April 30- May 2
Our last group weekend trip was to the northern part of Spain, Asturias. This part of Spain is the only area which the Moors were not able to conquer because the landscape made it very difficult to navigate and cross. Maria explained that this trip was different from the others in that there are no really touristy things to go, it's more of a chance to enjoy the appreciate the scenery- and she was right. Saturday morning, we went took two buses up a mountain called Picos de Europa. While we were driving we ran into a heard of cows that we had to weave around and the driver actually tapped one. We finally made it up to the top and basically felt like I was in The Sound of Music (that's the best way I can describe the scenery). We climbed up some more stairs to the top of the mountain and and took some beautiful pictures. At one point, I tried to walk past a cow/bull, I don't know what it was, but it literally stared me down and looked as if it were going to charge- there goes that idea.
Next, we visited a cave called Covadonga, which had the tiniest chapel carved into it. Legend has it, the the Virgin Mary appeared to the Christians in this cave to tell them to fight back against the Moors that were trying to invade. Also, I drank from a fountain whose water is suppose to bring a long and happy marriage. Bring on the love. We also checked out a Cathedral that was rebuilt in the 19th century. After, we went to lunch, which was absolutely delicious and I was in my glory. First, I had this huge salad and then some grilled vegetables and I also split a paella with Chelsea. Being that it was our last group lunch, my table decided that we need to drink 10 bottles of wine. I has a little too much and was a little too happy afterward and somehow found myself thrown into the ocean. It was freezing, but see, I can be fun! when we got back to the hotel, everyone had the same idea of a little hottub, suana, steam room action.
The next day we went kayaking- what an adventure. Everyone looked so hot in their wet suits! Maya and I were in a kayak together and were the first to go. The instructor pushed us down this slide thing and since I was in the front I got soaked! The water was crazy cold! We were in the lead for a while, hanging out singing some "Just Around the Riverbend" and trying to maintain our competitive lead. We got stuck a few times, but we making sweet time. Then, Chelsea and Ashley passed us and we couldn't catch up. It started to drizzle a little and then it gets a little heavier. Maya and I reached the first stopping point where we should have stopped to have the cute little lunch they packed for us, but we didn't see Chelsea and Ashley's boat so we figured they skipped the stop to try to reach the end faster and get out of the rain. Okay, so down it's downpouring and our boat is taking on a lot of water, plus it's freezing and no one is in sight. We keep persevering, but I'm getting tired and we're soaked. We reached what we thought was the last check point, but there was no one waiting to take us back so we kept going. Then in hindsight, we saw a car so we turned around and battled the current, walked around the electric fence after Maya got shocked and made it to the car. By this time, I can't feel my toes and just want to leave, but the guy says we have to wait to see if anyone else shows up. In about 15 minutes, 4 other boats came and the guy told them that the end of the course was another 1/2 hour. Since they kept going, I felt like Maya and I should finish too so against my better judgment, we hopped back in the boat. Of course it started raining again. Maya and I were two of three girls that made it to the end only to find out afterward that everyone stopped at the first stop and peaced out. I was so extreme braving the outdoors!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Paris- The Extended Version
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Today I left for Paris with a group of friends. Our flight was delayed by about two hours, but we finally arrived at l'Regent hostel. Since the hostel was really close to the Moulin Rouge, we decided to try and find it and get some dinner. We stopped at the corner restaurant and had the most delicious onion soup. Later, instead of searching for the Moulin Rouge, we had our first nutella crepe!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Woke up early this morning to go to the Palace in Versailles and began discussing the chances of our flight being canceled, but I tried to stay optimistic. The Palace was absolutely beautiful and the gardens were incredible. We had lunch in the gardens at La Flottille and again really delicious onion soup. Later that day we visited the Louvre, which was insane. The majority of the pictures I've studied in art history are in this museum and it was so cool to see them in person. Too bad I seem to have forgotten most of the historical context, but at least I recognize the paintings. Occasionally, I would remember something intelligent. Okay, so after the Louvre began the process of freaking out about our flight the next day. After jacking the up the phone bill, it is confirmed that our flight is definitely canceled. So Courtney's dad successfully booked us a ticket for an overnight train from Paris to Madrid for Sunday night. Three hundred dollars later we are still set to leave and decided it was time for a drink. We grabbed some wine, cheese and baguettes and were super cute having dinner under the Eiffel Tower. In the midst of being cute, Courtney gets an e-mail saying that our train reservation was canceled and turns out we thought was a confirmation was really a pending request that was denied. Back to square one.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
