Segovi-wha?

Don't mock the title, I thought it was cute. But yes... Segovia.

25 minutes by train (18 euros round trip) outside of Madrid, it's been preserved beautifully... it has the Roman acueductos (aqueducts) from the 8th century, the Cathedral and the Alcazar (I'm sure it had more but that's all we saw).

Not a lot of tourists because (a) it's January and freaking cold, and (b) it's not as popular as Toledo. Still, absolutely gorgeous.

Lots of walking to get around but it's great to get out of the bustling gray city, especially to a place as unexpectedly beautiful as Segovia. Here are some pics:

We walked all the way to the bottom (North?) of the town just to see this view. Despite the extra how-many-minutes-extra-it-was, I think everyone was agreement that this was totally worth it. It looks like we're standing in front of a Disney backdrop... this is the only pic of the entire group, methinks.

This is the outside of the Cathedral in the center of the city. The inside is much darker. Gotta love that architecture though.

Inside the Cathedral is a courtyard where we found a caged off wishing well. The lock, etc, did not stop us, obviously. I find the intensity with which we observed each drop to be extremely entertaining.

All in all, Segovia is gorgeous. Historical where Madrid is not (apparently Spaniards have a think about destroying historical buildings and sites to build on top of them?), green where Madrid is not, and quiet (which is pretty much the opposite of Madrid). Segovia is apparently one of the few areas where Jewish, Christian and Muslim people managed to live in harmony. ie, an inspiration. (Then again this tidbit is coming from a teacher who thinks that Spain is essentially the best most amazing country in the world, so I really ought to do my research...)

Joy. An emotion, as well as nightclub.

I find that back in the States the events, parties, etc. start winding down around 2 or 3 am... In Spain, that's the time we leave for a club. For someone who enjoys her sleep and being conscious during daylight hours, it is an evolutionary process... but I'm getting there ;)

'Joy' is a nightclub in downtown Madrid popular, for the most part, with the tourist crowds. We met other Americans as well as (at least in my case) Australians, Germans, Spaniards and one French guy (I find that living in Spain is slowly corroding my French, so it was great to practice for a bit).

Some pics of Joy:

This pic was taken off the Joy Madrid website. This is what it would look like if it were clean, well lit and empty. It is none of these things (tho still a lot of fun).

This is one of the dancers in a glass bowl on the stage. No, she is not wearing a shirt.

(Please note that these pics were stolen from my friend Shani, who is talented and wonderful and does not know I took them)

A couple of USAC students (myself included, yes, I am wearing a red dress with a zipper down the front) at the club. We look pretty good, if I do say so myself, considering it was probably around 4am, 4:30?

Alcampo = Spanish Walmart

So across from my Metro estacion (Estrella) there is an Alcampo, which is like Spain's version of Walmart (except its not as sketch...). BUT it was very interesting to shop there. I was looking for warm cheapo PJs since I SERIOUSLY underestimated how cold it was here...

Anyway I found these amazing Popeye the Sailorman PJs for 7,00 Euros. (in Spanish they use a comma, not a period, for prices)

I realize that a large portion of this pic is me but whatever, I can't use Photobooth well.

The funny thing was that while these PJs fit me pretty well they were size XL, and before you make a fat joke (ie my bro, et al) you should note that the only sizes they offered in men's sizes were XL and XXL, which were all pretty small... maybe Spanish men have self-esteem issues with their slightly shorter stature? But the women's sizes were small, medium, large...

Two Thoughts on Art and Language

So today I would like to impress upon the world two things:

1. Art is bomb, and more bomb when done in a class with friends.

Here's some random scribbles that we handed to our partners and they turned the scribbles into art. (it was a team effort)

2. This language is super hard to understand while spoken quickly. In S. America/Mexico (and how the entirety of the US is taught) a word like "Gracias" is spoken "Grah-SEE-as"... in Spain, no. It becomes "Grah-THEE-as". I'm talking with a lisp here.

First days in Madrid

So the first days of Madrid have gone by faster than I would expect: the kids in the program are great, my host "family" (really just a couple) is super sweet and accommodating and I've registered for classes.

According to my host family spea

k with a German accent and can put my words in order, and I've in placed in a higher level Spanish class than I expected (or, really, wanted). And apparently my accent isn't American... it's German... ? (from my 2 hours spent on layover in Frankfurt on Monday I know for a fact my German is disgustingly poor)

Anyway here are some pics, hopefully there'll be more interesting ones later! :)

The group in Plaza Mayor, meeting up in the nasty rain thats been here all week...

These are the paintings in the background of the pic above. Absolutely beautiful (but probably better if the weather wasnt so gray)

And of course the market near la Plaza Mayor has a tower of wine bottles. And of course I have to take the picture next to it... :)

Pre-departure Thoughts & Goals

Hello all!

This is a way for me to post entries about my experiences in Europe for all my friends and fam back home and around the globe. It's completely separate from my FB (but feel free to contact me through that) but is viewable from the WWW> it'll be funsies.

Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with my Europe plans, here's the 2 minute summary:

1. I lived in France when I was little (3 years when I was 4, one trimester junior year of HS), so I speak French and have already visited a lot of the places I will be going.

2. I am studying in Madrid, Spain for my Spring 2010 semester. While back home I am a business student, none of my classes are business related. Instead I am taking 12 credits of Spanish (incl. cinema & composition), 3 credits Drawing, 1 credit Cooking, 1 credit Dances of Spain and 2 online credit classes for Entrepreneurship from my home university.

3. My classes are from January 13th to May 14th and then I am traveling around Europe till June 6th.

My goals for this program are:

- Get fluent (or close) in Spanish

- To partake of the nightlife properly (Spaniards are famous, or perhaps infamous, for the nightlife... I've heard that the average Spaniard gets an hour less of sleep PER NIGHT than citizens of other countries, and thats still less than Americans)

- Learn how to cook and dance in a Spanish-like fashion

- Travel. And figure out how to do it cheaply, as rent in downtown Madrid will be quickly sucking my funds dry.

Anyway, I hope to be updating/publishing every couple days (for posterity's sake) so enjoy :)