Sep 2008

Buenas,

We just got back from our trip to Sevilla and Ronda. It was a really good trip. Ronda is so cute. It is pretty much built around these huge cliffs and so there are tall bridges spanning over the canyon. It's a very typical cute old Spanish city. Lots of cobble stone streets and tiny areas. The homes were built first before the streets so the streets just curve around and follow the homes. We saw the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain and took a nice long walk throughout it. I got some great pictures of scenic views from Ronda!

We only spent a few hours there and then continued our drive up to Sevilla. When we got to Sevilla we just relaxed until dinner and most of us took little naps. Dinner was really nice though. It was "cocktail" styled (they just say Cocktail here!! haha) so it was standing the whole time. If I had known that I wouldn't have worn heels. My feet hurt the rest of the trip! haha. Anyway, the food was really tasty. We got a little taste of all sorts of Spanish food. I don't really know the names of anything but there was a little spoon of paella, a cup of gestpacho, and some other weird things that were, well, all very foreign! haha.

On saturday we got up early and took a walk to los Reales Alcázares, which is like the palace of the kings of spain. It was amazing. Truly incredible. There were parts that looked very arabic but they were actually christian because they were destroyed by an earthquake but the Christians had this tradition of keeping the castles they conquered and keeping them the same way to show their power over that culture. So they rebuilt the palace/chruch/ area in the same style it was before just without the Islamic meanings. The tile work was ridiculous. I took so many pictures. We split into like 4 groups and our leader (Lupe) was/is sooo nice. She is going to my teacher for Islamic Art and Architecture. In this palace area, in the garden, there was a Labyrinth!! It used to be a lot bigger and much harder to get lost in but with the city being so built up now, they have cut it down to a tiny one. But we still got to through it. It felt like we were in Harry Potter! haha it was so sweet.

After that we went to the 3rd largest Cathedral in the WORLD! la Catedral y Giralda. It was of course amazing. The "giralda" is a tower that is right next to the Cathedral that holds the bells. Its really tall so we could go up and see amazing views of the city. There aren't stairs going up just a ramp because they used to take horses up to the top so they couldnt have stairs. By the time we got to the Church though my batteries died and I had left my extras in the Hotel. I'll steal photos from other people! Inside the church was mind blowing, but it was interesting to hear that it is thought that the bones of Christopher Columbus might be buried in the church, they could also be in Costa Rica i think she said. Bones are being tested in the lab right now.

After that we had free time to get lunch, nap, and walk around. We got lunch and then shopped at H&M for a bit and then napped. But afterwards was so much fun! We went to a Flamenco show. There were 4 people, a guitarist, a singer, and 2 dancers. The dancers mainly danced on their own. I didn't realize how much of an individual dance it was and how much tap was really involved. I am a little scared for my class now, but still super excited. The guy dancer really impressed us all moving his feet faster than I thought was humanly possible. After the show we went to a professional soccer game of Sevilla's team. It was pretty impressive but to be honest it didn't even compare to the craziness of a PSU vs OSU/U of M football game! hahah. Most of the IES students were amazed by the fans and how much noise they made and the excitement in the air, but man they should come to Happy Valley and see the real deal. It was still a really good game and Sevilla won, 4-3. After the game some people went out, but I just went back to the room because it was already 1 am and i was tired. Oh and we watched Entourage (HBO show) in spanish!

Today we went to the Fine Arts museum in Sevilla. It was a beautiful museum because it used to be an old church and convent. It was pretty small and I think the building impressed me a little more than the art. It was all very religious art which for me gets kinda boring after a while. I still liked seeing all the beauftiful paintings but I have enjoyed other museums more.

Tomorrow is our first day of classes and I am pretty excited. I am ready to have a regular schedule and see who my teachers and classmates are.

Alright, thats all for now. everything is going well and hope all is also well at home.
Miss everyone
love
Kate

Hola,

so yesterday and today we had our language level placement exams. Today was the oral/interview part. The teacher said I would probably be placed in 377, which is like the middle class. There is an intermediate level that is 6 credits and thats for people who have taken very little Spanish, then there is another class and then mine, and then like 3 more levels. So I am right about in the middle. Sounds about right to me.

