Clases y Mi Programa

Mis clases empiezan está semana, entonces, debo explicar un poco del programa de Cornell. El programa es un intercambio entre Cornell y Cantabria. Los estudiantes de Cornell estudian en la Universidad de Cantabria su tercer curso. Todas las clases son iguales a las clases que tomaríamos en Cornell y son enseñadas en inglés si quieres. Tomamos las clases con estudiantes de Cantabria. Estos estudiantes cantábricos vendrán a Cornell el próximo año. El programa funciona el mejor por estudiantes de ingeniería de caminos o el medio ambiente, pero ingenierías mecánicas han hecho este programa también y es posible que otras ingenierías hagan el programa también. Además a las clases de ingeniería, puedes escoger cualquiera clase que es ofrecida, porque somos estudiantes completos en Cantabria. La mayoría toman una clase de español el primer semestre y una clase de arte prehistórica el segundo semestre. Ambas son enseñadas en español.

Entonces, Santander será mi ciudad por el próximo año. Santander es una ciudad pequeño. Tiene 180.000 ciudadanos. Atrae a visitantes durante el verano cuando hace buen tiempo y se puede disfrutar las playas. Hay casi diez playas en Santander, la más famosa es Sardinero. También hay montañas cerca la ciudad, entonces todo que hay en la ciudad es en las afueras. Cuando hace sol y calor, hay mucha gente en la playa, jugando al volibol o palas, tomando el sol, o nadando en el Atlántico. Santander tiene su propio equipo de futbol, Racing Santander, en la primera liga de España. Está situada en la costa norte de España una hora al oeste de Bilbao y más o menos cinco horas al norte de Madrid. Está en la comunidad autónoma de Cantabria. Cantabria es una de la más pequeño en España en población (16º de 17) y medida (15º). Santander es el capital de Cantabria y la ciudad más grande de Cantabria. No hay muchos edificios antiguos porque había un incendio en 1941. Destruyó la puebla medieval de la ciudad.

La Universidad de Cantabria es una escuela bastante joven, especialmente en Europa. Se fundó en 1972. Más de 11.000 estudiantes asisten a la universidad. De veras, la universidad es bastante fea, probablemente se debe a su edad. El campus es una línea de edificios, sin parques y quads o nada de eso. Es famoso por su Escuela de Caminos y su Escuela de Economía y Impresas.

My classes start this week, so, I should explain a Little about the program that I am doing. The program is an exchange between Cornell and Cantabria. Students from Cornell study at the University of Cantabria during their junior year. All of the classes are the same as what we would take at Cornell and are taught in English if you want. We take classes with Cantabrian students. These Cantabrian students will come to Cornell the following year. The program works best for civil engineering or environmental engineering students, but MechEs have done this program too and it´s possible for other engineers to do this program too. In addition to the engineering classes, you can choose from any of the offered classes, because we are full students at Cantabria. Most take a Spanish class the first semester and a prehistoric art class second semester.

So, Santander will be my city for the next year. Santander is a small city with 180,000 people. It attracts visitors during the summer when the weather is nice and you can enjoy the beaches. There are about 10 beaches in Santander, the most famous being Sardinero. There are also mountains near the city, so really the city is all about the outdoors. When it´s sunny and warm out the beach is full of people, playing volleyball or palas, tanning, or swimming in the Atlantic. Santander has its own soccer team, Racing Santander, in the top league of Spain. The city is on the north coast of Spain, an hour to the west of Bilbao and about five hours north of Madrid. It is in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Cantabria is one of the smallest in Spain in both population (16^th of 17) and size (15^th). Santander is the capital and the largest city in Cantabria. There aren’t many old buildings because there was a fire in 1941. It destroyed the medieval part of the city.

The University of Cantabria is a pretty young school, especially in Europe. It was founded in 1972. More than 11,000 students attend the university. Truthfully, the university is pretty ugly, probably due to its age and the fact it was mostly built in the 60s and 70s. The campus is just one long line of buildings, without any parks or quads or anything of the sort. Cantabria is famous for its civil engineering school and its business school.

Fotos de Orientación

Vista del barco // View from the boat

Los Picos de Europa

Hillary y Caitlyn en Potes

El Capricho de Gaudí en Comillas

Seminary en Comillas

Iglesia en Santillana del Mar

Vista de Santander

Más Detalles de Orientación

18 Septiembre 2010

Pues, doy se cuenta que dejé mucho de lo que hice en orientación en actual. No describí mucho de que pasó, como sentí o nada de eso. Entonces, voy a explicar un poco más de orientación con más detalles.

Picos De Europa, Potes y Comillas

Como dije en la entrada antes, había mucha niebla a los Picos. Los fotos que saqué no hacen justo a los Picos y todos parecen como fotos de nubes donde no hay montañas. Pero os doy mi palabra, hay montañas. Fue una pena que el tiempo no fuera mejor. Porque había tanta niebla, Hillary y yo decidimos no subir las montañas en la góndola. Nos quedamos en la cafetería para comer tortillas de patata y beber café. Tratamos de ver las montañas en vena. No teníamos suerte. Y justamente cuando estábamos saliendo para Potes, las nieblas desaparecieron. ¡Qué suerte!

