As many of you know, in addition to my three academic and one service-learning class at the Fundacion, I am also taking one class at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha or UCLM. For some reason, I typically say the U as (oo) like Spaniards do, and then say the CLM like an American. Whatever.
My class is called "Mundo Arabe Contemporaneo" or "Contemporary Arab World". which reminds me, I need to print out a map of the Middle East. My first real assignment for the class is to make a map labeling countries, capitals and religious/ethnic minorities of the Middle East.
Our professor is pretty chill and always shows up ten minutes late for class. My class is MW 1:30-2:30 and Tuesday 4-6. Lunch at the Fund goes from 1:30-2:30, but they let us go late.
Our class is more foreigners than Spaniards. On the first day, there were four Domers and two Spaniards. Since then we have gotten a Czech girl, a Polish guy, a Slovakian girl and a British girl. it seems really interesting, and we are really excited about having a class about cultures in a room full of people in different cultures.
The building is really cool. It's an old building but the inside is new, so it's interesting. They have some of the old parts still in there too.
Tonight, I'm taking the night bus to Barcelona. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep!
We're taking the night bus back Saturday night. This could be either really great or really awful...I'll let you all know how it goes. And, look for pictures, now that I know how to put them up!
Abrazos,
Global Chica
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Madrid
Written on Sunday...
So, I just finished my first weekend of traveling, venturing an hour away to Madrid. The fund organized an excursion, and almost everybody (including the entire Notre Dame group) stayed the rest of the weekend. The Fund took us to the Palacio Real (Mom, can I get this for Christmas?), on a bus tour and fed us at the Museo del Jamon (which is a Madrid chain of restaurants, and not a Museum of Ham, as the name might suggest). We were slightly misguided by or tour guide at the Palacio and ended up running to catch the bus tour. But the rest of it was fine.
We stayed in a Hostel near the Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor. It had internet which enabled me to email my mom (multiple times in rapid succession, I call it email chatting) and use facebook, even facebook chatting with Sarah! Since I don’t have internet with my family, it was a luxury to have internet on the weekend (I’m writing this on Word for convenient uploading in the Fund).
We walked around and ate dinner. Friday night, we went to a seven-story club called Teatro Kapital, and I have the t-shirt that came with the cover to prove it. There were really only two dance floors (that we had access to…there may have been more…) We tried to find churros on the way back, but we couldn’t find an open place on our way back to the hostel, as it was still too early for breakfast.
Saturday, we took advantage of free art museums (Reina Sofia is free Saturday afternoons and Prado is free every evening). We also went to the Thyssen museum, which was well worth the 4-euro-discounted-Carnet-Joven-entry fee. I committed a grievous sin by only spending about half an hour in the Prado focusing only on El Greco, Velazquez and Goya, but it was getting late and we were tired from our long day of museums. I have two things to say about this: Velazquez was a beast and the Ritz next door is a rip-off because it is totally fake and there is no attendant in the bathroom. Although this did save me a euro in tip money.
Saturday night we stopped by a flamenco bar and then attempted to watch the Notre Dame-UCONN game in a number of Irish pubs (seriously, why weren’t the playing it?) but were denied in favor of cycling. When I go to a bar, I don’t really want to watch people ride bikes, but I guess Spaniards do. We were finally able to get churros, however, and sat with our churros con chocolate until we were essentially kicked out of the churrero.
Sunday we had to wake up to check out by 10:30. We had a rainy walk to the Cathedral for Mass. It was scheduled for noon. We made it when we thought it would be on time, but had already missed the Liturgy of the Word. After Mass, Javier asked the priest who told him that we were not in the Cathedral, but the crypt and that Mass had started at 11:30. Oops. We wandered up to the Cathedral itself, which had a very beautiful Mass. Mary Kate and I didn’t stay long, because we wanted to catch the bus back to Toledo and I was tired and really needed to sit down.
When I got back and was unpacking, a very interesting thing happened. My host dad was listening to music. He likes out-of-date American love songs, though as far as I can tell he does not speak English and does not entirely understand them. He blasted “My Heart Will Go On”. He also whistled along. He also kept whistling it after it had ended. I was incredibly amused.
