Well here's some good news...

I had 4 new people move into the house this weekend. 3 are from Mexico and one from Norway. Two of the guys from Mexico are studying at the University and will be here all semester. They have told me they will help me with my pronounciation and show me the differences in European Spanish and Mexico Spanish. So now hopefully I will get everything I need. The girl from Norway will be studying law at a university here so while she won't be living with me the whole time she will be in the city. Yay. Long term friends are exciting!

Ok there have been some requests for pictures of the beach. Not much to say, hopefully this weekend I'll have some new ones of different beaches but it will depend on my ankle. I really want to go to some other beach cities to see the sites. Not much else to say right now as I'm pretty limited in my mobility.

My trip to the ER........

Well Friday started out nicely. Went to school, passed my Spanish test so I’m moving up a level, did some shopping then took a nap. We had plans to go out and have a fun night before Hristol left in the morning for Bulgaria. So we had a nice dinner over Port Olympic and tried Sangria de Vino and Sangria de Cava (Champagne). Sangria de Vino is better. After that we head down stairs to go to the different clubs as Hristol hadn’t made it to this part of town in his 3 weeks. We were dragged into an Australian themed club and started dancing. We were having a good time and then head to the next bar. The music was a mix of 80s and country (hilarious) so we ducked in. Made some new friends while dancing and were having a blast…..until the Cotton Eyed Joe came on. Well let me just say, I may have no rhythm and cannot dance but the Europeans were running the Cotton Eyed Joe. Their version of a line dance was sad, pathetic. So I get the genius idea, I should show them how to properly line dance. I have a new thought, anytime I get some genius idea I should run far far away. Anyway, I’m going along just fine for a while but then head over to a new group of people to show and wham all of a sudden I’m on the floor! Everyone is staring as I just sit there for a minute, look down at my ankle and realized it is not in good shape. I try to stand and make it up but I cannot put much pressure on my ankle. Of course at this time Kristelle has come over to see if I’m okay and I say not I need to get outside and get some ice. On top of that the security people from the club come over to tell us they have called an ambulance. Now by this time I have ice and am checking out my ankle, I can move my toes and stand but it’s painful. I tell the security guards that I really don’t need an ambulance, my ankle is just sprained and I’ll be okay. The look on their faces says – She’s an American who’s going to sue the pants off us no chances being taken. So I obligingly wait for the EMT guys. When they show up (so cute by the way) they inspect my ankle, I tell them it’s just a sprain and am told they cannot diagnose it and I need to go to the ER it could be broken. My reply of I can move my toes so my ankle isn’t broken was not acceptable. Once they found out I would be here for another 7 weeks, they really became insistent that I go to the ER. So I cave, wasn’t much choice at this point. I think ask if I can just hobble into the ambulance but no, I am placed on a gurney. At this point I’m just laughing my head off. How many people have said I need to be careful and that I was going to seriously hurt myself sometime in my heels and shoes and falling all the time. For the record, I was in flats but it is the same ankle that spent 6 weeks in a boot. I think it is cursed. So I’m not headed for the Barcelona ER where I met a nice guy from NY whose my admit person and English translator. Of course Kristelle whose not family isn’t allowed up even though her Spanish is much better than mine. Stupid HIPPA laws are over here too and my response of I’ll sign whatever waiver to allow her up didn’t work either. So now I have my foot elevated because its begun to hurt and have been placed in the wheel chair. No one understands why I have my foot elevated and I can’t really explain in Spanish so I just get a ton of odd stares. Anyway, 2 xrays later I am told my ankle has a minor sprain, not broken and to stay off it for 5-6 days and take Ibuprofen. My ankle was wrapped in an ace and I was set on my way. However, I can’t really walk at this point more like hop on one foot. We manage a cap and to hop into the house so that the next morning we can go to the pharmacy to get some crutches and hopefully find the ankle casts that are plastic to give it more support. The walk to the pharmacy took forever. Kristelle has been a saint helping me get ice and carrying my stuff for me as we go

do things. I owe her big time. Anyway, spent today at the beach as we are supposed to be out of the house for most of each day, enjoy the pictures of my adventure from Friday. My foot is slowly starting to feel better hopefully I can find the right type of support tomorrow and be off the crutches in a few days. I will never dance the Cotton Eyed Joe again.

Random Things about Spain....

