Otra vez...por favor

Random picture of the three Spanish Education majors

So....I was talking to my friend Katie the other day on one of our bi-weekly US-Spain calls, bragging about how much better I've gotten with my Spanish over the past few weeks (almost all of my dreams are in Spanish now!) I told her that once you actually understand pretty much everything, there aren't so many funny moments. Guess I forgot to knock on wood!



In my literature class I needed to find a tutor in class, but the majority of the kids are foreign and I needed a Spanish student. So, I took the plunge and started asking....I was rejected about 10 times before one girl finally said "yes". I was pumped! I went on to explain what I needed, etc. and then she asked me a question. I think. I didn't know what she said so I asked her to repeat it. She did. I STILL didn't understand. I apologized and asked her to repeat it a bit more slowly. This is where is gets bad...I still didn't understand her! Haha, soooo I had to ask for a THIRD time. She said it again and I was LOST....what the heck?!?! I STILL DIDN'T UNDERSTAND. I was staring at her thinking, how the HECK am I going to be able to ask a fourth time?!?!?! 4 times?!?! I wondering what would happen if I just turned around and bolted out the door.....trust me, if I didn't need to class to graduate I would have taken my chances running. Needless to say I still don't have a tutor and I don't blame her....unless they pay extra for helping mentally handicapped Americans, it's soooo not worth it.



On an awesome note: I leave for Amsterdam tomorrow to visit my cousin Katie, her husband, and their two kids. You know that hand rubbing thing I do when I get excited, well I have blisters on my fingers this week! When I was little....wait....younger....I used to go visit Katie and Erik in Notre Dame and I can't wait to spend another Halloween weekend with them...Euro-style this time.

Weekend

Well, it's 3:30pm and I'm the only roommate awake right now....just for those of you who didn't believe me that the Spanish schedule is COMPLETELY different!!!! Nope, it's not siesta time...they're just still sleeping. I'll start from the beginning:

So Friday night we all went out for one of the Marquette girls' birthdays. At about 2am most people wanted to go to a disco, but they're way expensive so a few of us went out with a few of our Spanish friends to another bar so we could talk and practice our Spanish. It was great, but getting home at 6am is never easy...for the Americans. But it was my one night out this weekend, right? WRONG! Then last night my roommate Andrea took me out again with her friends for "dinner": while we were both sitting shoeless in the metro at 6:30am this morning talking Spanglish to each other I was trying to figure out what the heck happened to the low-key dinner?!?! One of her friends from class was having her birthday dinner and since she speaks perfect English from living in Miami I always like asking her for slang translations that most Spaniards don't know... so I decided to go. Well, at about 2am I was mentally DEAD from listening so hard to everyone's convos. That's when they decided to go to "boys town" in Madrid to the "super-cutre (trashy)" gay bar. Haha, in case I wasn't totally beat before, seeing half- naked dudes make out to "It's Raining Men" will do it. It was a change from the usual clubs, I guess. By the time we left at 6am when the Metro reopened I was pretty much flat-lined. We had to wait half an hour since the Metro broke down and it was the roughest Spanish conversation of my life..."I was, I am, you are....he IS" was a rough translation of what I sounded like fumbing for the right words. Andrea and I have never spoken more than 2 word sentences to each other in English but she started telling me a story in Enlgish about how she fell asleep in the metro once and rode for hours.....and after hearing English I gave in and just spoke in English for the next 10 minutes home. I don't think she understood much but I didn't really care. I totally cheated but I did dream in Spanish all night so something must be working!

I've got basketball practice in a few minutes so I better run but love to all back home. I leave for Amsterdam to visit my awesome cousin Katie and her family on Wednesday so I am supppppper pumped for that and will have some great updates, I'm sure!

Getting better....

Our roommate dinner: Sandra, Irene, y Andrea (and her Brazilian friend David who was in Spain for the weekend)

My Capoeira move :)
Out at Plaza de Espana with our new Spanish friends

Hey Dudes!

Well, this week has been pretty busy already. On Friday night I went out with some girls from Marquette to meet their Spanish friends at a park here. There were about 10 Spanish guys and the four of us so we got a LOT of practice speaking in Spanish. Then Saturuday, I was exhausted from Friday night but at 11:30pm my roommate asked me to go out with her and she's way to much fun to turn down. We walked about an hour across town to meet her friends and there were about 10 of them at an apartment. Of course everyone wanted to ask me questions and I felt like Andrea's (my roomie) pet since sometimes she had to "dumb down" the questions to simple Spanish! It was cute b/c she was so protective of me and wouldn't let ANYONE speak English to me. We went out later with just a few of them to a few bars and again it was GREAT practice. However, since the bars were all local Spanish places, she got a kick out of me pretending I didn't speak Spanish to the guys who were trying to talk to me because I was an American. It gets annoying after a while. Anyways, Andrea randomly announced early this week in the kitchen "cebolla [sa-boy-a]" which means "onion" while holding it up. I told her I actually knew that word, but thanks. I was so confused because she kept saying it over and over and finally was like "Bailey, 'cebolla' where my SISTER is! I'm going there for Christmas!!!" I was DYING of laughter since her sister is in SHEBOYGAN! That would have taken me YEARS to figure out but I sure got a taste of my own medicine...they must feel like that everytime I open my mouth.

