Sunday, December 4, 2011

Well I have officially adopted the Spaniard form of life

So I have been here for 3 months... and I feel like I can't speak English anymore... I've had two English tests since I've been here, and I didn't pass either with a 10. Its like when I am speaking  English with my fellow American exchange student, Jess Nelson, I notice how bad I speak English. For example I remember parts of  past conversations.
Jess-When do we have to go the next rotary event?
Me- Well know do I.... I mean I don't know...
Jess-How did your math test go?
Me- I think I didn't doos it well.
Jess- How well can you speak Spanish?
Me- I talk Spanish good.
Jess- Have you noticed that since we have been here our English has gotten worse?
Me- It's gotten to the point where my English teacher thinks I can't speak English, so she makeded me do problems in class.

It's just what happens when you have been speaking another language all day, everyday, for 3 months straight.

I have started a rap group with a friend... Yes, you guys can all laugh but I think its cool! I'm doing it because I still want to be a part of some kind of composition of music... so I'm learning how to speak in rhyme, its harder than I thought but I'll get better in time. But one things for sure rapping is pretty fun, I'll show you all my songs when they are done. Because I've adopted to the way a Spaniard lives, it's just what the experience being an exchange student gives.

My basket ball team is in first place in our league.... How cool!!!
We beat the 2nd best team in Granada, and I had a 20+ point game!

Getting better at break dancing.... I can do a head stand!

Passing all but 2 classes...
(P.E. and Math)
these are both really hard classes... and yes P.E is hard! (Harder than I thought, harder than most of the classes)

Well that is all I got for now....
Bye

Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Little Things that still mess me up

So in Spain, obviously a few things here and there are different.. but the thing is, these different things are still confusing me. So I shall list them:

First of all the Metric System.
So when any one asks me how tall I am, I really don't know how to respond, I guess I can say "I think I'm about 175cm" because if I told them I was 5'9" no one could percieve it. I feel the same about kilometers. I'll ask someone "How far is the park", or "How far do we have to walk", and they respond by saying "about 4 kilometers", and I have to like think for a second to do the math. I really don't know how big a kilometer is, I can't like put an image of it in my head.
I will also include degrees celsius in the metric system... I still don't get it; I just get that 0 is freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and 100 is boiling (212 degrees Fahrenheit).

Elevators
What keeps getting me every time is that the floor on ground level is floor zero, not floor 1. In the USA floor zero is like a parking garage, and floor 1 is ground level. Its a small thing that keeps gets me.

No street names
There are hardly any street signs, when I say this I am referring to the names of the street. You kind of just have to know what street you are on.

Military/World time
They use military time on all of the clocks... Yet no one ever says "Its 22 O'clock" they still say its "10 O'clock". But I still have to stop and think for a second to understand what time it is.

Street Lights
They exist, but no one stops at a red light... well they do, only if there is oncoming traffic.

The Date
In the USA if it was the 3rd day of February we would write it like this 2/3/11... Over here in Spain, the day comes before the month and looks like this 3/2/11.

Well these are just a few examples!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

What? Seriously?

So I just joined a break dancing group... What? Never done this stuff before! I need to gain some more muscles.. I´ve lost  lot since I have been here! But I´m excited to get this started up!

Also the crazyest thing happend in class today. So I was sitting in my English class when the teacher tells the class ¨Today we are going to listen to a song in English¨ so I was thinking to my self cool what song....
when she played the song  heard a familiar drum beat... too familiar and than... I realized it was the song I had wrote with my band...! Wow we were listening to my song ¨Oh Mari¨ in my english class!!! Then the class made me sing it... I know there is some pictures and photos... but as of now i still dont have access to them...
but that was the coolest weirdest thing ever!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Granada my first European Football game!