Ok, many people want more blogs. Its hard people, some days I have plans that start right after school and then in the evenings homework. Other days it’s just hot and I’m tired with no wit to write. But in response to the request, I’m entering 2 blogs today and will try to be more diligent. By the way, I’ll have you know I’m already beginning to write half words in Spanish because I’m starting to think in Spanish. So if some words look weird it’s probably just the Spanish version that I mentally missed correcting. But hey that was the whole goal of being here. Okay, here are a few differences from the states that I have seen so far.
1. Beaches – Bananahamics are everywhere and normal. I have to keep reminding myself of this as when I go to the beach with people, I can tap them and go look at that! Also the Europeans are much more open as in all beaches have woman topless and mind you they will get up and go order a drink topless or whatever. Also kids run around naked or topless as well. They have showers to get the salt water off and you can easily walk by and see a 6 or 7 year old naked showering. I automatically think – crap what if there are perverted adults around and you are just parading your kids around naked. But it is incredibly normal.
2. Air Conditioning – please appreciate all the nice wonderful cold air you are sitting in. I miss it so much. It’s in the high 80s/low 90s here and where there is AC it is a sorry excuse. While if you stay in the shade it’s pretty tolerable, heading down into the metro is like walking into a sauna.
3. Water – I think what I miss the most is a hot shower with strong water pressure. There are notes up all over the house requesting that you only take one shower and that it be fairly quick. There are threats that if you take many showers or long showers the owners are allowed to time your showers. The reason for this is because how quickly the water pressure goes out. We have 5 students at the house now and we must take showers at least 30 minutes apart. If 2 of us accidently shower at the same time there is literally a tiny dribble of water. When that happens to me with my thick hair with shampoo in it, what a mess. I had my first hot shower with great water pressure today in a week and half. Turns out the German guy (not a fan) has been taking about 4 showers a day which is why we’ve had no water pressure. I believe that was fixed yesterday.
4. Fanny Packs are apparently fashionable here. They have all missed the memo that the style has left. I can’t tell you how many groups I see with every person in a fanny pack. From the gaudy sequin ones, to LV, to whatever you can imagine.

My Spanish is improving day by day. I can understand a lot more of the conversations around me. I have a test tomorrow to see if I’m ready to promote to the next Spanish level. I really hope so because right now I can only speak in the present tense and that’s incredibly limiting. Okay I’m heading to the Picasso Museum today, I hope it’s more enjoyable than Mirό…….

El Fin de Semana (The Weekend)....

Well this was my first full weekend in Barcelona. WOW, about all I can say. Friday evenings the school has a happy hour where you can meet other students and practice Spanish or help someone practice English. It’s a great idea, cheap drinks and great way to meet people. I met a bunch of locals with some of my friends from class. This worked out perfectly because after the happy hour we went with the locals to eat dinner. What this meant – we were at local restaurants rather than tourist places. We had a 3 course meal for 10 € - I originally ordered Paella, Bistec con Potatoes, and then dessert. However the chef who makes paella wasn’t there so instead I had pasta. Now each of these courses was like a full plate of food. It was a ton of food plus tons of wine. We got to dinner around 10 pm and finally finished at 1 am. Sometimes I really enjoy the European way of eating, slow and steady. From there it was recommended we head to a club/bar that is up on a hill (Tibadabo) with a great night view of Barcelona. It was beautiful; if you are coming to visit me here I will be taking you. I took some pics but it’s really hard to see much of anything. We stayed out til 4 am (completely normal here). On Saturday during the day I did nothing. It was a holiday so most of the stores were closed and I decided to relax before the evening festivities. Friday started a street party in one of the neighborhoods called Fiesta de Gracia. The streets join together and decorate the street with recycled materials. Each street has bands playing, selling food and drinks. It was pretty cool. We ended up at a stage for a while doing cultural dances through the years. It started with some type of native Indian group (like mayans or incas) that had the men in loin cloths. Yes you just read that correctly, they were basically in a G String with a front part, almost like Adam and Eve. They had paint on the butt cheeks. The girls looked like they were doing hula type dances and the guys were bouncing all around. It was interesting…..not something you’ll see in the US much. Sunday I headed to the aquarium. It was pretty decent sized with a large shark tank. Nice but expensive. This weekend I’m heading to another beach town Tarragona to hang out.

Parc Guell

Well on Thursday we headed to Park Güell. This is a park that was designed by Gaudí but only 3km of it was finished then money ran out. We were told this was a very pretty park. Now in my Texas mind this meant lots of shade and trees and grass. NOPE. This park was a desert basically. It was rocks and sand a little grass but very little shade. For my dad, you could consider this like Sea World in San Antonio year 1. Plus the closest metro stops are almost 1 km away and it is uphill. And when I say uphill I mean the incline is so steep you are walking at an angle or up steps. Now someone did take pity on the out of shape Americans and for a few blocks you have escalators. I was so hot just by the time we reached the park I had no idea if I would be able to find it fun. First a park of dirt really isn’t pretty to look at, it looks like you were driving in West Texas and wondering when you’d actually see something. However we did finally get to the main entrance to see the buildings and monuments that Gaudí built. They were pretty cool; it was rocks with mosaics to make up the different styles. What made this trip even more amusing was as I had no idea on the sand I was in a white dress and sandals. Make a note: if you visit Barcelona and go to Parc Güell you need comfy clothes that breathe (as in shorts and a tank), water bottle for the hike up there, and tennis shoes for the dirt. Never wear white. Anyway it was an adventure to see some cool buildings. I probably walked a total of 3-4 km that day; I hope I burned/sweated off some serious calories.

Pics of Madrid..

