San Sebastian con Chloe

14 Noviembre 2010

El fin de semana pasado mi amiga Chloe, quien está estudiando en Paris, me visitó. Conozco a Chloe de escuela secundaria. Pues, ella vino por un tren y nos reunimos en San Sebastián. San Sebastián es una ciudad bellísima situada en un cabo en el océano en País Vasco. Nos quedamos en un albergue se llama Urban House que está en la Parte Vieja de la ciudad.

Cuando llegamos al albergue, llamé a la puerta y cuando alguien contestó, empecé a hablar español, explicando que estabámos allí para hacer check in. La persona respondió, “¿Hablas inglés?” pero no la oí y continué a explicar porque estábamos allí. Después de un rato abrió la puerta y entramos el edificio.

Al llegar al albergue, una chica Australiana confundida preguntó en inglés si tenemos una reservación. Respondí, “Yes, it’s for Wachtl.”

Otra vez me miró confundida y me preguntó, “Do you speak English?”

Un poco molestado, respondí, “Yes, it’s under Wachtl.”

Obviamente no comprendió que estaba hablando inglés y de nuevo me preguntó, “Do you speak English?”

A este momento pensaba que la situación era un poco rara. Estaba en España y después de tratar de hablar español e inglés todavía ella no me comprendió. Mi amiga y yo empezamos a reír un poco. “Yes, my reservation is under Wachtl.”

Había algunas otras personas en la sala y un chico dijo, “He is speaking English.”

Pues, respondió, “Oh, well it’s too early to check in now. But you can come back in an hour or so and check into your room. I’ll get you a map and you can drop your stuff off under the benches over there.” Continuamos a reír un poco, porque la situación era tan ridícula y nos preguntó, “Why are you guys laughing?”

Dije que no estábamos riendo de ella y salimos para ver la ciudad y esperar hasta la hora que pudimos entrar nuestra habitación.

Caminamos para la playa y era tan bellísima. La playa era en la forma de un medio círculo protegida por una isla y colinas en ambos lados de la playa. Era muy limpia y prístina. Pues, caminamos en la playa y nos sentamos un rato antes de regresar al albergue. Eran las once y media, más o menos, más de una hora después, y las habitaciones todavía no estaban listas, pero pusimos nuestras mochilas en la habitación y fuimos al acuario.

Nunca había visitado un acuario antes (si no cuentas la vez cuando fui a Chicago para ver el acuario y tenía 3 años más o menos y no puedo recordar), entonces, era muy interesante. Había tantos tipos de peces y tiburones y tortugas y animales como eso. También el acuario tenía una parte que era como un museo naval. Tenía modelos de barcos famosos y algunas cosas raras como trajes de equipos de regatta. Parecía como si ponían todo que relacionó al agua que pudieran encontrar en el acuario.

Pues, después del acuario subimos una colina grande que tenía vistas bellísimas de la ciudad, pero la atracción de verdad era una estatua de Jesús. Estaba situada en el techo de un “castillo” que estaba encima de la colina. Era tan alta pero, si estoy siendo honesto, no es una estatua muy impresionante. Es verdad que siempre se puede ver la estatua, pero he visto mejores.

Bueno, al ese momento teníamos mucha hambre. Bajamos la colina y comimos. Después, puesto que teníamos demasiado sueño a dado que viajar, dormimos un rato hasta la noche. Otra vez dimos un paseo por la playa y también fuimos a ver la catedral de la ciudad. Nos sentamos en el parque un rato y regresamos al albergue para dormir de nuevo, pero después de hablar con algunos viajadores. Me sorprendí de que cuantas personas hubiera allí que solo estaban viajando algunas semanas. Había una chica de Sudáfrica, quien ya había estado viajando para un mes, una chica de Sur Korea, quien ya había estado viajando para unas semanas, y un chico de Australia, que estaba en como su tercer mes de viajar. No podía imaginar cómo podían viajar para tanto tiempo solos, me sentiría tan solo.

Pues, nos despertamos tarde, desayunamos y fuimos a la otra playa. Había tanto viento que las ondas eran altísimas. Había hondas en el río que chocaron sobre las paredes. Quería ver algunos surfers, pero solo había uno nuevo surfer que no podía levantarse en la tabla para más de un rato.

Después, fuimos a la estación de autobuses pero perdimos el primero autobús, entonces buscamos unos postales (estoy comprando postales de cada lugar que visito para enviar a mi hermana, pero todavía no he enviado ninguno, soy un hermano malo, ya lo sé) y tomamos el autobús siguiente.

Llegamos a Santander un poco tarde. No podíamos ver mucho de la ciudad, pero fuimos a la playa y cocinamos la cena. No salimos porque el autobús de Chloe salió a las 7 por la mañana. ¡Qué lástima! Pero nos disfrutamos la viaje y viendo alguien que conocíamos de los EEUU.

La próxima viaje: BELGICA

14 November 2010

This past weekend my friend Chloe, who is studying in Paris, visited me. I know Chloe from high school, and we have kept in contact since graduating. Well, she came in an overnight train and we met up in San Sebastian. San Sebastian is a beautiful city situated in a cove on the ocean in Basque Country. We stayed in an hostel called Urban House that is in the old part of the city.

When we arrived at the hostel, I rang the bell and when somebody answered I started to speak Spanish, explaining that we were there to check in. The person responded, “Do you speak English?” but I didn’t hear her and I continued to explain we wanted to check in. After a moment the door opened and we went into the building.

Upon arriving at the lobby of the hostel, a confused Australian girl asked in English if we had a reservation. I said, “Yes, it’s for Wachtl.”

Again, she looked confused and asked, “Do you speak English?”

A little annoyed, I responded, “Yes, it’s under Wachtl.”

Obviously not understanding that I was speaking English, she asked me again, “Do you speak English?”

By this time I thought the situation was a little weird. I was in Spain and after trying to speak English and Spanish she still did not understand me. My friend and I started to laugh a little. “Yes, my reservation is under Wachtl.”

