You are looking at posts that were written in the month of March in the year 2008.
Posted on March 26th, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.
Now we are on our spring vacation; it is so nice to have two weeks off school for Spring Break. The first week of break was Semana Santa, during the first week there are lots of religious ceremonies to celebrate Easter. The second week, what is going on right now, is a week of Spring celebrations. I asked a lady in the streets to explain to me the difference between the first week of celebrations and the second. She told me “Well that’s simple; the first week is for praying the second is for drinking”. In Murcia this week there are “barracas” (huts) that are set up around town with typical Murcian food and games. Last week I went to some of the religious processions in the streets and they were pretty amusing. There were people marching and carrying various religious statues, all dressed in Klu-Klux-Klan type outfits. On Easter there was the biggest procession and the people marched without their veils. I went to the midnight mass in the Cathedral the night before Easter. I couldn’t believe it was so crowded that some people had to stand, even in that huge church! It was a beautiful mass but some things were slightly different. I thought it was strange that during the Baptisms the priest would hold the naked baby up in front of the whole crowd and then fully dunk the screaming child under water. In our Easter masses at home they simply pour the holy water on the baby’s forehead.
The weather has been fantastic, lots of sun and a always nice breeze. Yesterday was an event called “El Bando de la Huerta” and it was one of the best days I’ve had here in Murcia. Everyone was dressed in typical costumes from the region and out in the streets drinking. There were parades all day, buses with loud music driving all over down and booths with food set up on every corner. I went with Roberto and his friends to a park where most of the students were meeting. They had more food than they needed and even more to drink. We went in the morning and sat there in the sun all day in our costumes, we didn’t leave until 10 or 11. Some of them wanted to practice a bit of English, it was rather amusing! A group of three students started to sing “head and shoulders knees and toes knees and toes…” I thought I was going to die laughing! They were even doing the movements! Another guy told me he was a graffiti artist and asked me if I wanted to go graffiti the town with him. Tempting very tempting.
The first weekend of our break I went to the Czech Republic with 3 other American girls that I met here in Murcia. We stayed there for about six days and had an amazing time. It started out a little hectic because I almost missed the bus to leave for Barcelona. I was attempting to enroll in my classes and they kept sending me to get more paperwork. By the time I got back to my apartment I only had ten minutes to eat, pack and run to the bus station. It took us so long to get to Barcelona because the bus continued to stop for 45 minutes at each stop the whole way there. When we arrived in Barcelona it was midnight and we had to stay awake until we could catch another bus to our airport at 6 in the morning. We arrived at the airport at 7 in the morning and then had to wait for our plane to Brno that was leaving at 10. When we did finally get to the Czech Republic we were so tired but had to start our day because we didn’t have a place to sleep yet. Our friend Cassie studied in the Czech Republic for a year so it was really helpful to have her with us. She speaks fluent Czech and Russian (and obviously Spanish because she is studying in Spain)! How impressive! She was our translator and also taught us basic phrases so that we could be semi-polite. The first night we met up with some of her friends in Brno and got drinks with them. One of her friends showed us this cool little chocolate bar where we had hot chocolate with chili powder, it was really good! In Brno we climbed up to a city lookout. We decided to stop and get a drink in a little tavern like place on the top. We ordered beers and when the server was leaning over to set the appetizer on the table she spilled my beer on my head! I was drenched, even my glasses were dripping with beer! I had to go to the bathroom and change into the second of my three outfits I had brought with me. Worst of all she didn’t even give me a free drink!
I really like the Czech food, the best thing I ate was the Halusky and the Goulash. The Halusky was a mixture of pork, thick dumpling like noodles, and sauerkraut. We stayed one night in Brno and then went to Prague. The first day we wandered around Prague and found our Hostel. This was really the Hostel from a horror film. We walked out the front door and there was broken glass and graffiti. We saw almost everything in Prague and we weren’t rushed. We saw Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, Nicholas’s Cathedral, Wenceslas Square, Dancing House (by Frank Gehry), the Synagogues in the old Jewish quarter, Prague castle, and more. I fell in love with the Mucha museum! We were invited by some guy we met in a club from Arizona to go to a big Art opening in Prague castle. The president of the Czech Republic and the Mayor were going to be there, the only problem was that it was formal and we only had one outfit for the whole week. We didn’t sleep for three days on our way home, just small naps on random buses and trains. We had to spend the day in Barcelona waiting for our bus to leave to Murcia so we decided to go check out the city a bit. We took a tour of the Casa Batlló by Antoní Gaudí. Gaudí was an Art Nouveau-Art Deco artist working in Barcelona in the early 20th century. He built most of the tourist attractions that make Barcelona so famous. La Pedrera with Casa Mila, Casa Battló, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, and more! The house is like something out of who-ville in a Dr. Suess book.
