Hi everyone,

I need to apologize for not having updated in so very long.  After my trip to Andalucia things got a little crazy.  I got sick while I was in Morocco and thought it would pass and probably waited too long before going to the hospital.  I have done a little more traveling since then and also went home for a week and half to graduate [!], ended up getting completely behind with school and it just got crazy from there.  I am part way through exams and going crazy so after those I hope to be able to tell you all ALL about my trip to Andalucia and Morocco and my hospital experience, graduating, traveling, and these exams…

I have TONS of advice and reviews and opinions and recommendations that I hope to help all of you travelers/students out there!  Talk to you soon and my apologies again for the lack of postage.

Jhonni

So Sevilla was pretty awesome. The city was beautiful. We left Thursday morning [April 2] at 11ish. The train ride ended up being 9 hours basically; it arrived late. There were SO many stops and at some we stayed as long as 30 minutes. The good news is that I slept for the majority of it [the small majority but still the majority].

We arrived at our hostal, Doña Pepa: http://www.dormirensevilla.com/pension-centro-sevilla.htm

and loved it. The four of us had our own room. The man at the desk was very nice and told us about a flamenco show we could see and a tour of the city, too. We were really tired so after settling in we walked around and found a place to eat dinner at. Our waiter was super cool and became our “friend” for the rest of the trip. After eating we went back to our hostel and went to sleep.

The next day we went to talk to José Luis at the front desk and bought a tour ticket and Flamenco tickets for that night. The tour was on a double-decker bus and had head phones so that you could change it to whatever station and language you wanted. It was a very popular tour, and pretty good. I think it was about 16euros each and your ticket was valid for two days. I believe there were two buses and therefore two different routes you could take. There was so much to see and you could get off at different stops which we did.

One of the stops we got off at was by the Torre de Oro [“Tower of Gold”- even though just the tippy top of it is actually made of gold]. We walked around and found the cathedral. We also ended up getting ice cream later.

We went home real quick before dinner so I could get my camera charger and charge my camera for a little and then went to dinner. For dinner we stopped at a random little place. I asked the waiter to charge my camera while we were eating and he did! Dinner was quite… interesting. For once I didn’t regret not liking seafood too much! The 3 other girls ordered a seafood dish and received many whole fish. Haha. I would never know what to do with those.

Then we went to the Flamenco show. It was AMAZING. I took a bunch of pictures but what they say, about the completely different ambiance, is true. I loved watching the ladies dance most of all. The men were good but the dresses were gorgeous and the way the ladies move and their expressions are just so focused and intriguing. I took way too many videos but you will enjoy them all!! During the show we ended up ordering two pitchers of sangria [It was really good.] so towards the end we were definitely a bit tipsy. We decided to go to our lil restaurant with our lil friend where there were 1euro beers. I don’t really dig beers too much but who can pass up a 1euro beer?

Here are pictures from the first part:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029316&id=139902062&l=5a4b1bff27

Flamenco videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BhlCTn-3us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBCBly0ES4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVADZQ-M_LA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvpyVPzzvd0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjrQ1su_Yls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epiwvR7FO4k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhLhVbdgShw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcftCOfWjbM

The next day we got a late start and were all super tired. We walked around more of the city, starting with Plaza de España. I took tons of pictures there.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029325&id=139902062&l=bc83019272

I really loved the place. Lots of neat stuff to explore. Later on I went to this huge park and walked around. Part of the horse-drawn carriage rides went there and there were tons of cool trees and it was just a nice area to relax. At that point I decided to put away my map and walk down whatever street I wanted. The city really isn’t all that big so I think this is a good way to get to know it a little better. I wound up near the cathedral and decided to continue on to the back roads behind the cathedral. I walked and walked and walked and saw all kinds of cool little shops and streets and band members getting ready. [It was close to Semana Santa.] I left the touristy part of Sevilla and wound up in a more residential area and then more of a shopping district. I went into a bunch of the little shops and found great deals. I bought a dress, a shirt, and a couple other little things and made friends with one the girls working there. We talked for a bit and then I continued just walking around. I got ice cream [when don’t I get ice cream] and decided to find myself on the map. I asked a nut salesman on the side of the street and he helped me find myself… at the VERY bottom corner of the map! Our hostel was at the top! I had really walked far! So I decided to head back to my neighborhood. As I was walking I met this nice lil old lady and we chatted a bit and she told me where I could find a super cheap grocery store that ended up being 1 minute away from my hostel. I bought a bunch of waters there for the train ride back, some snacks, and chocolate ice cream.

After a rather busy weekend I took my chocolate ice cream, my Spanish Cosmo magazine and went to the lil bar by my hostel and sat in the window, sipping red wine, eating chocolate ice cream, and reading Cosmo. It was a rather nice way to end the weekend.