Tomorrow we leave for Sevilla and Ronda, but tonight we are going out. Salir de marcha they call it...it's when you go to a pub and then to a discotecha very late into the night. I am excited for tonight and more so this weekend in Sevilla.

Here is my itinerary...its in Spanish but I'll make a few comments

Viernes, 12
9:00
Salida de Granada
11:30 Llegada a Ronda --> arrive in Ronda
12:00 Visita guiada del puente, el casco antiguo y los baños árabes --> Visit some monuments and the Arabic Baths
14:00 Tiempo libre para comer (Pic-nic) --> Free Time and FOOD
15:15 Visita de la Plaza de Toros --> Visit Plaza de Torros, I think we will see a really old bull fighting ring
16:30 Salida de Ronda --> Leave Ronda
18:30 Llegada a Sevilla: Hotel Bécquer (Reyes Católicos, 4)
21:00 Salida del hotel para la cena--> eating dinner in Sevilla...we are going to a kinda nice place supposedly
21:30 Cena en el Restaurante Río Grande

Sábado, 13
8:45 Desayuno en el Hotel
9:15 Salida del Hotel hacia los Reales Alcázares --> visit Alcazares...i dunno?!
10:00 Visita a los Reales Alcázares y paseo por el Barrio de Santa Cruz
12:30 Tiempo libre --> free time
13:25 Visita a la Catedral y Giralda --> visit church
14:45 Tiempo libre
19:30 Espectáculo flamenco en la Casa de la Memoria --> We are going to see a sweet Flamenco show!!
22:00 Partido de fútbol entre el Sevilla F.C y el Sporting de Gijón --> We are seeing a professional "futbol" game
SALIDA directamente desde el espectáculo flamenco hacia el Estadio

Domingo,
14 hasta las 10:25 Desayuno en el Hotel
11:00 Tiempo libre. Visitas opcionales en Sevilla
a. Museo de Bellas Artes
b. Torre del Oro y parque de María Luisa
c. Tiempo libre
15:30 Salida desde el Hotel
18:30 Llegada a Granada

Ok and finally I uploaded some pictures on to my blog. I'll add some here to this entry, but to see more go http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/stream/size/M/photoID/301106/users/katesobel/
I hope that works...if not you have to go to my profile and click on my photo album

hi ya'll,

so I tried to put pictures on this blog, but this site doesn't handle pictures well. it froze up my computer totally, so I will try again some other time.

Yesterday and today have been pretty normal. Class, lunch, relax, each dinner/go out, sleep and do it again. But there are a few interesting things I have noticed. I don't know if I have mentioned it on one of these blogs yet or not, but people in Spain really don't use the words please and thank you or excuse me often. The teachers/organizers always have to remind us NOT to be so polite! hahah. Also obviously we know lunch is a big thing here, well the last two days we have been late for lunch (2:30) because our classses have gone a bit long. We called and told our host mom that we would be late, and both times we would get home around 2:45. Yesterday our host mom and brother started without us, and today they had completely finished without us! It was so weird. Its like they couldn't wait those 15 mins for us to get home. We learned that lunch is really important and that people don't start eating until everyone is there, its the big family meal, they do it at the same time all the time....but like couldn't they have waited for us?! haha

I don't really care, we still ate the food, it was just weird.

Yesterday we went on a walk of Sacramonte. This is the part of Granada where the "gypsies" are known to live. Its also the area of los cuevos (caves). Lots of the homes, bars, disco techas, etc are built into the caves. they are soo cute. They have all been painted white and you can;t even tell they are caves from the outside really, but when you go in, it totally is cave like with little rooms and rocky ceilings and small arches. That was pretty cool, and the area also has some great views of the Alhambra. Sacramonte is located right next to the Albayzin and looks pretty much the same, just poorer...so i liked the Albayzin more. There is one disco techa in Sacramonte that I want to go to. It's built into a cave and its called Cambodia. It's supposed to be a really nice one. Someday I will have to go there.

Tonight I am going to watch a movie at the IES center on the roof top. i don't know what movie it is, but it's in spanish, s the title wouldn't help me anyway.

