Sorry I haven't written in a while. Things have been super crazy here as I have been trying acclimate into every day life. A lot has happened since I last wrote and I'm not quite sure where to begin. It's almost midnight here and I'm pretty tired.. so bear with me.
So my first weekend here, was good. We actually went to a bull fight the first Sunday, which was very interesting. It's something that I have always learned about and wanted to go to. My background picture on this blog, is actually the arena it was held in. I didn't quite realize what I was getting myself into. There were a total of six bulls and three bull fighters. It's kind of complicated to explain the whole process (you can find info online if you want to learn more). Basically, the goal is to tire the bull to the point where it just topples over and dies. There are three rounds of each fight, in which they stab the bull repeatedly with spears. In the final stage, the matador kills the bull by sticking a sword down the middle of it's shoulder blades and the bull dies. It's pretty gruesome and traumatizing, but it's a very cultural thing for Spaniards. I was glad that I went, but will probably never go to one again. Interesting nonetheless.
El Matador and his bull
Can you see the two mean behind the barricade? They are hiding from the bull! Ha!
Monday we started classes and Tuesday we had a girl's night. It was a good time to reflect, get to know each other better, and of course have some fun! We rented some paddle boats and got to go for a ride on the river! It really made me miss the beautiful, Oregon and Washington scenery. Wednesday, we had our first chapel service, which is called 'Encuentro'. I really enjoyed the service and got to sing and play my guitar with the miniature worship team. =)
Girls night
This last weekend, a few of us decided to go to the beach. We rode a bus to Matalascañas and spend a total of 10 hours on the actual beach. I think that is the longest amount of time I've ever been in the sun. It was a beautiful beach! We arrived pretty early in the morning and there was virtually no one around. However by 11am or so, the beach was CROWDED. I've never seen so many people on a beach at one time. Wow! We went swimming a bunch in the warm Atlantic water and had a blast! There isn't really an under-toe, like there is on the Oregon coast, which was nice. Unfortunately, I got really sunburnt...probably because I didn't wear as much sunscreen as I should have. But I still looooooved the beach!!! We are hoping to visit Lagos, Portugal hopefully this next weekend and I've heard the beach there is beautiful! I'm excited!!
There were shells everywhere!
This rock is part of an old Medieval castle!
Since then, we have had 2 local Spaniads take a group of us out for Tapas, which is a very popular thing to do in Spain. It's basically like going to a restaurant and eating a bunch of really delicious appetizers. I've also taken a Flamenco class and played Bingo with some old men at a hospital, which was super fun!
Eating tapas with the Spaniards
Fish and vegis!
One of the old men we played bingo with. He was hilarious! He loved to sport his sweet glasses.
Finally, as you know, I just finished my second full week of classes. It's been good, but challenging as everything is in Spanish. We even signed an agreement that we would talk to our peers only in Spanish during school time. I am taking five classes (18 credits) including a grammar class, art history class, Theatre of the 20th Century, Three Cultures and a volunteer project class. I like my classes for the most part. My grammar class has been super intense. The first week of classes, I decided to take the most advanced grammar course in order to fine tune my Spanish. The professor however, is super intimidating and intense and I'm actually scared to speak in that class..because I don't want to say something wrong. =/
The other three classes are great. In my theatre class, we are reading a play called 'Bodas de Sangre'. It a very symbolic book, so it is sometimes hard to read between the lines. La clase de Tres Culturas is very interesting. We are currently learning about the Muslims and will eventually learn about the Jews and the Christians and take some class outings to see some history. Finally, I really like my art history clas. We are learning about many different buildings right now, all of which we will visit. In fact, tomorrow we will visit the city of Cordoba, Spain and see the Mezquita, which is a very old, ornate Muslim mosque which we have been studying.
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| A night view of the bridge we walk over daily. |
Well, I should wrap this up. I'm still really enjoying my time here. The city is beautiful and I've learned so much in the first couple of weeks. Our señora still loves to feed us food, but I think she is starting to learn that we really can't eat all that she gives us. I've been craving waffles, eggs, and bacon...but I don't think it's customary for them to cook that here. =) Also, we found out that Matt gets to come visit me for 10 days in the end of October! I am sooooo excited for him to come and see where I've been living and what I've experienced thus far. Thank you all for your prayers and support! I will really try to update this more often!
Hope all is well for you in the states!
P.S. Here are some new phrases that I've learned..that you can learn too!!
* Estoy arta de comer - I'm full (from eating)
* ¡Que mono! (Kay-Moh-no) - How cute
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