16.09.2008

el 16 de septiembre de 2008

Today was the last day of classes for the early program I was in. The exam for Grammar went well and my interview (5 minutes or so) for Oral Expression went well also. Overall I think I learned a lot. The presentation of the material is what made the biggest difference. Some things that I already had learned but did not understand were made much clearer simply by studying it in a different way. So now that the classes are over, we're all heading out to dinner and then to celebrate tonight at the bars. I'm quite excited.

For those of you who haven't already seen my photos from the trip to the zoo on Saturday, you should check them out! I had such a blast with my new camera taking all those shots. I'm learning so much about my camera just by taking it out and shooting photos. We had a blast in the zoo! The park used to be a mine, and after a while they converted it to a national park/zoo. The park is huge! and so we took a bus around to each "pen" and then would get off and walk a bit and take photos if we wanted. I would have prefered to walk, but after driving around the park I realized how hilly it was and walking would not have allowed us to see much. Plus it rained a lot. Eso es Santander... But yes, there are loads of pictures on facebook and if you don't want to go there you can see them here! What a fun trip!

I continue to love this city. Once again, just the tranquility of it, the great mix of mountians and beach, and the friendliness of the people I've met have given me such a great impression. A lot of people when home always say "Oh, these people don't like Americans because such and such" or "These people are always mean to Americans." I've found this not to be very true. For sure, there are cases where people are just ignorant and intolerant of other cultures. We talked about this in class today, about the stereotypes from different cultures and how my profesor HATES it when people apply stereotypes to those they meet abroad becuase clearly just by traveling abroad and studying abroad these people have broken the stereotype and are truly trying to assimilate and understand how another culture lives and thrives. I found the conversation quite enlightening.

The other international students I've met I continue to love. We're all such a great mix and really do enjoy ourselves when we're out. Cory is very intent on learning lots of German phrases, and of course our friends only teach him the funnier more interesting ones. "My house or yours?" for example, haha. I'm also very excited because one of my friends from Austria, Martina, is really into mountain climbing and other sports like that, and said she found a rock gym in Santander that we can go to. I'm really excited! I also mentioned that I like to climb to one of the assistant students, Eduardo, and he told me that his friend climbs a lot and he's going to try to introduce me so we might be able to tag along. Sweet!

I'm still trying to teach myself to surf, and it's hard! Especially because these aren't those wimpy waves we get back in Rhody... these are rather intense cross-current, strong undertoe waves that really toss you around. It's quite tiring but really really fun! Plus, I can't really complain about spending almost every day on the beach can I? I got my first sunburn. It's not that bad, and I'm excited to once again be a color other than bleach white. Maybe by the time the winter hits I'll have a tan. Ha.

I hope everyone back in the States, and those soon to join me in Europe, are doing well. ¡Salud!

Atentamente,
Andrew
Santander, ESP

Wow, I've been here over a week?

el 9 de septiembre de 2008

Wow. Again, I start with that word. It's really the only thing I can use to describe this place. I'm always in awe. We went to this little secluded beach yesterday afternoon, and to get there we had to walk along this beautiful cliff walk. I remember on the way back looking across the Bay and seeing the two gorgeous beaches stretching across my entire view, behind which stood this beautiful city, and of course behind that towered mountains topped with clouds. The sun was shining, and I had to check myself. Do I really live here? Am I truly in this place? Did I really leave all my family and friends and security behind? How could I have done so? This must be a dream.

But it's not, it only seems so.

So the first week was amazing! I am currently taking two classes: Grammar and Converstation. Both profesores are absolutely amazing. They're really laid back, but I'm learning SO much. I really am. I'm in the 3rd level (of 4) and decided to do so based on my want for a stronger base before starting the semester. Much of what we're going over I have already learned or addressed before in my studies, but the new style of presentation and learning it from someone who actually speaks Spanish all class is so different. As I said, I'm learning, and have learned already, so much. It's a little tough sometimes because the 40 of us aren't on the same level, and so we have to switch back and forth between languages quite often. Everyone here speaks English (what the hell!) but we're pretty good about speaking Spanish a lot. When we're in a bigger group, there's a little more English spoken just because it's the nature of the beast. But it greatly depends on how lazy/tired/intoxicated we are.

