New Hair Cut

For those who want to see my new hair cut, its in my profile picture. If not good enough, see facebook later.

Friday night in Madrid and Monday Graduation and Salvador Dali

This weekend was a nice quiet weekend here in Alcala, I decided to stay the weekend here to save my skip day. On Friday night, Saul, Caroline, and I decided to go to dinner at a great restaurant in Madrid where we got a 3 course meal for 10 euros. It was amazing food and we left Alcala about 9:30 and arrived in Madrid about 10:15 and it was about 10:30 by the time we made it to the restaurant. When we finished at about 12:00ish we walked to the Plaza Mayor to see what was going on and to meet with other students. While we were there we encountered an Arabian festival where we sampled some of their desserts. It was quite entertaining, at about 2ish we get tired of walking about and catch a taxi to go to the Avenue de la Americas where we caught out bus home. No one was drinking and we had a fun time without trouble. On Sunday, I went to El Rastro and bought some really cool coins for some good prices, as well as a suprise for my elder brother. I bought Jamara the fans she wanted and Aimee Nagy bought some posters and gifts for her parents, it was very fun! Also on Saturday, I got to go to a free Salvador Dali exhibition, which was amazing, because A it was free, and second, we just finished a class at school about Dali. I felt like I could appreciate Dali's work more after having the class and understanding more about his work and the symbols he puts in his art.
Finally, Monday, we have our graduation but we had to watch a movie in Grammar class, it was insanely disturbing. It was about this girl who has different lives and they keep hypnotizing her to see more of the cause of her pain, but she lives in a artist's school with alot of other people and has this boyfriend named Said. It was filled of course with sex, nudity, and frightening convulsions coming from this girl named Ana, again, I did not much care for the movie dispite my trying to keep an open mind. In conversation class with Jesus, we went to a coffee shop that was cleverly hidden off Calle Mayor. There we just talked about what we were going to do after classes were over and plants that grow in different countries that are expensive to by in Spain, Brazil, or in the USA. At 1:30 we had our graduation where all the MSU students passed, or so I think. Attendance, was laking but they were all taking their grand trips to Granada, Portugal, Rome, or some other place. But me, me quedo en Alcala. I stayed in Alcala because I am going to have my grand trip in two weeks to Granada.

Choa,
CDM

Michael Jackson :(, Merengue in Grammar Class, and sexual movies

So I found out that Michael Jackson is dead, I was like No, that was so sad! I really loved his music and odd public antics. Rest in peace and may your lawsuit troubles be laid to rest. Now on to a more happier note. I got to use my "mad hot ballroom" skills in class and started teaching the Chinese kids how to dance, it was so much fun. I have a recording that I will put on up youtube for all to see the song we sang in class. I do have some dance pictures but not any videos, sorry guys. It was a fun day of school. After grammar class we went to Jesus's class of conversation... well we just watched a movie with the level 4 fluent kids which are ALL Chinese with the exception of my Morracan friend Unaz. The Chinese kids are really cool they actually do go out and watch soccer games with us in the Irish Pub. The the movie we watched in conversation class was in your face culture shock. You have all these Chinese kids who think nothing about it and the American kids sitting in the back covering their eyes from all the nudity. It was a musical about cheating couples, I found it quite wierd and definably not my cup of tea. I guess the thing that I have a hard time getting over is the casuality of sex on TV, even the news shows naked people and dead people on TV with blood gushing everywhere. Americans are definably very conservative in comparision to Spain.

International Relations Simulation Game- Spanish Style and USA FIFA victory against Spain