Sooooooooooo 2 days ago my friend Katie [a different Katie, I sometimes call her curly Katie : ) you’ll see why eventually- she has cute curly hair!] looked at me and said, I really want to travel over Easter break since we have so much time off- April 9-20. I said I wanted to too but since both of my roommates were going home to Morocco for break I wanted to be able to clean the house and study and have time to myself. But then I thought about it and what other time would I get to travel???? Hell ya, let’s go! Woo! So yesterday we planned a lil and tonight we are leaving! I love random, sporadic trips! I was already in Andalucía for Sevilla last week but I’m going back! It’s so beautiful and I want to see more! We are planning on going to Granada, Cádiz, Gibraltar, Morocco, and then Córdoba! We are gonna take a bus and figure it out as we go.

So we’re off in about 30 minutes. I have written a little about Sevilla but it is not complete so I’ll finish/ post everything when I get back!

I know the only reason you’re reading this blog is because of the title. And the funny thing is… is that you already know what it’s about yet you are still reading it. Nonetheless, I shall give you the deets on yet another Jhonni Experience. Also, I apologize for the profanity, but seriously dude, bird poop just isn’t the same as bird shit.

I was sitting in a lil park right outside of the philosophy building at school the other day during my third tandem in four days [awesome, huh!]. Our conversation was going really well when all of a sudden [don’t you just love that phrase- all of a sudden. You always know something utterly amazing or catastrophous (that’s not a word, is it?) is about to happen, this time it was the latter…] we ALL saw something fall from the trees above us… something white and yellow and brown… something icky gooey… something disgusting. It just missed Marisa. Katie [another student from the US (Texas)] and her sighed with relief. But I did not join in this relief as the majority of fallen substance from the bird that had diarrhea above me did not go right behind Marisa. It went onto me. Suh-weet. It felt like someone had dumped half of their drink on me. They continued on talking a lil and I finally said… I am afraid to look at my back [in Spanish, of course]. They were like oh no and Marisa looked and was like day-um, that’s a lot [also in Spanish, of course]. She helped me clean it off a lil but bird shit is bird shit and I am now contaminated.

My main goal in coming to Spain was obviously to better my Spanish. I, of course, wanted it to be The Jhonni Experience and to experience all kinds of growth- personal growth as far as attitudes, worldly perceptions, and independence; the growth of all kinds of knowledge- cooking, living on my own, dealing with roommates, attending an international school and dealing with an entirely different school system, etc; and lack of personal.. personal growth in the fact that I wanted to become healthier in how I eat, live, travel, to drop a few pounds, and also become accommodated to this lifestyle as I would like to take it back with me to the US. So back to the Spanish part.

While it is difficult to make friends anywhere and I do have a touch of language barrier opposing me [but more of a cultural one], it really is hard for me to make Spanish friends in Spain. As I have said, I have tons of new friends that are international students, but my Spanish friends are few. Diana was my first. One day before a class I later dropped, a girl approached a group of friends and I when we were speaking English and asked where we were from. From this sparked a long conversation and we found out that she was from Valencia. Her English was quite good and she asked us if we wanted to have lunch with her later. Our friendship with Diana blossomed and she introduced us to Sofía and Paula and Jenny and now we are all friends. Apart from them, as I mentioned in my last blog, I am friends with Jose from the excursion. Apart from this I have a few acquaintances. There is a girl from my Syntax class [with crazy cool highlights] that I see out and about everywhere. Her name is Julia. Another girl named Laura added me on Facebook and we have been talking and are planning to meet for a tandem soon.

I had previously gotten a bunch of names from a list and emailed people to see if they wanted to tandem. I finally came across someone that was free/responded and her name is Ana. Come to find out, she is not even a student, is 30ish, has 2 kids and lives with her boyfriend/baby’s daddy, and works at the school. She is super nice even though we don’t relate too much. We met one Monday before Fallas and spoke for an hour. Her English isn’t too good but she tries really hard and is super nice. We also met last Monday and are planning to meet again next Monday. So I have my Monday set up.

And every Tuesday night there is a group tandem at the Sofa Club, a restaurant at the mall [I have yet to shop at (but there’s a really great Chino nearby!)]. About 50 or so people go to that every Tuesday at 7 and I have been most Tuesdays and plan to continue. From that I have met some interesting folks: Raúl, a local Valencian PE teacher, Dario and Marco- two Italian dudes working here in Valencia, and Laura, a girl from Finland, and a few others I only know by face. Tuesday, check! Apart from that I have yet to meet the other Laura and there is one other girl. Monday night I was walking home with two other girls and a girl riding a bike circled and stopped right in front of us. She asked us where we were from and if we ever wanted to do a tandem. I had my pen and paper out before she could finish.

I think it important to have a more consistent tandem partner and while Ana and I meet every Monday, we don’t have that certain connection and once a week just isn’t enough. Maybe Marisa will be that person for me.

HI guys!  I finally inserted the video/pictures links.  Everything should open up in a different window except for the Wikipedia pages near the end.

