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.

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.