As far as how I pass the day, well that's easy. It's Spain. I have class from 09:15-14:00ish, with two 5 minute breaks and one 1/2 hour break. Grammar lasts 3 hours, and Conversation is about 1 hour or a little over. The program itself has 40 students in it, and they're all awesome. Already I've made a lot of new friends. The groups is quite the mescla, with Austrians, Frenchies, a handful of Americans (only 2 in addition to us 3), 2 girls from the UK, and the rest are all Germans. Almost the whole group is Germans actually. Anyays, after class we come home and have lunch, and then siesta begins. Today is actually the first day I've taken full adventage of siesta. The first week we spent the afternoons going to the supermarket, trying to find household items and groceries that we'd need. Then Cory arrived on Wednesday and so he also had things to get, so we returned again. Yesterday we spent siesta at the beach (a pretty good trade off) but today was the first day I stayed home. I took a nap. Actually, I would have gone to the beach with some others but I wasn't feeling to well. I think I might be getting a bit of a cold, so I wanted some more sleep. I do feel better (thanks for asking!).

So after the afternoon activities we normally break and have dinner at home or some people go out or sometimes we all go out together. The night can start at any time from 8 to midnight depending on what day it is. Weekdays we normally go out around 8ish and then stay out til aftermidnight or so, maybe 1 or 2 if we push it, then walk home. Weekends... well... I came home at 5am on Saturday. Haha, it was a great night! We left the apartment at midnight after making tortilla from scratch... and then immediately devouring it. But side note: I'm going to be in such good shape in about 2 weeks. Santander is situated on a hill. The University and my apartment on are one side, towards the top, and el centro (the bars, shops, etc) is on the other side. So the walk home is a long, sobering, 15 minute walk straight uphill. Ridiculous. I actually prefer it though, for several reasons: it really does sober you up, it's getting me in shape, and I'm a cheap bastard and it's cheaper than a taxi. Ha!

So that's the night life. The beaches here are absolutely amazing! I can't even describe them. The one we went to on Sunday was fantastic. I've never seen anything like it. The bottom contours were all messed up. You could tell just walking on them! They undulated very much, and becaues of this the waves would break 2 or 3 times on their way in. That led to a very interesting phenomenon, which was that over the 8 hour period we were there, I never once looked out and saw less than 4 waves breaking at once. There are waves breaking all the time, all over the place. It's so beautiful. The one down side is when you rent a surfboard, haha. We got our asses kicked. It was so fun though! I can't wait to go back. It's really cheap too, only 10euro for the whole day's rental of the board and wetsuit. The water here is very, very cold (think RI waters in April or May) and so the wetsuit is essential, especially if you're out there for a while.

I've described the general outlook, so now it's time for some highlights! Surfing is definitely one, and Cañadio is surely another. It's this open air plaza surrounded by bars. When the cops aren't there, we normally sneak up the street to a corner store, buy a couple of 6-packs, and then bring them down to enjoy on the fountains and stairs, talking the night away. I really can't describe the experience. It seems so simple, but I really couldn't ask for much more. We've had such good times there, and it's only been a week and a half. In addition, on Sunday I had quite the meal. We went out to dinner after surfing and quickly noticed that not only could none of us really read the menu, but we couldn't describe what we did know to the others becuase we couldn't translate from spanish to english/german, and then to german/english, haha. In any case, I accidentaly, but was pleased to find out, that I had ordered octopus. It was delicious! It had a texture like calimari crossed with scallops. It was good though. It also helped that we downed two pitchers of Sagnría. Oh man, so good! The other drink I love is called "calimocho", which is half red wine and half coka-cola. It's absolutely delicious! Try it as soon as possible! Also, making tortilla is really fun, and it's so tasty! I can't wait to make more. So far Cory has made two, Amanda made one at her other friends house, and I think I might be up next, or at least I'd like to try.

