Three More Days

Just three more short days till I head home to the good ole U.S.A. In the meantime I have to study for and take 3 more finals and finish up my packing.

This past weekend I literally spent the whole weekend studying, I know its boring compared to what the rest of my weekends have been like these past 4 months, but it was necessary. On Friday morning I took my History of Art in Spain final and it went well. It was a lot easier than I thought it was. This morning I had my Introduction to Spanish Business final and it literally took me 15 minutes to complete. It was sooo easy! I wish more finals could be like that. :)

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I have my Grammar final and Wednesday I have my POE (Composition Class) and History of Spain finals. Bright and early on Thursday morning I will be heading to the Granada airport to head home! :)

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog over the last 4 months. I really appreciate it! I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

May 16, 2012

Well, the end is nearing. I currently have 8 days left in Spain before I head home. It is both sad and exciting for me at the same time. Sad because I am being separated from my new friends, leaving a wonderful city/country I have come to see as my second home, and I am also saying good-bye to a fantastic chapter in my life. I am happy because I am returning to my friends and family who I have not seen in almost 5 months. I am currently in the last week of classes. I have my Phonetics final tonight and my History of Art final on Friday. My other 4 finals will be next week. Unfortunately, I will probably have to spend most of the weekend studying. :( This is my life currently :) See you all in 8 days! Love, Roseanna

Mis Clases

I realized that I still have yet to write about my classes that I am taking here. I am taking five classes at the CLM (Center of Modern Languages) and three that are required by Central (these three are all taught by José). My five classes at the CLM are: History of Spain, Introduction to Spanish Business, POE (Production, Oral, and Writing…in Spanish “writing” is escribiendo, hence the “E”), Grammar, and History of Arte in Spain. My three classes with José are: Phonetics, Granada Seminar, and Tutorials. I will explain in the following paragraphs (briefly) what I am learning in each class.

History of Spain In History of Spain we have been learning about the history of Spain (who’d have thunk it??). We started off at the beginning learning about the earlier years (pre-historic periods, etc.) and have slowly moved our way forward. We are currently learning about the Spanish Civil War, which took place right before World War II, the circumstances leading up to the war, and Spain’s role in World War II. I am enjoying learning about this part in history because it is still incredibly relevant today due to the fact that Franco’s dictatorship did not end till the 70s.

Introduction the Spanish Business This class is both very boring and fun at the same time. It is boring because the professor assigns us exercises to work on during class, we do them in like 15 minutes, but in total he gives us about 30 minutes to do them, so we end up talking to each other for the rest of the time. This is the fun part. I enjoy talking with my classmates, especially my friend, Paul. It is also fun because the professor worked in England for a year or two and he knows how to speak English, even though he pretends that he doesn’t know in order to make us speak to him in Spanish. He says phrases like, “The party is over”, and “You’re fired” (mind you, they are all in a British accent) and in the context of class they are very funny. He uses “The party is over” when class is done for the day and “You’re fired” when someone says a wrong answer. Also, for some reason he thinks my name is Susana. Every time he says that I look at him and tell him that my name is not Susana and then he remembers that my name is Roseanna and calls me it. Weird….

In class we have learned about how to write a good resume, how interviews normally occur, INCOterms (International Commerce terms), and different type of positions in various businesses. It is all fairly interesting/easy, but overall I am glad I am taking the class because I am learning a lot of knew vocabulary about business.

POE This is my writing class and it is basically a joke. We don’t have a set curriculm for the class; it is basically up to the professor to decide what we do in the class. Each class in the CLM does something a little different. For my class the professor gives us different “temas” or themes, they are put together in a packet and we go over the material. We have done themes on traveling, emotions, friendships, our futures, etc. I always feel like the packets are chosen at random because I don’t see any structure to it. We have also had to write three essays, one about our “guiri” (foreign) experience; we had had to do two presentations as well. Also, in this class we enjoy getting our professor off topic and asking her questions about her life. It’s a great time waster. 

Grammar This class actually has structure to it. Obviously since it is a grammar class we learn about Spanish grammar. It has been very useful to me in improving my Spanish. The professor is also very good about making a lot of the exercises we do in class to practice fun and useful in helping us learn the material. We have had to do a few writing assignments for this class, but not many.

History of Art in Spain This is one of my harder classes because there is a lot of material to study for the tests. For the midterm and final he gives us a list of 24 pieces of artwork that we have to know information about. On the tests he then chooses 6 of the pieces from that list and we have to write about them. It is a pain in the butt to compile all the info into one place and study it, but once I have it down its ok.

Even though the class is harder material-wise I really enjoy the professor. His name is Salvador Gallego and on the first day of class he gave us a synapsis of his life, which none of the other professors did. He also tells us jokes almost every day in class or he sings opera music to us. He is a very good singer. Overall he makes the class enjoyable to go to. We also got to take three excursions during class to the Arab baths, the Cathedral, and the Royal Chapel.

Phonetics Phonetics is a class required by Central College for all students in the Language & Culture or Hispanic Studies programs. I am in the Language & Culture program. Like I said Phonetics is taught by José and basically we have been learning about Spanish phonetics, otherwise known as how to pronounce various words and sounds. It has been very helpful to me because I was not pronouncing everything correctly, but now I am doing a lot better, even though I am still not perfect at it.

Granada Seminar In this class we learn about different subjects each week; the subject always varies each week. This class is required by everyone in my program and it is used to teach us more about the Spanish culture. We have learned about a ton of different subjects like: bull-fighting, wine tasting, olive oil tasting, politics, tapas, types of fiestas, and many more. We learned about the subjects for bull-fighting, wine tasting, and olive oil tasting the class before we took an excursion to those things. Overall this class was very helpful to me to help me learn more about the culture in Spain.

Tutorials Tutorials is a class set up to be an extra help to us for what we are learning in our Grammar and POE classes. If we have any questions about what we are learning in those classes we can ask them in the Tutorials class. José is really good at re-explaining what we are learning in a way that we can understand more thouroughly. If we don’t have any questions we go over colloquial phrases, some of which a really fun to hear because of the way they translate into English.

YOLO: You Only Lagos Once

Friday May 4, 2012
We rode for 7 hours in the bus, but now I am in Portugal!! Yay! Right away after we got here we went down to the beach. I got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean! It was freezing! There was a large boulder/ice berg-sized rock in the ocean along the beach, and people were swimming out to it, climbing up, and jumping off, so naturally Shannon and I swam out, climbed out, and jumped off. It was sooo much fun! The rock was made out of coral and was really sharp and I ended up cutting up my hands, feet, and legs a bit, but it was worth it. We jumped about 20 feet into the water.

For supper I had a HUGE hamburger. It was so big I could barely grab it with my hands.

Saturday May 5, 2012
I went on the Sangria Sailboat today and they took us sailing for 2 hours. There was unlimited sangria, but it wasn't very strong. They also took us in smaller boats to see the grottos (rock formations). They were gorgeous! I really enjoyed the sangria sailboat.After that we went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

Before supper we went to the "end of the world". It is the most western point in Europe and thought to be the end of the world before Columbus discovered America. We watched the sunset there. I was breathtaking.

Sunday May 6, 2012

Today we hit the beach up again. We went to a beach about a half mile away from our hotel. It was a nice beach. You had to walk down about 200 stairs to get to the beach. Walking up the stairs was not incredibly enjoyable.I spent a few hours on the beach with my group of friends. We mostly layed on the beach, talked, and tanned the entire time. So relaxing!!

Towards lunchtime I left with Sabrina, Breann, and Elizabeth to walk into town to grab lunch and explore the city a bit. We got food from the grocery store to make a picnic lunch that we could eat on the pier by the ocean. It was fantastic! After lunch we wandered through some of the tourist shops till we headed back to the hotel. We had a 7 hour bus ride back to Granada and we didn´t get home till 2 am. Overall I am THRILLED I went! It was an amazing weekend!

Mom & Dad Visit Spain

Thursday April 26, 2012
Mom and Dad arrived today! I went to one class this morning and skipped the other in order to pick them up at the airport on time. There were lots of hugs and tears when we met at the airport (all for happiness of course).


We took a bus back into the city, checked into the hotel, and ate lunch at Cafe Futbol. Mom and I had pizza and dad had paella. After that we walked over to Carmen's apartment (my host mother) so everyone could meet. I think mom and dad enjoyed meeting and thanking the woman I have been living with. They also got to see my room and the rest of the apartment. While I was packing some stuff for the week mom and dad fell asleep in the desk chair and the bed respectively. They were a bit jet lagged. :)


We all needed a nap after the day's excitement, so we napped till supper. For supper we went out for tapas at Cafe Europa. They serve larger tapas there, so it is much more filling. We had mini hamburgers and baked potatoes for our tapas. Delicious! We also ended up running into my friend Genevieve (she is in my program) and her parents who were visiting also. It was nice to meet her parents. After that we went out for frozen yogurt (this may be my new addiction ;). ). We all got different flavors so we could try each others...


