda is that you can wander in any direction and eventually run into a church…so we met up around one o’clock in the afternoon and that’s exactly what we did. Upon arrival, it was beautiful. The entire building was a collection of fine details that made it into quite the work of art.

Church that we ventured to in the historic district of Ronda

Beautiful church ceiling and chandelier

Sculptures and altars

Little did we know at the time that it was the first of many churches we’d be seeing throughout the trip. In any case, the mass followed the same general procedure as those that I’d been to at home. Aside from the fact that the group of people I went with had zero idea as to what the priest was saying, the main differences that we noted was that the congregation didn’t sing at all and that the mass was only a half hour long. I don’t go to mass as often as I did when I was younger anymore, but I do recall lots of singing and at least an hour per each service.

On Sundays, most stores are closed here. So with no work to do yet and plans to explore later, we chose to observe one of the most valued aspects of Spanish culture: SIESTA

Monday: Let the Classes Begin

Everyone knows that first day of school feeling. But instead of reencountering that familiar combination of excitement and anxiousness, I didn’t feel any way at all. I remember walking down Calle de la Bola (Pronounced cah-yay day la boh-la which is the nickname that the street received from wintertime activities…aka children rolling snowballs down its hill) thinking that I couldn’t possibly be in Spain and that I also couldn’t possibly be going to school. I guess one could say that I was in a denial of sorts, but not one of the negative variety.

Classes themselves were originally supposed to take place in the Spanish School for Foreigners (Escuela de Extrañjeros), but due to its far location from some of the students’ host families, Susana arranged for us to take classes in the Palacio de Congresos, which is a municipal building that overlooks the famous bridge. Who doesn’t love a room with a view?

View from the terrace

From the balcony to the valley

Inside of the first door. We have class upstairs in conference-type rooms

Each student in the program takes a combination of three classes depending on their level. Having just completed my freshman year at Penn State, I am enrolled in SPAN 200, SPAN 253W, and SPAN 410. The first is my required next level grammar, the second is an analysis of Spanish literature, and the last is advanced conversation. My grammar class is taught by two local professors who switch on and off every week whereas my other two are faculty from Penn State. We have school from 9:00-2:30 Monday through Friday, and each class is an hour and forty minutes long.

We took a field trip during the first period to observe one of Ronda’s many festivals called the Virgen de Rocío at the same church that we’d gone to mass at the day prior. The festival represents a grand trip taken by foot through Andalusia, the province of Spain that Ronda is in, to Rome.

Festival decor

The Lechugita Experience

After classes and all other things that the day entailed, we decided to reward ourselves with dinner. Two of the students had received a recommendation from their host mom to go to a place on one of the side streets that branched from Calle de la Bola, so we decided to try it out. Most tapas are cheap, but these put the others to shame—they were only 80 cents each! Needless to say, I was a fan. I tried queso with tomato, Spanish meatballs, and tortilla Española (the same dish that I had on the first day at my host house) which were all very good. For ten people, our total check was only 39€, which translates to about $43 with the current exchange rate.

In the weeks since, we’ve discovered that the name of the bar is Lechugita, which means ‘little lettuce’. One of their most successful items on the menu is a section of a head of lettuce topped with olive oil and salt, hence the name. However, at the time we didn’t realize what the place’s name was, and on arrival home when our host mom asked where we’d went, there was a bit of confusion. We had heard about Lechugita before, but didn’t think that we’d ever come across it. The sign on the front of the building is in painted tile and can be easily misconstrued as a painting instead of a name. My roommate and I had thought that lechugita was a popular tapa served at a bunch of different places, so when we told our host mom what we’d eaten, she asked how Lechugita was, to which we responded that we didn’t go and only saw people try the food itself. We didn’t get why she kept insisting that we went to the actual place, but accredited it to the language gap until a week or so later when we learned that the only lechugita served in Ronda is at Lechugita…oops. Rookie mistake.

Tortilla de patatas (left) and albóndigas (meatballs) covered by bread (right)

WE LOVE TAPAS

Tuesday: Exploration Galore

After the second day of classes, we ventured into a few of the oldest parts of Ronda. First, we visited the ‘Museo Municipal’, or Municipal Museum. There we saw different style patios designed by the Arabic, which included the horseshoe arch that will appear more later on. The museum explained the history of Ronda in itself, from the very first inhabitants to more recent structures such as Puente Nuevo, the new bridge.

Entrance to the museum. The concrete structure below the sign used to be used to mount horses due to the relative shortness of the riders in years past

Arabic arches

Another angle

An interesting representation of older life in Ronda

Hand carved door separating one of the patios from outside next to a horseshoe arch

The secret garden of the Museo

Our next stop was the Baños Arabes, or Arabian Bathrooms. Here we walked through an 800 year old structure that was rediscovered in the 1900’s after being covered by water for centuries. People would bathe themselves twice a day in one of the three rooms. There was a hot, lukewarm, and cold room to choose from, depending on the desired temperature of water. For as old as it was, it was definitely cool to see how advanced the technology was for the time that it was created and used. As can be seen in nearly every entrance, the architects utilized the horseshoe arch.

Outside of the main rooms of Los Baños Arabes

Interior rooms with holes in the ceiling used to let steam escape

Later on, we walked through the Historic District of Ronda and visited Puente Viejo, or the old bridge. Considering that the new bridge, Puente Nuevo, was built just before 1800, Puente Viejo is clearly very viejo indeed.

El Puente Viejo

Our walk led us to Los Muralles, (Moo-rye-yeys) or The Walls. These were built by the Arabic for the purpose of guarding the city and acting as a watch for any possible invaders, but today they provide a beautiful view of the outskirts of the city.

