Here are a few cultural notes,
1. Potato Chips. They have the weirdest flavors of potato chips here. For example, Ham & Cheese, Steak and Cheddar (the only place you'll see the word or product of cheddar cheese), Chicken and Gravy and Onion and Cheese. The one that takes the cake, though, is the Prawn Cocktail flavored chips we saw in Gibraltar. Absolutely revolting.
2. Wine costs as little as 0.75 Euros. (Note: GOOD wine does not cost as little as 0.75 Euros).
3. They hardly ever have chocolate for dessert here.
4. There are no bagels, nor peanut butter in this whole city.
5. For groceries, the Sevillanos tote extremely fashionable rollable luggage to and from the grocery store. It is so fancy and pretty looking, that at first, when I was walking out of the grocery store, I was wondering where all these travelers were coming from. Then I saw string cheese coming out of one of them. I've never lived in a city before, so maybe this is normal in NYC, etc. but I thought it was very interesting.
6. This has nothing to do with Spanish culture, but the other day in grammar class, we did an exercise where we complete the sentence "If i were a ___ I would be ____" in Spanish, which has a somewhat tricky verb formation. For example, "If I was a fruit, I'd be a watermelon." The teacher then read everyones responses out loud and we had to guess who's response it was. She read the sentence "If I was a song, I'd be "Party in the USA" and the whole class started calling out "Liz" "Liz." And when she said "If I were a celebrity, I'd be Miley Cyrus" everyone said "definitely Liz." This was serious cause for concern, as I am completely unaware of what 16-year-old-teeny-bopper vibes I am giving off. Not surprisingly, when she said "If I were a sport, I'd be basketball" people started to change their minds.
7. Colocao is an acceptable drink for all ages. In the mornings, people either drink cafe (coffee) or colocao. Colocao is no different from chocolate Nesquik (it is even made by Nestle). They serve it at every cafe from morning till midnight. I think it's really cool that you can order a chocolate Nesquik at a restaurant and not feel like you recently learned your multiplication tables.
8. All the nutrition information on food packages is in the metric system, and I have no idea what goes into the food I eat for lunch and dinner. One one hand, there is a large amount of fried food and completely skim milk is a rarity, but on the other, I am averaging 4 pieces of fruit per day, and don't regularly eat snacks or dessert. Also, all the clothes I brought here are stretchy, or at least very forgiving. Consequently, the window of possible weights I could be right now is anywhere between 100 pounds and 150 pounds. Neither would surprise me at this point.
9. They think Abercrombie is heaven on Earth. At the birthday party, after I was introduced as the American exchange student, one girl immediately asked me if I knew what Abercrombie & Fitch was. When I answered affirmatively, she began excitedly describing the store to her surrounding friends. She described it as "the most incredible clothing store. It's like a discoteca! It's huge with 5 floors and music blaring on each one. It smells like cologne, and everyone who works there is a model! People shop for clothes, which are sooo cute and fashionable, and dance to the music while they do so." I have personally never seen anyone dancing in Abercrombie and Fitch, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the store she visited in New York city was a unqiue one.
The adventure continues....
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monos Monos
Hola!
It has been a while since I posted but not too too much has happened.
On Wednesday night we went to the theater. We saw a Spanish play called “Blood Wedding.” I’m not much of a theater buff, and many of the symbolic characters such as the moon (a woman dressed in a marshmallow-esque costume) went right over my head. I’m not sure if I would have understood this in English. But it was still a good experience.
Rachel was in Barcelona for the weekend visiting a friend, and our Irish roommate was in Madrid, so I was sola en la casa. On Thursday night we met some kids from Syracuse who are studying here and being “experts” of Sevilla after 2 weeks here, showed them a good time.
On Friday I cooked “carne con tomate” (meat with tomatoes) with my padre. It is basically just very tender pieces of pork in a rich tomato sauce. It was excellent. At night I went out with a few friends from Union. This week quite a few abroad programs arrived in Seville, so I kept forgetting we were in Spain. EVERYONE was speaking English in the bars and discotecas that we went to. EVERYONE. It was kind of frustrating because we should be practicing our Spanish.
Also on Friday night, my host family held a birthday party for their 19 year old daughter. I went downstairs to mingle and have a drink before heading out, and it was a great time. Everyone there was so well-dressed and well-put together. All the girls were beautiful and looked like models. They were very friendly, too, and were eager to introduce me to everyone. It was hard to follow conversations sometimes, though, because the music was loud, and the young people talk so fast. One girl was talking to me about a boy, and then mentioned 7 ugly and fat girls. After discussing how mad she was at her boyfriend for another few minutes, I finally realized what was going on. “Oooh, the fat and ugly girls were girls he cheated on you with? That’s terrible!” She was probably wondering why I had been approvingly nodding my head and smiling during the conversation before I came to this realization. I tried to make up for my mistake by reiterating 6 or 7 times how that was crazy and how she was so pretty etc. etc.
When I got home at 4:30, the party was still going on. It ended at 6:45. When I got up at 7:15 for my field trip, the house looked eerily similar to the post-party scene in 16 candles, in which they find a freshman underneath the glass of the coffee table, littered with debris. There was a pearl necklace draped over the toasted, glasses everywhere and a thong in the middle of the kitchen floor. What a party. My host mother forgot to make me a lunch, most likely because the party had been a little crazier than expected, so I tried to poke around to make myself one. I snagged ham and cheese out of the fridge, and at the last second decided to double check to make sure it was ham. Definitely NOT ham. So that went right back into the fridge and I ended up with a honey and strawberry jam sandwich, which wasn’t ideal, but could have been worse.
Yesterday we went to Gibraltar, which is a British colony in southern Spain. It is right on the coast and you can see Africa very clearly across the strait. It was pretty crazy that the currency, language and overall culture could be so different in such a tiny pocket in the middle of Spain. It was strange to think of why these people chose to live there. It is no longer used for military purposes, so what draws people to live there? They are surrounded on all borders by people who speak a different language and use different currency.
The only thing I can think of is the monkeys. There are tons and tons of monkeys on the cliffs of Gibraltar. Well, technically, their lack of tail makes them apes. The word for monkey is “mono” and the word for cute is also “mono” (coincidence? I think not). I was standing on the street, taking a picture of a little ape in front of me, when all of a sudden something landed on my head. There was a creature the size of a fat house-cat pulling at my hair and squawking. People started grabbing their cameras and snapping shots of this ridiculous scene. Within a minute, it jumped off onto the dashboard of a passing car, wreaking more havoc. It was crazy!!!!
We also went in some caves. Our tour guide provided us with no information about them, so all I can tell you is that they were caves and they were very very cool. We were over-tired and began taking goofy pictures pretending to be spelunkers or bats or kids in the movie The Goonies which was great fun, but was cause for concern from the girls from U Maryland who were also on the tour with us. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, but we made the most of it.
A long day in Gibraltar had me in for the night, Skyping with the family. It was a much needed rest. Today was reserved for preparing my oral presentation on globalization, and tonight will be more of the same.
Overall, a great weekend! I’m out of snacks, though, so tomorrow I’m heading to the market place to buy chocolate covered banana chips and other tasty goodies.
Hasta luego!
It has been a while since I posted but not too too much has happened.
On Wednesday night we went to the theater. We saw a Spanish play called “Blood Wedding.” I’m not much of a theater buff, and many of the symbolic characters such as the moon (a woman dressed in a marshmallow-esque costume) went right over my head. I’m not sure if I would have understood this in English. But it was still a good experience.
Rachel was in Barcelona for the weekend visiting a friend, and our Irish roommate was in Madrid, so I was sola en la casa. On Thursday night we met some kids from Syracuse who are studying here and being “experts” of Sevilla after 2 weeks here, showed them a good time.