Estaba lloviendo cuando llegamos a Potes. Nos dieron almuerzo, pero el almuerzo chupó. Sí, era libre y lo comí, pero el almuerzo tenía un bocadillo de solo chorizo, una manzana, un pastel dulce y ésta ensalada de arroz y atún. Ahora, odio pescado y marisco, pero hice un prometido a mi mismo antes de venir a Europa que probaré todo que está presentado a mí. Probé un pequeño pescado cuando estaba quedándome con Lourdes, casi vomité. Probé sabores de helado como crema de pasiego y tutti frutti (no prueben tutti frutti, solo es vainilla con pequeñas piezas de dulces, pero los dulces son malos). Entonces, probé esa ensalada y justamente puse la ensalada en la basura. Quizás soy una persona mala, pero todavía no puedo comer pescado.

No había mucho hacer en Potes. Caitlyn, Hillary y yo andábamos por la ciudad, entrando tiendas que vendían “Productos Típicos” cuando Caitlyn finalmente tenía usar el baño o mojaría sus pantalones. Pero, como habíamos encontrado en España, no es tan fácil. Todos los baños estaban cerrados y no podíamos encontrar ningún baño. Caitlyn volvió un poco loca y enfadada y casi mojó sus pantalones antes de salir Potes.

Llegamos a Comillas una hora después y Hillary y Caitlyn corrieron al baño. Eso probablemente era la mejor parte de Comillas. El Capricho y el palacio eran bonitos y muy interesantes, pero estaba demasiado cansado para apreciarlos.

Museo de las Cuevas De Altamira y Santillana del Mar

Cuando me desperté, estaba lloviendo y hacía frío. No quería salir mi piso, pero necesitaba hacer amigos con estudiantes de Erasmus (y todavía necesito), entonces, fui un poco relictamente (este es probablemente la palabra equivocada, pero porque no tengo ni diccionario ni acceso a internet, tengo que adivinar). El museo era interesante, pero un poco aburrido. Solo era una recreación de las pinturas verdaderas y pasamos por el museo en una mitad del tiempo que teníamos. Pues, esperamos en la cafetería y la tienda por una hora hasta fue hora de salir.

Llegamos a Santillana del Mar y todavía estaba lloviendo. Santillana es un pueblo pequeño y viejo. Tenía más de un mil años. Se dice que Santillana es un pueblo de tres mentiras: no es santo, no es llano, y no hay un mar. Porque estaba lloviendo, Caitlyn, Hillary y yo fuimos a un restaurante para comer unas tapas y escapar la lluvia. Después de un rato, salimos, porque la única razón que vinimos era hacer amigos de Erasmus. Caminábamos por la ciudad, probé quesada, un queso dulce del pueblo y entramos una confitería. Hablamos con estudiantes de Alemania (hay miles de Alemania) por un rato y regresamos a Santander, mojados y cansados.

September 18, 2010

So, I realize that I actually left a lot out about what I did at Orientation. I didn´t describe much what happened, how I felt, or any of this. So, I am going to explain a little more about Orientation in a bit more detail.

Picos de Europa, Potes and Comillas

Like I said before in my previous entry, it was really foggy at the peaks. The photos that I took don´t do justice to the peaks and all look like pictures of clouds, and not mountains. But I give you my word, there are mountains. It was a shame that the weather wasn´t better. Because it was so foggy, Hillary and I decided not to go up the mountains in the gondola. We stayed at the café and ate potato tortillas (omelettes) and drank coffee. We tried to see the mountains in vain. We weren’t lucky. And just as we were leaving for Potes, the fog disappeared. How lucky!

It was raining when we got to Potes. They gave us lunch, but it sucked. Yes, it was free and I ate it, but the lunch was just a sandwich with only chorizo, an apple, a sweet little pastry kind of like pound cake, and this salad with rice and tuna. Now, I pretty much hate fish and seafood, but I made a promise to myself before I came to Europe that I would try everything that I was presented with. I tried a little fish, I think it was anchovies or sardines, when I was staying with Lourdes (my host mother) and almost had to spit it up. I tried ice cream flavors like pasiego cream and tutti frutti (don’t try the tutti frutti, it’s just vanilla with little pieces of candy, but the candy is bad). So, I tried the salad, and quickly put the salad in the garbage. Maybe I am a bad person, but I still can’t eat seafood.

There wasn’t much to do in Potes. Caitlyn, Hillary and I wandered through the city, entering stores that sold “Typical Products” when Caitly had to either find a bathroom pronto or pee her pants. But, as we had come to find in Spain, it’s never that easy. All the bathrooms were closed and we couldn’t find any open. Caitlyn went a little crazy and almost wet her pants before leaving Potes.

We arrived in Comillas an hour later and Hillary and Caitlyn booked it for the bathroom. This was probably the highlight of Comillas for them. The Capricho and the palace were pretty and interesting, but I was too tired to really appreciate them.

Museum of the Altamira Caves and Santillana del Mar

When I woke up, it was raining and cold. I didn’t want to leave my apartment, but I needed to make friends with Erasmus students (and still do), so, I went a little reluctantly. The museum was interesting, but a little boring. It was only a recreation of the real paintings, and we went through the museum in only have of the time that we had. So we just waited in the cafeteria or the store for an hour until it was time to leave.

We got to Santillana del Mar and it was still raining. Santillana is a really small and old town. It’s more than a 1000 years old. It is said that Santillana is the town of three lies: it isn’t holy (santo), it isn’t flat (llana) and it isn’t near the sea (mar). Because it was raining, Caitlyn, Hillary and I ducked into a restaurant for some tapas and to escape the rain. After a while, we left, because the only reason that we came was to make Erasmus friends. We walked through the city, I tried some Quesada, this sweet, floppy cheese (they likened it to cheesecake, but it doesn’t really compare) and we went into a candy shop. We talked with some German students for a while (there are like thousands of them) and went back to Santander, wet and tired.