Yesterday, we had class as always, it was ok. Then, for our last class of the day it was culture class, which we just finished up a art section about Dali and how he was a classic painter as well as surrelist painter and all the symbols in his artwork and what they mean. After that section we began the history of Spain and since we only have three days to talk about it we played a turn table game including the guardia civil, socialistas, comunistas, El Rey juan carlos, and another group which I am not able to recall. Our teacher, which is this really Spanish macho guy with a big boombing voice, think of the Man in the Iron Mark characters. All this man lacks is a long ponytail of curls. So we proceeded to "negociate" between these polical groups, I was in the communist group and we either had the optoin to work with King Juan Carlos, or either start a revolution. The year is 1975 or something and we proceded to start a revolution since the government was weak and the socialistas wanted some change of government so we said why not. But all of this was done in Spanish of course. So after that class I went back to my casa and took a three hour siesta and studied until about 8:30, from that time until about 10:4o ish I go to this Irish pub to watch the soccer match between Spain and the USA and have a drink with a group of MSU students. It was insane! You had Spainards yelling for their side and all the Americans which were many cheering for their side after we made goals after goals. After that I went back to my casa and studied some more until about 1:00ish and went back to sleep!

Toledo, land of the valient

On Sunday we decied to make a trip to Toledo the train tickets were about 15 euros for a thirty minute train ride. I know that I dropped alot of money in Toledo on 22 yr old Jameson a little gladius sword almost 2 feet long and mom some jewelry, as well as some gormet caramel squares for Dad. I got to use alot of my Spanish on the trip and it felt great to be able to easily communicate and understand everything . First off, when we got off the train we took the thirty minute walk up to the Plaza, it was worth it, I really think we went the wrong way but we ended up making it alright anyways. The views were very very beautiful, and the plaza had a nice shade to it. When we got to the plaza we tried to decide what we wanted to see so how about El Greco's house? NOPE didn't get to see it, shut down to rennovation. Also we tried to go to the synagoge across the street, totally got down out of that one too because it closed at 2. After that we were thinking, well lets go see the cathedral, it was shut up so tight, so I asked on of the guys telling postcards what was going on and if the cathedral was always closed or something. He told me that it was closed for a religious event, which happened to be the installation of the next Archbishop of Toledo. After that we go back to the plaza thinking damn, we aren't going to get to see anything, so we had two last ploys that being going to the FREE Santa Cruz museum or go to a monestary with a tour given by nuns. We didn't make either, but we did get to go into the Cathedral, we were going to stay for the installation but we decided that it would be better if we left so we could catch the train. We did take picture, we probably weren't supposed to but we did anyways and left. I still think the one in Segovia is better but then again i didn't know its history. Next and lastly we tried to go to the Santa Cruz museum because it was on our way out, that totally didn't happen and we ended up taking a detour over the old ancient bridge we wanted to walk over on our way to the train station. We got some really good pictures and that was my favorite part of the trip, I loved the moorish architecture. The only real official site we got to see was Sao Tome, which was fine, but it was just a piece of art in a chapel. I can say it is my favorite El Greco painting, and the trip to Toledo was fun because I got to load up on some treasures, some cheap other moderate. I think I will take a trip back to see the official sites. THE END.

Water Parks and The Amazing Race

There was a car bombin in the Basque region of Spain on Friday which caused an interupption in the palns of some of the student here who wanted to go to San Sabastien. Well anyways on Saturday the 20th, we went to the water park to have some good American fun instead of see sites. To get to the "huge" water part we had to take the train, Madrid subway aka "metro", and a bus to get there which took us all two hours. It was a crazy bus ride on the way back because this Spanish girl was playing American music and everyone got excited, even these British guys on their bachelor party. So when Taylor Swift started playing you know half the Americans on the bus started singing even the Spanish folks, it was insane. It felt like we had to compete in the amazing race because there was a big hype in making it on time to the water park so we could have fun and when we had to take the Madrid Metro it was go go go go , the subway wasn't going to wait on you and of course shady characters, so everyone needed to watch their purse/backpack/pockets. It was really interesting if I had to take the Metro by myself I would miss every single stop, well not everyone. I felt like since I've been here I have mastered train stations and how they work. Also, when I arrived here I spoke about 4mph and now about 20-25 mph. We have exams today and tomorrow, Necessito estudiar.