On Friday I cooked “carne con tomate” (meat with tomatoes) with my padre. It is basically just very tender pieces of pork in a rich tomato sauce. It was excellent. At night I went out with a few friends from Union. This week quite a few abroad programs arrived in Seville, so I kept forgetting we were in Spain. EVERYONE was speaking English in the bars and discotecas that we went to. EVERYONE. It was kind of frustrating because we should be practicing our Spanish.
Also on Friday night, my host family held a birthday party for their 19 year old daughter. I went downstairs to mingle and have a drink before heading out, and it was a great time. Everyone there was so well-dressed and well-put together. All the girls were beautiful and looked like models. They were very friendly, too, and were eager to introduce me to everyone. It was hard to follow conversations sometimes, though, because the music was loud, and the young people talk so fast. One girl was talking to me about a boy, and then mentioned 7 ugly and fat girls. After discussing how mad she was at her boyfriend for another few minutes, I finally realized what was going on. “Oooh, the fat and ugly girls were girls he cheated on you with? That’s terrible!” She was probably wondering why I had been approvingly nodding my head and smiling during the conversation before I came to this realization. I tried to make up for my mistake by reiterating 6 or 7 times how that was crazy and how she was so pretty etc. etc.
When I got home at 4:30, the party was still going on. It ended at 6:45. When I got up at 7:15 for my field trip, the house looked eerily similar to the post-party scene in 16 candles, in which they find a freshman underneath the glass of the coffee table, littered with debris. There was a pearl necklace draped over the toasted, glasses everywhere and a thong in the middle of the kitchen floor. What a party. My host mother forgot to make me a lunch, most likely because the party had been a little crazier than expected, so I tried to poke around to make myself one. I snagged ham and cheese out of the fridge, and at the last second decided to double check to make sure it was ham. Definitely NOT ham. So that went right back into the fridge and I ended up with a honey and strawberry jam sandwich, which wasn’t ideal, but could have been worse.
Yesterday we went to Gibraltar, which is a British colony in southern Spain. It is right on the coast and you can see Africa very clearly across the strait. It was pretty crazy that the currency, language and overall culture could be so different in such a tiny pocket in the middle of Spain. It was strange to think of why these people chose to live there. It is no longer used for military purposes, so what draws people to live there? They are surrounded on all borders by people who speak a different language and use different currency.
The only thing I can think of is the monkeys. There are tons and tons of monkeys on the cliffs of Gibraltar. Well, technically, their lack of tail makes them apes. The word for monkey is “mono” and the word for cute is also “mono” (coincidence? I think not). I was standing on the street, taking a picture of a little ape in front of me, when all of a sudden something landed on my head. There was a creature the size of a fat house-cat pulling at my hair and squawking. People started grabbing their cameras and snapping shots of this ridiculous scene. Within a minute, it jumped off onto the dashboard of a passing car, wreaking more havoc. It was crazy!!!!
We also went in some caves. Our tour guide provided us with no information about them, so all I can tell you is that they were caves and they were very very cool. We were over-tired and began taking goofy pictures pretending to be spelunkers or bats or kids in the movie The Goonies which was great fun, but was cause for concern from the girls from U Maryland who were also on the tour with us. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, but we made the most of it.
A long day in Gibraltar had me in for the night, Skyping with the family. It was a much needed rest. Today was reserved for preparing my oral presentation on globalization, and tonight will be more of the same.
Overall, a great weekend! I’m out of snacks, though, so tomorrow I’m heading to the market place to buy chocolate covered banana chips and other tasty goodies.
Hasta luego!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sin Nata
Hola!
We've been here for a week and a half now and it feels like we've been here for months! I can't believe it. Classes now feel routine and the excessive amounts of pork profucts doesn't even phase me anymore.
Our Spanish cinema and theater class is muy interesante. This morning we watched a film with Antonio Banderras as a 20 year old. It was a very explicit film about gay lovers called La Ley de Deseo (The Law of Desire). I have never seen films like this before so it should be interesting. Also, at this point I can't watch spanish movies without the subtitles, but hopefully by the end of the trimester I won't have to read them at the bottom of the screen.
My Spanish has improved, though. I had a long conversation with mi madre today, who was convincing me to go to the plaza de torros for the bull fighting. I didn't realize that the bull is killed in front of the audience at the end. The cruelty of the whole spectacle is a little unsettling to me, but she said that it's so important for the Spanish culture that I should definitely go. Also, the padre told me he can score me some cheap tickets as long as I don't mind sitting in the shadows of the stadium which are colder than in the sun. But since the weather is in the high 60s, I think it beats a Pats game in December.
We also talked about peanut butter. They don't sell it in Spain. My madre has never tried it, but her daughter did in the US and loves it. They only have Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread). I can't believe they don't have it at all here since there are so many desserts, sandwiches, candies and other foods are prepared with peanut butter in the United States. Along with the brown sugar, my mum is going to send some peanut butter and blueberry jam (they also don't have blueberries here). The idea of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is crazy to them. Well, pretty much any meal without pork is crazy to them.
Last night I copied down recipes for Carne con Tomate and Cerdo con Brandy which I will be observing later this week and, according to my padre, making myself under his supervision by mid-trimester. It should be good.
Hopefully I can teach them how to make chocolate chip cookies or something else American. The only thing I've brought from America so far is Eskimo kisses, which I showed to the three year old. Now I can't talk to her for 10 seconds without receiving a nose rub from her, or "un beso de la nariz" (kiss of the nose). It's adorable.
Although I just said my language skills were on the rise, I did have a bit of a communication problem earlier. I went to Starbucks to do my readings for class, and ordered a hot chocolate, which I've done before. The barista gave me two options for the hotchocolate, to which I responded "sin nata" which means "without whipped cream." he repeated the question 3 times, and each time I answered "sin nata." Finally he said, in English "this" (pointing to a mug) or "paper cup." woops. He was very nice, though, and when he had to close the top for for cleaning, he made sure I understood what was going on and kept saying "me entiendes?" (do you understand) "estas segura?" (are you SURE?). "sabes lo que digo?" (you really know what I'm saying).
Rachel's friends from Connecticut are here traveling on vacation so she is out on the town tonight, although the daughters told us that there would be no one out on a Monday night. I'm staying in casa.
I have to get crackin' on my readings for my Immigration class. Rachel and I are giving a one hour presentation in class a week from tomorrow. I have never done a one hour oral presentation in English! This woman is loca.
Buenas noches (o buenas tardes para vosotros en los Estados Unidos)!
We've been here for a week and a half now and it feels like we've been here for months! I can't believe it. Classes now feel routine and the excessive amounts of pork profucts doesn't even phase me anymore.
Our Spanish cinema and theater class is muy interesante. This morning we watched a film with Antonio Banderras as a 20 year old. It was a very explicit film about gay lovers called La Ley de Deseo (The Law of Desire). I have never seen films like this before so it should be interesting. Also, at this point I can't watch spanish movies without the subtitles, but hopefully by the end of the trimester I won't have to read them at the bottom of the screen.
My Spanish has improved, though. I had a long conversation with mi madre today, who was convincing me to go to the plaza de torros for the bull fighting. I didn't realize that the bull is killed in front of the audience at the end. The cruelty of the whole spectacle is a little unsettling to me, but she said that it's so important for the Spanish culture that I should definitely go. Also, the padre told me he can score me some cheap tickets as long as I don't mind sitting in the shadows of the stadium which are colder than in the sun. But since the weather is in the high 60s, I think it beats a Pats game in December.
We also talked about peanut butter. They don't sell it in Spain. My madre has never tried it, but her daughter did in the US and loves it. They only have Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread). I can't believe they don't have it at all here since there are so many desserts, sandwiches, candies and other foods are prepared with peanut butter in the United States. Along with the brown sugar, my mum is going to send some peanut butter and blueberry jam (they also don't have blueberries here). The idea of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is crazy to them. Well, pretty much any meal without pork is crazy to them.
