Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
adventures!!!
This weekend I am leaving Córdoba for the first time since coming here. Carnaval in Cádiz! I'm going as a cave (wo)man. will most definitely have some interesting pictures. but anyways...
Today at 6:30 I am meeting my intercambio, Marta, for the first time. so excited! I'm meeting her in Plaza Tendillas, in the very center of the city. Speaking of Plaza Tendillas, two friends and I went there last week and there were a few people making giant bubbles. This is what those pictures are from. It was a very adventurous day. after that we walked around the old part of town and explored. (The picture of of the red building with the mats over the windows.) apparently when it gets hot in summer they soak the mats in water so it evaporates and cools the house. awesome! We ended up going into the AC Hotel, Córdoba's big five-star, to use the bathroom, which for some reason was on the 6th floor. But it had such a beautiful view that we stayed as long as we could before getting kicked out. (The picture of the two girls laying on the couch thing in front of the big window.) A man came and asked us what room we were in and if we were staying there. I guess they have cameras. We pretended not to understand him and said we were waiting for our grandma, but he made us leave anyway. It's probably the nicest hotel I have ever been in. The remaining picture is a fun one my friend took of us doing "USA" in the Mezquita.
Today we went to Medinat Al-Zhara (some ruins). It was beautiful! I am seriously in love with Muslim architecture. I will put up pictures when I upload them. Very excited for Cádiz this weekend and Granada next weekend. still not sure what i am doing for spring break. It sounds like most people are going to Italy. Ok I have to go now. Love love.
Today at 6:30 I am meeting my intercambio, Marta, for the first time. so excited! I'm meeting her in Plaza Tendillas, in the very center of the city. Speaking of Plaza Tendillas, two friends and I went there last week and there were a few people making giant bubbles. This is what those pictures are from. It was a very adventurous day. after that we walked around the old part of town and explored. (The picture of of the red building with the mats over the windows.) apparently when it gets hot in summer they soak the mats in water so it evaporates and cools the house. awesome! We ended up going into the AC Hotel, Córdoba's big five-star, to use the bathroom, which for some reason was on the 6th floor. But it had such a beautiful view that we stayed as long as we could before getting kicked out. (The picture of the two girls laying on the couch thing in front of the big window.) A man came and asked us what room we were in and if we were staying there. I guess they have cameras. We pretended not to understand him and said we were waiting for our grandma, but he made us leave anyway. It's probably the nicest hotel I have ever been in. The remaining picture is a fun one my friend took of us doing "USA" in the Mezquita.
Today we went to Medinat Al-Zhara (some ruins). It was beautiful! I am seriously in love with Muslim architecture. I will put up pictures when I upload them. Very excited for Cádiz this weekend and Granada next weekend. still not sure what i am doing for spring break. It sounds like most people are going to Italy. Ok I have to go now. Love love.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
a few Mezquita pictures.
The Mezquita is Córdoba's big Mosque that was halfway made into a Catholic church sometime during the middle ages. It's an interesting medley of Islamic and Christian architecture, and mass in still held in it on sundays! It is Córdoba's biggest tourist attraction and the most beautiful place I have ever been! here are a few pictures. I don't have time to write much because in 15 minutes I have to go to a meeting about volunteering. I'll write and post more pictures later. Love you all!
Monday, February 9, 2009
ETA + more pictures. dont freak out. really.
A car bomb went off in Madrid today. No one was killed or injured.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/09/bomb-madrid-eta-camp-naciones
On that happy note, today was a good real first day of classes. I have a little homework that I'm going to do after this.
I'm putting up some pictures from this weekend. Some are of a fashion show we saw when we randomly walked by a store. The girl with the dark hair and purple dress is miss Córdoba. The one of the people playing music is a group of people we saw playing music in a bar. after everyone left it was just us and the regulars. There was an old man with a guitar and a 20-something girl who gave us a little flamenco lesson. I was the only one who tried to get up and dance, though. Speaking of flamenco, I start flamenco lessons next week! yay!
I also have a picture of this jacket i found. Favorite jacket I have ever seen! but it is 199 euros and i would rather spend my money on other things like travels. And speaking of travels, I am going to Carnaval in Cádiz on the 21st. You can look it up if you want but its pretty much just a big street fair that goes on all night.
