¡Hola otra vez! Estoy segura que todos pueden comprender el título porque TODOS pueden contar a diez en español. ¡Tengo confianza en las abilidades de vosotros!
If you don´t speak Spanish, don´t worry, the above is blather and unimportant. (Or is it? No really, it is.)
This week, I thought I´d be organized and keep a list of things I wanted to put on the blog... the idea was to add to it as I thought of something during the week. Well, I´m looking at my list now and it has a total of two items. That sure worked out well...
First of all, I thought that I´d set comments so that anonymous people could post, but apparently not. Now it´s fixed and you guys can comment for real-- sorry about that!
Jacqueline Danner, the person who started this whole crazy IU Honor´s Program, visits each city of the program during the summer, and she has arrived in Oviedo. She´s a tiny old French woman (nobody actually knows how old she is, but my host mother thinks she can´t possibly be younger than 85), and she´s really ridiculously sweet, it´s hard not to go "Aaaaaaaaw..." when she talks and walks. I think she speaks more clearly in Spanish than in English, because I find it a loooot easier to understand her now than during my interview and at the orientation. She´ll be traveling with us in our excursion to Santiago (which, according to my culture teacher, is one of the most important sites in the world for Christians... I guess I live under a rock with religion as well, because I didn´t know.) We´ll be leaving tomorrow and returning Friday, and the fact that Jacqueline´s with us means no crazy parties on the fourth of July. :) My family´s going to eat pizza and I´m EXCITED.
Speaking of food, according to my list it´s time to talk about another cultural difference between the U.S. (or los EEUU for the "Estados Unidos") and España. Here, bread is served with every meal (and I mean every meal). Good bread, the the kind that comes in big warm baguettes. My host mother buys bread every day from the supermarket ("masymas", or "moreandmore" in English). When I return to the U.S., I´m probably going to go into terrible withdrawal. All I can say is that we´d better visit Panera really often for the few weeks after my arrival.
I´ve finished my list. What a stupid/badly executed idea. Well, I think I´ll write about experiences this week. Friday, I went to the beach in Gijón again with a group of friends. It was another one of those rare days where the sun was shining and so it was quite enjoyable (and this time we were able to spend three or four hours there rather than one. Much better.)
Also, one of the assignments for culture class was to make a Spanish recipe with my host family, so I made "albóndigas" with Mamá. Albóndigas are essentially garlicky, wonderful meatballs that don´t go with spaghetti-- they´re good enough to stand alone. I have the recipe written down (not sure how well I´ll be able to execute it, my cooking skills being what they are, but I HAVE A RECIPE.) Also, we made "empanadillas de pan", which are like flan pierogi, fried and sugared... mmmm. I have a recipe for those as well.
On Saturday, an optional excursion was to climb Mount Naranco (one of the many mountains surrounding Oviedo) because there´s a gigantic statue of Jesus at the top, which you can see from the city. There´s a marvellous view of all of Oviedo from the peak, and I have pictures!
OH! AND Spain won the championship of the Eurocup!!! (Soccer.) They´ve never won, haven´t advanced past the stage of 8 teams in 24 years, and the year I´m here, they win it all. Everyone in Spain is absolutely crazy right now because ¡GANAMOS! During the final, we put red "warpaint" on our cheeks, AKA mama´s lipstick.
Okay, I´m going to upload a couple pictures and that´s all until next week. ¡Adios!
Before the game... on the left is Rosa, Mamá´s best friend (she´s with us so much she´s like a second mother), and the girl who isn´t me or Taylor is Krystle. Her mom wasn´t so enthusiastic about soccer (or anything-- Krystle changed families the day after the game), and we thought it was a cultural experience she couldn´t miss, so we invited her over. Also, see the warpaint?
Gigantic statue of Jesus with me for scale. The thing on the base is the Cross of Victory, and it´s a symbol of Asturias (it´s on the flag... ooh, deja vu, have I written about the Cruz before?)
Bye for real now, I hope everyone´s having a good time in summer vacation (or working... poor adults.)
9 comments:
OK, about the bread thing: I think it's a Europe picture, not just a Spain thing. Theresa and Linda (the other German exchange student) both were in awe of the bread in our house, and my mom thinks that people in Poland eat a lot more bread. (I don't remember that well, and also, we eat a lot of bread in my house so I don't really notice). So. My mom would be thrilled to give you a lovely 5 min recipe for bread that's really yummy, especially when you take it out of the oven.
And I'm glad you got my letters :)
(oh, this is Zuzanna)
I'm so excited! I got the title AND could understand your first paragraph! (Pat, pat) If I would have heard you SAY those words, though, I would have been completely lost!
The way I learned Spanish (from a book...and a LOOOOOONNNNGGG time ago), I didn't end up with good conversational skills. So, when I was a therapist with some Spanish-speaking-only patients, I could GIVE decent directions but couldn't understand a lick of what those sweet older folks in rehab said back to me. It was senseless for me to try! They were probably cussing me out saying, "Ouch, Ouch!" or something like that! Come to think of it, maybe it was all for the best! (Additionally, they had slurred speach and were not using proper grammar anyway.)