Theatro de Cervantes y La Estrella de Sevilla (The Star of Sevilla)

So last night I went to see a play called the Star of Sevilla, it was incredible. The theatre was beautiful and I got to sit in a private balcony on the first floor box 12 I felt really rich!!!! The set was contemporary and the costumes simple. All of it was of course in Spanish. I was proud that I was able to understand what was going on. Starting out all the actors were kneeling down downstage. Behind them on a raised platform was the sinister ruler and a man close to him. They talk of this beautiful woman who is the star of Sevilla and how the ruler dude wanted to marry her or take her home for his doing. As the scene progresses, the brother of the star talks about her lover Sancho Ortiz and if they are going to get married or close it or not, and their relationship. There is also another woman named Natilde who betrays the star and her brother by trying to get to obtain her freedom by selling them out. So after all the drama Natilde end up dead because she wasn't discreet enough in her actions to dig up dirt on the star. So generally what happens is the star´s lover ends up killing her brother because the King man is jealous and seeks to advance to the star though her lovers actions. In the end, the king man is the loser, the end. I enjoyed going to the theatre and plan on going again this thursday.

El Escorial, the best gem of my trip thus far!

SO at about 10:20 I left my house Sunday morning and walked to the train station and met Anna and another sutend Amanda. The train ticket was about 5€ to and from our destination. IT was a big long going but on the way coming back it seemed quick. When we got to the train station we walked outside and took a bus about for 1.20€ and we rode up to the palace. We bought our admission for 3.5€ instead of the regular 8€, what a great student discount right? We also bought the audtio guide which was so worth it! I learned so much from the audioguide. After we purchased the guides we began our tour which started in a room full of tapestries from the chruch made by artist from the Flemish schools and then following that area was a museum of architecture which showed various plans and methods of constructions s well as various tools used. After that one entereed a series of champers which made up an art gallery with a few El Grecos and Velasquez as well as other artist from several different countries. Most noticebly they all consisted of religious artwork with the exception of a few florals or family portraits which is most befitting considering this is a monastary. My third favorite room is next and that was the hall of battles, which depicts a whole scene of battles on land and sea. If one is clever enough to notice, at the top of the art are nails painted to make the painting look like a tapestry. After exiting gown a corridor of stairs you reach the queen´s chamber which had a double bed, not a queen size as well as a room for her desk after that one reached rooms that were used by the royal family to congregate and spent time together with a room for dining in for King Felipe II. After that you see the King´s chamber which I expected to be a lot bigger and he had the same layout as the queen. When Anna, Amanda, and I walked down a long grand marble staircase we knew we were going to the royal crypt because it was getting reallly cold and I had a creepy feeling. The main crypt contained 12 kings and 12 queens who became the mother of kings. I noticed that there were three empty tombs, one should have been filled by now because they have to wait for the body to decompose. The lst person died in 1964, any day now. After stairing at the magnificant craftsmanship and grand chandelier we made it to 9 other rooms full of dead royals. Some white marble tombs were noticebly smooth, waiting for a body to be laid to rest alongside the others. The ones that were filled had a family crest above, as well as engraving on the top of the tomb. There were probably about 10+ ones that were not filled. The most saddest room to me was the children´s crypt because kids under 7 who died before thier first communion were paced here. It looks like a carosel with three levels and each level has crests adorned above the name, there are some teenage royals laid to rest on the side and religious icons guard the room from evil as one exists to four other rooms of crypts. From there one reachers and end with several rooms used for religous purposes and for cardinals with gobs full religous paintings. After that you come to ¨the patio of evangelists¨ it was pretty and there were paintings going all round this huge porch starting with the birth of Christ through the Ascension with a staircase leading to the basilica of the complex. Next is probably my 2nd favorite part, that being the huge stone staircase with a beautiful fresco that took seven months to complete, don´t worry I got pictures without a flash. The tour was pretty much close to an end ant the basilica was closed because of restoration. The only thing left was the patio of the kings and the library. The library was huge and had 45000 books with the earliest being from about 60s AD, I was able to read the book written in Spanish that taught you how to play chess and it even had pictures to hlept explain the moves. There was an interesting astroglove from about the 1560s-1570s and it was quite impressive. Our tour of 4 hours ws over after that and we cuaght the train to go home. All in all, I was really impressed but I wish I could have made it to the Valley of the Fallen, where Francisco Franco is buried.

That´s all folks!

