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| Pfefferbett Hostel, Berlin |
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| Potsdamerplatz |
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| Velázquez - Las Meninas |
(for more photos of Berlin, see the Facebook album here)
Monday, December 6, 2010
10-31 # Goodbye, Berlin
(for more photos of Berlin, see the Facebook album here)
10-30 # Museums, and Zoos, and Aquariums! Oh, my!
Today was my history and wildlife day.
As the free tour had covered most of the sites in Berlin, I had to decide what to do with my entire extra day. Museum Island was an obvious choice, but after 2 or 3 Museums I knew I'd lose interest. I had heard that Berlin had a pretty nice zoo, so I decided to visit that too. I do love animals, after all. And, just my luck, the zoo is connected to an aquarium!
To start off, I went to the Pergamonmuseum, which houses ancient Pergamene, Islamic, and Egyptian works. The biggest of these is Pergamon Altar (below), which was brought to Berlin from the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor.
I then also explored the Neuesmuseum «New Museum» which houses the bust of Nefertiti, though we were not allowed to take pictures of it. It held some other ancient Egyptian works as well, and a variety of other things. It was quite an interesting place, but I didn't take many good pictures there.
As the free tour had covered most of the sites in Berlin, I had to decide what to do with my entire extra day. Museum Island was an obvious choice, but after 2 or 3 Museums I knew I'd lose interest. I had heard that Berlin had a pretty nice zoo, so I decided to visit that too. I do love animals, after all. And, just my luck, the zoo is connected to an aquarium!
To start off, I went to the Pergamonmuseum, which houses ancient Pergamene, Islamic, and Egyptian works. The biggest of these is Pergamon Altar (below), which was brought to Berlin from the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor.
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| Pergamon Altar |
I then went to the zoo. There was a bit of confusion with the ticket lady, because I totally asked for an even pointed to the Aquarium ticket, but she gave me a zoo ticket (the zoo was closing in 10 minutes, why would I want that ticket?). Anyway, the Aquarium lady was nice and let me in even though I didn't have the combined ticket (I think that the fact that I explained the situation to her in German probably helped a bit, thanks Frau Martin!). But on my way to the Aquarium in the 10 minutes the zoo was still open, I got these pictures:
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| The little guy in the back is licking the wall. ¡¿?! |
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| Nice to know what direction home is in! |
So finally I made it to the Aquarium and spent about an hour there looking at some Bugs, Fish, and Amphibians (it was a very complete aquarium). Watching the ants do their labor in the bug section was quite entertaining.
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| I liked this "little" guy |
10-29 # Berlin, Hier komm ich!
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| This was a medium soft drink from McDonald's. Why's everything so small here?! |
During the tour, we learned a lot about World War II, and the Holocaust. We visited the Jewish Memorial, and the spot, now parking lot, under which Hitler killed himself in his bunker.
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| The memorial gave a very oppressive feeling when you were in the middle of it, it leaves you with a very firm memory |
To wrap up the night I went with Sandemans again on their Berlin bar crawl to meet some fellow tourists. On it, I met some students from the US, a lot of people from Spain and other Spanish speaking countries (got to practice a lot that evening) and the Irishmen. They were my favorite! Irish accents are the best.
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| "We're Oirish" |
10-23 # Belgium Without Belgium Beer? I Think Not!
If you called today my Belgium-Beer-Day, you would probably be right. Not that I drank a lot of beer, but rather that there was a lot of taste-testing and learning about beer today.
It started off with meeting two new friends at the hostel, Chris and Nikki, our new friends from Hawaii and Australia, respectively. The four of us (Kalina as well) decided to head out together this morning and go to a flea market. It had EVERYTHING! And a lot of antiques as well.
We then had a soup lunch at a little café nearby, and proceeded towards a brewery that offered tours.
After the tour, we were able to taste-test two types of their beer. They warned us over an over again that the fruit one we tried would be sour, not sweet, and they were right. They don't add sugar to it during the fermentation, and naturally, fruits become a little sour during the process.
For dinner, the four of us went to a little pizza shop, and then Kalina had to leave so she could visit Bruges the next day. Chris, Nikki and I went out on this little self guided "bar crawl" thing that was in one of our travel guides, and spent the night talking about life, meeting locals, and having fun.
It started off with meeting two new friends at the hostel, Chris and Nikki, our new friends from Hawaii and Australia, respectively. The four of us (Kalina as well) decided to head out together this morning and go to a flea market. It had EVERYTHING! And a lot of antiques as well.
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| Flea Market |
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| Learning about Lambic Left to right: Nikki Sullings, Christopher Lee, Kalina Rae |
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| My first 'cultural' experience: taste-testing Belgium beer |
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| "Crawling" through some bars and trying Geuze, Lambic, etc. |
(For more pictures, please look at the Facebook album here)
10-22 # Meeting People Is Fun!
So the theme of today apparently turned into meeting people!
It started out this morning in the airport where there were four students from Pennsylvania waiting to go to Brussels as well. They were all studying in Spain, but things from art to economics and Spanish (unlike our group, which is solely Spanish). There, I also met a guy from Wisconsin who gave me "The Good News" (you know, when Iowa loses football games :-) ).
On the airplane I met a girl named Ana from France. She was studying in a small town near Madrid and sat next to me on the flight. It was really fun talking to her because our Lingua Franca was Spanish and NOT English, and Spanish was neither of our's first language. She was very friendly, even offered me her scarf as we arrived because it was cold. I couldn't take it, of course, because I would have no way of getting it back to her, but she didn't seem like that mattered to her at all.
On the other side of me in this plane was a guy from Denmark. He is worth mentioning because through talking to him I found out that while he is a Denmark national, he has been to Iowa and Nebraska with his work. He works for Pioneer as one of their European Representatives, which was just crazy to meet someone working with a company from home! I even did a little translation work on this flight between the Denmark man [Dutch native, English learned] and the French girl [French native, Spanish learned]. It was... interesting :-P
After this flight, I boarded a but to Brussels and, can you guess what happened next? Yup! I met another person! This was a lady who was from Badajoz (very close to Cáceres) but now lived in Madrid and was visiting her child in Belgium. She was very nice and was probably my first Spanish native that I've met randomly and held a good conversation with (in Spanish, of course, as she didn't speak any English).
Now HERE actually begins BRUSSELS itself!
I didn't get off to such a good start. I left the bus station (which was in the bottom left corner of my map) and walked the wrong way, and by the time I realized I was walking the wrong way I had already walked right off the map. I was hopeless! But, after only an hour and a half I made it back onto the map and then about another hour to walk to the city center (by the end of today I realized the city was quite small, but while lost things take a little longer to navigate).