There were some other people in the room and a guy said, “He is speaking English.”

She responded, “Oh, well it’s too early to check in now. But you can come back in an hour or so and check into your room. I’ll get you a map and you can drop your stuff off under the benches over there.” We continued to laugh a little at the ridiculousness of the situation and she asked us, “Why are you laughing?”

I said we weren’t laughing at her and we left to see a bit of the city and wait until we were able to get into our room.

We walked to the beach and it was so pretty. The beach was in the shape of a half circle, protected by an island and hills on either side of the beach. It was really clean and pristine. So we walked on the beach and sat in the sand for a bit before returning to the hostel. It was around eleven thirty, more than an hour later, and the rooms still were not ready, but we put our bags in the room and went to the aquarium.

I had never visited an aquarium before (if you don’t count the time I went to Chicago to see the aquarium when I was three and can’t remember), so, it was really interesting. There were tons of fish and sharks and turtles and the like. The aquarium also had a part that was kind of like a naval museum with models of famous boats and some other random things like team uniforms for regatta. It seemed as if they put everything that they could find related to the water in the aquarium.

So after the aquarium we climbed this huge hill that had great views of the city, but the main attraction was the Jesus statue. It was situated on the roof on a “castle” that was on top of the hill. The statue was huge, but if I am being honest, it wasn’t very impressive. Yes, you can see the statue from everywhere in the city, but I have seen better.

Well, at this moment we were really hungry. We went down the hill and ate. Afterwards, since we were really tired from travelling, we took a siesta until it was night. Again, we walked along the beach and then also went to see the cathedral. We sat in a park for a while and then went back to the hostel to sleep again, but only after talking with some other travelers. It surprised me how many people they were that were just travelling, for a month or two. We met a girl from South Africa who had been travelling for over a month, a girl from South Korea who was on her second week and a guy from Australia who was on like his third month of traveling. I couldn’t imagine how they could travel for so much time alone; I would feel so lonely after awhile.

Anyways, we woke up pretty late in the morning, ate and went to the see San Sebastian’s other beach. It was super windy that day and the waves were huge. The waves going up the river were crashing over the walls which are several meters high. We wanted to see some surfers, but there was only one beginner surfer who wasn’t very good and couldn’t stay up on his board for very long.

Afterwards we headed for the bus station, but we missed the first bus so we looked for some post cards (I am buying a postcard from everywhere I visit and sending them to my sister, but haven’t sent any yet, I know, I am a terrible brother) and then caught the next bus.

We got back to Santander a little late. We couldn’t see much of the city, but we went to the beach and then cooked some dinner. We didn’t go out because Chloe’s bus left at 7 the next morning. What a shame! But we enjoyed ourselves quite a lot and it was nice to see someone from home.

Next up: BELGIUM

Overdue Update

Okay, this post is going to be in English (lo siento Diego), but it will be short and I will have a longer one in both languages soon.

To be honest, I haven't had too much to write about lately. All of my travel plans in October kind of fell apart. We weren't old enough to rent a car to go to Portugal. We didn't sign up early enough to go to Burgos. We weren't motivated enough to take advantage of our 3 day weekend over Halloween, so I have been in Santander ever since returning from Madrid 4 weeks ago. That doesn't mean I am staying here much longer, though.

This weekend Chloe, a good friend from high school, is coming all the way from Paris to visit. We are going to be staying in San Sebastian Friday and then will return Saturday, perhaps passing through Bilbao, to Santander. The Wednesday after I am headed off to Belgium with Alex and Josh, the land of waffles, beer, french fries and CHOCOLATE. That's right ladies, guys like their chocolate too. Two weeks after Belgium I will be going to AFRICA! Yes, I guess I will only be about 30 miles a way from Spain, but Morocco is in Africa and there are plenty of camels to be ridden. We were slightly disappointed that we didn't have time slash were too poor to do the 5 day trek through the Sahara, but a night in Tangier is almost as good, right? At least there will be an abundance of falafel. Mmm. Falafel.

And that isn't enough, Mac will be arriving about two weeks after that. Which reminds me, the past few weeks have been mainly me focusing on planning trips and studying for classes. Now, Mac and I have booked a few of our hostels and finalizing details. We have been researching attractions, but I wouldn't mind suggestions of what not to miss, be it museums, churches or food, I want to see it all. To remind you, we will be in Barcelona, Andorra, Geneva, Lyon, Paris, Marseilles, Nice, Monaco and Rome. If there is something I can't forget, even if it is obvious to you, just shout it out (through a comment I suppose).

Other than that, I guess we had Halloween here. Most Europeans it is purely an American thing, but they still do it, although in Europe, instead of slutty, everybody is scary. I'm not sure which tradition I appreciate more, but nonetheless, it was fun. We went a the Beagle Boys (google it, they are from Duck Tales I guess) which none of the Americans knew about, but this German girl was super pumped and a lot of Europeans recognized our costumes. It was a good time.

Oh, and speaking of American traditions and holidays, we order a turkey today for Thanksgiving. Yes, we ordered one. They don't have frozen whole turkeys for sale so we need it specially ordered. We went to a carnecería, a butcher shop essentially, and asked for them to get a turkey from their supplier. That is actually a lie. We asked them to get two. We wanted a 7 kilo turkey, about 15 pounds, which we thought wasn't too big, but the guy said the normal turkey they got was only about 4 kilo on the big side. Being that we want to invite the Spanish kids, some roommates, and friends will be visiting from the US, we need a lot of turkey. Hopefully they are here in time.

Finally, the weather in northern Spain sucks during the winter. I wish it got cold enough to snow, I wouldn't be as wet every day. It is like a hurricane here. The winds make it impossible to use an umbrella. The rain is falling horizontally into your face, adding insult to injury as it pelts you in the eyes. It is non stop too. It has been raining two days straight, and looks like it will continue for a good week. Ugh. Oh well. This leaves me more time to study (read: watch Phineas y Ferb, which I consider studying up on my Spanish) and sleep (thank God for siestas).

