Erin's Travel Blog

Flew to Barcelona yesterday morning. Just in time for Día de Sant Jordi (St. Geroge Day), which is the Spanish version of Valentine's Day. There are roses being sold EVERYWHERE, in any color you could ask for, even rainbow. It is also el día de los libros (book day), so there are tents set up in all the plazas selling books. Several of them also have authors signing throughout the day. I had a book called Fantasias animadas by Berta Marse inscribed. I came to Barcelona this weekend to visit my friend from high school spanish class, John Neff. So I was calling him throughout the morning trying to meet up. However, he has a spanish girlfriend, so he was spending the day with her. I decided to get myself away from all the cuddly couples and roses on the street by having some retail therapy. I spent a lot of time in Desigual because I really want to get something from there, but I couldn't find anything I really liked enough to pay those prices. Their swim suits are adorable

Stage 1.2 La Crema We woke up around noon on Friday. We immediately got into the car to drive into the city and see the last show of noise fireworks. They're set off at 2 pm every day for about two weeks before the Crema of the fallas . And they're supposed to have a certain rhythm to them. The plaza is always packed for the fireworks show, and especially for the last show, so we wanted to get there early. We worked our way through the crowd and squeezed into a small bar to get a breakfast of patatas bravas and calamari. Then headed back outside to see/hear the show . After the fireworks, everyone disappears from the streets and into the bars to drink until the crema begins. We walked a few blocks away from the middle of the city to try to find someplace where we could have a sufficient meal. Cote said he was going to buy us lunch because it was his saint's day. Saint's days are more important than birthdays here in Spain. I'm actually surprised he didn't h

Semana Santa - Stage 1.1 Las Fallas of Valencia My vacations for Semana Santa began on 18 March. Steph, Darlene and I had plans to go down to Valencia to see what Las Fallas are all about. Darlene's host brother, Cote, offered to drive us down there and let us stay in his apartment for the fiesta. Free transportation and a place to stay cannot be passed up, so of course we said yes. We drove down on Thursday afternoon to avoid the traffic on Friday, though I was still recovering from a stomach flu that hit me Wednesday. I had forgotten how much fun road trips are with your friends. We put in the mix that Liz had made and kept our eyes open for any Toros on the side of the road. When we arrived in Valencia the traffic was already crazy. There were roads blocked off everywhere. Cote drove to his apartment, but then told us that we wouldn't actually be staying there. I guess it is an apartment belonging to his work, so all of his co-workers were staying there as well.

Ryanair sucks. They seem fenomenal when you're booking your flight and it costs a mere 25 € roundtrip. But then you get to the airport. Actually flying with Ryanair is a horrible experience. Unless you buy your ticket at the counter, and, come on, who does that anymore? you must check-in online and print your boarding pass. They say it's no problem if you have printer issues or no printer. But what they really mean is that it will cost you 40€ for them to print it for you at the airport. This is "because there are no printers" at the airport. If by some luck you did print your boarding pass or you had enough cash to buy a new one, you then get to go through the super-fun process of checking your bags or trying to fit your normally-acceptable carry-on into the shockingly small testing cage. Don't forget that you're only allowed ONE (1) piece of hand luggage. No, you can't also carry a purse or computer. Those things must fit into your carry-on, whic

On the third day we ate breakfast for the last time with our families. Of course, we had fresh bread and cookies to go with our tea. Steph, Nora and I made sure to take pictures with all the family before we left. On our way out of the city to drive to the Rif mountains , we made a quick stop at the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V . It is an unfinished mosque, which would have been the largest mosque if it had been completed. I took plenty of pictures of the beautiful patterned devised by islamic artists. I think it's so amazing how creative they can be without depicting anything living. After our quick walk through what would have been the mosque, we piled into the van and drove to the Riff Mountains, where we had a personal visit with a family living there. We picked up a guide along the way – a man who was born in the village and left to go study in England. He led us on a quick walk through the countryside around the village before taking us to his sister's husband'

Erin is a very difficult name for the Spanish. -- Erin es un nombre muy difícil para los españoles.