Last night I copied down recipes for Carne con Tomate and Cerdo con Brandy which I will be observing later this week and, according to my padre, making myself under his supervision by mid-trimester. It should be good.
Hopefully I can teach them how to make chocolate chip cookies or something else American. The only thing I've brought from America so far is Eskimo kisses, which I showed to the three year old. Now I can't talk to her for 10 seconds without receiving a nose rub from her, or "un beso de la nariz" (kiss of the nose). It's adorable.
Although I just said my language skills were on the rise, I did have a bit of a communication problem earlier. I went to Starbucks to do my readings for class, and ordered a hot chocolate, which I've done before. The barista gave me two options for the hotchocolate, to which I responded "sin nata" which means "without whipped cream." he repeated the question 3 times, and each time I answered "sin nata." Finally he said, in English "this" (pointing to a mug) or "paper cup." woops. He was very nice, though, and when he had to close the top for for cleaning, he made sure I understood what was going on and kept saying "me entiendes?" (do you understand) "estas segura?" (are you SURE?). "sabes lo que digo?" (you really know what I'm saying).
Rachel's friends from Connecticut are here traveling on vacation so she is out on the town tonight, although the daughters told us that there would be no one out on a Monday night. I'm staying in casa.
I have to get crackin' on my readings for my Immigration class. Rachel and I are giving a one hour presentation in class a week from tomorrow. I have never done a one hour oral presentation in English! This woman is loca.
Buenas noches (o buenas tardes para vosotros en los Estados Unidos)!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sand Castle Sugar
It has been a very fun past few days. Rachel and I have a new roommate named Susana. She actually lives in the room adjacent to us, but we all share a bathroom. She is from Ireland but goes to school at Cornell and is here until June. She’s a basketball player on scholarship, but since tearing her ACL, she was allowed to go to Spain for the season. She really lucked out with this house, because there is an elevator right to our room, so she doesn’t have to walk up 4 flights of stairs every day. She’s very sweet and extroverted and it should be fun living with her.
On Thursday night we went out to a popular bar in the barrio Santa Cruz. There weren’t many people out in the city, but the people who were out were at this bar because it was packed. We finally had the night of Sevilliano-mingling we’d been anticipating. We got to practice our Spanish, and an older couple we befriended wrote down an entire page of recommendations for places to go for tapas, breakfast, clubs, etc. The people here are so friendly. Even though our Spanish wasn’t very polished, they were very engaged in conversation, and one woman even helped us out with our slang words. Since we’ve only studied Spanish out of textbooks, the exclamations we’ve learned are most similar to “Golly Gee Willickers!” or “Neat!” which aren’t necessarily very cool to say. So we learned some new phrases and now hopefully we’ll blend in more now.
Friday we woke up early and took a 2 hour bus ride to Ronda, which is a town in southern Andalucia. It is the spot that Hemmingway talks about in several of his works. I’m not really a sucker for pretty landscapes, but this was UNBELIEVABLE. It was stunningly beautiful. It was how I imagined Tuscany to be. Beautiful rolling hills and unbelievably green grass. We toured the Arab-constructed baths and also went into a bull fighting ring. They had a lot of cute shops and pastelerias (pastery shops) which we took advantage of. It was truly a great day. Rachel left for Morrocco from Ronda to meet up with some friends from Connecticut who were traveling in the area and she’ll be back today.
On Friday night for dinner we had fish. I am sure it was fish because the fish were whole. Head, eyes, tail, everything. Tiny little silver fish the size of my index finger. I was instructed to “snap off the head and feed it to the Chihuahua, snap of the tail and eat it. Removing “la espina” (the spine) was optional. I took my plate to the table in awe. I was brave and ate them, and they weren’t half bad. I expected to have a harder time eating them with the heads in a pile on the side of my plate anticipating consumption by the dog, but maybe all those dissections of pigs and rats in bio have made me numb to that sort of thing.
After finding and eating Nemo(s), I went to a discoteca with some friends, and it was a private party but somehow they let us in without the 40 Euro cover charge. It was a really fun place with cool interior decorations and 2 dancers dressed in crazy costumes on platforms. It was a long walk back, but my friends Nikki and Caitlin live 30 seconds away from me, so we all walked together.
On Saturday I woke up early to buy my ingredients for apple crisp. We were having a large dinner (5 kilos of pork) to be served to the whole family and the grandmother and great aunt. At the first supermarket, no one could help me find brown sugar. The showed me “azucar Moreno” which is literally sugar that is brown, like Sugar in the Raw. It was the same texture and consistency as regular sugar, which was not what I wanted. They probably thought I was loca because I was describing this product as something that had “una textura que tiene arena cuando se esta hacienda castillos de arena” which means the texture of sand when you are making sand castles. They thought I was a lunatic. After looking online, I found that brown sugar is not sold in spain. It simply does not exist. Apple crisp is not a recipe which permits substitution of brown sugar, so unfortunately the dessert was a no go. I now have lots of oatmeal, flour and 13 apples to eat. But sadly enough, I’m not even worried about eating the 13 apples myself. I will have no problem. They are so sweet. My mum was so disappointed about the apple crisp failure that she is sending me brown sugar, which the family was actually really excited about. Apparently they were very excited to try it. They have never had a dessert made of apples.
Last night it was one student’s birthday, so we went to a club called Buddah. We had a reserved table on the third floor, which we didn’t realize was the 35+ floor (not officially, but that was the crown there). But it was really fun even though the people dancing next to us were 40 years our senior. We listened to bad American remixes of rap songs and danced for hours. It was great.
I have also been teaching the 3 year old some English. She can count to ten in English and can say “You Win!” because that’s what her electronic game says when she accidentally has it on the English setting. We watch Dora la Exploradora (which actually DOES rhyme in Spanish, unlike in English) regularly. I also watched parts of Homeward Bound en espanolm which Julia did not find nearly as entertaining as I did.
Today I have some homework to do and then class in the morning.
Hasta luego!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Albondigas
It has been raining a lot, but I think today was the last of it . The upcoming week looks completely sunny and in the high 60s! Yahoo!
I went running this morning at 7:20, but the sun doesn't rise until after 8:30 here, so it was as dark as it would have been at 2:00AM when I left. And there were probably less people out and about in Seville than there would be at 2:00 AM. Hardly anyone was awake! I ran along the river, but it wasn't very pretty since I could barely see it. Fortunately, I didn't get lost, and hopefully I am burning off any unwanted side effects of that unfortunate milk mixup.
Clases were great and we visited the palaces of the Kings from over 8 centuries ago (los Reales Alcazares de Sevilla). They were absolutely beautiful with ornate designs covering the walls and tons of orange trees in a beautiful garden. There were also many artists there, painting unbelievable pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but there should be plenty of photos posted online from my group that I will be able to snag and post here.
For siesta we ate albondigas (meatballs) with rice. They put "tomate frite" which tastes just like ketchup on all pasta and rice. Gross! I passed on that one, feigning a smile when I tried it on one spoonful of my rice. The family talked about an exchange student they had in the past who apparantly was very large and ate a lot of food. "As much as my father!" one of the older daughters said. I made a quick glance over to mi padre's plate. Five meatballs on his plate.....and five meatballs on my plate. Greeeeat..... I slowly dragged a piece of bread over my plate to conceal a large mound of rice and one of my meatballs and nodded in enthusiastic agreement with the daughter. "Wow" I said "as much as your FATHER!? That's crazy and excessive!"
A couple of my friends from school and I took shelter from the rain in a tapas bar after class. I ordered pollo sevillana, which is a traditional chicken dish served with mushrooms, onions and peppers. Tapas are served on tiny plates and cost only around 2 euros, which is great. They are much more fulfilling snacks thann those 100 calorie snack packs.
