It´s been almost a week since Amy got here. We´ve been all over Madrid and even out, visiting all of the places of interest. Amy was supposed to get here Saturday, but she ¨chose¨ to stay in JFK airport instead. They were nice enough to give her a cot that she guarded with her life! So, after 24 hours in New York, plenty of running around airports, and little sleep, Amy arrived in Madrid on Sunday. We got a ride home and then went into Madrid to go through the Royal Botanical Gardens. I think that it almost had every plant in the world. The dahlias were really pretty, but we were disappointed that the roses weren´t blooming.
Monday, we went to find the school I´m teaching at, San Isidro y San Eugenio. It was about an hour 20 minute trip, but we didn´t have any problems. It was good to finally meet the teacher I´ll be assisting and teaching under. Hopefully I will get to talk to her soon about more specifics of the teaching. She invited both Amy and I to come over sometime for coffee. After the school visit, we grabbed a snack at a produce stand and made our way to see the sites of the neighborhood. First, we walked and saw the Puerta de Toledo (see pictures), a really old neighborhood, ate Chinese food, walked through Plaza Mayor, went to an artsy souveneir shop (and bought nothing because we didn´t want to pay 60 euros for a plate), and then to a ceramics store. There, all of the pieces were painted in the old Talavera style and the owner´s children were the artists. We also walked through Puerta del Sol and saw the famous bear statue, the symbol of Madrid, and went through some of the department stores. Amy bought a cute kid´s sweater! And I almost left my sunglasses in the bathroom.
Tuesday, we went to the Archaelogical Museum, saw the Puerta de Alcala, and strolled through el Parque Retiro. It´s kind of like Central Park in New York City, with gardens, trees, fountains, a pond with fish and rowboats, gypsies, a crystal building, and plenty of people kissing. It also has a sports club and a funny hill.
Wednesday we took a train up to el Escorial, a monastery/school/palace in the Guadarrama (spelling??) Mountains to the northwest of Madrid. It was spectacular. The gardens that we could see from the windows were sculpted and patterned, the paintings were beautiful, the building was gigantic, and the burial chamber was interesting/weird. We couldn´t take pictures, unfortunately of the inside, but if you bug Amy, I´m sure she´ll show you the souvenier book she bought. It´s really cool. I think that our excursion has been both of our favorite parts of the trip (the excursion spilled into Thursday, which we´ll talk about later). The next part of our trip was a little stressful. We had to figure out how to get from El Escorial to Segovia, to the north. But, as often happens when you have problems, kind people are there to help and cheer you up. In one train station we met a man from Puerto Rico who helped us find our train and then chatted for awhile about his wife and being so far from home. Earlier that day we met a Russian woman who spoke a little English and asked us for help. I think that, as the Puerto Rican did for us, we gave her a little company and someone to talk to for awhile. I can´t imagine travelling alone without speaking the language!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/ejvance01/AmyAndEricaSAdventures?authkey=EgFHHrAauuI#
Follow the link to see our photos. Let me know if it works, please.
Follow the link to see our photos. Let me know if it works, please.
Friday, September 12, 2008
I´m here!
I´m finally here. After what seems like forever planning and waiting (and running to miss a plane, arriving two hours later than anticipated in Madrid), I am in Spain, settled in an apartment, and ready to pick my cousin Amy up from the airport tomorrow. A cousin of friends of mine in Pamplona, Lynne, picked me up at the airport and brought me to my apartment. I am very thankful to not have needed to take a taxi out to the town. Once at the apartment, she introduced me to Angelita, the widow of one of their church´s pastors, and the woman I will be living with for the next nine months. I could not have asked for something much better. After taking a nap, Angelita showed me around the neighborhood, the buses, supermarket, parks, her daughter´s house, etc. So far she helped me get photos for my transportation pass, has introduced me to millions of people (and I remember the name of maybe 3), and helped me find the bank and anything I need. She had been praying for months for someone to stay with her, and I believe that this is an answer to both of our prayers.
Yesterday the two of us went to the vacation bible school that her church holds at a neighborhood school in Canellejas (closer in to Madrid). The secular school lets the church do this each summer before school starts, and they say that they can sense changes in the kids. I think it is because of this that they let the church use the school year after year. In the evening Angelita´s son and family visited. I think I understood half of the conversation, even though her grandson´s fianceé made an effort to slow down, which is very hard to do). I enjoyed the stories about her grandson when he was small, drawing on the wall with shoe polish (and on the couch, furniture,etc.) and other stories. Imagine this: three children of different heights find the shoe polish, brown and black. Together, they draw according to their height, systematically working down the hallway toward the kitchen, where their grandma cooked, unaware of the mischief. I guess kids have to do some mischief when young so that we all can laugh later. He must have been quite a handful with ¨wonderful¨ ideas.
