I miss it!

I'm sitting in my room here in The Jerz, and right outside my window there's a blizzard forming. It's almost Christmas, but I'm spending it on this side of the pond (not in Alicante, Spain, as I hoped back in July). My (superfantabulous) photo album came with all my pics from ESpain, and I am so proud of it!
I'm so happy that I've kept in touch, generally, with the crew from Valladolid. Facebook has certainly helped the situation because we can all see what everyone is up to at one time, so it's easier than updating 20 people all at different times. Ashley just sent my the link for the application to teach in Spain--she is returning to Spain in a week, or something crazy like that. Jess and I were able to share with our little Spanish community about our Spanish escapades. I miss that place like whoa...but LVC has a very special place in my heart, too.
Iglesias was so proud of me and my straight A's in ESpain, and I got to show her my photo album and all the goodies...REALIA...that I swiped from Espana, and I'm so glad I got to show her everything before she passed away. On a BRIGHTER note, I *may* be studying for a month in Madrid this summer through TCNJ. Not sure yet.
I'm headin' to the post office Monday morning to send a Christmas card to Mama Dos. Perhaps it will get there in the New Year?
Just remember: "Darius, y, y, y...y tu!" ~Angela

Back "home"

Hola from The Best State (Dirty Jerz, obviously),
I made it home safely from Valladolid. We had to leave at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, so we just stayed up all night long Friday into Saturday at La Negra Flor. Should you ever be in Valladolid, hit that place up. Carlitos, the bartender, made a special non-alcoholic drink for me each time I went. Our last night there, Kiko showed off his incredible dancing skills! He danced with all of us, and a random lady at the bar who knew she couldn't pass up an opportunity to dance with Kiko! I have never seen someone put their drink and cigarette down so fast. This lady was a good dancer, too, but Kiko's still better! The only bad part is that at this bar you can smoke...and I am highly allergic.

I got a 98 on my final paper for Grammar (creatively entitled "Vale")! The fairytale, "El pato y el perro negro" was also a big hit. The final exam was a little rough. I know all of the information, but putting everything in the correct place at the correct time in the correct form (and spelling/accentuating the vosotros form correctly) is not that simple. I teachnically got an 88.5 overall in Grammar, but my teacher bumped me up to an A- b/c of participation and effort!

I ended up with a 98% in Conversation!!!!! I really enjoyed that class and I miss laughing for an hour a day. Jess and I ended up being overly prepared for our oral exams. We brainstormed so many ideas to talk about, but we were cut off after 7 minutes.

Angela hasn't sent me the grade for Culture yet, but that's okay.

I really miss my host mom. I will never forget walking into her place and her walking out of the bano in her bathrobe. Mark my words, I thought the Easter Bunny was in front of me! That was the whitest, FLUFFIEST robe I have ever seen in 21 years of my life! To boot, it had pink lininaround the edge or whatever, which gave the impression of pink Easter Bunny ears. Maybe I was siesta-deprived, but just say "robe" and I still crack up. Anyway, Mama Dos is walking back and forth in this robe of hers. It turns out...she couldn't find her clothes!!! She kept asking me, "Alicia, where are my clothes?" And I was just like, "Mama Dos, I sure don't have them!" Fortunately, she fianlly found/remembered where she put her ropa. It was more of a "you had to be there" moment, but for real, just say the word and I'll be laughing so hard!

It's 1 a.m. Eastern time so I should probably hit the cama. More luego!

Zara!

Last night, in between studying for todayyy's upcoming culture exam (last one, Gracias a Dios) we hit up ZARA, which is the store here. I found this hot dress for 12 euros but not my size :(. Jess got a hot shirt for 4 euros!

Tomorrow is Mama Dos' birthday! We printed out four pics of us with her and got her a card. To print pics here is like .36 euro a pic. Jeez.

I have all my finals this week. Grammar is being skipped tomorrow, b/c it is our last exam so we don't need to learn any more. The conversation final is one in pairs...I think Jess y I will rock it. Grammar is cummulative, so who knows.

Unfortunately, I'm back in the States next week. I have had the greatest time here, despite my constantly messed up arms. I may be planning a return trip here for Christmas week. I wonder if Mama Dos will be at her beach house in Alicante? Mom and Dad, no worries...

I do miss my kiddos back in the USA and my Boomer. I'm nearly out of euros too, so it's better that I'm returning. I've got about 1000 pics so far.

P.S. - a straw here, is a VERYY different word in Mexico. Hahahaaa :)

Back to grammar,
ALICIA =)

Those brilliant americanos

Jess and I got the two highest grades on our Culture exams! We have a culture paper due Monday which I just printed out so I'm good for now.
Tonight we're planning on taking one of those tour busses all around the city with a bunch of our friends. We want to see Harry Potter too.
Tomorrow we are going to Segovia.
On Sunday we are either traveling to Santander (the beach...Cantabrian sea) or visiting museums. Not sure yet......

No joke everyone, I flooded the bathroom here at school. The flusher thing is different...to say the least. Well whatever I touched just caused some type of explosion of water. You know how it goes.