Oh and they have really funny broken english t-shirts in the stores here. They say things like "happy watermelon" and "lovely frog" and "hey baby where you going?" with a picture of a dog under it. The one I'm wearing in the picture says "sexy cat", in case you can't read it. I know it doesn't fit so don't worry I didn't buy it. Also I have been watching a lot of spanish mtv, because that is all they play in the internet cafe. They play the same videos over and over just like american mtv. There is one I really like. I don't know how to post videos but I will try right after this to post it on here. Ok thanks for reading!
toni
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/09/bomb-madrid-eta-camp-naciones
On that happy note, today was a good real first day of classes. I have a little homework that I'm going to do after this.
I'm putting up some pictures from this weekend. Some are of a fashion show we saw when we randomly walked by a store. The girl with the dark hair and purple dress is miss Córdoba. The one of the people playing music is a group of people we saw playing music in a bar. after everyone left it was just us and the regulars. There was an old man with a guitar and a 20-something girl who gave us a little flamenco lesson. I was the only one who tried to get up and dance, though. Speaking of flamenco, I start flamenco lessons next week! yay!
I also have a picture of this jacket i found. Favorite jacket I have ever seen! but it is 199 euros and i would rather spend my money on other things like travels. And speaking of travels, I am going to Carnaval in Cádiz on the 21st. You can look it up if you want but its pretty much just a big street fair that goes on all night.
Oh and they have really funny broken english t-shirts in the stores here. They say things like "happy watermelon" and "lovely frog" and "hey baby where you going?" with a picture of a dog under it. The one I'm wearing in the picture says "sexy cat", in case you can't read it. I know it doesn't fit so don't worry I didn't buy it. Also I have been watching a lot of spanish mtv, because that is all they play in the internet cafe. They play the same videos over and over just like american mtv. There is one I really like. I don't know how to post videos but I will try right after this to post it on here. Ok thanks for reading!
toni
Sunday, February 8, 2009
mexican food!
sorry, no pictures today. but I had mexican food this morning! I don't know how they got the tortillas, but I ordered a burrito and they gave me two tacos! nothing like the food in mexico or the states but it was absolutely the spiciest thing I have had here, though it wasn't really that spicy. I love not having class on fridays, it makes the weekend seem so much longer! I am ready to go to classes tomorrow but of course I am sad this weekend is drawing to a close.
I am taking spanish, literature and film, and history. I have the same professor, Lola, for spanish and Lit&film. For history my professor is Antonio. Everyone really likes him, especially the girls. I just like him because when I listen to him talk I sometimes forget he is speaking spanish. He speaks so much clearer than everyone else here and it makes me think for a second that I'm better at spanish than I really am. I feel like Carmen is speaking a different language when she talks to her daughter than when she talks to me.
For Lit & Film we are going to watch close to 8 movies this semester. It will be an interesting experience having movie nights at other people's houses since we really aren't allowed to have visitors at other times. The directors of the program told us most people in spain don't entertain guests. I'm beginning to wonder if they told us that just so we wouldn't be tempted to invite people over. I really think there is a lot of truth to it, though. I know things here aren't any worse or any better than in the states, just different is all. But this is something I really don't understand. I think having people over at my house is really fun!
For the past three nights, I have gone dancing/socializing at a bar/club called soul. It has a really fun atmosphere and so far we have always seen other people from out program there. It is getting a little easier every day talking to strangers in spanish, though i am still very awkward at it. There is also the jazz cafe, though i don't think it should be called that since there is only jazz 2 nights a week, tuesday and wednesday. I think I am going to go see some jazz on one of those days.
Well I am going to go now. I don't want to make this too boring, especially because there are no pictures. I am really missing all of you. so long for now!
toni
I am taking spanish, literature and film, and history. I have the same professor, Lola, for spanish and Lit&film. For history my professor is Antonio. Everyone really likes him, especially the girls. I just like him because when I listen to him talk I sometimes forget he is speaking spanish. He speaks so much clearer than everyone else here and it makes me think for a second that I'm better at spanish than I really am. I feel like Carmen is speaking a different language when she talks to her daughter than when she talks to me.
For Lit & Film we are going to watch close to 8 movies this semester. It will be an interesting experience having movie nights at other people's houses since we really aren't allowed to have visitors at other times. The directors of the program told us most people in spain don't entertain guests. I'm beginning to wonder if they told us that just so we wouldn't be tempted to invite people over. I really think there is a lot of truth to it, though. I know things here aren't any worse or any better than in the states, just different is all. But this is something I really don't understand. I think having people over at my house is really fun!