For dinner we ate a hanburger patty with cheese, a mixture of vegetables, peas and some pork product and leftover tortilla espanola. Although I did not enjoy it at the time, I suppose it was good that we plowed through about 50 lbs of green and yellow squash this summer from the garden. Last June I wouldn't have gone near the vegetable medley on my plate this evening, which was filled with various varieties of sauteed squashes. But after three months of grilled and sauteed summer squash and zuccini this past summer, I was able to take on the whole serving without separating all the different vegetables into little piles and eating only select colors/varieties. We had mandrinos (clementines) for dessert. It was great.
Tomorrow, to celebrate the arrival of the other exchange student, we are having a meat and tomato dish for siesta. It should be great.
Hasta luego!
I went running this morning at 7:20, but the sun doesn't rise until after 8:30 here, so it was as dark as it would have been at 2:00AM when I left. And there were probably less people out and about in Seville than there would be at 2:00 AM. Hardly anyone was awake! I ran along the river, but it wasn't very pretty since I could barely see it. Fortunately, I didn't get lost, and hopefully I am burning off any unwanted side effects of that unfortunate milk mixup.
Clases were great and we visited the palaces of the Kings from over 8 centuries ago (los Reales Alcazares de Sevilla). They were absolutely beautiful with ornate designs covering the walls and tons of orange trees in a beautiful garden. There were also many artists there, painting unbelievable pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but there should be plenty of photos posted online from my group that I will be able to snag and post here.
For siesta we ate albondigas (meatballs) with rice. They put "tomate frite" which tastes just like ketchup on all pasta and rice. Gross! I passed on that one, feigning a smile when I tried it on one spoonful of my rice. The family talked about an exchange student they had in the past who apparantly was very large and ate a lot of food. "As much as my father!" one of the older daughters said. I made a quick glance over to mi padre's plate. Five meatballs on his plate.....and five meatballs on my plate. Greeeeat..... I slowly dragged a piece of bread over my plate to conceal a large mound of rice and one of my meatballs and nodded in enthusiastic agreement with the daughter. "Wow" I said "as much as your FATHER!? That's crazy and excessive!"
A couple of my friends from school and I took shelter from the rain in a tapas bar after class. I ordered pollo sevillana, which is a traditional chicken dish served with mushrooms, onions and peppers. Tapas are served on tiny plates and cost only around 2 euros, which is great. They are much more fulfilling snacks thann those 100 calorie snack packs.
For dinner we ate a hanburger patty with cheese, a mixture of vegetables, peas and some pork product and leftover tortilla espanola. Although I did not enjoy it at the time, I suppose it was good that we plowed through about 50 lbs of green and yellow squash this summer from the garden. Last June I wouldn't have gone near the vegetable medley on my plate this evening, which was filled with various varieties of sauteed squashes. But after three months of grilled and sauteed summer squash and zuccini this past summer, I was able to take on the whole serving without separating all the different vegetables into little piles and eating only select colors/varieties. We had mandrinos (clementines) for dessert. It was great.
Tomorrow, to celebrate the arrival of the other exchange student, we are having a meat and tomato dish for siesta. It should be great.
Hasta luego!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Lost in translation
I am very tired from a long day of classes but a few quick notes....
After grammar class today I ventured off to do my reading in a cafe. Since there are limited areas of Seville I can navigate by myself without getting lost, my only choice of cafe was Starbucks. I ordered the same drink I order in the United States (hot chocolate), sat next to a couple from New York, and listened to Frank Sinatra and Wilco, which was playing in the shop. Very enjoyable, but I'm not sure there was one un-American thing about it. So I'm going to try to go for a more authentic Seville experience next time. But I did learn the word for (whipped) cream (nata), which made me sound like a spanish culinary vocabulary expert when mi madre asked me if I could identify any ingredients in today's pasta cabonara.
During la siesta, in addition to naming pasta cabonara ingredients, we also discussed breakfast. Mi madre asked what we generally eat for breakfast in the house (we get up before the rest of the family to go to class). We told her cereal and milk. She explained that there hadn't been any milk in the fridge all week. But there was the special protein drink for the 3 year old daughter, who is trying to gain weight. Basically, if you've seen Mean Girls, this is like the Caltine bars part. Bottom line: it may have been a better option diet-wise to be having my cereal with eggnog.
Also during siesta, the padre was discussing the 5 kilos of pork he purchased for this weekend. Since I mentioned I like cooking, I am to watch while he soaks out the fat and blood in three thrilling installments, and prepares a tomato sauce. This will certainly be interesting to watch. He asked if I would like to prepare a meal for the family. I was to nervous to accept this offer, but I did volunteer dessert. So we will be having my great-grandmother Dulcie's apple crisp for dessert with the pork meal this weekend. Since I didn't know the words for baking dish, cinnamon or oats, and my definition of oatmeal was extremely ambiguous, I'm pretty sure he thinks I am putting chopped apples in a bowl with some kind of corn product on top. But we'll see how it goes.
We had our first immigation class today. It should be very interesting, but a lot of work. Our professor is a professor at the University of Seville, and I think that she forgets sometimes we are not native speakers. But the topic sounds very interesting.
Also, for dinner we had chicken and stars soup (I'm still only 65% sure this family isn't American) and tortilla espanola, which is my favorite! It is a potato omlette! Eggs and patatas = mis favoritos! I am also hooked on having yogurt for dessert every night.
Rachel and I also got lost on the way to school yesterday morning and today this afternoon. Hopefully our "sentido de orientacion" improves.
Hasta luego!
After grammar class today I ventured off to do my reading in a cafe. Since there are limited areas of Seville I can navigate by myself without getting lost, my only choice of cafe was Starbucks. I ordered the same drink I order in the United States (hot chocolate), sat next to a couple from New York, and listened to Frank Sinatra and Wilco, which was playing in the shop. Very enjoyable, but I'm not sure there was one un-American thing about it. So I'm going to try to go for a more authentic Seville experience next time. But I did learn the word for (whipped) cream (nata), which made me sound like a spanish culinary vocabulary expert when mi madre asked me if I could identify any ingredients in today's pasta cabonara.
During la siesta, in addition to naming pasta cabonara ingredients, we also discussed breakfast. Mi madre asked what we generally eat for breakfast in the house (we get up before the rest of the family to go to class). We told her cereal and milk. She explained that there hadn't been any milk in the fridge all week. But there was the special protein drink for the 3 year old daughter, who is trying to gain weight. Basically, if you've seen Mean Girls, this is like the Caltine bars part. Bottom line: it may have been a better option diet-wise to be having my cereal with eggnog.
Also during siesta, the padre was discussing the 5 kilos of pork he purchased for this weekend. Since I mentioned I like cooking, I am to watch while he soaks out the fat and blood in three thrilling installments, and prepares a tomato sauce. This will certainly be interesting to watch. He asked if I would like to prepare a meal for the family. I was to nervous to accept this offer, but I did volunteer dessert. So we will be having my great-grandmother Dulcie's apple crisp for dessert with the pork meal this weekend. Since I didn't know the words for baking dish, cinnamon or oats, and my definition of oatmeal was extremely ambiguous, I'm pretty sure he thinks I am putting chopped apples in a bowl with some kind of corn product on top. But we'll see how it goes.
We had our first immigation class today. It should be very interesting, but a lot of work. Our professor is a professor at the University of Seville, and I think that she forgets sometimes we are not native speakers. But the topic sounds very interesting.
Also, for dinner we had chicken and stars soup (I'm still only 65% sure this family isn't American) and tortilla espanola, which is my favorite! It is a potato omlette! Eggs and patatas = mis favoritos! I am also hooked on having yogurt for dessert every night.
Rachel and I also got lost on the way to school yesterday morning and today this afternoon. Hopefully our "sentido de orientacion" improves.