View from the top of Los Murralles

Looking out into the valley

Wednesday: The City’s Trademarks

Having visited Puente Viejo the day prior, it was only fitting to visit Puente Nuevo the following day. Though we had been walking across it to get to school every day, we hadn’t yet gone inside of it or read about how it came to be the way that it currently is. For those who paused a second thinking that they’d read the statement incorrectly, yes. We went inside of the bridge. The interior room used to be a prison in Ronda, and not too long ago. Our professor, Susana, said that when she was younger, convicts were still held there. I remember laughing at the thought that a bridge over 200 years old was considered to be new, but in the grand scheme of thinking about how old Europe actually is it makes much more sense.

Sideways view of Puente Nuevo. Make note of the small window in the center–this was so that prisoners could have some light and a bit of a view

Inside of the bridge with a tourist

View from the prisoner’s window–not too shabby

Following our visit to the bridge, we returned to yet another well-known landmark that we’d seen: La Plaza de Toros. This time wasn’t for a show, but rather for a tour. We walked through different sections, learning about the creation of the Plaza, different outfits that bullfighters were supposed to wear. (Picture and explanation) and what each fight was like. Every bullfight consisted of three bullfighters and six bulls. The bullfighters performed in order from the least to most skilled with the first bulls and then repeated the process with the second round of bulls. To simplify, each bullfighter fought one bull at a time and two bulls total.

Bullpen for practice

Students learning to ride horses inside of one of the Plaza’s rooms

Saddle for competitive horse performances

Typical dress and instruments used during the fights

Typical ladies’ attire

Hall of bullfighting advertisements for Ronda’s annual bullfight

Inside the stadium

Am I a bullfighter yet?

After the general tour, we had the opportunity to see the Plaza’s library. At first, none of the students realized how big of a deal it was, but Susana later told us that the only other person they’d received that day had been the General of the Spanish Army. The library had books as old as the 14^th century kept in pristine condition inside the many glass-covered bookshelves that lined the room. For someone who loves books as much as I do, it was incredible.

Shelves on shelves on shelves

Thursday: Underground Caverns and Lots of Steps

Towards the end of the week we visited La Mina Secreta, or Secret Mine. It was constructed in the 14^th century as a military structure and goes 80 m (about 264 feet) descending from the city to the river. We tried to count steps, but lost track about halfway. The caverns were cool to look at but easy to slip on, so we constantly held on to the sides. While all of the rooms were cool to look at, the final few provided the best experience. One room played with sound: two people would stand in diagonally opposite corners of the room, facing the junction of the two walls. One of them would whisper a phrase so that the general audience couldn’t hear it, but because of the structure of the room the whisper carried to the person in the opposite corner. The room was also structured so that if a person stood in the absolute center and began talking aloud, he or she couldn’t hear any other voice but his or her own. Other visitors saw our group doing this and later joined in after their initial confusion.

One of the many rooms of La Mina

Once we left that room, we went down a few more steps and stood on a platform that was even with the river. I had thought that I’d seen all of the views that there were to see in Ronda in our intensive first few days, but boy was I wrong. It was absolutely beautiful.

View from the river’s level

Friday: Dining in Old Ronda

To celebrate the completion of our first week of classes and activities, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner in the Historic District. Like we had been doing during the week, we decided to walk until we stumbled upon a menu that we liked. This particular place had a gorgeous view of the mountains and sunset, complete with a guitarist in the park serenading the customers.

Restaurant scenery with the view in the far back

This was one of the many moments on the trip where I’d stop and look around, not really believing where I was. I still do that sometimes. For example, now, typing this, staring out my bedroom window on the second to last Monday in the program (I’ve written this over the course of a few weeks due to a heavy workload, tons of fieldtrips, and generally enjoying this city of mine) I have a hard time believing that I am where I am.

When you come to Spain, there is no such thing as getting used to the water—you’re thrown right into it. And while sometimes it’s crazy to stop and think about where you are and what you’re doing, every moment, good and bad, it’s so worth it. Stay tuned for a wrap on the second Saturday’s trip to Sevilla.

First week of classes, the British Museum, “Taboo” & snow!

I started my first week of classes with fellow students at Uni of Westminster on Monday, January 14.

Here, it is normal for a lecture to last for 2 hours (sometimes with a 5-minute break) and is followed by a more-intimate seminars. Many study abroad students here seem to have at least one weekday off and I only have one class per day from Monday to Thursday.

While it may sound great to some of you post-sylly-week Penn Staters, trust me, it is not what it seems. It means I have to put in more self-directed work, I have to do the readings and note-taking outside of my lectures. For each of the 3 classes I’ve been to so far, my mark (aka. grades) will be determined by 2 essays. Yuck. I normally do better with a bazillion weekly assignments that weigh less. …..And I am a procrastinator. I shall plan ahead and start thinking about this essay which is due in February……

On the bright side, all of the professors were nice so if I have questions I can always shoot them an email 🙂

Wednesday’s class was absolutely my favorite (don’t get me wrong, I adore my women’s studies class too)!!!! It’s called “Arts and Society.” It is a London Studies class specially designed for us study abroad students which critically examines the “visual culture” of London from 60s onward. It is a great way to get to know London in less cheesy, touristy ways. The class format is a one-hour lecture followed by a 2-and-a-half-hour field trip to London’s cultural landmarks.

This week we went to the British Museum! We were sorted into small groups with TAs and museum guides to explore different corners of the building. Our guide took us to the Ancient Greek, Enlightenment Era and Dying & Living rooms.

The Ancient Greek marble sculptures were such a delight to look at. The anatomical precision is just amazing. I felt a strong cultural connection between the ancient Greeks and contemporary college-aged Americans, particularly in what they value the most: athleticism, intelligence (now in the form of diplomas), hardwork and masculinity.