Salamanca- Scaling a Cathedral and 2000 year old Roman bridges

So we finally made it to Salamanca. We walked from our train stop all the way to the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca which looked very close to the one in Madrid and there were pink dummies in the plaza around balconies which I think had to do with the International festival, which was the last day. On our way to the University of Salamanca we passed as always tourist shops and we made it to the University of Salamanca and we took the Spanish tour I understood what I could hear over an annoying little kid-brat who was old enough to shut up. Maybe that is one of the reasons why I dislike little children so much. Grayson being not so bad because he´s my brother. About the university: if one did not get accepted into Salamanca or started off on a bad foot, they went to the University of Alcalá which is where I go to school. Also, those who got their doctorate from the university wrote their name in bull´s blood on the walls of the university but only those of important stature like religous leaders or other important people were alloted their space. After we left the university we went to the ¨new¨cathedral which was built in 1513-1733, it was beautiful but I believe that the one in Segovia is much more impressive, I was able to take pictures without a flash. WOOT! There was a hand or relic of a saint, the date on the box was 2007 and that seems kinda fresh right? Anna told us that to be considered a cathedral, the building had to have a relic from a saint whether it was hair or some bodyparts. We observed a bride on her wedding day taking pictures outside the new cathedral, that wasn´t the only bride we were to encounter that day. After we exited the new cathedral we walked outside and the next thing we know we passed another wedding party, there were gypies dressed and they did some little maypole dance underneathe the arch and all the girls in or group were like¨we want to get married in a cathedral in Spain.¨ It was pretty after that we got to go inside some old passageways of the Old Cathedral built in about the 1200s. It was pretty sweet because we got to scale the thing! there were many winding staircases and balconies as well as religious texts dating to the 1300s and 1400s. So after looking at a few of these things we went out onto the roof of the cathedral ner the clock and belltower. I hope to got some good pictures because my battery in my camera died on me as I was ontop of the cathedral :(. But it was amazing to see the whole city from the top of the Cathedral roofs. After taking some photos and staring long at the edifices and other intricate designs on the cathedral we descended down the stairs. I am proud to say that I didn´t spend alot of money on this trip about 25€ on food, water, postcards and a fridge magnet for my collection. We went to the bridge after we left the cathedral it was a roman bridge across a tiny tiny river, not deep at all a foot at the most. The roman bridge has 26 arches and it was built by emperor Hadrian ( same guy as Hadrian´s wall in England). We thought it would be a good idea to go get in the river so all 12 of us decided to wade near a 2000 year old roman bridge. ALL of the boys made it far enough to sit on a tree trunk that crossed the river water felt so good, no one fell but I did get some pictures, look on a facebook near you. The mountains are really beautiful on the train ride. After the river we went back to the Plaza, had a drink, and booked it to the train station. I need to decide what to get my family at home, I bought Grayson some nice children books that we will grow into that mom and dad SHOULD be able to read. I also need to figure out what to bring back Jameson. This about sums up my trip!

Courtney
next post will be better

Corpus Christi and Chinese Food

First off let me start out by saying yesterday was a holiday called Corpus Christi, I am not sure of its significance but when I was about to go to school mi ama de casa was like "seriously Courtney you are going to school?" I tell her "Yes, I have to go EVERY day, Holiday included. She's like Ok, but when you come home from school with no one there I will be laughing. Also, about 12 of us went to the Chinese food place to eat, it was a little on the expensive side but the good news: it was great! 12 euros for all you can eat worth if you go back 5 times like some of the guys. After we all finished eating we went to the plaza to hang out and there we watched a few guys do tricks on rollerblades and some fool do A flip, one on the plaza. Then after that we observed some insanely dressed guy as Jamara in our group said "he was trippin major!". Even more after that there was a home alone quote war between John Mark (Juan Marco) Skinner and Erin May. John Mark proceeded to win with the famous "I'm gonna pump your guts full of lead." He left nothing out and when he laughed EVERYONE in the plaza looked at him, I died lauging for all those who know John Mark.

