Ughh. I just wrote a really really long post, and then my computer lost internet, and lost it. Darn. Well, I will try again and hope it doesn't happen again.
Things are getting much better here. I am getting used to the lifestyle, and using the metro, and walking everywhere. The metro that goes to my school just shut down for repairs, so now I have to take a metro to a bus and then walk 20 minutes, to and from school. It gets a little old, but there isnt really anything to do.
It finally seems to be cooling down, which is awesome, It has been HOT recently, and its a real bummer.
School is pretty boring, and I dont really feel like I am learning much spanish from my classes. I am learning much more at home. I still cant speak it very well, but I can understand what people say very well, as long as they speak slower.
In the past week we have done a lot of things with the program that have turned out to be really interesting. We toured around the Prado, but really quickly. We only got to see Valazques, Goya and El Greco, because they are the most famous Spanish painters there. We found out that there was a huge Picasso exhibit there, and that it was leaving sunday, so we went back to see that. It was really a good exhibit, there were TONS of his paintings. Sundays are always free, which is great to know, because I definitely need to go back, and spend a lot more time there looking around.
On Saturday we had an excursion to Segovia, which was a lot of fun. It was free, and there was a lot to see. In the middle of the town is a giant Roman aquaduct, it was incredibly impressive, and you could climb to the top of it and see the entire city. There was also a gigantic castle, which apparently is the castle Walt Disney modeled the castle in Cinderella after. And there were two very large, very very old churches. One of them had what was supposedly human bones scattered all around, from the shallow graves in a graveyard from a long time ago. I didnt really buy it that they were genuine human bones from that time, because they were way too convieniently placed, but they were definitely bones, and it was creepy. It was one of those churches you could tell was super old, because all the solid stone was totally worn away where people had been walking for hundreds of years.
Next week a lot of people are going to the beach at Valencia, but I think Im going to skip out on that one, and go on another excursion in Salamanca. The beaches just have too much sun for me, unfortunately.
We have a couple 4 and 5 day weekends next month, and it looks like some of us are going to go to Portugal, which I am very excited for. My padre here tells me its absolutely gorgeous.
Yesterday, we went to the Palacio Real, which I already mentioned I live walking distance from. We got to tour a part of the inside. I'm glad we didn't see the whole thing, there are apparently 4000 rooms! I think we are going to the Reina Sophia museum soon, which is where Picasso's Guernica is. Im looking forward to that.
After the palace yesterday, some of us just went and sat on the grass, hanging around. It was right then that the weather broke, and it felt so good.
I thought life in Spain wouldn't be too different from home, but it really is. The customs are totally different, and its really hard to remember what not to do. Like, you cannot, for any reason, stretch in public. You get huge glares. No eating in public, too, unless its a restaurant. We also got a lot of looks today when we were at a mall using wireless. I think most people here don't use wireless, because its almost impossible to find any, and also, every single person who walked by stared at us, and whispered. Weird. I mean, they DO have wireless at this mall, so they must expect people to bring laptops and work. I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there were 5 people in a row all with laptops typing really enthusiastically and speaking english.
Anyways. Im going to see if I can post this now, before it gets any longer and I lose it. I hope everyone is doing great, and I want to hear from all of you!
Hasta luego.
Things are getting much better here. I am getting used to the lifestyle, and using the metro, and walking everywhere. The metro that goes to my school just shut down for repairs, so now I have to take a metro to a bus and then walk 20 minutes, to and from school. It gets a little old, but there isnt really anything to do.
It finally seems to be cooling down, which is awesome, It has been HOT recently, and its a real bummer.
School is pretty boring, and I dont really feel like I am learning much spanish from my classes. I am learning much more at home. I still cant speak it very well, but I can understand what people say very well, as long as they speak slower.
In the past week we have done a lot of things with the program that have turned out to be really interesting. We toured around the Prado, but really quickly. We only got to see Valazques, Goya and El Greco, because they are the most famous Spanish painters there. We found out that there was a huge Picasso exhibit there, and that it was leaving sunday, so we went back to see that. It was really a good exhibit, there were TONS of his paintings. Sundays are always free, which is great to know, because I definitely need to go back, and spend a lot more time there looking around.
On Saturday we had an excursion to Segovia, which was a lot of fun. It was free, and there was a lot to see. In the middle of the town is a giant Roman aquaduct, it was incredibly impressive, and you could climb to the top of it and see the entire city. There was also a gigantic castle, which apparently is the castle Walt Disney modeled the castle in Cinderella after. And there were two very large, very very old churches. One of them had what was supposedly human bones scattered all around, from the shallow graves in a graveyard from a long time ago. I didnt really buy it that they were genuine human bones from that time, because they were way too convieniently placed, but they were definitely bones, and it was creepy. It was one of those churches you could tell was super old, because all the solid stone was totally worn away where people had been walking for hundreds of years.
Next week a lot of people are going to the beach at Valencia, but I think Im going to skip out on that one, and go on another excursion in Salamanca. The beaches just have too much sun for me, unfortunately.
We have a couple 4 and 5 day weekends next month, and it looks like some of us are going to go to Portugal, which I am very excited for. My padre here tells me its absolutely gorgeous.
Yesterday, we went to the Palacio Real, which I already mentioned I live walking distance from. We got to tour a part of the inside. I'm glad we didn't see the whole thing, there are apparently 4000 rooms! I think we are going to the Reina Sophia museum soon, which is where Picasso's Guernica is. Im looking forward to that.
After the palace yesterday, some of us just went and sat on the grass, hanging around. It was right then that the weather broke, and it felt so good.
I thought life in Spain wouldn't be too different from home, but it really is. The customs are totally different, and its really hard to remember what not to do. Like, you cannot, for any reason, stretch in public. You get huge glares. No eating in public, too, unless its a restaurant. We also got a lot of looks today when we were at a mall using wireless. I think most people here don't use wireless, because its almost impossible to find any, and also, every single person who walked by stared at us, and whispered. Weird. I mean, they DO have wireless at this mall, so they must expect people to bring laptops and work. I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there were 5 people in a row all with laptops typing really enthusiastically and speaking english.
Anyways. Im going to see if I can post this now, before it gets any longer and I lose it. I hope everyone is doing great, and I want to hear from all of you!
Hasta luego.
posted by anniegoestospain @ 9:03 AM
1 Comments:
At 10:28 AM,
Anonymous said…
i hear the reina spophia is really cool. never been myself, but i'm sure you'll love it :)
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