La Capital!

This weekend all the kids from Umass (except 1 😪) went to Madrid. We had Friday off so we figured we would take the 5 1/2 hr bus ride to Madrid for 3 days. We stayed in a hostel which is like military living. I felt like i was at bootcamp haha.My room was al white with white bunk beds and tiny mattresses. We shared a bathroom and in the basement was a couch, some tables, a tv, and a kitchen. It was close to the center and cheap with wifi! Sooo who could ask for more?
On our first day in the city we did a 3 hour walking tour seeing all of the sights and learning the history. The architecture is so pretty. Very old with columns and skinny streets and lots of made of stone. All around the city there are statues everywhere and lots of centers. The centers are huge usually centered around some fountains or statues and shopping stores, restaurants and bars, and apartments. After our walking tour we went out for tapas y sangria with with the guy who was in charge of our tour. We went out after for a bar crawl. What is cool about the cities here is we can walk everywhere and places to far we can just take the metro for one euro.
The next day Dan, Danielle, and I went to the Real Madrid stadium for a self guided tour. This stadium is huge. It's one of Spain's most famous soccer teams so it was almost like walking into the basketball hall of fame. We walked in, got to see the field, walk right by the field (where I made a point of touching the grass :)), sit where the players sit on the bench, and go into the press room. Now when I say "bench" where the players sit I mean warm leather Audi seats where the players and coaches get to sit that is also covered in case it rains. Spoiled players. Also we walked through a huge area where all the trophies were, photos of all the players and teams, old jerseys, the history of the club, and a green screen where we could take a picture next to the players or coach. I took one next to Cristiano Ronaldo of course. The coolest things was seeing the old cleats and jerseys and shin pads. I don't know how they played in those. They were huge and had high tops, we're very round and I wouldn't be surprised If they were made of wood. The players must've been so slow then! Pictures of this will be up soon.
Later we went to the museum Reina Sofia which is a modern art museum. They had the strangest things in there that unjust don't understand, I really tried but just couldn't get it. I really likes seeing all of the Pablo Picaso paintings tho.
After this I went and met my good old friend Nicholas Osario. We went to WMA together and I haven't seen him in 4 years so it was great catching up with him.
That night me and some of the other people went to this club called Kapital. It was 7 floors and really awesome because I have never seen anything like that. The next day we took the 5 1/2 hour trip back to Oviedo. I really liked Madrid but just to visit, it's huge and I like living in smaller Oviedo better.

COMIDA

I have so much to catch up on...I've been so lazy!! Life here is so different. Everything closes down at 3 for lunch and when I walk home from school I see tons of people sitting by cafes drinking wine, beer, and sidra. By 4 everything is empty because everyone is sleeping their siesta! The food here is also so different, all I eat is ham and bread! Every single meal comes with a big piece of bread. Sandwiches are called bicadillos and are made with baguette bread and one little pice of ham and cheese. Most bicadillos are made with dried meats, sardines, calamaries, Chorizo, or with tomato tuna puree. I'm dying for a sandwich with regular bread and tons of turkey and cheese and mustard!!The food isn't as flavorful and I haven't found anything spicy since I've been here. I bought hot sauce to put on my food and my family looked at me like I was crazy. We also eat a lot of dried meats. The meat isn't cooked but it's salted and dried. We eat salmon like this and all parts of the pig. Chorizo is also a very typical food here....I have learned to not even ask or think about what I'm eating, I just have to eat it. If we ever do it steak or chicken it is a very thin piece and fried. My favorite food here is a croqueta. It is like a mozzarella stick but filled with this creamy stuff and certain types of meats or fish. It's awesome, I could eat it all the time! A very typical meal here that is called El plato del pueblo is chorizo, a fried egg, and french fries. We eat tons of french fries and I really don't want to eat any more! Most things here are fried in a pan with vegetable oil. I don't know if thats healthy or not? Here they don't have a grill and I never see them use an oven so fried it is! Also I can't get used to the eating times. Lunch is at 3 and dinner at 10, way to late and I'm dying by the time it's time to eat! I'm dying for some American food with some spice and flavor!

ESPANOL

Today was just a normal day, but today I feel like I'm really catching on with my Spanish.  I feel like I am understanding more and speaking more.  In school even with all the Americans I try to speak only in Spanish.  This is my only chance to learn Spanish and I gotta take full advantage.  I love getting out of school and coming home because the second I walk in the door it means that I know longer will even hear English!  Today Manuel and I ate perritos calientes for lunch..there so good here with cheese and onions mmm you can't go wrong!  Later after I slept again (this is becoming a regular thing) we all went to a Chijre.  This is just a small typical bar in the barrio.  Also I wanna mention that Manuel today is wearing the Boston shirt I brought for him...El mejor ciudad del mundo!!

