This past weekend was one of the most fun that I've had so far here. Friday we all hopped on another bus and did a guided tour of Madrid. It was pretty much everything that I had already seen before but we were all together so that wss fun. We went through Palacio Real, which I did in high school, but this time my art professor guided us through and gave us an extremely detailed explanation of every room, which was nice for like, the first 4 rooms. As usual, we were running behind (remember concept of time differences) and we knew we had to catch a bus to San Sebastián that left at 4. Lunch was at the Museum of Ham (a semi-chain restaurant around Madrid). We basically ate and ran, as some of the metro line workers were on strike and we weren't sure how long it would take us to get to the station we needed. Luckily all of our lines were running, and so were we to try to get there on time. At this point, I've pretty much figured out the metro in terms of getting where I need to go. The bus stations are always different though and we seem to make friends each time. This time we met a group of Canadians backpacking and they were also on our bus, which, after we ran to catch, left late. The bus ride is through a lot of mountains and we went through what I think is the longest tunnel I've ever seen.
Once we go to San Sebastián, we realized that 1. it was getting dark (it was around 10:15pm) and 2. we really had no idea how to get to our hostel. Have no fear though, Rick Steves came to save us. My friends make fun of my book but I knew which bus to take to get us there and a lovely grandma on the bus showed us which stop was ours. Then came the best first experience of all: the hostel. Of course, none of us had ever stayed in one and had NO idea what to expect, especially since we knew there'd be 3 other people in our room. We found our street and followed some people into the hostel. We got to meet some neat people in the hostel. One girl in our room was from England, her mom was from NYC and she had two siblings living there, she went to St. Andrews in Scotland and was working on organic farms in Spain all summer. Our other people that came and went were from Australia and the guy had already run once in the Running of the Bulls. I think we got used to hostel life, although it was definitely daunting at first. I definitely laughed a lot at just how awkward and funny the whole thing can be.
Saturday was a lot of fun. We got up semi early and headed toward the beach. On the way, we found an awesome pastry shop and all got things to eat. We sat in a park and enjoyed our breakfast. Then we were beach bound. There is a really nice walkway that runs for 2 miles and connects two of the beaches. First, we went to La Concha, which is the main beach. It was still early and the water was absolutely ice cold so we didn't spend much time in the water. The people watching, however, was fantastic. Since we were so close to France, there were a lot of people speaking French as well as Euskari, which is the language spoken in Basque Country. As far as the beach goes, it was beautiful. People there are not shy about what they wear, I definitely saw at least 6 grandmas in bikinis and even more topless, just not abnormal here. After spending a little time on the beach, we walked the entire paseo down to where the funicular was. The funicular is a lot like the inclines in Pittsburgh. We took it to the top of Monte Igueldo, where there were some awesome views. After that, we went and had lunch right along the beach. After that, more beach time and at that point it was hot enough outside that we wanted to get into the water, even though it was still pretty cold!
After beaching, we changed clothes and heading towards the cathedral. We didn't get to go in because there was a wedding going on, but the outside was very nice. I still think Toledo has the most beautiful one, but hey I'm biased. We did lots of looking but shopping was very expensive and we didn't really find anything. We walked around and explored that part of town and then headed over to a tapas bar to eat dinner, drink wine and watch the U.S. lose. After the tapas bar, we called it a night.
Sunday was a lot of walking. We got up and repeated our usual breakfast and then we walked Jourdan to the bus station (a nice 30 min walk) and left here there, as she was taking the 11am bus and ours wasn't until 3pm. Laura and I ended just walking a lot, which was nice. We went to some parks, walked along the river, went to see the other surfer beach which is on a different side of town and grabbed a baguette for lunch. We picked our bus because it gave us more time, but it turned out to be like the first class bus: leather seats, more space, free headphones with music, snack, drinks, and dinner. I was thoroughly enjoying channel 7 on the bus, which was like the love channel but mainly just played 70s and 80s music with a little early 90s. Getting home is always such a long process: bus to Madrid, metro to other bus station in Madrid, bus to Toledo, Bus to home. Luckily next week will be Italy and that is a plane ride so not as much bus time!
Classes are starting to kick into gear, I have a presentation and a paper due tomorrow! I keep forgetting that oh yeah it's school too.
: )
Emily
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Exercising in Spain...