Tomorrow we are taking a language placement test that will put us in a specific grammar class for the semester. I think its a two day test! And then this weekend we go to Sevilla y Ronda for 3 days! That should be a lot of fun. I won't be able to write while I am there of course, but I will let you all know all about it afterwards, then on monday we start classes!

Last night after the walk, we went to a restaurant and had dinner/tapas, then went to a little bar and had a drink, then went to an "irish pub" hannigans and sons and watched some tennis and sang along to lots of american music, and then we went to this club/bar thing. I didn't stay there very long cause by the time we got there it was like 11"30...i stayed till 12:30 and then went home. The bar was WAY tooooo american. it was filled with americanos! like 25IES students, a few students from another program, and all the bar tenders spoke english. I felt weird cause it didn't feel special. I don't think I really want to go there again. But it was still a fun night. Tomrrow we don't have class till 10 so i get to sleep in!! yay

I guess thats all for now. Hasta luego,
Kste

hi,

i totally thought I did this already, probably because I've told so many people. Well, on Saturday we took this crazy hike at el cabo de gata, which is like the most southern part of spain. it was 10 miles and not an easy 10 miles. My calves are still killing me. i just put pictures on facebook and soon i'll try and put some here. I can't write for long right now cause we have to get ready for class. It was amazing though. Costal rocks and mountain peeks like no other. we swam in the Mediterranean twice and it was amazing. the wind was insane though and hurt because of the sand! stung! but it was worth it. at the end of the night we went to dinner at this crazy pizza place in a a little town called San Jose. the waiters loved to act silly and take shots and dance on chairs. it was hilarious.

yesterday we did nothing. it was amazing. we slept 12 hours and ate food and cleaned room.

today we are going to class and i think taking another walk later tonight

thats it for now, all things are good except for me having too much dairy yesterday...oooops!

love ya'll - happy birthday hannah

Kate

HOLA,

Today was pretty awesome. We had class as usual and discussed cultural differences and similarities. We talked about the kissing (2), the schedule (late dinners), and personal space (little...none), public display of affection (a lot), and living in the streets. In Spain the house is really just a place to rest. People just sleep and shower there and the rest of the time they are out and about (or cleaning the house). My host mother says she rarely eats dinner in the house. She always goes out for "tapas" with her friends. It's so cute.

Today we met our host mother's granddaughter. She is about 5 months old and named Laura. She is soooo cute. but drooled A LOT! The foods been fine, but nothing really special, but today for lunch we had meetballs! haha. and home made "papas fritas" - french fries.

I don't know if I described my room at all, but I am sharing it with Carrie and there are 2 beds, 2 desks, and a wall of HUGE closets. Beds suck unfortunately but other than that its a nice room, but LOUDDDDDDDDDD. The street is so loud and no houses here have screened in windows. Its weird. Anything could come in!! haha

Today we took the most amazing "paseo" or walk around the most gorgeous part of the city, the Albayzin. Its really old and has beautiful view of the alhambra. It's the most picturesque area, and the parts you see in pictures....with the small cobble stone streets and white homes with iron doors and gates. It an uphill walk, very steep, but the top is amazing. Beautiful views of the City....of course I FORGOT MY CAMERA! Luckily my friend Ali and I share the same passion for snapping hundreds of photos, so we will share them, but that means I don't have pictures for you all right now. But believe me its amazing.

It was like a 2 hour walk and then we went for tapas y bebidas (drinks) and then ice cream by the Cathedral. It's a magical area...and there just happend to be a mini orchestra playing right there, so it was one hell of a night.

TOMORROW though is gonna ROCK. We are traveling to Cabo de Gata...its a beach area. We are gonna do a 10 mile hike to like 3 or 4 beaches...and 1 or 2 are NUDE! haha. I am really excited. BUT we have to get up at 6:30 am to catch the bus at 7:45... This time I will remember my camera!!!!!

Things are going well today. I really like a few of the girls in my class (ali, lily, carrie, christina, and a few more)...so hopefully things will only get better between us!

We just bought "champu" today so I really need to take a REAL shower and wash my hair since being in Granada....I did shower in Malaga, I am not that gross!!!

I better do that now since I have to get up so early. Oh, last night i was really homesick because I couldn't sleep hopefully tonight will be better, i bought ear plugs!!!

LOVE YOU ALL
Kate