John and Kelly woke up early and went to every train station trying to get a train however all trains were suspended until Tuesday. They then went to the bus station and finally got a ticket for a 17 hour bus ride back to Madrid Monday afternoon- should be fun. The rest of us tried to book the same ticket online at the hostel, but the website was in such overload that we had to go there. We waited in line for an hour (the bus station was chaos) and couldn't get a bus to Madrid until Tuesday afternoon. At this point, we had no other alternative so our weekend vacation suddenly became a week-long stay, but what better place to be stranded than Paris! Unfortunately for me, I thought for once in my life I would pack light so I was far from being prepared for a week. Additionally, my camera was dead, US phone was practically dead and my Spanish phone had no minutes. After the hectic morning, we decided it was time for some shopping so we hit up the best street for shopping, _________. Had some coffee and snacks at Starbucks then browsed around in Zara for some extra clothes since everyone was lacking. That night, we got dressed up and went for Italian (at some point during every trip there is always one Italian meal). Then, went to an Irish pub where we learned some key French phrases from the locals.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Because we were unable to get home, unfortunately we missed the group trip to el escorial. Instead, we hopped on a four hour walking tour around the city. The tour guide was really informative and we got to see all the major sites in Paris for free! Later, we had some lunch and then me and three girls went to the movies to see Remember Me. We had no idea what the movie was about- all we knew was that Robert Pattinson was in it. Turns out it was a lot sadder than the cute chick flick we had in mind.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Went to see the Sacré Coeur, a beautiful all white church on the highest point in Paris. The views were amazing! Then, we had to stop at the Long Champ store before leaving. We had lunch at this adorable cafe called Angelina's. I had onion soup (of course) and shared a broccoli quiche- so good! We hurried to try and get inside Notre Dame, but missed it by 5 minutes so we just sat outside and watched some 17 year old boys show off on their roller blades. Had sushi for dinner, but it wasn't the same as in the states. We packed all out stuff and bonded over some wine, cheese and baguette.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
We tried to wake up early in order to have to visit the Impressionist Museum where Manet, Monet and Van Gogh are housed. However, the line was super long and there wouldn't have been enough time to get to the bus station so we just bummed around for a couple hours. The bus station was hectic as expected and we got into a little argument with some woman trying to get to Portugal. Finally, we get on the bus after it arrives late. There was about 20 people on the bus even though all the tickets were sold so I'm getting really annoyed. Apparently, the company was trying to sell the seats again to people that were waiting in line or waiting for the missing people to show up. Hello- you're kidding me?! If you're late, you miss the bus- why are we waiting for people!? So I got off the bus to figure out what was going on- I barely follow the broken English, manage to understand we should be leaving at 3:30, an hour late. It's 3:30 and we are still there so i go find the driver to get some answers and finally we leave. So on top of being 2 hours early for the bus, we left about 2 hours late- at least I had two seats to myself. Oh- forgot to mention- there's no bathroom on the bus. The driver stops after two hours because some Indian guy was complaining- you're joking right? Then, we stop again at 10 for 45 minutes, but the rest stop is closed so we have to walk up the street to a wannabe WaWa kinda thing. Then, we stopped again around 3:30am. It's impossible to sleep on this bus and I pretty much am wearing every piece of clothing I had. At 6:00am, the driver tries to stop at a hotel. Hello?! - what hotel is going to be open for breakfast at 6:00am. this is just dumb. So we have another 45 minute break at a gas station bar- cool. Finally, at 9:00am, two hours late, we made it to Madrid then in another hour we were back in Alcalá. Time for marketing and theology- horray!
Moral of the story- Paris was amazing and I definitely want to go back. Always bring extra clothes and chargers. Never take a 17 hour bus ride.