What fun times you're having.
The albondigas and empanadillas sound yummy! I don't think Joe (gluten intolerant) would fare very well in Europe with all that bread!
Have more fun...and we'll look forward to reading more about it!
Kaffrine! This sounds so exciting! Every post is making me wish more and more that I hadn't taken back my promise - and is making me hit the books. From the looks of it, your spanish is tremendous, even if you would sound like you had a lisp (teehee.) I'll have to study super hard so that when you get back we can commence our former mode of conversation.
Haha, yeah, we saw the World Cup here, too. My dad said he thought you guys would be really happy with the result. I love soccer. It's so much more fun/interesting than basketball or football.
I actually had a dream last night that I couldn't stop calling soccer "football" (with a British accent) and everyone got really confused. Huh. I hadn't remembered that till now.
Anyway, wrote you a letter. Sending it today.
Katherine!!
Hooray!! Composicion de espanol!! Gracias para (or is it por . . .hmm . . .) la composicion en espanol. Es un reto bienvenido.
Hooray again!! One of the best things about you being in Espana is the encouragement you are giving the rest of us to continue to work on our espanol over the summer. Gracias! Keep writing a little piece of your blog in espanol . . . keeps us on our toes!
Yum . . . food. Especially pan . . . es delicioso! However, if you are going to avoid pan withdrawal upon your return, you might want to find a better place than Panara to obtain pan. (Oops! Did I just let my personal bias slip in?? lol.) But still . . . the best option would probably be to obtain Zuzanna's mother's amazing bread recipe . . . yummy!! Also, those albonigas y empanadillas sound muy, muy, muy deliciosos!!!!! You'll have to share your lovely recipes with us when you return . . .
Anyway, continue having tons and tons of fun and exciting learning experiences!! Also continue having just plain FUN-that's what summer's all about, anyway, right??
Have fun and be safe!!
--Emily W.
ooh--y congratulaciones!! Espana gana!! So . . . does this mean that you now understand sports hysteria??
Katherine,
I need to defend my honor as a Spanish teacher who DOES teach the vosotros form! I admit, however, that the vast majority of Spanish teachers in America don't use it enough to be ABLE to teach it, even if they saw the light, cast off their Philisitine attitudes, and actually wanted to teach it. This very attitude (omitting the vosotros form) was one of the primary reasons that we did not order Ven Conmigo about 8 years ago when we were examinig new textbooks.
Regarding the zeta (what previous commentators have called "the lisp"): I proudly speak with it every day! In fact, it's now my natural accent in Spanish, so I have to think really hard to NOT speak castellano (the Spanish of Spain).
WARNING: Spanglish ahead! I remember all too well my first (and last) faux pas involving papas fritas. I was in Mike's Hamburguesas (yes, it was spelled just like that on the sign). I carefully ordered "una hamburguesa con papas fritas, y un refresco de Kas naranja" . . . and all my native Spaniard friends AND THE GIRL BEHIND THE COUNTER TAKING MY ORDER physically collapsed to the ground, shrieking with laughter. A few minutes later, when my host sister, Teresa, could breathe again, she explained that the phrase "papas fritas" doesn't exist in Spain, and that it sounds like fried PARENTS.
Other food comments: Could I please have the famous bread recipe from Zuzanna's (?) mom? Also, have you eaten tortilla de patata yet? Paella? Tomate frito? If you haven't, then GET GOING! Time's a-wastin'!
As fro your fear that you've been living under a rock because you hadn't heard of Santiago de Compostela, rest assured that many American reside that same rock with you. However, if you had taken MY Spanish II class, you would be well acquainted with it.
Enjoy your remaining time en mi querida España!
un beso,
Weezy
Katherine, this is so fun to read! It sounds as if you are having a wonderful time and experience. I am so proud of you! Please add me to the list of "yummy recipes from Spain" recipients, okay?
p.s. Zuzanna, I would be thrilled to get your
mom's bread recipe as well.
pss: The 7-7-08, 9:32am posting is from Ant Nancy. (yes, all, I am Katherine's aunt. SHE devised the "ant" twist, complete with pictures, at age 7)
Just thought I better send this as a warning.
This is from Dave Barry's tear-off calendar for July 7th. Sorry it's a bit late. I just hope not TOO late--you know, since we haven't heard from you for a while and all! ;)
"One of Spain's most glorious traditions is Getting Run Over by Bulls. This extremely exciting event, wherein live irate bulls are set loose in public streets, has become so popluar that in heavily touristed areas the bulls are released several times a day, sometimes in hotel lobbies. Wear comfortable shoes."
Good to know that you're not staying at a hotel. But just in case, maybe you should wear your running sneakers!
Hope you're having lots of fun, learning a ton...and staying away from the bulls.
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