Uncool

So today kind of got off to a bad start. We got up to eat breakfast at 7:30, and we were supposed to leave for Seville by bus at 8:00. We were supposed to leave our big suitcases in a room and take a smaller suitcase with us (because we’re coming back to Madrid in 5 days). Anyway, after breakfast, Esther and I went up to our room to get all of our bags. We were on the 6th floor and the elevator was soooooo small. Once we got to the bottom floor, Esther and the other lady in the elevator made it out, but I couldn’t get out in time with all of my luggage. The door closed on me, and it didn’t even stop for my arm. It went all the way up to the 5th floor and took forever to get back down. I made it out finally. Then I had to get in a different elevator on the other side of the hotel to go to the 5th floor which was where the room was to store our suitcases. The security guard gave me the key to the room, and when I got up there, I couldn’t find the room. It was a labyrinth. Finally, I found it, and of course, the key didn’t work. I had to go down the slow elevator with all of my luggage again. Our professor was down there telling me, “Let’s go. Let’s go!” So I got a different key and went up the stinkin’ elevator again, and I ran back down the stairs. I was the freakin’ last one on the bus, holding it up. People were probably so mad at me. I had to walk all the way to the back of the bus, and nobody would let me sit next to them. Almost everybody had their own 2 seats. I felt like the new kid in town on the first day of school on the bus….or like Forest Gump: “This seat’s taken.” I mean, I actually asked some people if I could sit with them, and they literally said, “No, sorry.” Dude, I know everybody wants 2 seats for themselves, but if someone asked me if they could sit by me, I would never say no. The seats recline nicely, so it’s still possible to sleep. Anyway, I ended up sitting in the very back in the seat right against the back wall (thanks to two ladies that hesitantly moved toward the windows on each side of the seat I was sitting in)…that didn’t recline. I was extremely upset, thinking of what happened, and how tired I was, and how I wouldn’t be able to sleep on the 7-hour journey. I wanted to cry, and I didn’t want to speak to anybody because I knew I would start crying if I did….what a baby. Well, the professor then announced that he had a surprise for us….we weren’t going by bus to the city, we were going by high-speed train instead, which would only take 2 hrs. and 40 mins. I was very glad, but when we arrived to the station, he announced that we only had 10 mins. to catch the train. Oh geeze….then it would be my fault if we missed the train. But we made it barely. So here I am on the train, writing this and watching PS I Love You. I’m pretty upset about the whole thing, but I’ve calmed down a little. I just don’t like to draw attention to myself, especially negative attention. This movie is really sad by the way.
Sorry for the long story. It probably wouldn’t be a big deal to many people, but it was to me. I’m embarrassed by things like this, and then I think everybody hates me.
It was my birthday yesterday. Nobody knew until 10:00 PM right after dinner when someone asked me how old I was. Birthdays aren’t really that special anyway anymore to me, but it is nice to be with somebody on your birthday who knows that it’s your birthday at least.
The end.

paoweh fau

Well, today was an exhausting day. I think my body is going to take a long time to adjust to the time change. Right now it’s almost 10:30 PM, and for those in CA it’s 1:30 PM. I just ate dinner, and you just ate lunch….weird. Speaking of food, I don’t think that the food here is agreeing with my stomach. I woke up sick in the middle of the night, and I felt nauseous all day long. Actually, this should be no surprise to those who are around me a lot. I always have stomach issues. It just sucks to be sick when you’re traveling all over the place. If this keeps up, I will come back 20 pounds lighter (which is good, but it’s not the way I want to lose it!). I hope it goes away before our 7-hour bus ride on Sunday. Oh, by the way Jordan, they have a breakfast buffet, so yay for us for not having to pay for b-fast the morning after you arrive!
We took a bus tour of Madrid today, which was cool. This city really is pretty. And it doesn’t really seem like I’m outside of America. Everything is very modern. The people here are very friendly….always saying hello when passing on the sidewalk and such. After the bus tour we were on our own for lunch, and I ate at this little restaurant with some new friends. I ordered a sandwich, and I knew it would be small, but it came out and was seriously three inches long. It was cute. It was just plain toasted bread with some plain white meat chicken on it….nothing else, but it was perfect for my stomach. It did come with chips, so I had a little bit more to eat. The picture on the menu was deceiving because it was like 12x the size of the actual sandwich.
In the afternoon, we went to the Prado Museum where there are lots of famous paintings. We saw the works of Goya and Velazquez, among others. It was cool to see the actual paintings of what I’ve studied before. There was one painting there from the 1400s, and I was just amazed at how bright the colors still were. The painting was of the crucifixion of Christ, and it looked 3D. It was simply unbelievable. Anyway, after the museum, I came back to my room and took a nap.
That’s it. Bye.
Esta parte es para KC: hay un hombre cerca de nuestra edad aquí que es de Polandia, y cuando habla español, suena exactamente como Prof. Kulawik. ¿Tuviste clase(s) con él, no? Quería compartir eso contigo porque Kulawik era……pues…..Kulawik….como una celebridad. ☺

I'm here!