School and bus stops

Last night we went to eat tapas last night at Indalo and El Rudeo, a new favorite with the group. Food at el ruedo is amazing and the best. On Saturday night me Elisa, Aimee and I all went to Burgerking to have some real american food and MAN was it great! I thought I would talk some more about my classes, all of the classes are only in Spanish, there are a variety of student here and well as different levels. I am in level 3 which is the Advanced level, level 4 is for people who are fluent, which is not even close to my skill. There are two other Chinese girls in my class who have only been studying it for 3 months, man do I feel stupid because I've been studying it for about 7 years, four in high school, two in college, and one in junior high. I had a harder time getting use to the accent and then now I'm good, I'm not having any problems with the language. I feel a lot more confinant talking to the chinese girls or other people in my class than locals on the street. Probably because I am not as confidant in the language to talk to locals. Speaking of the bus, I tried to get on it last night and well that just didn't work. I havn't taken the bus because I like walking and neither do I like wasting money on a trip. BUT now I know its not a waste at night. The night before yesterday some African guys were looking me up and down, kinda creepy, and they asked me if I spoke english. OMG, I think I tried to pull off the best accent I could and I was praying to God ohhh help me. So after that little encounter I walked behind a family until I reached home and quickly unlocked the main door to get to the first floor where I lived. Culture class sucked yesterday because it was only about poetry and this guy was speaking 100 mph and even the Chinese kids who are in the superior class were like woah! We have this old french man in our class who will just talk the whole time and like dominate, its kinda annoying even the Chinese kids get all intimidated and that´s lik crazy. Chinese kids aren´t supposed to get intimidated they are supposed to be like super driven and such. But they are really really nice, happiest kids inthe world. I have enjoyed getting to know the other international kids here, they are pretty cool.

Segovia, Madrid, and weird art museums Part 2

First off let we left Alcala in the morning and got off at Atoche stations were we were right outside the Reina Sofia. We went into the Reina Sofia which is a comtemporary art museum and let me tell you how it went! People who appreciate this type of art would love it, the most impressive thing was Picasso's Guernica. I try to like all type of art but really I was dissapointed in this museum because I guess I don't know how to understand the art or nor did it tell a story like the Prado Museum. After about two unbearable hours in the Raina Sofia we go to the Plaza Mayor.... big deal just a square, the one in Alcala is much more beautiful. After we look at Plaza Mayor I go check out El Rastro.... nothing wonderful about it reminds me of Oktoberfest back home (mom you get this one right?). So after wasting some time there we meet back at Plaza Mayor and watch this fat spiderman do nothing except people laugh at him. SO after that we all walk over the the Prado Museum where sadly I had only two hours to visit it but the good news was that is was FREE! This was the gem of the whole trip! They had some beautiful works by Goya, Velasquez, and several other Spanish painters as well as some from around the world. My favorite painting was of King Louis (forgot which number so many) the husband of Marie Antoinette. He was garbed in the traditional robes of blue and cream with pretty fleur de-lis' . I think it was my favorite painting because its from one of my favorite times and is part of one of my favorite stories in history that being of Marie Antoinette. Wish I had the time to visit Retiro Park, I'll hit that one up next time I go back, and I will also spend more than 3 hours in the Prado just to not be rushed. Hope you all enjoyed the Segovia Post because I will not post another that long, my hands hurt by the time I was done. Here is a link to some pictures http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2013708&id=1285680068&ref=nf if that doesn't work then I'll try to put it on photobucket or some website. I have more, this is only what I had time to put up, e-mail me if you have problems courtneydebian@gmail.com