Hasta luego!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Nieve en Sevilla
Yesterday it snowed. For the first time in 60 years in Seville. I can't believe it. Seville is used to "cold" winter temperatures of approximately 55 degrees, so this came as a shock to everyone. Apparantly Europe is being hit hard by this cold streak. The real issue, though, is the central heating. Generally, Rachel and I are reluctant to go out at night, go shopping, go running, eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, or do anything that requires us to leave our spot huddled on the floor around the space heater in our bedroom (which we are only permitted to have on while awake). Not having central heating during this "cold crisis" has been an interesting experience. The bathroom has no heat, and I dread the 20 seconds between undressing and hot water each and every day. When we DO manage to meet up with our friends from school for coffee or tapas all we talk about is the cold. (ex. "I found that placing my socks on the heater before wearing them can sometimes be helpful for frostbite on the toes" or "if you tuck your mittens into the sleeves of your winter coat before falling asleep, your hands stay warmer during the night").
Fortunately, after 4 days of unbearable cold, it is starting to warm up (OUTSIDE). It was in the 50s today, and it was a completely different city. People were in the streets after work and there was a much nicer feel to the city.
We've been eating lots of soup and bread, and have tried out a few tapas bars. I always look for the word "patatas," which are generally served with eggs and onions in "tortilla espanola" or with garlic mayonaise in "patatas alioli." Generally, I like the food a lot. It's nice to have a yogurt after dinner, and a piece of fruit after lunch. I love the soups and bread, and have gotten used to all the pork. However, there is a lot of fried food and mayo involved in Spanish cuisine which I am not yet accostomed to. And this weekend, my "padre" is teaching me how to make some kind of pork meat with a sauce made from what I deciphered to be peppers, tomatoes and blood (?). I also can't wait for Carmen (the housekeeper) to make tortilla espanola and paella (a traditional rice dish made with seafood).
Our first day of classes was today. We got lost on the way to school, but eventually made it. Than god Rachel has a sense of direction, because we would be in Morocco if I was leading us to school. We are taking 3 courses. "El Cine y Teatro Contemporanio de Espana" (Contemporary Spanish Film and Theater), "Inmigracion" (Immigration in Spain) and a grammar course. Our classes are with all Union students, because we cann't enroll like normal students due to Union's trimesters. Our professors seem very nice, and it should be a fun term. We are going to the Spanish theater next week!
Rachel and I also went to the grocery store today. We selected some fruit and avocados, some dried fruit which we translated to be oversized raisins (hopefully) and some trailmix. Upon reaching the register, with a line of about 9 people behind us, the cashier asked us how much each fruit weighed. Being stupid Americans, we did not realize you have to weigh your fruit in the produce sections so we returned all our fruit and purchased only the gigantic raisins and trailmix.
On our list of things to do next is churros, traditional hot chocolate of Spain (so thick you can stand a spoon in it), and flamenco.
Hasta luego!
Also, to see my roommate Rachel's blog and more pictures of our adventures, see the following: http://rachgoestospain.blogspot.com/
Note: It's a good thing pictures are digitally dated. All of my pictures from both Spain and Paris, I am bundled up in the same coat (in reality, 3 coats) and scarf, making the trip look like a one day excursion through europe, and making me look like an overstuffed teddy bear with so many layers.
Fortunately, after 4 days of unbearable cold, it is starting to warm up (OUTSIDE). It was in the 50s today, and it was a completely different city. People were in the streets after work and there was a much nicer feel to the city.
We've been eating lots of soup and bread, and have tried out a few tapas bars. I always look for the word "patatas," which are generally served with eggs and onions in "tortilla espanola" or with garlic mayonaise in "patatas alioli." Generally, I like the food a lot. It's nice to have a yogurt after dinner, and a piece of fruit after lunch. I love the soups and bread, and have gotten used to all the pork. However, there is a lot of fried food and mayo involved in Spanish cuisine which I am not yet accostomed to. And this weekend, my "padre" is teaching me how to make some kind of pork meat with a sauce made from what I deciphered to be peppers, tomatoes and blood (?). I also can't wait for Carmen (the housekeeper) to make tortilla espanola and paella (a traditional rice dish made with seafood).
Our first day of classes was today. We got lost on the way to school, but eventually made it. Than god Rachel has a sense of direction, because we would be in Morocco if I was leading us to school. We are taking 3 courses. "El Cine y Teatro Contemporanio de Espana" (Contemporary Spanish Film and Theater), "Inmigracion" (Immigration in Spain) and a grammar course. Our classes are with all Union students, because we cann't enroll like normal students due to Union's trimesters. Our professors seem very nice, and it should be a fun term. We are going to the Spanish theater next week!
Rachel and I also went to the grocery store today. We selected some fruit and avocados, some dried fruit which we translated to be oversized raisins (hopefully) and some trailmix. Upon reaching the register, with a line of about 9 people behind us, the cashier asked us how much each fruit weighed. Being stupid Americans, we did not realize you have to weigh your fruit in the produce sections so we returned all our fruit and purchased only the gigantic raisins and trailmix.
On our list of things to do next is churros, traditional hot chocolate of Spain (so thick you can stand a spoon in it), and flamenco.
Hasta luego!
Also, to see my roommate Rachel's blog and more pictures of our adventures, see the following: http://rachgoestospain.blogspot.com/
Note: It's a good thing pictures are digitally dated. All of my pictures from both Spain and Paris, I am bundled up in the same coat (in reality, 3 coats) and scarf, making the trip look like a one day excursion through europe, and making me look like an overstuffed teddy bear with so many layers.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
La Casa
Hola!
Finalmente estoy en Espana. We arrived in Seville on Thursday afternoon and met our group from Union at Hotel Bequer, named after a famous Spanish poet. The city is beautiful, with orange trees everywhere. Our group consists of 18 girls and 1 boy. We had a three course lunch at the hotel. Every meal is served with bread (yahoo!). I didn't know that we were being served 3 courses, so I ate my two pieces of bread after just one course. The first course was a piece of ham, a vegetable cole slaw in a tortilla and pasta salad. Next, we were served chicken in gravy and french fries. Lastly we received an ice cream sundae with hot fudge and a really interesting version of whipped cream which was very thick - almost like a cross between whipped cream and white mousse. We received our school-issued phones, went through a brief orientation session. For dinner we had a fancy lasagna which was a little too different for my taste, and a tiramisu for dessert, which was great.
That night we went out to a "chillout/bar/discoteca" (one name for each floor) called Kudeta, which means Buddha in English. It was a very cool atmosphere, with cozy seating and cool decorations. Unfortunately, I'm sure we drew plenty of attention to ourselves as a group of ten speaking in English. I hope to go out to places with fewer Americans and other tourists in the future, but the evening was fun. We arrived at 12:30 and left at 2:30, because everyone was exhausted from the day. But the place was just starting to fill up as we left. The bar tender told us that it generally doesn't start filling up until 3 AM! Most clubs and bars don't even open until midnight, and close at 7 or 8 in the morning, at which point everyone goes out for breakfast before going to sleep. I am having serious doubts about my ability to do that.
Yesterday we had a tour of our school. The school is called Centro Norteamericano. The school hosts international students learning Spanish and Sevillanos who are studying English. We have class Monday through Thursday, from 8AM-7Pm with a break for siesta between 2-5 PM. We took a placement exam to see which level classes we would be placed in. My hope is that placing "chaleco" which means "vest" in English, in the "furniture" column of the vocabulary section won't land me in the lower section. Other than that, I think I'll be OK.
We then went to see our host families! Our house is within walking distance from school, which is great (most people have to take the bus) and it is located in the heart of Seville, with tons of zapaterias (shoes stores), clothing stores, jewelery stores and fresh produce located right around the corner. The apartment is unbelievable. I expected to be crammed into the corner of a three room flat with an old widow, but instead we are living on our own floor of a 4-story apartment with a husband and wife, 3 daughters (ages 18, 23 and 3) and a chihuahua named Neco. They call the youngest, "hija sorpresa" which means surprise daughter. Another exchange student will be joining us in the house from another university next week.