The second day we woke up and had a giant breakfast of fresh bread and cookies made by our host mother in the bakery. Mmm they were so good; l-makla bnina. One of the best parts of eating breakfast there was being able to see the sunshine on the roof/deck through the kitchen door. Our family's house was...interesting. I think it was pretty typical for a Moroccan house. A big wooden door on the street opened to a short passageway leading to a courtyard, which I assume is shared with other families. Another door in the passageway opened to a winding staircase that went up to our family's house. The bathroom, equipped with a turkish toilet , was half-way up the stairs. Once you reached the top of the stairs there was a long, skinny room with a TV and couches lining the walls. The kitchen was through a doorway on the right. There was a small bedroom at the far end of the TV room and another large sitting room down there and to the right. We slept in this large room. Couches lin

Whew! It's already been two weeks since I was in Morocco. What an exciting whirlwind of a weekend. It was like a mini aftertaste of Semester at Sea , like a memory snack. First of all, I must apologize for being such a bad blogger. I just can't ever get myself to write a post before I climb into bed at midnight. It's all the spanish reading, I assure you. But in my own defense, I did write a couple posts on my iPhone using a horrible app that just deleted everything I wrote and told me it was posted. And now, my Morocco trip with Morocco Exchange : I started and ended my trip with an overnight trip on the bus. It was not fun either time. But my options were limited since I guess not many people go from Madrid down to the very southern tip of Spain - Algeciras . So I got on the bus on Wed night at 10 pm and arrived in Algeciras at 6 am. I had to wait around for two hours to meet up with the rest of the group for the Morocco Exchange Program. Because Semester at Sea tau

La fin de semana pasada (12-13 de februario) fuimos a Seville los otros estudiantes y yo. Fuimos por tren—el AVE. No me parecía muy rápido, pero es pienso. Cuando llegábamos, caminamos al hotel. Después fuimos a la Catedral para...no sé, para que supiéramos dónde reunirnos luego. Tenemos tiempo libre para comer antes de ir de gira por la Catedral. Era una lástima que estaba lluviendo. Nos refugimos en un resturante de tapas. Pero, ya que hemos comiendo en el hotel porque morímos de hambre, sólo compramos cafe y churros con chocolate. Hace frio dentro de la Catedral en Seville como la Catedral en Toledo. Asi que subimos la torre calentarnos. Se puede ver toda la cuidad desde lo alto. Revolvemos abajo y hacimos un recorrido por la iglesia. Más de lo mismo de la otra Catedral: techos altos, arte gótico, borroco, altar, coro...Sin embargo, esta Catedral tiene la tumba de Cristobal Colón. Después caminamos con Ray al Museo de bellas artes . Era un monasterio antes de convertirse en

Voy a Marruecos en una semana. Estoy nerviosa, no sé por qué. He ido a Salvador, Brazil. ¿Qué lugar pueda ser más peligroso (además de las otras ciudades en eso país)? También, yo las sé las regulaciones de vestir en sitios religiosos; fui a India y Malaysia. Pienso que es que me hacería daño. No hay facilidades medicales suficientes en caso de una emergencia, sino en ciudades grandes como Rabat y Casablanca. Y esas también son caras. Sería problemas con seguro contra accidentes. Yo no sé. Pero, al mismo tiempo, ¡estará en Maracas, en Casablanca, en Africa! Estoy excitada. Si queraís saber más sobre lo que hacerá, aquí es la página web: http://www.moroccoexchange.org. I'm going to Morocco in one week. I'm nervous, but I don't know why. I've been to Salvador, Brazil. What place could be more dangerous (besides other cities in that country)? Also, I already know the rules of dressing in religious countries; I went to India and Malaysia. I think it's because I coul

My mom is not as knowledgeable in things computer- or internet-related. So this post is for her and people like her. It is an explanation of hyperlinks. Dear mom, As you read my blog posts, you may notice some words are a different color, as if they are being highlighted. Well, these words are the equivalent of a footnote in books. You can click on them for a further explanation or more information. A hyperlink is the term used for these special words. I hope that helps. Love you.