Segovia, Madrid, and wierd art museums Part 1 Segovia

First off, let me make a correction, it was not an archdiosis or however you spell it. It was Archbishop, yep thats it! This post is going to take a while so I´m going to talk about Segovia in this post, then Mardid and its interesting splendors in the next part. So first off we went to Segovia which is a very small, quaint town. You can still feel the midevil atmosphere I love it! So Let us begin my narration. On June 6th we sent to Segovia to visit an Alcázar, Cathedral, and aquaducts. The first thing that one cannot help to notice are the views, everyone where I look the view is wonderful. We took a bus and right after we arrived we went to the Alcázar or castle. We are greeted at the gate by a large statue and beautiful gardens before going across the drawbridge. Looking over the wall surrounding the gardens one can see a town in a valley between two mountains, and if you are brave enough to look down you see many cliffs and trees. I am not brave enough to look down, I have a thing about being pushed over the end of a cliff by someone joking around. Moving on, the castle does have a moat which you can observe by looking down over the wall facing the castle before crossing the drawbridge. The Alcázar was built about the 1400s if not earlier and burned in the 1500s but later restored soon after. We toured the Alcázar and its interesting rooms, the most interesting to me being either the room with all of the kings and queens encircling the room at the top of Spain that were only Castillean. The edifices had coat of arms, names, and a brief history of their reign and a few years. They all looked down at you and it ended with Juana la Loca, or Joan the Mad who was Isabel the Catholic and Ferdinand´s daughter who was married to Phillip the Fair. Rooms that we toured include a thrown room, armory, king´s chamber, some meeting hall, an antecamber, and a pinecone room (named so because of the ceilings) our tour came to an end. Later we climbed about 150ish or more stairs to the top of the castle to see the views and they were magnificent. I recommend to anyone to visit the Alcázar it is worth seeing. Now, moving on to the cathedral , this was the first cathedral I had ever seen and it was beautiful, I could not stop staring and my neck began to hurt because I was absorbing it all. This place was HUGE. If anyone was interested in was 3€ to enter the cathedral, but lucky that came with the price of my trip. Construction on the cathedral began on June 8, 1525 under Bishop Diego Ribera and then was fully consecrated in July 16, 1768. To save expenses and such the baptismal frount, choir, and cloisters were salvaged and put in the new church after it was burned. The Cathedral of Segovia is considered the last Gothic cathedral but it does contain several midevil peices. The oldes piece of art that I noticed dates back from the 1200s when Christianity was making it big. There were several side rooms to the cathedral and artworks and huge alter pieces in each. There were also old bishop robes dating back from the 1600s in a side room. The stain glass pieces were beautiful each depicting a scene of Christ or his apostles as well as other major stories in the bible. No technology can be used in the cathedral ie no pictures, not even with flash, but I still saw people sneak them, that pissed me off a bit because its not very respectful for time and history if we want to save it. Anyways, the final place we went to were the aquaducts, which start very tall and were built without mortar. I thought the aquaducts were not the best, perhaps if I saw them first I would appreciate them but I did not find them amazing but it was still cool to see a 2000 year old structure still standing. Segovia is turely an amazing town that stands out because it is a beautiful, quiet, quaint town despite the bustle of a few tourists coming to see the alcázar. there are some very touristy shops that I avoided but only went it to buy some postcards or pictures of the inside of the cathedral because I didn´t take any. Out of all the shops and I went one, one stood out the most and that was a shop with some special things make my local artist in Segovia or around the central region of Spain including Toledo and Madrid. I cam across some jewelry that I had never seen anything like it before it was handmade by an artisan from Toledo mostly from some sort of metal substance. I decided to get the ring, earings, and bracelet because I knew I wasn´t going to go back I got a pretty sweet deal for 58€ for all three based on all the other prices I saw throughout the day. The owner was a very intelligent and refined Señora who talk to Elisa and I about how everything was made and where it originated from. I also bought some small hand painted prints made by an artist in Segovia for my apartment next year. All in all, if I ever had the chance to return to Segovia i would! If you ever get the chance to go to Spain you must see Segovia. It makes an easy day trip from Madrid for those who get tired of a huge cosmopolitan area.

