Seville

So, it's been a few weeks since I posted last. I'm in Seville now, and I honestly feel a lot more comfortable here than I did in Salamanca. In Salamanca I didn't really have any friends, and couldn't find what I wanted to in the local churches either, but within a few days of being in Seville I found both. Also, I have been a bit more communicative with my host mom, which helps tremendously in feeling at home.

A few thoughts comparing the International Studies Abroad (ISA) and Spanish Studies Abroad (SSA) programs:

The ISA students never actually practiced Spanish with each other and mostly stayed together, and the other students in Salamanca often spoke English too, so I didn´t actually practice my Spanish with people very much outside of class. There was a reason that when I finally got something approaching friends they were Korean girls who didn't really speak English or hang out with other Koreans. (Okay, maybe the culture had something to do with it to. I don't know anything about Korea, so I don't know.) Not all of the students here in the SSA program actually speak Spanish together, but at least we have a policy saying that we're only allowed to and I have friends who do.

The ISA program was only four weeks, whereas SSA is 16 weeks, so I have much more time to settle down and actually get comfortable with the language here.

The ISA program was smaller, which was both good and bad. We didn't have our classes as a group of students from the US, we had them with people from all over the world, which was fun. But we also were only ten students, so it was easy for groups to form and not be able to find anyone who could be a good friend. Here I can still have some amount of personal relationship with the directors, and it's easier to find friends. We have all our classes in the center (which may or may not be a product of the size of the program, I don't know), which means that we're mostly spending time with Americans, but we all have speaking partners and host families. And Spanish students study English in the center too, so we'll see what happens when their classes start in a few weeks. It should be interesting.

As far as what I'm up to right now, we're in a period of intensive Spanish study. This goes on for three weeks (we have one left), and then we begin the semester. There's a local choir that a couple of my friends and I are singing in, and we went to a rehearsal for the first time last night. We won't be able to perform in their Christmas concert, because we leave before then, but we will be able to rehearse and maybe sing in other events that they sing in. Next week my class at the Universidad de Pablo Olavide starts, and the week after that we begin the other regular classes. I'll write more about those classes when they have actually started.

Health and Homesickness

The last couple of weeks have been rough health wise. I sprained my ankle, I got sick, and I didn't have my usual resources. 

I had to go to urgent care to see a doctor for my ankle, because the ankle brace I had bought was hurting me instead of helping me. I was scared and lonely and wanted my mommy. But it turned out okay, and although sprains don't heal fast my ankle is more or less okay and I got through.

Just this Tuesday, I got sick. Well, I started to have a fever on Monday night, but I wasn't sure and forgot about my doubts until the next day at school. But, for once in my life, I actually had mercy on myself and rested, so it only lasted a few days.

There have been a few accomplishments tied into these episodes: I went to urgent care, I dealt with a sprain, I took a taxi. These are good things to learn from as well as painful experiences.

Today, I was feeling pretty low because I miss my friends and went to the park nearby to read. I got to talking to an old man because of his dog (Well, his daughter's dog.) and he talked a bit about affection for home being a natural and healthy and good thing after I said that I was kinda homesick in response to queries about what I like about the city. It was nice to find someone being so nice. Also, I should hang around where old men hang out and talk to them more often.

But as far as happier notes, we had a flamenco dance class yesterday and we're going to Segovia tomorrow. Finals are next week, and next Saturday I get on a bus to Seville. I'll be there for four times as long, so I think it will be much easier to set down roots and feel comfortable in the city. Also, I'll have more time to get to know people and practice Spanish with them.

Computer

Just as a public service announcement, I didn't bring mine. If I take a few days to reply to an email, I'm probably waiting to be able to use a real computer. (I'm typing this from my phone, but it's an inconvenient endeavor, so I don't intend to ever repeat it. I just thought I should get this out there sooner rather than later, since there are a few emails just waiting for Monday.)

School

School started two weeks ago. We all took a placement test, which was both multiple choice and oral, and got our results and class schedules that evening. I got placed into advanced, which correlates to B2 in the European system (CEFR) or high intermediate/low advanced in the American system (ACTFL). My class schedule is this:

9:00-11:00 Spanish Language. We've been working on grammar, and it has definitely been helping me. I wasn't sure at first about taking Spanish classes, but it's much more enjoyable than the Spanish classes back at home, because we're actually using the language with people who actually use it in real life.

11:05-12:05 Spanish Culture. We've been talking about how Spaniards interact, eat, normal schedules, etc. We're about to talk about different regions of Spain. It's probably my least favorite class, but it's good and I do enjoy the discussions. The main thing that bothers me is that it feels very slow.

12:10-1:10 Art History of Spain. This might be my favorite class. We're focusing on five different painters, El Greco, Velazquez, and three more (I think the last two are Dalí and Picasso, but I'm not sure). For each painter, we're learning about his life and paintings from every key period of his life.

1:15-2:15 Practice of Writing Skills. This is probably the hardest class for me, simply because it's in the fifth hour straight of classes. However, we're talking about writing different types of documents, and it's good. I'm sure it will be good for me to have to write and get back graded papers.

The way classes are graded is different from in the States. 20-30% of the grade is based on participation/interest/attention/etc. and the rest is based on the final exam. That is, for every class other than my writing class. There, we don't have a final and our grade comes directly from our grades on the papers.