Right now I am sitting at the kitchen table with Rosaria. She is studying (how good she is) I need to get on that myself. I told her I didn’t like the milk here in Spain, really it is super strange. She just asked me if we had milkmen in the United States that bring us glass bottles of milk to our doors. Oh the television! Enjoy the pics!
I decided to put my photos on like this because I can show more and they take less space!
http://http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068229&l=bc4c4&id=47202615 (pictures from Paris)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070812&l=e4239&id=47202615 (The beach and Czech Republic)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070815&l=bcecf&id=47202615(Barcelona y Semana Santa)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067296&l=662dd&id=47202615(Madrid, Toledo and Murcia)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067222&l=0c7c0&id=47202615 (Murcia)
Posted on March 10th, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.
The past couple weeks have been pretty laid back. I finally feel like I have a set schedule and a routine. My walk to school is nice as well. I finally found a route that didn’t take me around the perimeter of the city, it turns out I live pretty close to campus! My morning walk is now 10 minutes as opposed to the previous 30. My friends are continuously making fun of my sense of direction (it’s nonexistent…thanks Mom!). Thomas has also given me some interesting new music that I listen to during my walk to school…it’s called Beirut-check it out!
This week I decided to make a full American dinner for my roommates so they could try something that we typically eat (at least in my family…if everyone else disagrees with my choice of food I apologize). I made roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, carrots, and a salad. They had never had it before! I am constantly surprised by the things that they eat. I am also astounded by the fact that they have never tried some of the things that I enjoy so much. I am proud to say I was able to witness Rosaria’s first morsel of the delicacy we like to call corn on the cob. The next day I saw she had bought corn at the market and it was on her shelf in the refrigerator, I gave myself a pat on the back! Not only am sharing my culture, but they are introducing me to new things as well. Rosaria eats some things that I would never think of. Sometimes she takes oranges, cuts them up, and then covers them with olive oil and salt–she calls it orange salad. She also takes carrots and potatoes and mixes them with eggs for some sort of scrambled egg/ vegetable mixture. It seems that I am also a culprit of stereotyping because I was expecting pasta and tiramisu every night. Thomas eats a lot of pasta (plain), with meat (sans spices). I’m not going to judge French cuisine by only watching what Thomas eats because he even admitted that he can’t cook. I can say I have never seen him eat snails!
Thomas and I are always complaining about the noise upstairs. It is like a never ending game of musical chairs. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I stormed into Thomas’ room and woke him up from his nap. We went upstairs together to tell them to quiet down. As we reached the top of the steps we saw a sign that said “Center for Down Syndrome Children”. We looked at each other and silently turned around and headed back to our apartment.
This Thursday we are leaving for Prague and I am super excited! We will go visit Cassie’s family there because she was studying in Prague last year. She gave me a little cheat sheet with random phrases to use when I arrive. I will write more later! I apologize for the lack of pictures but for some reason they are not working right now!
Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.