Sweet! today was the first soccer game that I have seen live since I have been here. Let me tell you, Europeans really love their football. It was such a beautiful sight seeing thousands of people with their Granada FC banners, singing, and cheering for their team... Even more awesome, when the fans of the opposing team showed up, all of the Granada fans were screaming "nice words" at them. And than it got even crazier. The police had to intervene because some Granada fans looked as if they wanted to kill some of the Real Racing Club fans. Eventually it ended okay, but wow a face says a thousand words, especially when it looks like it wants to kill someone.
The first thing I noticed that was different was that there was no national anthem... no one sung the national anthem of Spain. This was strange for a moment because I'm always used to hearing the national anthem before every game. So I asked my host mom about it and she told me they only play the national anthem for international games... If Spain played lets say England in a soccer match then you would hear the national anthem, but for domestic games no...
Nevertheless the game was good. It actually was very exiting... I still don't get how Granada couldn't score... they had like 10 super close misses... a classic case of professionals who can't do their job! The game ended in a 0-0 draw because sadly Granada FC isn't one of the better teams in Spain if you know what I mean.. actually they are second to last... For me, as long as they are not last, its okay with me!



The Stadium

My host mom Ana and Yered



Two Months

 So I've survived another month away from home! It has been an awesome two months and I have to say I really do love it here. yes I will admit that there are a few things here and there that I do miss about home or that bother me a little bit here, but I'll get over it. I remember something my friend said when we were just talking about random stuff at school. She told me "you are only going to be here for a year, that may seem like a long time, but it really isn't too long. You shouldn't worry about cultural differences or issues you may be having in school or whatever, you are here to just enjoy the year" and so that is what I am doing. 

Also my Spanish has gotten much better! I am proud of it. if you were wondering 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Marching for a cause

Last Saturday I was able to participate in a political protest in Spain. Although this protest was held all over the world, the protest I witnessed and was a part of was truly amazing. It really was quite a humbling sight, seeing thousands and thousands of people marching for a solution. People had signs that said such amazing things.
                                           means of manipulation
                                              1 bank to govern them all
                                                       I want a future
                                               without a house, without a job, without fear
                                              "Thees hands" these are our arms

In Spain the economy crashed harder than it did in the US, all over you see construction sights abandoned because the funds to build whatever was meant to be built fell, so the construction stopped midway. Right across the street from my house you can actually see the skeletons of houses rotting away because no one will ever finish building the house, and no one will ever buy the house.In the US when the unemployment rate hit 12%, havoc and fear spreed out throughout the nation... In Spain about 20% of the working population is unemployed. So the sights of this protest were truly amazing.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

One Month

So official I have been here in Europe.... in Spain... in Granada for 1 whole month! It feels like its been forever, and yet at the exact same time it feels like it has been a short time. I have adopted this country as my own already. I remember the first week I got here a friend of mine took me to "El Centro" to check out the town, I remember being in such awe of how beautiful and antique it the city was... but now, since I go to town everyday, and because I live here, it doesn't give me that same vibe that it did the first time I went downtown. So I guess what I am trying to say is that I am no longer in the honeymoon/tourist faze of the program, but I can live with that because, tourists don't get to hang out and have a good time with the natives.

Spanish..... so I'm going to admit it right now, I thought my Spanish would be way WAY better living in Spain for a month... I guess I didn't meet my expectations because I feel like its just a little bit better than before I got here. I have my ups and downs, I feel like there are times where I could pass as a fluent Spanish speaker, when I'm talking to my friends, talking to the girls, having a good time, and then I come home and my mom asks me if I want to eat and I have no idea what she said! So I really don't get how that works out. I'm still not thinking in Spanish, and I still can't seem to understand a damn thing in class (sorry for the damn, but I just think its the best adjective that fits in that spot). I can only try to understand for so long until I just zone off. The professor will be talking about how philosophy is an important concept in history and I can only pick up blah bluh bloh bah! Okay, so its not that bad, depending on the lesson, or depending on the class, I can either understand a lot or a little. My economics class I would say is the most interesting class, therefore I can understand more and pay attention for longer in the class. Another class that I actually enjoy is my french class. WHAT? I think I like this class because it is French level 1, therefore I'm not the only one who can't speak a word of French. Surprisingly enough, I have learned a little bit a French, the basics, but enough that I can be satisfied with it. I think one thing that I love about my French class is when the teacher is teaching us how to pronounce a word. The whole class sounds like a zoo or some kind of place that has wild animals.