Yesterday I had time to go home for lunch and since the bus came right as I got to the stop, I got home even earlier than I expected. I decided that I would go for a walk for about 30 or 45 minutes. Now, I've seen people running around our neighborhood so I know that SOME people do exercise regularly. I do think it is much less frequent than at home, but people here already walk more than we do. I told my sp mom that I was going on a walk and my sp sister immediately wanted to come with me. She's attached to her headphones so we both were walking and listening to our music. We went a way I had never been before but then we ended up loopng right back by our house. I asked her where we were turning next and she looked at me like I was certifiably crazy. She was like I'm going back to the house, I thought we were done. I would just like to say that it had been 7 minutes. I went on the rest of my walk and when I got back my sp dad was home eating lunch. He was saying that he saw how energetic I was when I was walking. All 3 members of my Spanish family think I walk very fast so it was kind of shocking to them that I'm one of the slowest walkers at home!So just a funny little cultural difference.
Tuesday we all stayed after for a dinner with native Spanish speakers as a way to meet people to do an intercamio or an exchange conversation partner. We didn't meet too many people and a bunch of us were pretty tired, so we didn't stick around late. The food was funny because it was hamburgers, but Spain is obsessed with ham and from what I could tell, it really was ham in the burger. I got home around 10:30 and no one else was home, which was really nice. I cranked up my music and cleaned my room some. When my sp parents got home, I showed them pictures of my family and friends in the US. They were pretty funny and my sp dad wanted to know when I was going to send them pictures of my family in Spain.
Yesterday was class, the exercise fiasco and more class. Football is definitely the way of life here. My teacher let anyone who just HAD to see the US game leave early without being faulted haha. When I got home, we were all going to a hotel where my sp dad, who knows and is "buen amigo" with everyone, is friends with the owner. We met up with Miguel and his son Tiago, but he also brought his wife Sonya (who is from Mozambique) and his mother-in-law Olympia who was visiting along with their two other kids Andrea and Maximo. Andrea is 3 but she has some sort of cerebral parlysis and cannot walk, talk or eat on her own. She does smile a ton though and she can make noises and cry. Max is only 2 months and absolutely adorable. We left to meet them around 7:30 for only a ratito (a little bit) but in Spanish fashion, we got home around 12:15 or so. It's kind of similar to being in South Africa, people just take their time more a it's just a relax sort of thing. Sonya and Olympia were very interesting to talk to, especially since Portugese is their native language and they have a very different accent. I also got to meet the owner, Pepe, who starting talking about political issues.
Class today so far has just been art and we went to visit what I guess we would call a tower? It was pretty neat and we got to see some other stuff that I hadn't seen before. I still have 3 classes left today and I'm already feeling tired! AH... But the weekend is upon us. There is a big festival going on right now in Poligono where a bunch of us live and we may go tonight and check it out. Tomorrow we go to Madrid with school but a large majority of us are using it as a free bus ride to Madrid and lunch. We are touring the palace, which I did in high school, but it will be fun anyway. After that about 6 of us are going to San Sebastian for a weekend. We are taking the bus out of Madrid, which could be somewhat of an adventure. San Sebastian is known for its beaches though and it's starting to get a lot hotter here so it should be a fun weekend!
Hasta Lunes,
Emily
Tuesday we all stayed after for a dinner with native Spanish speakers as a way to meet people to do an intercamio or an exchange conversation partner. We didn't meet too many people and a bunch of us were pretty tired, so we didn't stick around late. The food was funny because it was hamburgers, but Spain is obsessed with ham and from what I could tell, it really was ham in the burger. I got home around 10:30 and no one else was home, which was really nice. I cranked up my music and cleaned my room some. When my sp parents got home, I showed them pictures of my family and friends in the US. They were pretty funny and my sp dad wanted to know when I was going to send them pictures of my family in Spain.
