January, 2008
You are looking at posts that were written in the month of January in the year 2008.
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My first week
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.
Yesterday I had to be at school by 10:00 am to take an Spanish placement exam. There are other American students here doing a direct program. They are a group of about 7 or 8 students who take culture and language classes together everyday in the International Relations building. The other Americans that I meet with for orientation are here for ISEP exchange and have chosen to do the pre -semester language intensive program. After this program we will take classes at the University. There were probably 35 students from all over Europe studying through the ERASMUS program taking the exam with us today. Our language classes will start tomorrow and last until the semester begins in February.
So far everything has been nice here in Murcia. I really like my apartment and am happy with my bedroom. I have my own bathroom and a balcony off my room (unfortunately the park across the street is under construction so it overlooks bulldozers at the moment). I feel like I am beginning to know where I am for the most part when I am walking around. If I have problems getting back to my apartment I can simply ask where the Cathedral is and I can find my way from there. I am very thankful for an apartment in such a great location! I am very close to the plaza with the Cathedral and also the main street for shopping.
Today was my first day of classes and I enjoyed it a lot. Spanish class has always been my favorite, now I have Spanish class 24 hours a day! We talked about Spanish culture and common language mistakes today. We will have this intensive class for two weeks before our classes begin in the University. I am very happy I decided to take this class because not only will it help me with my language skills, but I have also met other international students from all over the world. There are students from Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Peru, Portugal, Brazil, Italy, United States, England and more! We are all in the same boat so it is nice to have people to share your time with here in Spain. We are all from different parts of the world but we all have one thing in common, the Spanish language.
Tomorrow my roommate Christina is leaving and a boy from France will arrive. We have been trying to hang out the past week after my classes and orientation, but by the time I get home she has to go. Every night she goes to a “aero-box” class and she doesn’t like to change her schedule.
Tonight I think I will go out with a few friends from my Spanish class to a place called Badulake. On Wednesday nights they have free Beer and Sangria. I have only gone out one other time and I went to the same place. It seems to be “the place” for the International students to go. The first time I went I went with an Italian guy who lives next door to our apartment. He is friends with my roommate Lize and was over here a couple nights ago hanging out. He asked me if I wanted “to exit” with them. I don’t know why people always want to speak English! To exit? He meant “go out”. Well Lize ended up backing out and it was just me and the Italian. He ended up being a little too much and I decided to go home early. Hopefully tonight will be better.
So far here are the things I like the most about Spain:
-the slower pace of life
-the way the old men slowly walk around with their hands folded behind their backs
-cafés
-fresh fruit–I have yet to experience the outdoor market on Thursdays
-streets lined with orange trees
-history everywhere
-Burger Kings in old palaces
-Siesta time when everything closes and people not only nap but just sit and enjoy themselves in the plazas and parks
-tiny groceries, tiny cars, tiny everything
-the Spanish lisp
-all the Dr. Latorre look a likes in their brown turtlenecks and sport coats
-history everywhere =)
Día Uno
Posted on January 26th, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.
I’m a firm believer that if you tell yourself you’re good at something, even if you’re terrible, you can convince yourself and others with a positive attitude. For example, I am a terrible dancer but I pretend I’m brilliant and everyone is convinced (or so I think). It’s a great plan and it works most of the time, but I’ve learned there is one thing no matter what I tell myself I will never have and that is a good sense of direction. Yesterday was the first day of orientation and I spent the day lost in Murcia. I thought the city would be easy to navigate because Lize gave me a map and told me exactly where to go street by street; I was wrong. I turned by my apartment and passed La Plaza de Toros, just as she said. I kept going straight until I got to the circle and I turned exactly where she told me to turn. At that point I knew I was in the right spot, I just had to turn on one of the streets going out from the circle and then I would be on campus. There was an old man standing on the corner in a suit, he looked like a decent man so I showed him my map and asked him where I needed to turn. He told me I was in the wrong circle; apparently there are about 15 in town. He asked me where I was from and then began talking about his pen pal that he had in the states when he was younger. He went on forever so I interrupted him to tell him that I was already late for my appointment and I really needed to find the office. He said “Well precious, I will take you to the very door!” I’m really not used to strangers calling me things like “preciosa” or “bonita” but it seems to be normal here. At first I wondered if he was just a creepy old man and questioned if I should follow him, but after listening to people as we walk even if you are not very “bonita” people will still call you such names. I finally arrived to the office, luckily only 30 minutes late for orientation. There were other Americans in the class but I didn’t really get to talk to any of them. Afterwards I walked home alone, lost again! I kept stopping and asking people where I needed to go. The way home was even worse than the way there. At one point I even fell down the stairs of a bank building! The two girls in front of me were snickering at me as a toppled down the stairs. I wanted to scream! I eventually found my way back to the Gran Via and from there I knew where to find my apartment. YES! I did it!