The Enlightenment Era was decorated like the interior of a rich person’s old private library with its rows of wooden cabinets. This was the time when modern natural science and defiance against religion (in the Western World, at least) were born. This also marked the time when ethnocentrism was most openly expressed without much questioning.

The Living & Dying room, in contrast, gave more contextual details of its objects, explaining how the items were made, who used them, when they were used, why they were used and how they were used.
It was interesting to see how other cultures interpret and observe milestone events such as birth, marriage, illness, misfortune and death.

After the class was over at 12:30pm, we were dismissed right on the spot. I was hungry by then but ended up staying for another hour and a half looking at other exhibits. I simply couldn’t get enough of the place!!!!!

The Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi were eerie but cool. The fragments of ancient Mesopotamian/Persian palaces and the reconstruction of the gates with a pair of winged lamassus were breath-taking.

There was a touch-screen interactive guide panel in front of a mummy that I thought was interesting. Through the panel, I could “slice” the bones and remaining flesh on the body to see what’s inside. I could also “flip” and “rotate” the body around. The panel also informed me that the mummy is a male who was stabbed to death in his shoulder blade and that due to the arid climate, his body was naturally preserved, with fingernails, hair, some skin and clothing intact. After playing with it for a few minutes, it was taken over by a bunch of uniformed primary schoolers.

Last night Carol, our local CIEE coordinator/director, took us to Brixton area to see the musical “Taboo.” It was candid and interactive. The musical greatly reminded me of “The Rockey Horror Show” minus the flying bread crumbs (that was awful, by the way. I will never forget.). There was lots of exploring relationships, cross-dressing and boundaries of homo- vs. heterosexuality.

And surprisingly, for the last 2 days, it’s been SNOWING in London!!!!!!
I woke up to a winter wonderland but both times I failed to take pictures that showed the snow clearly. I shall try a couple more times since the snow will persist for 3-4 more days 🙂
I have worn 2 pairs of pants (not exactly, because I have a leggings + jeans combo), 2 pairs of gloves and 2 pairs of socks on top of my regular winter get-ups but oh my!! It is still cold! I need a pair of comfy boots and a trench coat ASAP.
Lots of study abroad students around me have been sick these days, so everyone please take care and stay warm!

I will continue to upload my pictures on Facebook and then on Tumblr (non-Facebook friends, you can still get a sneak peek on Instagram!). Have a good evening :]

Location: London, UK

Semester’s Rollin’!

Both of the above are from a chic little antique/interior decoration shot near CIEE.

I may have mentioned it before, but breakfast is not a very big deal here – toast and coffee are enough, but I will certainly appreciate adding a nice omelette, or some cereal to this mix once I’m back in the States. Also notice: my se�ora has the most oldschool, but also fastest and coolest toaster I think I’ve ever seen. Hands down. Also, the coffee maker is juuust big enough for one cup 🙂

Me, Pat and Randa heading home after an afternoon in the sunshine by the river.

Brace yourself.

Okay, this is just about the most gigantic blog entry imaginable, as it’s been quite a while since I wrote anything, but it’s pretty much split into two sections: classes, and miscellaneous topics, in that order, so feel free to ignore the irrelevant and read what ever interests you!

Regular Semester Classes.

To the left is a screen shot from my iPhone of my “horario finalisisimo,” so named by Jorge, one of the people who works in CIEE, and changed my schedule about five times x) Good thing though, because it’s finally perfect 🙂

I start the week pretty relaxed, I don’t have my first class until 7pm on Monday afternoons. I usually spend the earlier part of the day getting work done and/or going for a run by the Guadalquivir (that’s the name of our river, I can never remember it, and have a feeling a lot of other people can’t either – explaining why it’s normally just referred to as “el r�o”), and now that it’s starting to get nicer out, the latter of the two will likely become more common.

Below is a screen shot of the GoogleMap of the area (Paseo Rey Juan Carlos) that I usually run in. I don’t normally go the entire way down and back (10km, about 6 miles) – I usually cut off a kilometer or a few – but when I do it feels great, and I get to see the entire north side of the river 🙂

Psych

Anyways, after my laid-back Monday afternoons, my first class is “Psicholog�a de la Aprendizaje de una Segunda Lengua” (Psychology of Apprehension of a Second Language), which is totally right up my ally. The second week of class, I volunteered to do the presentation for the week with Randa and my friend Patrick, from Spanish 410 at Penn State last semester (holler!). It was on popular ideas about learning a second language and we totally killed it, if you ask me 😉 I like this class a lot, but so far we’ve just covered basics that I know most of from taking so many similar classes at PSU. It’s nice to be well versed in the subject, and be able to ask the professor things I want to explore deeper, but being that he knows this is my area of focus in university, I’m assuming he’ll be harder on me when it comes to grading. Also, though it’s one of my favorite subjects, there have been some readings and points in this class I’m not as fond of. One of the first articles we read ran pretty contrary to a lot of my personal beliefs about language systems and acquisition, which are many, varied and heatedly debated in the world of linguistics, because we’re always searching for the best ways to teach language. At any rate, there are also many new and different ideas from what I’ve heard and seen in the past, and I’m enjoying the fresh wave of information that brings.

Islam.

On Tuesdays, I start class at 11, “El Islam en La Espa�a Musulmana (Al-Andalus): Arte y Cultura” (Islam in Muslim Spain: Art and Culture). It isn’t so bad that it’s in the morning, because I like the subject a lot, but the timing makes for an awfully long day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I absolutely love this class, yet another where I’m “THAT GIRL” who’s always answering questions and asking the professor for details, but hopefully that’s a good thing and shows that I’m interested, not just a pain in the neck or showoff to the other students! x) Anyways, the professor is wonderful, and the readings (written by her, in Spanish, also how my psychology and three cultures classes are) are really interesting. So far, we’ve reviewed Islam as a whole, and are now getting into the “Medieval Arabic World and Historical Notions”, and then architecture. I have to write at least 3 pages, (1,5 spaced/11pt font – not 2,0/12 pt like in the States!!) in Spanish about each for next week, and that’s a normal amount for a few-week unit in this class. I have that, directly followed by another at 1 o’clock, and as you’ll see, they overlap a LOT. I’m glad to say though, that is definitely facilitating my absorption of the subject matter – so far it’s a lot of review, but I’m definitely also learning a lot!