While discovering the city, and about four hours after leaving the bus, I ran across the Spanish lady from the bus again! Probably the most random thing I've seen in a while. Also, on one of the corners in Brussels I saw these two guys speaking Sign Language and remembered that I'm taking that course with some friends next semester, but it made me think that there's American Sign Language, so if I learned that would I still be able to converse at all with people from Belgium? I wonder how many types there are...
So after getting hopelessly lost (I was on the map, but not sure where I should be going) I stopped into a little coffee shop. Now, already I had been astounded by Brussels, a city of Dutch and French where all street signs are in two languages (two names) and you pass one group of people speaking French just to have the next speaking Dutch. It was pretty amazing. But then, oh then I went into the coffee shop. To start, the lady at the coffee shop spoke Dutch and French, obviously, with all of the customers that were already in there. She then spoke English to me when I asked in German if she spoke it, and throughout my stay I found out she spoke German too. Then, some guys who were in a group upstairs came down and spoke to her. They were speaking Spanish and she spoke that just fine too. This lady was pretty amazing! But I guess being penta-lingual is normal in Europe?
I then traveled to a little chocolate shop that I had heard about online as something that's been around for quite a while and was pretty good. I got my family some Belgium sweetness here. Hope they like it!
After seeing a few sights (like the one above), I made my way up to my Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouse -style hostel and met a girl named Kalina. She is a law student from the states studying in Holland right now, and we talked for a bit about general things and then decided to explore Belgium together that evening.
It started out this morning in the airport where there were four students from Pennsylvania waiting to go to Brussels as well. They were all studying in Spain, but things from art to economics and Spanish (unlike our group, which is solely Spanish). There, I also met a guy from Wisconsin who gave me "The Good News" (you know, when Iowa loses football games :-) ).
On the airplane I met a girl named Ana from France. She was studying in a small town near Madrid and sat next to me on the flight. It was really fun talking to her because our Lingua Franca was Spanish and NOT English, and Spanish was neither of our's first language. She was very friendly, even offered me her scarf as we arrived because it was cold. I couldn't take it, of course, because I would have no way of getting it back to her, but she didn't seem like that mattered to her at all.
On the other side of me in this plane was a guy from Denmark. He is worth mentioning because through talking to him I found out that while he is a Denmark national, he has been to Iowa and Nebraska with his work. He works for Pioneer as one of their European Representatives, which was just crazy to meet someone working with a company from home! I even did a little translation work on this flight between the Denmark man [Dutch native, English learned] and the French girl [French native, Spanish learned]. It was... interesting :-P
After this flight, I boarded a but to Brussels and, can you guess what happened next? Yup! I met another person! This was a lady who was from Badajoz (very close to Cáceres) but now lived in Madrid and was visiting her child in Belgium. She was very nice and was probably my first Spanish native that I've met randomly and held a good conversation with (in Spanish, of course, as she didn't speak any English).
Now HERE actually begins BRUSSELS itself!
I didn't get off to such a good start. I left the bus station (which was in the bottom left corner of my map) and walked the wrong way, and by the time I realized I was walking the wrong way I had already walked right off the map. I was hopeless! But, after only an hour and a half I made it back onto the map and then about another hour to walk to the city center (by the end of today I realized the city was quite small, but while lost things take a little longer to navigate).
While discovering the city, and about four hours after leaving the bus, I ran across the Spanish lady from the bus again! Probably the most random thing I've seen in a while. Also, on one of the corners in Brussels I saw these two guys speaking Sign Language and remembered that I'm taking that course with some friends next semester, but it made me think that there's American Sign Language, so if I learned that would I still be able to converse at all with people from Belgium? I wonder how many types there are...
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| Spongebob in Belgium is quite scary! |
I then traveled to a little chocolate shop that I had heard about online as something that's been around for quite a while and was pretty good. I got my family some Belgium sweetness here. Hope they like it!
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| Manneken Pis - sight in Belgium |
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| The amazing chocolate fountain and the equally amazing saleswoman (she was good) |
Our night consisted of visiting some chocolatiers (above) and spending way more than we intended (that was mostly Kalina spending and me encouraging), eating at the Belgium restaurant run by some Turkish people, and taking pictures of the beautiful Grand Place «Plaza Mayor/Central Square» at night. Just to give you a taste of the awesome seafood (I had mussels cooked in white wine sauce) here's a picture of one of the tables all these alleyway stores had set up outside to lure you in:
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| Seafood Paradise |
10-21 # Off to Brussels!
So today I departed for Brussels, the first of my many adventures I have planned. I'm sad to be taking the weekend away from Spain and practicing all the Spanish and learning about culture, but I'm here to learn about more than just one culture and what better way to do that than to visit more than just one country!? (Especially since everything in Europe is so close)
We started out on Thursday at the bus station in Cáceres. It just so happened that Megan and Karen were also taking the 6pm bus to Madrid with me, and flying out the next morning as well. We got on our bus and embarked on the four hour trip to Madrid.
Around 10:30, we arrived in Madrid and ate some bocadillas that our Spanish moms had prepared for us. Juani had made me a tortilla de atún (or an omelette-like thing with tuna in it), as well as some other sandwiches.
After that we found ourselves a corner in the Terminal 2 Food Court, next to the RyanAir check-in desks and settled in for the night. Didn't sleep too well, but got in a few hours of shut-eye.
Brussels, here I come!
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| The bus station in Cáceres |
Friday, October 15, 2010
10-15 # De Plane! De Plane!
I am a very cautious person, especially with my Spain budget. I want to be able to do all that I want to here, which makes me want to spend money at the same time as makes me want to save to make sure I can do everything. However, I have decided to be more spontaneous!
I just bought my plane ticket for Brussels next weekend on a whim! Though, after doing so I found out that all the hostels are full either Friday or Saturday night :-S... Oh well, things generally have a way of working themselves out :-)
Anyway, it is one of our Spanish friends' (Iván's) birthday tonight, so we're taking them out. Other than that, just worked on my last three semesters, how to work in Honors, and my excursions I'm taking to Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and Athens.
I just bought my plane ticket for Brussels next weekend on a whim! Though, after doing so I found out that all the hostels are full either Friday or Saturday night :-S... Oh well, things generally have a way of working themselves out :-)
Anyway, it is one of our Spanish friends' (Iván's) birthday tonight, so we're taking them out. Other than that, just worked on my last three semesters, how to work in Honors, and my excursions I'm taking to Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and Athens.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
10-14 # D'oh!