After finally getting home I sat and had a cup of coffee with Christine, my German roommate. She asked me if I wanted to go with her and her friend to a shopping center on the outskirts of the city later that evening. I told her I would go but first Lize and I had to go to the Supermercado because I had nothing to eat. I walked there with Lize and then lugged all of my groceries back. The director at orientation told us that every Thursday morning there is a big outdoor market in the city center with fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. I will have to check that out next week. After I got home Christine and I met her Norwegian friend at the bus station on Gran Via. We rode out to the shopping center where I was able to buy a phone card, some towels, and bedding at IKEA. After dinner we came home and I crashed, the jet lag had finally caught up with me.
I didn’t wake up today until 1:45! I felt like I had wasted the day, but I was so tired. After lunch Lize showed me the best way to walk to the international office. Christine is out of town this weekend on a trip to Córdoba. When we were outside the office there was a lost French girl who barely spoke any Spanish (I felt better than I wasn’t the only one lost in town). She told us she had been living in a hostel and she will start classes next week at the University. She was having trouble finding an apartment. Lize knew where people posted apartment openings so we went there next. I gave her my number so I will at least have one friend after Lize and Christine leave next week. Now I think I will go buy some water because I don’t have anything to drink! The tap water is not sanitary and I didn’t want to carry the heavy jug of water all the way back from the grocery store. There are little stores everywhere that the people here call “tiendas de chinos”. They are little stores that are typically ran by Chinese people where they sell a little bit of everything. I feel bad calling it a “tienda de chinos” when they are not all ran by Chinese people but I guess my opinion is irrelevant. 
¡Bienvenido a España!
Posted on January 18th, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.
I feel like I have been planning this trip forever and it is finally here. I left January 23rd and I didn’t get here until late last night. I started in Evansville, then went to Chicago, London, Barcelona, and Alicante. The flights were fine and all went smoothly. When I got to Alicante I had to get my huge suitcases and push them up a ramp to the bus station. I thought I was going to die, my suitcases together weighed 103 pounds! At this point I was so tired and hungry I thought I was going to cry. The bus finally came and the bottom opened so people could put their belongings inside. I of course had the most. I stacked my two suitcases on top of each other in the bottom and the lady next to me gave me a terrible look. I just ignored her and got onto the bus, 45 minutes later I was finally in Murcia. We unloaded the bus and the same lady who gave me the death stare said in Spanish “She knows what you’ve done” and walks away. I am still unaware of what “I did”, perhaps it was because I stacked my suitcases? I caught a taxi outside the bus station and took the taxi to my apartment. The taxi driver dropped me off and then I was standing outside my apartment with no way to get in! Standing there with my 2 giant suitcases just waiting for someone to come let me inside. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do once I was inside since I was also key-less, but I just wanted in. An old man came and I told him my situation and where I was supposed to be living. He said he knew the two girls living in my apartment and that he thought they were “Inglesas”. He took me upstairs and also called the land lady. She came in and was super friendly, but talked about a mile a minute. She would ask me a question and while I was preparing my answer in my head she would ask me three more! She told me I would have to pay her on Tuesday and that she wants a copy of my passport, easy enough.
When I walked into the apartment I first met my roommate Lize, pronounced “LeezUH”. She is from Belgum and was very nice. She speaks mostly English to me. My other roommate is from Germany and her name is Christine, she speaks only Spanish. Christine helped me clean my bathroom because it was so gross. She kept saying “increíble eh?”, I wonder if the “eh” after everything she says is a German trait or a Spanish one, I guess I’ll see. I won’t live with these two girls very long because they were here for last semester. I will live with a French boy and an Italian girl in a couple weeks. I have no bedding so I had to sleep on a coat and cover myself up with a coat until I can go to IKEA tonight or tomorrow. I also need to go to the market and get some food. Now I have to go get ready now for orientation at 12:00. I have no idea where it is but I guess I will find it!
p.s. The weather is fabulous! (Although everyone is still wearing coats! locos!)