Okay, so that is all for now, but there will be more following my trips!

La Lista de Deberes // To Do List

Tenemos mucha tarea, prelims y clases, pero todavia tenemos tiempo para viajar. Pero, necesitamos hacer reservaciones primero. Lugares que queremos visitar pero todavia tenemos que finalizar:

29 Octubre - 1 Noviembre

Oporto, Portugal

12 Noviembre - 14 Noviembre

Bilbao y San Sebastian, España y Biarritz, Francia

2 Diciembre - 7 Diciembre

Tangier, Marruecos y Seville, España

We have a lot of homework, prelims, and classes, but we still have time to travel. But we have to make reservations first. Places that we want to visit (or are actually planning on visiting) but still need to book:

October 29th - November 1st

Porto, Portugal

November 12th - November 14th

Bilbao & San Sebastian, Spain and Biarritz, France

December 2nd - December 7th

Tangier, Morocco and Seville, Spain

Some Pictures from Madrid, Toledo and Segovia

Segovia - Aqueducts

Toledo - Cathedral

Madrid - Puerta de Alcala

Madrid Days 3,4 and 5

Madrid: Día 3 – 10 de Octubre

Porque la noche antes salimos hasta las cuatro por la mañana, queríamos dormir un poco y tener un domingo relajante. Pues, fuimos al Rostro, una gran marqueta en las calles de Madrid. Era un día perfecto por el Rostro. Hacía calor y había sol, aunque weather.com nos dijo que haría frío y llovería todo el tiempo que nos quedaríamos en Madrid. Se vende todo que se puede querer, suvenires españoles, ropa, muebles, electrónicas. Porque Josh y yo tenemos diferentes interesas de las chicas cuando vamos a compras, nos separamos de ellas. Compré un cartel de un matador y anduvimos por las pequeñas tiendas.

Porque hacía tan buen tiempo, compramos comida por un picnic y fuimos al Parque de Buen Retiro. Después de almorzar, damos un paseo por el parque y fuimos a Gran Vía. Viendo todas las tiendas, Kristine quería ir de compras otra vez, entonces, nos separamos para ver el Templo de Debod. No sabíamos que era el templo, pero cuando llegamos podríamos ver todo la ciudad de allí. Teníamos una bonita vista del palacio y la catedral. Después de un rato, nos juntamos con Kristine y fuimos a Arabia para comer comida marrueca.

Una parte de nuestro grupo tenía dudas de Arabia. Primero, estaba un poco lejos de donde estábamos y nos perdimos en el camino. Y cuando llegamos, era cerrado. Teníamos que esperar una media hora para entrar, pero todos eran alegres que esperaron. El restaurante era decorado en tema de moros y la comida era excelente. Podría comer su falafel por el resto de mi vida si tuviera que hacerlo. Contentos y llenos, regresamos tempranos para preparar por el día siguiente.

Madrid y Toledo: Día 4 – 11 de Octubre

Como puedes adivinar, fuimos a Toledo por la mañana del cuarto día en Madrid. Toledo está menos de una hora de Madrid y era el capital antes. Por eso, tiene edificios más antiguos que hay en Madrid. Una muralla y un río rodean la ciudad antigua. Como dicho antes, hay muchos edificios antiguos. El más impresionante es la catedral. Es grandísimo y tiene tantas estatuas y esculturas bonitas pero costaba 7 euros para entrar. Porque somos estudiantes económicos y pobres, no entramos. Pues, caminamos por las calles estrechas por unas horas y regresamos a Madrid.

Hillary y Caitlyn querían visitar una tienda de lana y después fuimos a la Ópera para intentar de conseguir billetes a la obra. Pablo nos dijo el primer día en el tour que se puede conseguir billetes baratos a la Ópera si vas 90 minutos antes de la obra. Obtuvimos billetes por 16.40 euros (usualmente 164 euros) por una ópera se llama El acenso y la caída de la ciudad de Mahagonny. Después de una cena de Turquía, fuimos a la ópera. Me sentía un poco afuera de lugar porque llevaba flanel y pantalones vaqueros pero estaba entusiasmado por mi primera ópera.

Adivinamos en qué idioma sería. Esperaba sería en italiano mientras Hillary quería sería en alemán. Por desgracia era en inglés. Trataba de una ciudad fundó en avaricia y sexo donde hombres podrían conseguir cualquier cosa que quería. Había una escena en que más de veinte parejas fingieron practicar el sexo. Le etapa era llenada con basura que crecían durante la obra para representar el fracaso de capitalismo. Era muy interesante, pero todavía quiero ver una ópera tradicional. Quizás Caitlyn, Hillary y yo regresaremos a Madrid para ver Figaro el próximo Abril.

Pasábamos nuestra última noche en otra cervecería, charlando sobre tapas y vino.

Madrid y Segovia: Día 5 – 12 de Octubre

Salimos de Madrid en coche temprano por la mañana. Otra vez el GPS nos dirijo equivocado a una autovía pequeña. Tardamos tiempo conduciendo por las montañas al norte de Madrid, pero era un camino muy bonito. Llegamos en Segovia a las 11 más o menos, pero Kristine quería regresar a Santander temprano y no teníamos mucho tiempo para ver mucho. Vimos los acueductos que tienen casi dos mil años y todavía están de buen condición. Josh y yo intentamos de encontrar la catedral y el alcazar que parece como una castilla de Disney, pero nos perdimos en las calles y teníamos regresar al coche en poco tiempo.

El resto del viaje era bastante aburrido, pero puedo asegurarte que voy a regresar a Madrid y Segovia otra vez.