Well, I've changed my mind back and forth and back again and forth again (can you change your mind "forth"?) about this whole Spanish major thing. After working on registration stuff today since class registration for next semester opens next week, I realized that I had two options:
Take 3 rather easy semesters (13-16 credits each) and graduate with an Honors degree in Software Engineering and a Hispanic Studies minor
Take 3 super hard semesters (18-20 credits each) and graduate with a regular degree in Software Engineering and a Languages and Cultures for Professionals major [I could still graduate with honors by adding on an extra credit each semester and turning one class each semester into a graduate level course. AKA "die"]
Alternatively, I can take this option over 4 semesters which would make it more manageable, but make me graduate a semester late and pay an additional 12 grand on my loans, which I don't think the difference between minor and major is going to be worth.
Now, I bet I'll go back and forth on it again, but right now I'm thinking that the first option is the best. With the extra time maybe I can add a little to my resume around campus or continue learning Spanish on my own time.
So to relate this back to Spain, it's awesome that I'm here right now because it completes the minor for me! Sweet!! Other than that, today consisted of classes, eating split-pea-like soup, and grilled ham and cheese. Mmmmm Juani's cooking :-)
Take 3 rather easy semesters (13-16 credits each) and graduate with an Honors degree in Software Engineering and a Hispanic Studies minor
Take 3 super hard semesters (18-20 credits each) and graduate with a regular degree in Software Engineering and a Languages and Cultures for Professionals major [I could still graduate with honors by adding on an extra credit each semester and turning one class each semester into a graduate level course. AKA "die"]
Alternatively, I can take this option over 4 semesters which would make it more manageable, but make me graduate a semester late and pay an additional 12 grand on my loans, which I don't think the difference between minor and major is going to be worth.
Now, I bet I'll go back and forth on it again, but right now I'm thinking that the first option is the best. With the extra time maybe I can add a little to my resume around campus or continue learning Spanish on my own time.
So to relate this back to Spain, it's awesome that I'm here right now because it completes the minor for me! Sweet!! Other than that, today consisted of classes, eating split-pea-like soup, and grilled ham and cheese. Mmmmm Juani's cooking :-)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
10-13 # Holy Homework, Batman!
Wow! So we just got done with Spain's National holiday yesterday, and return for classes today. I only had two classes today, but they both had homework due today. Then, after handing in today's homework, we got a pile of more homework! I think this is what happens to make up for holidays: homework!
None of it's too horribly bad, I mean it's not a Physics 222 final or an Organic Chemistry midterm, but it is a lot of time-taking work.
Things I will be doing in the next few hours:
Also, I booked my trip to Paris this past Saturday. I'll be going November 11th-14th, and am super excited. Now I just need to figure out how much Berlin, Athens, and Thanksgiving are going to cost me so I can see if I can fit in Brussels and/or Amsterdam and/or any other places!
None of it's too horribly bad, I mean it's not a Physics 222 final or an Organic Chemistry midterm, but it is a lot of time-taking work.
Things I will be doing in the next few hours:
- Working with the provinces of Spain. Not just the 17 Autonomous Communities, but the 50 provinces. Luckily, he only said to fill out the sheet, not memorize them!
- A simple government lesson over Monarchy, Dictatorships, and Democracy. Did you know there are 11 Constitutional Monarchies in Europe and that there are at least 6 Military Dictatorships in the world?
- Read about the 2006 smoking ban in Bilbao.
- Write a story implementing intertextuality (yes, it's not a word in English, but I'm not sure what to call it) where I write a story that somehow repeats/refers to itself
- Define romanticism and explain when and why it appeared in Europe
- Find Romantic artists and comment on their works
- Write a paper about the life of "El Greco"
Also, I booked my trip to Paris this past Saturday. I'll be going November 11th-14th, and am super excited. Now I just need to figure out how much Berlin, Athens, and Thanksgiving are going to cost me so I can see if I can fit in Brussels and/or Amsterdam and/or any other places!
10-12 # Café
Did I mention the Spanish like to stay out late? Yeah, it's worth reiterating!
So today we went out for coffee with the second group of Spaniards we've met (the first included Estibaliz, Sonia, Sonia, Maria, JPe, and Cristina, most of whom are done with school) which consists of Dani, Iván, Ismael, Raúl, Sarah, and Miguel. These guys are really good at English, some of them I would even call fluent!
Anyway, we met with them at about 6 o'clock for coffee, finally got everyone there around 6:15 (as is the typical Spanish fashion), and went to get some coffee. However, we ended up staying out until 9:30! I was definitely not expecting to be out that long, but coffee is quite the involved process over here :-).
Throughout our previous interactions with these guys, we'd already realized that they know a surprising amount of American pop culture. From video games to artist to movies.
It's really funny talking to them and learning about the subtle differences between views on things like age-appropriateness of cartoons. For example, we were avidly told that shows like Dragon Ball Z are not for kids (as their content is too mature) but are for the older crowd, a view not shared by most Americans (except for Eric VanDenover and my floor last year :-) ).
At one point, two of the guys (Iván y Dani, the comedians) started singing Brittany Spears Hit Me Baby, One More Time and then proceeded to pretended to hit each other. It was quite an entertaining night.
Practicing with the Spaniard students is probably the best grammar/vocab lesson I get, because they speak enough English to help us clarify any concepts we're just not quite getting in Spanish, and they correct us when we make mistakes. I can't wait to go out with them again!
So today we went out for coffee with the second group of Spaniards we've met (the first included Estibaliz, Sonia, Sonia, Maria, JPe, and Cristina, most of whom are done with school) which consists of Dani, Iván, Ismael, Raúl, Sarah, and Miguel. These guys are really good at English, some of them I would even call fluent!
Anyway, we met with them at about 6 o'clock for coffee, finally got everyone there around 6:15 (as is the typical Spanish fashion), and went to get some coffee. However, we ended up staying out until 9:30! I was definitely not expecting to be out that long, but coffee is quite the involved process over here :-).
Throughout our previous interactions with these guys, we'd already realized that they know a surprising amount of American pop culture. From video games to artist to movies.
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| Yes, that's Lady Gaga. They like her, and not just her music. ¿? |
At one point, two of the guys (Iván y Dani, the comedians) started singing Brittany Spears Hit Me Baby, One More Time and then proceeded to pretended to hit each other. It was quite an entertaining night.