Three Cultures.

That next class is “Tres Culturas en Espa�a: Crisitianos, Muselmanes y Jud�os” (Three Cultures in Spain: Christians, Muslims and Jews) which I also enjoy a lot. Again, most of what we’ve covered so far is basics and review (for me, at least – this is a topic I’ve always been really interested in), but learning the details and cultural aspects that are unique to Spain is really fascinating. The professor talks really fast, but very clearly, so we cover a lot of subject matter in each class in a way that manageable as long as you do the readings, which again, are great.

Bocadillo

After that, I usually go find a spot in the sun to read and do homework at a square or a caf� while I eat my lunch. Tuesdays and Thursdays I don’t go home for lunch, so my se�ora packs me a “bocadillo” (pronounced BOHKA-DEEYO – a sandwich) to eat. This is the norm for all the exchange students, and usually consists of a loaf of fresh bread the size of a small slipper, with a slice of meat and some cheese or lettuce and tomato. Sometimes she throws in a drink, orange, and other “postre” (dessert), but when there’s no drink, I like to go enjoy my meal with a “cerveza” (beer, which I don’t usually drink, but is generally MUCH better here than anything I’ve tried in the States).

By the way, this is an example of what I sit in front of while I eat my lunch 🙂

^ This is the Cathedral of Sevilla, it’s kind of a big deal. And just plain big.

And La Giralda, at its side ^

Linguistics.

After my two-and-a-half hour siesta, I have another class at 5PM, “Lexicolog�a y Sem�ntica Espa�ola,” (Spanish Lexicology and Semantics). What on earth does that mean? It means another class I’m obsessed with!! Though it’s moving a little slow because it’s still pretty close to the start, we’ve covered some interesting topics. After we got through some of the basics of linguistics (none of the other students in the class have ever taken a ling class – understandable, as it’s not a very common subject, but I was a little surprised I’m the only linguist in my whole program!), we got on to talking about pr�stamos (borrowed words), origins of Spanish words, and sefard�, or judeoespa�ol (Jewish Spanish!)

Seminar.

Then there’s my extra class, which is only 2 credits, but will be good for my resum�, and will earn me the CAIE (Certificate of Achievement in International Education): Seminario sobre vivir y aprender en Sevilla (Seminar on Living and Learning in Seville). For that, I have to have a “compa�ero cultural,” a cultural partner, which is someone Spanish who I spend time with setting goals and doing specific assignments to get to know Sevilla and Spain better. My partner is H�ctor, someone from Chefchaouen, the teter�a that Randa and I go to all the time and have friends at. Our most recent assignment was to ask our cultural partners the meaning of their names and then discuss how it’s different from ours. Though I know people here take their mother and father’s last names, it was still interesting to see Olga’s (our professor, and head of the program I’m in) list of influences that can have a role in naming someone. There were religious, family, cultural, historical, all sorts of reasons people name their kids. Turns out H�ctor was just named that by his parents because they thought it was nice and his dad didn’t want to give him his name because he didn’t like it. I learned though, that H�ctor is a Greek name which I never knew before and wouldn’t have guessed! Ironically, around the same time that I got that assignment, a Jordanian teter�a owner I met told me that my arabic name (al-hana) means “relaxation,” or “happiness.” 🙂

Finally done for the week a little before 7pm on Thursdays (we “extranjeros” – foreign students – don’t have class on Fridays), I trudge home with all my books, have dinner, and muster up the energy to go out and spend some time with Randa and kids from our program or, more often, go find some of our local friends to hang out with. Overall, it’s a manageable week, but if I want to be sufficiently prepared for my classes and be able to participate at all (which we’ve discovered, I very much do), it’s a pretty heavy time and energy investment to get all the reading done. And let’s be real – I’m not usually big on reading. I’m glad though, that I like all my classes and professors so much. I was originally going to take an art history class through direct enrollment at the university, but after sitting in on one lesson, I found it to be WAY too much

information to take in, especially being that I’m not accustomed to organizing facts about artist, styles, and dates in the way or rate the professor went about presenting them. In place of that though, I’ve found myself quite happy in the Islam Art and Culture class. Thankfully, no matter how tough classes get, at the end of the week the last thing I see walking home are views of Triana like these form my bridge.

Desarrollo de una Identidad Espa�ola: (Development of a Spanish [and Global] Identity)

Aside from the discussions we have about linguistic identity in our psych class, it’s pretty neat keeping track of my development of a Spanish (linguistic) identity. There are certainly things that I only think of in Spanish now – especially things having to do with classes, because there’s no English there – and at times it’s actually hard to translate or think about them in English. I even think and talk to myself in Spanish a lot now, it’s kind of weird! It’s also still strange having certain people who I code switch with A LOT (like H�ctor, Vincent, and other friends at the teter�a), and others who hardly speak any English with me, like a lot of me and Randa’s Spanish friends who are older or have stayed in Spain all their lives. Especially when I’ve been speaking a lot of Spanish, and someone like H�ctor wants to know a word in English – if it’s not a common, everyday word that I use a lot, it can take me hours to suddenly realize what it is. The other day he had sores on his hands from rock climbing, and I could not for the life of me come up with the word callus, which happens to be a cognate of the Spanish, “calico.” What are the chances? Pretty good actually, things like that are often cognates…A little unrelated, but even crazier is the amount of code-switching that goes on when Randa and I meet other Moroccans. The owner of “Al-Salam” (The Peace) Teter�a, a new favorite spot of ours for great tea and hookah in Triana, is from Jordan, and his wife from Marrakech, so Randa enjoys practicing some Arabic with them. That sometimes includes some Spanish, English and when Muhammad talks to me about Israel, he shows off his bit of knowledge of Hebrew! It’s pretty wild, and really neat at the same time.

