¡Hola!
I'm still absolutely in looove with this country, their different lifestyle,and my friends here...and my spanish is already better!!
First of all...classes started. woo. One of them is annoying and the other is pretty cool. One is basically the next step in grammar classes...but realllly sped up...and it's at 9:30 in the morning...booooo. It's called advanced grammar...but it will be good for my speaking, and for speaking properly-plus the teacher looks like Penelope Cruz. The other class is called Representations of Spanish culture in the Media. It's awesome. The teacher is the coolest guy ever and our homework is to basically read the newspaper and write in a blog in a newspaper style. He also talks to us like we're idiots...but not in the condescending way...if that makes sense.
I signed up for an intercambio con un estudiante de la universidad Aútonoma-His name is Milán..not sure if I talked about him before but he's so intelligent and luckily knows some English. It'll be good for both of us because we can switch back and forth when we need to. He's so freakin smart-he knows 4 languages, plays the guitar like Santana, and seems to everything there is to know about history, art, culture, and Spain in general. Shelbs and I got tapas with him and his friend Carlos (who doesn't speak english well) last night at this cool hole in the wall place "El escondito" in La Latina. Shelby and I got some real Spanish tapas y cañas with some actual madrileños...good day. He also lives directly in Plaza Mayor so that was awesome to see an actual Spanish home in a place like La Plaza Mayor. Two other girls from our program met up with us there and we all watched a scary Spanish movie...called "Tetis"...or whatever "thesis" is in Spanish...it was so '90s and I of course freaked out the entire time because scary movies and I simply will never get along...even if I don't understand half of the words lol.
I'm pretty stoked that I'm actually making a strong attempt to integrate into the culture here...it's awesome. I'm finding myself wanting to hang out with Spaniards (and Shelby of course) more than everyone else. We'll see what happens! Hopefully my Spanish competence goal will be reached :), in the meantime I'm meeting great people, drinking awesome red wine, and learning as much as I can in the time I have here!
viernes, 11 de junio de 2010
sábado, 5 de junio de 2010
¡¡HOLLLAAAAA!!
¡Biénvenidos a mi vida en la Red!
So I've been here for three days...and it's already been a serious whirlwind. I really apologize for all word repeats, grammar mistakes, etc...I am absolutely EXHAUSTED therefore I'm going to post this without reading it over...oops. Spain is kicking my ass in the best way possible..but I don't really have time to do an extensive post nor do I have the energy...which I will regret later-I recognize that...bah.
In these past couple of days days I've learned so much, came to a couple revelations, and made some fantastic friends...but this by no means is going to be an easy 3 months. I can already tell how much different life is here than it is at home-and the language barrier is going to be a big issue.
I'm pretty sure I learned more Spanish in the past three days than I have in my ENTIRE life. It's both awesome and extremely difficult because literally NO ONE in Madrid speaks English. I didn't really expect that-but I have yet to run into a Spaniard that knows more than five English words. My reaction at first was "...fuuuucckkkk..." (sorry mom/dad) but life is already getting easier. We were all placed in different language groups and I got placed in an advanced group...meaning pretty much all the information I will be delivered will be in Spanish. For instance, we went to La Plaza Mayor ayer y tocaba una lectura todamente en español. But I'll talk about that later...I think I'll go day by day.
SO!
Antes de la paisaje
I was dying of nervousness. I was worried about pretty much every aspect of Madrid and the prospect of living in a country where the standard language is not English. I also hate saying good bye...so it was difficult for me to accept that I'm not probably going to see my family and friends from home until winter...I now feel like a guest in my own home. It's weird...but I do like being on my own, and I really think this experience abroad will force me to grow up a lot-I was an excited/scared combo. I wish I had blogged sooner because I can't remember everything that was going through my head-all I know is that it made me sick, unable to sleep, and unable to focus on anything. I guess you could call that a royal freak-out. I just needed to get to Madrid.