Madrid: Day 3 – October 10th

Since we were out so late (until after four) the night before, we wanted to sleep and have a relaxing Sunday. So we slept in and went to the Rostro, a large market in the streets of Madrid. It was a perfect day for the Rostro. It was warm and sunny, even though weather.com told us it would be cold and rainy the entire time we would be in Madrid. They sell almost anything you could want, souvenir from Spain, clothes, small furniture and decorations, and electronics. Because Josh and I have different interests from the girls (especially when it comes to shopping) we split up. I bought a poster of a matador with my name on it and we walked through the little stalls.

Because it was so nice out, we bought some food for a picnic and went to the Parque de Buen Retiro, their version of Central Park. After eating lunch, we went for a walk through the park and went to Gran Via. Seeing all the stores, Kristine wanted to go shopping again, so we split up and went to the Temple of Debod while Kristine went shopping. We didn’t know what to expect at the temple, but when we arrived we had a great view of the city. We could see the palace and the cathedral. After a while we met up with Kristine and went to Arabia for some Moroccan food.

Part of the group had doubts about Arabia. First, it was kind of far from where we were and we got last on the way. When we arrived it was closed. We had to wait for half an hour before getting in, but we were all happy we waited. The restaurant was really cool on the inside, with a very relaxed Moroccan feel and excellent food. I could eat that falafel for the rest of my life if I had to. Happy and full, we went back early to prepare for the next day.

Madrid & Toledo: Day 4 – October 11th

As you could probably guess, we went to Toledo in the morning on our fourth day in Madrid. Toledo is less than an hour drive from Madrid and used to be the capital before. Due to this, it has many more old buildings than Madrid. A large wall and a river surround the old city. As said before, there are a lot of old buildings. The most impressive is the cathedral. It is gigantic and has tons of beautiful statues and sculptures, but it cost 7 euros to go in. Because we are cheap and poor students we just walked through the narrow and winding streets for a few hours and went back to Madrid.

Hillary and Caitly wanted to visit a yarn store, and after we went to the Opera House to try to get tickets for a show. Pablo (our tour guide) told us on the first day that we could get cheap tickets for the opera if you go 90 minutes before the show (it is actually more like 4 hours before the show). We got tickets for only 16.40 euros (normally 164, what a great deal) for an opera called The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. After a Turkish dinner, we went to the opera. I felt a little out of place because I was wearing flannel and jeans, but I was still really excited for my first opera.

We tried to guess what language it would be in. I hoped it would be in Italian while Hillary wanted it to be in German. We were all let down (oddly enough) when the first words were in English. The opera was about a city founded in greed and sex where men could get whatever they wanted if they had the money. There was one scene where more than 20 couples faked sex on stage. The stage was filled with piles of trash which grew throughout the show to represent the failure of Capitalism, or something like that (despite it being in English, I read the Spanish subtitles to better understand it and still didn’t know everything that was going on). It was really interesting, but I still want to see a traditional opera. Caitlyn, Hillary and I might go back to Madrid to see Figaro in April.

We spent our last night in another pub, talking over tapas and wine.

Madrid & Segovia: Day 5 – October 12th

We left Madrid early the next morning. Again, the GPS took us the wrong direction through a small country road. We lost time driving through the mountains to the north of Madrid (and Caitlyn almost lost her breakfast), but the drive was beautiful. We arrived in Segovia at around 11, but Kristine wanted to get back to Santander pretty early, so we only had a half hour in Segovia. We saw the almost 2000 year old aqueducts. It was amazing they are still standing and are in great condition, even without the use of mortar. Josh and I tried to find the cathedral and the alcazar that looks like a Disney castle, but we got lost in the streets and had to return to the car.

The rest of the trip home was pretty boring, but I can assure you that I am going to go back to Madrid and Segovia (possibly for an opera).

Madrid Days 1 and 2

Bueno, probablemente sabes que Cristobal Colon descubrió America y los EEUU celebran ese con una fiesta el 12 de Octubre. Pero, ese era algo para celebra por los Españoles también. Encontraron una tierra nueva para utilizar y colonizar, entonces, el 12 de Octubre es un día de fiesta aquí también. Por eso, no tuvimos clases el 11 o 12 de Octubre, dándonos una oportunidad para explorar nuestro país nuevo. Decidimos que Madrid es la ciudad perfecta para empezar nuestra exploración.

Madrid: Día 1 – 8 Octubre

Consideramos volar a Madrid, pero Kristine tiene un coche en Santander y pensamos que sería más fácil y quizás más barato (no fue), entonces Kristine, Josh, Hillary, Caitlyn y yo nos echamos en el coche y empezamos nuestro viaje para Madrid a las 3 por la tarde después de nuestras clases. Teníamos mapas, un GPS, y un libro de guía, estábamos preparados por todo. Pues, seguíamos la direcciones que el GPS nos decía, porque siempre puedes depender en tecnología. O quizás no. El GPS nos dirigió a una autovía pequeña que pasaba por las montañas. Perdimos una hora antes de que corrijamos nuestra ruta.

Bueno, llegamos en Madrid antes de las diez y encontramos el albergue, La Posada de las Huertas. El albergue está situada en una calle de peatones muy cerca a la Puerta del Sol, los museos de arte, y mucho de que querrías ver. Era muy cómodo y limpio y todos quienes encontramos eran muy amables. Encontramos unas chicas quienes estudiaban en Sevilla en la habitación de las chicas. Hablábamos un rato y después fuimos a una plaza muy cerca al albergue.

En la plaza, se llama Plaza de Santa Ana, entramos en una cervecería donde Hemmingway le gustaba pasar el tiempo. Comimos unas tapas y bebimos sangría y regresamos bastante temprano al albergue.

Madrid: Día 2 – 9 Octubre

Nos despertamos bastante temprano para ir por Madrid con un guía. Después de un desayuno gratis de tostada con mermelada, leche y una manzana salimos con nuestra guía, Pablo. Porque estaba lloviendo, Pablo llevaba un paraguas que parecía como una mariquita. Nos llevó a la Puerta del Sol para empezar nuestro tour de la ciudad.