On the note of identity, “De donde eres?” (Where are you from?) has become a question that sparks some of the most interesting conversations I’ve had since I’ve been here. Most “estudiantes extranjeros” (foreign students) are found out to be American about two words into their first encounters with Spaniards (if they haven’t already figured it out from looks), but no one can ever seem to figure out where I’m from. It’s actually become somewhat of a funny game to make people guess what ethnicit(ies) I might be. Until more than a few sentences in, a lot of people think I’m Sevillana, and don’t believe I’ve only been here a little over a month, which is pretty awesome. Not only because it’s “trendy” to be European, but because people take me more seriously – or so I’d like to think. It would be cool if I could sustain that belief through a whole conversation by the end of the semester! Among the different nationalities that people guess, so far I’ve gotten M�xicana (mostly when I’m with Randa and she speaks first, as she has a more Spanish-American accent, being from the West Coast) a couple times, but I really don’t think either of us looks the least bit Mexican. She strikes me as really obviously Moroccan, and it surprises me that people here don’t guess that first, as I’d imagine they’re more accustomed to meeting Moroccans than Mexicans, they only live a few hours away! It’s interesting to see that much of the time people judge more based on accent than on looks.

Anyways, when I went to C�diz I met a lot of people and one guessed about 7 countries in Europe I might be from, but not Russia, Israel, OR America! The closest anyone got was Bulgarian, which I’m not even sure how right or wrong that might have been, being that I only have a few friends from Bulgaria to compare with. I also had someone I met the other day convinced I was Argentinian (tried to tell him I was most definitely not, haven’t ever even been to South America), until he went home and added me on FaceBook! Apparently the fact that I have light eyes really throws people off (refer to above photo, haha – taken just after I arrived in Spain – which now feels ages ago!). Ironically, Mohammad, just after telling me the arabic meaning of my name, also said I have a middle-eastern face, which is believable enough. I think what it comes down to is that people are biased based on what they know and have seen, because apparently I could be from pretty much anywhere except the majority of Africa. In the end, I always tell people that I’m Russian/Israeli but have lived most of my life in America, speaking English and practicing Spanish, (among the mish-mosh of other languages I’ve dabbled in). People are always asking me to talk to them in Hebrew or Russian, and because I haven’t practiced either in a classroom in over a year, so it’s REALLY hard.

The neatest thing about revealing my identity though, is that most people are really interested and surprised by the “Hebrea” part. When I went to Granada, I had some really interesting conversations with two staff members from CIEE who have studied Judaism and the Jews’ role in Spain, which they both agreed had a huge impact on economic development before they were kicked out along with the Muslims in 1492. They also both listen to and love Israeli music, so I showed them some of mine, and told them about Israel. One of them even told me that I was the first Jewish person he’d ever met! Well, I imagine I’m just the first that he knew was Jewish – there are a TON of Jewish kids here just this semester, and I’m sure without a doubt he’s met a lot of others in past semesters, without realizing it. The picture above is of a building that’s currently something else, but I think used to be a synagogue. It’s neat to see that here, but a little sad knowing there are only about 30 Jewish families left in the city since their expulsion in 1492.

Estrellas y Famosos (Stars and Celebrities!)

I sat down one night to watch TV with my se�ora and her mom after dinner, we were watching a Spanish awards show, and I just had to write something about it, because they all look FABULOUS. The clothes are so classy and beautiful! I actually think they’re nicer than what celebs wear in the States, and further interesting are the roles they play on stage. One woman, reminiscent of a straight, European Ellen Degeneres, came out and started dancing around and singing (just like Ellen, not like a professional), and was then accompanied by a group of other people singing and dancing – slightly off-beat, and slightly out of pitch. ‘Hmm..’ I thought to myself ‘I wonder if they’re just actors performing for the opening?’ So I asked Loly. Indeed, they were all hosts and nominees of the awards show, none of whom regularly sing or dance, but unafraid of looking foolish or sounding out of tune, they opened with a show-tuney number! I thought that was pretty cool. Maybe people do that in other places too – I mean, I wouldn’t know, I don’t really watch TV unless someone turns it on in front of me – but I thought that was an interesting reflection of peoples’ willingness to perform the way they do in this country. And that doesn’t just go for celebrities. Everywhere we go, there are different people telling us about their flamenco endeavours, and singing – even if they’ve never had a single lesson – it’s just part of the culture, which I find really cool.

Also, sometimes you’ll just randomly see a group of people filming a scene for a Spanish TV show or film (like above). Outside StarBucks a few weeks ago, there were some women sitting at a table with a microphone hanging over their heads, and a cameraman working hard to catch all the right angles. Then Randa and I saw some people filming under our bridge the other day when we were walking home. Had no idea who they were, but everyone was looking over the edge, trying to figure out what was going on.

Teter�a.

I think I must have mentioned the word teter�a at least 20 times since I started blogging, so here’s a picture of some tea and hookah Randa and I had the other day at the new place, Al-Salam 🙂

This particular place, by the way, has DELICIOUS tea, and really nice sheesha. We tried limonana (arabic for lemon-mint), which is my all time fave.

Location: Triana. Sevilla, Spain.

Class, Culture, and Cuca

This is a view of the roof of the “centro comercial” (shoping mall) de Nervi�n, a barrio in Sevilla about an hour walk from where I live. We went there to see a movie for our class, and I took a long walk there yesterday.