Día numero uno
After about 5 hours to Newark, 5 hours waiting in the airport (and meeting up with Shelby), and 8 hours to Madrid. After being forced to check my backpack, my TV not working, befriending the awesome German couple sitting next to me, and a faulty sleeping pill....I finally made it to Madrid. I was pretty underwhelmed upon landing because the airport is in a kind of random region of Madrid....and I was pretty convinced that I made a terrible choice haha. However, once Shelby and I had our first cup of Spanish coffee...which is EVERYTHING coffee should taste like....I knew I was in the right place. Our coffee addiction already started within five minutes of landing, and I'm proud to announce it is still in full force.
We meet up with our NYU peeps-and made friends with people I already feel like I've known my entire life. It's weird and awesome when that happens, but I couldn't be happier.
We were set up with our transportation dealio to get to our homestay...and trying to finagle with our luggage and meet Maribel Aguado. I walked into her small, unassuming home and everything I expected her to be came to life. She is a shorter, pudgy woman, who doesn't speak a word of English. She wore bright colors and a warm, caring smile. She immediately demanded to help us upon entry, and gave us our house keys. Maribel chattered away and I did my best to keep up with the Spanish lisp that is so different from the Mexican accent I'm use to. Thank god for Shelby and her Spanish major..that's all I have to say. She showed us our room, our accommodations, and immediately fed us. I already loved her and it had been three minutes. Her house is small, as are the rooms, but it already felt like home.
We met our other house-mate, Ian, who was having family problems and would sadly have to leave the next day. Ian was hilarious because he didn't speak a single word of Spanish, and all of his conversations with Maribel had to be through Shelby y yo. He didn't think it was funny at all but we loved it. It was sad that Ian had to go, I think Madrid would have been good for him, and living with two girls would've been good for him too. I want to describe Ian more but I feel like that would be weird...so I'll stop there...
Later we went on a basic tour of our portion of the city, and went to get cell phones. I met more friends, the ones I feel like I've known forever, and we all got cell phones. Our shitty phones make the same noises, are the same color, and have the same contacts, so it became literally impossible for us to determine who's is who's. We're all way to cheap to text each other too because it's so effing expensive to do it....so if you want to talk to me you should probably call me...lol
After getting phones we just explored Madrid and probably acted like typical asshole Americans....I realized that during orientation the next day. We're also paranoid of getting pickpocketed and the boys (Ben, Dan) have decided they are going to undergo "pick pocket training" and join the "pick pocket guild" in order to counteract getting pick-pocketed...by pick pocketing.
Those boys have literally made me pee my pants laughing the past three days...they're just total nerdy fools from NYU and I'm obsessed. They're the kind of people who walk in the room and lighten the mood with jokes, smiles, and just by being laid back humans...they also haven't slept in the past three days because they've partied so much. Last night (as in the 2nd night in Madrid) Shelb and I left at like 4 am....and they went to a discoteca right after we left and had the most insane night of their lives....I'm excited to see how they affect me over the course of this trip...I hope they help me let go a little...I need that.
Anyway...the night was fab. we ate "artichokes attacked by ham"..I'll figure out how to post pictures later....drank too much because no food places were open until 9...so all we could do was have disgustingly awesome fancy drinks...and had a wonderful time.
I love how social and relaxed Madrid is...I'm excited to see what kinds of changes I undergo while being in this kind of atmosphere. I'll outline the spaniard schedule one day...it's unreal how relaxed it is.
Día Numero Dos
lo siento...I know I said I didn't want to write so much...but it's weird how what I write here (even though it is so much)...it barely touches the surface of what I've already learned.
Day two was FUCKING insane. I absolutely died after the jam packed day we had...and I really wish I had siesta-ed....i bet that would've helped me from all the pain I felt today baha.