Enjoy this post because the next one won´t be as long!
Courtney

a little history of Alcala

Finally I have had enough time to get around to talking about the history of this town and the university. First off, Alcala is very famous for the writer Cervantes who wrote Don Quijote the man of la mancha. We were given a tour of the school on about Monday or something and what makes up the University of Alcala is several old small school that existed in about the 1500s or the 1600s. The libraries that we went to were old cathedrals that got torn up to be libraries etc etc. The bulding here are very well maintained and are very modern to say the least. We also went to the main cathedral that was restored. It is really beautiful, a gem. Inside there are very OLD painting of i believe an archdiocis of the catholic church. The tomb takes back to the 16th century to say in the least and contains the body of the holy man himself. I will go back and takes pcitures for all of you to see, ha when I get back. I also learned that there is a destoryed cathedral where Cervantes was baptized because of the civil war in the 1930s during the facist rule of Spain. The republic and Francisco Franco are still very touchy subjects today. For our culture class we are watching a movie called La lengua de las mariposas, which translated mean the language of butterflies. We havnt finished it yet, but I will do a spìll about it later. Tomorrow we get to go to Segovia on Saturday, which has aquaducts built nearly 2000 years ago that are still standing, I should get some amazing photos. Then on Sunday we are goin to Madrid to the Prado Museum, Reina Sofia museum of comtemporary art, and the Royal Palace. Again, more photo opps for amazing pictures. Hopefully in the next few weekends some of the people around here will want to go to Toledo to see some fine swords and wonderful history, I´m a dork, can´t help it.

TO MAMA: Need a new hellokitty alarm clock, mine is fried like my straightner, but I bought a 10€ straightner, its not too bad. And also harem pants are VERY much in style.

Manpris, Mullets, y Bob Ross

So today was the first day of clases it was not too bad. We have classes from 9am to 2:30 pm of course with no lunch breaks because Spainards eat about 2 to 3 pm. Last night we found some what I like to call ¨local flavor¨ we had lomo y patatas, the steak was amazing!! We usually just pick something off the menu to try and if we don´t like it eat it anyways or pass it to someone who does. I went home by 10:30 and again my family was asleep, I must be living with some strange Spainard because everyone else´s family stays up very very late like 1 to 2 in the morning. Also note to all people back home if I havn´t mentioned it before Spainards watch more TV than Americans. Also, Everytime that I sit down to eat they tell me I need to engordar (get fatter). Now, let move on to more about classes, I had a grammar, conversation, and then culture class last. My conversation maestro es mi favorito porque el es muy simpatico y comico. He´s kinda a young guy, funny. For all of you who know Bob Ross well my culture teacher looks like him! He has huge curls and we´re learning about fine arts so I think it goes together. Other notes to mama: my straightner is dead or so I think it is so my hair is going to be ugly the whole trip and will be pulled up. There is a lot of graffiti here but noticeably not on walls. Mullets and Manpris (capris that guys wear) are the huge hit here, look for them in an America near you. Finally for all of those who are wondering NO we don´t have AC. Its crazy right, we all have to open our window in the day and close it at night. ¡Que rediculo!

No siesta today

First off this morning we took our test to place us in a class to see which ones we will get. Then I went back home to eat, Carmen, my ama de casa, house mom, cooked me some egg with tuna... at first i was like YICK, i´m not going to eat that, and I wonder if that showed on my face. Well to be nice I ate it to try something new, I can now say that I do not dislike eggs and tuna, but I don´t love it. Last night all of us hung out at the plaza at about 6 and I left and went back to my house at 10:30 it was just getting dark can you believe it? I had a beer in a small cup it wasn´t that bad, and had a sip of tinte de verano, which is actually a good drink, it is a watered down wine with fruit in it, but its not to be confused with Sangria. We went and ate at a pizzeria last night about 6 of us went, it was pretty good we got 3 pizzas for 25 euros and shared them between six people so it wasn´t too expensive. Today we have a tour of the school in about.... 45 minutes. The walk to my house from the Plaza de Cervantes is really interesting, you go from nice stores to chinese stoes, shoe stores, tons of watch/jewelry stores as well as specific places to buy food like bread and meat. I think my favorite part of Alcala is the calle mayor and a little green shaded area with a statue of Queen Isabella. There are also lots of storks that live in the cathedrals and their nests are huge, the bird is the size of a man at least to say. Everyone smokes here, you can tell who the smokers are, I wonder what the life expectancy here in Spain is...I wish that I got to take a siesta today :( naps are wonderful, I wish we had them in the USA. Does anyone know if there were any survivors from the plane crash coming from Brazil to France? Other Spanish customs watching T.V. Spainards in Alcala watch ALOT more T.V. than Americans and they eat more, just only healthier.