Lunch is served during "la siesta" and is the largest meal of the day. It is eaten as a family, and consists of bread, a soup, and another course. Generally in Spain la Senora of the house cooks the meal, but in this household, the housekeeper cooks (I am 75% sure that this is what they were saying). We had bread, beef and potato soup in tomato broth, and salad of ham and corn and iceberg lettuce with olive oil. It was delicious. For dessert we had bananas. The 18 year old daughter speaks English, so it was good to have a translator when we didn't understand the word "firewood" and to tell us that the breakfast cereals here are the same.
After lunch everyone gathers around the coffee table in the living room, which is draped over with a heavy blanket. Everyone sits on the couches around the table and pulls the blanket onto their lap. There is a heater under the table, where everyone heats their feet. It is very different. The rest of the house is extremely cold, because there is no central heating. Rachel and I have a space heater which we are allowed to use when we are in the room (awake) but it is still extremely cold. Apparently, this is the coldest Seville has been in years (it's in the 40s), but it is still generally colder in these houses than in those of the United States. They are predicting snow for tomorrow. If it snows, it will be the first time any of the children have seen snow, as it has not snowed in seville in over 60 years. I can't believe that the one time I try to escape a new England winter, they are predicting the first snow in over half a century.
We went on a tour with our group and returned to our house for dinner. Dinner is generally not eaten together. We had a vegetable medley and bread. It was delicious. I am so excited that I have enjoyed the food thusfar because I was very worried after our meals at the hotel.
We spent the rest of the evening with the family. The youngest daughter is adorable. It was funny to see Dora la Exploradora, teaching children how to count to 10 in English. She also loves Hanna Montana and "globos" (balloons).
In the morning we had the Spanish equivalent of Cocoa Puffs. This family seems to be a little less traditional. In most households, breakfast is a piece of toast served with olive oil. Afterwards, we went for a run along the river. We anticipated a 2 mile run, but ended up running between 5 and 6 since we got lost in a park of orange trees.
We had a late lunch of fried egg, chicken and frenchfries. For dessert we had a candy made of egg yolk and sugar. It was tasty and very interesting.
Overall, I am thrilled with the host family and with everything. My only concern is the heat ( I slept in ski socks, 2 pairs of pants, a longsleeve shirt, a sweatshirt and a fleece last night under my covers. But I was comfortable, so I guess that's what I have to do). Rachel and I are planning on buying some boots (all the rebajas (sales) are going on now, since it's after Christmas) and making some plans for this evening. Classes start on Monday bright and early at 8AM.
Adios!
Finalmente estoy en Espana. We arrived in Seville on Thursday afternoon and met our group from Union at Hotel Bequer, named after a famous Spanish poet. The city is beautiful, with orange trees everywhere. Our group consists of 18 girls and 1 boy. We had a three course lunch at the hotel. Every meal is served with bread (yahoo!). I didn't know that we were being served 3 courses, so I ate my two pieces of bread after just one course. The first course was a piece of ham, a vegetable cole slaw in a tortilla and pasta salad. Next, we were served chicken in gravy and french fries. Lastly we received an ice cream sundae with hot fudge and a really interesting version of whipped cream which was very thick - almost like a cross between whipped cream and white mousse. We received our school-issued phones, went through a brief orientation session. For dinner we had a fancy lasagna which was a little too different for my taste, and a tiramisu for dessert, which was great.
That night we went out to a "chillout/bar/discoteca" (one name for each floor) called Kudeta, which means Buddha in English. It was a very cool atmosphere, with cozy seating and cool decorations. Unfortunately, I'm sure we drew plenty of attention to ourselves as a group of ten speaking in English. I hope to go out to places with fewer Americans and other tourists in the future, but the evening was fun. We arrived at 12:30 and left at 2:30, because everyone was exhausted from the day. But the place was just starting to fill up as we left. The bar tender told us that it generally doesn't start filling up until 3 AM! Most clubs and bars don't even open until midnight, and close at 7 or 8 in the morning, at which point everyone goes out for breakfast before going to sleep. I am having serious doubts about my ability to do that.
Yesterday we had a tour of our school. The school is called Centro Norteamericano. The school hosts international students learning Spanish and Sevillanos who are studying English. We have class Monday through Thursday, from 8AM-7Pm with a break for siesta between 2-5 PM. We took a placement exam to see which level classes we would be placed in. My hope is that placing "chaleco" which means "vest" in English, in the "furniture" column of the vocabulary section won't land me in the lower section. Other than that, I think I'll be OK.
We then went to see our host families! Our house is within walking distance from school, which is great (most people have to take the bus) and it is located in the heart of Seville, with tons of zapaterias (shoes stores), clothing stores, jewelery stores and fresh produce located right around the corner. The apartment is unbelievable. I expected to be crammed into the corner of a three room flat with an old widow, but instead we are living on our own floor of a 4-story apartment with a husband and wife, 3 daughters (ages 18, 23 and 3) and a chihuahua named Neco. They call the youngest, "hija sorpresa" which means surprise daughter. Another exchange student will be joining us in the house from another university next week.
Lunch is served during "la siesta" and is the largest meal of the day. It is eaten as a family, and consists of bread, a soup, and another course. Generally in Spain la Senora of the house cooks the meal, but in this household, the housekeeper cooks (I am 75% sure that this is what they were saying). We had bread, beef and potato soup in tomato broth, and salad of ham and corn and iceberg lettuce with olive oil. It was delicious. For dessert we had bananas. The 18 year old daughter speaks English, so it was good to have a translator when we didn't understand the word "firewood" and to tell us that the breakfast cereals here are the same.
After lunch everyone gathers around the coffee table in the living room, which is draped over with a heavy blanket. Everyone sits on the couches around the table and pulls the blanket onto their lap. There is a heater under the table, where everyone heats their feet. It is very different. The rest of the house is extremely cold, because there is no central heating. Rachel and I have a space heater which we are allowed to use when we are in the room (awake) but it is still extremely cold. Apparently, this is the coldest Seville has been in years (it's in the 40s), but it is still generally colder in these houses than in those of the United States. They are predicting snow for tomorrow. If it snows, it will be the first time any of the children have seen snow, as it has not snowed in seville in over 60 years. I can't believe that the one time I try to escape a new England winter, they are predicting the first snow in over half a century.
We went on a tour with our group and returned to our house for dinner. Dinner is generally not eaten together. We had a vegetable medley and bread. It was delicious. I am so excited that I have enjoyed the food thusfar because I was very worried after our meals at the hotel.
We spent the rest of the evening with the family. The youngest daughter is adorable. It was funny to see Dora la Exploradora, teaching children how to count to 10 in English. She also loves Hanna Montana and "globos" (balloons).
In the morning we had the Spanish equivalent of Cocoa Puffs. This family seems to be a little less traditional. In most households, breakfast is a piece of toast served with olive oil. Afterwards, we went for a run along the river. We anticipated a 2 mile run, but ended up running between 5 and 6 since we got lost in a park of orange trees.
We had a late lunch of fried egg, chicken and frenchfries. For dessert we had a candy made of egg yolk and sugar. It was tasty and very interesting.
Overall, I am thrilled with the host family and with everything. My only concern is the heat ( I slept in ski socks, 2 pairs of pants, a longsleeve shirt, a sweatshirt and a fleece last night under my covers. But I was comfortable, so I guess that's what I have to do). Rachel and I are planning on buying some boots (all the rebajas (sales) are going on now, since it's after Christmas) and making some plans for this evening. Classes start on Monday bright and early at 8AM.
Adios!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Snowflakes on the Pompidou
Bonjour!
Today was our last day in Paris - the time has really flown by! We started off the day with my favorite Parisian cereal and headed via the Metro to see the Centre Pompidou. Despite the times listed in our trusty guide book, we found out that the museum actually opens at 12, not 11. Lucky for us, it there was already a long line, and it was snowing. Hooray! So we waited in line for 45 minutes, freezing our tushes off, and then finally made it into the museum.