Orientation was good for several reasons
1) I learned how not to be an obnoxious American
2) I learned how NYU works
3) I learned that I suck at Spanish
4) I learned how to get around Spain
5) Spainsh Culture
6) Paella
7) NYU is a legit school with legit people...contrary to my former beliefs
8) I had a total mental breakthrough and felt extremely inspired for several reasons I will explain in a bit
9) ....I learned how to party like a Spaniard...?
disclaimer: not kidding. A man came in and lectured on how to party, where to party, and who to party with...and then he handed out flyers. Yes, the teachers were okay with this and watched and nodded their heads while he presented his information. Drinking is encouraged. A wine tasting is happening next week. I wish I could explain the hilarity and intensity of this out of body experience I had, but it is simply not possible.
Anyway, back to 7)
I REALLY WANT TO BE FLUENT AT SPANISH. Once again, I wish I wrote in here yesterday because I literally had a complete mental turn around and completely changed my life philosophy based on the things the professors said yesterday, and based on situations after I left orientation.
Language is not only the key to knowing it is the key to understanding...while I've always been told this I feel I never quite understood it until yesterday. I have always loved culture but always felt a certain blockage in terms of understanding it...and this is because you can't fully immerse yourself in a foreign culture unless you have something in common with those whom you are speaking with. I don't even know if I have anything in common with these Spaniards because I can't even get a fucking word out. Moral of the story: The #1 way to have something in common with someone is to share a language with that person. I was far more philosophical about this yesterday and talked about it in depth with both Shelby and myself (yeah, I'm insane...it's cool)..but that's the condensed version. I want to be immersed in this culture. I want to be able to hang out with locals here, learn from them the way they want to be heard. Things are literally lost in translation...verbs don't translate exactly, phrases are different once taken from spanish and turned into English. I want the key to comprehension of this life, this culture, this being that I will never have unless I am able to speak and understand what they are saying fully. In short, I need to learn how to think in Spanish.
I was originally enrolled in the Prado Museum in English and Advanced Grammar and Composition...I switched to the Prado Museum in Spanish and Spanish Theatre (in Spanish). I'm also going to enroll in a speaking session with una joven que estudia en la universidad de Madrid once a week. I want to read a novel in Spanish (that may or may not happen...the last time I tired that I ended up looking up every other word). I also want to speak with a tutor once a week because I REALLY suck at speaking Spanish...I can understand 70 times (no exaggeration) more than I can speak Spanish.
After orientation yo voy a la Plaza de Real y los lugares que están cerca to it. I had the teacher (who taught us everything about the area entirely in Spanish) write down all the places we went because I want to go back so many times. This trip solidified that I was in Madrid, and that Madrid is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I wish I was here longer than six weeks. Don't look ahead Lexi...don't look ahead. I would write more about this but I just don't want to right now.
We went to bars this night and had to get up at 8 am...i def went to bed at 4 am...failfailfail...but totally worth it. Had the best heart to hearts and overall just had the best time I've had in a really long time. I'm so happy.
I'm also suppose to stay up all night tonight...this should be interesting.I may not be happy tomorrow so enjoy it while it lasts.
Tres
Hoy en día yo voy a Segovia, el primer ciudad de España. In history, Madrid is nothing compared to Segovia, in fact Madrid is only around to protect Segovia and to mitigate the constant skirmishes between the jews, musulmanes, and catolicós.
In short, I have never learned more about history in general than I did today. I've decided that I am simply not built for the classroom...I need to see and do. Took me long enough to understand that.
Segovia, simply put, is the most beautiful and interesting place I have ever been. I simply cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. The professor who toured us today is the best teacher I have ever had, and it's sad that he isn't teaching a course in Segovia. He is one of those people who is funny without trying and is honestly interested in your learning about a subject. He switched between English and Spanish but I understood so much more about european history than I ever had before. I really should've taken that damn class senior year...I'm an idiot. Can't change that now, but I can soak in as much as possible...and I'm definitely going to pick this guy's brain and I don't care if he isn't teaching for NYU this summer. Pictures regarding Segovia will be posted. I saw every kind of architecture and what I really liked is how the clashes between the jews, muslims, and catholics caused them to influence eachother's styles of architecture. In addition, it was interesting to see how the city transitioned. There was a synogague turned catholic church...due to the expulsion of the jews. 7/11 and 1492 are extremely important dates for a lot of reasons. I saw an extremely old aqueduct from the Roman ages, and churches from this era...all the way to estilos del siglo XX. I have never wanted to listen to what someone had to say about history more in my life. Really cheesy to say....but it was liberating. I could say so much more but I'll let my pics do the talking. I was really excited to get back into photography today...sadly it was kind of a bust...I'm hoping I'll remember what I'm doing as my adventures here continue. I was so happy to be doing photo again though...I didn't realize how much I've missed it.