Yesterday the two of us went to the vacation bible school that her church holds at a neighborhood school in Canellejas (closer in to Madrid). The secular school lets the church do this each summer before school starts, and they say that they can sense changes in the kids. I think it is because of this that they let the church use the school year after year. In the evening Angelita´s son and family visited. I think I understood half of the conversation, even though her grandson´s fianceé made an effort to slow down, which is very hard to do). I enjoyed the stories about her grandson when he was small, drawing on the wall with shoe polish (and on the couch, furniture,etc.) and other stories. Imagine this: three children of different heights find the shoe polish, brown and black. Together, they draw according to their height, systematically working down the hallway toward the kitchen, where their grandma cooked, unaware of the mischief. I guess kids have to do some mischief when young so that we all can laugh later. He must have been quite a handful with ¨wonderful¨ ideas.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Back in the States
I meant to write more last post that I made (forever ago), but I payed for an hour of internet at the hotel and it cut me off just as I finished writing our trip summary and went to publish it. Figures. If you're in my family or one of my friends who wants to see, I have finally organized the pictures from the family trip and can show them to anyone who wants to see. Or, if I get really bored I may post some of them.
To sum up, our family together finished up our time together in northern Spain hiking, eating (a necessary and usually yummy thing) and sight-seeing. We drove back from Irun to Pamplona and Colin and I saw Mom and Dad off to the US. After they left, a few of my friends came over for a "sleepover," what happens after eating ice cream and staying up watching a movie till 3:30 am. Luckily Colin went to bed at a more sensible hour of about 12. The next morning they saw Colin and I off and Emily drove us to the bus station for the trip to the airport.
Our first stop was Granada, via a semi-complicated route. First was the bus trip from Pamplona to Bilbao, plane from there to Malaga, and bus from there to Granada. We decided to take a taxi to the hostel after I fruitlessly tried to decipher the city bus numbers and stops. It was a good decision, as the amiable taxi driver pointed out some of the major sights in the area enroute to the hostel. After flopping on the beds for a few minutes (okay, a bit longer), Colin and I decided to go out to eat a bit for supper. It was a bit late, 9:40 or so, so people were beginning to go out for supper and drinks. We didn't bother to change our clothes to eat, something I regreted as soon as we got to the restaurants. We were the only two in t-shirts and shorts in the entire street I believe as well as the youngest two people out, except for a four year old or two with their parents. After eating, we set out alarms for 5:30 am and went to bed.
The next day before the sun had found it's way through the city's narrow streets, Colin and I set out for the Alhambra. When we arrived at about 6:30 am, only about 5 people were there, already waiting in line. By 7, however, the line was curling and contained at least 50 people. It's one of the biggest attractions in all of Spain, and tickets are limited. It was so so beautiful. Granada was one the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, and the Alhambra is the moor's fortress/palace and all the gardens. The Muslim rulers were really into gardens, pools of water, and intricate tile work. Colin adn I spent about 3 hours inside, not counting the 2 hours we waited beforehand. After lunch, we set out to see the gypsy caves in the mountain on the edge of town. First, we took a tour through an abby at the top of the mountain and went through the caves beneath it that had been made into chapels. I translated for Colin and a Welsh guy. I was amused at the Welsh guy and one of the Colombian woman's attempts to communicate. She knew very little English, and he very little Spanish, so it was a painstaking endeaver. They ended up going out with one of her friends afterward, though, so maybe they figured that they could communicate well enough to spend time together. Or maybe they weren't going to need to talk much. Hmmm. On the way back to our hotel, we visited a museum about the gypsy way of life in the caves. It was interesting, but Colin was disappointed. He was expecting Mammoth Cave type caves, not the small ones that people lived in with white washed interiors.
The next day we headed for Valencia to see the city and the American Cup via the same way we had come before. I'll tell about that next week. I'm heading up to the lake with Mom and Dad, and Colin is staying here this weekend to do the Milk Mile Sunday(where they drink milk, run, and inevitably throw up). What those cross-country boys think of... Don't worry; it's not sponsored by any school, nor is it forced. The kids actually want to do it!
To sum up, our family together finished up our time together in northern Spain hiking, eating (a necessary and usually yummy thing) and sight-seeing. We drove back from Irun to Pamplona and Colin and I saw Mom and Dad off to the US. After they left, a few of my friends came over for a "sleepover," what happens after eating ice cream and staying up watching a movie till 3:30 am. Luckily Colin went to bed at a more sensible hour of about 12. The next morning they saw Colin and I off and Emily drove us to the bus station for the trip to the airport.