The other night we met up with our Texans and ate outside at a cafe/bar in Plaza Mayor. Turns out that it costs more to eat outside than inside. Whatev, good times.

Sorry so short, but I've gotta be a student first. CHAU!!!

More

Last night, Jess and I made a valiant effort to experience Valladolid, since Carmen, our Spanish mom, thinks we don’t get out late enough or often enough. We called the UCas dorms, but apparently it was the main number, or something, so the guy told us to call a different number. Well, it turns out the dorm had dinnertime anyway. It is about a half hour walk to the dorms from our house, so after Carmen went to her daughter’s, we ate dinner and the headed to the dorms. We got there at 10:45, and we must have just missed everyone, because no one was there! We went to the Corte Ingles again for beach towels, lotion, and liters and liters of drinks.

Clase...back later

Salamanca and School and Gypsies

Buenos dias!
Lots to catch up on...
.Stamps are expensive
.You don't stretch in public
.We went to the mercadillo (like a flea market) and I saved a euro on Harry Potter in Spanish
.Salamanca was on Saturday. Sorry to the LVC kids who used to study there, but Valladolid is a lot better.
.I am going to go to Barcelona or Alicante if it's the last thing I do!
.We went to the beach again...hot like no other! And we didn't have towels b/c Carmen says they're only for bathing....
.Carmen came hot around 1215 a.m. b/c she was out looking for a boyfriend. For real.
.Our Spanish fariytales in Grammar today dominated!
.Unfortunately, Ruth's granfather died on Saturday, so we had Jorge for two hours of Grammar, and Ricardo for the hour of conversation. Ricardo took us to the market.
.Carmen doesn't have tissues. Or paper towels.
.The robe/lost clothing...more to follow!
.The students in my classes are great. I would LOVE to stay here longer. But I do miss the Boomer dog. I've seen quite a few Westies in Valladolid though, so it's better.
.Carmen says we're still too white haha/jaja
.Tengo sed.
.I started a paper for Convo and another one for culture. There's a test coming up but I dunno when.
.I *think* the San Fermin bull running thing ended today. Carmen is really into it, but seeing people get trampled by 7 bulls isn't really my style.
.Buy a drink, get a free tapa woooo...we went to Bambu in Salamanca.
.Sofas here, are not for sleeping on
.Oh yeah, so at the flea market on Sunday, Carmen pointed out how all the gypsy people sell the stuff. "Gitanos...gitanos..."
.Wherever Carmen took us for ice cream (after receiving her 100 euro traffic violation) was incredible.
.IN SALAMANCA, SOMEONE ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS!!! So I guess we blended in!!! The poor girl wanted "calle compan(tilde)ia" and asked for "cali" (like CALIfornia) "come-pan-ah"...oh dear, help us all.
Well, I've got culture in a few so...hasta luego!

Out in Spain and Wine!

Hola y’all! Classes have been totally fine. Two hours of grammar first thing in the morning is dry, but Ruth [root] lets us break for ten minutes in between the hour. Today at the break, Alex, Lauren, Jess, y I went to the café to get some coffee. It’s a good deal…1 euro! It’s half coffee half milk here, and they serve it in what can only be described as a teacup. I don’t drink coffee normally, but one can only go so long in a grammar class without a little boost. Today we reviewed the preterite versus the imperfect, which we all know, BUT all need a refresher. So, to practice, she asked for a fairytale, and I said CENICIENTAS (Cinderella). We all took turns telling part of the story. The homework was really easy except for a few irregulars, but they throw me off. Conversation (also with Root) continues to be a blast. Wellington, this guy from Brasil, cracks me up. We were talking about the food here, and ended up on beans. He couldn’t figure out what a kidney bean was (and has yet to get himself a dictionary) so finally she drew it on the board. He jumped out of his seat and had the biggest look of relief/comprehension on his face. Later on, Root was talking bout how she can’t remember anyone’s name (we all made signs for our desks). She knows Francisco and a few other names of Hispanic origin, and then she said she could remember Wellington b/c it was a king, or something. So Wellington stood up and bowed down. Kiko is also a lot of fun. He was raised in Tennessee but lives in Texas. Oh yeah! Everyone here is from Texas or Wisconsin. The Texans are a lot of fun…we were out with some of them for Carmen’s 24^th birthday last night.

We all met at the dorms for the University “at 9 p.m.” to go out for her birthday. Alex and Lauren found the place we were going to, but no one else knew where it was, and since all of them, minus Troy, are in dorms, we met there. I made the right move choosing to live with a host family! The dorms are basically a toddler-sized square and there are SO many steps. Plus, the dorm kids eat in the cafeteria. From what I’ve been told, the food there is awful. Glad I eat Carmen’s fabulous food! We got to the UCas dorms but Jen and Carmen were literally woken up when the security guy went to tell them we were here. So it took another hour or so before we actually left the building. I guess we’re turning into true Spaniards! We went to a restaurant called Herbes (I think)…yum!!! We got a 3 course meal for 12 euros each. I had the vino tinto that one of the profs. recommended. I've got great pictures!

Be good everyone!