Practicing with the Spaniard students is probably the best grammar/vocab lesson I get, because they speak enough English to help us clarify any concepts we're just not quite getting in Spanish, and they correct us when we make mistakes. I can't wait to go out with them again!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
10-11 # El Puente
Tomorrow is Spain's National Day, so that means no school! That makes this a THREE day school week for us here (I feel like a slacker :-) ). However, an interesting fact is that when there is a Tuesday holiday, the Spanish like to make a Puente (or bridge) from Sunday to Tuesday, and just call Monday a holiday too. We were almost the only ones at the school (our professors said we weren't allowed a "puente"), and the entire city seemed on vacation. I like the Spanish :-)
10-6 # Winding through Cáceres
Today I decided to walk to class with some of my classmates, and it was definitely a good choice. To walk to class, I have to get up an hour early since the school is a little bit away. However, the back streets of Cáceres are amazing and that hour of sleep would not have been nearly as fulfilling!! They curve and wind, they're narrow, yet they still hold an expansive vibrancy in their history and architecture. We even passed a greenhouse on the way! It was definitely a good morning :-)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
10-5 # Market
On Tuesdays I only have one class at the university. I should probably use the free time to work on my online class, but instead decided to write on my blog.
So I go to class at 10 and get out at 11. This gets me home very early, and I ran into Juani before she had gone out to go grocery shopping for the day. I asked if she needed help and she assured me she didn't. I didn't think she quite got that I truly wanted to accompany her so I just flat out asked if I could go. She was delighted and took me along with her.
The first place we stopped at was the Meat Store. I have to tell you, for a butcher shop, it smelled awesome. They have some crazily awesome spice floating around in the air there. There, Juani bought some chicken and some sausages. The community environment here is so much different! She was just talking away with the other women in the store buying food, even though she didn't know them, and they were all talking among themselves too. The butchers were just working away and talking to whoever made their way to the front, yet there was still a sense of who came in first and no one really cut in front of anyone else.
When Juani got up there, she asked for her food, they prepared it, and then she realized she had forgotten her money. She told them she would run to the bank real quick and they were absolutely fine with it. Absolutely. Not like America where you might get a glare because you should have come prepared. Not like America where they're busy and you're wasting their time. To me, it seemed like they would have run to the bank for her if she had asked! Very nice people, those Spanish butchers.
Next, I asked her about supermarkets because I had wandered around and found one. I was there and about to buy a bottle of pop, but then realized everyone had "club" cards, so figured it was like Sam's Club. However, apparently it's not, and those were like mini Sear's Cards. Though upon talking to Juani about this, she explained that even though I can shop at that one, there's one about three times the size right next door. She took me to it and I cannot explain how dumbfounded I was when I realized that for the past 3 weeks, I've lived right above the Spanish equivalent of Hy-Vee.
Well anyway, I am going to go and enjoy my siesta and maybe grab something from the Hy-Vee-ish store!
So I go to class at 10 and get out at 11. This gets me home very early, and I ran into Juani before she had gone out to go grocery shopping for the day. I asked if she needed help and she assured me she didn't. I didn't think she quite got that I truly wanted to accompany her so I just flat out asked if I could go. She was delighted and took me along with her.
The first place we stopped at was the Meat Store. I have to tell you, for a butcher shop, it smelled awesome. They have some crazily awesome spice floating around in the air there. There, Juani bought some chicken and some sausages. The community environment here is so much different! She was just talking away with the other women in the store buying food, even though she didn't know them, and they were all talking among themselves too. The butchers were just working away and talking to whoever made their way to the front, yet there was still a sense of who came in first and no one really cut in front of anyone else.
When Juani got up there, she asked for her food, they prepared it, and then she realized she had forgotten her money. She told them she would run to the bank real quick and they were absolutely fine with it. Absolutely. Not like America where you might get a glare because you should have come prepared. Not like America where they're busy and you're wasting their time. To me, it seemed like they would have run to the bank for her if she had asked! Very nice people, those Spanish butchers.
Next, I asked her about supermarkets because I had wandered around and found one. I was there and about to buy a bottle of pop, but then realized everyone had "club" cards, so figured it was like Sam's Club. However, apparently it's not, and those were like mini Sear's Cards. Though upon talking to Juani about this, she explained that even though I can shop at that one, there's one about three times the size right next door. She took me to it and I cannot explain how dumbfounded I was when I realized that for the past 3 weeks, I've lived right above the Spanish equivalent of Hy-Vee.
Well anyway, I am going to go and enjoy my siesta and maybe grab something from the Hy-Vee-ish store!
Monday, October 4, 2010
10-2 # Lisbon/Sintra Day 2
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| The streets of Portugal |
Our group consisted of an Australian girl, four Irish guys, a Brazilian guy, an Arizonan girl, us five Iowans and one Nebraskan. It was a pretty diverse group!
So when we got to Sintra, we were a little worried about what we were going to do. The first thing you see getting into Sintra is a large hill. A very, very large hill. With a castle on the top that you just know is the one you're here to see :-) Luckily, we found a tour bus to take us up the mountain.
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| The tall mountain. On the very top is a castle, hard to see from here. |
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| This is where we got onto the wall and started our climb |
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| The view from the very top of the castle. The ocean in the background |
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| The cat that followed us from the bottom all the way up the castle wall |
More pictures here.
10-1 # Lisbon Day 1
This weekend was our first excursion out of Cáceres, along with a lot of other firsts.
This was my first train ride, which was surprisingly comfortable. The leg room on a train is much larger than the leg room in an airplane! Also, the rocking on the train really puts you to sleep!
We got off at the wrong train stop, but on the bright side that gave us extra time to walk around. Also, we ended up changing our Day 2 plans (next post) so we missed going inside the Oceanarium, but because of taking the wrong stop we still got to see the outside.
This was my first train ride, which was surprisingly comfortable. The leg room on a train is much larger than the leg room in an airplane! Also, the rocking on the train really puts you to sleep!
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| Here was my first train, and everyone's behind me saying I should step back :-P |
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| Jerónimos Monastery |
After we took a stop at our hostel (which was absolutely amazing, by the way) we went to the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower. These two locations together make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The monastery was an excellent example of Gothic architecture.
After the Monastery, we went to the Discovery Monument, which I'm pretty sure was a Portuguese monument to us, the Americas. It was a large tower with Cristóbal Colón and his crew looking off into the distance. Behind the statue of the men is a large pillar with a viewpoint on the top that we were able to visit. I got some awesome pictures of Lisbon from up there, but the panorama didn't turn out too well because I got some of the platform in the pictures (apparently half the picture close and half far confuses panorama makers).
After the Monastery, we went to the Belém Tower, but because it had an entrance fee we opted out of going inside. The outside was really the interesting part for us anyway.
There, we found a little beach-like place where the tide had brought some sand up by the tower. We did one of those little classy hand-prints in the sand pictures.