Orientation and Class

17 Septiembre 2010

Lo siento, no escribí una entrada por mi blog unos días porque era ocupado con actividades de orientación y no tenía acceso a internet, pero finalmente Movistar vino al piso de Caitlyn y Hillary e instaló el internet. Entonces, tengo un descanso y acceso, pues puedo escribir de mi vida en España.

Desde mi última entrada, terminó mi clase de español y conocí a mucha gente de Europa porque todos los estudiantes de Erasmus han llegado.

Primero, probablemente debo describir mi clase de español. Por dos semanas asistí a clases desde las 9 por la mañana hasta las 6 por la tarde con una siesta a dentro. Por la mañana estudiaba la gramática con Ana Hermoso. Después tenía la clase de conversación con Ester. Finalmente mi día terminaba con la clase de escribir con Ana Maria. En mi clase había siete estudiantes más yo. Seis eran de Alemania y uno era de Italia. Sí, era el único chico de los EEUU en la clase. Los alemanes siempre hablaban en alemán mientras el italiano y yo nos sentábamos sin saber de que hablaban. Pero, todavía disfruté la clase, en particular la clase de conversación. Ester siempre quería causar un debate, pero la conversación era chistosa cada vez, especialmente cuando el italiano hablaba. Él hablaba el español exactamente como hablaba el italiano con los altos y bajos en su cadencia de hablar.

Después de mi clase de español terminó orientación empezó. El primer día de orientación fuimos en un barco por la bahía para ver la ciudad del océano. El segundo día visitamos los Picos de Europa y Comillas. Había mucha niebla y no pudimos ver mucho de los Picos, pero lo que pudimos ver era bellísimo. Paramos en Potes, un pequeño pueblo en las montañas, para almorzar. Era un viejo pueblo que parecía exactamente como imaginaba un pueblo de España parecería. En Comillas visitamos un palacio y vimos el Capricho de Gaudí. El Capricho estaba cubierto de azulejos de girasoles. El tercer día, hoy, fuimos al Museo de las Cuevas de Altamira. Las cuevas son unos de los mejores ejemplos de arte prehistórico, pero ahora están cerradas al público. El segundo semestre voy a tomar una clase del arte prehistórico, y quizás veré las pinturas verdaderas en la primavera.

Afuera de la orientación, compré un libro, El guardián a dentro del centeno. Puedo entender el mayor y me ayuda para practicar el español.

September 17, 2010-09-17

I’m sorry, I haven’t written a blog entry for a few days because I was busy with Orientation activities and haven’t had access to the internet, but finally Movistar came to Caitlyn and Hillary’s flat and installed internet. So, I have a break and access so I can write about my life in Spain.

Since my last entry, my Spanish class finished and I met a lot of Europeans because all of the Erasmus students have arrived.

First, I probably should describe my Spanish class. For two weeks I attended classes from 9 to 6 with a siesta in between. In the morning I studied grammar with Ana Hermoso. After, I had conversation class with Ester. Finally my day ended with writing class with Ana Maria. My class had seven students and me. Six were German and one was Italian. Yes, I was the only American in the class. The Germans always talked in German while the Italian and I would sit and have no idea what they were saying. I still enjoyed the class, especially conversation class. Ester always wanted to spur a debate, but the conversation was always hilarious, especially when the Italian talked. He talked Spanish exactly how he talked Italian with the ups and downs in his talking cadence.

After my Spanish class ended Orientation began. The first day of orientation we went on a boat through the bay to see the city from the ocean. The second day we saw the Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe) and Comillas. We stopped in Potes, a small town in the mountains, to eat lunch. It was an old town that looked exactly how I imagined a Spanish town would look. In Comillas we visited a palace and we saw the Capricho by Guadi. The Capricho was covered in sunflower tiles. The third day, today, we went to the Museum of the Altamira Caves. The caves are some of the best examples of prehistoric art, but now they are closed to the public. Second semester I am taking a class in prehistoric art, and maybe I will see the real paintings in the spring.

Outside of Orientation, I bought a book, The Catcher in the Rye (in Spanish). I can understand the majority and it’s helping me practice Spanish.

this is... the moment.

This is… the moment.

These quickly infamous words were uttered on Saturday, September 4th, 2010 at around 2:30 am in the Indian, a very smoky, somewhat sleazy “American” themed bar in Santander. Not even a week has passed since the strange Spanish man whispered these words to Caitlyn, and this phrase has become the theme of our stay in Spain.

Now, this probably means nothing to you, and maybe this is just a case of “you had to be there” stories, but judging by how much we use this phrase, I think I should enlighten all my avid blog readers (Rebs – she just likes the word blog) on the background of this phrase.

So, as we all do on Friday nights, we got together to rage blackout. Actually, there hasn’t been any raging or blacking out in Europe as of yet, but that doesn’t matter. So Caitlyn, Hillary, Matt (Caitlyn’s brother), and I met up at Plaza Cañadío, the square where we meet up every night we go out. Before they arrived at the plaza, Caitlyn, Hillary and Matt went to Peter Pan’s (probably the cheapest and sketchiest bar in Santander) for some drinks. There, they met our Spanish Amigo. He had been learning English, and wanted to try it out on some native speakers. Apparently he was awful (but who am I to speak, have you read my Spanish?). They spoke with him for a few minutes and made their way to the plaza.