Today I left for Paris with a group of friends. Our flight was delayed by about two hours, but we finally arrived at l'Regent hostel. Since the hostel was really close to the Moulin Rouge, we decided to try and find it and get some dinner. We stopped at the corner restaurant and had the most delicious onion soup. Later, instead of searching for the Moulin Rouge, we had our first nutella crepe!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Woke up early this morning to go to the Palace in Versailles and began discussing the chances of our flight being canceled, but I tried to stay optimistic. The Palace was absolutely beautiful and the gardens were incredible. We had lunch in the gardens at La Flottille and again really delicious onion soup. Later that day we visited the Louvre, which was insane. The majority of the pictures I've studied in art history are in this museum and it was so cool to see them in person. Too bad I seem to have forgotten most of the historical context, but at least I recognize the paintings. Occasionally, I would remember something intelligent. Okay, so after the Louvre began the process of freaking out about our flight the next day. After jacking the up the phone bill, it is confirmed that our flight is definitely canceled. So Courtney's dad successfully booked us a ticket for an overnight train from Paris to Madrid for Sunday night. Three hundred dollars later we are still set to leave and decided it was time for a drink. We grabbed some wine, cheese and baguettes and were super cute having dinner under the Eiffel Tower. In the midst of being cute, Courtney gets an e-mail saying that our train reservation was canceled and turns out we thought was a confirmation was really a pending request that was denied. Back to square one.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
John and Kelly woke up early and went to every train station trying to get a train however all trains were suspended until Tuesday. They then went to the bus station and finally got a ticket for a 17 hour bus ride back to Madrid Monday afternoon- should be fun. The rest of us tried to book the same ticket online at the hostel, but the website was in such overload that we had to go there. We waited in line for an hour (the bus station was chaos) and couldn't get a bus to Madrid until Tuesday afternoon. At this point, we had no other alternative so our weekend vacation suddenly became a week-long stay, but what better place to be stranded than Paris! Unfortunately for me, I thought for once in my life I would pack light so I was far from being prepared for a week. Additionally, my camera was dead, US phone was practically dead and my Spanish phone had no minutes. After the hectic morning, we decided it was time for some shopping so we hit up the best street for shopping, _________. Had some coffee and snacks at Starbucks then browsed around in Zara for some extra clothes since everyone was lacking. That night, we got dressed up and went for Italian (at some point during every trip there is always one Italian meal). Then, went to an Irish pub where we learned some key French phrases from the locals.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Because we were unable to get home, unfortunately we missed the group trip to el escorial. Instead, we hopped on a four hour walking tour around the city. The tour guide was really informative and we got to see all the major sites in Paris for free! Later, we had some lunch and then me and three girls went to the movies to see Remember Me. We had no idea what the movie was about- all we knew was that Robert Pattinson was in it. Turns out it was a lot sadder than the cute chick flick we had in mind.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Went to see the Sacré Coeur, a beautiful all white church on the highest point in Paris. The views were amazing! Then, we had to stop at the Long Champ store before leaving. We had lunch at this adorable cafe called Angelina's. I had onion soup (of course) and shared a broccoli quiche- so good! We hurried to try and get inside Notre Dame, but missed it by 5 minutes so we just sat outside and watched some 17 year old boys show off on their roller blades. Had sushi for dinner, but it wasn't the same as in the states. We packed all out stuff and bonded over some wine, cheese and baguette.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
We tried to wake up early in order to have to visit the Impressionist Museum where Manet, Monet and Van Gogh are housed. However, the line was super long and there wouldn't have been enough time to get to the bus station so we just bummed around for a couple hours. The bus station was hectic as expected and we got into a little argument with some woman trying to get to Portugal. Finally, we get on the bus after it arrives late. There was about 20 people on the bus even though all the tickets were sold so I'm getting really annoyed. Apparently, the company was trying to sell the seats again to people that were waiting in line or waiting for the missing people to show up. Hello- you're kidding me?! If you're late, you miss the bus- why are we waiting for people!? So I got off the bus to figure out what was going on- I barely follow the broken English, manage to understand we should be leaving at 3:30, an hour late. It's 3:30 and we are still there so i go find the driver to get some answers and finally we leave. So on top of being 2 hours early for the bus, we left about 2 hours late- at least I had two seats to myself. Oh- forgot to mention- there's no bathroom on the bus. The driver stops after two hours because some Indian guy was complaining- you're joking right? Then, we stop again at 10 for 45 minutes, but the rest stop is closed so we have to walk up the street to a wannabe WaWa kinda thing. Then, we stopped again around 3:30am. It's impossible to sleep on this bus and I pretty much am wearing every piece of clothing I had. At 6:00am, the driver tries to stop at a hotel. Hello?! - what hotel is going to be open for breakfast at 6:00am. this is just dumb. So we have another 45 minute break at a gas station bar- cool. Finally, at 9:00am, two hours late, we made it to Madrid then in another hour we were back in Alcalá. Time for marketing and theology- horray!
Moral of the story- Paris was amazing and I definitely want to go back. Always bring extra clothes and chargers. Never take a 17 hour bus ride.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A note from Guillermo
Me obligan a escribir y no tengo claro que tengo que poner. Bueno, podemos hablar de los raros gustos alimenticios tuyos, que realmente me han resultado mas que raros curiosos, aunque desde luego no malos. Hacia aNos que no salia a correr con nadie de casa, y aunque no corres mucho fue divertido (y basante frio la verdad :s). Como no entre en detalles a describirte no se que mas poner, y sinceramente siempre me ha costado describir a las personas...y ciertamente me da algo de verguenza.
Y tu eres mala por hacerme seguir escribiendo. Aunque realmente pareces una buena persona, hoy ha sido muy bonito el gesto de traerle flores a mi madre, aunque ahora a mi me toca comprar un ramo mas grande para el dia de la madre XDD pero no me parece tan mal. Por lo que hemos visto estos dias, no entendemos porque os llevabais mal la otra familia y tu, pero no hay mal que por bien no venga y espero que aqui en casa estes contenta y agusto.
