Just to mention...my daily life here is ordinary and I can´t plan future updates because my internet access is irregular...so (mom and dad) I suggest checking every weekend to see if I wrote during the week.
A couple weeks ago at the pueblo I helped my host dad and sister scrub potatoes and carry them to the van. My skin got darker and my legs got very sore - it was the main event of the weekend. I also found out that they grow figs, cucumbers, peppers, apples, and walnuts! The women of the family killed a few more chickens that weekend, but they seemed to be in a hurry and it conflicted with the time I usually call my parents so I didn´t see much (not that I didn´t want to haha, it actually does fascinate me).
One day last week I had an interesting discussion with my host mom about the environment. We had been talking about the weather, and then we got into global warming (there were a bunch of words I struggled with!) and chemicals and things. Because they don´t use pesticides on their crops at the pueblo, ít´s healthier for them AND the environment. My host mom doesn´t work, but they sell a good amount of their fruits and vegetables to friends and acquaintances who appreciate the home-grown and natural quality. I´m learning a lot about nature and the farming lifestyle, which is pretty unusual to me but also really great. Me being an Al Gore fan and a Pitzer student...go figure.
My Spanish courses are going well - I´m in a more challenging level which I´m enjoying. I´ve made a couple good friends so I´m a bit busier and not feeling so lonely. Of all the American students, I really am only friends with one. There are a couple Japanese girls, a girl from Paris, and a guy from Gabon, Africa, who are really nice/fun. I think it´s great that I can make international friends here. And I´ve planned a trip to Barcelona (again) to meet up with a couple friends from Pitzer (one of which is my best roommate ever!) so I am very excited!
my volunteer work at the agency for "gitanos" (gypsies) is going ok. I mostly just observe the activities that go on there...one day we watched a dance dvd and tried learning the steps. Today there was a lesson about geography and the different provinces of Castilla y Leon. There´s usually a group of about seven girls, 12-15 years old, and then an older girl who works there leads the activities. Hardly any of the girls are in school, so this place where I go is like a collective spot for them to get to know eachother and do activities...but it´s very laid back. I don´t know them very well, and I have trouble understanding them because they speak a little differently, but they get excited that I´m from California and ask me how to say certain words in English. I´m interested in learning more about their cultural background so I might try and do some research.
The language center has excursions planned throughout the semester...this past Saturday there was a day trip to a nearby city called Ponferrada as well as to a nature site called "Las Medulas." In Ponferrada we visited this huge castle built in the 12th century (?) that was meant to protect traveling saints from "ladrones" or vagrants. The trip to "Las Medulas" was quite an experience. It used to be a really big mountain range with gold mines that the Romans excavated, and so we got to see lots of red, scattered peaks and some empty caves. It was all very colorful because there were really green trees all around the mountains. On the itinerary it said there would be a slightly difficult incline, but of course things are never quite what they say they are...it was a very difficult hike. The views were pretty amazing though, I love the pictures I got.
Also on Friday I finally got to go out into the city at night! A friend and I were exploring and looking for a place to get tapas (small appetizers that come with drinks, free in leon) when we saw this huge group of men dressed up in colorful capes playing instruments and singing. There were a whole lot of different groups (I think from different universities) that kept circulating through the streets. In one of the main plazas, each group serenaded a women standing in a third-story window and after they finished a dance or a song she would throw down flowers. It was so neat! And there were tons of people watching and singing along with each group! I want to find out more about that.
Anyways, more news later! Hasta luego!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Español courses and further family tales
I was waiting to update until I could upload pictures, but here at the university I need to have some sort of special password to connect my usb. So I don´t know when I´ll be able to put pictures up, very sad. I´ll keep working at it.
Since the last update I´ve done some very interesting things at the pueblo, like feed the pigs and help cut grapes! I´ve also finally started my Spanish courses, which have been going pretty well. Basically I´m learning grammar, culture, oral communication and written communication. The professors are all really nice and helpful, and there are friendly students from all over the world - like france, africa, and japan (and a good number from the states). Right now the level I´m in is a bit easy so I´m trying to move up another level. The workload is really light...most of the "homework" is to go out and talk to people, and my culture professor even said to go to a bar! I think it will be a fun semester. There are also some afternoon and weekend excursions planned that I´m excited about.
I´ve been getting to know my family better. I have had some rough days, where I really want to come home because of misunderstandings or being left out. Sometimes I wake up and everybody is already busy or out, they don´t tell me what their plans are for the day. Or I´ve offered to help prepare food, but one time my host mom said I would do it wrong and she didn´t want to show me how because it would take too long. That was really hard for me. I´ve gotten the chance to help them cut grapes in their fields, but at first they didn´t want me to come. My host mom doesn´t want me to do any hard work, like I´m more of a guest than a family member. This past weekend my host dad and sister did show me how to cut the grapes and it was definitely hard work! Despite the sore legs and bizarre insects (ugh I hate bugs, but my host family is immune to them. Whenever they see one they cut it up with their knives - brutal - and they also kill flies with their hands!) it was really really neat. It seems like the grapes are endless, there are so many. And they taste so sweet! When I get back to the states I probably won´t want to eat store bought ones anymore.
I think my host family is used to other students who usually do their own thing and don´t rely so much on the family, so maybe that´s why there are some hard times. But I´m becoming more of a family member in some ways. Once in a while they invite me to go on errands with them, and they are definitely not shy about yelling at eachother or cursing in front of me which I don´t mind. One thing that I´m getting used to is that nobody closes the door when they use the restroom. I can handle it for the most part, but when we came back from picking grapes my host mom told me to wash my hands...and while I was washing she decided to use the toilet. I walked out in a hurry, and she asked if I wanted to dry my hands but I said no thanks. Ugh. So in some ways I´m part of the family and in other ways I´m not.