We headed back to the hotel for the night. We were all exhausted.


Friday April 27, 2012
We slept in this morning and went out for breakfast at Cafe Nevada. I think mom and dad were a little surprised at how small the breakfasts here are compared to the U.S., but we made it work. Mom and I had toast and dad had eggs with a croissant. Dad and I both had coffee, but the coffees are small in Spain and we both drank the cup in a couple swallows. :)


Our goal for the morning was to walk up the Albaycin so Mom and Dad could see the beautiful views of the city, the Alhambra, and the mountains. We took our time, stopping when we wanted, touring the Arab bath monument along the way. We made it to the top eventually and I think they loved the view!


We walked down to the Cathedral and we walked past a stand selling spices and dried fruit so we stopped for mom to look. She bought some curry powder and dried cherries. The cherries were delicious! I am also looking forward to when she uses the curry powder in her cooking. I showed mom and dad the front of the cathedral next and explained some about the art and the history of it, then we meandered through the tourist shops for a while till we were hungry for lunch.


We ate lunch, then went and toured the cathedral. I believe they were in a bit of awe at the magnitude and the intricacies of the artwork and sculptures in the Cathedral. We sat down while in the Cathedral for a bit just to enjoy the beauty of it and Mom was so tired that she shut her eyes for a few minutes and almost few asleep! I scolded her. ;) we decided after that we should leave and go have nap time at the hotel.


That night we went out to supper with my friends, Tesla, Breann, and Sabrina. We went to a Mexican restaurant and ended up staying there for 2.5 hours talking. It was a lot of fun. After that we went out for tapas at Cafe Futbol and ended up staying there for about an hour talking more. I think mom and dad enjoyed meeting and talking with my friends. :)


Today I began developing a bad cold, which means that I started to lose my voice. At supper whenever I talked my voice would crack and squeak. It sounded awful. I was a little worried I would lose my voice, and then we would all be in trouble because mom and dad don't speak Spanish. Thankfully my voice held out.


Saturday April 28, 2012
Today was cold and rainy. We slept in, ate breakfast in the room, then went out shopping for a few hours. We stayed out till lunch, then came back and rested for a few hours. Mom and I went out to walk around after our naps. I showed her a pretty church and we ended up walking into a wedding ceremony. It was cool to see part of a Spanish wedding ceremony, but we didn't stay long out of respect for the couple. We went to the same church for weekly mass later that night. Mom and dad couldn't understand a word, but that was ok. We grabbed pizza afterword and ate it in the hotel room.


Sunday April 29, 2012
We decided this morning rain or shine we were going to go visit another city in Spain. We chose Malaga, a city about an hour an a half south of Granada by bus along the Mediterranean coast.


We took a tour bus around the city. We were able to hop on and off as we wanted. It was nice and we were all glad we did it, especially since it rained for a good part of the day. We started off the day walking down by the piers where we saw a handful of cruise ships, many sailboats and yachts, and one HUGE yacht the size of a small cruise ship. It was very cool to see.


Next, we went down by the beach. Unfortunately the sand was wet and muddy so we decided not to walk in the sand so we wouldn't get dirtier than we already were. We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant along the beach. During lunch it started raining cats and dogs so we took the tour bus for the rest of the day instead of walking around. We went up by the castle and saw an aerial view of the city, port, and ocean. It was gorgeous. We also travelled via bus through the older part of the city. I enjoyed seeing all the architecture on the buildings.


We hopped off the bus and saw the old Roman Theater, and a gorgeous rose garden. I was in heaven in the beautiful rose garden. There were so many different types of roses with so many different colors. My favorite was a flower called "Julio Iglesias" and it was a rose with swirls of white and magenta. Stunning!


We took the tour bus back to the bus station and then took another bus back to Granada. We relaxed and watched Au Pair on tv in Spanish for the rest of the night.


Monday April 30, 2012
We took another day trip to Salobrena today. Salobrena is a small city an hour bus-ride to the east of Granada on the Mediterranean coast. We arrived around 12pm and right away climbed a large hill to reach to castle where we witnessed fantastic views of the city, the ocean, beach, farmland, mountains, and surrounding countryside. I think mom and dad loved it.


We climbed down the hill to the beach where we ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach. It was fun to eat and enjoy a view of the ocean. After that mom wanted to put her feet in the ocean, so she and I took off our shoes and rolled up our pants and went in the cold water. Mom almost fell over at one point and dad was almost on the ground rolling around because he was laughing so hard. It was a great moment.


After the beach excitement we walked back to the bus station stopping at a few stores along the way. We returned to Granada, ate supper, and watched The Incredibles on tv in Spanish. It was soooo much fun to watch!

Tuesday May 1, 2012

Today is the beginning of May! I can’t believe it! This semester has gone sooo fast. I remember when it was January/February and I thought May would never come.

Today with Mom and Dad we had a pretty chill day. We slept in, ate another relaxing breakfast at Café Nevada and went to change my suitcase for my book bag at Carmen’s apartment (my host mom). I had to change bags because I have classes on Wednesday and I needed my books, and I needed another change of clothes as well. When we arrived to the apartment Carmen wasn’t there, but Amy was and the four of us ended up talking about a variety of subjects for about an hour. It was nice.

We ate lunch at a pizzeria, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap before the bull fight.

At 5:30 pm we had to meet my director and many other people from my program at the bull fighting stadium. We were going to a bull fight!! I was pretty excited to experience it. The bull fighting stadium is circular (similar to the Collesseum in Rome). It is shaped this way so there are no corners for the bull to hide in. The show began with a parade of sorts, bringing out all the people that are involved in producing the bull fight, this includes: the bull fighters, their helpers or decoys, two people on horseback that harpoon the bull during part of the show, and a few others. Once the parade concluded the show began.

The actual bull fight is divided into 3 parts. First, the bull is released and the helpers/decoys use brightly colored blanket-like material to wave and flash so the bull sees it and runs toward them. They then scamper behind wooden paneling in order to be safe from the bull’s horns. They do this for about 5 minutes in order to tire to bull.

The second part is when two men on horses enter the arena and the decoys uses their “blankets” to attract the bull near the horses in order for the men to harpoon the bull. They harpoon the bull in order to weaken it, so it is easier to kill in the end. The horses are covered with a thick material that almost looks like something similar to metal plates in order to protect it from the bull. Its eyes are also covered so the horse will not be spooked by the bull.

Finally in the third part is when the matador or bull-fighter appears in the arena. In this part he does the classic bull fighting where he is waving a red cape and the bull charges him. This is also the part of the show where people shout, “Ole”! Depending on the bull-fighter this part can be the best part fo the show or it can be incredibly boring; it all depends on how entertaining they are. At the end of the third part of the show the bull fighter takes a sword and stabs the bull between the shoulder blades right through the heart. This is the worst part of the show because you literally sit there and watch the poor animal die. Many a time the bull took almost a minute to die, but eventually blood would start pooring out its mouth and it would keel over, dead. One of the bulls was twitching and jerking as it died. I felt so sad for the poor animal that it was murdered for no reason.

As you might have already noticed through my writing we watched more than one bull fight during the show. We actually watched 6 in total. There were 6 bull fighters in the entire show, one for each bull. Each bull fight followed the same sequence of parts as I described above. A couple of the bull fighters were boring to watch because when they were in the area they would basically turn in a circle waving their red cape at the bull. Others would be more entertaining, running around the stadium with the bull chasing them, kneeling on the ground to bull fight, etc. One of the bull fighters was kneeling on the ground when the bull entered the arena and the bull charged him and started roughing him up a bit. The bull fighter was fine, but I was cheering for the bull at that moment because by this time it was the sixth bull and I was tired of watching the sensless killing of bulls.

Overall I am glad that I had the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and culture of a bull fight and to learn more about it and what goes on during it. Would I ever go to another bull fight given the chance? Probably not. I enjoyed every part of the bull fight except the senseless killing of the bull at the end. Why can’t they let the bull live? There is no sense in taking the animal’s life. For this reason and this reason only I probably would not attend another bull fight.

Wednesday May 2, 2012
Mom and dad left me this morning. :( I'm sad to see them leave, but happy that they came. I enjoyed their trip. We woke up at 5 am to make it to the airport by 8 am. We probably didn't need to wake up that early, but oh well. We made it and they are traveling home as I write this. I have classes today (I will probably miss my first, but ahh well...), and in 2 days I will be traveling to Lagos, Portugal for a weekend on the beach. I'm excited!