These are love locks, couples write their names on them, and put them on the bridge. It’s illegal, because I guess it’s considered a form of vandalism, but I think it’s super cute!

And another view from this bridge (Puente de Isabella II), one of my favorite places to stop and just take in the city every time I walk past.

Intercambios

I mentioned in an earlier post that we’re supposed to have groups that we practice Spanish and English with through CIEE, but because of the inconvenient timing of my group’s meetings on Thursday evenings, I’m either going to switch to another, or do it independently. I’ve met a number of Spaniards that would really appreciate some extra practice. The other day, I met a girl named Cuca (pronounced, KOO-KAH), who said she’d really like to have native English speakers to talk to, so hopefully we’ll start that soon.

Still a lot to Learn

Some days I feel like I have a pretty firm grasp on the Spanish language, and that I can express myself and communicate “bastante bi�n,” (well enough), but other times it’s the complete opposite. Apart from the issue of establishing a linguistic identity, and temporarily accepting it as a somewhat less sophisticated, less expressive version of the self, there are a number of things that hold the second-language speaker back. First off, having to ask native speakers to slow down and annunciate better (especially with the lazy, syllable-chopping dialect that is Sevillano!) gives us away, and the limited vocabulary, which sometimes makes me feel like I’m not quite understanding or explaining well enough. Aside from those things, there’s also the issue of trying to stop the bad habit of improperly using false cognates – words in English that look like direct Spanish translations [or vise versa], but aren’t. A few that I noticed Cuca, Randa and myself tripping over the other day were the words for “speak” and “talk,” and “hear” and “listen.” The word “hablar” (to speak) is meant to have the more general implication of using language, while “decir” (to talk, or say [something]) is used to mean something was, is, or can be said. Similarly, the difference between “escuchar” (to listen), which has an implication of intention attached to it, and “oir” (to hear) is pretty important when used in context. Telling someone, “No te escuch�” makes it sound like you weren’t listening, while asking someone to repeat himself by saying, “No te o�” generally makes more sense. However, with the wonderfully distracting touch of ADD that I live with, I often find myself using both with equal intention! :-p

Intensive Spanish Grammar: Done!

Our first class in Spain is over! It’s weird to think that I just earned credits for an entire semester in two weeks, but it’s nice that that’s what the intensive course is. We went over all of the tenses and aspects of Spanish verbs in the short 10 days of class, with take-home, and in-class essay exams at the end of each week. We also had an assignment to go see a movie called, Silencio en la Nieve, which is a new historical fiction about Spanish soldiers fighting against the “Ejercito Rojo” in the forties. It was interesting, but very hard to follow, as my “oyente” isn’t very fine-tuned, and it was also just one of those days where I wasn’t feeling as able in Spanish. Watching shows and movies on tv certainly continue to help though, and hopefully I’ll go back to the “cine” (movie theater) sometime soon.

As for the rest of the semester, I got my “ahorrario de clases” (class schedule)! It’s not 1000% final, but I’m pretty sure I’ll end up taking everything I have planned right now

Definitely a lot less than “A Million Minutes in a Day”

Now that we’ve adjusted, and life in Seville is pretty regular, time is passing much more quickly. The days go by a lot faster, especially when we have set schedules to follow. That might change once I start normal classes – but it might only mean my days are fuller and go by even faster! Fortunately though, I’ll only have classes Monday through Thursday, which makes our weekends longer for traveling and getting work done. Speaking of which, I need to start making plans to take trips to other cities! Instead of going on a day trip to C�rdoba next weekend, Hannah and I decided to sign up for an overnighter in Granada, which should be pretty cool. We heard from another friend that it was a great time, and beautiful place to see. We also want to take a weekend in Barcelona, where Hannah’s stayed before for a different program, so we need to book our flights ASAP!

Fashion…Men’s, Women’s…both?

The fashion here is pretty typically European, based on what I know and have seen of the “EuroStyle,” as I like to call it. Women almost always wear heeled or wedged shoes or boots, nice pants or tights with a blouse or dress and this time of year, a nice heavy coat! It’s been suuper cold here, I don’t know why it’s not getting warmer, as I expected it to over the course of the semester. Anyways, rebajas are still going on in most places, and it’s fun to shop around for things I wouldn’t find in the States.

As for men’s wear: The other day, I saw a man wearing the EXACT same scarf that I have…did I get robbed somehow?! And not know about it?? And then I realized: couldn’t be, I left that scarf at home in the States! Men’s fashion ALMOST looks like women’s sometimes, something I noticed especially when I went into H&M on Friday. The men’s section was a floor between the two women’s, and there were a few items – a nice white sweater, some shoes, a (man) purse that struck me as particularly…feminine. But that’s just the metro style, and really, I love it! Despite the fact that many Americans seem to think the metro style looks or seems gay sometimes, it’s pretty easy to see the line between metro and homosexual here. It’s an interesting dynamic though, because I don’t think the stigma here about being gay is quite the same as that in the States. Truth be told, I’m not 100% sure the extent of that stigma in Europe, or Andalucia and the rest of Spain specifically. In our CIEE student handbook though, there was some info about it saying that people are accepting, but as with many other minorities, there’s not much censor against derogatory jokes – even if nothing is meant by them.

Cultural Norms: Flamenco, flamencos and flamencas!

More lately than before, we’ve been watching a lot of flamenco singing competitions on tv in our apartment, and I’m noticing how pertinent it is the culture here. It’s taken some adjusting, but I can appreciate the art pretty well now that I have some comparisons to make. A lot of “famosos” (famous people) appear on game and talk shows, and sing a cappella during the episode. It’s kind of funny to see grown men and women singing and dancing around in the middle of a show like a musical or something – it’s different, but very cool.