For the past three nights, I have gone dancing/socializing at a bar/club called soul. It has a really fun atmosphere and so far we have always seen other people from out program there. It is getting a little easier every day talking to strangers in spanish, though i am still very awkward at it. There is also the jazz cafe, though i don't think it should be called that since there is only jazz 2 nights a week, tuesday and wednesday. I think I am going to go see some jazz on one of those days.
Well I am going to go now. I don't want to make this too boring, especially because there are no pictures. I am really missing all of you. so long for now!
toni
Friday, February 6, 2009
more pictures...
my room and the awesome view of the traffic circle from my window! I'm in love with this place.
Viento
Heyyyy guys so it stopped raining yesterday, but now it's really cold and windy. I am in the internet cafe connected to the hotel we stayed at the first night. Hotel Tryp Los Gallos has become a meeting point for all of us, because it's something we all know how to get to. Today there was no class, but we had a tour of old town (La Judería). Unfortunately, It was at 9:30 and I didn't wake up until 10:15. I did that thing where youre so tired that you turn off your alarm without remembering. But I went to meet them in one of the plazas after the tour was over. defninitely going to try not to do that again.
A little bit about my living situation. I live in the coolest house ever! I have the best view out my window of Plaza Poeta, and there are is a lot of the color orange in the house. Gives it a nice cheerful feel. It's really nice having a girl close to my age in the house. She graduated last year and I think she's currently looking for a job. They have a dog, too. Her name is Reina and she's nice to me until I move too fast. If i make quick movements or talk too loud she barks at me. And she has a very ear-splitting bark. But I think she likes me because she lets me pet her and she stands and watches me for a long time when I'm taking a nap. Speaking of naps, Siesta is the best idea ever and I wish the whole world did it.
Last night we went to Jazz Cafe. There wasn't any jazz; we found out they only play on tuesday and wednesday nights, but it was a cool place with good drinks. We also met some new spanish friends last night. After jazz cafe, we went to a bar called Soul where there were a lot of people dancing. It was mostly locals there, so we found some interesting people to talk to. Not sure what is going on tonight, but I must say I'm excited to be able to sleep in tomorrow, finally.
I am looking forward to possibly going on the Morocco exchange, taking Flamenco lessons, and finding some volunteer opportunites. It would be nice to do something like that with my free time here, other than just selfish stuff like traveling and going to bars. My classes are pretty good so far, but its much nicer not having class on fridays. Next friday i think we are going to Mezquita, Córdoba's big mosque and probably it's biggest tourist attraction. I walked by the Mezquita yesterday and it was huge! really pretty. It has a cathedral built over it, of course, but at least the mosque part is still intact. There is a burger king right outside of it.
anyway I'm gonna go before you get too bored reading this. I should be updating this pretty consistently now, as i have been going to the internet cafe a lot after siesta. I'm putting up some pictures, of my room, my house, Reina, and one really bad picture of our group in front of a fountain at one of Córdoba's many parks. I'm not in the picture because I took it. More pictures coming soon, and better ones i swear!!!!
ok bye miss you guys!
love, toni
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
turtles in the train station
helloooooo again! sorry I have been so inconsistent with this, but i dont have internet in my house and i have to go look for places with wifi (or "weefee" as they call it in spain). I miss all of you but i am loving it here! right now i am sitting in ZOCO, Cordoba's big mall. I am sitting outside a grocery store and a cafe and am really scared of getting my laptop stolen, so im only going to post one picture and not write very much. sorry =[ I will find an internet cafe and update you soon because I have many stories! I was only in Madrid for a short while but i thought it looked really amazing. it was snowing there when my plane landed!!!! so awesome. oh and there is a big pond full of turtles in the middle of Atocha, a big train station in Madrid. I took a picture of them because they are cute and they have shells! that's all. I had my first day of class today and I love my host family. more stories later once i find WEEFEE in a less sketchy place.
love you darlings!
toni
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Cordoba doba bor boba
Soooo I just finished my first day here in Spain! It was snowing when my plane landed in Madrid. I was not expecting it at all, nor was i dressed for it. Basically today was a really fun and crazy day. I have a lot to tell and I have some pictures too, though they aren't very good. I'm at the Hotel Los Gallos in Cordoba right now, and my roomie is trying to sleep so I will post pictures later. I get to meet my host family and go home with them tomorrow after breakfast! yeeeee! O.K. goodnight dears!
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