Thanks for reading! Sorry this was such a long post, but I did have a lot to tell. I will update my blog again soon!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

April 22, 2012

Today is Sunday April 22^nd, otherwise known as my wonderful mother’s birthday! I cannot wait to wish her a Happy Birthday later this afternoon when I speak to her and my dad over Skype. It should be great!

I have had quite a busy weekend. Friday night I went to an olive oil tasting, which I wrote about already. Yesterday (Saturday), I hung around the house all day doing homework and just being a bum. At 7:30 pm last night I left the house with Amy and Tesla to meet up with Shannon and Malissa on Ronda. Once we met up with went to a bar to watch the Real Madrid-F.C. Barcelona futbol game. We went to a tapas bar and have a few drinks while we watched the game. The game turned out to be fairly boring…Madrid won 2-1, which is sad since I was rooting for Barcelona. Unfortunately Barcelona just seemed to be having a bad night because they were not playing like their usual selves. Ahh well, it was fun anyways.

Today I planned on going hiking with my Intercambio group at 10 am, so I had to wake up at 9 am. So early! Especially since I didn’t go to bed till after 4 am…Anyways we planned to meet at Puerta Real and when I got there Chris was the only one there, and I arrived at exactly 10 am. We ended up waiting for 15 minutes for more people to show up till finally Trini, our Intercambio leader showed up. We waited another 5 minutes just in case anyone else was going to show, but no one did. We picked up one of Trini’s friends before we left the city and then took a 15 minute drive to Monachil, a small town at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We spent the day hiking on the trails around Monachil. The views were stunning! It was fun to hike in that area because there were parts of the trail where you had to be creative in how you climbed over the many rocks. Trini and her friend, Juan Lorenzo, also took us down into a cave with a waterfall in it. You had to climb over rocks that were so smooth that they were slippery. It was my favorite part. We had a picnic by the river and relaxed and took a siesta in the sun before hiking a little more and heading back to Granada. I really enjoyed hiking today.

Soooo, guess what?!?! My wonderful parents are currently on their way to visit me for 6 days!! They will arrive in Granada around 1 pm tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. I cannot wait to give them the BIGGEST hugs of my life! I miss them soooo much! Because Mom and Dad are visiting I will be a little too busy showing them around Granada, so please don´t expect me to blog again for another week. 

In parting here is a copy of a hilarious email Maggie (my sister) sent to me. She had tried to help my mother out by showing her a Spanish "cheat sheet" (the basics of Spanish) she had in order to encourage my Mom and Dad to learn some more Spanish before they came to visit. My mother is the one who replied to her...

Sent: March 25, 2012

Hola,

I sent Mom and Dad a "Survival Guide" handout that my Spanish teacher gave us at the beginning of the semester, hoping that it will encourage them to start learning a few Spanish words, so they won't be complete fools when they come.  Here is how they responded to my e-mail.

Gracias,
No pasa nada
Salud! Jesus!

Mama, Papa


... Oh, they show so much promise.  Ha. :)  Thought you would enjoy that!  Hope you are having fun in Spain!

Maggie

Friday April 20th

This evening I went to an olive oil tasting with a group of people in my program. This was something set up by my program and it was a lot of fun and I was stuffed afterwards!

The store we went to to have the tasting is less than 5 minutes from the CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas, otherwise known as my school). Normally the store does not hold olive oil tastings because they are so expensive, but this was an exception because we are such a large group.

We started the olive oil tasting by receiving 3 small bowls of olive oil at each table. Each bowl was a different type of olive oil from a different region in Spain. The storekeeper gave each table olive oils from Granada, Huelva, and Cordoba (3 different regions in Andalucia). We taste-tested each oil with bread and then with potatoes. I liked the olive oil from Granada the best because it was the strongest tasting. It had the most olivy taste out of the three. He also put 2 different kinds of olives on the table for us to try as well, but I cannot stand olives (when they aren’t oil), so I didn’t try them.

Next, we were served toasted bread with tomatoes and olive oil. This type of Spanish dish is called Tomaca and is a popular breakfast food. It was really good, I liked it a lot. I actually had not had tomaca till last night, so it was nice to try it. Next came Gazpacho, which is a cold Spanish soup and is made with a lot of ingredients, including: olive oil, vinegar, salt, peppers, dry fennel, garlic, bread, and tomato. All the ingredients are blended together to create the soup. Normally it is drunk out of a cup, but I also dipped bread into it and that was delicious too!

After the gazpacho we were served avocados covered in an olive oil with a lemon flavor. It was great, but the lemon flavor in the olive oil was not my favorite. After that came a slice of tomatoe and a slice of goat cheese; both we covered in olive oil. This is a popular tapas food. After the tomato and cheese we were served fried garlic and olive oil on a lettuce leaf. This was different, but very good. I enjoyed the tastes of the 3 foods together.

I should mention that this entire time we are being served an unlimited amount of bread. At this time I was also becoming very full, and we weren’t even close to being done. 

Next, we were served a small slice of pork loin on bread with olive oil on top. The pork was delicious and made me miss the delicious meats at home. After that we were served a cube of cheese dipped in olive oil. The cheese was very rich, but heavenly.

After all this the dessert portion was about to begin. We were served 2 types of typical Spanish pastries. Olive oil was used to make them. They were delectable. One was basically a sugared donut and the other was a pastry covered in sugar. Finally, we were served dark chocolate ice cream where olive oil was used to cook it. Oh, dear goodness, that was amazing! I love dark chocolate in the first place and making it into an ice cream made it even better.

After the olive oil tasting was over I went with my friends to Café Futbol where I got a cup of ice cream called Copa Futbol and a Tinto de Verano. It was a perfect way to end the night.

Differences in food tastes between Spain and the U.S.

Food in Spain is a lot more bland compared to the food at home. Sometimes when my host mom gives us our food it tastes like the only spices she uses is pepper and salt (she uses a lot of salt). My friends have said similar things, that their families don't use much for spices either.

Spaniards differences in tastes don't stop there though. Their opinion of "spicy" is not spicy at all. Their spicy is our normal type of seasoned food. There is a Mexican restaurant that I have gone to with my friends and a dish that said on the menu it was "spicy" was not spicy whatsoever. I was slightly disappointed because I was looking forward to having something with a little spice.

Even the sweets here don't seem as sweet here as compared to the U.S. I can never put my finger on it but every time I have chocolate it doesn't taste quite the same, almost like there isn't as much sugar (this is probably a good thing though) in it. One of my favorite sweets here are Principe cookies. They are two wafer crackers with a bit of chocolate in between creating a sandwich. They are sweet enough for my tastes.

The ice cream tastes different here too. It almost seems that there is more sugar in it than ice cream from home, but you can't taste the extra sugar. It is weird, but I cannot explain it much better. I'm not a fan of the ice cream here for that reason.

I realize that I didn't explain the differences in food here very well, but it is very difficult to explain. One almost needs to visit Spain in order to experience the taste differences for their self.

Families in Spain and the U.S.

First let me say that my knowledge on this subject is limited strictly to mainly my host family (her two grown daughters, her son-in-law, and her grandson) and to stories I have been told by my friends about their host families. My generalizations about the Spanish family stem from this.

Overall the family unit is generally the same in Spain as it is in the United States. The parents work, the children go to school, etc. What I think is different in Spain than in the U.S. is that families seem closer here than families in the states do. For example, my host mother Carmen watches her grandson, Juan Antonio, every day of the week while her daughter and son-in-law work. At lunch each day her 2 daughters and son-in-law come to eat the lunch she has made for every one. During lunchtime they always have a continuous conversation going, and even after lunch has concluded Juan Antonio's normally stay and nap before heading back to work. Some afternoons I come back to find Carmen, her daughters, and Juan Antonio hanging out together in the apartment. They all seem very close.

I have been told similar stories by my friends in my program. Normally the immediate family and many friends of their host families are always traipsing through the apartments. Many of the stories I have been told have occurred when my friends are having dinner with their families and the friends and other family come over for a meal or for coffee/tea.

Another thing I have noticed between families in Spain and the United States is that children and more babied here. For example Juan Antonio is 2 years old and normally at that age children are already eating solid foods, but I have never seen him eat a solid food. Normally for lunch he eats a pureed soup and yogurt. I have only seen him eat a piece of bread, but even then he only sucks on it. It's very different.

My friend, Tesla, also told me that when her host mother's grandchildren visited her that her host mother bathed her 8 year old grandson. I don't know about other people in the U.S., but when I was 8 I was bathing on my own.