So, that night we met up with all the Erasmus students (European students studying abroad). Giovanni, this pretty great Italian guy, brought us around to a few clubs, but we never actually went into one. It was a group of about 20 of us, and it brought me back to Orientation Week freshman year. Not only would there have been “too many dicks on the dance floor” as the saying goes, but probably too many spoken languages, too.

But I digress.

After following the Italian around for about half an hour, we Americans gave up on partying with the Erasmus students and broke off. We noticed that we always form an “Atlantic Ocean” between us Americans and the rest of Europe. We don’t do this on purpose, it just happens that way, I swear. But anyways, we broke off with some Belgians and an Austrian and made our way to a bar a little across the city that the Belgians were fans of. It was closed. Great. Europeans are the best at partying with (that slight isn’t fair, it just wasn’t a good night for them). So we ditched the last of the Belgians and went into The Indian.

I want to stress that this is quite a walk from Peter Pan.

So we hung out, just us Americans, when guess who happened to make it into this bar – yep – our Spanish Amigo. Joder. So he joined our group and was talking to us, it was kind of creepy, but we didn’t think too much about it (okay, actually it was super creepy and we acknowledged it). We continued to talk and dance when our Spanish Amigo leans over to Caitlyn and whispers, “It is… the moment… where we take off our clothes” in a thick Spanish accent, and proceeds to TAKE OFF HIS CLOTHES!!! No lie, he took off his shirt and started to unbutton his pants, all the while looking around to see if we were buying it. Yo, dude, too far. He saw we weren’t joining him and started dressing himself again while we all thought of ways that we could make it out of The Indian without him. Eventually we all had to go to the bathroom and ducked out of the bar.

It was 5 o’clock by now and Josh had joined us in the midst of this situation. We were all hungry so we made it to churro restaurant. After a round of churros and chocolate con leche we stuck around a little to recount how our night had taken a creepy turn for the worse when in walked none other than our Spanish Amigo. Oh, come on, there is no way this was by coincidence. The churro place was a good 15 minute walk from The Indian. How could this keep happening? Needless to say, we paid quickly and left as soon as possible.

Again, I’m not sure if you had to be there for this to really strike a chord with you, but like I said, it has become a go to reference for everything, and will probably be brought back to Cornell, just hopefully our Spanish Amigo doesn’t come with…

Sorry I don´t have a Spanish version, right now I am lazy and feel I can relay this story better in Englsih anyways.

piso.

7 Septiembre. 2010.

Pues, he estado sin internet por solo unos días, pero ha sentido como meses. Me gustaría ver mi Facebook y lo que es popular en Youtube, pero lo que quiero más es ver mi familia y mis amigos en Skype. Quiero contactar a todos, saber que está pasando en sus vidas y decirles que estoy bien, pero sin internet o teléfono, me siento un poco solo. Sí, tengo mis amigos de Cornell aquí, pero es un poco diferente. Acabé de encontrar a ellos hace una semana y están en una diferente clase que yo para los idiomas.

Pero, la vida sigue.

Entonces, el fin de la semana pasada encontré un piso. El piso está atrás la calle de la universidad. Para mis clases de español solo tengo que caminar por 2 minutos. El edificio de Caminos (Ingeniería Civil en España) está más lejos, pero solo un camino de 5 minutos. El piso, como puedes adivinar, no tiene internet, pero no es malo. Mi habitación es un poco más grande que una habitación en Cornell. La cocina tiene un horno, (que mis amigas encontraron no es lo normal cuando movieron a su piso) pero es pequeño, y el salón es bastante grande con televisor y unas sofás. Vivo con dos españoles, se llaman Pablo, un estudiante de empresas, y Elena, trabaja en un hospital. Los dos son amables, pero Elena se moverá al fin de semana y Pablo está buscando otro piso. Entonces, un chico, se llama Alberto (de veras no estoy seguro es su nombre) va a tomar la habitación de Elena y tengo que esperar hasta Pablo encuentra otro piso para conocer con quién más voy vivir.

Pero, si estás en España o quieres enviarme cosas, mi dirección es

Piso 6 Letra A del Nº7 de la C/ Blas Cabrera

Santander, España 39005

Pues, creo que eso es mi dirección…

Si, vivir sin internet es difícil, pero Santander no es todo malo. Uno de mis favoritas partes de Santander (sin menciona de las playas, montañas, bares, etc.) es que cuando digo que estudio Caminos, todos dicen, “Pues, eso es el más difícil de la universidad, tienes que ser el más listo para estudiar Caminos. En España, si gradúas con una diploma de Caminos de la Universidad de Cantabria, inmediatamente tienes trabajo, y tienes trabajo por la vida.” Cuando les digo que en Cornell es la broma de ingenierías, se ponen sorprendidos, porque es tan difícil aquí. Finalmente, recibiré el respeto que desirvo. Somos “la leche, la puta madre” en Santander, ¡que te dé en el culo ingenieros mecánicos!

Otra cosa diferente en España, hay una tienda por cada cosa. Hay carnicerías para carne, fruterías para fruta, confiterías para dulces, panaderías para pan, zapaterías para zapatos, papelerías para papel, peluquerías, cervecerías y la lista continua. Todos tienen los horarios estúpidos en que no puedes ir de compras los domingos. EXCEPTO los chinos, las tiendas de los chinos tienen horas los domingos, están abiertas más tardes, y tienen más variedad, normalmente por menos.

