Hmm... not remembering too much of this week. Well, almost everyone was sick. One of my best friends got the mumps (or some strange strain, because we were all immunized as babies?) Two others had fevers. Mi madre and sobrinas were sick all week. So I guess it was kinda a drab week. I made some friends outside of UNI though, so that's encouraging. Two people I've met came to Oviedo on their own- I can not even imagine! Another girl goes to Miami of Ohio and I found out that those Ohian(?) kids have an opportunity to do 'internships' while they are here. One opportunity being working at daycares! So, I'm going to try to get on that. My last friend is the best though. So I officially have my library card (first rented book... Harry Potter duh. and then Slaughter House Five- in Spanish!) Well, I was there reading a magazine one night across from a little old man named Enrique. He saw that I had my dictionary out and asked where I was from. Turns out he used to be an engineer and traveled all over, and he loves the US. We talked for like a half hour, until the library closed. (I don't think I've been at a library when it closed in the US- but here they just turn off all the lights, and then turn them back on and you have 5 minutes to get out- Is it the same?) Anyways, the next time I returned he was there again and we had some coffee- my new conversation partner!
I looooooove my translation, art, and phonetics classes. Love. Translation truly the best Spanish class I have ever taken-I am learning so much. On a side note... I kinda cheated on my last piece of homework for that class- but it was a bonding experience! We had a page to translate English quotes to Spanish (Winston Churchill said brilliant things). After I did it- I asked mis padres if my translations made sense. Only one did completely haha, but they helped me correct, and so did my brother. So many times mi familia just watches TV, or at night we sometimes have talks, but they always turn into mi madre on a soap box. Anyways, it was really fun and I could tell that mi hermano enjoyed it. Art is great and is making me hungry to travel. We are learning about so many old Spanish structures and I just want to SEE them. Phonetics is the greatest. I feel like all of the work for the class is like one big Sunday newspaper puzzle. My other two classes are just ok. Grammar is going by really slowly right now, but I hope to feel challenged some time soon. Hispanoamerica is impossible. I mean, the class is easy and we don't get homework, but the teacher does not know what she's doing and it's very hard to stay awake. I've started bringing in food to do so. The first day we played hangman. And since then we have just gone through readings and asked about words we didn't know. I have not learned anything about Latin America yet.
Yesterday I started my second trip with the school. It was a little disappointing. Out of the 6 museums/churches we planned on visiting ONE was open. Our bus driver didn't follow directions, and we therefore got lost. I don't know if I'll go with the school again, it is just hard to travel in such big groups. We did, however, get a personalized tour from this old man in Astorgas. He was really excited to see a big group and showed us around the town. He was one of those people who found things that most people don't pay attention to beautiful. We ended up at his retirement home looking at a mechanical nativity scene and he was SO excited. So that was pretty fun. We ended up in Leon and had tapas. For those who don't know- you can buy one drink for 1 euro and then get free food. My friends and I got 'mostos' which was non-alcoholic wine... grape juice with some pizza, homemade potato chips with ham, crepes, and sausage within a bun. MMMM.
New pooper scooper count- 3 woo! I found another reason that the streets are cleaned nightly-Sidre. Sidre is the drink of Oviedo/ Asturias. It's like a combination of cider and beer and there is a special way to drink it. You go to a sidreria and sit down and order a bottle sidre and appetizers. A waiter makes his way around every once in a while and pours your sidre- you can't yourself. So here's what they do: hold the bottle has high up as they can and pour it into your cup that they hold in the other hand waist high- and they don't look. So, there is a lot of sticky sidre in the street after the weekends. After the waiter pours your sidre you are supposed to drink it slowly, but never putting down your cup, and you must leave some in the bottom of the cup. It's just the rules. You wait around and talk for another 5, 10, 15 minutes until your waiter returns.
It is very cold here, I know I'm not in Iowa, but still. Which is why I'm amazed to see teenage girls in the street at night wearing thigh high socks and shortie shorts. This is one of the main distinctions in age here! Adults dress sensibly, and teenagers don't. Teenagers look older, and middle aged people look and act younger. We met a guy during tapas that we thought was our age and it turns out he was 31! Madness. Another observation- quick tips to being a Spaniard. All you have to do is say these words often: "Vale" and "Haber". Vale means ok, and haber means a multitude of things and people use it like we would say 'um' I feel like. Also, don't say adios, thats for big time good byes. Hasta luego or hasta pronto are the ways to go. *Gabi remember when we were talking about, "NIGHT!" Hasta is similar. You can just say hasta, which only means 'until'-just like we say 'morning' or 'night' dropping the 'good'. Or mi hermano comes home and says 'buenas' sometimes instead of 'buenas dias' or 'buenas noche'.
During our bus ride home I was told by two girls who originally came as study abroad students and now live here that I NEED to get on planning my travels. I'm going to Madrid with friends next weekend and I really want to go to the Canary Islands for Carnaval, Valencia for the bonfire festival, Sevilla for holy week, and maybe tour Granada, Jaen, and Cordoba during Spring Break... let's see how much of this actually happens...