I'm suppose to go to some 7 story club tonight...apparently it's the craziest thing I'll ever do...def whipping out the lady gaga dress. I also bought some awesome euro-trash shoes. Hell yes. It's 11 and I haven't even started getting ready...these people don't go out until one. Son locos.
In conclusion,
Spain is my jam. Miss you all.
More to come later...
besos xx,
Lexi
PS thanks Kassy for the title!
So I've been here for three days...and it's already been a serious whirlwind. I really apologize for all word repeats, grammar mistakes, etc...I am absolutely EXHAUSTED therefore I'm going to post this without reading it over...oops. Spain is kicking my ass in the best way possible..but I don't really have time to do an extensive post nor do I have the energy...which I will regret later-I recognize that...bah.
In these past couple of days days I've learned so much, came to a couple revelations, and made some fantastic friends...but this by no means is going to be an easy 3 months. I can already tell how much different life is here than it is at home-and the language barrier is going to be a big issue.
I'm pretty sure I learned more Spanish in the past three days than I have in my ENTIRE life. It's both awesome and extremely difficult because literally NO ONE in Madrid speaks English. I didn't really expect that-but I have yet to run into a Spaniard that knows more than five English words. My reaction at first was "...fuuuucckkkk..." (sorry mom/dad) but life is already getting easier. We were all placed in different language groups and I got placed in an advanced group...meaning pretty much all the information I will be delivered will be in Spanish. For instance, we went to La Plaza Mayor ayer y tocaba una lectura todamente en español. But I'll talk about that later...I think I'll go day by day.
SO!
Antes de la paisaje
I was dying of nervousness. I was worried about pretty much every aspect of Madrid and the prospect of living in a country where the standard language is not English. I also hate saying good bye...so it was difficult for me to accept that I'm not probably going to see my family and friends from home until winter...I now feel like a guest in my own home. It's weird...but I do like being on my own, and I really think this experience abroad will force me to grow up a lot-I was an excited/scared combo. I wish I had blogged sooner because I can't remember everything that was going through my head-all I know is that it made me sick, unable to sleep, and unable to focus on anything. I guess you could call that a royal freak-out. I just needed to get to Madrid.
Día numero uno
After about 5 hours to Newark, 5 hours waiting in the airport (and meeting up with Shelby), and 8 hours to Madrid. After being forced to check my backpack, my TV not working, befriending the awesome German couple sitting next to me, and a faulty sleeping pill....I finally made it to Madrid. I was pretty underwhelmed upon landing because the airport is in a kind of random region of Madrid....and I was pretty convinced that I made a terrible choice haha. However, once Shelby and I had our first cup of Spanish coffee...which is EVERYTHING coffee should taste like....I knew I was in the right place. Our coffee addiction already started within five minutes of landing, and I'm proud to announce it is still in full force.
We meet up with our NYU peeps-and made friends with people I already feel like I've known my entire life. It's weird and awesome when that happens, but I couldn't be happier.
We were set up with our transportation dealio to get to our homestay...and trying to finagle with our luggage and meet Maribel Aguado. I walked into her small, unassuming home and everything I expected her to be came to life. She is a shorter, pudgy woman, who doesn't speak a word of English. She wore bright colors and a warm, caring smile. She immediately demanded to help us upon entry, and gave us our house keys. Maribel chattered away and I did my best to keep up with the Spanish lisp that is so different from the Mexican accent I'm use to. Thank god for Shelby and her Spanish major..that's all I have to say. She showed us our room, our accommodations, and immediately fed us. I already loved her and it had been three minutes. Her house is small, as are the rooms, but it already felt like home.