Our first stop was Granada, via a semi-complicated route. First was the bus trip from Pamplona to Bilbao, plane from there to Malaga, and bus from there to Granada. We decided to take a taxi to the hostel after I fruitlessly tried to decipher the city bus numbers and stops. It was a good decision, as the amiable taxi driver pointed out some of the major sights in the area enroute to the hostel. After flopping on the beds for a few minutes (okay, a bit longer), Colin and I decided to go out to eat a bit for supper. It was a bit late, 9:40 or so, so people were beginning to go out for supper and drinks. We didn't bother to change our clothes to eat, something I regreted as soon as we got to the restaurants. We were the only two in t-shirts and shorts in the entire street I believe as well as the youngest two people out, except for a four year old or two with their parents. After eating, we set out alarms for 5:30 am and went to bed.
The next day before the sun had found it's way through the city's narrow streets, Colin and I set out for the Alhambra. When we arrived at about 6:30 am, only about 5 people were there, already waiting in line. By 7, however, the line was curling and contained at least 50 people. It's one of the biggest attractions in all of Spain, and tickets are limited. It was so so beautiful. Granada was one the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, and the Alhambra is the moor's fortress/palace and all the gardens. The Muslim rulers were really into gardens, pools of water, and intricate tile work. Colin adn I spent about 3 hours inside, not counting the 2 hours we waited beforehand. After lunch, we set out to see the gypsy caves in the mountain on the edge of town. First, we took a tour through an abby at the top of the mountain and went through the caves beneath it that had been made into chapels. I translated for Colin and a Welsh guy. I was amused at the Welsh guy and one of the Colombian woman's attempts to communicate. She knew very little English, and he very little Spanish, so it was a painstaking endeaver. They ended up going out with one of her friends afterward, though, so maybe they figured that they could communicate well enough to spend time together. Or maybe they weren't going to need to talk much. Hmmm. On the way back to our hotel, we visited a museum about the gypsy way of life in the caves. It was interesting, but Colin was disappointed. He was expecting Mammoth Cave type caves, not the small ones that people lived in with white washed interiors.
The next day we headed for Valencia to see the city and the American Cup via the same way we had come before. I'll tell about that next week. I'm heading up to the lake with Mom and Dad, and Colin is staying here this weekend to do the Milk Mile Sunday(where they drink milk, run, and inevitably throw up). What those cross-country boys think of... Don't worry; it's not sponsored by any school, nor is it forced. The kids actually want to do it!
Friday, June 22, 2007
22 june
I´m here in Irun, País Vasco (the region to the west of Navarra, where Pamplona is) in the hotel with my family right now. Colin is running his 8 mile run for the day while Mom and I are hanging out and getting hungry for breakfast. I met them in the airport in Madrid this past Friday and we saw a lot of Madrid that day, leaving on Sunday afternoon. We went to two art museums and Colin didn´t complain too much. I saw everything that I had heard about in all of my Spanish classes: paintings by Goya and Picasso and El Greco, el Retiro (huge park), el Rastro (flea market), la Plaza Mayor, the palace, and the communications building which looks like a huge palace also (I think it might have been at one time). We had fun riding the metro too. Sunday evening we arrived in Pamplona and Jodi met us at the airport so that we wouldn´t get lost driving to her house (we had rented a car). Monday we went to the castle in Olite, a small town about 30 minutes from Pamplona and brought along Nate, the oldest son of the family from my church. In the afternoon we had our last get-together with all of us from Pamplona and my family got to meet my friends. We went over to the apartment that evening so that my family could meet my flatmates. I got to play translator through supper, so didn´t ¨talk¨ much myself, just relaying comments between my mom and the girls. Tuesday morning I showed my family around the city of Pamplona in the old quarter and we drove by my university (not much to see there).
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Almost there!
As I am almost done with everything there is to do (academically speaking) this semester, I finally have time to write to all of you! Finals started last week on Monday with my Spanish final, I did an oral presentation with powerpoint on Tuesday about children represented in artwork and turned in an opinion paper, this Monday I turned in a 39 page group paper, yesterday took an essay final for my religions class, and by Friday I will turn in my last paper! All that remains to be done is to get started on the credit transfer and cross fingers about all of the work that I've done.
It really feels good to be done. It's kind of strange too. Here there is a whole month of exams instead of a week like in the states, so most of the students are still scurrying around finishing research papers and the sort and cramming for finals. The students line up before the university library opens at 8 am to rush and find a seat in the main room or on one of the other floors. I've heard it's quite a spectacle, though I was more content to stay at home and study and so missed seeing it. If you don't reserve a spot at 8 am you generally cannot find a seat in the library, as everyone leaves their papers and things on the desks to reserve them all day long. The computer labs are equally overcrowded, which makes me glad that my last paper will be turned in digitally, in CD.