Llevamos demasiados pocos dias hablando como para conocernos, pero dudo mucho que descrubra que eres un ogro como para que no me guste convivir contigo... y SI eres un poco caprichosa con la comida...pero eso no es algo necesariamente malo...Dani tambien lo es y no por ello le echamos de casa asique tranquila.
y no voy a describirte fisicamente hoy...asique si te ha gustado que escriba tendras que dejarme ver que me ocultaste antes y entonces quizas escriba otro dia.
Y tu eres mala por hacerme seguir escribiendo. Aunque realmente pareces una buena persona, hoy ha sido muy bonito el gesto de traerle flores a mi madre, aunque ahora a mi me toca comprar un ramo mas grande para el dia de la madre XDD pero no me parece tan mal. Por lo que hemos visto estos dias, no entendemos porque os llevabais mal la otra familia y tu, pero no hay mal que por bien no venga y espero que aqui en casa estes contenta y agusto.
Llevamos demasiados pocos dias hablando como para conocernos, pero dudo mucho que descrubra que eres un ogro como para que no me guste convivir contigo... y SI eres un poco caprichosa con la comida...pero eso no es algo necesariamente malo...Dani tambien lo es y no por ello le echamos de casa asique tranquila.
y no voy a describirte fisicamente hoy...asique si te ha gustado que escriba tendras que dejarme ver que me ocultaste antes y entonces quizas escriba otro dia.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Feliz Cumpleaños A Mi
Monday, April 12th
I'm pretty upset that I'm currently not at the beach celebrating my birthday, but oh well, the day gets a little better... read on...
When I got back to my house last night I wasn't able to shower because it was 11:00pm and that's too late for showering in Spain so I had to sleep in the nastiest the was the hostel I just fled. As a result, I woke up at 9:00am this morning to shower before class and was late meeting Chelsea. Even though I was only late by 4 minutes, I figured she had just left for class so I walked by myself. As a get to the building, a group of friends wished me a happy birthday and told me class was canceled. Sure enough, we walk to the classroom and there's a sign on the door that says "Ivan is sick today." Seems I missed the mass text message. So we decided to get some tea and coffee at Cafe Libreros. Because I didn't have my theology notebook to write my paper, I walked all the way back to my house, to find that Juana had gone into Madrid today to buy a wedding gift and it was just Guillermo and I in the house. Fabulous- quality time! He sat with me at lunch and we decided to go running at 6:00pm. Also, my wonderful family called to sing me happy birthday!
At 6:00, he takes me to the park to run. Running, let alone running outside, is not my thing- I made it all the way to the end of the road with only one stop, but made him walk back. Clearly, I'm not the best running partner when you're training to be a cop. On the way back, we stopped at a park, but he wouldn't play because there were too many children so he said we could go back tomorrow. We also stopped at some circus thing and saw two bears and a tiger. The walk back was super chilly *wink*
After two hours, we got back to the house, showered and ate. When I came downstairs for dinner, there was a little pair of earrings on my plate from Juana. Although my ears are too sensitive to wear them and I'm pretty sure she regifted, I guess it's the thought that counts.
Also, I found out that if Danny didn't hear me trying to get in the house the night before, I would've been sleeping the street since Juana left the keys in the door when she went to sleep. As a result, I now have the house number and Guillermo's cell- just in case ;)
Not exactly the way I would've wanted to celebrate my 21st, but hey, it's one I'll remember.
I'm pretty upset that I'm currently not at the beach celebrating my birthday, but oh well, the day gets a little better... read on...
When I got back to my house last night I wasn't able to shower because it was 11:00pm and that's too late for showering in Spain so I had to sleep in the nastiest the was the hostel I just fled. As a result, I woke up at 9:00am this morning to shower before class and was late meeting Chelsea. Even though I was only late by 4 minutes, I figured she had just left for class so I walked by myself. As a get to the building, a group of friends wished me a happy birthday and told me class was canceled. Sure enough, we walk to the classroom and there's a sign on the door that says "Ivan is sick today." Seems I missed the mass text message. So we decided to get some tea and coffee at Cafe Libreros. Because I didn't have my theology notebook to write my paper, I walked all the way back to my house, to find that Juana had gone into Madrid today to buy a wedding gift and it was just Guillermo and I in the house. Fabulous- quality time! He sat with me at lunch and we decided to go running at 6:00pm. Also, my wonderful family called to sing me happy birthday!