Aviles y Candas

Hola mi familia y amigos!  I've been slacking like crazy with this blog so it's time to update.  This weekend I just hang out with my host family.  I love hanging out with them because I am forced to talk only in Spanish.  On Sunday We had a BBQ with Manuel's parents.  First Cristina and I went to a nearby town called Aviles. Aviles is very pretty, all of the building are very old architecture with stone and cast iron fences. In the city here everyone walks around shopping and going to cafes, that's the social life here.  In Aviles because it rains so much all of the building are designed with arched and covered.  So where the sidewalk would be are arches of stone covering it so people are always walking under somethings and don't get wet.   We walked around for 2 hours before Manuel picked us up and we drove to his parents house.  Manuel's family lives in the country, all that was around when we drove up were green hills of cows and horses.  When I walked into the gate of the house I was greeted by Manuel's dog, ducks, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, and some other birds like looking things that I have never seen before.  Everything in this house is made fresh to eat.  The bread crumbs are made from full loaves of bread in the house, they ea the eggs laid by their chickens, and eat the turkeys in their backyard.  For BBQ we had pig and lamb ribs..The pig ribs were probably the best I've ever eaten!!  Outside Manuel's dad has this iron stove/ oven thing where they cook everything slow over wood.   The meat is put in this metal holder and then pulled out and flipped over when the meat is ready.
    After eating myself into a food coma Cristina, Manuel, and I went to Candas, a nearby fishing town.  I was beautiful!  More old architecture with this whole town located in between two mountains.  Cliffs ran off right into the ocean.  One thing I really love about the buildings here besides the old architecture and cast iron fences are the colors.  Many of the houses and buildings are bright blue or pink or red or yellow and many of the streets here are extremely narrow.   I went home from hear to catch the Barcelona game where I sat down to watch it and passed out for the next 2 hours!! LOOONG day to say the least.

Aviles

Manuel's Parent's house


Candas


 

fútbol fútbol fútbol !!!

Today was the Barcelona vs Real Madrid game....this is like a Celtics Lakers playoff game but image the whole country is split between the two teams. Manuel told me that everyone in the country has their favorite fútbol team but then everyone either supports Barca or Real Madrid. These two teams are huge in Spain. Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo and Barca has players like Messi, Puyol, and so many more. Here fútbol is a way of life! The only thing on the news this whole week was coverage of the game. It was like the superbowl or when LeBron made his "decision" haha. Cristina, Manuel, and I went to a bar to watch the game and drink some Sidra. The thing here to do while watching a fútbol game is to eat sunflower seeds or pipas. The bar was absolutely packed! You couldn't sit anywhere if you didn't already have a table or walk around. The atmosphere is awesome. Everyone jumping out of their seats or jumping around and sheeting and screaming and arguing. It's awesome. Barcelona won this game 2-1. These two teams play again next week so well see what happens then.

My Host Family

My host family is awesome! Manuel and Cristina are so helpful with everything and make me feel so comfortable. They only speak to me in Spanish and I am forced to really practice. We eat lunch and dinner together, watch Spanish novelas, fútbol, and movies in Spanish together. They know how badly I want to become fluent and rlly help me. Last night they took me out for Sidra again and when we came back to the house had more Sidra. Sidra is a really nice way to go out and socialize and learn more about the culture. I definitely got lucky with the family I was placed with !

Dog Poop

I don't get it. Everyone here has little dogs here, like the handbag dog. The owners take their dogs out for a walk and let them poop where ever they want. Walking on my street is like walking through a field of land minds. Today I almost stepped in one that was in the cross walk in the middle of the street. Who lets their dog poop their?

Covadonga, Lagos y Ribadesella

Today was a very long day of touring around!! First we drive to Covadonga, its located so far in the mountains that we were taking such sharp pin point turns that if I was on that ride for 10 more minutes I would have gotten sick haha.  In Covadonga there is a beautiful cathedral located in the heart of the mountains.  The story is that hundreds and hundreds of years ago when the Muslins were trying to take over Spain 1,000 Muslins tried to take over the mountainous region and because they did not know the area they were forced to retreat by very few Asturians.  Because the Asturians won they built a chapel for the Virgin Mary in a cliff.  There is a water fountain where if you drink the water it is said that you will get married in one year.  It is funny because when Danielle, Suzanne, and I walked into the the cathedral we followed a group of boys who we thought was going to a cool part of the church.  Instead they were alter boys and going to a room to change.  When we noticed that we ran out of the room soo fast and noticed that other Americans followed us haha.  After Covedonga our group then drove to Lagos that's main attraction is a bridge that was built in the Roman era.  We walked around this town for a few hours, had lunch and then went to Ridadesella.  This is a town right on the beach.  Its Beautifull!! We got here and walked to the very top of a hill where the was a church and saw scenery of an amazing beach and amazing cliffs!On the walk back down from the cliffs we walked by houses that are built right on the side of these hugehills and cliffs.  The houses are have roof decks and over look the ocean.  In total this whole day went from 9am to 7pm, I was pooped.  It was awesome seeing other parts of Spain!

City Tour!