The center consists of a giant library of 7 floors and also a modern art museum. We wound up wondering around the library for a while before finding the museum. When we went to purchase our tickets, I handed the ticket man my International Student Identity Card. Showing this at the Musee d'Orsay granted me free admission as a student of the European Union. Unfortunately, this ticket window official bore striking resemblance both physically and in personality to the snooty waiter in Ferris Bueller's day off, who refuses to seat the teenagers at a fancy restaurant. When I slid him my card, expecting my ticket in return, he raised his eyebrows at me, and in a French accent said "vhat iz zhis? a geeft or zumsing for me? vhat am I supposed to dew vis zhis?" When I explained my experience at the museee D'Orsay, he said "vell, zhis iz not ze Musee d'Orsay, Madamoiselle. I vill need a card from Spain. Veddy sorry." He did not look sorry. After a few minuets of useless persisting, we paid 9 Euros a pop for our tickets.
The museum was architechtured so as to create the maximum amount of space for the artwork inside. So the pipes and the stair and the escalators for the building are all located on the outside of the building. Needless to say, it is a very unique looking place. The art itself was also pretty unique. The first floor was filled with dresses made out of Kleenex, kitchenaid mixers, videos of girls smashing bookshelves and giant blocks of hay. It was pretty out there. I'm not sure I had an artistic enough mind to grasp the purposes of the majority of the pieces. On the sunsequent floors were Picasso, kandinsky, Pollock and other modern artists, which were much more my taste.
We were pretty museumed out by mid-afternoon, so we strolled by the Louve. I offered to take a picture for a couple of Asian girls who were posing with the camera outstretched in front of them. I did not know what I was getting myself into. I would up taking a mini-photo shoot of the two of them in various spots around the outside of the Louve building.
After the Louve was my favorite mini-adventure in Paris so far. With a recommendation from Rachel's professor, we searched for Angelina's cafe so we could try the "best hot chocolate in the world." We were expecting a Starbucks set up inside, but we were seated to a nice table for two, with wine glasses to drink our water out of. We ordered hot chocolate for 7 Euros ($10.50) a cup, and an African Chocolate mouse pastry. The hot chocolate tasted like pure melted Hershey bars. It was unreal. It was served along side a bowl of fresh whipped cream, to be dolloped atop every sipful. It was the most rich thing I have ever tasted....until they brought out the pastry. The mose chocolate fudge cake was delicious. It was only about half the size of a deck of cards, and we split one between us, yet me and Rachel had to force feed ourselves by the end. It was unbelievably filling, but by far one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.
I also successfully used my first full French sentence. "Excuse-moi, ou sont les toilettes?" He answered me in French, which I, of course, did not understand at all, but I was so pleased with myself for pulling off a full French sentence that I just wandered around the cafe until I found it.
After that we just enjoyed a nice evening at the apartment and some pasta. We are all packed up for Spain tomorrow and are anxiously awaiting our arrival! We leave at 11:30, and hopefully we can get Rachel's baggage situation straightened out before we leave. She is holding out ok - we just bought her some emergency clothes today after our museum-ing.
Today was our last day in Paris - the time has really flown by! We started off the day with my favorite Parisian cereal and headed via the Metro to see the Centre Pompidou. Despite the times listed in our trusty guide book, we found out that the museum actually opens at 12, not 11. Lucky for us, it there was already a long line, and it was snowing. Hooray! So we waited in line for 45 minutes, freezing our tushes off, and then finally made it into the museum.
The center consists of a giant library of 7 floors and also a modern art museum. We wound up wondering around the library for a while before finding the museum. When we went to purchase our tickets, I handed the ticket man my International Student Identity Card. Showing this at the Musee d'Orsay granted me free admission as a student of the European Union. Unfortunately, this ticket window official bore striking resemblance both physically and in personality to the snooty waiter in Ferris Bueller's day off, who refuses to seat the teenagers at a fancy restaurant. When I slid him my card, expecting my ticket in return, he raised his eyebrows at me, and in a French accent said "vhat iz zhis? a geeft or zumsing for me? vhat am I supposed to dew vis zhis?" When I explained my experience at the museee D'Orsay, he said "vell, zhis iz not ze Musee d'Orsay, Madamoiselle. I vill need a card from Spain. Veddy sorry." He did not look sorry. After a few minuets of useless persisting, we paid 9 Euros a pop for our tickets.
The museum was architechtured so as to create the maximum amount of space for the artwork inside. So the pipes and the stair and the escalators for the building are all located on the outside of the building. Needless to say, it is a very unique looking place. The art itself was also pretty unique. The first floor was filled with dresses made out of Kleenex, kitchenaid mixers, videos of girls smashing bookshelves and giant blocks of hay. It was pretty out there. I'm not sure I had an artistic enough mind to grasp the purposes of the majority of the pieces. On the sunsequent floors were Picasso, kandinsky, Pollock and other modern artists, which were much more my taste.
We were pretty museumed out by mid-afternoon, so we strolled by the Louve. I offered to take a picture for a couple of Asian girls who were posing with the camera outstretched in front of them. I did not know what I was getting myself into. I would up taking a mini-photo shoot of the two of them in various spots around the outside of the Louve building.
After the Louve was my favorite mini-adventure in Paris so far. With a recommendation from Rachel's professor, we searched for Angelina's cafe so we could try the "best hot chocolate in the world." We were expecting a Starbucks set up inside, but we were seated to a nice table for two, with wine glasses to drink our water out of. We ordered hot chocolate for 7 Euros ($10.50) a cup, and an African Chocolate mouse pastry. The hot chocolate tasted like pure melted Hershey bars. It was unreal. It was served along side a bowl of fresh whipped cream, to be dolloped atop every sipful. It was the most rich thing I have ever tasted....until they brought out the pastry. The mose chocolate fudge cake was delicious. It was only about half the size of a deck of cards, and we split one between us, yet me and Rachel had to force feed ourselves by the end. It was unbelievably filling, but by far one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.
I also successfully used my first full French sentence. "Excuse-moi, ou sont les toilettes?" He answered me in French, which I, of course, did not understand at all, but I was so pleased with myself for pulling off a full French sentence that I just wandered around the cafe until I found it.
After that we just enjoyed a nice evening at the apartment and some pasta. We are all packed up for Spain tomorrow and are anxiously awaiting our arrival! We leave at 11:30, and hopefully we can get Rachel's baggage situation straightened out before we leave. She is holding out ok - we just bought her some emergency clothes today after our museum-ing.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Le Tour Eiffel and Egg Fried Rice
Yesterday we woke up at 7:15, determined to get a head start on some more Paris sightseeing. The breakfast cereal here is great. I know that's not the typical French food people rave about, but I am in love with it. It has dried banana chips, raisins, coconut and maybe papaya in it. C'est supercool. Anyway, after some careful planning, we hopped on the metro and made it to the Eiffel tower by 9:15, 15 minutes before it opened. The line was already very long, and it was only in the 20s! Poor Rachel was without mittens. When we got to the ticket window, we found out the top of the Eiffel tower and the stair access was closed, so we could only get to the second level. It was still beautiful. A great view of the city, and a fun, slightly tilted ride up the glass elevator. We only took a few pictures, since our fingers were little icicles, but it was definitely worth it. 63 degrees in Seville...Hallelujah! 
After, we stopped over at Notre Dame. It is a beautiful Cathedral, and cameras were surprisingly allowed inside. It was very quiet inside, and a lot of people were praying, so we nixed the Quasimodo hunchback photo we were planning on taking.
Next on the list was Champs Elysees, the "Rodeo drive" or "Newbury Street" of Paris. The street is beautiful, and accented by a gigantic ferris wheel at the end of it. There were many American stores, such as Sephora and the Gap, and tons of perfume and shoe stores. Most everything was in French, except for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Black or White" which seemed to be the background music in all the stores. The only other English we came across was related to liquor. All the liquor ads were in English, and restaurants drinks lists were all titled "Happy Hour." I suppose this is a reflection of how they view American culture.