Overall I think children are babied more and stay children longer than in the U.S. Children here also live with their families longer too. I have met a few Spaniards that still live with their families and they are college-aged.

I have no opinion on which country raises their children better, because I think there are positive and negative points with each country. I only write about this to point out the differences that I have seen.

London!!

Tuesday April 3, 2012
We left Galway at 7:15 am and took a bus straight to the Dublin airport, where we waited around till we checked in for our flight around 1 pm. Our flight from Dublin to London departed at 3ish and we arrived at the Gatwick airport around 4:30 pm. We took a train and the tube to the hostel we were staying at. When Amy and I arrived at the Gatwick airport we were a little overwhelmed by all the people and the hustle and bustle going on around us that we both got a little angry with each other because we were so overwhelmed. Neither of us wanted to admit how we were feeling either. ;)

Our hostel was not what we were expecting. The previous 2 hostels we stayed at were both nice and clean and when we arrived here the hostel was clean enough, but still visibly dirty. It was also a maze of doors to traverse. Just to get to the bathroom from our room you had to go through 5 doors and one flight of stairs to reach it. There were a few times where I had to stop and ask myself which door was I supposed to go through because I had about 4 choices.

After we adjusted to the shock of London a bit we took the tube to King's Cross Station. This is a famous train station in London and it is a site used in the Harry Potter series. At the station is the famous Platform 9 3/4, made famous in the books, so Amy and I went to see it. We were a little confused at first as to where it was, but after a couple directions from the guards at the station we found it, and boy were we disappointed. We were both expecting an actual train platform, but what we found was about 10 feet of brick wall with a cart stuck in the wall and a sign above it. We took a picture and left.

We took the tube back to our hostel, grabbed some delicious Chinese from across the street, relaxed, showered, and hit the sack for the night.

Wednesday April 4, 2012
Today was a very busy day. Amy and I left the hostel about 9:30 am, took the tube to Hyde Park where we walked around and enjoyed the beauty for a bit.

Then we headed over to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard. We were about 45 minutes early and we got a decent spot at the side of the palace right up at the gate. The guard changing began about 15 minutes late and we basically watched the troops march into the gates and stand at attention for 20 minutes while the head guards marched back and forth between the palace and the gates. It was incredibly boring, even though I am sure  there was some type of significance to all of it that I am unaware of. After the marching stopped a marching band marched into the gates, played a few songs, one of which was "We are the Champions" by Queen, and then more marching began. Amy and I left almost an hour into the ceremony because we weren't sure how much longer it would last and we wanted to move on to other things.

We walked around the palace to Westminister Cathedral, then to Westminister Abbey, Big Ben and the parliament buildings, and across the Westminister bridge to the London Eye (which is a giant ferris wheel where people can see wonderful views of the city). After that we grabbed lunch, then walked to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, then walked across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral.

We continued walking to the London Bridge (This was not what I was expecting. I thought the London Bridge was a huge, cool landmark in the city, but when we walked across it we found that it is nothing more than a bridge. Very disappointing...), then to the Tower Bridge (I think this was the famous landmark that I had always seen in pictures and this what I was expecting for the London Bridge.).

After all the walking we took the tube out to the edge of the city to the tube stop "Abbey Road", which I thought was the stop nearest the famous street Abbey Road, made famous by the Beatles and their album cover. I was wrong. We get out of the tube station, start walking only to start wondering if this is the right place. The buildings didn't look right and neither did the streets. We did find Abbey Road...It definitely was not the correct street. We stopped in a shop and asked the owner where Abbey Road was, he knew we weren't talking about the street a few blocks away, gave a look like "you're stupid", and told us that the street we wanted was in the center of London, where we had just come from. Wonderful! :) Apparently I need to be more thorough in my research...

A couple stops back on the tube was the Olympic 2012 stadium, so we stopped at that after our trek out to the wrong Abbey Road. After that was more Chinese from the same Chinese restaurant, mixed with some Italian from a nearby restaurant for supper, then relaxing, and bed.

Thursday April 5, 2012
This morning we slept in, checked out of the hostel, then went to the Hard Rock Cafe so Amy could buy her dad a souvenir. After that we stopped at the real Abbey Road, took some pictures that rivaled the Beatles' album cover ;) and went to a nearby Beatles memorabilia shop to look at the merchandise for fun.

After our morning fun we made the trek via train to the Stansted airport. We were flying RyanAir to Malaga and this airline sells dirt cheap tickets, but enjoys finding every way possible to charge you extra. One of the ways they do this is by the size and weight of your carry-on bag. Your bag must fit into the tiny overhead bin and must be under 10 kilograms (about 22 pounds). Amy and I thought that both our bags wouldn't fit in the overhead bins so we both wore extra clothes on the plane. I ended up wearing 5 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans in order for my bag to be smaller. Amy had me beat with 6 shirts, a pair of sweat pants, and a pair of jeans. Oh what we do to travel. ;)

We returned to our apartment in Granada about 11:30 pm that night.

Overall I think I enjoyed Ireland so much more than London. I think I had a little to high of expectations of London and was expecting it to be wonderful or magical somehow. I am glad I visited the city though. I had a fantastic spring break trip and wouldn't have changed it for anything.

Galway--The Best!!

Sunday, April 1, 2012
I cannot believe April is here already! Where has the time gone?! In just a short 1.75 months I will be home! Goodness!

Today Amy and I took a bus to Galway on the western coast of Ireland. It is about 2.5 hours away. On the way here I was able to see the beautiful Irish countryside,which included the rolling, luscious green hills, which contained a plentiful amount of livestock (mainly cattle, sheep, and horses).

Once in Galway we found our hostel mainly by guessing which roads were which, because people in Galway apparently don't believe in street signs and must know all the streets because there were no streets signs to go by. It is weird...lol Anyways, we found the hostel, checked in, all is well.

We explored the city a bit in the afternoon, walking through the Galway shopping district, the Latin Quarter, the bay/port area, and a local neighborhood. On our walking adventure we stopped for lunch in a small restaurant where we were sat at a table under the stairs. It was very quaint, but weird because we basically sat and stared at a brick wall till we received our food, then we stared at the food. Ah well, all in the experience. :) Also on our walking adventure we watched a game of some unknown sport to us. It was a combination of futbol (soccer), ruby, and football (American style) and Amy and I did not understand it.

We were exhausted fairly early during the day so we returned to the hostel, used the Internet, and relaxed in our room, till we got supper for ourselves at a local grocery store; and now, bedtime. :)

Monday April 2, 2012
Ok! Today Amy and I took a bus tour south of Galway through the Barren landscape to the Cliffs of Mohr. Let me just say flat out that it was a fantastic day!!

We started the tour off by passing through the villages of Clarenbridge, Kilogen, Balendury, and Kinvara. In Kinvara we saw some authentic thatched roofs, one of them being the largest thatched roof in the world, hooker boats used for fishing in the region, and the Dunguaire castle. The 4 villages were very small, quiet, and quaint and I am thrilled that we drove through them!

Our journey continued through the Burren landscape, which is a limestone landscape created in this region from the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. We ended up driving through this landscape for a majority of the day.

Our first stop was made at a farm of a local family that gives a tour of their land and another stop at some nearby caves. Passengers are able to choose one of the two tours; Amy and I chose the farm tour. The tour took us through the farmyard, where we saw some of their cows on the farm and a baby calf (sooo adorable!) and it continued through the pastures and up a mountain adjoining their land. The mountain is covered with the limestone from the Burren landscape and the pastures would have been covered with the rock, but it has been cleared away by farmers through time. The rock that covered the fields is actually used to make rock walls to create that lines where land changes hands and to divide pastures.

Our guide, Darra, (he is the nephew if the owner of the farm and he helps his uncle with giving the tours on the farm and with other work when needed) took us up the mountain where we were able to see some fantastic views of the surrounding area. Darra told us that the nearby village's name is Ottemen (I think this is the correct name). While on the mountain Darra pointed out a rock fence crossing the mountain. He said that this fence does not divide land or pastures and actually serves no purpose. It was built during the time of the potato famine by the poor to earn food from their landlords. He joked that the landlords were really smart to make their renters built a fence that serves no purpose when they could have been building roads, houses, schools, hospitals, etc. to be used in the country's infrastructure. ;)

After we left them farm we travelled on the bus to the mini cliffs where we got out and took pictures for a few minutes. The mini cliffs were breathtaking. We were able to get up to the edge of the rocks and look down into the sea. It was a steep drop! The mini cliffs are comprised of the limestone from the Burren landscape.