Next weekend we go to Barcelona. I am very excited about this, but nervous because it involves two overnight buses, which I fear might mean two nights without sleep. I am also very excited about March 28th, when a group of people are running a half-marathon in Prague. I am extremely excited by the prospect of being able to say that I ran a half-marathon in Prague, which is a slightly more interesting place than South Bend, Indiana- the only other place I have so far run a half marathon. I had a great run this afternoon. I have no idea how far it was but I would guess five miles. I kept trying to stop because I didn’t want to strain my knee too much, but I felt good and kept going. Then, I was able to photographically document the “Buena vista” my town is named after, because the park by my house has a gorgeous view of Toledo.
Dos Besos,
Global Chica
So, I just finished my first weekend of traveling, venturing an hour away to Madrid. The fund organized an excursion, and almost everybody (including the entire Notre Dame group) stayed the rest of the weekend. The Fund took us to the Palacio Real (Mom, can I get this for Christmas?), on a bus tour and fed us at the Museo del Jamon (which is a Madrid chain of restaurants, and not a Museum of Ham, as the name might suggest). We were slightly misguided by or tour guide at the Palacio and ended up running to catch the bus tour. But the rest of it was fine.
We stayed in a Hostel near the Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor. It had internet which enabled me to email my mom (multiple times in rapid succession, I call it email chatting) and use facebook, even facebook chatting with Sarah! Since I don’t have internet with my family, it was a luxury to have internet on the weekend (I’m writing this on Word for convenient uploading in the Fund).
We walked around and ate dinner. Friday night, we went to a seven-story club called Teatro Kapital, and I have the t-shirt that came with the cover to prove it. There were really only two dance floors (that we had access to…there may have been more…) We tried to find churros on the way back, but we couldn’t find an open place on our way back to the hostel, as it was still too early for breakfast.
Saturday, we took advantage of free art museums (Reina Sofia is free Saturday afternoons and Prado is free every evening). We also went to the Thyssen museum, which was well worth the 4-euro-discounted-Carnet-Joven-entry fee. I committed a grievous sin by only spending about half an hour in the Prado focusing only on El Greco, Velazquez and Goya, but it was getting late and we were tired from our long day of museums. I have two things to say about this: Velazquez was a beast and the Ritz next door is a rip-off because it is totally fake and there is no attendant in the bathroom. Although this did save me a euro in tip money.
Saturday night we stopped by a flamenco bar and then attempted to watch the Notre Dame-UCONN game in a number of Irish pubs (seriously, why weren’t the playing it?) but were denied in favor of cycling. When I go to a bar, I don’t really want to watch people ride bikes, but I guess Spaniards do. We were finally able to get churros, however, and sat with our churros con chocolate until we were essentially kicked out of the churrero.
Sunday we had to wake up to check out by 10:30. We had a rainy walk to the Cathedral for Mass. It was scheduled for noon. We made it when we thought it would be on time, but had already missed the Liturgy of the Word. After Mass, Javier asked the priest who told him that we were not in the Cathedral, but the crypt and that Mass had started at 11:30. Oops. We wandered up to the Cathedral itself, which had a very beautiful Mass. Mary Kate and I didn’t stay long, because we wanted to catch the bus back to Toledo and I was tired and really needed to sit down.
When I got back and was unpacking, a very interesting thing happened. My host dad was listening to music. He likes out-of-date American love songs, though as far as I can tell he does not speak English and does not entirely understand them. He blasted “My Heart Will Go On”. He also whistled along. He also kept whistling it after it had ended. I was incredibly amused.
Next weekend we go to Barcelona. I am very excited about this, but nervous because it involves two overnight buses, which I fear might mean two nights without sleep. I am also very excited about March 28th, when a group of people are running a half-marathon in Prague. I am extremely excited by the prospect of being able to say that I ran a half-marathon in Prague, which is a slightly more interesting place than South Bend, Indiana- the only other place I have so far run a half marathon. I had a great run this afternoon. I have no idea how far it was but I would guess five miles. I kept trying to stop because I didn’t want to strain my knee too much, but I felt good and kept going. Then, I was able to photographically document the “Buena vista” my town is named after, because the park by my house has a gorgeous view of Toledo.