So, I made it alive. I did not sleep at all on the plane. That means I missed an entire night's sleep. That photo is what I looked like upon arrival. When we came to Madrid, we had to circle around for 15 mins in the plane because airport traffic was apparently backed up a little. It was soooooo pretty though. Seriously, once we flew over Madrid, the skies opened up. There were solid clouds the whole way, then suddenly it was completely clear. Anyway, after we landed early, I waited an hour for another girl to come in so we could share a cab. That taxi driver spoke so fast....I had no idea what he was saying half the time. The Spanish here is sooooo different than what I'm used to. When we got to the hotel, I slept for 5 hours because I could. We had dinner as a group, and I met a bunch of great girls. There are 30 females in the program, and 3 males. Dinner was fishy. the salad had a big smoked raw salmon or something on top of it. Needless to say, I couldn't eat it. Then we had some fried fish for the main course which was good.

I've been using my Spanish alot (obviously). We are required to speak it to each other. I picked out about 2 other girls who seemed to have the same confidence level as me with speaking, so that made me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one. It actually made me more confident in a strange way. The people in this program are from all over the US. It's so awesome that you can do this even if you move around to different states.

My roomate here is the same one that I'll be living with in Valladolid. She's very nice. She's Brazilian and Portuguese, and has a pretty cool accent. Anyway, I'm just kind of spewing out what has happened so far, which isn't very exciting, but hopefully we'll have some FREE internet sometime so I can take more time to think while a write.

1 more day

I really can't believe that I will be leaving tomorrow morning. It's weird to think that I won't be in America in my comfort zone for the next 6 1/2 weeks. I got my housing assignment for Valladolid. I'll be living with one other student with our host mom, who is divorced and lives with her small dog (which brightens my day). She has a 28 year-old daughter who comes to visit on the weekends so I'm excited to meet her! Her place is very very close to the university, so I will be able to walk there without taking a bus. And get this, her name is Montserrat. I have never heard of anybody named this. It's like naming somebody "Glendale" except Montserrat is prettier.

I've mapped out all of the places we'll be going to for the first 10 days. We'll be taking a bus, so I went to Google Maps and found out the mileage and time it will take to get from place to place. It's going to be a lot of time spent on the bus! I'm bringing lots of Meclazine though. I'm bringing my laptop but I don't know what to do with it while we're doing all of that traveling. Do I leave it on the bus? In the hotel? It doesn't seem like it would be safe anywhere. I'm definitely not carrying it with me while we tour.

I'm feeling very nervous about all of the "unknowns" right now, and also about flying. As most of you know, I think that every time I step foot on a plane, that plane will go down. I panic at every bump that I feel. Unfortunately I fly alot. For some reason, I feel much safer when Jordan is flying with me, so that will be good for the ride back to CA.

Anyway, that's enough of this extremely exciting journal entry. It's time to print of the plane tickets!

Explanation

Hello everybody. So, I decided to start a blog to be just like Kara and Mike. For those of you who may not know, I am traveling to Spain for 6 1/2 weeks this summer. I'm starting my Masters in Spanish through Sacramento State University. The program I'm in is my dream program. It's all done during the summers and it's all abroad. They switch every year between Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru, and Spain. It will probably take me 4 or 5 summers to finish, although it can be done in 3, but you'd have to take 9 credits each summer to do that.

Anyway, I will arrive in Madrid on the 25th of June and for the next 10 days, we'll be traveling to Seville, Granada, Córdoba, Toledo, and Segovia. Our final stop for the next four weeks will be in Valladolid in the autónoma of Castilla y León. There, I will be staying with a host family and taking two classes at the University of Valladolid. The classes look intense. Somewhere within those 4 weeks, we will be taking a trip to Salamanca. On August 3rd, we will return to Madrid where most of the students will be returning to the US. But I'm going to stay there and pick Jordan up at the airport! Yay! We will then travel to Perpignon, France for a day or maybe two, and end up in Barcelona (Spain) until the 10th. That is when we fly home!

This will be one busy summer. I'm excited and terrified all at once. The closer it comes, the more I think about how hard it will be to leave Jordan for that long, and I feel sick to my stomach. My main goal from this will be to come back being a better Spanish speaker and to be confident about it so I can be a better teacher.

I don't know how often I will post things. It depends on if anything exciting ever happens. If anybody has a Skype account, add me and we can Skype. My screenname is juleea10, or you can just search my full name. I'll just be 8 hours ahead of those on the west coast and 5 hours ahead of those in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Anyway, prayers would be much appreciated...especially when I'm flying! I'll catch ya'll later.