Yesterday was class, the exercise fiasco and more class. Football is definitely the way of life here. My teacher let anyone who just HAD to see the US game leave early without being faulted haha. When I got home, we were all going to a hotel where my sp dad, who knows and is "buen amigo" with everyone, is friends with the owner. We met up with Miguel and his son Tiago, but he also brought his wife Sonya (who is from Mozambique) and his mother-in-law Olympia who was visiting along with their two other kids Andrea and Maximo. Andrea is 3 but she has some sort of cerebral parlysis and cannot walk, talk or eat on her own. She does smile a ton though and she can make noises and cry. Max is only 2 months and absolutely adorable. We left to meet them around 7:30 for only a ratito (a little bit) but in Spanish fashion, we got home around 12:15 or so. It's kind of similar to being in South Africa, people just take their time more a it's just a relax sort of thing. Sonya and Olympia were very interesting to talk to, especially since Portugese is their native language and they have a very different accent. I also got to meet the owner, Pepe, who starting talking about political issues.
Class today so far has just been art and we went to visit what I guess we would call a tower? It was pretty neat and we got to see some other stuff that I hadn't seen before. I still have 3 classes left today and I'm already feeling tired! AH... But the weekend is upon us. There is a big festival going on right now in Poligono where a bunch of us live and we may go tonight and check it out. Tomorrow we go to Madrid with school but a large majority of us are using it as a free bus ride to Madrid and lunch. We are touring the palace, which I did in high school, but it will be fun anyway. After that about 6 of us are going to San Sebastian for a weekend. We are taking the bus out of Madrid, which could be somewhat of an adventure. San Sebastian is known for its beaches though and it's starting to get a lot hotter here so it should be a fun weekend!
Hasta Lunes,
Emily
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Mezquita Cristo de la Luz and Football
Today in art class we went to visit a pretty neat place, a mosque in town. The walk is uphill (as they all are in Toledo somehow...back in the olden days it really was uphill both ways). The mosque was a secondary one to the original large one. The large one was torn down in the 11th century when the Christians took over Toledo and expelled the Muslims. The large cathedral now lies where it used to be, go figure. This mosque was much smaller but it was interesting because it was converted to a church after the Christian takeover. Half of the mezquita is where the Muslims would come to gather and pray. The other part was added on later when the Christians came. It is definitely not something that we would find to be that common, but here in Toledo there is such a mix of religion in its history that it isn't that uncommon to the people here. Another neat thing is that under the mosque there was a huge cave dug out where the Romans practiced their religious ceremonies before the Muslims. So in one place there have been three different kinds of religions, pretty cool. Plus there was an awesome view of part of Toledo.
Of course, also, the World Cup is huge here right now. Last night I watched it with my Spanish sister and grandma, which was entertaining. Whenever there is a goal, fireworks go off in our town which makes it all the more fun. Everyone was also decked out in red yesterday.
Well that's all I have for now.
Un beso,
Emily
Of course, also, the World Cup is huge here right now. Last night I watched it with my Spanish sister and grandma, which was entertaining. Whenever there is a goal, fireworks go off in our town which makes it all the more fun. Everyone was also decked out in red yesterday.
Well that's all I have for now.
Un beso,
Emily
Monday, June 21, 2010
First Weekend in Toledo
Well, it has been almost a week that I have been here, hard to believe! Sometimes it feels like I've been here about 12 seconds and other times for much longer.
Friday we went on a tour of Toledo. I was spoiled though and my spanish dad (sp dad from now on) took me for churros and chocolate first, which I love. Chocolate is like hot chocolate only much thicker, like they just melted a chocolate bar down and poured it in a glass. Then he drove me to school, which he has been doing and it is so awesome because it gives me about 20 more minutes in the morning. The tour of Toledo was really cool, we started on the bus and went around the entire border of the city, where you can get really good shots. The best views of Toledo are from the bottom outside of the walls of the city but its hard to get it and I never want to try on the bus, because its too hard. After we did the bus tour, we did the walking part. We went to more of the main spots, like the Cathedral. We also went past the building where the Jesuits used to live before they got kicked out of Spain for being too rebellious (go figure...) I asked the guide and he explained to me how to get to the convent where the Jesuits live now so one day I'll have to go explore and try to find that. After the tour a group of us went to the main plaza in Toledo and enjoyed a nice pitcher of Sangria. After that, I went home to my sp mom for lunch. Friday was a rough day, I started feeling sick and then took a nap. My sp mom has now switched me off tap water and on to bottled water.