Dos Besos,
Global Chica
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Oh, Bama
Every morning I pass by a bunch of fresh fish shops on the way to class. I don't really like the smell of fish, but it has become part of my routine. It's how I know my day is starting. There are always old ladies picking out what they will cook that day, closely examining the fish to make sure it is fresh and good fish. I have been trying new foods, like fish and eggs. I don't always like stuff, but I eat it to not be rude. My stomach is getting adjusted. Right now I am eating Tex-Mex Doritos.
I have now been to each of two classes, twice. I have three class sessions tomorrow. First: Service-Learning. Hopefully we will find out where we will be serving. I have Tuesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons free, so ideally it will be in that time. Then I have two sessions of Spain since 1936, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. That's how classes work here. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but the classes here are less work than at Notre Dame (but entirely in Spanish, so not completely easy or anything).
Obama was inaugurated last night at 6:00 local time. We were able to see it live on a CNN affiliate in the Fundacion (although every channel had it). I got to the Fund a little before 6:00 because I was going to go to Mass in the Cathedral after the speech. The TV room was filled with the Americans from Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota. I couldn't sit anywhere. Some guys from the Castilla-La Mancha news channel arrived to videotape the ambience and interview students. We left right after the speech, so we weren't interviewed.
It was really cool to watch the speech with a crowd of people in Spain. Everyone was excited to see a piece of history. Even Spain is excited. After Mass I checked facebook and was amused by all of the conflicting statuses. The speech was dubbed in Spanish, so it was difficult to understand because i couldn't decide which language to listen to.
Even though I missed half of the speech, my heart was pounding. It was still pounding when we left the Fund to walk to the cathedral (right around the corner). The cathedral is the Primate Cathedral of Spain, so it is basically fabulous. We couldn't go throughout the whole thing, just the side chapel, but it was fabulous. a great way to start the Obama presidency.
Everyone in Spain has been talking about the Inauguration. On my way to my house for the first time, my host dad asked me if I liked Obama. They are all excited, and my host sister announced last night that she likes Obama more than Zapatero. it is interesting because everywhere else in the world, people pay attention to the United States, but I'm sure half of the people reading this blog don't know who Zapatero is (President of the Spanish Government). Everyone in Spain knows who Obama is and they all watched the inauguration. How elitist does that make the United States seem?
Today we tried to get the Carnet Joven, a discount card for youth for transport and such. We went to three banks. The third one could have done it, but she didn't want to because they were closing for lunch in 10 minutes. So we said we would come back tomorrow. So now I'll try to take an earlier bus to get to class tomorrow. Hopefully this will all work out.
~Global Chica
I have now been to each of two classes, twice. I have three class sessions tomorrow. First: Service-Learning. Hopefully we will find out where we will be serving. I have Tuesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons free, so ideally it will be in that time. Then I have two sessions of Spain since 1936, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. That's how classes work here. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but the classes here are less work than at Notre Dame (but entirely in Spanish, so not completely easy or anything).
Obama was inaugurated last night at 6:00 local time. We were able to see it live on a CNN affiliate in the Fundacion (although every channel had it). I got to the Fund a little before 6:00 because I was going to go to Mass in the Cathedral after the speech. The TV room was filled with the Americans from Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota. I couldn't sit anywhere. Some guys from the Castilla-La Mancha news channel arrived to videotape the ambience and interview students. We left right after the speech, so we weren't interviewed.
It was really cool to watch the speech with a crowd of people in Spain. Everyone was excited to see a piece of history. Even Spain is excited. After Mass I checked facebook and was amused by all of the conflicting statuses. The speech was dubbed in Spanish, so it was difficult to understand because i couldn't decide which language to listen to.
Even though I missed half of the speech, my heart was pounding. It was still pounding when we left the Fund to walk to the cathedral (right around the corner). The cathedral is the Primate Cathedral of Spain, so it is basically fabulous. We couldn't go throughout the whole thing, just the side chapel, but it was fabulous. a great way to start the Obama presidency.
Everyone in Spain has been talking about the Inauguration. On my way to my house for the first time, my host dad asked me if I liked Obama. They are all excited, and my host sister announced last night that she likes Obama more than Zapatero. it is interesting because everywhere else in the world, people pay attention to the United States, but I'm sure half of the people reading this blog don't know who Zapatero is (President of the Spanish Government). Everyone in Spain knows who Obama is and they all watched the inauguration. How elitist does that make the United States seem?