We tried to find a cheap little cafe for lunch, but it was just as hard to find a cheap meal on Champs Elysees as it is on Newbury Street. It was around 25 Euros ($37) for any of the lunch items at the restaurants. Finally we found the place where we'd share our first meal in France. Sure, fried rice and dumplings wasn't what we initially had in mind, but for 12 Euros, we were sold. The restaurant was a beautiful Chinese restaurant with fancy artwork and seating, and great food. I was very happy. They even gave us English menus when we tried to pronounce egg (ceuf). I was hoping they would think I was fluent in French after I had successfully approached a waitress with my shoulders and eyebrows raised, and my palms upturned and said "toilette?"
We visited Arc de Triomphe, and explored the area a little more before heading back to the apartment. I ate curry for the first time, and had some absolutely delicious fresh French baguettes with dinner. As a carb-ivoure, I probably could have eaten an entire one on my own. C'est bon!
Today we slept through the alarm (we are now 1 for 3 on waking up at a decent hour) and headed to Musee d'Orsay after a late breakfast of my now-favorite cereal. There was a long line, but the weather was thankfully a little more comfortable than yesterday.
The food that street vendors sell here is vastly different from that of the U.S. For a snack, outside the museum for example, your choices were either a crepe, a Waffle, or a weird ham rollup (they LOVE ham over here - every other subway ad is an ornate design of rolled up ham). There was also a very dirty looking man roasting what looked like chestnuts. He would roll the chestnuts around on the grill with his fingers, and when someone ordered them, he would count the money in his hands and then individually pick them up one by one with his fingers and place them into a cup. My mother would have fainted at this disregard for general sanitation.
The museum was beautiful. The impressionism exhibit was my favorite. We saw Van Gogh, Degah, Monet, Cross, and Renoir among others. There was also a very cool section of album covers from the 60s and 70s including those of les Beatles and Cream.
We had a conversation with a student from Texas about the difficulty of the language barrier. She suggested that when speaking in French, we should try to copy the accent of the French person we were taking to to make ourselves more approachable. It was nice of her to make the suggestion, but I think that maybe learning how to say "how are you" might be a better first step toward making myself a more "approachable conversationalist."
After a few hours, all the paintings seem to blend together, and not just the impressionism pieces (bahahah). So we were a little museum-ed out. Rachel's luggage is still MIA, so she journeyed back to Charles de Gaulle airport to see if she could straighten things out. The poor thing has been living on one outfit for almost 5 days.
We're off to Seville in less than 2 days. Sixty degree weather, here I come!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Paris: Sacre Coeur
Day 1 of Paris was great. My roommate Rachel and I explored our neighborhood, figured out the subway, visited the beautiful Sacre Coeur and wandered around Montmartre, a lively and beautiful neighborhood. All in all, a very successful day.
Our neighborhood is an enchanting traditional Parisian little place, with beautiful churches and architecture.
After walking around a bit, we braved the metro. We switched lines with no trouble, and patted ourselves on the back for being such smart tourists. However, somehow, not until we exited the metro at the end of the day did we realize that "Sortie," which we observed to be a place accessible from all the metro stations, actually meant "exit."
We arrived at Sacre Coeur, Which was flooded with torusits (mostly French). We were approached several times by men wanting to "give" us bracelets, being such "beautiful American girls." Fortunately, the our host family's daughter had explained to us yesterday that these men tie the bracelet on and then force you to pay for it since it is now permanently attatched to you. I'd like to think we would not have been tricked by this, but we certainly would have been more confused as to the plans of these curious salesman, had we not been informed earlier. When we resisted conversation, one of these men yelled "but it's OK, I'm from Jamaica." I'm not sure how he thought this would help, how unless he somehow confused me for a fellow native islander.
Sacre Coeur was beautiful. It was rather crowded, but there was still no line to get in. After walking through the basilica we strolled around Montemarte, which was filled with traditional Parisian streets. We followed a walking tour from a guide book, which worked out great, and I took a picture for a French gay couple casually wearing gigantic Afro wigs, but otherwise dressed completely normally. We walked by dozens of beautiful chocolate shops, bakeries and sandwich shops selling mini sandwiches on baguettes. Unfortunately, I believe it will take more time in Europe before I can justify spending 6 Euros on a sandwich that can fit in the palm of my hand - even though they look adorable. The frugality I inherited from my father will take more than 2 days to wear off.
We took the metro back and explored the neighborhood around our apartment some more. We tried not to look like tourists, although we were quite confused when the exit escalator from the metro landed us in the middle of a landing by a busy intersection. We discreetly pulled out our map and re-oriented outselves.
So far a great time in Paris. Can't wait to see more!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Travel Travel Travel
I made it! It was a long journey of airports, extremely heavy luggage and attempting my hand at French (pretty unsuccessfully), but I am here! "Here" is the apartment of the Howards, an American family from Ohio who are temporarily living in Paris. They are friends of a sister of a colleage of my father, which sounds pretty crazy (and it is). They are very nice people, and have offered to house my Union roommate (also studying in Seville with me) until the start of our trimester on January 7th.
After getting off the plane, I found myself amidst what seemed like a 7 mile journey around Charles de Gaulle airport. The airport is designed to make you feel like a little fish in a big pond. Literally. The escalators are like tubes under the ocean and there are jellyfish and bubbles floating everywhere. The beauty of the architechture and design of the whole airport makes Logan look like a prison.
After finding my bags, I needed to board an AirFrance bus to get into downtown Paris. I had a 10 minute conversation of 100% body language with an airport employee who spoke no English. Surprisingly, I was able to find the appropriate terminal, board the bus, and only once attempted to get off at the wrong stop. I sound like a stupid American here, but I was amazed at how few people spoke English. It had only been 1 hour in Paris, and I had to restrain myself from running up to a teenage boy on the bus with an English novel in his hand and saying "YOU SPEAK ENGLISH!? ME TOO!"
I then managed to hail a taxi, and had another gesture-based conversation with the taxi driver. My only French words are "merci" "bonjour" "pardon" "taxi" and "je vouz dre moin livre" (I want my book - from Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus). Somehow, this was sufficient.
The apartment we are staying in is great and furnished 100% in Ikea. The walls are covered in extremely cool posters of Photo-shopped pictures of the 4 daughters, and the toilets and sinks are located in separate bathrooms.
I just took a much needed nap, and still have no concept of when "yesterday" was, exactly. I'll be sure to keep in touch!
Liz
After getting off the plane, I found myself amidst what seemed like a 7 mile journey around Charles de Gaulle airport. The airport is designed to make you feel like a little fish in a big pond. Literally. The escalators are like tubes under the ocean and there are jellyfish and bubbles floating everywhere. The beauty of the architechture and design of the whole airport makes Logan look like a prison.
After finding my bags, I needed to board an AirFrance bus to get into downtown Paris. I had a 10 minute conversation of 100% body language with an airport employee who spoke no English. Surprisingly, I was able to find the appropriate terminal, board the bus, and only once attempted to get off at the wrong stop. I sound like a stupid American here, but I was amazed at how few people spoke English. It had only been 1 hour in Paris, and I had to restrain myself from running up to a teenage boy on the bus with an English novel in his hand and saying "YOU SPEAK ENGLISH!? ME TOO!"
I then managed to hail a taxi, and had another gesture-based conversation with the taxi driver. My only French words are "merci" "bonjour" "pardon" "taxi" and "je vouz dre moin livre" (I want my book - from Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus). Somehow, this was sufficient.
The apartment we are staying in is great and furnished 100% in Ikea. The walls are covered in extremely cool posters of Photo-shopped pictures of the 4 daughters, and the toilets and sinks are located in separate bathrooms.
I just took a much needed nap, and still have no concept of when "yesterday" was, exactly. I'll be sure to keep in touch!
Liz
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