Quiero internet.

September 7, 2010.

So, I have been without internet for a few days, but it has felt like months. I would like to see my Facebook and what is popular on Youtube, but what I really want is to see my family and friends on Skype. I want to contact everyone, to know what is happening in their lives and to tell them that I am good, but without internet or telephone, I feel a little lonely. Yes, I have my friends from Cornell here, but it’s a little different. I just met them a week ago and they are in a different language class than I am.

But life goes on.

So, this last weekend I found a flat. The flat is across the street from the university. For my Spanish class, I only have to walk 2 minutes. The civil engineering building is farther away, but only a 5 minute walk. The apartment, as you can guess, doesn’t have internet, but it’s not bad. My room is a little bigger than a single at Cornell. The kitchen has an oven, (which my friends found out isn’t the norm when they moved into their place) but is small, and the living room is pretty big, with a television and some sofas. I live with two Spaniards, named Pablo, a business student, and Elena, who works in a hospital. Both of them are nice, but Elena is moving out at the end of the week and Pablo is looking for another flat. So, a guy named Alberto (really I am not sure of his name) is going to take Elena’s room and I have to wait until Pablo finds a place to know who I am going to be living with for the rest of my stay.

But, if you are in Spain or want to send me things, my address is

Piso 6 Letra A del Nº7 de la C/ Blas Cabrera

Santander, España 39005

At least, I think that’s my address…

Yes, living with internet is difficult, but Santander isn’t all bad. One of my favorite parts of Santander (without mentioning the beaches, mountains, bars, etc.) is that when I say that I study civil engineering, everyone says, “Well, that is the most difficult major in the University, only the smartest study civil engineering. In Spain, if you graduate from the civil engineering program at the University of Cantabria, you will immediately have a job, and you will always have a job for life.” When I tell them that at Cornell it is the joke of engineering, (after OR, of course) they are surprised, because here it is the most difficult. Finally, I will receive the respect that I deserve. We are “the shit” (Spanish slang) in Santander. Suck it MechEs!

Another thing different here in Spain, there is a store for everything. There are meat stores, fruit stores, candy stores, bakeries, shoe stores, paper stores, etc. All of them have stupid hours where you can’t go shopping on Sundays, too. EXCEPT the Chinese, the stores run by the Chinese are open on Sundays, they are open later, and they usually have a greater variety at a lower price.

I want internet.

todavía vivo

¡No te preocupes, todavía estoy vivo! No tengo aceso al internet mucho, pero todavía he estado escribiendo y cuando tengo una oportunidad que es más largo que el tiempo entre clases escribiré más de que está pasando en mi vida.

¡Les echo de menos todo!

Don´t worry, I am still alive! I don´t really have access to the internet too much, but I have been writing still and when I get a chance that is longer than time between classes I will update you guys more on what is going on!

I miss you all!

perdido en la traducción

Porque Diego me recomendó que yo escriba bilongueas por todas las entradas de blog y quiero practicar my español cada oportunidad que tengo, estoy escribiendo a vosotros otra vez en español. Entonces, desde martes o lo cual día escribí una entrada última, no mucho ha pasado, pero me dio cuenta de mucho, especialmente me fijé en las diferencias entre los EEUU y España, y cuanto me español había empeorado desde mi clase última de español en Cornell.

Primero, cuando llegué en Santander el domingo fui a un bar con José como ya dije antes para mirar el partido de futbol entre Santander y Barcelona (más como Santander y la mitad del equipo de España que ganó la Copa). Pero dejé el primer evento que fracasó mi español. Estaba mirando el partido y un chico estaba sentado delante de yo. El joven dio una vuelta para preguntar me “¿Ves?” ¡Que fácil! No. Pensé, ¿que son bes? ¿cómo b’s? ¿bays? ¿De qué está hablando este chico? Entonces, no dije nada y otra vez me preguntó, “¿Ves?” No quería parecer como un idiota (como soy, a veces) entonces contesté, “No.” Veía perfectamente, no estaba en mi visión del tele, pero dije “no” y el movió para podría ver mejor. Me dio de cuenta lo que estaba tratando de preguntar y dije “Oh! Si, puedo ver.” Pero los daños todavía estaban hechos. Todos en el bar sabían que no podría hablar en español, que yo era un extranjero.

Eso es solo uno de los fracasos de mi español y la palabra fue tan fácil, pero mi mente no pudo encontrar la igual en inglés, entonces inmediatamente dijo, “no.” No y sí son mis palabras reservadas, y las uso cuando no sé cómo responder.

El mismo día salí con mis compañeros de Cornell y fuimos a Peter Pan. Una regla del juego de beber era, si rollas 11, puedes escoger a alguien quien tiene que beber una chupita se llama “bomba” (de veras no sabíamos el nombre y Caitlyn, una mentirosa, lo dio un nombre de mierda). Por supuesto, Caitlyn rolló 11 y escogió a yo. Siendo mi primero día o porque estaba descansado de viajar, fui al bar para pedir un bomba, pero pedí en inglés “Can I have what he just had.” El barman me dio una mirada como si fuera estúpido. Complemente me olvidé que estaba en España y tenía que hablar en español.