Primero vimos la estatua de un oso y un árbol que representa Madrid. Pablo dijo que representa Madrid porque al oso le gusta comer la fruta del árbol porque es alcohólica y le gusta pasar lo bien, como los ciudadanos de Madrid. Caminamos a la Plaza Mayor, por unas calles pequeñas históricas y pasamos edificios antiguos como el Palacio y la Opera. Pablo nos explicó que un rey con problemas de la mente quería ser recordado por algo, entonces movió el capital a Madrid de Toledo. También Pablo nos contó la historia de Madrid, incluyendo historia de las diferentes reyes como los Asturias y los Borbones y la Inquisición. Explicó las diferencias entre los estilos de arquitectura que se puede ver por la ciudad y como los Moros, los Judíos y los Cristianos todos tenían impacta en la historia de Madrid. Después de casi cuatro horas en la lluvia, el tour terminó y Pablo nos llevó a un restaurante para paella y sangría.

Porque todavía estaba lloviendo cuando terminamos el almuerzo, los de Cornell decidían ir a la Reina Sofia mientras Kristine regresó al albergue para descansar e ir de compras.

La Reina Sofia es un museo de arte moderno y tiene colecciones grandes de Picasso y Dalí. Probablemente es más famoso por tener la Guernica, una pintura cubismo por Picasso que representa la destrucción de un pueblo del norte de España que ocurrió durante la Guerra Civil. Solo vi una fracción de las colecciones, pero me gustaba mucho de que vi. Había una serie de fotos de personas de cada edad hasta 100, muchos retratos de Picasso y Dalí, y otras obras interesantes. Pasamos la tarde en el museo, regresamos al albergue y juntamos a Kristine yendo de compras.

Después de una cena hecha en el albergue, fuimos en un Pub Crawl con otras personas del albergue. Fuimos a tres bares y una discoteca. Era divertido, pero teníamos demasiado sueño que al fin de la noche solo queríamos dormir.

Well, you probably know that Christopher Columbus discovered America and the US celebrates this with a holiday on the 12^th of October. But, this was something to celebrate for Spain, too. They found a new land to utilize and colonize, so the 12^th of October is a holiday here, too. So, we didn’t have classes the 11^th or 12^th of October, giving us a great opportunity to explore our new country a little. We decided that Madrid was the perfect city to start our exploration.

Madrid: Day 1 – October 8^th

We considered flying to Madrid, but Kristine, our Norwegian classmate and friend, has a car in Santander and we thought it would be easier and cheaper (it wasn’t), so Kristine, Josh, Hillary, Caitlyn and I got into the car and started our journey for Madrid at around 3 in the afternoon after our classes let out. We had maps, a GPS, and a guidebook, we were prepared for everything. Well, we followed the directions of what the GPS told us, because you can always depend on technology. Or maybe not. The GPS directed us to a tiny two lane highway that went through the mountains and small towns. We lost an hour before we corrected our route onto the main highway.

Well, we arrived in Madrid a little before 10 and found our hostel, La Posada de las Huertas. The hostel is situated on a small pedestrian street nearby Puerta del Sol, the art museums, and basically everything you would want to see on your first trip to Madrid. It was really comfortable and clean and everyone we met was really friendly.

We met some girls who were studying in Seville in the girls’ room. We talked with them for a little while before we went to a nearby plaza.

In the plaza, Plaza de Santa Ana, we entered a bar where Hemmingway used to like to hang out. We ate some tapas and drank sangria and eventually headed back to the hostel pretty early.

Madrid: Day 2 – October 9^th

We woke up pretty early to go on a guided tour of Madrid. After we ate a complimentary breakfast of toast, jelly, milk and an apple we left with our guide, Pablo. Since it was raining, Pablo carried an umbrella that looked like a ladybug. He brought us to the Puerta del Sol to start our tour.

First we saw the statue of a bear and a tree that represents Madrid. Pablo said it represents Madrid because the bear likes to eat the berries that grow on the tree because they are alcoholic and the bear likes to have a good time, just like the people of Madrid. So we walked to Plaza Mayor, through small historical streets, and past old historical buildings like the Palace and the Opera House. Pablo explained that “a retard king” wanted to be remembered for something, so he moved the capitol to Madrid from Toledo. Also, Pablo told us some history of Madrid, including things about various kings like the Asturias and the Bourbons and the Inquisition. He explained the differences between the styles of architecture that you can see throughout the city and how the Moors, Jews and Christians all had their impact on Madrid. After almost four hours of walking through the rain, the tour ended and Pablo brought us to a restaurant for paella and sangria.

Because it was still raining after we finished lunch, us from Cornell decided to go to the Reina Sofia to escape the rain while Kristine returned to the hostel to rest and go shopping.

The Reina Sofia is a modern art museum and has large collections of Picasso and Dali. It is probably most famous for having la Guernica, a cubism painting by Picasso that represents the destruction and bombing of a small town in the north of Spain in Basque country that happened during the Civil War. I only saw a small portion of the collections, but I really enjoyed what I saw. There was a series of photos of people of each age up to 100 years, a lot of paintings by Picasso and Dali, and other interesting pieces. We spent the afternoon in the museum, returned to the hostel and joined Kristine shopping.

After a quick dinner made in the hostel, we went on a pub crawl organized by the hostel. We went to three bars and a night club. It was fun, but we were so tired by the end of the night that we just wanted to go back and sleep.

Confusión y comida china // Confusion and Chinese Food

Sí conoces a mi amiga Adrianne, ella puede decirte una cuenta de cuando fue a Wendy’s para pedir unas Frosties. No recuerdo los detalles exactamente, pero el punto de la cuenta es que pidió, decimos, dos Frosties chocolates medianos. El cajero era un hombre de India y tiene un acento como puedes imaginar. Pues, cuando Adrianne pidió dos Frosties, unos problemas seguían. Sigue una imitación de la conversación que tuvieron.