————————————————–

Holy moly what a crazy week this has been!!

Fallas in a nutshell: Valencians build stuff and then burn it down. At first this sounded utterly bizarre to me, but upon living in Spain for nearly two months now, I understand that it is so much more than that.

First let me explain the word Fallas. In Spanish, the verb “fallar” means to fail. It obviously is not a direct translation, though, because then Fallas would be the verb he/she/you fail or the noun flaws/defects/failings. From this play on words comes the common phrase “Con Las Fallas no se falla” or something like that meaning that with Fallas you can never go wrong/fail. What Fallas actually translates to in Spain is two things: the actual monument is called a falla and the team that builds it is also called a falla.

Monument? What? All year long there are teams of “falleros” or people who work on the fallas, that design and build huge monuments that tend to look like animated figures. Each neighborhood has a falla and contributes money to its building. I am not sure how the money comes into it because I definitely didn’t donate anything, but apparently the richest barrios tend to win. These monuments usually have a wooden base/structure and are then surrounded with plastic or papier-mâché and then painted. Most have themes. The most popular theme is politics… not just Spanish politics but world politics and the US is definitely involved in that.

To see some faller@s walking down the street, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGwt4iQw_hQ

Fallas officially started the first of March. Everyday there is a mascletà at 14:00. A mascletà is basically a fireworks show, although it is more based around sound then on… the show part. Spaniards like it LOUD… really loud… so loud you can feel the ground move and your body vibrate. Some people go to plug their ears but you almost always hear someone say, “Don’t plug your ears because your ear drums can burst. Instead, open your mouth so the sound can go out.” And they couldn’t be more correct. You genuinely feel like your body is going to explode. I always wonder how much deafer I’m going to be after each mascletà. The fireworks last from 5-10 minutes and are run by a different pyrotechnics engineer each day. I think they have competitions.

To see a video of the first mascletà, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3iNwTFO7_M

Fallas only happens in Valencia and it is so important to the city that students are actually given a full week off: March 14-19! But this week is most definitely not a week of vacation. All of Valencia is awake all day and all night for the entire time! There are firecrackers being thrown at you and fireworks going off, marching bands playing outside your window and drunk people singing, kids screaming and dogs barking. The sky is almost always lit up by something and the atmosphere is just amazing. You are up all night long and [attempt] sleep all day long and there is always something really loud going on but you do get used to it.

To see what it’s like in the middle of the night, trying to sleep, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF-0-um8k70

There are a couple of Fallas Fads and they are most abundant during the last week of fallas. First is the sombrero that everyone wears. The second is most popular and is the bandana [pañuelo]. It is usually plaid, blue and white but sometimes black and white but can be different colors. A lot of them are embroidered with “fallero” or “FALLAS 2009.” They are worn folded corner to corner [they’re in the shape of a square, so you create a triangle] and then tied in the front around your neck, so that you can see the embroidered part from the back. You can find them for cheap, 1-3 euros depending on where you go. I, of course, bought one and sported it around town.

On Sunday my friend, Holly, and I met and walked around to see people crazily finishing up the fallas. It was so neat to see them in the process of being made.

You can see a video of them finishing up one of the bigger fallas here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZC5MwwPfxE

The last day to have the fallas finished was Monday [March 16^th]. That day I met a tour group at 9am and walked around for five hours looking at different fallas. It was nice to have a Spaniard show you around because they can give you background info and take you to the coolest ones and make the most of your time. The tour ended at 2, right when the mascletà began so we watched that in the Plaza de Ajuntamiento and then went home. There was another tour at 4:30 with a different group and I had at first aspired to do this one as well but I was so exhausted I went home and slept. Later that night I went to a birthday party for another erasmus student, Stefan. After his party we went outside and they were having a concert in the street with a dj and everything so we hung out there and then I went home. There are random concerts/parties in the streets all over Spain during Fallas. You only have to pick which street you want to go to. They also have huge white tents by most of the fallas. During the construction of each falla, watchmen stay in the tents over night to guard the monument. When the week really starts, there are parties inside the tents and I was told that you could pay one price and have unlimited drinks in there with a DJ, etc. I didn’t go that route and wish I would have been able to experience the “white tent” at least once.

Really I don’t have what it takes to be a Spaniard. There is no way I can stay up all day and all night for a whole week straight! Haha. Tuesday and Wednesday I took it easy and didn’t really go out much but to shop and meet friends to hang out.

Thursday was the last day of Fallas. I told myself I wanted to make the most of it and hang out with SPANIARDS and not just other exchange students. I made this my personal goal and set out to find the token Spaniard. Holly had met a guy on the excursion a couple weeks ago and he was really nice and we had hung out with him once before so I emailed him. He was very willing to hang out with me and I was so excited! Then, another Spanish friend, Paula, messaged me and asked me what I was doing that night and invited herself to come with us. I was overjoyed… not one, but TWO Spaniards! Yippee! Haha. You can imagine how ecstatic I was to find out she was bringing her other Spanish friend.