Aside from witnessing them on the tube, I had a pretty interesting cultural experience with my friend Carlos. He took me to a flamenco spot near where we live, and he kept pointing people out, telling me, “That guy’s on tv,” and “Those girls are models,” etc. “�Tantos famosos, que raro!” (So many celebs, it’s weird!). The place itself was pretty high-end. When you walk in, there’s a giant ornate golden flamenco dress with an enormous train on display in the main lobby. Then in the main room there’s reserved seating around the perimeter, standing tables, a bar, and of course, a stage, on which people were singing and dancing – more playfully than seriously, as I’m accustomed to seeing flamenco. There were also people dancing all over the place, around the tables and through the crowd, each seemingly moving to their own music, until the last note of a song would play, and everyone would simultaneously throw a hand in the air!

Location: Triana. Sevilla, Spain.

Start of term and random things of note

Fesher’s week is over! Thank goodness! As fun as it was not having to do anything and just partying, I’m EXHAUSTED. Even so, there are still loud parties going on in our building, and I’m hoping everyone will chill out soon!

I had my first day of lectures today, Monday. Which was more like lecture (singular) because one I have every other Monday (not this week), and the other has slated the intro lecture for Thursday instead. It was a pretty standard as far as lectures go. The typical warnings: “all the information will not be on the lecture slides, you have to come to lectures,” and “keep up with the material.” Aside from the fact that it was in a building called Roger Stevens a picture of which is below.

And the inside (as shown by one of my flatmates):

This building is lovely in that it has 28 (I think?) lecture halls, and the hall numbers tend not to resemble a logical, sequential order. It’s wonderful.

I’ve found that the lecture halls in the US tend to have individual chairs with their own little attached/fold out desk top. Here, all the lecture theaters I’ve been in have individual chairs, but just one long bench-desk in front of the whole row.

Few other interesting points I’ve picked up on over the past week…

Here, the grades they get in first year don’t count toward their final grade for their degree. They just have to pass. Talk about unfair!

A language thing I’ve noticed is that in casual greeting, instead of saying “hey” or “what’s up?” as in the US, they say “you all right?” The first few times (okay, multiple times) people have said “you all right?” to me, I’ve been a bit taken aback, as I hear it as more of a concerned statement than a casual greeting. This has really been throwing me for a while, and I’m just getting used to it.

At PSU, it’s rare to see someone walking around campus who’s not either talking, texting, or listening to their iPod. Here, it’s very rare to see that. I’ve put audio books on my iPod for the 30 minute walk to/from campus, and honestly I feel sort of self conscious listening to it.

In terms of nightlife, people actually seem to go out more on the weeknights than the weekends. I’ve gathered that’s because the good offers are during week, and they jack up all the prices on the weekends.

One last weird note before I head to bed…In the US we drive on the right side of the road, and if you think about it, when you walk on the sidewalk, you generally have a natural inclination to walk on the right side as well. Strangely enough, here I’ve noticed that it matches up with their driving patterns too. People generally walk on the left side of the sidewalk. Strange huh? And for that matter, I’m getting better with which way to look when crossing streets, but I think it’s still going to be a while before it’s natural.

Location: Leeds, UK

Classes and Ibero

Well–my experience in Puebla has come to its end! I can’t believe it! But, before I write my farewell/final post (and about my travel fiascos), I thought I’d write a quick one about my actual STUDY abroad experience. I’d wanted to post this before I came home, but I got sick on my penultimate day, which put me behind work and packing.

Anyhow, our program was a PSU faculty-led one, and we were housed at one of the many universities in Puebla, Iberoamericana de Puebla. It is nowhere near the size of Penn State, but I absolutely loved it!

It’s a pretty campus with gardens and a pond–and lots and lots of birds!

We earned 9 credits during our 6 weeks here. 2 classes were Spanish-based with our PSU professors. I took Legends and Myths of Mexico with Roxana, and she alternated teaching Mexican Culture and History with our other professor (who also taught a Conversation course), Monserrat. They are both giant sweethearts, and I enjoyed my classes so much! The workload wasn’t even toooo bad (aside from the crazy last week of essays and exams). Our third class was an Art class that was taught by a professor from Ibero, Hilda. Even though I do not have much artistic talent, her class was fun, too! We had a little exhibition of our works at our last group dinner with all our families!

Hoping to put a video or something together soon and post about the great farewell/ terrible travel fiasco. It’s so weird to be home. I’m loving it, but my thoughts at the moment are still just full of my experience in Mexico.

Location: Puebla, Mexico

No subject

First, the situation in Japan is absolutely horrific. During my senior year of high school I spent a little over a week living with a host family in Nakagawa-machi Bato in the Tochigi prefecture. It’s just south of Tokyo. So far I haven’t heard any news from my host family or my friends. Some of the friends I made over there have just started uni in places north east of Tokyo and they’ve been silent on email/facebook since the disaster. I’m hoping that it’s just because of the power crisis in Japan. Anyway, if you’re reading this please don’t do this “i’m thinking of you, japan!” or “i’m praying for japan!”, but actually give some help. They need aid, not thoughts. Go to places like the Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/en/ – for the USA site) to donate.

In regards to studying abroad here in Leeds, it has been awesome still. A week ago I awarded myself a long weekend in London. I did some more touristy things like the Natural History Museum and the London Dungeon. I also had a great time in Camden town where I pocket a ladybug pocket watch and a coin belt for my belly dancing recital in a a few weeks. It was windy and cold, though.

In Leeds, life has been good. I wrote 3 essays this past weekend (I was incredibly productive) and that was the bulk of my midterm assignments. We break up for a month long spring break for April…so only 3 more weeks left until that! I have plans to go to Spain and Italy then and also to visit a friend in Cheddar, England. Apparently it’s where cheddar cheese came from.