We stopped for lunch in the village of Doolin. The majority of the group ate at Fitzpatrick's Bar where our bus driver recommended we try the the Seafood Chowder. I tried it and oh my goodness was it delicious! It had all types of seafood in it and was served with 2 slices of brown bread and I also bought a scone with raisins to eat with my lunch. It was a fantastic lunch!

Our next stop was the Cliffs of Mohr! Finally! The cliffs stretch about 8 miles along the south western coast of Ireland. At the top they are grassy fields, the sides are jagged, rocky, and shear all the way down to the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean below. The bus stopped for an hour and a half here and Amy and I began our free time by walking along the pre-made paths built by the Cliffs of Mohr Park, but you could hardly see down the cliffs, so we found another path that allowed you to go to the edge of the cliff. We took pictures, sat at the edge of the cliffs, and Amy threw rocks into the water to see them splash. We could have easily sat there all day long taking in the beauty of the cliffs.

Fun fact: a scene from the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the fifth movie) was shot at the Cliffs of Mohr.

Our day concluded with the drive back to Galway, stopping at a dolmens (two large pillars, with a third across the top, used as an ancient burial ground). The only reason I mention this very boring stop is that I am currently studying this form of art in my History of Art class.

When we returned to Galway we got supper from a grocery store so we could cook at the hostel, relaxed, showered, and went to sleep.

Dublin, Ireland

 Hello again!! I have safely returned from my spring break trip to Dublin, Galway, and London and because I had so many wonderful adventures my blog got a little long, so what I am going to do is break it up into 3 parts over the course of the week. Here is the first part about my time in Dublin...enjoy!!

Friday March 30, 2012
Amy and I woke up bright and early at 5:45 this morning to catch the first city bus to the bus station. Carmen wasn't too pleased with us, but she got up and made us breakfast anyway. I love her for that. We made it to the bus station in Granada for our bus to Malaga. We made it to the Malaga bus station, then took a shuttle bus to the airport, where we got our tickets, went through security, and chilled in the terminal for 2 hours before our flight.

We flew Aer Lingus to Dublin. I like the Aer Lingus company very much; Amy and I were able to sit next to each other on the flight and each passenger was able to watch movies on a personalized screen. During the 3 hour flight I watched The Ides of March. Loved it!!

Finally we were in Dublin!! Yay!

A city shuttle bus brought us to the city center and from there a 5 minute walk brought us to our hostel. We are staying at the Dublin Center Hostel, but Amy and I believe that the receptionist is an imbecile. Other than that the hostel is great. When we checked in and I had the reservation under my name and when you book online hostels automatically charge your credit card 10% of the bill in case you cancel. Well, the receptionist couldn't work his brain around the fact that Amy and I wanted to split the bill and that he needed to factor in the 10% already taken off the original amount. Amy and I attempted to use our best customer service voices possible to explain the situation, and we ended up figuring out the correct amount that each of us owed and telling the dummy what he was supposed to charge us.

After settling in we went off to explore Dublin! We started choosing streets at random to see where we would end up. We passed a Catholic church during our wanderings, so we went in. It was so beautiful!! We continued on, stopping for coffee and chips (french fries), wandering through an adorable residential area of the city, then to Phoenix Park (one of the largest parks in the city, and boy is it beautiful and FULL of green grass!), then down by the river, and finally exploring the area around the Guinness Factory. One our way back towards the hostel we took a wrong turn and ended up taking the long way back. We were recommended to a nice bar & grill called Aurora for supper by a bartender at a different bar. Aurora was delicious! I had chicken and pasta, yum! With our bellies full we got back to the hostel, showered, then collapsed on our beds for the night. We were exhausted!

The homes here are actual home, not apartment complexes like in Spain. Some of the homes even have small lawns in front of them! It is so cozy and reminds me a lot of home. The homes here are almost all connected (I believe they are called row houses?) and each house tends to be a different bright color with an equally bright front door.

Since the Irish drive the opposite side of the road than they do in the United States one has to pay extra special attention to which way traffic is traveling. Normally when you automatically look left you should have looked right. Thankfully the Irish combat this problem by painting "look left" or "look right" on the cement in front of the crosswalk depending on which one is necessary. This is incredibly helpful because I will see it out of the corner of my eye and will look in that direction for traffic versus looking the opposite way in which my mind tells me to look. Even though these messages are painted on the cement I still manage to walk out in front of on-coming traffic sometimes because I looked the wrong way. I will get this down eventually...

Saturday, March 31, 2012
Today, Amy and I slept in till 8:45 am, got up, had breakfast at the hostel (cereal and toast) and were headed to the Guinness Factory by 9:30 am. At the factory we went through a self-guided tour where we learned the process and the ingredients it takes to make the Guinness beer the way it is, went through a taste-testing (I actually like the beer, that is saying a lot because I normally cannot stand beer.), participated in other interactive activities through the plant tour, saw a view of the city from the sky deck at the plant, and learned how to pour the perfect beer from the tap. We even got certificates showing our achievement of pouring the beer! Lol at the end of the tour we got a complimentary pint of Guinness, but Amy and I could barely drink it because neither of us are major beer drinkers. I drank about three inches of my cup, than gave up.

Amy and I were hungry after all our excitement at the Guinness Factory, so we got lunch to go at a little cafe and took it to eat in Phoenix Park. The park is so beautiful. It is full of luscious, green grass, and blooming flowers. You can walk into the park and instantly smell the wonderful aroma of all the flowers. In the park is the Dublin Zoo, so after lunch Amy and I spent over 2 hours exploring the zoo. We saw lions, and tigers, but not bears (Oh my!). It was a lot of fun!

We were exhausted after the excitement of the day, so we returned to the hostel to rest for a while. Once we were rested we headed out again to find the bus stop we will need for tomorrow and to find the Hard Rock cafe so Amy could buy her dad a pin. After that, we shopped a little in the tourist shops and walked past the Dublin Castle. We found an early supper, 7:30 pm (early for our stomachs that are set on Spanish time) at Murray's Pub where we enjoyed some Irish music while Amy had pasta and I had Irish Stew with Guinness bread and potatoes. The Irish Stew had lamb, carrots, squash, and broccoli in it. It was one of the best meals in my life!!

After supper we returned to the hostel, where we have been relaxing and where I am now currently writing about my time from today.

Updates...

Hello All! My spring break has officially begun! How wonderful! I will be traveling with my friend Amy to Dublin, Galway (west coast of Ireland), and London. We will be gone for six days in total and it should be amazing. So, since I will be on vacation, please don't expect me to post another blog for a week and a half. By the way,I would like to wish my Grandma Laurel a be-lated Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great birthday Grandma! I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! Love, Roseanna

Weekend in Madrid!

Friday, March 23, 2012
We left at 8:30 am this morning on our 3 day trip to Madrid. We traveled to Toledo first and took a part bus tour, part walking tour through the city of Toledo. It is a gorgeous city, with the city center built on a mountain, with a river surrounding the mountain and bridges connecting the city center to the rest of the city. Unfortunately we only spent about 2 hours there, but I hope to go back before I leave Spain.

We finished our journey to Madrid, checked into our hotel, that's right, I said HOTEL not hostel. It is fantastic to stay in an actual hotel again. After checking in we walked around  the city center of Madrid, saw the Palacio Real (only the outside), and Plaza Mayor (a very famous plaza in Spain). After that was supper at a very interesting Mexican restaurant (there was a car coming out of the roof ;) ) where we shared a jar of sangria (delicious!) and I had a wonderful salad. Once our bellies were full we stopped at a supermarket and grabbed some red wine and lemon Fanta (the makings for Tinto de Verano) and me and my friends (Shannon, Amy, Sara Kelly, myself, Liasor, and Alex) spent the rest of the night playing cards and drinking in our hotel room.


Saturday, March 24
This morning we had a wonderful breakfast at our hotel, then headed to the Palacio Real for our tour of the palace. Unfortunately, the palace forbids picture taking in the palace, so I was unable to take pictures, but I was able to listen to a brisk, short Spanish women who reminded everyone in my group of Edna Mode from The Incredibles tell us about the palace. It has over 2000 rooms and is used now mainly for celebrations (mostly royal weddings), stately meetings (when ambassadors from other countries visit), and for tourism (like what I did today!).

After that our free time started! Yay! Amy, Shannon, and I went back to the hotel quick to drop off coats (it was warm out today, Thank God!) and use the restrooms. Then, we set off to find theHard Rock Cafe, so Amy could buy her dad one of the pins. After walking for about a half hour, a few wrong turns, and a lot of laughs between the three of us we found the Hard Rock and Amy got her pin. Our next goal was to find a cheap cafe or mercado to grab lunch to go and eat it in the park. We ended up finding a nice cafe where I got paella, Amy got something that looked like Rigatoni, and Shannon got some type of pasta salad. We enjoyed our lunches and about an hour and a half in the grass (yes, there actually is grass in Spain! I was doubting that for a bit...) in Parque Retiro.