Once again (the fourth time) we are out of hot water in the apartment. I called the Veldts to beg the use of a shower, and Jodi invited me to stay for awhile. So, I am sleeping on an extra bed in Amber's room. I just bring enough clothes for the next day, as I hope to go back to the apartment soon, but I am enjoying myself here. I brought some food over from my apartment, some fresh things that I had bought, as I don't want them going bad and thought that some fruit and veggies would maybe help me earn my keep. It's nicer running from here than from my apartment too. Nate (the oldest son of the family, Colin's age about), showed me a 2.5 mile loop that goes out on a dirt road toward the mountains and then returns back to the village. A lot nicer than running on sidewalk.
I've also been busy lately trying to coordinate things to travel with Colin here in Spain, and working with my mom to coordinate traveling with the family before then. They're coming on June 15, which is now less than 10 days away. I'll be home on June 28th. When I get home I'll have to start coordinating things for student teaching, which would normally have been done during this spring semester.
There's a book fair in town this week, which I am going to try to visit. Thursday there is a youth service (weekly) in the evening, Saturday the youth from church are meeting at the Veldts, and Sunday we all are going to Tafalla, a town about 20 minutes away, because Luke (the dad) is preaching. Two friends of mine, Paola and Rosa from Chile might come too.
I had to say goodbye to Suyoun on Sunday night. I don't like goodbyes, they're so awkward especially when they're between two cultures and you don't know whether to kiss on the two cheeks, hug, or do nothing. It's also hard to know what to say when you know that you'll probably never see them again in your life. She will be traveling for awhile in Europe alone and then with her family and then returning back to Korea for the rest of the time until the next semester here starts.
Well, that's pretty much all my news. I am enjoying myself and trying to make the best of the rest of the time I have here and with all of the people I have come to know this semester. I'll try to write again soon, or at least when something else happens. I'll be seeing some of you soon!
It really feels good to be done. It's kind of strange too. Here there is a whole month of exams instead of a week like in the states, so most of the students are still scurrying around finishing research papers and the sort and cramming for finals. The students line up before the university library opens at 8 am to rush and find a seat in the main room or on one of the other floors. I've heard it's quite a spectacle, though I was more content to stay at home and study and so missed seeing it. If you don't reserve a spot at 8 am you generally cannot find a seat in the library, as everyone leaves their papers and things on the desks to reserve them all day long. The computer labs are equally overcrowded, which makes me glad that my last paper will be turned in digitally, in CD.
Once again (the fourth time) we are out of hot water in the apartment. I called the Veldts to beg the use of a shower, and Jodi invited me to stay for awhile. So, I am sleeping on an extra bed in Amber's room. I just bring enough clothes for the next day, as I hope to go back to the apartment soon, but I am enjoying myself here. I brought some food over from my apartment, some fresh things that I had bought, as I don't want them going bad and thought that some fruit and veggies would maybe help me earn my keep. It's nicer running from here than from my apartment too. Nate (the oldest son of the family, Colin's age about), showed me a 2.5 mile loop that goes out on a dirt road toward the mountains and then returns back to the village. A lot nicer than running on sidewalk.
I've also been busy lately trying to coordinate things to travel with Colin here in Spain, and working with my mom to coordinate traveling with the family before then. They're coming on June 15, which is now less than 10 days away. I'll be home on June 28th. When I get home I'll have to start coordinating things for student teaching, which would normally have been done during this spring semester.
There's a book fair in town this week, which I am going to try to visit. Thursday there is a youth service (weekly) in the evening, Saturday the youth from church are meeting at the Veldts, and Sunday we all are going to Tafalla, a town about 20 minutes away, because Luke (the dad) is preaching. Two friends of mine, Paola and Rosa from Chile might come too.
I had to say goodbye to Suyoun on Sunday night. I don't like goodbyes, they're so awkward especially when they're between two cultures and you don't know whether to kiss on the two cheeks, hug, or do nothing. It's also hard to know what to say when you know that you'll probably never see them again in your life. She will be traveling for awhile in Europe alone and then with her family and then returning back to Korea for the rest of the time until the next semester here starts.
Well, that's pretty much all my news. I am enjoying myself and trying to make the best of the rest of the time I have here and with all of the people I have come to know this semester. I'll try to write again soon, or at least when something else happens. I'll be seeing some of you soon!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Saturday: Part 3 and Sunday morning (the end)
Eating lunch on the Seine
A courthouse?
The modern art museum. It's built from the inside out, so the pipes you see are actually the pipes that normally go inside the walls. It's a cool concept, I think (though it is interesting, it is not very pretty).
We went to see the lights at night and helped some lost US soldiers based in Germany find the Eiffel tower too. They were very glad to have someone who spoke English and knew their way around help them!/I don't know if it is legal or now, but along the canal in Paris there are many people (probably homeless) who camp out along the bank. It seems like a very permanent camp, with people chatting over coffee in the morning after they come out of their tents. It's a big contrast from the style of life that the movies portray of Paris.
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