Pero la confusión no viene solo de los fracasos de español. Los horarios aquí son tan diferentes que los en los EEUU. Las tiendas abren tardes, tienen siestas, y cierran muy temprano. También tienen tortillas diferentes, de huevos, no harina! Me asustó que no podría comer quesadillas como en los EEUU hasta Caitlyn me dijo que hay tortillas americanas también, solo tengo que buscar más. Es la misma situación con manteca de cacahuete. Pensaba que no existe aquí, pero Hillary la encontró en una tienda.

Finalmente, el internet es difícil para encontrar. Tengo suerte porque donde vivo ahora, tengo wifi, pero no es como Cornell donde hay wifi en cualquier lugar. No sé como los españoles pueden vivir sin acceso a internet todo el día, pero quizas eso es porqué tienen siestas, quién sabe.

English Version

Because Diego recommended that I write all of my blog entries in English and Spanish and I want to practice my Spanish each opportunity that I have, I am writing to you again in Spanish (and of course, English). So, since Tuesday, or whenever I wrote last, not much has happened to me in terms of events, but I have realized a lot, especially the differences between USA and Spain, and how much my Spanish has gotten worse since my last class at Cornell.

First, when I arrived in Santander on Sunday I went to a bar with José like I said before to watch the soccer game between Santander and Barcelona (more like Santander and half of the Spain team that won the World Cup). But I left out my first failure in Spanish. I was watching the game and a boy was sitting in front of me. He turned around and asked me “Ves?” (Can you see?) How easy, right! No. I thought, what are bes? Or B’s? Bays? What is he talking about? Then, I didn’t say anything and again he aked me, “Ves?” I didn’t want to look like a idiot (like I already do at times) so I answered “No.” I saw perfectly, he wasn’t in my way, but I said “no” and he moved so I could see. I realized what he was trying to ask and I said “Oh! Si puedo ver” (Yes I can see). But the damage was already done. Everyone in the bar knew I couldn’t speak Spanish, and that I was a guiri (foreigner)..

This isn’t the only time that I have failed speaking Spanish, and the word was so easy, but my mind couldn’t find the word in English, so I immediately said “no.” No and yes are my back up words, and I use them when I don’t know how to respond.

The same day I went out with my friends from Cornell and we went to Peter Pan. A rule of the drinking game we were playing was, if you roll 11 you choose somebody to take a shot called “bomba” (really we don’t know the name and Caitlyn, the liar that she is, gave it this bullshit name). Of course, Caitlyn rolled an 11 and chose me. Being my first day and because I was tired from travelling, I went to the bar to order a bomba, but I ordered in English, “Can I have what he just had.” The bartender gave me a face as if I were stupid. I completely forgot that I was in Spain and had to talk in Spanish.

But the confusion doesn’t only come from Spanish fails. The hours here are really different than in the USA. The shops open late, have siestas, and close early. Also, they have different tortillas, made from eggs, not flour! I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to eat quesadillas like in the USA until Caitlyn told me that there are American tortillas also, I just have to look more. It is the same situation with peanut butter. I thought it didn’t exist here, but Hillary found it in a shop.

Finally, the internet is hard to find. I am lucky because where I live right now has wifi, but it is not like Cornell where wifi is wherever you go. I don’t know how the Spanish can live without constant access to the internet all day, but maybe this is why they have siestas, who knows.

bienvenidos santander.

¡En celebración de llegar en España, voy a escribir mi primero blog española en español!

Entonces, hoy es martes. Llegué en Santander el domingo. El domingo encontré mi “host family” y salí con mis compañeros de Cornell. Mi “host family” consiste de una madre se llama Lourdes, una padre se llama José, y dos hermanos se llaman Diego y Oscar. ¡Sí! Vivo otra vez con un Diego. Porque estuve el primero día de la liga primera, fui con José a mirar el partido entre el equipo de Santander, Racing, y Barcelona. Por supuesto Barca ganó, 3-0, pero disfruté mirando mi primero partido de futbol en España.

Después, mis amigos de Cornell: Josh, Caitlyn, y Hillary, me recogieron de mi casa a las 11 por la tarde, porque esto es lo más temprano que alguien sale en España. Fuimos a una plaza y el bar más barato de Santander, Peter Pan. Jugamos un juego de beber con dados se llama Quinitos. Bebimos calimocho, una combinación de coca cola y vino rojo, y calimora, calimocho con la adición de licor también. Regresé a casa después.

El próximo día era Día de Santander. Entonces, camino por la ciudad para explorar y conocer la ciudad. Encontré una plaza con mini tiendas que vendieron varios productos y la oficina central del Banco Santander. Paré a una plaza y me relajé y miré a la gente. Después de almorcé, caminé a las playas. En Santander, hay como diez playas, y son hermosas. Algunos tienen vistas de montañas mientras otras tienen arena bastante suave. Me reuní con Caitlyn, Hillary y su compañera de piso Reina a la Segunda Playa del Sardinero. Había mucho viento y hacía un poco frío, pero no me molestaba mucho. Regresé con ellas a su piso después, está muy cerca a la universidad pero muy lejos de mi “host house”. A pesar de su apariencia afueras, es muy cómodo a dentro.

Hoy tuve mi primero día de clase de idiomas. Tomé una prueba para decidir en qué nivel de clase debo estudiar. Creo que pasó lo bien y espero que coloco en un nivel bastante bien.

Pues, echo de menos todos que todavía están en los EEUU, y trataré de decirles todo que pasa aquí en España si les interesa. ¡Entonces, hasta luego!