A: Dos Frosties chocolates medianos por favor.

H: Dos Frosties vainillas grandes.

A: No no no. Dos Frosties chocolates medianos.

H: Un Frosty chocolate mediano y un Frosty vainilla mediano.

A: ¿Qué? No. Dos Frosties chocolates medianos.

H: Vale vale. Un Frosty chocolate mediano y papas fritas.

A: No. Dije dos Frosties chocolates medianos.

H: ¡O! Lo siento. Dos Frosties chocolates, un grande y un pequeño.

A: ¿En serio? No. Dos Frosties chocolates medianos.

H: Sí sí sí. Tres Frosties chocolates medianos.

A: Casi. Pero solo quiero dos.

H: Vale. Entonces, dos Frosties chocolates pequeños.

No puedo recordar cómo termina la cuenta, pero consigues la idea. Pues, anoche traté de pedir comida china por teléfono y lo mismo ocurrió. Estaba diciendo el número de teléfono a una mujer y no podía entenderme.

Y: Seis tres cuatro.

M: Seis cuatro ocho.

Y: No. Seis tres cuatro.

M: Seis cuatro ocho.

Y: Erm… no. Seis tres cuatro

M: Seis seis cuatro

Y: No no no. Seis tres cuatro.

M: ¡O! Sí, seis seis ocho.

Y: No. Seis tres cuatro. Como, uno dos TRES.

M: Ah sí. Seis tres tres.

La conversación pasó como 5 minutos y finalmente lo dejé. No creo que tenía mi número correcto, pero la comida llegó sin problema y probaba muy bien. Pero una nota, ¡la comida no vino con galletas de fortuna sino pan china! Y pan china parece como styrofoam. Prueba bien pero todavía, no lo mismo.

Viajes planeados que vienen pronto

- Madrid, Segovia y Toledo

- Oviedo y Leon

- Burgos

- Brussels, Bruges y Ghent en Noviembre

If you know my friend Adrianne, she could tell you a story about when she went to Wendy’s to order some Frosties. I don’t remember the exact details, but the point of the story is that she ordered, let’s say, two medium chocolate Frosties. The cashier was an Indian man with a thick accent, like you can probably imagine. Well, when Adrianne ordered two Frosties, some problems ensued. What follows is an approximation of the conversation that they had.

A: Two medium chocolate Frosties, please.

H: Two large vanilla Frosties.

A: No no no. Two medium chocolate Frosties.

H: One medium chocolate Frosty and one medium vanilla Frosty.

A: What? No. Two medium chocolate Frosties.

H: Okay okay. One medium chocolate Frosty with French fries.

A: No. I said two medium chocolate Frosties.

H: Oh! I’m sorry. Two chocolate Frosties. One large and one small.

A Seriously? No. Two medium chocolate Frosties.

H: Yes yes yes. Three medium chocolate Frosties.

A: Almost, but I only want two.

H: Okay. Then, two small chocolate Frosties.

I can’t remember how the story ends, but you get the idea. Well, last night I tried to order Chinese food over the phone and the same thing happened. I was saying my phone number to a woman and she couldn’t understand me.

M: Six three four.

W: Six four eight.

M: No. Six three four.

W. Six four eight.

M: Um, no. Six three four.

W: Six six four.

M. No no no. Six three four.

W: Oh! Yes, six six eight.

M: No. Six three four. Like, one two THREE.

W: Ah okay. Six three three.

The conversation lasted probably 5 minutes and finally I let it go. I don’t think that she had the number right, but the food arrived without a problem and it tasted good. But one note, the food didn’t come with fortune cookies, but rather Chinese bread! And the bread looked like the stryofoam. It tasted good, but still, not the same.

Trips coming up soon

- Madrid, Segovia and Toledo

- Oviedo and Leon

- Burgos

- Brussels, Bruges and Ghent in November

Así que quieres estudiar en España // So you want to study abroad in Spain

Así que quieres estudiar en España

Bueno, quizás piensas que un día decidí, quiero ir a España, compré un billete de vuelo al Aeropuerto Madrid – Barajas y de repente estaba estudiando en Santander. Es una pena que no funcione como eso. He estado planeando, llenando solicitudes de pasaporte, visado, y apostillas, obteniendo papeles de mi doctor, y más por casi diez meses, y entre un mes, estaré terminado y oficial en España. Sí, hasta el martes pasado, todavía no podría quedarme en Santander más de 3 meses antes de tener que regresar a los EEUU. Ha sido una experiencia estresante, pero trataré de explicarte todo lo que es necesario para estudiar en España por un año.

1. Enero 2010. Solicita un pasaporte. Ya tenía un pasaporte, pero iba expirar durante mi estancia en Santander, que es malo. Tu pasaporte necesita estar valido hasta unos meses después de cuando planeas de salir de España.

2. Enero – Febrero 2010. Obtén reportes del buen comportamiento de policía. Necesitas reportes de cada ciudad en que vivías durante los cinco años pasados. Estos reportes necesitan ser notariada, y después el notario necesita ser notariada. El sistema es horrible, y no lo entiendo, pero es necesario, y quizás valdrá la pena. Necesitas aplicar a la Universidad de Cantabria. Necesitas recomendaciones de profesores, pues, planifica el futuro. Hice todo mi aplicación entre una semana antes de que se debía, pero no lo recomiendo que lo haces como eso también. Tenía tanto miedo que perdería el fin de plazo.

3. Febrero 2010. Envia tus reportes y los notarios al capital del estado en que los obtuviste. Por ejemplo, necesité reportes de Ithaca, Nueva York y Waukesha, Wisconsin. Tenía que enviar mis papeles de Ithaca a Albany y los de Waukesha a Madison con otras formas para obtener apostillas. Una apostilla confirma en otros países que los papeles son verdaderos, o algo así.