As I was getting ready to go, one of my roommates told me that they were about to burn the falla outside my window! It was only 10PM so they were just burning the falla infantil, but I captured it all on camera. It was super cool, even for a mini cremà.

To see a video of the falla infantil burning outside my window [in 3 stages], go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j97cjXqHG20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghxAg9LwNIk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhj_B5l575w

We all met at 11:30 at the metro stop. I felt so cool to introduce Jose, my SPANISH friend, to Paula and Jennifer, my other SPANISH friendS. Haha. Together we drove in Jose’s car to Nou Campanar, the falla that had won first place. Apparently it had won first place multiple times in a row before and was practically the richest barrio so it was no surprise it won. We made it right on time and barreled through the crowds to get a good view. It was like walking though a carnival because they had set up all kinds of games to play. Like most carnivals if you won you could get a huge stuffed animal or a cheap bike and the like. One thing that they most definitely don’t have as a prize in the US is a LEG OF HAM. That’s right, folks. If you win you can get that as your prize. Of course I had to take a picture. Check it out in the Fallas fun and other things related album below.

We didn’t have to wait too long and the cremà started. As always some fireworks were let off and the burning began! It took a lot longer than I thought and the structure was super strong. Don’t worry! I took a video of that, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJeKsOxM0U

To see pictures I took of maaany different Fallas [and only the Fallas], visit:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027805&id=139902062&l=26022e069d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027808&id=139902062&l=b7299d7941

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027816&id=139902062&l=272e03528c

Facebook will only let you upload 60 pix to an album so these are in groups of 60 pix!

To see Fallas fun and other things related, go here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027470&id=139902062&l=84be44c4ee

For more [accurate] information, visit:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallas [In Spanish- most information] or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles [In English]

I really hope you all were able to experience some of Fallas through my eyes. It was a super interesting cultural holiday that I had never heard of before coming here and I was so happy to be a part of it. If you ever get the change to come to Valencia [3^rd largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona], do come and come during Fallas, in March!!!

Thanks for reading and Happy Traveling!

Jhonni

It’s taken me a while to write another blog because a few of my friends got sick and then it got passed on to more friends and then I got sick. We all ended up sick the past few days but will hopefully be better by Monday, right when the weekend is over, of course. My nose is so raw from blowing and my throat from coughing, but the worst is over. My roommates, who at first [the first month, that is] weren’t too friendly with me [not mean, just not friendly] came in to check on me since I didn’t leave my bed the entire day and one of them even gave me medication. And today the other one came in to see how I was doing because Sanaa told her I was sick. That was very nice of them.

Besides being sick the past couple days, I haven’t done much but stay in bed and do homework or watch YouTube videos so I can talk about last weekend and this past week.

I wanted to talk about my excursion from 2 weekends ago and show pictures. I really do have so many pictures, though, and I want to upload everything but I can’t decide between Flickr and Picasa. Does anyone have any suggestions?? I know Picasa you can edit them.. can you edit them on Flickr, too? And is Picasa online? I could just Facebook em but them there is a limit of 60 pictures or something per album. Argh.

The Geography department of UV [Universitat de Valencià] hosted the 2-day excursion last Saturday and Sunday. It was 60 euros but that included the bus ride, boat ride, food, and one night stay in a hostal. I stayed the night at a friend’s since she lived closer and we had to be there early. The night before we [mostly her] cooked so much food… chicken quesadillas and nachos that we couldn’t even finish it. It was fun, though. We met everyone [~100 people!] and 2 buses the next morning and took off. That day we say 5 different places.

We drove for an hour and then stopped to talk about La Albufera [The Lagoon] and how it formed, etc [geography stuff ;)]. Then we took a little boat ride around in it. We brought a sack lunch because just dinner [Saturday] and breakfast and lunch [Sunday] were paid for. He showed us little restaurants and said just to go sit at the tables and eat our sack lunches but this presented a bit of a problem since we weren’t eating anything at the restaurants. The professor also told us we could use their bathrooms and they weren’t to keen with that either. We ended up compromising and just bought coffees so they would leave us alone.

After that we went to La Playa del Perellonet, the beach. It was very pretty, but still a little chilly. We hung out a while and Priya busted out the huge cookie cake that we had attempted to bake at my house the day before. [Note: Another cultural difference: In Spain people don’t bake the types of things they do in the US. You never see what Americans consider the standard cookie or cake. In turn, the do have multiple bakeries, but with croissants and napolitanas and all sorts of other yummy stuff. But I do miss my cookies and for this reason we attempted to make them, failed, and ended up making a cookie cake.] It turned out alright and we shared it with a bunch of people, making all sorts of friends. Then we took a group picture. We talked about what other cultures say when taking a picture. In English we say “cheeeese” and in Spain they say “patata” and I think in Germany they say “spaghetti.” Lots of other cultures say “cheeeese” as well, though.