Today our group met at our school at 11:30 and went on a city tour until 2:30!  I wont talk a lot about it because I'm going to post the pictures I took from today.  I'm going to put a link to a 360 degree photo so make sure you click on the link! The walk was beautiful!  All the architecture is so different from here, its old and of stone.  Everything is also carved with great detail.  We walked through parks, past water fountains, past cathedrals, stopped at a small cafe, saw government buildings and so much more.  My favorite park was Parque Invierno.  It is a huge park located near the mountains here you can walk, ride your bike, play soccer and basketball, and hike around the mountains.  The mountain hike is 50 miles long!  The link of the 360 degree picture I'm going to post is of this park.  After the walk we all went to a restaurant where we met our host families and all ate.  this was nice because our families were now able to meet each other.  We ate for 4 hours!  We ate most of the same food we did yesterday at the traditional dinner with the addition of crab, hard boiled eggs, fried shrimp, an apple pie dessert, and another alcoholic drink after lunch.  It was awesome having me, Danielle, and Suzzane's host moms meet because they were so funny talking about us in Spanish and just laughing away at the things we do.  Everything about our cultures are so different.  Neither one is better but they are just so different!  After lunch I walked home with my host mom Cristina and now I'm just hanging out watching futbol.  Later I'm heading out with the girls and tomorrow a day trip to another city in Spain!

http://360.io/WnQpfH

Typical Asturia Dinner

A small group of exchange students went out for a dinner of typical Asturian food and free unlimited sangria! We had tons of food.  Here they eat a lot of fried food and carbs.  They're never short on bread! first they brought out tons of baskets of bread followed by a huge tort of potatoes, french fries, croquetas (like a mozzarella stick but smaller and filled with this sauce of flour, milk, salt, and sometimes ham) , chicken wings, thin slices of ham and other strange meats, calamari and tons more!

                                                                                                              Sangria!

Are these bathroom signs normal?

I saw this and just wanted to share it with everyone haha.

Ai Se Eu Te Pego

Just listen and there's no way you cant like this song.  I might have all the words memorized by the time I get home.  When they played it at the club everyone went crazy and knew the dance.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWpmbxbQ_Ok&feature=related

Salsa Salsa!!

 

Today our program put on a salsa party at this place called B12. We met first and went out to get Sidra and drinks. We went to our favorite Sidreria on Gascona st with our favorite waiter Pedro! We ordered some sidre and cubalibres por todos! Next to us in the bar there were 3 old men that kept singing old Spanish songs in deep opera voices when they wanted more to drink haha! We left this bar and walked to salsa. There were only 2 instructors and tons of ppl there so we danced salsa for a little and then they just started playing music and the placed turned into a club. It was awesome we danced to batchata, Celia Cruz, suavemente and more. When the American music came on the place went nuts, esp when they played spice girls haha. Tommorw we have a traditional dinner and free sangria tasting so well see how it is!!

I miss long hot showers

One thing I've realized I def take for granted are long hot showers. Here hot water is a luxury and I have to take fast showers which is ok because the water doesn't even get warm ! I have to do everything at warp speed. Getting out of the shower is even worse because this house is so cold. I have to dry off as fast as I can and put clothes on as fast as I can...I don't even have time for lotion!! Not to mention I walk around the house in 2 sweaters. Okay that was my venting session jaja..besides that I love it here!

cross walks

Picture this. Your waiting at one end of a crosswalk needing to cross the street. There are other people waiting on each side of the crosswalk also needing to cross. The light for the crosswalk is, you look up and down the street and there is no car as far as the eye can see. Yet no one is crossing. No one is rushed like we are in the United States. When the light finally turns green people finally mosie across the street. Now picture you are late for class and are already walking faster then everyone else making it more obvious that your American. Now picture not waiting for the light to turn green and jus crossing because there are no cars in sight and everyone staring at you like you're an alien. Yessss that is one part of my daily life in Oviedo.

sicky :(

Today was not that eventful of a day..I jus went to class and went home because I felt so sick. School here is more like high school back in the states. I often have classes back to back and school ends at 3 here just in time for lunch. Here everything in the whole city closes at 3. Also I'm in a building of all foreigners and have a lot of the same people in my classes just like in high school. Today our group went on a hike to the top of a mountain where there's a statue of Christ on the top. Because I wasn't feeling good I went home and slept and watched Pirates of the Caribbean in Spanish. For dinner we had pizza...except one of the pizzas was tuna and salmon flavored :/ After dinner I watched Valencia play Salamanca in futbol...I'm gonna turn into a huge soccer fan while being here!

tapas!

Today was my first day of classes. On Tuesdays I have 4 classes. Of course I get there for 9 and my first class is cancelled and I have to wait till 12 for my next one! All my classes are in Spanish but I'm with all exchange students who mostly speak English. I want to make friends with people who don't speak english. Everyday classes end by 3 so students can go home and eat lunch. Yesterday night out our whole group went out for tapas. We walked to this restaurant where you buy drinks and the waiter and bar tender walks around with free tapas. The tapas are just like small finger food. We get small pieces of bread with different types of ham on it or empanadillas and other small food. It's awesome to go into a bar and not worry about only bein 20 haha !