4. Marzo – Abril 2010. Ve a tu doctor y obtén papeles que dicen que estás sano físicamente y psicológicamente. También, tus padres necesitan escribir una carta que dice que pueden apoyarte financieramente y eso debe ser notariada.

5. Mayo o Junio 2010. Pide una cita al Consulado en Nueva York o lo más cerca de donde vives. Cada consulado tiene su propia región. Copia todo. Haz uno, dos, o tres copias para estar seguro.

6. Verano 2010. Reune todos los papeles, la carta de aceptación, tu pasaporte, información de tu seguro de sano, un sobre prepago de FedEx o UPS que puedes realizar un seguimiento, y un giro postal. Espera el mejor, y ve al consulado por la cita. Consigue tu visado en el correo después de tres semanas o más. Vuela a España.

7. Agosto o Septiembre 2010. Visita a la oficina de extranjeros. Eso es lo peor. Es peor que el DMV en los EEUU. Necesitas un número antes de entrar la oficina. Esperas hasta llaman tu número. Dile que necesitas una tarjeta de estudiante. Cuando fui para hacer eso, el programa no funcionó y no pudo darme un número, pero necesitas una forma con un número de NIE y una cita por la segunda visita a la oficina.

8. Agosto o Septiembre 2010. Otra vez visita a la oficina. Trae tu carta de aceptación, tu pasaporte, la forma con número de NIE, fotos de pasaporte, copias de pasaporte y visado, un libro para leer mientras esperar, todo. Prepaga la forma a un banco.

9. Tres semanas o más después de la segunda visita. Regresar a la oficina, recoger tu tarjeta y relájate. Eres legal ahora, ¡puedes quedarte hasta el próximo año!

So you want to study abroad in Spain

Well, you might think that one day I decided, I want to go to Spain, I bought a plane ticket to Madrid Airport – Bajaras and suddenly I was studying in Santander (not only was it a long, grueling process, but I flew into London Heathrow, not Madrid). It’s a shame that it doesn’t work like this. I have been planning, filling out applications for a passport, my visa, and apostilles, getting papers from my doctor, and more for almost ten months, and, within one month, I will be done with this and be official in Spain. Yes, up until last Tuesday, I still wasn’t able to stay in Santander longer than three months before having to return to the good ol’ US of A. It has been a stressful process, but I will try to guide you step by step through the process so you can study in Spain for a year (let me point out now, getting a 6 month visa is much easier).

1. January 2010. Apply for a Passport. I already had a passport, but it was going to expire during my stay in Santander, which is bad (unless I want to either get deported or have an interesting time at Customs). Your passport has to be valid at least a few months past when you plan on leaving Spain.

2. January – February 2010. Get police reports of good behavior. You need reports from each city that you lived in for at least 6 months within the past five years. These need to be notarized, and after that, the notarization has to be notarized. The system is horrible, I don’t understand it, but it is necessary, and hopefully will be worth the effort in the end. You also need to apply to the University of Cantabria. You need recommendations from professors, so plan ahead. I didn’t, and did my entire application within about a week. I felt terrible asking professors on such short notice, and was petrified I was going to miss deadlines (but I have a sneaking suspicion that the deadlines are pretty soft). I also needed to meet with my faculty advisor and a study abroad advisor, so schedule appointments well in advance to avoid extra stress.

3. February 2010. Send your police reports and notarizations to the capital of the state in which you got your report. For example, I needed reports from Ithaca, NY and Waukesha, WI. I had to send my papers from Ithaca to Albany and my papers from Waukesha to Madison along with papers asking for apostilles. An apostille is apparently a way of showing other countries that the papers are legal or something. I was pretty lost in all of this to be quite honest.

4. March – April 2010. Go to you doctor and get a letter that says you are physically and psychologically healthy. Also, your parents have to write a letter saying they can support you financially while you are in Spain, this too should be notarized (I believe).

5. May or June 2010. Schedule an appointment at the Spanish Consulate in New York or the consulate that is closest to where you live. Each consulate has its own region that it deals with. For example, as a resident of Wisconsin, I also could have went to the Spanish Consulate in Chicago. Copy everything. Make one, two or three copies just to be sure you have everything. You will need copies of everything, I am not lying.

6. Summer 2010. Gather all of your papers, copies, forms, your acceptance letter, your passport, information about your health insurance, an prepaid trackable envelope from FedEx or UPS, and a money order. Hope for the best and go to the consulate for your appointment (I was early, got done with appointment, despite having to run down like 40 stories to get a money order, which I also didn’t know how to do, and had some extra time to spend in New York). Get your visa in the mail (freak out at first seeing it’s good for only 3 months, realize that that is because you have more to do in Spain and calm down). Fly to Spain.

7. August or September 2010. Visit the Oficina de Extranjeros (the Foreign Affairs Office). This is probably the worst part. It is definitely worse than a DMV in the US (and that’s bad). You need a number before entering the office, get this from the computer to the right of the entrance. Wait for your number to be called. Tell them you need a student card. When I went to do this, the system on the computer didn’t work and they couldn’t give me a number. You NEED a number, you can’t prepay your form at the bank without a NIE number. Get this form and an appointment for your second visit.

8. August or September 2010. Again, go to the office. Bring your acceptance letter, your passport, your form with your NIE number that you already prepaid at a bank, and passport photos (you can get these in little photo booths, like the ones in movies, yet less romantic). Turn all of your papers in, sign and fingerprint forms that they give you.

9. Three weeks or more later. Return to the office and pick up your card and RELAX! You are legal now, and you can stay until the next year! (You can actually start to become a real person by opening a bank account in Spain and other exciting things.)

*A note about number 8. Because I didn’t get a form with a number, I didn’t really know which ticket to get, with an appointment, information, or what have you, so I ended up having 5 different numbers and took whichever was called first. I would recommend always getting the ticket you need and a ticket for information. It’s kind of cheating the system, but information usually gets called quickest, and if you go to the wrong desk they will either just bring you to the desk you need without waiting, or will call your number to the right desk within a short amount of time. It can really be a time saver if you don’t want to wait in the waiting room, and why would you? You are an American, goddamnit, and you don’t want to have to wait with other foreigners… they are downright… un-American!