Ok today I went to the Joan Miro Museum. I have concluded I really do not enjoy modern art. Apparently I'm not enlightened enough. Nuff said.

Now as for some pictures of Madrid and comments since it took me a few days to remember where I'd stored the camera cord. First the dessert that is famous in Madrid is Churros de Chocolate. This is a type of donut (kinda like benet texture) that is long and you get a cup of dark chocolate sauce (it's very thick) to dunk it in. This is amazing!!! See the pics of my churros. I believe this is a famous dessert of Spain in general but it seemed to be advertized everywhere in Madrid while I haven't seen it much in Barcelona. This was also at one of the most famous Chocolaterias.

As I mentioned before I want to the Royal Palace that is supposed to be the Spanish version of Versailes. Take a look for yourself....I wasn't quite convinced but that may have been because only a 1/4 was completed. Also here is a pic of the statue of Don Quixto. Considering I only had two days I don't have too much to add but the pictures are cool.

Okay that's about all I've got today. I'll be uploading all 100 pics of Madrid to facebook at some point this week if you want to see them all. My allergies are killing me today, so I didn't sleep well last night. I need rest so I can function in my classes. I really want to get where I can understand what people are saying fast, its frustrating not knowing.

First few days in Barcelona

Well the last 2.5 days have been intersting. Saturday was a travel day to Barcelona and then I set out of the beach. Hello Mediterranean Sea. It was pretty much just like every other sea I've seen however the sun time was nice as my tan had started to fade.....



Sunday I met my host family. Her name is Rosa Maria Pastor and she actually ends up housing quite a few students. Right now there are 3 of us but room for more. I was a little concerned at first because the first student I met from Germany has no relationship with her, he barely said hi to her when he got up. I tried to make conversation and got one word answers. So I was beginning to think this was just going to be a cold dorm room. However at dinner the other student, Bristol (guy) showed up and he was nothing like the German kid (made such an impression I can't remember his name). Bristol and Rosa had quite a conversation, I joined in as I understood a few words and hey she gave me directions to the school. Anyway, Bristol asked me if I wanted to go see the fountain in front of the Royal Palace. It does a show on Thursday, Friday and Sunday evenings- gorgeous. I am puting a video and few pics below of it. Let me just say for the bank geek in me the choreography of the water with lights to the music was amazing....way better than the Bellagio in Vegas. (Okay I don't think the video posted, if ya want to see if try facebook I might get it uploaded there).

Anyway Bristol will be in town for two more weeks and is excited I'm open to adventure out and see things. Apparently German boy is just boring plus probably early 20s doubt we have the same goals in being here. I started classes today which went well, a lot of vocabulary is coming back, I'm just very impatient right now to finally understand everyone. Oh well 4 weeks to go and I should be in a better place. I was asked today about the difference between Spanglish and TexMex......I just said it is wierd. I have no earthly idea how to explain that language very well. I was also told that my Texas accent is very strong - ha! I hope it's not gone by the time I get home..... love, Jacque

PS I know I owe more on Madrid......to come tomorrow.

Madrid.....

Well I took some great pictures of Madrid today (I was much more awake) but either I can't find the camera cord to upload or I left it at home. So pictures at the moment will have to wait. I went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) that is supposed to be the Spanish Versailles however the Spanish monarch ran out of money or power about 1/4 of the way through. Needless to say while pretty and with plenty of Rocco just doesn't measure up. However some of the gardens I went through at the Palace and the Parque Retiro (sorta like a Central Park) were amazing. I walked all over the old Madrid which was up and down hills and through shade (very appreciative) and amazing. I saw some interesting characters, like a guy dressed in a lime green button down with shorts that had hot pink stripes mixed with lime green stripes and so many fanny packs among 17 -18 years olds I stopped in my tracks. I found amazing Sangria and spent the late afternoon at Plaza de Santa Ana, I new favorite spot of mine. Granted this Santa
Ana isn't the one that Texas gets to take claim for over coming....

Also there was a statue of Don Quixote de la Mancha, and if you ever had to go watch the play of Don Quixote in Tyler as I did you'd laugh too. However the Plaza de Espana was gorgeous.

Tomorrow I'm off to Barcelona, I'm looking forward to the beach. BTW according to the staff at the hotel my espanol is muy bueno. Granted I realize I'm paying for these to tell me that I appreciate the praise and appreciate their patience with teaching me new words when I say Como se dice? The Spanish is coming back slowly and can only get better come classes on Monday.

Buenvidos a Madrd.....

Well I made it. I actually had my bags packed early on Wednesday and apparently managed to take off 20 minutes before yet another wonderful Texas storm blew into town. Business Class flying is definetly worth it, you sleep more however you still end up jet lagged. The worst thing about jet lag this time round is since I'm traveling alone right now there is no partner to help keep ya going. So I started out on a walking tour of Madrid, made it to lunch at about 1/4 of the way on the tour and crashed. So more on the tour with picutres tomorrow once I actually complete it. Now it is time for Happy Hour (buy 1 get 1 free!) and then to find some dinner before I really crash.