Today we tried to get the Carnet Joven, a discount card for youth for transport and such. We went to three banks. The third one could have done it, but she didn't want to because they were closing for lunch in 10 minutes. So we said we would come back tomorrow. So now I'll try to take an earlier bus to get to class tomorrow. Hopefully this will all work out.
~Global Chica
Monday, January 19, 2009
Adjusting
I've had my first two classes and a meeting today, I have another class in two hours at 6:20. It's for my Contempory Spanish film course, and it's a movie. I'll have to hurry to the bus so I can get home by 9:00 for dinner, but it should be fine.
On Friday, we had a guided tour of Toledo. First we took a bus to look at the old city from across the river. Gorgeous. Then we went back and walked around.Buses don't fit in most of the streets in Toledo, and compact cars don't fit in many of them. You can't take a cab all the way back to the Fundacion, for example, because it's down a narrow alleyway.
Friday night I hung out with the family. I went to the cell phone store around the corner to add money to my number and Rebeca (11) wanted to accompany me. The older daughter came with her husband and little girl and visited for a while.
Saturday I went to Toledo and met up with Mary Kate and we walked through the city, allowing ourselves to get lost. I had a bocadillo de tortilla and went back home to Buenavista, but not before seeing a street performer playing a digeridoo (sp?). Saturday evening I went to Mass down the street with Rebeca because she had a lot to study on Sunday.
Sunday I woke up and ran, and my knee did not hurt to much, even though it was a little hilly. I did feel it when I walked down the stairs a little later. Lara and her family came over again and we had paella and flan for the comida. Delicious. I even ate all of the seafood in it. I played with the kids and spent some quality time reading Rick Steves and trying to organize all of the travels we are going to try to accomplish. We won't have many free weekends and I will probably come back broke. We'll see.
I'm getting adjusted. It will still take a few more days to get adjusted to the food and eating schedule, but starting classes and getting into a routine is going to help. I'm not entirely sure where I fit in with the family, but I've been spending a lot of time with the kids and the parents have been talking to me. I have been having issues understanding people that are not speaking directly to me, so it is harder for me to join in on mealtime discussions. This, however, will improve. I will also be gone a lot on the weekends and won't spend as much time with my family.
Friday we go to Madrid with the Fundacion and they're taking us around for free during the day. Domers are staying the rest of the weekend. We probably won't travel as a big group so much after that, because it's kind of cumbersome. I'll let you know how all of the travels go, as they happen. Hopefully, javier will remember to bring his converter to the Fund soon, so I can charge my camera, as it died early on during the tour of Toledo.
Hasta La Vista,
GlobalChica
ps Sam, I've been sharing my Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock songs with Rebeca, thanks for those!
On Friday, we had a guided tour of Toledo. First we took a bus to look at the old city from across the river. Gorgeous. Then we went back and walked around.Buses don't fit in most of the streets in Toledo, and compact cars don't fit in many of them. You can't take a cab all the way back to the Fundacion, for example, because it's down a narrow alleyway.
Friday night I hung out with the family. I went to the cell phone store around the corner to add money to my number and Rebeca (11) wanted to accompany me. The older daughter came with her husband and little girl and visited for a while.
Saturday I went to Toledo and met up with Mary Kate and we walked through the city, allowing ourselves to get lost. I had a bocadillo de tortilla and went back home to Buenavista, but not before seeing a street performer playing a digeridoo (sp?). Saturday evening I went to Mass down the street with Rebeca because she had a lot to study on Sunday.
Sunday I woke up and ran, and my knee did not hurt to much, even though it was a little hilly. I did feel it when I walked down the stairs a little later. Lara and her family came over again and we had paella and flan for the comida. Delicious. I even ate all of the seafood in it. I played with the kids and spent some quality time reading Rick Steves and trying to organize all of the travels we are going to try to accomplish. We won't have many free weekends and I will probably come back broke. We'll see.
I'm getting adjusted. It will still take a few more days to get adjusted to the food and eating schedule, but starting classes and getting into a routine is going to help. I'm not entirely sure where I fit in with the family, but I've been spending a lot of time with the kids and the parents have been talking to me. I have been having issues understanding people that are not speaking directly to me, so it is harder for me to join in on mealtime discussions. This, however, will improve. I will also be gone a lot on the weekends and won't spend as much time with my family.