After the beach we went to La Montaña de Cullera where we were given a longer talk about the estuary of el río Júcar and La Albufera [the river and beach]. Even with so much traveling, geography has never been my strong point but it was interesting to hear. The view was also very beautiful.

After that we went up into the mountains where it was supppper windy. We hiked up a hill and at the top were a bunch of old dudes flying kites! Not just any kites, though; they were remote control kites in the shape of jets. So cute to see a bunch of old men with their tricked out toys. It reminded me of when my boyfriend and I were in Puerto Rico and the old men would bring chairs and go sit in random places and play dominoes. Totally random.

Way tired, we arrived at the hostel. We were one of the first ones to get a room and we got lucky because we got a room inside a building whereas other people had to stay outside in log cabins [fun.. until you’re in the mountains and the lock on your door doesn’t work nor does your heater work…]. We settled in and then went down to dinner. It was buffet style with beer, wine, coffee and everything.

After dinner was the “Fiesta Multicultural.” The professor went to sleep and they brought out a DJ and let us hang out and dance or just talk if we wanted. Most of us stayed out a little and then went back to go to sleep [long day ahead of us on Sunday] but some stayed out and partied.

Breakfast was at 9 and then the 15 km [9.3 miles] was at 9:30. This was a lot of fun for almost the entire time but at the end, the last hour, it was just horrific. The whole first half was a downward slope and then the last half was walking uphill. We were so tired but it was a great hike.

When we got back they had the paella waiting for us. There were 3 types: vegetarian, chicken, and rabbit & chicken. I had had rabbit twice before, both times in Spain in 2006. When I first tasted it I loved it… and then found out what it was. I was slightly sad but made myself get over it and ate it a second time. I ordered the rabbit & chicken one and was not let down. After a huge lunch, we were taken to the agricultural part of the hostel in the mountains. Apparently they had a bunny farm. So after munching on little bunny rabbits for lunch, I got to hold baby bunnies and then a huge granddaddy bigger-than-your-dog rabbit. Kinda morbid, yes, but it was fun.

We went home after that. It was a 2 hour drive and when we got home I went right to sleep. Good times. I’ll show you pictures if you all help me decide on Flickr or Picasa!

This week wasn’t too adventurous, but Las Fallas did start! Sunday was the Primera Mascletà. It started at 2 and we met a few of our Spanish friends and went to watch it. It was so crowded. It’s funny that everyone always says let’s go ‘watch’ it when there really isn’t anything to watch. It’s mostly just fireworks you hear and can’t really see [except for smoke]. It lasts about 5-10 minutes and then you spend 30 minutes getting out of the crowd. It is SO loud though. I have been told my multiple Spaniards that if you feel it’s getting too loud to NOT plug your ears but to open up your mouth because your ear drums can pop. Crazy. Your entire body starts shaking with the ground; you feel like it’s an earth quake. While Americans are visually stimulated, it must be a Spanish thing to adore super loud noises. We went that Sunday and then Monday as well. I think it’s every day until the Fallas really start: March 14^th- 19^th.

Every Monday a certain restaurant gives away free paella with purchase of a drink. The catch is that the drink is really a pitcher of whatever you order and you get tiny little plates of paella. Locals do not go there because they know that free paella does not mean quality paella but Erasmus students from all over are attracted to this place. We went and almost everyone from the excursion ended up being there. It was a lot of fun.

One of the girls here is pre-med and took an important test before coming here. She was going to find out her results on Wednesday. We went out to celebrate and had a blast. We went to different bars/clubs, including a funk night at one called Black Note.

The rest of the week I was pretty much sick so that concludes it.

I do have a tandem set up for Monday, though! [A tandem is where two people of differing first languages get together to practice their second (or third, etc) language with the other person and then switch back to the other language.] I am very excited and hope to get more tandems set up until I can find a more constant one.

My main adventures lately have been in the kitchen. As I said before, this is a time for growth… in many different areas. Having lived at home and had my awesome cook of a mother make everything for me, I am now a damsel in distress when it comes to just plain boiling water. [How big do the bubbles have to be? Should I wait? What about the salt debate?] First let me describe the Spanish shopping experience to you.

Hardly anyone here drives. I don’t know anyone who even has a car. I mean, you see some cars but mostly people walk. This kind of puts a damper on loading your car up with groceries. Also, living on the 6^th [or even the 10^th] floor can kind of suck. For this reason the Costco once-a-month shopping doesn’t fly here. People go shopping all the time. I made it my personal goal to never come home empty-handed, that way I’m always carrying something small and don’t have to worry about a huge shopping trip.

Because of the frequent shopping and having to carry whatever you buy, everything is small. For instance, my friend and I made nachos one night and had to buy 4 packages of cheese! [We like to eat a lot of nachos, very cheesey..]. I do enjoy grocery shopping, though. It’s nice to stroll around and try to think up meals… that you might actually be able to make.