So school.... one thing I miss about school in the USA is of course, the longer breaks in between classes. Over here we have 3 classes in the morning; hour long classes, 5 minuet breaks in between, and than a 30 minuet lunch and then 3 more classes with 5 minuet breaks...
So I think I can guess what your thinking, "That is a lot of time in between classes"... am I right?
Well the thing is, I am used to classes that last an hour and a half long. So at my school in the US we have two large breaks, 1 break being 30 minuets, the other break being an hour long, AND it  includes the 5 minuet passing period. So I guess the structure of school is a lot more relaxed in the US than it is here.

So sadly, I didn't make the soccer team I tried out for. It was actually a crazy cool experience because these kids were so amazingly good. Their passes were amazing, the communication, I could go on but my point is that its just beautiful soccer, so beautiful that I could have shed a tear. While I was playing with them I thought I was playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona. They were just that good. A funny part of this tryout experience was the coach. The coach said before the tryouts that he was going to be a "hard headed" coach, so while he was yelling at his players he would get so into it and so upset, and what was even more crazy is that his players just shut up and did exactly what he said without any hesitation. I wanted to laugh so loud when in the middle of practice some of the players kept messing up the drill we were doing. So the coach stops everyone, tells the kids to give him the ball, and then screams a couple of "nice" words and then tells the players to continue the drill. Amazingly after the coach said what was on his mind the player executed the drill Perfectly! But at the end of the day I knew that I wasn't as good as these kids, so when the coach told me I didn't make the team I didn't really feel that bad about it.
But now I am on a basketball team! So after I told my friends that I didn't make the soccer team, immediately  they asked me if I wanted to join their basketball team. Me, with nothing better to do said yes! I actually really like this basketball team and I happy that I'll be playing with these guys!

I am really excited to start this next month, because If it was anything like this last month I am going to love it! One thing I realize is that for every one thing I miss about the USA, I can find 1 thing that I like better about Spain. And that is just the strait up truth.

So... to conclude, looking foreword to October!!!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Weekend in Madrid (Well... near Madrid)




So last weekend we had a meeting with all of the inbound exchange students to Spain. It was a rather interesting experience for me only because of the fact that everyone was American. Yes Americans! Of course there were a few kids here and there from other countries, but it was primarily American kids. There was so many Americans it was like we invaded Europe like we did in World War 2. It was strange being in Spain, speaking only English for an entire weekend. That is how crazy it is, I am so use to speaking Spanish that when I hear English, it is weird! Nevertheless, I had a good weekend. Some of the conferences were boring, but the other exchange students were cool. Also me and this one girl found a guitar, so we rocked the house at our campfire event! It was so cool! It was the highlight of my weekend!








Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Yesterdays Trip to Cordoba y Alcala

Today I went on a tour to see other cities in Andalusia, Spain. Wow, what beautiful places. I can't believe how old these places are. Córdoba was first the capital of the Iberian peninsula when the Romans conquered it, then  when the Roman Empire fell, Spain was conquered by the moors in the 7 century, and Córdoba was than made the capital of Spain for the moors. The moors built there Mosque on top of a Roman basilica, and when the Christians conquered Spain in the 15th century they turned the mosque into a Cathedral. Wow! Its crazy how Spain has so much different impact on its history. Its amazing and was an enjoyable experience!




The Bridge leading into Cordoba








The Cathedral of Cordoba



Inside the Cathedral




The Castle of Alcala

















Monday, September 19, 2011

The Streets of Granada

The Streets of Granada

The Alhambra



La Catedral de Granada

Un Crep













A festival for the virgin of Granada



Pic nic with my host family in Spain



Playing a bit of soccer