At 6:00, he takes me to the park to run. Running, let alone running outside, is not my thing- I made it all the way to the end of the road with only one stop, but made him walk back. Clearly, I'm not the best running partner when you're training to be a cop. On the way back, we stopped at a park, but he wouldn't play because there were too many children so he said we could go back tomorrow. We also stopped at some circus thing and saw two bears and a tiger. The walk back was super chilly *wink*
After two hours, we got back to the house, showered and ate. When I came downstairs for dinner, there was a little pair of earrings on my plate from Juana. Although my ears are too sensitive to wear them and I'm pretty sure she regifted, I guess it's the thought that counts.
Also, I found out that if Danny didn't hear me trying to get in the house the night before, I would've been sleeping the street since Juana left the keys in the door when she went to sleep. As a result, I now have the house number and Guillermo's cell- just in case ;)
Not exactly the way I would've wanted to celebrate my 21st, but hey, it's one I'll remember.
Pili and the Gang
My 1st host mom picked me up on some street in Alcalá. I had no idea where were- thank God Chelsea lives close to me. She is super short, a little chubby and has straight blonde hair with bangs. She seems sweet so far, but I'm afraid I'm never going to adjust to her cooking- my mom's is just way better. Pili has two daughters, Pili and Laura, which actually remind me a lot of Lisa and Katie. Pili, who's the same age as me, practically stays in her room all day and is really quiet. She studies physical education at the univeristy. Laura, who's nine, is a little more feisty and is not afraid to speak her mind. She's super cute and everyone time she sees me it's, "Hola Jenny." She loves American cartoons and macaroni. Antonio, her husband, seems really nice as well, but is usually either working or watching T.V. so I haven't really talked to him much.
As far as the house goes, from the outside, I think I'm in the ghetto of Spain. The inside is cute, but Pili always makes a point of comparing her house to those in America. I have my own room which is nice, but I clearly have too much crap. First problem- they keep the cat litter in the shower and every time I want to shower, I have to move it- gross! Second problem- they must not understand how to use the heat because I'm freezing! I've been sleeping in 3 pairs of socks, fleece pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, about 4 blankets and a down comforter, which Pili says they've never used. Oh well, I'll use it.
In addition to being really homesick, I was sick for the two weeks with some stomach virus- it is quite embarrassing to be in the bathroom every five minutes. I think it's the water even though Pili claims Spanish water is the best. I visited two doctors and bought so much medicine, most of which I have no idea what it was. At one point, she wouldn't give me water and has this thing about proving me wrong so when she found a clementine peel in my garbage... blah blah that's bad for your stomach. Well, so is your food.
So I need to have less clothes to wash because I'm only allowed one dark and one light and I'm allotted one shower per day. At first, she wouldn't buy me a new pillow, but rolling a blanket and putting it under the pillow definitely works- not. Finally, I got a new pillow and flannel sheets. Thank God! Save me from the cold. At this point, things were tolerable. She was kind of cooking things I like minus the jarred veggies, but I'm still not allowed to boil water and am pretty much follow wherever I go in the house. Also, the neighbors upstairs are ridiculously loud at all hours of the morning. Oh and I forgot to mention that at some point I came home to a note on my bed saying not to let the cat out of the bathroom. Since they leave the cat in the bathroom every night, I wasn't exactly sure why I had this note until I opened the bathroom door to find a stray cat in the bathroom. You're shitting me right?
Fast forward to the beginning of March- the family goes up north for the weekend for a wedding. She leaves me food in the refrigerator, but I ask to be able to boil water over the weekend so I can have tea. After much resistance, she finally agrees and makes me practice just to make sure I know what I'm doing. Come on- it's not rocket science. Anyway, I wake up the next morning and Pili tells me that she talked to her husband and he said I can't use the stove aka I can't boil water. What is this the 5th century when we are all subservient to our husbands? Needless to say, I was really pissed and showed it. I left for class super annoyed and Pili definitely knew it.
When I met up with Chelsea, I explained to her what happened and said, "What do you want to bet they hide my teapot?" That afternoon, after my Spanish classes, one of the Chinese girls in my class offered to make lunch so I went to her host family's house. Oh hey go figure, she can have people over for lunch, but Steph and Chelsea can't even step inside Pili's house. Anyway, the food was delicious, however, when I returned back to my apartment guess what was MIA- that's right my teapot!
So when they come home on Sunday, the teapot magically reappeared on the counter where it usually is. The next morning, she gives me a huge attitude, saying that I had no reason to be upset. After talking to my director, I found out that my host mom had called her, explained what happened as if she would agree and asked for a different student. However, my director thought her actions were inappropriate and completely understood why I wasn't happy, thus she began to search for another home for me.