So when I left to Spain my mom probably thought I was going to starve to death and packed half of my luggage with food [just a slight exaggeration]. I had.. an entire box of chicken top ramen [are you sure you don’t want another box, hun?], 6 cans of ravioli, 3 boxes of granola bars, homemade cookies and brownies, 2 boxes of pop-tarts, a box or two of hot coco, goldfish, and 3+ boxes of mac and cheese, to name a few things. J True story. While many people in the hostel scoffed at me, it really was nice to have food with me [yes, American food] so I didn’t have to go shopping the first week and make something ridiculously hard. I really didn’t eat that much of the food, though, between going out with friends and eating somewhere else and getting together and all pitching in and making meals together. This was fun but I really didn’t get the good cooking experience out of it as I ended up slicing the bread or setting the table, something small so that I didn’t have to cook.

I did attempt Mac n Cheese by myself one night… it somehow manifested itself into a mush that resembled jello and tasted worse than it looked. [How can you mess MAC N CHEESE up??.. ya, it’s possible.] I stuck to canned ravioli for some time after that…

I was in the hostel for a week and then found a place to live [see PISO] and was then really on my own. I was officially a roommate, or flatmate, and not a friend. No one was going to hold my hand and cook me anything and I didn’t expect them to.

So I mentioned that people here shop all the time. Because of this, there are little markets everywhere… literally… everywhere. One company has a huge monopoly on these little markets and they are all called LA MERCADONA. The other night I joked around about giving directions to my flat… you are going to pass 5 Mercadonas and after that take a left and then a right at the second Mercadona. Sounds funny but it’s true. One of my friends justly compared Mercadonas to cockroaches… they will never disappear! Don’t get me wrong, though, they are amazing. They really have so much [but not everything].

One other type of store I must mention before continuing is known as the “C-store” among my group of friends, or “Tienda de Chino” or just “Chino.” Some specialize in certain things and some [like the ones by my house] just specialize in STUFF. My c-store has SO much. Not food type things but everything else [toiletries, house furnishings, some clothing, school stuff, tools, party stuff, bed stuff, etc etc etc]. And if you can get it at the Chino, you definitely should because their prices beat everyone else’s by far. To clarify, Chino means Chinese or Chinese man. They are the owners of these stores and it’s not considered racist to call them Chino.

My first night in my flat I kept it easy and made ravioli again. The next night [with a dire need to switch it up] I decided to attempt Mac n Cheese again. I didn’t mess up the noodles but did read the recipe wrong and added waaaay too much milk and butter. It was like a milk butter soupy version of Mac n Cheese, but good nonetheless. At the Mercadona I was buying fresh fruit and bread and other things to snack on. We get together to eat dinner a lot whether at someone’s house or at a restaurant so the first time I actually tried something new [since I’ve been in this place... 2 wks-ish] was yesterday when I attempted grilled cheese. I knew they were simple [how can you mess a grilled cheese up?] but then again, we talking about the I-ruin-Mac-n-Cheese-girl. The ovens here are gas [and scary] and I’m “used” to electric so when I discovered the Panini maker in my kitchen, I was excited. I talked to a few different people about the grilled cheese technique and asked questions [how much butter? Like a lot a lot or just a lil? Answer: medium]. Then, I tried it. At first I thought I was doing it correctly but sadly but surely saw my sandwich getting soggy… I put waay too much butter on it. I decided to make another one right away and put less on it. This time it got stuck to the inside of the Panini maker and I had to scrape it off. I sucked it up and ate both sandwiches [and chocolate ice cream].

Oh I did forget to mention that another thing I have been living off of are hotdogs. Pop em in the microwave for a few seconds and stick em in a bun and voila, you got a meal right there.

OH and I DID make a croissanwich to rival Jack in the Box. Here are the directions: go to store and buy [NOT MAKE ;)] 1 croissant, two pieces of ham, one slice of cheese, 2 eggs. Scramble those lil huevos til they look good enough. If pan lights on fire, it’s ok. Avoid watering fire as it is most likely a grease fire due to nastyass buildup on bottom of pan and will only make it worse. Thanks roomies! Slice croissant down middle [best to do beforehand as eggs get cold..] and put eggs inside, followed right away by cheese so as to melt it. Next put your ham on and if croissant isn’t utterly destroyed, try to get the top part on. Eat with fork and knife if falling apart. YUM! I believe that was my first masterpiece.

Well, today I decided to reattempt the grilled cheese. It can not conquer me! I figured that my main problem was the Panini maker itself. It smooshed the bread so much anyways. So I decided to go the stove route… and my grilled cheese came out beautifully! I ate it with a hot dog. Haha.

Now all this must sound utterly pathetic, but if you know me, you’ll cut me some slack as I play a mean harmonica. Well, I guess that’s not true either. But I do plan on learning to cook, to REALLY cook during these 6 months so we will see.