Friday we go to Madrid with the Fundacion and they're taking us around for free during the day. Domers are staying the rest of the weekend. We probably won't travel as a big group so much after that, because it's kind of cumbersome. I'll let you know how all of the travels go, as they happen. Hopefully, javier will remember to bring his converter to the Fund soon, so I can charge my camera, as it died early on during the tour of Toledo.
Hasta La Vista,
GlobalChica
ps Sam, I've been sharing my Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock songs with Rebeca, thanks for those!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Toe-lay-doh
Hola!
I've been in Spain for about 24 hours and have already been hopelessly lost once. I was half an hour late for my spanish proficiency test, but it was pretty easy. Hopefully my grammar has not devolved too much over the years, because I just answered things the way I would say them.
Let me back up a little bit. The flights were fine. I watched Nights in Rodanthe on the way from San Diego to Chicago. It played again on the way to Spain, but I was trying to sleep (what a joke. I have my mother's sleeping habits, for those of you that know what that means). The flight to Spain was delayed two hours, which made chilling out in the Chicago airport not very fun, but it meant I only had to wait in the Madrid airport for an hour. That airport is ginormous.It's really nice and wasn't all that crowded, but man was it big. I had to take a train to get to baggage claim.
Turns out coming a day late because of Mexico was no big deal. They stagger the arrivals over two days, and Notre Dame had the first day, so I got here with the University of Minnesota kids. All I have missed out on is some bonding with the Notre Dame group and wandering around the city, and I'll have plenty of time to make that up. I slept on the bus (there was an obsene amount of fog in Madrid, and snow on the ground). I woke up as we pulled up to a walled, Medieval city- Toledo. We had to take out our suitcases and put them in a cart because the street are too narrow for the bus. We didn't have to walk too far, but this city is very hilly. Oh, dear. I found the Notre Dame group in the computer lab and hung out until lunch time. Then, they left to walk around but I had to go on a tour of the Fundacion and to meet my family. The Fundacion isn't an incredibly exciting building, but it has a tower room with a 360 view of the city. We're not too far from the Cathedral, so we're close to the center of Old Toledo.
My host family is fabulous. They have four kids but one (a year older than me) is recently married and doesn't live in the house anymore. We live in a house connected to other houses (we just call it a casa). I have my own bedroom and my own bathroom. Across the hall from me is Rebeca, 11 and down the hall are Susana and Miguel, both 5. They seem excited to have me in the house. Susana is funny. They all have trouble with my name (I think I will always be Maevey or something to them, which is fine). Susana came up to my room while I was unpacking and announced that her father couldn't remember what to call me. Or that she forgot what her father told her to call me, it can be hard to understand her because she can mumble sometimes. She also told me that even though I am speaking to her in a different language, she can understand me. I was speaking in Spanish. Although to be fair, my Spanish does need a little work butcause my pronunciations are a little off and I have mostly spent time with Mexicans and Central Americans, who speak differently. My host mom was telling me that her son-in-law is Dominican and sometimes she has trouble understanding him because he talks like a Mexican and says things like "ahorita". I was pretty sure I had said that earlier in the day.
The house is in Buenavista, just outside Toledo. I had to take the bus this morning to get to the Fund, and it was walking from the Plaza de Zocodover to the Fund that I got lost. I got to a place with four options of where to turn, and I could remember which one to take. After a while and a large circle around the cathedral, I found an Irish pub I recognized (haven't been in yet) and was at the Fund in just a few minutes. However, it took me a while to get there.
I've taken my test and now I am waiting for my interview. When I first heard about it, I was worried that it would be an oral Spanish exam, but I hear it is just a class placement thing that will give me a schedule. I think it is only ten minutes long. This afternoon, I will have the interview for my internship, which I think is only five minutes long, so that is probably the same deal. At 7:00, we have our big orientation meeting and after that some kind of fiesta. Tomorrow is a tour of the city (and goodness knows I need that). Classes start on Monday. I will be taking three classes at the Fund, one at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (that's right, I live in the land of Don Quijote) and an internship at some sort of social service place.
That's all I'll bore you with for now.
TTFN, Ta-ta for now!