After I woke up, I felt better so we went to find where my friend Liz (who goes to OSU and lives in Cleveland) lives. My sp mom is the classic spaniard...at one point when we were walking with the dog she was wearing high wedges, holding the dog and smoking a cigarette, the normal spanish walk. It took awhile but we did find where Liz lives and she actually came out with us. We went to the main street in Poligono to the bar my sp dad love to go to watch futbol, Il Gatto Mafioso (which is, ironically, italian). We met up with my sp dad and his friend Miguel,the police chief. Miguel is awesome, he knows a lot about the US, and he also always makes sure that I understand everything that is going on and he explains a lot of things to me and Liz. Ya-Ya, my spanish grandma met us there also. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday I got to sleep in, which was absolutely wonderful. My sp mom and I went to the mercadillo, which is the market in Poligono. On the way, we met up with some of the people I knew, so I went with them. The market wasn't very big, just your basic flea market. After that, it was time for lunch. We all met again after lunch to tae the bus to the mall. I did, of course, buy shoes at the mall. Taking the bus is always an adventure. We know where to get off, but the stops to get on are usually in a different place so it's kind of a guessing game to figure out where they will pick up. At one point by the mall we were like walking through what looked like a mini desert. We did find our way back and I went to Liz's house to meet her sp mom (I've already met her sp dad in town) and see where she lives. She also has internet!! We booked tickets to go to ROMA in 2 weekends, so while all of you are celebrating the 4th of July, we will be celebrating pasta.
That night I got do something realllly cool, we went on a night walk of Toledo. My sp dad is the vice president of something relating to the futbol club Madrid Atletico. Whether it is a fan club or a group of people that used to play or a mixture, I haven't been able to figure that out. It was all people from this group and they do it every year. It starts at 10 right as the sun is going down. I got to meet a lot of people who were all very nice. This tour was by far the best. I didn't take any pictures though because it was nighttime and the tour was moving very fast since everyone else was from Toledo. We went to the Jewish neighborhood (which is no longer so, but was exclusively for Jews only back in the day). We went down pozos, which are like wells and caves for purifying before praying for both Muslims and Jews. We also went by a lot of buildings where the guide told some awesome stories. There was one building that an archbishop built for women that didn't want to get married young but also didn't want to become nuns. The famous story with him is that he used to be extremely poor and homeless. When he was younger, he went to a shoemaker and said he'd never had a pair of shoes and would like one. The shoemaker took all of his measurements and said to return the week later to get the shoes. So a week later, the man returns to get his shoes. He tries them on and gets so happy because they fit so well. The only problem of course is when the shoemaker tells him how much they cost THe man realizes this could be trouble and says "I forgot to tell you, I can't afford to buy these shoes." The shoemaker says, no problem just bring back money when you have it. Flash forward many years and a person comes in and says to the shoemaker--the archbishop is coming! Of course the shoemaker is thinking oh no what have I done. THe archbishop enters, and sets down a bag of gold on the table. He says thanks to the shoemaker and leaves. The shoemaker opens the bag of gold and realizes its that man from years ago and he has paid it back, with interest. And there in lies the story. After that, we went to get drinks (I have a lemonade that I'm semi-addicted to). I had to laugh when Party in the USA came on in the bar and no one was there to appreciate it.
Sunday a friend and I went to Madrid for the day. Its a very short bus ride, a great one to sleep on in fact. Once we got tehere, we went to el rastro which is a huge open air flea market, and I mean HUGE. We wandered around there for awhile and actually saw people from our school, go figure. Then we went to the PLaza Mayor and had sangria and lunch. MY friend Ian from Xavier met up with us there and it was so nice to see him, plus he was our own personal tour guide to Madrid. We went to the cathedral, the palace and theatre and then we walked across town to the park, buen retiro. After that we tried to go to El Prado because it was free but the line was wayyyy too long so we headed home. That night of course we went to Il Gatto Mafioso.
Today has been just class. All I have today is Phonetics and that class seems like it will be really fun. I like a lot of the people in the class and the professor seems really cool, plus we have no homework outside of class. We are going to wander the city this afternoon and plan for our weekend.