La Sella

Pues, hice de kayak el sabado pasado en la Sella, un río en Asturias. Hacía frio y había muchas nubes. También llovía. Pero, todavía me disfruté el viaje por las montañas de Asturias. Robé algunas fotos de Hillary.

So I went kayaking on the Sella this past Saturday, a river in Asturias (the autonomous community to the west of Cantabria). It was cold and cloudy. It also rained. But I still enjoyed the trip through the mountains of Asturias. I stole some pictures from Hillary.

Upcoming planned trips, hopefully we actually follow through on these:

Oct 8 - 12 Madrid, Toledo, Segovia

Oct 16 - 17 Oviedo and Leon

Oct 23 - 24 Burgos

That's a pretty packed October, hopefully I have time for classes...

Profesores y Compañeros de Clase \\ Professors and Classmates

24 Septiembre, 2010.

Terminé mi primera semana de clases entonces tengo unos pensamientos de mis profesores y mis compañeros de clases españoles.

Como en Cornell, aquí en la Universidad de Cantabria tengo profesores fantásticos y profesores aburridísimos. Creo que mi profesor de introducción a ingeniería geotécnica es uno de los profesores fantásticos. Sus clases son interesantes, aunque sean de grava, arena y todo de la tierra. Puedo entenderle cuando habla en inglés, y parece como un tío muy amable. Mi profesor de modelado estructural también es un buen profesor. La próxima semana va a estar en Canada y ofreció a traernos algo si querríamos. Probablemente era una broma, pero Caitlyn, Hillary y yo inmediatamente gritamos – MAPLE SYRUP - . No sé si nos tomó en serio, pero espero que sí. La jarabe aquí cuesta diez euros por un frasco de jarabe de arce. Pero, como en Cornell, hay unos profesores que van a ponerme dormido cada clase. Este semestre es mi profesor de computación de ingeniería. Habla demasiado lentamente, su acento es el peor, y nos enseñaría como no supiéramos nada. Es horrible, y a veces tenía ganas de salir la clase y tomarla en Cornell, pero voy a aguantar la clase.

Todos los estudiantes, por otro lado, son muy amables. Antes de venir, oía que es difícil para hacer amigos con los estudiantes españoles, especialmente el primero paso de conocerles un poco mejor. Pero, creo que no encontramos este problema. Mis compañeros de clase nos han invitados a fiestas y nos han presentado a otros estudiantes para conocer. Aun pretenden que podemos hablar español cuando tratamos de hablar. Espero que esto continúe, porque, como los otros de Cornell te dirán, necesitamos amigos. No ayuda que somos tan difíciles en situaciones sociales.

Además de nuevas experiencias con profesores y compañeros de clase, Caitlyn y yo salimos esta semana para un evento de Erasmus el miércoles. El evento sirvió para conocer a personas con quien puedes practicar un idioma. Otra vez, es una manera para hacer amigos con personas se Europa. Estamos tratando cada manera posible, pero sí estoy siendo honesto, es más difícil para hacer amigos con los estudiantes de Erasmus. Caitlyn y yo hemos encontrado que los estudiantes de Erasmus no quieren amigos de los Estados Unidos, o a menos de que siente como eso. Pero, todavía vamos a eventos cuando podemos. Mañana tenemos un descenso del río Sella en kayak con Erasmus. Quizás podemos conocer a algunas personas mañana y si no quieren ser nuestros amigos, podemos voltear sus kayaks.

September 24, 2010

I finished my first week of classes so I have a few thoughts about my professors and classmates.

Like at Cornell, here at the University of Cantabria I have great professors and some extremely boring professors. I think my professor for Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering is one of the great professors. His classes are interesting, even though they are about gravel, sand and soil. I can understand him when he talks English, and he seems like a really friendly guy. My Structures Modeling professor is also really good. Next week he is going to be in Canada and offered to bring us back stuff from Canada if we wanted, kind of as a joke, but Caitlyn, Hillary and I immediately shouted “MAPLE SYRUP”. I don’t know if he took us seriously, but I hope so. Syrup here costs 10 euro a bottle, and it’s a small bottle. But, like at Cornell, there are some professors that are going to put me to sleep in every lecture. This semester it’s my Computation Engineering professor. He talks so slowly, he has the worst accent, and he teaches us as if we knew nothing. It’s pretty terrible, and I have thought about dropping the class and taking it at Cornell, but I will try to stick it out.

All of the students, on the other hand, are really nice. Before coming, I heard it is really difficult to make friends with the Spanish students, especially taking the first step in getting to know them a little better. I was told they appear a little cold at first and stick to their own friend groups. But I don’t think we have run into this problem. My classmates have invited us to go out with them and have introduced us to a lot of people. They have been really easy to talk to, too. They even pretend we can speak Spanish when we try. I hope this continues, because like the other Cornellians will tell you, we need friends. And it doesn’t help that we are so awkward in social situations. (Also, Spanish needs a better word for awkward).

Besides our experiences with new professors and classmates, Caitlyn and I went out this past Wednesday to an Erasmus event. The event served to meet someone who you can practice whatever language you wanted to (obviously Spanish for me). Again, this was just a way in which to make friends. We are trying every way possible. But to be honest, it’s been harder to make friends with Erasmus students. Caitlyn and I have found that Erasmus students don’t really want to make American friends or at least it feels like that with a lot of the Europeans we have met. But, we still go to events when possible. Tomorrow we are kayaking down the Sella River with Erasmus. Maybe we can meet some people tomorrow, and if they don’t want to be our friends we will tip their kayaks over. Maybe this is the attitude that loses us European friends…

By the way, I will try to post twice a week. We will see if that actually happens, but that is the goal.