~GlobalChica
ps my room has a Little Mermaid poster, so I know I'll like it.
I've been in Spain for about 24 hours and have already been hopelessly lost once. I was half an hour late for my spanish proficiency test, but it was pretty easy. Hopefully my grammar has not devolved too much over the years, because I just answered things the way I would say them.
Let me back up a little bit. The flights were fine. I watched Nights in Rodanthe on the way from San Diego to Chicago. It played again on the way to Spain, but I was trying to sleep (what a joke. I have my mother's sleeping habits, for those of you that know what that means). The flight to Spain was delayed two hours, which made chilling out in the Chicago airport not very fun, but it meant I only had to wait in the Madrid airport for an hour. That airport is ginormous.It's really nice and wasn't all that crowded, but man was it big. I had to take a train to get to baggage claim.
Turns out coming a day late because of Mexico was no big deal. They stagger the arrivals over two days, and Notre Dame had the first day, so I got here with the University of Minnesota kids. All I have missed out on is some bonding with the Notre Dame group and wandering around the city, and I'll have plenty of time to make that up. I slept on the bus (there was an obsene amount of fog in Madrid, and snow on the ground). I woke up as we pulled up to a walled, Medieval city- Toledo. We had to take out our suitcases and put them in a cart because the street are too narrow for the bus. We didn't have to walk too far, but this city is very hilly. Oh, dear. I found the Notre Dame group in the computer lab and hung out until lunch time. Then, they left to walk around but I had to go on a tour of the Fundacion and to meet my family. The Fundacion isn't an incredibly exciting building, but it has a tower room with a 360 view of the city. We're not too far from the Cathedral, so we're close to the center of Old Toledo.
My host family is fabulous. They have four kids but one (a year older than me) is recently married and doesn't live in the house anymore. We live in a house connected to other houses (we just call it a casa). I have my own bedroom and my own bathroom. Across the hall from me is Rebeca, 11 and down the hall are Susana and Miguel, both 5. They seem excited to have me in the house. Susana is funny. They all have trouble with my name (I think I will always be Maevey or something to them, which is fine). Susana came up to my room while I was unpacking and announced that her father couldn't remember what to call me. Or that she forgot what her father told her to call me, it can be hard to understand her because she can mumble sometimes. She also told me that even though I am speaking to her in a different language, she can understand me. I was speaking in Spanish. Although to be fair, my Spanish does need a little work butcause my pronunciations are a little off and I have mostly spent time with Mexicans and Central Americans, who speak differently. My host mom was telling me that her son-in-law is Dominican and sometimes she has trouble understanding him because he talks like a Mexican and says things like "ahorita". I was pretty sure I had said that earlier in the day.
The house is in Buenavista, just outside Toledo. I had to take the bus this morning to get to the Fund, and it was walking from the Plaza de Zocodover to the Fund that I got lost. I got to a place with four options of where to turn, and I could remember which one to take. After a while and a large circle around the cathedral, I found an Irish pub I recognized (haven't been in yet) and was at the Fund in just a few minutes. However, it took me a while to get there.
I've taken my test and now I am waiting for my interview. When I first heard about it, I was worried that it would be an oral Spanish exam, but I hear it is just a class placement thing that will give me a schedule. I think it is only ten minutes long. This afternoon, I will have the interview for my internship, which I think is only five minutes long, so that is probably the same deal. At 7:00, we have our big orientation meeting and after that some kind of fiesta. Tomorrow is a tour of the city (and goodness knows I need that). Classes start on Monday. I will be taking three classes at the Fund, one at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (that's right, I live in the land of Don Quijote) and an internship at some sort of social service place.
That's all I'll bore you with for now.
TTFN, Ta-ta for now!
~GlobalChica
ps my room has a Little Mermaid poster, so I know I'll like it.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Oh, Mexico
Hola!
I am currently in San Diego, in the house of my professor. Ironically, I will not be seeing my professor at all on this trip. He had a meeting today with a former president of Mexico (from a while back) and is arriving to the house where I am staying at around midnight, at which point I will be soundly asleep. His incredibly nice wife is taking me to the airport at 5:30 am, at which point I assume he will still be asleep. Yes, Mom, I already gave her a box of truffles the group bought them in the Chicago Airport to thank her for her hospitality, although they were from the group as a whole. Tijuana travelers that may be reading this: his house is exactly what I expected.