Abrazos,
Emily
Friday we went on a tour of Toledo. I was spoiled though and my spanish dad (sp dad from now on) took me for churros and chocolate first, which I love. Chocolate is like hot chocolate only much thicker, like they just melted a chocolate bar down and poured it in a glass. Then he drove me to school, which he has been doing and it is so awesome because it gives me about 20 more minutes in the morning. The tour of Toledo was really cool, we started on the bus and went around the entire border of the city, where you can get really good shots. The best views of Toledo are from the bottom outside of the walls of the city but its hard to get it and I never want to try on the bus, because its too hard. After we did the bus tour, we did the walking part. We went to more of the main spots, like the Cathedral. We also went past the building where the Jesuits used to live before they got kicked out of Spain for being too rebellious (go figure...) I asked the guide and he explained to me how to get to the convent where the Jesuits live now so one day I'll have to go explore and try to find that. After the tour a group of us went to the main plaza in Toledo and enjoyed a nice pitcher of Sangria. After that, I went home to my sp mom for lunch. Friday was a rough day, I started feeling sick and then took a nap. My sp mom has now switched me off tap water and on to bottled water.
After I woke up, I felt better so we went to find where my friend Liz (who goes to OSU and lives in Cleveland) lives. My sp mom is the classic spaniard...at one point when we were walking with the dog she was wearing high wedges, holding the dog and smoking a cigarette, the normal spanish walk. It took awhile but we did find where Liz lives and she actually came out with us. We went to the main street in Poligono to the bar my sp dad love to go to watch futbol, Il Gatto Mafioso (which is, ironically, italian). We met up with my sp dad and his friend Miguel,the police chief. Miguel is awesome, he knows a lot about the US, and he also always makes sure that I understand everything that is going on and he explains a lot of things to me and Liz. Ya-Ya, my spanish grandma met us there also. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday I got to sleep in, which was absolutely wonderful. My sp mom and I went to the mercadillo, which is the market in Poligono. On the way, we met up with some of the people I knew, so I went with them. The market wasn't very big, just your basic flea market. After that, it was time for lunch. We all met again after lunch to tae the bus to the mall. I did, of course, buy shoes at the mall. Taking the bus is always an adventure. We know where to get off, but the stops to get on are usually in a different place so it's kind of a guessing game to figure out where they will pick up. At one point by the mall we were like walking through what looked like a mini desert. We did find our way back and I went to Liz's house to meet her sp mom (I've already met her sp dad in town) and see where she lives. She also has internet!! We booked tickets to go to ROMA in 2 weekends, so while all of you are celebrating the 4th of July, we will be celebrating pasta.
That night I got do something realllly cool, we went on a night walk of Toledo. My sp dad is the vice president of something relating to the futbol club Madrid Atletico. Whether it is a fan club or a group of people that used to play or a mixture, I haven't been able to figure that out. It was all people from this group and they do it every year. It starts at 10 right as the sun is going down. I got to meet a lot of people who were all very nice. This tour was by far the best. I didn't take any pictures though because it was nighttime and the tour was moving very fast since everyone else was from Toledo. We went to the Jewish neighborhood (which is no longer so, but was exclusively for Jews only back in the day). We went down pozos, which are like wells and caves for purifying before praying for both Muslims and Jews. We also went by a lot of buildings where the guide told some awesome stories. There was one building that an archbishop built for women that didn't want to get married young but also didn't want to become nuns. The famous story with him is that he used to be extremely poor and homeless. When he was younger, he went to a shoemaker and said he'd never had a pair of shoes and would like one. The shoemaker took all of his measurements and said to return the week later to get the shoes. So a week later, the man returns to get his shoes. He tries them on and gets so happy because they fit so well. The only problem of course is when the shoemaker tells him how much they cost THe man realizes this could be trouble and says "I forgot to tell you, I can't afford to buy these shoes." The shoemaker says, no problem just bring back money when you have it. Flash forward many years and a person comes in and says to the shoemaker--the archbishop is coming! Of course the shoemaker is thinking oh no what have I done. THe archbishop enters, and sets down a bag of gold on the table. He says thanks to the shoemaker and leaves. The shoemaker opens the bag of gold and realizes its that man from years ago and he has paid it back, with interest. And there in lies the story. After that, we went to get drinks (I have a lemonade that I'm semi-addicted to). I had to laugh when Party in the USA came on in the bar and no one was there to appreciate it.
Sunday a friend and I went to Madrid for the day. Its a very short bus ride, a great one to sleep on in fact. Once we got tehere, we went to el rastro which is a huge open air flea market, and I mean HUGE. We wandered around there for awhile and actually saw people from our school, go figure. Then we went to the PLaza Mayor and had sangria and lunch. MY friend Ian from Xavier met up with us there and it was so nice to see him, plus he was our own personal tour guide to Madrid. We went to the cathedral, the palace and theatre and then we walked across town to the park, buen retiro. After that we tried to go to El Prado because it was free but the line was wayyyy too long so we headed home. That night of course we went to Il Gatto Mafioso.