So, for all of you who either don’t speak Spanish and are too lazy to put this into an online translator, or you do speak Spanish but are too lazy to try to read this, I will translate it. Also, for all of you who speak Spanish well, don’t make fun of my Spanish too much, I am trying, and hopefully will be better by the end of the year, but I make no promises.

English version:

So, today is Tuesday. I arrived in Santander on Sunday. Sunday I met my host family and I went out with my friends from Cornell. My host family consists of my “mom” Lourdes, my “dad” José, and two brothers Diego and Oscar. Yes! I am living with a Diego another time! Because it was the first day of the Liga, I went with José to watch the match between Racing Santander and Barcelona. Of course, Barcelona won, 3-0, but I enjoyed watching my first soccer match in Spain.

After, my friends from Cornell: Josh, Caitlyn and Hillary, picked me up from my house at 11 at night, because this is the earliest that anybody goes out in Spain. We went to a Plaza and the cheapest bar in Santander, Peter Pan. We played a drinking game with dice called Quinitos. We drank calimocho, a comination of Coke and red wine, and calimora which is calimocho with liquor added to it too. I returned home afterwards.

The next day was Santander Day. So I walked through the city to explore and get to know the city better. I found a plaza with mini street stores that were selling various products and I also saw the headquarters of the Bank of Santander. I stopped in a plaza and relaxed and people watched. After I ate lunch I walked to the beaches. In Santander, there are about 10 beaches and they are beautiful. Some have views of the mountains while others have the softest sand. I met up with Caitlyn, Hillary and their roommate Reina at the Second Beach of Sardinero. It was really windy and a little cold, but it didn’t bother me much. I went back to their flat after, it’s really close to the university, but really far from my host house. Despite its appearance from the outside, it was a really nice apartment.

Today I had my first day of language class. I took a test to decide which level I should be studying. I believe that it went well and I hope that I place into a decent level.

Well, I miss you all back in the States, and I will try to tell you everything that happens in Spain if you are interested. Until later!

London Calling

My computer is a little bitch. Earlier today I was in London Stansted Airport, waiting for my flight to Santander. I am a nervous traveler when it comes to airports. I am not nervous about flying, that is no problem, but rather, I hate the thought of missing a flight. I was afraid of missing this one in particular because not only was I in an unfamiliar country without means of contacting anyone, but also because I knew Josh and Caitlyn missed this flight last month. So I arrived at Stansted three and a half hours early and got through security with still three hours to kill. I decided, what an excellent time to update my blog. Although I couldn’t access internet without paying £10, I could write about London in Word. What a great idea, right? Well, I thought so, until after about 45 minutes of writing (and not saving) my computer decided it was time to configure some updates. Fuck you Vista, update on your own time, not when I am pseudo-blogging. Needless to say, I lost all that I had written. It wasn’t literary gold, but I thought it was going well enough. Anyways, now that I have some time to kill in my host family’s house, I will try again.

SAVE

Pre Departure.

Before leaving for Europe, my parents came out to pick me and all of my crap up from Ithaca and bring me to NYC for my flight out of Kennedy. We spent two nights in New York. We didn’t do too much with such a short stay, but I did get to see Avenue Q (which showed me how racist my family is: Dad – “Turkey? Who would want to go there?”; Mom – “You have a lot of Orientals at Cornell”; Meghan – “Everyone should just learn to speak English”), and the Met. We didn’t make it to MoMA like my sister and I had hoped as it was closed on Tuesday (and all Tuesdays, who knew?) and there was a line outside down the block on Wednesday. All in all it was a good trip, but it served to remind me that I was ready to go to Europe. I love seeing my family, but those few days were enough (I will still miss you guys).

SAVE*

Day 0.

It took me over 2 hours in all to get from my hotel in Newark (what an awful city by the way) to JFK. Good thing I left almost seven hours early (see aforementioned neurotic tendencies about flights amplified by the fact that it was international). Jamie was already there when I got to the terminal about 4 hours before my flight, and Kim arrived within the next couple of hours. We just hung out until the flight and time went pretty fast as we were all pretty pumped about our London visit. Our plane took off on time and all went well. I watched Date Night on board the plane because I was too giddy to sleep and am kind of a bit in love with Tina Fey. There were so many other movies I wanted to watch too, but figured I should try to get some sleep. But seriously, I almost regret passing up Shutter Island and Kick Ass.

Anyways, part way through my movie, probably around 11:30 or 12 they served a pretty decent Indian dish for dinner. As a college student, I never pass up a free meal, no matter the time, but Virgin Atlantic was really trying to fuck up my schedule. London is 5 hours ahead, so I was eating dinner and 4:30 in the morning. How am I supposed to adjust to Europe when I am served dinner at midnight?

After the movie I put on some Mumford & Sons (Virgin has a great onboard music selection) and fell asleep (kind of). We got breakfast in the morning and landed. We made it through Customs well enough and even managed to make it on the Tube in one piece and without getting lost! I guess the New York Subway was good practice.

SAVE

Day 1.

Our hostel, Smart Russell Square Hostel, was decent as far as I could tell. The staff was nice, the facilities worked and were clean. My only complaint was the lack of outlets. There were 2 outlets for 21 people in each room. Yes, that’s right. ONLY TWO. How the fuck are 21 people going to coordinate sharing 2 outlets? I’m surprised no fires started with how many plugs were plugged into other plugs.