This entry may be a little long, because it is about the whole Tijuana experience, I will not be offended at all if anyone does not read this or skims it. In fact, I will never know.
So, I left Michigan on Saturday, when my fabulous mother drove through a blizzard to get to South Bend in time for 5:00 Mass. While there, I saw Tricia go up to communion with her parents, which was a very pleasant surprise. We ate together at Rocco's. The next morning, we went to the South Bend airport which was interesting. I was able to check my big suitcase (no charge for being overweight!) but as I walked out to the plane in the snow, I had to put my backpack in a thingie and they put it on the plane, then I had to wait for them to unload it when we got to Chicago. They also had to de-ice the plane. And, they gave me a blanket to keep me from getting cold while sitting in the front row while the door was open.
When we got to San Diego, the sun felt fabulous. We felt like dorks with our winter coats. After lunch in a real Mexican restaurant, they drove us to an apartment owned by COLEF (Colegio de la Frontera Norte, our host) where I stayed with three other girls last night. Then we went to our professor's beach-front penthouse in Rosarito (South of Tijuana) and watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Yes, I have picture. The four of us staying in Tijuana (the other four stayed in the penthouse that night) left after that and played games. We only got one channel on the tv and turned it off when it started playing Carrie.
Today was the first day of the Conference. We went to breakfast at the COLEF, which is on a hillside facing the Pacific Ocean. It's a graduate school where everyone is on full scholarship. Not a bad deal at all. We went into the conference room that was rigged for high-tech translation, done by our professor's son. I presented first, in English, then two girls presented in Spanish. I still support my decision. Then a professor that just arrived today at COLEF commented on our presentations, and was pretty critical, but we didn't really care because we already have our grade for the class.
We went to the library (named after our professor, who is the Fr. Hesburgh of COLEF). Then, we had lunch and then sat ouside for un rato. It was glorious. We went to the border. First, we went to the beach. it was low tide, so the fence didn't go out that far and you could just walk across the border, which of course people were doing. When we first got there, a couple of girls went across and when the border control car started to rush at them, they ran back giggling. Then some helicopters showed up (maybe he called them?). We walked down so we could stand in two countries at once. Also because it was a beach. Some people were standing just across the fence, just watching border patrol. A couple of agents showed up on sand buggies and gave them a ticket, we think. As we were leaving, some young men showed up. One ran across the border and the border control guy got out of his car and tackled him. I tried to get pictures of that, but I don't think they came out because we were already back in Mexico and it's hard to see through the fence.
We drove around and went to Canyon Zapata (we were told not to get out of the car, but we never saw anything more dangerous than graffiti. It was a valley that went right up to the border, completely blocked by multiple layers of fence. It looked kind of like the great wall of China. We drove past some maquiladores (factories) and saw the crosses lining the fence, honoring people that have died trying to come to America. We went back to the condo in Rosarito where we got some wine and tacos until my professor's chauffeur came to get me and take me across the border. He had a special thing to get across really fast, but I couldn't be in the car for him to do that, so I had to walk across, which is not nearly as sketchy as it sounds. I had to put my stuff through an x-ray machine, which I have never needed to do to get to Canada.
Mexico is a fascinating country. As I waited to get to the border and people we trying to sell magazines and things (not nearly as many vendors as we saw at the border crossing on the way into Mexico), I realized it was the core of entrepreneurship. A traffic jam? why not turn it into a market? Interestingly, the bars and clubs near where we stayed last night all had English names. I even saw an oxygen bar. The city (and cities we drove through going to an from Rosarito) are gorgeous to see from the highway, they are in valleys and up hills and some of the houses seem to be marvels of engineering. When we went to Canyon Zapata, we went up the steepest hill of my life.
I'm sure I've bored you enough because of all of my details. This blog is as much for me as it is for the people I'm leaving in the States, so I'm just writing what I'll want to remember, not necessarily what you need to read.
'Ta Luego!