The days that I´m sad or lonely are hard for me. While my host mom and older sister don´t always know what to say to me, my other host sister Almudena still jokes around and talks to me. She´s easy for me to confide in, which is nice. She is the most enthusiastic about showing me the grapes, the pigs, the pueblo, etc. I´ve also gotten the chance to talk more with my host dad, he´s very nice and also seems interested in teaching me things - I thanked him for showing me how to cut the grapes, and next he says he´ll show me how he collects honey from their bees! Yikes! Nobody has brought up religion much, except for my host grandparents. When I walked into the kitchen on sunday morning they said they were watching "misa" (mass) on television and I was totally clueless. It turns out, when they don´t go to services on sundays they watch a big catholic mass service on television. I was kind of stuck, because I didn´t want to walk out or start heating up coffee, so I sat and watched with them while they followed the prayers with the congregation...it was interesting for me to see. I was glad that my host grandparents didn´t ask me too many questions about religion because I still don´t know how they are about those types of differences, they seem very traditional. I like them a lot though...the rest of the family seems to think the grandpa is a litte nuts or mentally off (he was sick with something last year) but he´s fun to chat with. He also taught me how to play dominos a few weeks ago...I´m starting to catch some things he says. My host grandma is really great. One day the rest of the family was gone for the day and we talked for a long time about random things. I was just excited I could hold a long conversation with her and understand what she was saying. My Spanish has gotten better in the past month or so...I still make lots of mistakes but I understand most things (if spoken clearly) and some phrases fly out of my mouth without me having to think about it. ¡Que bien!
I really like reading everybody´s comments. It´s nice to know people are thinking of me while I´m here, because I´m certainly thinking of people back home. Take care!
Since the last update I´ve done some very interesting things at the pueblo, like feed the pigs and help cut grapes! I´ve also finally started my Spanish courses, which have been going pretty well. Basically I´m learning grammar, culture, oral communication and written communication. The professors are all really nice and helpful, and there are friendly students from all over the world - like france, africa, and japan (and a good number from the states). Right now the level I´m in is a bit easy so I´m trying to move up another level. The workload is really light...most of the "homework" is to go out and talk to people, and my culture professor even said to go to a bar! I think it will be a fun semester. There are also some afternoon and weekend excursions planned that I´m excited about.
I´ve been getting to know my family better. I have had some rough days, where I really want to come home because of misunderstandings or being left out. Sometimes I wake up and everybody is already busy or out, they don´t tell me what their plans are for the day. Or I´ve offered to help prepare food, but one time my host mom said I would do it wrong and she didn´t want to show me how because it would take too long. That was really hard for me. I´ve gotten the chance to help them cut grapes in their fields, but at first they didn´t want me to come. My host mom doesn´t want me to do any hard work, like I´m more of a guest than a family member. This past weekend my host dad and sister did show me how to cut the grapes and it was definitely hard work! Despite the sore legs and bizarre insects (ugh I hate bugs, but my host family is immune to them. Whenever they see one they cut it up with their knives - brutal - and they also kill flies with their hands!) it was really really neat. It seems like the grapes are endless, there are so many. And they taste so sweet! When I get back to the states I probably won´t want to eat store bought ones anymore.
I think my host family is used to other students who usually do their own thing and don´t rely so much on the family, so maybe that´s why there are some hard times. But I´m becoming more of a family member in some ways. Once in a while they invite me to go on errands with them, and they are definitely not shy about yelling at eachother or cursing in front of me which I don´t mind. One thing that I´m getting used to is that nobody closes the door when they use the restroom. I can handle it for the most part, but when we came back from picking grapes my host mom told me to wash my hands...and while I was washing she decided to use the toilet. I walked out in a hurry, and she asked if I wanted to dry my hands but I said no thanks. Ugh. So in some ways I´m part of the family and in other ways I´m not.
The days that I´m sad or lonely are hard for me. While my host mom and older sister don´t always know what to say to me, my other host sister Almudena still jokes around and talks to me. She´s easy for me to confide in, which is nice. She is the most enthusiastic about showing me the grapes, the pigs, the pueblo, etc. I´ve also gotten the chance to talk more with my host dad, he´s very nice and also seems interested in teaching me things - I thanked him for showing me how to cut the grapes, and next he says he´ll show me how he collects honey from their bees! Yikes! Nobody has brought up religion much, except for my host grandparents. When I walked into the kitchen on sunday morning they said they were watching "misa" (mass) on television and I was totally clueless. It turns out, when they don´t go to services on sundays they watch a big catholic mass service on television. I was kind of stuck, because I didn´t want to walk out or start heating up coffee, so I sat and watched with them while they followed the prayers with the congregation...it was interesting for me to see. I was glad that my host grandparents didn´t ask me too many questions about religion because I still don´t know how they are about those types of differences, they seem very traditional. I like them a lot though...the rest of the family seems to think the grandpa is a litte nuts or mentally off (he was sick with something last year) but he´s fun to chat with. He also taught me how to play dominos a few weeks ago...I´m starting to catch some things he says. My host grandma is really great. One day the rest of the family was gone for the day and we talked for a long time about random things. I was just excited I could hold a long conversation with her and understand what she was saying. My Spanish has gotten better in the past month or so...I still make lots of mistakes but I understand most things (if spoken clearly) and some phrases fly out of my mouth without me having to think about it. ¡Que bien!
I really like reading everybody´s comments. It´s nice to know people are thinking of me while I´m here, because I´m certainly thinking of people back home. Take care!
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