While still in Parque Retiro, when walked past a beautiful lake and the Palacio de Cristal. I had wanted to go to the Palacio de Cristal because I had seen some pictures of it that showed it to have amazing stained-glass windoows, but in reality the windows were just windows, which disappointed me greatly.

We left the park and wandered through the streets, going into a few stores (I found adorable grey sandals!) and eventually stopping for chocolate con churros before returning to the hotel to rest up a bit before the play this evening.

Like I said, the group went to a play this evening called, "El Manuel de la Buena Esposa" (The Manuel of the Good Wife). It is a comedy about the fundamental woman during the time from 1934-1977 (this is the time of Franco's dictatorship, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, and the recovery from it all). It was a very interesting and funny play, but I found it difficult to follow it because I started off the play not understanding the plot and struggling to understand what they were saying because they spoke very fast. Fortunately I was not the only person in my group who had trouble understanding what the characters in the play were saying, almost every person in my group said they had trouble understanding what they were saying.

After the play, Shannon, Amy, and I went to a wonderful Chinese buffet for dinner. I filled my Chinese cravings for a while. :) After, we went back to the hotel, found Alex and Liasor in their room and played cards and listened to music.


Sunday, March 25, 2012
The clocks sprung forward today, but we were still able to sleep in till 9:30 or so. Breakfast came and went and we checked out of the hotel as well, loaded our bags on the bus and walked to the Museo de Prado (Prado Museum). This museum is basically the Spanish version of the Lourve. The group walked together through the first 3 rooms, then split up. I walked through part of the museum with a group of my friends and we saw paintings by many artists, including Goya and Velazquez.

We only stayed for about 30-45 minutes then left. Today I walked around with Tesla, Sara Ireland, Elizabeth, Gonzo, Breann, Holly, and Hope. Most of them wanted Starbucks, so we stopped at one so they could get their drinks, then we found a Mexican restaurant for lunch. After lunch we headed back to the hotel where our group was going to meet up. Along the way Holly, Breann, and I did some impromptu shopping and I ended up buying a beautiful blue dress for under 11 euros! Great buy!

The group met up at 4:30 this afternoon and we are currently on the way back to Granada. We aren't supposed to be back till close to 11 pm tonight. 

How to Make a Tortilla Español

Because I was feeling a little lazy today, I just decided to post a recipe for how to make a tortilla español. This is one of my favorite foods here in Spain and I cannot wait to learn how to make them when I go home...So here it is!

How to Make Spanish Omelet Step-by-Step Recipe - Tortilla Espanola

By Lisa & Tony Sierra, About.com Guides

What You Will Need to Prepare Spanish Omelet - Tortilla Espanola

Fortunately, the Spanish omelet or tortilla espanola, like most
Spanish cuisine does not require fancy equipment to prepare it. For
this famous tapa, you’ll only need:

   Sharp Knife for Chopping Onion and Potatoes
   1 Large Frying Pan for Frying Potatoes and Onions
   1 Medium Frying Pan for Cooking the Tortilla
   Potato Peeler
   2 Mixing Bowls – 1 large and 1 small

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

Serves 4 for Dinner
Serves 6-8 for Appetizers
Gather the Ingredients

   6-7 medium potatoes, peeled
   1 whole yellow onion
   5-6 large eggs
   2-3 cups of olive oil for pan frying
   Salt to taste


Making Spanish Omelet - Tortilla Espanola

Cut the peeled potatoes in half lengthwise. Then, with the flat side
on the cutting surface, slice the potato in pieces approximately
1/8-inch thick. Make sure to separate the pieces that stick together.
It is not necessary to slice the potatoes paper thin and it is best
not to use a food processor because most will slice the potatoes too
thin. If you slice them a bit thick, don’t worry - it will simply take
a bit longer for them to cook. As with any recipe, the more time you
prepare it, the more you’ll know about how fast the potatoes fry, etc.

Peel and chop the onion into 1/4-inch pieces. Put potatoes and onions
into a large mixing bowl and mix them together. Salt the mixture to
taste.

Making Spanish Omelet - Tortilla Espanola - Fry the Potatoes and Onions
"Spanish Omelet - Tortilla Espanola - Fry the Potatoes and Onions"


In a large, heavy, non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil on
medium-high heat. Drop a single piece of potato into the oil to ensure
it is hot enough to fry. Carefully place the potato and onion mixture
into the frying pan, spreading them evenly over the surface. The oil
should almost cover the potatoes.

Note: If the oil is too hot, the potatoes will brown rapidly on the
outside, but still be raw on the inside. You may need to turn down the
heat slightly, so the mixture does not burn.

Leave in pan until the potatoes are cooked. If you can poke a piece of
potato with a spatula and it easily breaks in two, your potatoes are
done. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon or spatula. Some cooks
place the potato and onion mixture in a colander for a few minutes to
allow more oil to drain. If you do this, place a plate underneath to
catch the olive oil and you can use it again.

While the mixture is draining, crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl
and beat by hand with a whisk or fork. Pour into the potato onion
mixture. Mix together with a large spoon.

Pour 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil into a small, non-stick frying pan (aprox.
9-10 inches) and heat on medium heat. Be careful not to get the pan
too hot because the oil will burn - or the tortilla will! When hot
enough, stir the potato-onion mixture once more in the bowl and pour
into the pan, spreading evenly over pan. You may need to turn heat to
medium-low heat. Allow the egg to cook around the edges. Then, using a
spatula, carefully lift up one side of the tortilla to check if the
egg has slightly browned. The inside of the mixture should not be
completely cooked and the egg will still be runny on top and in
middle.

Note: This is the hardest part of the recipe and the one that makes
most cooks nervous. Don’t worry! It’s not as hard as you imagine – and
if you turn it over the sink, the worst that can happen is that you
spill a bit of the egg mixture.

When the mixture has browned on the bottom, you are ready to turn it
over to cook the other side. Carefully carry the frying pan to a sink.
Place a large dinner plate (12-inch) upside down over the frying pan
to cover top. With one hand on the frying pan handle and the other on
top of the plate to hold it steady, quickly turn the frying pan over
and the omelet will fall onto the plate. You’re almost done!

Carry plate with potato-egg mixture and empty pan back to stove. Place
the frying pan back on the range and put just enough oil to cover the
bottom and sides of the pan - approximately 1 1/2 tsp. Let the pan
warm for 30 seconds or so on medium to medium-low heat. Carefully
slide the tortilla (which is probably still a bit runny), into the
frying pan, using a spatula to catch any egg mixture that remains on
plate or tries to run out. Use the spatula to shape the sides of the
omelet. Let the omelet cook for 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat off and let
the tortilla sit in the pan for 2 minutes. Carefully slide the omelet
onto a large plate.

To Serve as a Main Course: Slice it into 6-8 pieces like a pie. Serve
sliced French bread on the side.

To Serve as a Tapa: Slice a baguette into pieces about 1/2-inch thick.
Cut the tortilla into 1 1/2-inch; squares and place each piece on top
of a slice of bread.

The tortilla espanola, also called tortilla de patata is simply
delicious served with sofrito, fried tomato sauce that is made all
over Spain. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, green peppers and olive oil
sautéed in a frying pan.

Variations
The following are a few of the most popular variations to the classic
Spanish Omelet.

   Green Pepper - Add 1 green or red bell pepper (chopped) to the
potatoes and onions and fry.

   Chorizo - Slice a Spanish chorizo sausage and add to the potato
and onion mixture after frying.

   Ham - Using a couple thick slices (1/4") ham, finely chop them.
Then add the pieces to the potato and onion mixture after frying.
Canadian bacon or smoked ham that you buy in a deli work well for this
variation. Be careful to adjust the salt accordingly, since ham may be
salty!

Saturday, March 17--Excursion to Sacramonte

Today my Central group took an excursion to Sacromonte and the Gypsy caves. It was an alright excursion. We met at the meeting point (the fountain of Isabel Catolico) and we walked up to Sacromonte. Sacramonte is a group of gypsy homes in caves. All of the caves were carved out of the mountain-side by the gypsies by hand. The caves are generally one room and 6-11 people normally live in these. The kitchen and stables make up 2 separate caves. We also saw the caves used for fabric-making, pottery, and iron/welding. It was a very interesting excursion

That afternoon I studied for my Grammar mid-term with my friend Paul, then went out for chocolate con churros with Tesla and Amy. That night I went out with, Tesla, Shannon, Amy, Sara Ireland, Breann, Holly, and Hope for tapas. We started at a tapas bar known for having large tapas. We were mixing supper and tapas so we didn't spend as much money. We got mini-hamburgers and baked potatoes for our 2 tapas we had there. We attempted to go into Hannigan's, an Irish pub, but it was so full of people that we could hardly go through the door. We ended up at Cafe Futbol for sangria and our telling each other our life stories. Overall it was a great night!