GlobalChica
I am currently in San Diego, in the house of my professor. Ironically, I will not be seeing my professor at all on this trip. He had a meeting today with a former president of Mexico (from a while back) and is arriving to the house where I am staying at around midnight, at which point I will be soundly asleep. His incredibly nice wife is taking me to the airport at 5:30 am, at which point I assume he will still be asleep. Yes, Mom, I already gave her a box of truffles the group bought them in the Chicago Airport to thank her for her hospitality, although they were from the group as a whole. Tijuana travelers that may be reading this: his house is exactly what I expected.
This entry may be a little long, because it is about the whole Tijuana experience, I will not be offended at all if anyone does not read this or skims it. In fact, I will never know.
So, I left Michigan on Saturday, when my fabulous mother drove through a blizzard to get to South Bend in time for 5:00 Mass. While there, I saw Tricia go up to communion with her parents, which was a very pleasant surprise. We ate together at Rocco's. The next morning, we went to the South Bend airport which was interesting. I was able to check my big suitcase (no charge for being overweight!) but as I walked out to the plane in the snow, I had to put my backpack in a thingie and they put it on the plane, then I had to wait for them to unload it when we got to Chicago. They also had to de-ice the plane. And, they gave me a blanket to keep me from getting cold while sitting in the front row while the door was open.
When we got to San Diego, the sun felt fabulous. We felt like dorks with our winter coats. After lunch in a real Mexican restaurant, they drove us to an apartment owned by COLEF (Colegio de la Frontera Norte, our host) where I stayed with three other girls last night. Then we went to our professor's beach-front penthouse in Rosarito (South of Tijuana) and watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Yes, I have picture. The four of us staying in Tijuana (the other four stayed in the penthouse that night) left after that and played games. We only got one channel on the tv and turned it off when it started playing Carrie.
Today was the first day of the Conference. We went to breakfast at the COLEF, which is on a hillside facing the Pacific Ocean. It's a graduate school where everyone is on full scholarship. Not a bad deal at all. We went into the conference room that was rigged for high-tech translation, done by our professor's son. I presented first, in English, then two girls presented in Spanish. I still support my decision. Then a professor that just arrived today at COLEF commented on our presentations, and was pretty critical, but we didn't really care because we already have our grade for the class.
We went to the library (named after our professor, who is the Fr. Hesburgh of COLEF). Then, we had lunch and then sat ouside for un rato. It was glorious. We went to the border. First, we went to the beach. it was low tide, so the fence didn't go out that far and you could just walk across the border, which of course people were doing. When we first got there, a couple of girls went across and when the border control car started to rush at them, they ran back giggling. Then some helicopters showed up (maybe he called them?). We walked down so we could stand in two countries at once. Also because it was a beach. Some people were standing just across the fence, just watching border patrol. A couple of agents showed up on sand buggies and gave them a ticket, we think. As we were leaving, some young men showed up. One ran across the border and the border control guy got out of his car and tackled him. I tried to get pictures of that, but I don't think they came out because we were already back in Mexico and it's hard to see through the fence.
We drove around and went to Canyon Zapata (we were told not to get out of the car, but we never saw anything more dangerous than graffiti. It was a valley that went right up to the border, completely blocked by multiple layers of fence. It looked kind of like the great wall of China. We drove past some maquiladores (factories) and saw the crosses lining the fence, honoring people that have died trying to come to America. We went back to the condo in Rosarito where we got some wine and tacos until my professor's chauffeur came to get me and take me across the border. He had a special thing to get across really fast, but I couldn't be in the car for him to do that, so I had to walk across, which is not nearly as sketchy as it sounds. I had to put my stuff through an x-ray machine, which I have never needed to do to get to Canada.
Mexico is a fascinating country. As I waited to get to the border and people we trying to sell magazines and things (not nearly as many vendors as we saw at the border crossing on the way into Mexico), I realized it was the core of entrepreneurship. A traffic jam? why not turn it into a market? Interestingly, the bars and clubs near where we stayed last night all had English names. I even saw an oxygen bar. The city (and cities we drove through going to an from Rosarito) are gorgeous to see from the highway, they are in valleys and up hills and some of the houses seem to be marvels of engineering. When we went to Canyon Zapata, we went up the steepest hill of my life.
I'm sure I've bored you enough because of all of my details. This blog is as much for me as it is for the people I'm leaving in the States, so I'm just writing what I'll want to remember, not necessarily what you need to read.
'Ta Luego!
GlobalChica
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)