I am shocked to hear that the rest of the world really believes that we eat hamburgers and fries everyday! I knew that these foods were always associated with Americans, but still thought that people knew that we eat other foods! We had an international dinner last week in the International building on campus and everyone brought a dish from their country. My friend Grace and I made mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, they were a big hit! There are students here from everywhere…more than I thought! Mexico, Lebanon, Czech Republic, Poland, Colombia, Uruguay, all European countries and more! The food was so fun to try! My favorite was the food from Mexico and South America! (Real Mexican food like Chicken with Mole). We have such a bad reputation with the rest of the world it is unbelievable. Every time my other American friends here and I meet someone and tell them that we are American they are constantly surprised that we are not fat, loud, and unable to carry on a conversation about anything besides Paris Hilton’s latest hairstyle. Another Spanish student that I met who is planning on studying the United States has been constantly warned that when he is studying in United States he shouldn’t be offended when everyone just assumes he is Mexican because he speaks Spanish. He has been told that Americans are unaware that any other country speaks Spanish besides Mexico. He said his friend was asked in the United States, “Oh, you’re from Spain? That’s in Mexico? How do you feel about the immigration policies here?”…..qué horror! My other roommate from France asked me “Do you even know who the president of France is?” He was astonished that I knew because he said that every American he had asked here in Spain had no idea. The only reason I know is because of Mathilde. The news here in Europe is constantly showing international events. How are we supposed to know anything when CNN in the U.S. is constantly updating us on Britney Spears and celebrity D.U.I’s. Our reputation really infuriates me…I don’t know if I can hear anything else about the United States! I know I will.
Paris was a blast! When I arrived Mathilde met me at the airport and we went directly to the Louvre to see it lit up at night. Later we met her friends who are studying in Paris and made dinner. The next day we woke up and went to see the Eiffel tower, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, and other tourist spots. We ate lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the Eiffel tower. Afterwards we took the train to Montmartre (where Amelie was filmed) and sat outside the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur listening to some guys from Mexico sing for two hours. That night we went to a get together at her friends apartment and then went to bed. The next day we went to the Louvre. It is so big you can’t possibly see everything in one day! It was fun to see a lot of the 19th century paintings that we studied in Dr. Braysmith’s class. We walked around that afternoon with two of her friends and went to Notre Dame and other beautiful streets. That night we ate dinner at her friend from Spains apartment. He made us dinner and then we went to a bar near his place. It was an interesting night because there was a huge language barrier. Mathilde and Raul spoke French, Raul and I spoke Spanish, and Mathilde and I spoke English. There was always someone out of the conversation!
My classes are really driving me crazy! They keep changing the schedules and canceling classes! I feel so out of it. I need to talk to my professors but they are never in their offices when they say they will be. Today I will try to send an e-mail. For example Tuesday. One of my classes was canceled all week and the teacher is going to recuperate the hours next week. After class I went to the computer lab to print my book list but my I.D card wasn’t working so I couldn’t use the computer. I had to walk 20 minutes to the International building in another part of town and meet with my coordinator for ISEP. He “fixed” the card and when I went back to campus it didn’t work again! In between this time I had been constantly trekking up and down the stairs in the building where the professors have their offices attempting to talk with them about what on earth we are supposed to be doing in our classes. I was finally able to meet with my adviser and she asks me “So, do you have the schedule for the classes yet? Do you have any idea of what you would like to take?” I am thinking “Yes! I’ve had my schedule written out and I’ve been memorizing it for the past 4 weeks! Classes have already been in session two weeks!”. They are so laid back here! Afterwards I had to find the I.D. office and have them fix my I.D. so I could have my list. Finally it worked…but then the printer was out of paper! Afterwards I found my books in the library and went home to take a long siesta. I hope I begin to understand what I need to do!
My new roommate from Italy arrived Thursday night. She is a super sweet girl named Rosaria from Sicily. One night she is going to make a typical Italian meal! I am excited to try her food! She also made me an orange salad that she eats in a lot in Italy. Thomas and I have been getting along very well… he is hilarious. Friday night I went out with Grace (U.S), Ron (Scotland) and Luis (Colombia). We went to a bar and hung out for awhile. The Colombian kept trying to get us to say tongue twisters in Spanish. He told me I spoke Spanish like a French girl and I really need to work on my R’s! haha. Afterwards Roberto (Spain) met up with us and we went to another bar. I have been hanging out with him a lot he is a great guy and is helping me a lot with my Spanish. It really helps that he doesn’t speak English because I can’t really resort back to English when I can’t think of something. I have to describe it in Spanish until he can tell me the exact word. Yesterday Rosaria, Grace, Quentin (Belgium-french part) and I went to the beach for the day. We packed a picnic of fruit and bread and just sat on the beach for hours. It was to cold to wear a bathing suit but it was nice to be by the sea and relax. Today I have to do some reading for my classes. Tonight we are going to meet and go to a movie The other Boleyn sister? I think that is what it is called…in Spanish “Las hermanas bolena”. =)