The morning before I left I took a little surprise visit to my new potential host family. Though I felt bad leaving, the decision was pretty much a no-brainer. I packed all afternoon and planned to have my director call about an hour before I left to say I was leaving. However, I thought it would be more appropriate if I told her myself. So I explained that it just wasn't working and I thought it would be better for both of us if I moved. I felt really bad because that afternoon she had made me paella for lunch and bought me a box of green tea. She said she already knew I was leaving, asked for the tea back so she could give it to her next student and also said she wished she would've known earlier so she didn't prepare my dinner. I thanked her for everything and proceeded to carry two suitcases and about five bags down the road.
As far as the house goes, from the outside, I think I'm in the ghetto of Spain. The inside is cute, but Pili always makes a point of comparing her house to those in America. I have my own room which is nice, but I clearly have too much crap. First problem- they keep the cat litter in the shower and every time I want to shower, I have to move it- gross! Second problem- they must not understand how to use the heat because I'm freezing! I've been sleeping in 3 pairs of socks, fleece pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, about 4 blankets and a down comforter, which Pili says they've never used. Oh well, I'll use it.
In addition to being really homesick, I was sick for the two weeks with some stomach virus- it is quite embarrassing to be in the bathroom every five minutes. I think it's the water even though Pili claims Spanish water is the best. I visited two doctors and bought so much medicine, most of which I have no idea what it was. At one point, she wouldn't give me water and has this thing about proving me wrong so when she found a clementine peel in my garbage... blah blah that's bad for your stomach. Well, so is your food.
So I need to have less clothes to wash because I'm only allowed one dark and one light and I'm allotted one shower per day. At first, she wouldn't buy me a new pillow, but rolling a blanket and putting it under the pillow definitely works- not. Finally, I got a new pillow and flannel sheets. Thank God! Save me from the cold. At this point, things were tolerable. She was kind of cooking things I like minus the jarred veggies, but I'm still not allowed to boil water and am pretty much follow wherever I go in the house. Also, the neighbors upstairs are ridiculously loud at all hours of the morning. Oh and I forgot to mention that at some point I came home to a note on my bed saying not to let the cat out of the bathroom. Since they leave the cat in the bathroom every night, I wasn't exactly sure why I had this note until I opened the bathroom door to find a stray cat in the bathroom. You're shitting me right?
Fast forward to the beginning of March- the family goes up north for the weekend for a wedding. She leaves me food in the refrigerator, but I ask to be able to boil water over the weekend so I can have tea. After much resistance, she finally agrees and makes me practice just to make sure I know what I'm doing. Come on- it's not rocket science. Anyway, I wake up the next morning and Pili tells me that she talked to her husband and he said I can't use the stove aka I can't boil water. What is this the 5th century when we are all subservient to our husbands? Needless to say, I was really pissed and showed it. I left for class super annoyed and Pili definitely knew it.
When I met up with Chelsea, I explained to her what happened and said, "What do you want to bet they hide my teapot?" That afternoon, after my Spanish classes, one of the Chinese girls in my class offered to make lunch so I went to her host family's house. Oh hey go figure, she can have people over for lunch, but Steph and Chelsea can't even step inside Pili's house. Anyway, the food was delicious, however, when I returned back to my apartment guess what was MIA- that's right my teapot!
So when they come home on Sunday, the teapot magically reappeared on the counter where it usually is. The next morning, she gives me a huge attitude, saying that I had no reason to be upset. After talking to my director, I found out that my host mom had called her, explained what happened as if she would agree and asked for a different student. However, my director thought her actions were inappropriate and completely understood why I wasn't happy, thus she began to search for another home for me.
The morning before I left I took a little surprise visit to my new potential host family. Though I felt bad leaving, the decision was pretty much a no-brainer. I packed all afternoon and planned to have my director call about an hour before I left to say I was leaving. However, I thought it would be more appropriate if I told her myself. So I explained that it just wasn't working and I thought it would be better for both of us if I moved. I felt really bad because that afternoon she had made me paella for lunch and bought me a box of green tea. She said she already knew I was leaving, asked for the tea back so she could give it to her next student and also said she wished she would've known earlier so she didn't prepare my dinner. I thanked her for everything and proceeded to carry two suitcases and about five bags down the road.
A Series of Unfortunate Events in Málaga
Saturday, April 10th
Woke up at 5:00am this morning to catch an early train to the airport. Destination- Málaga, a town in costa del SOL aka beach! Steph, my friend Chelsea and I were ready to soak up some sun and celebrate my birthday! After landing, we navigated our way to the hostel, "The Melting Pot." It had a great location right on the beach and a cute terrace in the back. Unfortunately, our room was located in the basement so we were stuck with a gross musty smell and couldn't open the window because it would be freezing. Chelsea's friend, Mark, who is studying in Málaga, meet up with us and gave a tour. We walked along the gorgeous beach where there were a bunch of beach cafes. Each cafe had its own mini-boat that was filled with sand and had a small bonfire-type fire on top to cook food- it was so cute and smelled amazing! We also saw the Roman ruins and the Cathedral and walked around the downtown area. Also, there was an International Festival with food and shopping from all different countries. Steph and I split a vegetable crepe from "France" and then I had two delicious smoothies from the "Carribean." Steph and I made friends with two older women, one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Columbia. They taught us some new fruits like "tamarinde" and "tomate de arbol."