We met our other house-mate, Ian, who was having family problems and would sadly have to leave the next day. Ian was hilarious because he didn't speak a single word of Spanish, and all of his conversations with Maribel had to be through Shelby y yo. He didn't think it was funny at all but we loved it. It was sad that Ian had to go, I think Madrid would have been good for him, and living with two girls would've been good for him too. I want to describe Ian more but I feel like that would be weird...so I'll stop there...
Later we went on a basic tour of our portion of the city, and went to get cell phones. I met more friends, the ones I feel like I've known forever, and we all got cell phones. Our shitty phones make the same noises, are the same color, and have the same contacts, so it became literally impossible for us to determine who's is who's. We're all way to cheap to text each other too because it's so effing expensive to do it....so if you want to talk to me you should probably call me...lol
After getting phones we just explored Madrid and probably acted like typical asshole Americans....I realized that during orientation the next day. We're also paranoid of getting pickpocketed and the boys (Ben, Dan) have decided they are going to undergo "pick pocket training" and join the "pick pocket guild" in order to counteract getting pick-pocketed...by pick pocketing.
Those boys have literally made me pee my pants laughing the past three days...they're just total nerdy fools from NYU and I'm obsessed. They're the kind of people who walk in the room and lighten the mood with jokes, smiles, and just by being laid back humans...they also haven't slept in the past three days because they've partied so much. Last night (as in the 2nd night in Madrid) Shelb and I left at like 4 am....and they went to a discoteca right after we left and had the most insane night of their lives....I'm excited to see how they affect me over the course of this trip...I hope they help me let go a little...I need that.
Anyway...the night was fab. we ate "artichokes attacked by ham"..I'll figure out how to post pictures later....drank too much because no food places were open until 9...so all we could do was have disgustingly awesome fancy drinks...and had a wonderful time.
I love how social and relaxed Madrid is...I'm excited to see what kinds of changes I undergo while being in this kind of atmosphere. I'll outline the spaniard schedule one day...it's unreal how relaxed it is.
Día Numero Dos
lo siento...I know I said I didn't want to write so much...but it's weird how what I write here (even though it is so much)...it barely touches the surface of what I've already learned.
Day two was FUCKING insane. I absolutely died after the jam packed day we had...and I really wish I had siesta-ed....i bet that would've helped me from all the pain I felt today baha.
Orientation was good for several reasons
1) I learned how not to be an obnoxious American
2) I learned how NYU works
3) I learned that I suck at Spanish
4) I learned how to get around Spain
5) Spainsh Culture
6) Paella
7) NYU is a legit school with legit people...contrary to my former beliefs
8) I had a total mental breakthrough and felt extremely inspired for several reasons I will explain in a bit
9) ....I learned how to party like a Spaniard...?
disclaimer: not kidding. A man came in and lectured on how to party, where to party, and who to party with...and then he handed out flyers. Yes, the teachers were okay with this and watched and nodded their heads while he presented his information. Drinking is encouraged. A wine tasting is happening next week. I wish I could explain the hilarity and intensity of this out of body experience I had, but it is simply not possible.
Anyway, back to 7)
I REALLY WANT TO BE FLUENT AT SPANISH. Once again, I wish I wrote in here yesterday because I literally had a complete mental turn around and completely changed my life philosophy based on the things the professors said yesterday, and based on situations after I left orientation.