One of the cool things I didn't know was that Lisbon, Portugal is like a sister city to San Francisco, California! They both are on the coast, but better yet, they both have Golden Gate bridges! Almost identical looking and almost identical in size (SF: 2,737 m, Lisbon: 2,277 m). Finally, both have very similar cable car/tram systems. In fact, originally (in 1901), Lisbon imported their first trams from the US to replace horse-drawn carriages (though you can definitely still find some of these in the city).
Finally, as it was an excursion to a coast town, I had to try some seafood. We asked around and found a nice, yet cheap, local food place. However, apparently Portuguese food is not very different compared to stuff you can find in the states. This was my coastal seafood dish, which was pretty darn awesome:
After the Monastery, we went to the Discovery Monument, which I'm pretty sure was a Portuguese monument to us, the Americas. It was a large tower with Cristóbal Colón and his crew looking off into the distance. Behind the statue of the men is a large pillar with a viewpoint on the top that we were able to visit. I got some awesome pictures of Lisbon from up there, but the panorama didn't turn out too well because I got some of the platform in the pictures (apparently half the picture close and half far confuses panorama makers).
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| Jerónimos Monastery from the front. Nice fountain there. |
There, we found a little beach-like place where the tide had brought some sand up by the tower. We did one of those little classy hand-prints in the sand pictures.
One of the cool things I didn't know was that Lisbon, Portugal is like a sister city to San Francisco, California! They both are on the coast, but better yet, they both have Golden Gate bridges! Almost identical looking and almost identical in size (SF: 2,737 m, Lisbon: 2,277 m). Finally, both have very similar cable car/tram systems. In fact, originally (in 1901), Lisbon imported their first trams from the US to replace horse-drawn carriages (though you can definitely still find some of these in the city).
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| Golden Gate Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal |
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| It was awesome. Be jealous. |
Monday, September 27, 2010
9-27 # First Real Week of School
So last week this was our schedule at school:
Monday: Check out the campus
Tuesday: First day of classes
Wednesday: Went to the market instead of classes
Thursday: Classes
Friday: We never have Friday classes :-)
and today started our first full week of classes. It's a little daunting that we're actually in school now, I was getting quite used to summer life. Also, we are given a lot of papers to read, in Spanish, with a lot of words I don't know! I started to work on it before siesta but got really ... well, you know. That kind of cross-eyed lazy thoughts-are-somewhere-in-china feeling and then suddenly you realized you "finished" a paragraph.
I took siesta hoping it would help but knowing it wouldn't. I just really can't get into a reading when I have to interrupt every sentence to look up words. It's gonna be in interesting semester if it continues like this!
Anyway, after siesta I tried to reload my cellphone because the phone companies over here scam you like the ones back home (how did I go through 12€ if I've had 1€ worth of calls and maybe 15 ,01€ texts?!). That doesn't bother me too much, but the interesting thing is something that I had seen and not quite noticed before. All of their ATM's have a "reload mobile" option! It's crazy charging your phone at an ATM, but that's how the Spanish roll and I think it's kind of fun.
Finally, a group of us went out to the café for an evening stroll and to pay Kayla and Ivy back for buying the train ticket and hostel for our Lisbon trip this weekend.
Also, if you're reading this then go and eat some Velveeta and shells or some Sesame chicken and drink some strawberry Kool-aid for me, because I'm having major cravings for these right now!
Monday: Check out the campus
Tuesday: First day of classes
Wednesday: Went to the market instead of classes
Thursday: Classes
Friday: We never have Friday classes :-)
and today started our first full week of classes. It's a little daunting that we're actually in school now, I was getting quite used to summer life. Also, we are given a lot of papers to read, in Spanish, with a lot of words I don't know! I started to work on it before siesta but got really ... well, you know. That kind of cross-eyed lazy thoughts-are-somewhere-in-china feeling and then suddenly you realized you "finished" a paragraph.
I took siesta hoping it would help but knowing it wouldn't. I just really can't get into a reading when I have to interrupt every sentence to look up words. It's gonna be in interesting semester if it continues like this!
Anyway, after siesta I tried to reload my cellphone because the phone companies over here scam you like the ones back home (how did I go through 12€ if I've had 1€ worth of calls and maybe 15 ,01€ texts?!). That doesn't bother me too much, but the interesting thing is something that I had seen and not quite noticed before. All of their ATM's have a "reload mobile" option! It's crazy charging your phone at an ATM, but that's how the Spanish roll and I think it's kind of fun.
Finally, a group of us went out to the café for an evening stroll and to pay Kayla and Ivy back for buying the train ticket and hostel for our Lisbon trip this weekend.
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| Yes, that's the Simpsons in the background :-) |
Sunday, September 26, 2010
9-26 # "Sunday SUNDAY"
I'm not sure when Al Roker started saying it like this, somewhere in the years I stopped watching the news, but recently I've noticed when he gives the weather for Sunday he does this awesome booming voice thing. Every Sunday in Cáceres, this comes to my mind because Sundays are as epic here as Al Roker!
Once again, Sunday comes and it's time to get stuff done! (Or not, if you're a Spaniard). Unlike last Sunday, this Sunday I have blogs to write, papers to read for class, ipods to charge, résumés to make, interview requests to respond to... Oh boy!
A lot of that stuff has to do with computers, and speaking of computers, mine exploded on Thursday (forgot to write about that!) I was sitting in the living room and suddenly sparks started flying out of the cord, and noise, and I was so scared for all the data on my computer you cannot believe. It's like a reoccurring nightmare for me that all my data will be lost, there's so much I couldn't replace on here! To make it better, both of the ipods I have here were dead, so it was a pretty boring at first. However, I took the chance to read part of my Bible I brought as my only English book here. Pretty good book. Kinda scary at times, but enlightening none-the-less.
Anyway, back to the point, my computer cord started to call forth another dimension or something, so I unplugged it from the wall QUICKLY. Upon inspection, I realized the problem. Let's draw a picture (")" means the thing on the right connects to the thing on the left).
[Computer] )------[converter power box] )---------[wall plug]
Now, I checked what I was supposed to check, the converter power box, to make sure that it was compatible with European electricity. However, for who knows what reason, the makers decided to send me a cord ([wall plug]) that connects to the wall that canNOT transfer that much voltage, and inevitably blew up.
No worries, however, as my house mom helped me get a new cord. Now my computer plugs directly into European sockets without a converter. However, that means that I need to get a new cord when I get back to the states, because my computer no longer speaks American.
So now I need to get to work, and must bid you all a farewell. Hope things are going well in the states!