So that's it for now I guess. In short, this place is amazing, I love the people, love the city, my Spanish is improving, I'm enjoying myself, and I can't wait for visitors so I can share some of these amazing experiences with you all!

Salutaciones.

Antentamente,
Andrew
Santander, ESP

Getting there... alive.

6 Sept. 2008

Wow… really… just wow. This place is so amazing. I don’t know where to begin, so I guess I’ll just start at the beginning. First, however, I want to apologize for not updating in so long. I’ve meant to but I’ve either had a spotty internet connection, too tired, or inebriated. As such, this will have to start all the way back from a week ago.

So I left Rhody behind and flew from Boston to Philly, and then crossed the Big Blue Wet Thing heading to Dublin. My first time out of the country. The flight over the Drink kind of sucked. I was freezing cold, and couldn’t get comfortable (6’3” people just aren’t meant for airplanes). My only real spot of “homesick” came when they served dinner. Something about eating alone got to me. I ordered a drink to try and help me fall asleep, even though I was already exhausted. It was a Jack/Coke and I thought of Tori.

I finally dozed off for about an hour and a half, woke up with the sun and complimentary orange juice, and was able to gaze at the unbelievable landscape that is Ireland. I decided then and there I wasn’t going to Spain, I was just going to stay in Ireland. I thought of Ayla.

So I got to the airport at around 9am local time, went through Customs, went to the Aer Lingus check-in to get my ticket, and that’s where things made me feel better about the crappy flight I just had. The nice man with the Irish accent whom I couldn’t understand put me in the Emergency Exit aisle so that I would have more leg room. (The story continues later with the other two passengers not showing up and me stretching out over the 3 seats and sleeping the entire flight… I was ecstatic). Anyways, I was also told that my terminal was a 15 minute walk and as such I left right away instead of exiting the airport like I had planned. I headed to my terminal and on the way grabbed a small coffee and snack as I was starving. I then said “Well. Shit, when in Rome…” and so at 10am I headed to the pub at my terminal. Note: 10am. Note: This bar was overflowing, like not even standing room. I love the Irish. I had myself a Guinness (so tasty!) and then headed to my terminal. I ran into two students (Andy and Luke) heading to Bilbao to study and we chatted while we waited for our delayed flight to board. (1 hour 20 minutes. Something about being late out of Germany). Anyways. As I just mentioned this flight went much better.

When I awoke, we were about 20 minutes out and so I hopped into the window seat to enjoy the scenery. And oh man did I enjoy it! The red roofs were the first thing that got me excited. They’re so beautiful from the sky! Not only that, but all these small towns were just tucked in these mountain valleys all over the place! The mountains were also beautiful, and I even saw lots of wind turbines spinning away… way to be Europe!

So I got off the plane and headed to customs. I don’t know why this man seemed so angry, but customs didn’t seem particularly fun. That sheet that you normally fill out on the plane we founded in a small stack on a table next to the booth with the angry man, and most people didn’t even fill it out. I handed him that and my passport, and he quickly stamped it and I was on my way. I’m not sure he even looked at me. Anyways, that puts me in Bilbao, which is decidedly not Santander. I got my bags and headed for the bus. After a little bit of a run around I got on the bus to take me to the Bilbao bus terminal. I arrived just in time to grab a 18:30 bus to Santander. The ride was very nice and I shared a short but pleasant conversation with the Spanish girl next to me.

I arrived in Santander around 7 or 8ish, I think? I forget when, but took a taxi to my apartment. Someone standing just inside the door was nice enough to open it for me (I didn’t have keys yet) and so I took the elevator up to the 4th floor, knocked on the door labeled 4A and Amanda greeted me. I had made it. Alive. Tired. And so many latte’s.

Well, that’s all I can give you for now. But at least you know I got here. The next entry will describe the first week in Spain. What a week! I can’t wait! For now, I’m heading down to the beaches and it’s Saturday, so I’ll probably end up going out tonight. In any case, hasta la proxima!

Mucho amor,

Andrew
Santander, ESP.