[I am going to get a flickr account soon and then work on posting all my photos so you can see ]

Next on the list are quesadillas and pasta with red sauce [maybe meat sauce if I’m lucky]… talk to you soon! Oh and another blog soon to come about the awesome excursion I had this past weekend!!!

Today I am going to talk about differences between Mexican and Spanish language/culture. If you have anything to add, PLEASE do so in a comment!

Let me first start by saying that I am a huge appreciator of all cultures and love diversity. I definitely believe that that is what makes the world go round. We can all learn something from another culture. I was also born and raised in Southern California and do tend to have a certain propensity towards Mexican culture due to a more extensive knowledge/experience in it. I realize this and do my best to not be biased.

OK, OK or okay, is used a lot in the US, ok? In fact, it’s used all over North America. Mexico is a huge fan of okay, using it with its own accent, of course. Ok is embedded in me, deeper than my own sense of direction [well, I guess that’s not very deep]; it’s an ever-present reaction that I exhibit to convey my understanding or to validate someone else’s, ok? Ok, so the word OK or okay is most definitely not present in Spain. This is so saddening to me that this tiny little extremely useful word can be cast aside and replaced by one, not so.. cool. Vale, coming from the verb valer, to be worth, is used instead. Vale is [for my fellow grammarians] in the third person singular tense. So it would be HE/SHE/IT/YOU (formally) are/is worth… that’s it. I am still confused as to how this word came to be in the place it is currently. As much as I know, it could have been around longer than our beloved okay. Nonetheless [great word, I don’t use it nearly enough], vale is very present and very used, vale? Nonetheless [yes, I’m using it again so soon! It’s great, isn’t it?] I have not been able to get used to the vale-dity of this word and find myself saying okay all the time. Sometimes I catch myself and say ok.. err. vale.. and then, feeling like I didn’t convey my understanding, throw in an extra OK! for good measure. Of course the quick downward head nod aids in this, but I just don’t feel like people understand that I understand. Every day I strive to make vale a real part of my Spanish vocabulary, but since it never was before, it’s hard to now. I said it so much one day that when switching to English I started saying vale! It’s one of those words/meanings that really becomes engrained in you. So that is my first observation of the difference between Mexican and Spanish dialects.

The next little word occurs when someone speaks too fast and you’re like what, whoa whoa whoa, whaaat did you say? Or perhaps if he or she mumbled and you couldn’t catch what was said, or maybe if you just didn’t understand the words being said at all. Whatever the case, the English version would be a big fat HUH? Or maybe an I’m sorry? In Mexico they say mande? Mande is from the verb, mandar, meaning to send. It is also in the third person singular tense, BUT is in the subjunctive form, most likely originating from the fact that there used to be a bit of sentence before it and most definitely a que.. Quiero que me mande [Ud.].. or something like that, meaning I want you to send me (to do something)/give me orders [un mandato is a mandate/an order]. This has always sounded a little peculiar to me, but it as well is engrained in this skull of mine. So as literal as vale sounds in Mexico, mande probably sounds like I am asking to be someone’s servant, just waiting for a command from them, when all I really want them to do is slow down and enunciate or just repeat or rephrase whatever they said. I believe they say dime [tell me] in Spain, but I haven’t exactly figured it out yet. The confused look, cocked head, and hesitation or grunt [ummmm… huh?] does go a long way, though, I must admit. I’m going to have to get back to you to confirm the dime, but so far I get many crazy looks when I say mande?

For some odd reason another very important word in my vocabulary is the word just, or only, or.. well, just. For example, “don’t worry about doing that now, I just need it whenever.” Or “I just need a few eggs, not the whole carton.” I guess I’m just not that good at giving examples, but I do feel that the word ‘just’ enhances my sentences and aids me in the communicating of the lack of urgency or diminutive factors something I’m trying to convey might have. I didn’t discover ‘no más’ for a long time. ‘Justo,’ meaning just in the king sense.. or rather, the fair sense, does not have the second meaning of ‘only’ that the English ‘just’ has. No más is extremely volatile. It translates to “no more,” which I like… I want no more than to say good bye to him. It just sounds cool. You can use it in Spanish sentences like, “I just want to say good bye to him” or “I only want three eggs.” “Sólo” is also used, but no más is just way cooler. In class one day I said “no más.” It just rolled off my tongue as I was speaking to one of my professors in Spain. She giggled and noted that I have a Mexican accent. I never really considered myself having a Mexican accent since the books and learning materials in school were always Spanish-based, but I guess I do. I asked her what they say in Spain and she said just “sólo.” I said “vale.”