My daily routine mostly consists of studying and relaxing, but we've been doing some touring as a group. We went to the cathedrals last Wednesday (August 6), last weekend we went to Aveiro, Portugal (August 8-10) and the beach, and yesterday we went to the old university (August 13). I might write about those sometime if anyone cares and asks, but right now I'm just leaving the pictures online and not writing anything.

Here are the pictures I have so far:
Salamanca streets, just ones that I normally walk and views I normally see: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106015904924642531113/albums/6047451708393226977
Our trip to Aveiro: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106015904924642531113/albums/6047457684001577937
Views from the walls of the cathedrals: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106015904924642531113/albums/6047457465350062113
Madrid and Toledo pictures: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106015904924642531113/albums/6044126560332149553

Spain!

We got to Spain just about a week ago, but I've been to busy to post anything in the last week. Here's a summary of my time so far, or at least of the first weekend.

When I landed in Spain, I was in Madrid. We met there as a group, and went to our hotel. We had the afternoon free, but after that we had to get together for a meeting in the evening and a quick tour of the city by bus. We saw a bunch of sites from the bus, and talked about how things work for our program, and those of us who had signed up to get cell phones got them at the end. The next day, we had a walking tour of the old part of the city, Madrid de los Austrias (named because of the Austrias, or Hapsburgs, who moved the capital from Madrid to Spain), and visited El Prado. I don´t have many pictures of that morning, because I don´t take good documentary photos and they didn't let us take pictures in El Prado.

In my free time, I mostly went to the park across the street, Retiro, which is probably the most popular park in Madrid. It was a great place. I also went to the botanical garden, which was rather sparse in flowers because it was August, but I enjoyed anyway. Here are some pictures I took in the garden.

Bonsai

The last picture is of bonsai. There was a nice selection of it, but I don't have many pictures because the background was bushes.

After our time in Madrid, we went to Toledo, which is also beautiful. We toured the cathedral and the synagogue, and I think we saw other things that I don´t remember. After the tour, we had lunch and free time, so I wandered around the streets for a bit. Toledo was the old capital of Spain, so it has a lot of beautiful and old places. Here are a couple of pictures from there:

I think this is a Roman bridge.

A view of the other side of the river. I have no idea what this is. And I also don't know why it's blurry.

Here, you can see the combination of styles (moorish and roman, I think) in the arches.

Sorry I don't have time to say more. We should be leaving in a few minutes to have a get together with Spanish students to set up speaking partners. I'll tell about school and other things when I can, probably next week. We're leaving for Aveiro, Portugal tomorrow for the weekend.

Leaving in one week!

In one week, I leave Portland on my way to Spain. I'll spend about five days doing some travel within the States, but after that I'm heading off to Salamanca!

Here are some things I'm looking forward to:

First and foremost, my host family and simply studying and living in the Spanish language and culture. I'm looking forward to simply trying to slip into the culture of Spain while I'm abroad. This is really what I'm looking forward to the most, being immersed in Spain. Everything else that I'm looking forward to is part of this.

Of course, being a bibliophile, I had to love these pictures of the biblioteca antigua. I'm sure that I will find a library--if not this one--at the Universidad de Salamanca, and spend many a happy hour there. I have to have something to read after I finish La sombra del viento.

This is a picture of one of the cathedrals, but I am looking forward to churches in general as well. Which brings me to the next concept: art.

It seems practically impossible to try to find a picture that shows art in general, so I won't even try. But the art in the architecture and in museums is something I expect to enjoy. Not to mention art in music, which I love dearly.

Food. I have eaten Argentine food, which is quite similar to Spanish food, all my life, so it isn't as if this is going to be terribly exotic. But I do love that food and am looking forward to being surrounded by it.

Just getting lost on the streets. There is little I like more than going out to wander on streets that I don't know (with a map or enough knowledge of the area to get back safely, and preferably with a cell phone), and I greatly look forward to doing this while I am abroad.

See you in a couple weeks, after I arrive in Salamanca!

My Plan for Spain

In Spain, I am going to study with two different programs and in two different cities. The first month will be spent in Salamanca, with International Studies Abroad, and the rest of the time I will be in Seville, with Spanish Studies Abroad. I decided to do both programs so I would be able to have some time at the beginning to ease into the language and culture and so I would be able to spend as much time as possible in Spain. It also provides the opportunity to experience the culture and history of both Salamanca and Seville.

Salamanca is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, one of the first places where Muslims, Jews, and Christians studied the writings of the ancient Greeks together. Many of my classes have mentioned this period at least in passing, and I think that visiting the University of Salamanca would be a wonderful experience.

The reason I chose International Studies Abroad was partially that the schedule would allow me to spend the most time possible studying in Spain and partially that I wanted an opportunity to adapt gently to the Spanish language and culture before the fall semester starts in earnest. I was afraid of having all my classes in Spanish (which they will likely be anyway, and I know I can handle, but I'm still slightly afraid of it), so I wanted to be allowed to lapse into English while I adjust.

Seville is an absolutely beautiful city, filled with a culture that mixes both European and Moorish influences. When I visited three years ago, after I finished high school, I fell in love with the city and wanted to return there someday. I have never doubted whether I want to study in Seville, only if I wanted to study in other cities. Added to the beauty of the city, I have friends who live near Seville, whom I will be able to visit at times and will spend the few days between programs with.

I chose to study with Spanish Studies Abroad in Seville because of their emphasis on using Spanish only, and their incorporation with the universities. I want to be able to live in the local language and culture, not just as a tourist. I want to be able to sing in the university choir, spend time at a local Catholic parish and possibly get involved there, and participate in normal life in the city.

See you in Salamanca!