Language is not only the key to knowing it is the key to understanding...while I've always been told this I feel I never quite understood it until yesterday. I have always loved culture but always felt a certain blockage in terms of understanding it...and this is because you can't fully immerse yourself in a foreign culture unless you have something in common with those whom you are speaking with. I don't even know if I have anything in common with these Spaniards because I can't even get a fucking word out. Moral of the story: The #1 way to have something in common with someone is to share a language with that person. I was far more philosophical about this yesterday and talked about it in depth with both Shelby and myself (yeah, I'm insane...it's cool)..but that's the condensed version. I want to be immersed in this culture. I want to be able to hang out with locals here, learn from them the way they want to be heard. Things are literally lost in translation...verbs don't translate exactly, phrases are different once taken from spanish and turned into English. I want the key to comprehension of this life, this culture, this being that I will never have unless I am able to speak and understand what they are saying fully. In short, I need to learn how to think in Spanish.
I was originally enrolled in the Prado Museum in English and Advanced Grammar and Composition...I switched to the Prado Museum in Spanish and Spanish Theatre (in Spanish). I'm also going to enroll in a speaking session with una joven que estudia en la universidad de Madrid once a week. I want to read a novel in Spanish (that may or may not happen...the last time I tired that I ended up looking up every other word). I also want to speak with a tutor once a week because I REALLY suck at speaking Spanish...I can understand 70 times (no exaggeration) more than I can speak Spanish.
After orientation yo voy a la Plaza de Real y los lugares que están cerca to it. I had the teacher (who taught us everything about the area entirely in Spanish) write down all the places we went because I want to go back so many times. This trip solidified that I was in Madrid, and that Madrid is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I wish I was here longer than six weeks. Don't look ahead Lexi...don't look ahead. I would write more about this but I just don't want to right now.
We went to bars this night and had to get up at 8 am...i def went to bed at 4 am...failfailfail...but totally worth it. Had the best heart to hearts and overall just had the best time I've had in a really long time. I'm so happy.
I'm also suppose to stay up all night tonight...this should be interesting.I may not be happy tomorrow so enjoy it while it lasts.
Tres
Hoy en día yo voy a Segovia, el primer ciudad de España. In history, Madrid is nothing compared to Segovia, in fact Madrid is only around to protect Segovia and to mitigate the constant skirmishes between the jews, musulmanes, and catolicós.
In short, I have never learned more about history in general than I did today. I've decided that I am simply not built for the classroom...I need to see and do. Took me long enough to understand that.
Segovia, simply put, is the most beautiful and interesting place I have ever been. I simply cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. The professor who toured us today is the best teacher I have ever had, and it's sad that he isn't teaching a course in Segovia. He is one of those people who is funny without trying and is honestly interested in your learning about a subject. He switched between English and Spanish but I understood so much more about european history than I ever had before. I really should've taken that damn class senior year...I'm an idiot. Can't change that now, but I can soak in as much as possible...and I'm definitely going to pick this guy's brain and I don't care if he isn't teaching for NYU this summer. Pictures regarding Segovia will be posted. I saw every kind of architecture and what I really liked is how the clashes between the jews, muslims, and catholics caused them to influence eachother's styles of architecture. In addition, it was interesting to see how the city transitioned. There was a synogague turned catholic church...due to the expulsion of the jews. 7/11 and 1492 are extremely important dates for a lot of reasons. I saw an extremely old aqueduct from the Roman ages, and churches from this era...all the way to estilos del siglo XX. I have never wanted to listen to what someone had to say about history more in my life. Really cheesy to say....but it was liberating. I could say so much more but I'll let my pics do the talking. I was really excited to get back into photography today...sadly it was kind of a bust...I'm hoping I'll remember what I'm doing as my adventures here continue. I was so happy to be doing photo again though...I didn't realize how much I've missed it.
I'm suppose to go to some 7 story club tonight...apparently it's the craziest thing I'll ever do...def whipping out the lady gaga dress. I also bought some awesome euro-trash shoes. Hell yes. It's 11 and I haven't even started getting ready...these people don't go out until one. Son locos.
In conclusion,
Spain is my jam. Miss you all.
More to come later...
besos xx,
Lexi
PS thanks Kassy for the title!
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