I always favor linguistics, but do let me address some cultural aspects, as well! The weather here mostly resembles that of California’s. Nice and hot in summer and rather chilly/gloomy/sometimes rainy in the winter. It is still winter here and while it is not freezing, people love to bundle themselves up in all kinds of snow-type attire. I would rate it a whopping 89% of people wear boots/dress shoes, probably higher. Tennis shoes, whatttt? I have sensitive feet, people! I mean, I have not walked this much since… last time I was in Spain! Nonetheless [third time’s a charm], I continue wearing my tennis shoes, but do throw flats in there an awful lot.. even though I do get funny looks as if those aren’t even dressy enough.

Apart from shoe-wear, Spaniards are a huge fan of scarves of all colors and patterns. It isn’t completely uncommon to see someone in San Diego with a scarf, but not later in the day when it warms up. Besides, it’s usually when you’re a little bit dressier anyways. Here it’s a daily thing.

Peacoats… the European thing? Or just the Valencian thing? These are everywhere and fit right with the boots and scarves. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re very cute and fashionable, but not in the middle of the day when it’s warm because you now have to carry about this oversized, bulky jacket.

All of this could be due to Spain’s propensity towards fashion. It seems like everyone is always dressed up, no matter what. That could also sólo be me, though. I do like to scrub it out every now and then [but nothing worse than sweat pants/shorts and a tshirt]. On a normal day you’d catch me in jeans and a tshirt but that is so taboo here. Also, all this could also just be a Valencian thing. Basically, I sólo need to buy a new wardrobe, vale?

Well I’ll add more later. I didn’t realize I had so much to talk about! Haha. Again, I do love both cultures, but the Spanish culture is taking some getting-used-to and I want to remember all of these cultural/linguistical differences.

Ciao for now, kids!

Today was the first day of classes.  I was so excited that I woke up early and got to my first class 30 minutes early to get a good seat.  I was the first person there… and the next person came in exactly when the class should have started and the rest of the people trickled in 15 minutes late, etc.  So not used to that..  Ok let me back up a little.  I don’t think it applies to all students [possibly just international ones] but we don’t register for classes until March.  I guess we audit classes until then and choose what we like and then eventually have our teachers and counselors sign to let us register.  Very bizarre.  So for a month we are auditing classes until we decide what we want.

My first class was Linguistics.  As I said I got there 30 minutes early [soy loca].  When the class finally started.. 30 minutes after it should have.. two students gave a presentation on animal cruelty.  It lasted a good 20 minutes and there were questions and answers and then class was dismissed.  Not one segment even had the slightest bit to do with Linguistics so I’m not entirely sure I was in the right room or class.

My second class was Sintaxi Espanyola, or so I thought.  The professor started speaking in Catalan or Valenciano [I can't tell them apart and some argue they are one in the same] and I thought it was a temporary thing but an hour later I began to speculate it wasn’t so temporary.  Apparently I read the schedule wrong and it was Sintaxi Catalana so.. my bad.

I went to find Rachel and Katie, my lil buddies from the hostal and we talked about how different classes here are.  There is no passing period, or time between classes.  One ends at 10 and the other starts at 10, but people arrive late and no one cares.  I went into a class one minute before it started [the Sintaxi Catalana one], thinking I was gonna be late, but instead I walked into a class that was still going.  ..awkward..  So they explained a little bit of the confusion to me.. they have 1 year long courses here and at the end you are responsible for all of the material meaning I don’t want to take half of the class and fail the final.

Katie and I went to an English-Spanish translation class that was recommended to us and waited there for 40 minutes.  The professor never showed up.. okkkk.  I guess this isn’t too uncommon here.  After that we went to a Spanish Comparative Literature class and met another exchange student from London named Tim.  The class was rather.. boring and kind of everywhere.  Not sure if I’m staying in that class, but I do need one lit. class.  After that we walked to meet Rachel, the last of the 3 musketeers to get a piso, to go see one.  We couldn’t find it and, consumed with hunger [didn't eat dinner and not really breakfast either], Katie and I caved in and went to Burger King while Rachel went to find the piso.  I got a Whopper Meal [size grande, por favor!] and whalloped in the lushious unhealthiness of the fries.  Then we went back to our places and siesta-ed [ps, I just created that verb].  I actually slept which was quite horrible because I didn’t want to get out of bed to meet at 4:45 for our 5pm class.

The class turned out to be my favorite one so far.  It was the real Sintaxi Espanyola.  I must admit I do love linguistics and, well, grammar.  I don’t know why but they really attract me.  OK back to me not sounding like English is my second or third language..

After class I went with Rachel to see another piso closer to my house.  She ended up loving it and took it immediately.  It really was beautiful.  I’m glad that we all have our pisos.  She wanted to celebrate so she invited a bunch of people, including “British Tim” to dinner at her last night at the hostal.  We made a bunch of food and ate together.  It was very nice.

Tomorrow I’m checking out a bunch of classes.  We’ll see how it goes.  Second night in my piso.. so far so good.  These last two posts have been a lil too informative, rather dry.  I’ll spice it up next time!

Until then!
-Jhonni