Vocabulario que he aprendido (y escrito)*: Vocabulary I've learned (and written down)*: recordar - to remind quedarse bien/mal - to go well/bad with pegar - to hit pagar - to pay enchufar - to plug in pelaje - fur cuello - neck parelo (?) - sarong viento - wind cuenta - bead (on clothes), check (in restaurant) mono/a - monkey; cute (España); blonde (Colombia) *afuera de mis clases, por supuesto. *outside of my classes, of course.

Viaje a Toledo/Trip to Toledo 29 de enero fuimos a Toledo en central España. Todo reunieron a las 9.30h en la estación circa del Instituto—Conde de Casal. Y allí cargaron los autobuses. La vuelta duró una hora, y paramos un poco fuera la ciudad para usar los baños, porque aparientamente??? es dificil para encontrar baños públicos en Toledo. Nos primera parada era encima de una grande colina dónde se puede ver toda la ciudad. Despúes volvimos abajo a la ciudad para llegar a la Catedral . Hace más frio dentro que afuera la Catedral. Era construido en los estilos gotico y flamenco con aspectos de musulmán . En cualquier sitio que se ve, hay muchos detalles bonitos y intrincados. También tiene muchas obras de arte de diferentes artistos, incluyendo El Greco y Goya . Era tan mucho para absorbar en tan poco tiempo. Luego tenemos tiempo libre para comer y caminar como querimos. Fui con unas chicas que se llaman Steph y Darlene buscando para chocolate con churros . Los descburimos e

En mi primer lunes tenía una entrevista para mi puesto de interno en Glamour . Estaba nerviosa porque mi español no es muy fuerte. Pero hice okay. Era más de una instrucción de mis responsibilidades que una entrevista. También, empecé trabajando entonces. [Más sobre este aquí .] Las clases en el Instituto empezaron en lunes también. Obviamente, no podía ir porque tenía trabajo, pero mis profesores lo sabían. Las clases que estoy tomando son Cine Española, Arte en los museos de Madrid y Novela contemporania Española. Entonces puedo asimilar toda la cultura por mirando, viendo y leyendo. De todos modos, esta tópica es aburrida - más sobre España: Aquí, no se dice "bien" o "bueno" - se dice "vale." No se dice "qué", pero "cómo". No "lo siento", es "perdón". Se come muy tarde. Casi nada para desayunar, cafe con leche (mmmm) y una tostada o cookie. Se tiene cereal, pero todo tiene chocolate, incluyendo Special K.

*I am going to write in Spanish first and then translate to English, so I can see if my language skills increase AT ALL over the semester.* Después de llegando en Madrid, fui con el resto del groupo a un hótel, que se llama Hotel Regina. Es circa de la plaza del Sol. Tuvimos un reunión sobre los móviles al hótel poco después de llegaron allí, pero tuve tiempo para ducharme. Era sucia después de sido en un avión o aeropuerto todo al día. Luego tenía tiempo libre y podía descansar. Era una siesta muy agredable y refrescante. No hicimos mucho más eso día. Solo tenía cenar, y muchas personas fueron fuera, pero yo dormía más. El próximo día, tenímos reuniones dónde nos dicieron sobre clases y quedando en las casas. Hay mucho información, entonces te ahorro los detalles. Luego unas amigas nuevas y yo fuimos para cenar. Buscamos para un restarante que sirva sushi, pero no podemos descubrirlo. En vez, fuimos a un restarante de tapas. Tuve un plato de espárrago y fois. También sangria,

The process of finalizing my application for my semester in Madrid was much different than getting ready for Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea really did so much of the heavy work for me. I guess they had to, since most of my problems were with acquiring my visa, and there were so many visas to get for Semester at Sea. Somehow I managed to get everything together, though there were a few close calls. Now, the day has come for me to leave. My flight leaves Tulsa at 6 am tomorrow, and I am freaking out. I have everything packed (somehow I managed to fit it all into two suitcases), so I'm set. But I have recently come to the shocking realization that I don't speak Spanish. Yes, I've taken it since 8th grade. No, that doesn't mean I speak it. How am I supposed to manage living with a Spanish family, taking classes in Spanish and interning for Spain Glamor? They will expect me to speak Spanish! And rather well, too. I'm terrified.