Xativa

I can't believe we're nearing the end of February already! We have midterms here next week, which they take way more seriously than the classes I've taken at St. Norbert. I have 2 paper & 3 exams next week, so it'll be a lot of studying & writing. But I'm really excited because after that's all over I'm going to London for the weekend! I'm meeting a friend from home, who is studying in Belgium, and I'm glad there will be English speaking people again ;o) This will be the first time I've been out of Spain since I've been here!

Well last week I had my first day at my service Internship, which I was really nervous for. I was mostly intimidated because I was working with seniors in high school & I've never worked with that age before, but it went really well! It's a lot of fun to just sit & talk to teenagers from Spain. We usually spend most of the time discussing the differences between the USA & Spain. I am definitely getting more of an insight on how we are perceived by the younger generation over here.

The second day I went, I felt a lot better about it & the secretary gave me a floor and room number to navigate myself to this time. I had a feel of the school, so I went where she said & I could not find the classroom. I walked up and down the hallway multiple times - obviously looking lost. Then it occurred to me that here in Spain that the main floor is not called the first floor - our second floor is their first floor. So I went up one more flight of stairs and the classroom was right there! I was really glad I figured that out on my own!!

I was talking to one of the students about his perception of America, and he told me he thinks Americans only think about themselves. They know about their history, their economy and worry about what will happen to their country, but don't know about other countries in the world. He said he could tell you about the USA, France, and Spain, and is disappointed that Americans he has talked to don't even know that Christopher Columbus, the supposed discoverer of the US, was from Spain. I thought about that while he spoke, and realized that to a point he was right. In all my schooling my social studies classes were almost all about the United States, but only a little on the rest of the world. Now of course it's important to learn about your country, but I think we could teach a bit more on other countries & cultures of the world.

Moving on to a lighter topic, last weekend we had a school sponsored trip to Xativa, a pueblo about 45 minutes from Valencia. When we got there we saw their Cathedral & Art museum. Then we were going to the castle - they warned us it was a hike though. Little did we know it was a mountain we were climbing up! I certainly got a workout for the day, but the view from the top made it all worth it. We found some shade to eat lunch & then wandered around the castle for the rest of the day. It was a great trip & I was exhausted by the end of the day. I posted new pictures on my photobucket account, so take a gander if you choose!

I've been thinking about the things that now seem normal to me, but at first took some adjusting. For instance my host family can't seem to pronounce my name correctly with their accents. So I'm used to being called Kris or Kristine now, which can get confusing considering I have a 21 year-old host sister whose room is next door to mine, named Kristine. I usually wait until no one responds to her calls & then assume she's talking to me. Their day to day schedule is different as well. My stomach just can't seem to get used to it, though. Eating lunch at 2:30 & dinner at 9:30 just seems so late. I don't mind the siesta in the afternoon, when all the stores close from 2-5 everyday. I think it's funny how laid back everyone is - no pasa nada! Start late, some stores close early, o and by the way we're going to close for 3 hours in the middle of the day. It's so different from the fast paced life at home.

I remember when our host mom taught us how to use the key to get in. Now you would think that it was pretty simple right? But no - this lock require two turns to the right, three to the left - then enter! And its different if no one is home & it's bolted. The first night Amanda & I were here we went for a walk, but this was before she taught us how to use it. I always look back and wonder HOW we got back in - I think it was a miracle.

Last night we went downstairs for ice cream, there is an ice cream store right next door to our apartment & I think that could turn out to be a bad thing ;o) Neither of us thought to bring our keys, and so we got locked out! Our host mom was gone at work for another hour, but thankfully her daughter was still inside. So Amanda went down to the lobby and had to call the apartment from the intercom so her daughter would answer the door. It's funny now...

Pues, es todo por ahora! Adios.

Pictures...finally!

Hello! Not much is new over here in Spain. Except I've been stuck with this same cold for about 2 weeks now! It just won't go away & most of the students in our school are sick as well. Something must be going around. My host mom keeps trying to take me to the doctor, but I tell her I'm fine it's just a cold. I am getting better, just slowly. Her daughter thinks it's funny, but agrees with me and tries to tell her mom I don't need a medico.

I also think it's funny I've been here almost 4 weeks now & I just discovered we have a pet rabbit! I knew we had 2 dogs, but the rabbit was new. My host mom told me I could watch a movie in their living room, so I went in & discovered we had a balcony. So naturally I wanted to go out and check out the view. It was then I saw the litter box & the rabbit hopping around on the balcony. I think it's funny after a month here, I'm still discovering things like that!

Classes are getting slightly easier & I have fallen into a schedule which has made the time go by a lot faster! I can't believe it's 2 weeks until midterms already!! I recently decided to do 2 more things to get involved and learn more while I'm here. The first was getting an intercambio. Mine is a girl who is 20 and lives here in Valencia. She is studying English, so we will meet once a week and speak English for half hour & then Spanish for half hour. I think it will be fun to meet someone my age who lives & will be great practice for my conversational skills! We meet for the first time next week, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. The other thing I decided to do was partake in a Service Learning Internship. There are many different areas to choose from like magazines and hospitals. I chose a local school though - how appropriate for my other major! I'm not sure exactly what we will be doing, but it will be 2 hours a week for 10 weeks in a classrooms with kids 13-18. We meet with our teacher next week as well. I'm really excited about this because I think it'll be a great opportunity to see what the education system is like here in Spain compared to what I am learning about at home.

Today we took a class trip to Ciudad Fallera. This is an area of Valencia dedicated to preparing for the huge celebration of Fallas. The celebration is 4 days in honor of St. Joseph. There are parades and fireworks, along with all sorts of other events. The event isn't until March they start pre-celebration events in February. This part of the city is where the artists live and work all year round on the statues they build for the parade. They are huge & elaborate, all around incredible! We saw the museum which housed some old statues, as well we got to see some works in progress for this years up & coming celebration. It was really neat to see & realize how important this celebration is to their culture!

Now the title of this post - Pictures...finally is because I finally uploaded and organized all the photos I've taken thus far. This link is on the right hand side of this page. It will take you to my photobucket page. On there you can pick album to look at (left hand side). Right now there are 2 albums up, but I will keep adding as I go along. Enjoy!

Adios. Kristin