Spanish Food

Food in Spain is both very similar and very different compared to the U.S. The types of food are fairly similar, but the amount and the times in which the food is eaten is very different.

The eating times in Spain are: breakfast 8:30-9 am, lunch 2-3 pm, and supper/dinner 8:30-9:30 pm. Spaniards eat a lot later compared to the U.S. In a way, I like that the eating times are so much further apart, because it helps me to be less hungry at 10 pm right before I go to sleep and I feel like people snack less often here because of it, I know I do.

The amount of food eaten at each meal is a lot less than what is typically eaten in the U.S. Normally for breakfast my señora gives me café con leche (coffee with milk) and a small pastry/muffin/toast. For lunch is typically soup with bread and a piece of fruit and for dinner we normally have a salad with a small serving of meat, bread, and sometimes fruit.

Soup is a very common dish in Spain, especially during the winter months. We have had all different types of soups in my apartment. One very popular soup is one that is a concoction of pureed vegetables, it is an ok soup, but not my favorite.

Paella is also another popular dish here. It consists of rice, vegetables, and (normally) some type of seafood, but it can be served with any type of meat or without meat. It is one of my favorite dishes here! It is only eaten at lunchtime (the reason for that I am unaware).

Bread is a very popular staple here. It is eaten with almost every meal (not always at breakfast). It is the type of bread that has the hard, crusty outside and the soft, moist inside. It is my favorite food here and I will sorely miss it when I return to the U.S.

Chocolate con churros (chocolate with churros) is a favorite snack/dessert here. It is literally a plate full of churros served with a cup of thick chocolate. You are supposed to dip the churros into the chocolate to eat it. It is a very rich dessert and I normally cannot eat all of the chocolate provided. Other popular desserts are postres (pastries) and helado (ice cream)--it is a lot thicker and contains less sugar than the ice cream in the U.S. Flan is another popular dessert here as well.

Normally eaten during supper-time is the Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelette). It is made with eggs, potato, and sometimes onion, and it tastes almost exactly like an American omelette. I am in love with this dish! Also normally served at supper-time is salad and the Spanish make their salads with olive oil as a dressing and they also put salt on their salads, which I know may sound a little weird, but they are actually very delicious!

Meat-wise seafood is a major staple here. I have had very little chicken or beef since I have been here, although I do know of some students who eat quite a lot of beef and chicken in their homes, so it may differ by the señora.

Saturday, March 10--Salobreña

Today I went to Salobreña, a city about an hour southeast of Granada on the coast of Spain. It is a small tourist city, with a population probably no larger than 10,000 people. I went with Tesla and Sabrina (another girl in my program). We went so we could work on our tans a bit. ;)

We took a bus there at 10:15 am, arriving in Salobreña at 11:15 am. We got our bearings about us (barely) and set out to find the castle that is in the city. We didn't have a map and the tourist office was closed for the weekend, so we took a picture of of a map at an information station (I know, this probably wouldn't help us much, but it was better than nothing). At least we knew enough about this castle that we knew we had to climb the Albaycin (neighborhood on a hill) in the city to get to it. We started wandering towards the Albaycin, when thankfully we found a hostel that gave out free maps! Yay! Now, we could at least see where we needed to go!

We set off in the right direction, took a couple of wrong turns, were directed by 4 nice, old men on the way, one who kept yelling "¡Arriba, arriba, arriba!", at us, which means, "Up, up , up!", and climbed too many stairs till we reached the castle. The castle was very small, especially after being in the Alhambra (the castle in Granada), but beautiful. It offered beautiful views of the city, beach,coastline, and mountains. So beautiful! We wandered around the castle for a while, then we walked through the Paseo de los Flores and down a steep pathway to the beach.

Telsa and Sabrina got Cokes at a cafe on the beach and then we set off to find a good spot to lay out on our towels. Unfortunately for us, a large line of clouds covered the sun about 5 minutes after we laid our towels down. With the sun under the clouds the beach was a little chilly and instead of laying out in our swimsuits we laid out for 1.5 hours in our jeans and sweatshirts. After the hour and a half lapsed the sun finally made it's appearance and we got about an hour of sun before we had to leave the beach to catch our bus. Tesla and I attempted to go in the water, but the water was about the temperature of ice water. I made it in up to my knees and Tesla only went in up to her calves. :)

We caught our bus back to Granada after a slightly chilly, but great day!

Host Families

When students study abroad in Spain and live with host families the relationship between the two parties is mostly a business relationship. The student is paying (indirectly through their program) for housing, food, heating, water, electricity, etc. and the host family is paid enough to cover those costs plus a little extra to make having a student worth their while.

Now, even though I said that this is mainly a business relationship does not mean that students aren't able to get along with their host families; most of the students enjoy their host families immensely, myself included. The host families are very hospitable and do their best to make our stay as pleasant as possible, but there are the few horror stories where students receive the bare minimum of the requirements in order for the host family to squeeze ever dime possible out of the money given to them by our program. I have only heard of one or two of these things occurring in our program and normally it is nipped in the bud rather quickly.

I myself enjoy living with my host mother. I realize that living with her is a business relationship and that I should retreat it as such, but I am still able to get along with her very well and when my roommate and I go out she asks us where we are going, when we will be back, and she tells us to be safe, so she does care about us. I enjoy this grandmotherly affection from her. It is very comforting. The only problems I have had with my host mother is that sometimesvery different from the food in the U.S. and it isn´t the best, but this is a rare occurrence and I like the food she makes almost all the time.

Alhambra

My group went on a tour today (Saturday) to the Alhambra. It is an ancient palace used by the Muslim kings before they were pushed out of Spain in 1492. The Alhambra is separated into 3 different parts, the palace, the Alcabaza (the military fortress), and General Life (the summer palace and the conjoining gardens).

We started in the main palace, entering through the largest of the 4 gates to the palace. This gate was used for the kings' personal use whenever he decided to leave the palace.  Set in stone at the top of the gate is a symbol of Fatima's hand, a symbol of luck and a representation of the five pillars of Islam (1. Profession of faith, 2. Praying 5 times daily, 3. Observing Ramadan, 4. Pilgrimage to Mecca, 5. Giving to charity).

In the main palace we saw the king's quarters, the royal children's quarters, the main courtyard used by courtiers, and the room used for political matters. All of the walls in those rooms are ornately decorated with ceramic tiles and carved stone; they are so beautiful to look at. Next we walked through the Alcabaza, saw the homes where the soldiers lived, viewed the hole to the dungeons, and saw the wall used by firing squads. Finally we visited the General Life, where we walked through the gardens. We ended the tour by eating the sandwiches we brought.

Side note: the Alhambra is the most visited monument in Europe. The number of people who visit each year surpasses the number of people that visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

Paris

Friday, February 24, 2012
Tesla, Amy and I took the city bus at 7 pm to the bus station, then at 8:30 pm we took a 4.5 hour bus rode to Madrid, arriving to the bus station in Madrid at 1 am.

Saturday, February 25, 2012
A train, metro, and bus took us to the airport where we spent 4 hours attempting to sleep on the benches, but what we really did was talk and watch a drunk, homeless man wander the airport in search of his missing shoe and search various people who were sleeping. Thank goodness we were awake because I would have freaked out to find that drunk man hovering over me in the middle of the night.

Finally at 5:30 am we checking in with Vueling Airlines, passed through security, and found our terminal and awaited our flight to Paris. The flight went quick because we all ended up napping a bit, then we arrived in Paris!! A train, metro, and our feet took us to our hostel, St. Christopher's Inn. We ate lunch, checked in, and left our things in a lockable metal crate in our room. Now the fun was about to begin...

The metro was our main form of transportation around the city. Without the metro we would not have been able to see half the sites we saw and we probably would have been lost for half the trip. We navigated the metro to the Paris Opera house. This site was where the movie The Phantom of the Opera was filmed. It is so gorgeous! We did not end up going in because we didn't want to have to pay for the entry fee.

Next, we traveled to the Moulin Rouge. If you don't know what this site is it is going to be difficult to explain. It also has a famous movie made after it, called Moulin Rouge (how ironic?!). It is famous for being a place for prostitution and having illicit dance shows. Like it said it is difficult to explain, if you don't understand watch the movie.  We also just saw the outside of the building. In the few blocks preceding the Moulin Rouge was sex shop after sex shop. It was funny because we knew when we turned on to that street that we were on the correct street.