Today has been just class. All I have today is Phonetics and that class seems like it will be really fun. I like a lot of the people in the class and the professor seems really cool, plus we have no homework outside of class. We are going to wander the city this afternoon and plan for our weekend.
Abrazos,
Emily
Thursday, June 17, 2010
First Day of Classes!
Today was the fun day that classes began!So far I have had 2 of my 3 classes. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have 4 class sessions (each class for an hour and 15 minutes, each in the morning and the afternoon). So far I have had 3 of the 4 sessions and my next starts at 6:20 pm so in about 30 minutes or so. The classes seem like they will be very interesting. One class is Muslim, Christin & Jewish Art. Every morning we will be going out to a different place in Toledo to look at the art. Then in the afternoon class we will talk about it and do all of the history behind it, etc. My other class today is The art of reading literary texts. The professor is pretty funny and we will be reading all contemporary material so that will be a nice change of pace for me!
Yesterday we had our welcome party which was a lot of food (it all looked better than it tasted) and then some singers and guitar players came and performed for us. It was pretty funny, they kept corning people to dance. Then I had the adventure of taking the bus home for the first time at night. It wasn]t supposed to be dark (the sun doesn't even start going down here until maybe around 9:30) but it got dark quicker than I thought it would. My stop is one of the last, but normally we come around a traffic circle and that's where I press the button to stop. This time we came a different way and I had to quick press the button and the bus had to screech to a stop. My house parents thought this was hilarious of course when I told them. At least I made it home!
Today I had the happy surprise when my house dad told me he was going to take me to school. On the way he pointed out more things and history of Toledo--their train station is one of the oldest in the country. I also got to basically eat a cake for breakfast...its a spongecake with chocolate in the middle. Rough life, I know.
Today has also been the day we are trying to figure out plans for the weekend. We have a walking tour tomorrow of the city in the morning. The plan is probably to take a trip to Sevilla, but plans change so who knows!
Adios,
Emily
Yesterday we had our welcome party which was a lot of food (it all looked better than it tasted) and then some singers and guitar players came and performed for us. It was pretty funny, they kept corning people to dance. Then I had the adventure of taking the bus home for the first time at night. It wasn]t supposed to be dark (the sun doesn't even start going down here until maybe around 9:30) but it got dark quicker than I thought it would. My stop is one of the last, but normally we come around a traffic circle and that's where I press the button to stop. This time we came a different way and I had to quick press the button and the bus had to screech to a stop. My house parents thought this was hilarious of course when I told them. At least I made it home!
Today I had the happy surprise when my house dad told me he was going to take me to school. On the way he pointed out more things and history of Toledo--their train station is one of the oldest in the country. I also got to basically eat a cake for breakfast...its a spongecake with chocolate in the middle. Rough life, I know.
Today has also been the day we are trying to figure out plans for the weekend. We have a walking tour tomorrow of the city in the morning. The plan is probably to take a trip to Sevilla, but plans change so who knows!
Adios,
Emily
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Arrival and Transitions...
Well,it has definitely been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday (or Monday I guess) I left for Madrid. The plane ride was pretty uneventful, except for the fun fact that the guy that I sat next to was from OSU and his father was the pilot of the plane.
Once we got to Madrid, it was the entire process of getting suitcases, etc. The bus ride from Madrid to Toledo was about an hour, an hour and 15 minute with traffic. There are a bunch of people who know people that I know. Some have lived or worked in Allentown along the way or live in Ohio and have friends that go to Xavier. Most people are from OSU, University of Minnesota and Notre Dame with a ittle group of people from Purdue. A large chunk of people know each other from their home universities.