And for your picture delight, please remember:
Once again, Sunday comes and it's time to get stuff done! (Or not, if you're a Spaniard). Unlike last Sunday, this Sunday I have blogs to write, papers to read for class, ipods to charge, résumés to make, interview requests to respond to... Oh boy!
A lot of that stuff has to do with computers, and speaking of computers, mine exploded on Thursday (forgot to write about that!) I was sitting in the living room and suddenly sparks started flying out of the cord, and noise, and I was so scared for all the data on my computer you cannot believe. It's like a reoccurring nightmare for me that all my data will be lost, there's so much I couldn't replace on here! To make it better, both of the ipods I have here were dead, so it was a pretty boring at first. However, I took the chance to read part of my Bible I brought as my only English book here. Pretty good book. Kinda scary at times, but enlightening none-the-less.
Anyway, back to the point, my computer cord started to call forth another dimension or something, so I unplugged it from the wall QUICKLY. Upon inspection, I realized the problem. Let's draw a picture (")" means the thing on the right connects to the thing on the left).
[Computer] )------[converter power box] )---------[wall plug]
Now, I checked what I was supposed to check, the converter power box, to make sure that it was compatible with European electricity. However, for who knows what reason, the makers decided to send me a cord ([wall plug]) that connects to the wall that canNOT transfer that much voltage, and inevitably blew up.
No worries, however, as my house mom helped me get a new cord. Now my computer plugs directly into European sockets without a converter. However, that means that I need to get a new cord when I get back to the states, because my computer no longer speaks American.
So now I need to get to work, and must bid you all a farewell. Hope things are going well in the states!
And for your picture delight, please remember:
9-25 # Mérida, España
Today we went to Mérida Spain, about an hour drive from Cáceres, but still in the province of Extremadura. To start off the morning we met with a group of study abroad students from Kalamazoo who are studying in Cáceres for the next 6 months. We all took a bus down to Mérida to begin our Awesome Ancient Architecture Adventure!
The first thing we saw when we entered Mérida were the aquaducts. Where we saw them, they were really high (though depending on the elevation of the parts of the city there are high parts and low parts). The aqueducts bring water from 5 kilometers away, so when you look at this picture just imagine building something like this for that kind of a distance!
After the aqueduct, we separated from the Kalamazoo group so that Alfonzo could show us around. I don't always understand what he's saying (his accent is very thick and he talks a little fast) but I'm pretty sure that half of the places we visited, he'd worked at! So I think our tour guide was definitely the best :-). Whether I understood him or not, he definitely knew his stuff!!
Here he showed us the ancient city center, where the Forum was in the ancient times. There was the center of Religion, Politics, and Government. The city was doing a restoration project on this part of the city, but we got to see the Temple of Diana as we walked by.
The next stop on our tour was the ancient Theater of the city. As Alfonzo said, back then there wasn't Playstation or XBox, so they went to the Theater! The Theater was pretty big, but more interesting was that behind the actual theater was like a small market/entertainment area and bathrooms etc etc. In those times you could have spent your entire day at the Theater (assuming there were shows).
And, as any good Theater has, right across the way was an Amphitheater (like a Colosseum) where people would fight lions or have naval battles, etc. I got confused on the naval part, but apparently the large depression in the middle would at times be filled with water from the aqueducts and they'd have men fight on little boats, or something like that.
We also visited some museums and other locations of interest, and you can see those photos on Facebook here (I don't want to load this thing up as a photo album).
Finally, one of our groupmates, Kayla, got sick this weekend. She had to sit out the Mérida trip. I'm not sure, but it sounds like she might have a stomach-flu type thing like I did as well, so say a little prayer for her if you can! We hope she's ready for Lisbon next weekend!
The first thing we saw when we entered Mérida were the aquaducts. Where we saw them, they were really high (though depending on the elevation of the parts of the city there are high parts and low parts). The aqueducts bring water from 5 kilometers away, so when you look at this picture just imagine building something like this for that kind of a distance!
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| Look up "segovia aqueduct" for a REALLY awesome view |
After the aqueduct, we separated from the Kalamazoo group so that Alfonzo could show us around. I don't always understand what he's saying (his accent is very thick and he talks a little fast) but I'm pretty sure that half of the places we visited, he'd worked at! So I think our tour guide was definitely the best :-). Whether I understood him or not, he definitely knew his stuff!!
Here he showed us the ancient city center, where the Forum was in the ancient times. There was the center of Religion, Politics, and Government. The city was doing a restoration project on this part of the city, but we got to see the Temple of Diana as we walked by.
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| El Templo de Diana |
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| One side of the Theater stage |
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| The group on the stage, doing our number |
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| This is the view you would see as you walked into the Ante-theater |
Finally, one of our groupmates, Kayla, got sick this weekend. She had to sit out the Mérida trip. I'm not sure, but it sounds like she might have a stomach-flu type thing like I did as well, so say a little prayer for her if you can! We hope she's ready for Lisbon next weekend!
9-24 # Feeling Better
Not much happened today. I started feeling better and was able to eat some real food without feeling sick. The other's went on a campus welcome to Erasmus students, but they said I didn't miss much so I don't feel too bad!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
9-21 through 9-23 # Siiiick!
So the 21st we had our first day of real classes. They didn't seem too hard as long as I paid attention. I can't zone out in language courses like I can in other classes!
After classes I really wasn't feeling too good. I hadn't been feeling the best the past couple days, but right then it really started hurt. I went home and slept for a couple hours and then talked to my host mom and program director later that evening. They decided we should go to the doctor.
We did such, and he gave me some medicine that was supposed to help me. I have to tell you though, I'm not so sure it's doing anything! I haven't thrown up today (the 23rd), yet, but I'm still in pain. Hopefully I'll be better by this weekend. I'm getting rather hungry (but can't keep anything down) and we are supposed to be travelling this weekend!!!
Anyway, to backtrack a bit, the 22nd we didn't have classes because the Spanish girls were going to take us to a street market. I had to spend the day in bed, but luckily it didn't count towards a class-absence because we didn't have classes! I read some of the others' blogs about the market and it sounded like fun. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to see it next Wednesday.
After classes I really wasn't feeling too good. I hadn't been feeling the best the past couple days, but right then it really started hurt. I went home and slept for a couple hours and then talked to my host mom and program director later that evening. They decided we should go to the doctor.
We did such, and he gave me some medicine that was supposed to help me. I have to tell you though, I'm not so sure it's doing anything! I haven't thrown up today (the 23rd), yet, but I'm still in pain. Hopefully I'll be better by this weekend. I'm getting rather hungry (but can't keep anything down) and we are supposed to be travelling this weekend!!!