Anyways, we made our way to do the touristy things. It was raining fairly lightly, just like London should be I guess. We first took the Tube to Buckingham Palace. It was amazing how close to it I could get. I was expecting a set up like the White House where a gigantic yard separates you and the presidential home. But no! I could probably have egged the place, not that I would want to out of fear of the guards in the fuzzy hats. They may look cute, but I heard somewhere that they are lethal. I don’t want to take my chances.

So we walked around the circle near the palace and I spotted Big Ben in the distance. This is when I realized that everything in London is so close. I’m pretty sure I could walk around aimlessly and run into things I learned about in history or English class, or at least things that are older than the United States.

We made our way toward Big Ben, stopping on the way to take I’m a Tourist Taking Cliché Pictures in a London Telephone Booth photos. It was great fun to be sure. It started to rain sometime around then, but that’s to be expected while in London, right? So we saw Big Ben and

Parliament and walked across the River Thames (rhymes with hems, not James) and saw the London Eye. We noticed that we completely missed Westminster Abbey even though it’s right next to Big Ben, so we walked back to see that, but happened upon Trafalgar Square on the way.

We were pretty hungry, tired and wet by this point, so we decided to get out of the rain and get something to eat. We found a pub in what was most likely a business district. Everybody was wearing suits or work clothes. Kim and Jamie got some Fish and Chips while I got a burger and we each got some beer. Spitfire was a little dark for me, but it was so good just to be drinking legally I didn’t mind.

We decided to wait until dark before we headed out again so we could see Big Ben and Parliament at night. It paid off, although we were basically falling asleep in the pub from lack of sleep the night before. Everything looked so great lit up at night. Tired and ready to head back, we stopped by Piccadilly Circus, London’s Times Square. It was good to see, and I’m sure there was a lot to do, but after seeing it, we were ready to sleep.

SAVE

Day 2.

Waking up early after hardly sleeping and travelling was surprisingly easy, especially because what was in store for our second day in England: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. We needed to catch our bus at a Holiday Inn near Kings Cross, so we got up an hour before our tour so as not to miss it. We got to the hotel 45 minutes early and were sure we would have nothing to worry about. The concierge at the desk told us to sit down and the driver would come in to pick us up. Great! Not. The driver did not come get us. It was 15 minutes past our pick up time, and we did not want to miss this trip. Fuck you concierge. We had to catch a taxi and rush to Victoria Station to catch the final bus. Luckily we did, but it cost us 15 precious pounds.

Windsor was “lovely” (as our guide put it). But really, the town was quaint, albeit touristy, and the castle and abbey were beautiful. We saw where Henry VIII and so many other kings were buried. We met a royal guard and he even talked to us! He said something along the lines of “You should take your picture and move out of the way soon, I need to get going.” Kim was in love.

Stonehenge was really something. I imagined it being out in the country, which it was, but I also imagined like a mile hike to see it. This was not the case. It was really close to a major highway and the parking lot was only five minutes away. Despite all this, it was pretty incredible.

We stopped in Lacock (lay-cock, apparently not la cock) for lunch after Stonehenge. Several movies have been filmed here, including HARRY POTTER! We saw Professor Slughorn’s house, Jamie and I acted out being Harry’s parents in front of their place and we visited a restaurant which was attacked by dementors. It was a really small, almost medieval town.

Finally we made it to Bath, easily my favorite place in England. I wish I had more time there. The place was great. Everything was built with a “honey gold” stone that shone in the sun. There were tons of pedestrianized areas and great old buildings. The architecture was exactly how I pictured Europe. We toured a museum showing the old Roman baths situated on top of the natural hot springs and explored the area a little bit before heading back to London.

We got back to our hostel with a mission of going out. We headed to Camden Town, which was crawling with 20-somethings looking for a good time. We ate at a shady little place that served burgers right on the side of the sidewalk and found a Cuban Salsa Bar. The drinks were expensive (7 pounds) and Jamie attracted all the men with her salsa moves. It was a good time, but with the drinks costing more than we could afford we found a cheap bar, Belushi’s and spent the rest of our night there.

SAVE

Day 3.

On our last day we got up early to see the British Museum. We got to see the Rosetta Stone, Greek, Roman and Egyptian Relics, the Sutton Hoo Helmet and a statue from Easter Island. We then headed to Tower Bridge. It was fantastic. I wish every bridge looked like that. We then found the Globe Theater (it’s a recreation, not the real deal) and bought tickets to see Henry IV Part 2. That’s right! I got to see Shakespeare acted out in the Globe Theater! Bud and Bal would be so proud.

We then made it to the Tate Modern. I had high expectations. I was immediately disappointed. Seriously. It looked like a gigantic prison made of brick, but also reminded me of the tower in LOTR. It was an architectural piece of crap from the 70s. Gross. The art inside wasn’t much better. There were some Picasso and Mondrian pieces, but some of the modern art was just so… dumb. Maybe I just can’t appreciate some things, but let’s be honest, I could paint something white or hang up a mirror.

We then went to Saint Paul’s. It is gigantic, and

much more impressive that what I expected. It was beautiful, and the weather was actually nice, so we enjoyed just sitting down and people watching. We then went back across the Thames, found a nice Italian place to enjoy our last dinner and went to the show. I had no idea what Henry IV was about, and still don’t. I was tired and zoned out a lot. Parts were funny, and I’m glad I went, but that was enough for me. We headed back to our hostel and I saw Jamie and Kim off before going to bed.

All in all, London was a great start to Europe, and I can’t wait to see more!

*I learned my lesson about saving, and actually saved much more often than this.