Toledo is beautiful. It is basically encased by what seems like a large fort. The school is tucked back in the city. Once we got there, those of us staying with families (a lot of people are staying at the school) met them. My family is very nice. The mother's name is Juani and the father is Luciano. He is a police officer in Toledo and she stays at home. She also watches her friends kids during the day. Her daughter is Claudia, she is 13. Her friend is Irene and her brother is Alex. They ar 13 and 8. They also have a dog named Sara and thought it was so great that my sister's name was the same as their dog. I have my own room in their apartment, which is in a large building in the suburbs of Toledo called Poligno. I have to take the bus to get to and from school, it is about a 30 minutes ride and then a 7-10 minute walk from the bus stop to the school. After I met my family I just went back to their hosue and got unpacked. I was exhausted so we mustly just hung out. They also showed me downtown Poligno and how to catch the bus, etc. They do everything on a later schedule. We ate lunch around 2;30 and dinner around 9:45 pm. That will definitely take some getting used to but I'm sure with time I'll adjust to it.
Today was the first day I had to catch the bus by myself. I found someone that actually goes to the school that lives in the same building as me, so tat was nice. We had a written test and then an oral interview to place us. Then we got our class schedules. I am taking Phonectics, Intro to Literary texts and an architecture class that will involve going different places in Toledo. Each class meets 4 times a week. For example, my phonetics class is 2 times on Monday and 2 times on Wednesday. The classes start tomorrow, so we'll have to see what they'll be like.
Tonight is our welcome party and final orientation meeting...then we get down to business.
It is certainly going to be an adjustment I kind of realized that I generally pack my life with things at school so I'm not really accustomed to all of this free time that I will have, even with 12 class meetings a week. As far as travel plans, I haven't made many yet, but since we have so much time off, there will definitely be some traveling. There is talk of Morocco and Portugal for sure. A lot of people here want to go to Pamplona for the running of the bulls and that requires dedication, as the only place to sleep is on the street or in a park.
i don't get internet at my house and my computer doesn't connect at school so I am having to be a little more creative when it comes to updating. I will put up pictures sometime but to be honest, I haven't really taken any.
I hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
Emily
Once we got to Madrid, it was the entire process of getting suitcases, etc. The bus ride from Madrid to Toledo was about an hour, an hour and 15 minute with traffic. There are a bunch of people who know people that I know. Some have lived or worked in Allentown along the way or live in Ohio and have friends that go to Xavier. Most people are from OSU, University of Minnesota and Notre Dame with a ittle group of people from Purdue. A large chunk of people know each other from their home universities.
Toledo is beautiful. It is basically encased by what seems like a large fort. The school is tucked back in the city. Once we got there, those of us staying with families (a lot of people are staying at the school) met them. My family is very nice. The mother's name is Juani and the father is Luciano. He is a police officer in Toledo and she stays at home. She also watches her friends kids during the day. Her daughter is Claudia, she is 13. Her friend is Irene and her brother is Alex. They ar 13 and 8. They also have a dog named Sara and thought it was so great that my sister's name was the same as their dog. I have my own room in their apartment, which is in a large building in the suburbs of Toledo called Poligno. I have to take the bus to get to and from school, it is about a 30 minutes ride and then a 7-10 minute walk from the bus stop to the school. After I met my family I just went back to their hosue and got unpacked. I was exhausted so we mustly just hung out. They also showed me downtown Poligno and how to catch the bus, etc. They do everything on a later schedule. We ate lunch around 2;30 and dinner around 9:45 pm. That will definitely take some getting used to but I'm sure with time I'll adjust to it.
Today was the first day I had to catch the bus by myself. I found someone that actually goes to the school that lives in the same building as me, so tat was nice. We had a written test and then an oral interview to place us. Then we got our class schedules. I am taking Phonectics, Intro to Literary texts and an architecture class that will involve going different places in Toledo. Each class meets 4 times a week. For example, my phonetics class is 2 times on Monday and 2 times on Wednesday. The classes start tomorrow, so we'll have to see what they'll be like.
Tonight is our welcome party and final orientation meeting...then we get down to business.
It is certainly going to be an adjustment I kind of realized that I generally pack my life with things at school so I'm not really accustomed to all of this free time that I will have, even with 12 class meetings a week. As far as travel plans, I haven't made many yet, but since we have so much time off, there will definitely be some traveling. There is talk of Morocco and Portugal for sure. A lot of people here want to go to Pamplona for the running of the bulls and that requires dedication, as the only place to sleep is on the street or in a park.
i don't get internet at my house and my computer doesn't connect at school so I am having to be a little more creative when it comes to updating. I will put up pictures sometime but to be honest, I haven't really taken any.
I hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
Emily
Friday, June 4, 2010
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