Anyway, to backtrack a bit, the 22nd we didn't have classes because the Spanish girls were going to take us to a street market. I had to spend the day in bed, but luckily it didn't count towards a class-absence because we didn't have classes! I read some of the others' blogs about the market and it sounded like fun. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to see it next Wednesday.
9-20 # Beginning of the week
Today was our first day of classes, or rather our introduction to our classes. The professors we met seemed pretty nice and I could understand most of them. The only people I really have trouble understanding is my host mom, who when you explain you don't understand the words, she just repeats them... it takes her a while to decide to try some new words... and one of our professors Alfonso. It's not the he speaks particularly fast, it's just his accent is very very thick, and hard to listen past. My "Spanish-ear" has definitely been trained to accents other than his!
9-19 # Spanish people like to rest
Today was a Sunday in Spain, which consists entirely of sleep and rest and family activities. For a city so big and busy, to see the streets empty was almost eerie. Pretty much just did as the Spanish do today, and went out for some coffee/coke in the evening.
9-18 # Siesta para fiesta
Today we had an amazing time in Cáceres. The day was highlighted with a mountain, a siesta, a concert, and fiestas!
We took a car up a tall mountain that stands to the side of Cáceres to see the city from above. When we first got there, we saw “La Virgen de la Montana” - and I thought we were in Rio de Janeiro! This statue was really cool, and made me want to go to Rio.
From the top of the mountain we were treated with wonderful views. I would try to explain them to you, but I feel these pictures will do much more justice! We also saw some people who had just finished with a wedding in the church at the top of the mountain. They were dressed really really nice, like take a normal wedding here and add a bit of pizzazz.
I took some photos of the university from up there and a panorama of the city (up until the rock that got in my way)
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| The CD for the panorama program is in the US, and the free version killed the quality. Sorry! |
Today was my first siesta where I actually napped. I have to say, sleeping during the middle of the day is the most amazing thing ever! It definitely gives you a rejuvenation, but when you didn’t wake up until around 11 and the siesta is at 2, it’s a little weird :-).
Toñi took us to see Toñita (her daughter) perform in a chorus. The acoustics of the cathedral that we were in were amazing! If you click on the image below you can watch and listen to some of the singing yourself.
Finally we learned why the Spanish take siestas. They apparently don’t lie to us in school when they say that the Spanish go out to meet with friends at 12 or 1am, they aren’t kidding! Neither are they pulling our legs when they say they come back home around 7 or 8! We, as Americans, of course went out around 11 and came back around 5 and 6, but still that was much later than any of us are used to being awake!
However, fatigue aside, it was an amazing night. We got to practice hoards of Spanish, experience life as a Spanish youth, and meet lots of our English-learning guides’ friends. Though I have to tell you, I’m not so sure Spanish bars are my thing!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
9-17 # Day 1
This was my first full day in Spain. We didn’t really do much, but did a lot at the same time. This morning we bought some cellphones, which was quite the adventure, and then walked around the city seeing some beautiful sights. While it was a long day, it was full of fun and adventure.
To start out the day we went to get our library passes. On the way out, one of my companions almost walked into the wrong side of an automatic sliding glass door. I felt bad for her but she’s pretty cool and just laughed it off, which then gave everyone else the okay to laugh too. Then a couple minutes later I swear she almost walked into a pole on the street, but she jumped out of the way of that one just in time.
As we talked through the streets of Cáceres, we were walking through a part of the Old City (la “Ciudad Monumental”) which was a really cool site. Then, to top it off, we started walking down a narrow cobblestone path with tall, old building on either side of us, and there was a guy playing a violin on the side. It was quite the site, but no picture could have done it justice!
We met some students of Toñi (our program director, who teaches English here at the UEx) yesterday but really got time to talk with them today, as they led us around to find things. That was a blast! We got to practice all sorts of Spanish. For me, it was quite the struggle, but at the same time I feel that even in this one day I’ve learned so much. While my word retention fails miserably when I’m told something (kind of like how I can’t remember names until I see them on facebook, paper, or something) I still got to practice. I did, however, remember some words about storms and coffee. We had a huge storm (the likes of which people here haven’t seen in ages) yesterday, so it was the talk of the day. Also, it seems like anytime we stop for a break it’s at a café, which is good for my taste buds, but probably not so good for my wallet (though coffee drinks only cost about $1.50 here).
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| Sonia and I checking out crazy gafas del sol. |
Today was also my first experience with a siesta. I liked the break in the middle of the day, but we didn’t sleep so I’m kind of tired now while the rest of the country is wide awake. Kinda wishing now that I had slept. The food here is very different too, but I like the different taste. Plus, we got to have watermelon with lunch which made me feel more at home as well.
Well, we have great plans for tomorrow but I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so I’ll write about them tomorrow when they are done!
9-16 # Welche Sprache sprechen Sie?
In the course of two hours, I have gotten to speak with people in three different languages J.
My flight through Amsterdam didn’t give me enough time to get through customs, etc. so I missed my flight to Madrid. Luckily, there was another one leaving not 3 hours later. In this added time in the Netherlands, I decided to explore a bit! I obviously got to speak English (1) in this international airport. Then, while speaking to one information lady I got to use my German (2). I told her it was a bummer everyone spoke English, because I wanted to practice some German. Guess what!? Not only did she, as some other Dutch residents had told me earlier, understand German due to her Dutch, but she spoke it in and of itself! It was quite exciting to be able to ask for information in German J. And finally, and this one is kind of cheating, I got to speak some Dutch (3). Some simple words are the same between the two languages, but when I ordered my smoothie, I used Dutch thank-you’s and yes/no’s.
Sadly, I still haven’t used Spanish yet. But being able to complete tasks like that in German and DUTCH makes me >much< more confident in my functional-Spanish ability.
Oh, and for those back home: I haven’t seen a single windmill or Dutch person with wooden shoes yet J.
Well, I finally got to the airport and met with my group. At first, our program director (Toñi) wasn't there, so we all just relaxed as best we could. When Toñi got there, Michael still hadn't arrived, so we all got a little worried he wasn't going to make it. Luckily, he did just in time to leave with us.
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| Meeting at the airport. I think Ivy is growling at the camera :-) |
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| Kayla tries the food |
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| Some jamón (cured ham) |
The pictures to the left was taken as she still decided, but the next face she made assured us it was amazing. I tried it, and it was pretty great! We had a total of about 4 different types of food.
9-15 # Y lo empiece…
The past twenty-four hours marked the start of my three-month trip to Spain. Travis drove me to the hotel in Des Moines on Tuesday night so that we wouldn’t have to get up early in the morning to drive for my flight. It was a good thing too, because when we stopped in Sioux City the car stalled on us. For a bit there, we thought we’d have to call someone to come pick me up and continue the adventure. But we arrived in Des Moines just fine last night.