On the way back, we stopped for some groceries to cook dinner and sunscreen in preparation for tanning tomorrow. I made a delicious veggie sauté and was so happy to be back in the kitchen. I miss cooking so much! We were going to meet up with Mark and his family to watch the fútbol game between Barcelona and Madrid, but were really tired so decided to stay in and get some work done.
Sunday, April 11th
I woke up early as usual and snagged the three lounge chairs for us to use for the day. I tried to work on my marriage paper while waiting for the girls to wake up. Oh, there were also little bugs crawling around and we were all skeeved in the beds that night with nasty sheets and blankets in a room that smelled like mildew. To make it worse, we had another random person in the room with us, but we let it go and focused on quality sun we were expecting for the day.
Steph and I had a delicious breakfast of Special K with fresh strawberries because the hostel breakfast that was included of course sucked. Then, Steph and I tried to soak up some sun while Chelsea showered. By the way, the sunscreen we bought was basically oily water that provided no protection whatsoever just an oily mess. Finally, Chelsea came out only to tell us that she showered in dirty water that didn't drain and she had to turn off the water between each step in order to not flood the bathroom. Excellent! This hostel is super great and by the way there's no sun... so much for costa del SOL.
At this point, we are miserable and discussing going home so we check the weather for tomorrow because if it were to be sunny, we would've stuck it out, but no, 60s, cloudy and rain- and there was the breaking point. We started checking any possible flights, but they were way too expensive plus losing the money for the flight we already had for Tuesday. Steph suggested looking at trains- there were two for that night (Sunday)- one at 7:10 and the other at 8:00. We decided the 8:00 would be perfect so we could enjoy the smorgasbord of food we had between groceries and host mom meals and then catch the train. Steph booked her ticket first and then when I tried the 8:00 one was full. So Chelsea and I had to book the 7:10 one. After booking, the confirmation e-mail said we had to arrive at the station with printed tickets. Shit- we are on different trains and have no way of printing. On top of that each confirmation e-mail said origin:Madrid and destination:Málaga. You have got to be kidding me and we were all in a PANIC- could all three of us really book the wrong train. We had to get to the station, hoping that someone could straighten everything out, but not before Steph brought her wrath to the front desk and wound up getting our money back for one night at the hostel.
In the AVE train station, we chose to talk to the hot guy instead of the girl and hoped the sympathy card would work in our favor. Turns out, the e-mail was wrong and we were set to go from Málaga to Madrid, however, Steph was still on the 8:00 train. Sergio, our new customer service friend, asked us where we were from and lucky for us, he was heading to the United States (New York & Las Vegas) at the end of the month and wanted helped planning his trip. Perfect exchange- NY 411 for getting all of us on the same train. So he invited us for coffee in a café in the train which was actually like a mini-mall. He bought us drinks and we told him about New York and what we knew about Las Vegas- too bad this trip was with his boyfriend- figures!
We all got on the same train thank God even though Steph had to stand in the cafeteria car. Chelsea and I met her there and we had our smorgasbord on the train. Suddenly, Steph remembered she forgot to register for classes, which should've been done about 4 hours before, but between trying to get out of the hostel and and her alarm not going off, it slipped her mind. She tried to contact her parents, but her iPhone had no service and all three of us had no money on our Spanish ghetto phones. So I texted my dad to tell him to call Steph's mom and have her call Steph, but the connection was so bad because we kept going through tunnels. Umm- problem... I was stressing and they weren't even my classes. Thankfully, she was to text a friend from Chelsea's phone to call her and register for her, but one class was full.
What a disaster! We all made it home, took showers and slept in warm beds. I was never so happy to be back in Alcalá. However, I forgot to mention that while freezing my butt off outside, I managed to meet three girls from the US who are studying in Salamanca (another city outside Madrid). They were really nice and invited us to join them that night for some wine and birthday celebrations, but we fled the scene too soon. My Dad was actually able to get us some money back from the Tuesday flight- way to go Dad! Málaga was such a cute city, but between the horrible weather and gross hostel we just couldn't stay.