Studying abroad has been the best year of my life so far. I’ve met the most wonderful people and have seen/done amazing things. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was where I needed to be. For the first time I’ve been having a worthwhile uni experience. I can’t wait to move over here next January after I graduate in December!

Location: Leeds, UK

Just checking in

+ Life is still grand here in Leeds. I haven’t done much recently that warrants blogging here. I keep my own blog daily, but it’s much more friends-only.

+ Classes are classes. Considering what little effort I’ve put into my modules this year, I’m happy to report that my lowest grade for last term will transfer as a B+ to Penn State. I also have confirmed that I only have to do the fall semester when I get back. That means I will have graduated with a Penn State degree with only spending 5 semester, or 2.5 years on campus. I am extremely grateful for that.

+ I do miss THON. It’s the only thing I thought I was going to miss this year and I do miss it. I hope it’s going awesome for everyone there!

+ I don’t understand immigration laws. I speak English, I will have a university degree and I will have lived in the UK for a full year, but do I qualify for a visa? No. Nope. Nada. Stupid EU agreements are making immigration laws in the UK even more strict. I may have to do a grad program after all just to come back and be able to live and work here for a few years.

+ I’m going to see Swan Lake at the ballet in London next month. Bertie’s mom is taking me. I’m quite excited because I’ve never been to a ballet even though I danced ballet for 8 years when I was growing up and after seeing “Black Swan” (and loving it) I’m really curious about the actual ballet.

+ Filmmaking is going well! I had an unpaid job last week as a runner for a casting session. The director ended up liking me so took my details to help out with the actual production. I’ve also helped with a new short that I co-wrote, produced and starred in for a competition. Bertie and I are in the writing stage for another short and (hopefully) a feature film for the distant future. I do love being able to do this sort of thing! I never would’ve done this back at PSU.

+ A year is a long time to be abroad without a job. Although I did a careful budget, I’ve managed to spend way more than I should’ve by this point. Am going to the part time job fair at the uni on Monday to see if I can get anything for a couple months. We shall see.

+ Been ill with a stomach bug all day and have had no sleep so I’m going to see if I can fix that.

Location: leeds, UK

Intensive Italian Recap and Class Registration

For any student studying abroad through the IES: Milan program, the first 3 weeks of classes consist of what is known as the “Intensive Italian” program. Upon arriving in Milan, students are assigned to Italian classes of various levels, either 100 (for those who have little or no Italian experience), 150 (1-2 years experience), 200 (3-4 years experience), or 300/350 (advanced), based on a test completed as part of your application. Each Italian class counts as 6 credits. Although, if you have never taken Italian before, you are not required to take this test. Also, if you don’t agree with what level you were assigned to, you can speak to one of the academic counselors and change classes. Since I had never taken an Italian class in my life, I was assigned to Italian 100.

The first 2 weeks of the “Intensive Italian” program includes 2.5 hour classes 5 days a week, from 9 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. A quiz is also given on each Friday. The classes aren’t particularly bad since at 10:30, each class stops for a 15 minute break. In true Italian fashion, nearly every student goes across the street to a bar (a cafe in Italy) to get espresso, cappuccino, lattes, or brioches (basically flavored croissants). The last week consists of 3 hour classes every day and a final exam on Friday. While three hour classes seem dreadful when looking at them initially, it is not hard to make it through when it is your only class for the day and you are done at noon!

In summary, Italian class so far has been very manageable. Even though I am not a “language person,” I have done well on each homework assignment and quiz/test. I actually look forward to my Italian class each day since it allows me to better communicate on a daily basis with people throughout the city.

During the second week of classes, IES students register for the rest of their classes for the duration of the semester. Since I crafted my schedule at Penn State to allow me to fulfill my general education credits while studying in Italy, I scheduled 3 classes (3 credits each) in addition to my Italian class, for a total of 15 credits this semester. After having attended each of my classes this week, here is a synopsis of my courses and what requirements they fulfill at Penn State:

AH 340 Cracking the Code: Leonardo da Vinci and Renaissance Art in Milan, 1400-1500 (Counts as GA and GAU)

This class is an introduction to the history of Renaissance art, especially focusing on the city of Milan and its famous citizen, Leonardo da Vinci. Exploring his impact on the city and his accomplishments while he lived in Milan, this class explores the history of da Vinci and his artistic, social, and cultural impact. This is a more hands-on art class as it features numerous field trips through the city to visit some of his famous works like The Last Supper, his fresco ceiling at the Castello Sforzesco, and his Codice Atlanticus at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. We are also required to take an original da Vinci discovery or breakthrough and come up with a way that this idea could be enhanced in the modern age for our final project.

PO 342 The EU and the Process of European Integration (Counts as GS and GAU)

This course explores the process of European integration and its cultural, social, economic, and political causes and effects. Serving as an introductory political science class, this class gives an understanding of the institutional organization, advancement, and relationship of the EU with nations such as the United States, Russia, and China. Due to the current monetary concerns facing the EU with the Euro and the constantly shifting cultural landscape of Europe, I think this will be a fun class to get a better understanding of European politics and government.

FS 335 Filmmaking in Milan: Discovering the City through Italian Cinema (Counts as GA and GAU)

Designed to allow students to discover Italian culture, customs, and life through cinema and filmmaking, this class is a hands-on cinema class that allows students to write, produce, act in, and edit their own movies. This course allows students to learn about the production of movies and well as become technically competent in shooting and editing. Featuring interactions with native Italians throughout the city and screenings of historically an culturally significant Italian films, this class should be a fun way to creatively understand Milan and Italy.

Look next week for a recap of my upcoming weekend, featuring 2 days in Monaco and a 3 day ski-trip in the Alps!

Location: Milano, Italy

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