The flights themselves were pretty good so far. My first flight I got a window sleep and took an hour or two nap on the way to Detroit. While in Detroit I met some pretty fun people. I don’t remember any names, but people in airports are either really angry or really excited. The ones I met were on their ways to vacation, so they were bubbling with energy just like me.
One girl, who was going on the Amsterdam flight with me, was on her way to Barcelona for a five-day trip with a friend. She graduated college three years ago, and is still travelling the world. My lesson to learn from this person was that you can totally continue to travel, even so shortly after college (and you don’t have to do it on a holiday! Just go and do it, and enjoy yourself).
The second ‘person’ was actually two women at the airport. One was going to Germany for two weeks, then to Italy. The other was going to Italy for two weeks then coming back. However, as I spoke with these two it was pretty fun thinking about the communication barriers and the US thoughts on such. I’ve never been one to get angry at people for not learning English when they come to the US, but I do admit it frustrates me when we’re unable to communicate. However, these women spoke neither Italian nor German, which got me to thinking about how I don’t speak Italian or French at all! And I plan on going to both of those countries! I can’t wait to see what it’s like to be on the other side of the “not-learning-a-language” situation. I wonder if those countries are more accepting than Americans are…
Finally, I met a man (Stephen Kamali) from Kenya on my flight to Amsterdam as well. He just graduated from Med School in Michigan (which he said was “quite cold” and I bet compared to Kenya that’s an understatement!). He does work with the Air Force or one of our armed forced branches, but his trip was to go and do missionary work in Kenya. He’s done it for one month every year for the past three years, so already knew what he was getting into. It was interesting though to hear about how the situation is. He said that he will be in a large van/mobile clinic, and that he will be the only doctor there, along with two RN’s. That’s a lot to put on someone who just got out of medical school, but I think It’s awesome he’s doing it. He said that he will see between 50 and 60 people a day! But unlike the medicine they teach here in the US, he’ll have to use generic versions of drugs, some he’s never heard of so was reading about on the flight, and have to diagnose without a CAT scans, MRI’s, and X-Rays… Like I said, sounded like a lot of pressure. Lesson from him: pay back to your community. It helped you become who you are today, so don’t forget about it no matter how far you go. On a related note: he spoke 14 different languages/dialects!!
On another note, in preparation for Spain I started listening to some of the top Spain music. “Waka Waka” by Shakira is apparently the top song in Spain right now (go figure, as it was the anthem of FIFA and Spain won!). This song, being just as catchy as the rest of Shakira’s songs, was stuck in my head the entire flight! EVERY time I got close to sleep (except for the first hour or two on this flight) I started thinking “Llego el momento…” haha! And all the parts I understand would play in my mind!
The song, as it is “This time for Africa” in its English version, and similar in the Spanish one, has some Swahili in it. I asked Stephen what the words mean and for those who are interested in Swahili: “tsamina mina” is something like “talk to me” and “waka waka” is like “fire fire” or “shoot shoot.”
Por fin, I have between two and four hours of sleep under my belt so far and about 8 hours of silent/light-music relaxation and contortions in an airplane seat. Hopefully on my next flight I can get a few more. Tomorrow is a very full day! Arrival in Spain, drive to Cáceres, orientation, and meeting the host families!
The flights themselves were pretty good so far. My first flight I got a window sleep and took an hour or two nap on the way to Detroit. While in Detroit I met some pretty fun people. I don’t remember any names, but people in airports are either really angry or really excited. The ones I met were on their ways to vacation, so they were bubbling with energy just like me.
One girl, who was going on the Amsterdam flight with me, was on her way to Barcelona for a five-day trip with a friend. She graduated college three years ago, and is still travelling the world. My lesson to learn from this person was that you can totally continue to travel, even so shortly after college (and you don’t have to do it on a holiday! Just go and do it, and enjoy yourself).
The second ‘person’ was actually two women at the airport. One was going to Germany for two weeks, then to Italy. The other was going to Italy for two weeks then coming back. However, as I spoke with these two it was pretty fun thinking about the communication barriers and the US thoughts on such. I’ve never been one to get angry at people for not learning English when they come to the US, but I do admit it frustrates me when we’re unable to communicate. However, these women spoke neither Italian nor German, which got me to thinking about how I don’t speak Italian or French at all! And I plan on going to both of those countries! I can’t wait to see what it’s like to be on the other side of the “not-learning-a-language” situation. I wonder if those countries are more accepting than Americans are…
Finally, I met a man (Stephen Kamali) from Kenya on my flight to Amsterdam as well. He just graduated from Med School in Michigan (which he said was “quite cold” and I bet compared to Kenya that’s an understatement!). He does work with the Air Force or one of our armed forced branches, but his trip was to go and do missionary work in Kenya. He’s done it for one month every year for the past three years, so already knew what he was getting into. It was interesting though to hear about how the situation is. He said that he will be in a large van/mobile clinic, and that he will be the only doctor there, along with two RN’s. That’s a lot to put on someone who just got out of medical school, but I think It’s awesome he’s doing it. He said that he will see between 50 and 60 people a day! But unlike the medicine they teach here in the US, he’ll have to use generic versions of drugs, some he’s never heard of so was reading about on the flight, and have to diagnose without a CAT scans, MRI’s, and X-Rays… Like I said, sounded like a lot of pressure. Lesson from him: pay back to your community. It helped you become who you are today, so don’t forget about it no matter how far you go. On a related note: he spoke 14 different languages/dialects!!
On another note, in preparation for Spain I started listening to some of the top Spain music. “Waka Waka” by Shakira is apparently the top song in Spain right now (go figure, as it was the anthem of FIFA and Spain won!). This song, being just as catchy as the rest of Shakira’s songs, was stuck in my head the entire flight! EVERY time I got close to sleep (except for the first hour or two on this flight) I started thinking “Llego el momento…” haha! And all the parts I understand would play in my mind!
The song, as it is “This time for Africa” in its English version, and similar in the Spanish one, has some Swahili in it. I asked Stephen what the words mean and for those who are interested in Swahili: “tsamina mina” is something like “talk to me” and “waka waka” is like “fire fire” or “shoot shoot.”
Por fin, I have between two and four hours of sleep under my belt so far and about 8 hours of silent/light-music relaxation and contortions in an airplane seat. Hopefully on my next flight I can get a few more. Tomorrow is a very full day! Arrival in Spain, drive to Cáceres, orientation, and meeting the host families!
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