Woke up at 5:00am this morning to catch an early train to the airport. Destination- Málaga, a town in costa del SOL aka beach! Steph, my friend Chelsea and I were ready to soak up some sun and celebrate my birthday! After landing, we navigated our way to the hostel, "The Melting Pot." It had a great location right on the beach and a cute terrace in the back. Unfortunately, our room was located in the basement so we were stuck with a gross musty smell and couldn't open the window because it would be freezing. Chelsea's friend, Mark, who is studying in Málaga, meet up with us and gave a tour. We walked along the gorgeous beach where there were a bunch of beach cafes. Each cafe had its own mini-boat that was filled with sand and had a small bonfire-type fire on top to cook food- it was so cute and smelled amazing! We also saw the Roman ruins and the Cathedral and walked around the downtown area. Also, there was an International Festival with food and shopping from all different countries. Steph and I split a vegetable crepe from "France" and then I had two delicious smoothies from the "Carribean." Steph and I made friends with two older women, one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Columbia. They taught us some new fruits like "tamarinde" and "tomate de arbol."
On the way back, we stopped for some groceries to cook dinner and sunscreen in preparation for tanning tomorrow. I made a delicious veggie sauté and was so happy to be back in the kitchen. I miss cooking so much! We were going to meet up with Mark and his family to watch the fútbol game between Barcelona and Madrid, but were really tired so decided to stay in and get some work done.
Sunday, April 11th
I woke up early as usual and snagged the three lounge chairs for us to use for the day. I tried to work on my marriage paper while waiting for the girls to wake up. Oh, there were also little bugs crawling around and we were all skeeved in the beds that night with nasty sheets and blankets in a room that smelled like mildew. To make it worse, we had another random person in the room with us, but we let it go and focused on quality sun we were expecting for the day.
Steph and I had a delicious breakfast of Special K with fresh strawberries because the hostel breakfast that was included of course sucked. Then, Steph and I tried to soak up some sun while Chelsea showered. By the way, the sunscreen we bought was basically oily water that provided no protection whatsoever just an oily mess. Finally, Chelsea came out only to tell us that she showered in dirty water that didn't drain and she had to turn off the water between each step in order to not flood the bathroom. Excellent! This hostel is super great and by the way there's no sun... so much for costa del SOL.
At this point, we are miserable and discussing going home so we check the weather for tomorrow because if it were to be sunny, we would've stuck it out, but no, 60s, cloudy and rain- and there was the breaking point. We started checking any possible flights, but they were way too expensive plus losing the money for the flight we already had for Tuesday. Steph suggested looking at trains- there were two for that night (Sunday)- one at 7:10 and the other at 8:00. We decided the 8:00 would be perfect so we could enjoy the smorgasbord of food we had between groceries and host mom meals and then catch the train. Steph booked her ticket first and then when I tried the 8:00 one was full. So Chelsea and I had to book the 7:10 one. After booking, the confirmation e-mail said we had to arrive at the station with printed tickets. Shit- we are on different trains and have no way of printing. On top of that each confirmation e-mail said origin:Madrid and destination:Málaga. You have got to be kidding me and we were all in a PANIC- could all three of us really book the wrong train. We had to get to the station, hoping that someone could straighten everything out, but not before Steph brought her wrath to the front desk and wound up getting our money back for one night at the hostel.
In the AVE train station, we chose to talk to the hot guy instead of the girl and hoped the sympathy card would work in our favor. Turns out, the e-mail was wrong and we were set to go from Málaga to Madrid, however, Steph was still on the 8:00 train. Sergio, our new customer service friend, asked us where we were from and lucky for us, he was heading to the United States (New York & Las Vegas) at the end of the month and wanted helped planning his trip. Perfect exchange- NY 411 for getting all of us on the same train. So he invited us for coffee in a café in the train which was actually like a mini-mall. He bought us drinks and we told him about New York and what we knew about Las Vegas- too bad this trip was with his boyfriend- figures!
We all got on the same train thank God even though Steph had to stand in the cafeteria car. Chelsea and I met her there and we had our smorgasbord on the train. Suddenly, Steph remembered she forgot to register for classes, which should've been done about 4 hours before, but between trying to get out of the hostel and and her alarm not going off, it slipped her mind. She tried to contact her parents, but her iPhone had no service and all three of us had no money on our Spanish ghetto phones. So I texted my dad to tell him to call Steph's mom and have her call Steph, but the connection was so bad because we kept going through tunnels. Umm- problem... I was stressing and they weren't even my classes. Thankfully, she was to text a friend from Chelsea's phone to call her and register for her, but one class was full.
What a disaster! We all made it home, took showers and slept in warm beds. I was never so happy to be back in Alcalá. However, I forgot to mention that while freezing my butt off outside, I managed to meet three girls from the US who are studying in Salamanca (another city outside Madrid). They were really nice and invited us to join them that night for some wine and birthday celebrations, but we fled the scene too soon. My Dad was actually able to get us some money back from the Tuesday flight- way to go Dad! Málaga was such a cute city, but between the horrible weather and gross hostel we just couldn't stay.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)