Our third stop took us to the Arc de Triomphe. This is a famous arch in France, but why it is famous I am not sure. We took pictures and then left for the Eiffel Tower. We would have tried to climb the arch, but it is situated in the center of a traffic heavy square. There were no cross-walks, that we saw that  would help us to go over to the arch, so we decided that we enjoyed our lives and didn't want to be suicidal today.

Like I said, our last site to see for the day was the Eiffel Tower. We got there around 6 pm, which we thought was the perfect time to go because it allowed us time to talk the required pictures in the daylight of the tower, but then we were also able to talk pictures of it during the night as well. Once the sun goes down the Eiffel Tower is lit up with white lights and every hour, on the hour it sparkles for 5 minutes. Being able to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle was one of my favorite things of the trip!

Neither Amy, Tesla or I could get over the fact that we were seeing the Eiffel Tower with our own eyes the entire time we were there. I almost had one of them pinch me, but thought better of it just in case it was a dream because I didn't want to wake up from this dream. We were going to climb the stairs of the tower, but we found out that the top of the tower was closed and you could only go to the2nd floor because the elevator was out of order, so we decided to come back on Monday in hopes that the top would be open.

Supper consisted of Subway, a few blocks away from the tower. I know that Subway is American and we should have eaten something French, but I was craving it very badly and it was close. After supper we returned to the hostel and met our wonderful roommates.

The three of us had to be separated room-wise, so Tesla and I were in the same room and Amy was in a different room. We locked our stuff in a crate in mine and Tesla's room. The first night we were there, mine and Tesla's roommates consisted of an Australian couple, an American entrepreneur, and 3 American guys studying in Sevilla. Since it was Saturday night they all went out and got drunk. Tesla and I being exhausted went to sleep. At 1 am the came back and were all talking at full volume with the light on. Let's just say Tesla and I did not sleep till 4 am and we learned too many things about these people that we would rather have not learned.

Sunday, February 26, 2012
We woke up at 7 am, had breakfast at the hostel at 7:30 am (it consisted of cereal, French bread, jelly, and nutella--delicious!). We left the hostel and were on a metro train by 8:15 am headed to the Louvre Museum. The Louvre opened at 9:30 am and when we got in we "bought" tickets (we showed our passports and got in for free because we currently live in the European Union).

We dashed straight to the Mona Lisa by Da Vinci so we might be able to view the famous painting  with as few people around as possible. I cannot believe I had the opportunity to see the Mona Lisa with my own eyes. It felt like another dream. The painting is even more enchanting in person. It is said that no matter which angle you view the painting from that it seems like she is always looking at you. This is so true! I wanted to test it out, so I viewed the painting from the center, the left side, and the right side, and she was always looking at me. It also seemed like when I was moving to a new angle that her eyes followed me as I moved. It was creepy, but very cool at the same time.

After the Mona Lisa, we wandered through other parts of the museum. We viewed mostly paintings, but also we saw Egyptian and Medieval sculptures as well. It was very interesting. We ended up running into 5 other people from our program, Alex, Taylor, Emma, Amber, and Becca. It was fun to run in to them. We spent 2.5 hours at the museum then left to go to Notre Dame.

At the metro stop we got off to walk to Norte Dame we ended up walking through an open-air market that was selling small pets, pet food, and accessories to go with the pets (i.e. cages, toys,etc.). I was not expecting that , but it was interesting to see.

Notre Dame Cathedral is just as beautiful as all the pictures. I could have sat and studied the architecture on the building all day long, it was that intricate. We also went in to the cathedral during Sunday mass. It was different to hear the mass in French, since I have only experienced English and Spanish masses. The cathedral is just as intricate design and architecture-wise on the inside as it is on the outside. I was especially mesmerized by the intricate stained-glass windows.

We departed Notre Dame and went to a French cafe down the road. I had a crepe with chocolate and bananas on the inside. It was delectable! Amy and Tesla both had spaghetti, which they were unable to finish because it was so large. French bread was also served with our meals.

Once our bellies were full we found the train that would take us to Versailles, the famous French palace where Marie Antoinette lived with her husband King Louis XVI before the French Revolution. Versailles had been used for many generations previously, but this king and queen were the last to use it. Many of you may not know that seeing Versailles was on my bucket list to see before I die and now I can check it off!

We showed our passports here again and were also able to get in for free. We wandered through the rooms of the palace. It was difficult at times to walk through the rooms because the majority of each room was blocked off for display and a small walkway was left open. With only the small walkway it became difficult to navigate because groups of people would be stopped in the middle of it listening to their guides.

All in all the palace is stunning. Everything in the palace is intricately designed, mostly in golden colors. We viewed the king's apartments, the dauphin's (prince/princess in line for the throne) apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, and other hallways in the palace. Outside the palace we walked through the perfectly manicured gardens, the Grand Treinon (a smaller palace used by the royal family as a vacation home, it is about a 15 minute walk away from the palace), and the Petit Treinon (Marie Antoinette's personal vacation home, even though it is ironically no more than a 15 minute walk away from the palace). All three things were beautiful to visit. I am very content now that I was able to visit Versailles and complete another thing off my bucket list.

For supper we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (Amy's choice) where I had Spicy Mac, Chicken & Cheese. It was delicious! We returned to the hostel where we met our new roommates, mostly preppy, stuck-up girls. The same thing happen with the girls as with the guys this night, except I was pissed about not getting enough sleep for a third night in a row, so I opened my curtain and gave them the dirtiest look possible in order to shut them up. They were quite the rest of the night.

Monday, February 27
Monday morning came too quickly. We slept in till 8:30 am this morning, ate the same breakfast as the previous day, and departed the hostel by 9:30 am. We went to the Eiffel Tower this morning. Unfortunately, the top was still closed, but we climbed to the 2nd floor anyways, how could we not climb at least part of the Eiffel Tower? It took us 704 steps to the 2nd floor. What a work-out, but the view made it worth it! We took pictures, climbed down, and took more pictures, then walked over to the Statue of Liberty.

This Statue of Liberty is the sister to the one in New York. It stands about 35 feet high on a pedestal that is about 1.5 times the height of the actual statue. I believe this statue was given to the French by America as a gift of friendship.

After, we found a grocery store where I took my French bread picture for my mother. In 1979 my mom traveled to France for a trip to school and she took a picture with French bread, so I took one to copy her. It is actually really creepy how similar we look in the 2 pictures. I ended up buying 2 loaves thinking it would be nice to have the same number of loaves in the picture as she did, but I forgot that we were going to the Louvre again after this and you can't take food into the museum. Let's just say I was incredibly full after that.

Like I said we went to the Louvre again for 3 more hours for the rest of the day. The first time we went we felt that we had only seen about 25% of the artwork in the museum, after the second time we felt like we had seen about 60% of the artwork. We thought we did pretty good considering there are over 35,000 pieces of art in the museum.

We retired to the hostel for the night after the museum. Our roommates (the girls again) were very quite this night, it made me happy.

Tuesday, February 28
We woke up at 6 am in order to leave the hostel by 6:30 am. We took the metro and a train to the airport. Our flight to Madrid left at 10 am and arrived in Madrid at 12 pm. Another metro took us to the bus station where a bus leaving at 4 pm took us on a 5 hour journey to Granada.

Side notes:
During the whole trip Tesla had problems with her metro card. She bought the same type of pass that Amy and I had and ours worked perfectly. Amy and I thought it was the user who had the problems. :) This was a constant joke for us during the trip. We ended up having to let Tesla in the metro through the exits (this isn't frowned/enforced inFrance). For our memories we took pictures of Amy letting Tesla in through the exit. They are on Facebook for your viewing pleasure. :)

Also, you would think that since we traveled to France that we would encounter a language barrier. Even though there were time that we did not completely understand, overall we were able to get around and function fine. Most of the signs and intercom messages were multi lingual. When they weren't we were able to generally understand the the written messages because French and Spanish are Latin-based languages and they have similar words/roots of words. The part we had the most difficulty with was speaking. We were not able to understand intercom messages unless they were translated. When talking with the French people we found that most people knew a little or a lot of English.

Overall I enjoyed my trip to Paris immensely and would definitely go again. Amy and I are already planning our next trip over spring break to Ireland and London. We are very excited! We called Paris our "experimental trip" because now we know what to do and what not to do while traveling.

I hear the weather in the Midwest is not the most pleasant, you will all be happy to know that the past few days it has been about 17-18 degress Celsius, which is in the 60s in Fahrenheit. It is fantastic!! The weather is only expected to continue warming. :)