News of the week:
I finally mastered my break-dance move for my capoiera class....some kids are still on cartwheels so I'm like on cloud nine! Even the Spanish and French kids could tell I was excited when I was on my head going "oh my God, yes....yes...I'm doing it...ahhhh!!!"
I had my first dream in Spanish which means my mind is slowly adjusting...just not as fast as I'd like.
I joined a basketball team here so I need to learn all the Spanish commands ASAP (i.e pass it, I'm open, shoot, etc...)

Nothing too excting but I'll keep ya posted.

I wish I was HOME....

I haven't had a single moment that I wished I was at home until right now....my little brother Callan got his first job and my mom went in to see him at work. Here is the picture of Callan and my mom at Callan's new job.

Seriously how the "H-E-double hockey sticks" did I miss this?!?!?!?!?!?!

gutten tag!

Bavarian Castle
In Hainburg, Lena's town
Me, a Lamborgini, and a Prada in the same picture!
Elke, Lena, and Me
Frankfurt Skyline

Hey all!

I'm back from my amazing weekend in Germany. I am totally in love with the easy transportation here in Europe. Lena, our exchange student, was at the airport Thursday night waiting to pick me up with a white friendship rose. On Friday I awoke to an AMAZING breakfast she had made....my first sit down meal in a long time! Then it was off to Bavaria to see a castle, a bit of Oktoberfest, and to grab a latte at a tiny street cafe. In the afternoon we headed to the town where Lena's mom, Elke, was staying. She's at a spa during her time off of school so Lena and her dad were home alone for a couple weeks. The town was amazing: fall colors, cool temperatures, great hillside views, etc. We went for a hike to a Bavarian cafe and I got to try the Bavarian dumpling! We returned to Frankfurt for dinner with Andreas, Lena's dad, which was at first a bit awkward as he speaks NO English. By Sunday, though, we were best buddies! Friday night we went clubbing German style and spent the day Saturday on tour of Frankfurt. The weather was so nice we even went for a walk along the Main River and had dinner again with Andreas. I have no idea how we got so much crammed into one weekend, but it was amazing! Saying goodbye to them was almost as hard as saying goodbye to my own family since both Lena and her mom have lived with us in the states and they treated me like a queen for the weekend! In fact, I had so much fun I am thinking about going back in December for their Christmas Market as they all said Germany as Christmas is impossible to miss. We'll see...with flights as cheap as 50 bucks it might be worth it!



Last night I had my first "intercambio" or language exchange meeting with a woman from Madrid. She wanted to practice her English and I need to practice my Spanish so we went for tapas at a few different places. She wants to show me some places in the city so I'm not one to turn down Spanish friendship!



I also started teaching Lengua Inglesa II (second year English) at the university today. It was so funny to see all the Spanish kids in my shoes! I started by telling them all about my "naked milk" and "cheek kissing" stories so that they would know that I know EXACTLY how they feel. I have about 30 students in my class, most from Spain and between ages 19-27, and a few of them came up after class to ask if I wanted to hang out with them sometime. I was so pumped; I guess I'm just THAT cool!!! And then I realized that clearly they all just want A's....haha!

Week in Review

The "bullfight" of the decade!

(wish I knew why it was so good)

Bull fight "Plaza de torros (bulls)"

Hey All-



Well, this week has been crazy busy so I'll fill ya in with the short version.



Sat AM: I spent Saturday morning at the bullfights! One of the matadors had like the "fight" of his life and we got to see history made as he was carried out on the shoulders of some people through the "big door" of the plaza. I don't know what that meant, but it was all over the news b/c it's really rare! So that was great.



Sat PM: My fever spiked and I was feeling miserable after being sick all week. My lymph nodes were painful to the touch so I caved and went to urgent care at night. I WAS so proud of myself for getting it all figured out in Spanish. AND I had no idea that medical care AND medicine is free in Spain!!! I thought they were kidding...whole thing took 20 minz and the clinic is off my street....I was kicking myself for waiting so long! FREE...it really made the US look pathetic!



Sun: Spent the afternoon in Retiro Park "people watching" with some friends.



Weekdays: Classes have been good. I start working as a TA in the English department next week and I still have Capoeira class Monday and Wednesday. I'm thinking about joining am indoor soccer team but I don't know how much time I'll have...I'm pretty much always busy now (oh because I'm running lots now because I signed up for the Madrid Marathon in the spring!!!)



Thursday-Sunday: I'm leaving tomorrow for Germany to visit our exchange student Lena and her family. It's my first Euro trip and I'm excited to be getting away for a bit. It's a good time to leave, too. Tension are a little high in Spain right now as there were a few terrorist attacks in the northern part of the country this week and there is some unrealted tension with the royal family as well. I think everyone's a little on edge. Not that it's dangerous, it's all politically motived Basque stuff but still has everyone a little worried about the whole "wrong place, wrong time" thing.



I'll keep you posted on the trip!

a "chill" night on the town!

Spanish Senate building
Where the Spanish started the War of Independencia vs. Napoleon

Me in front of the Palacio Real

Madrid's first Plaza Mayor, built in the 1500's

My friend Liz and I decided today that we were going to spend the night "chilling" in Madrid. I met her at her house a few blocks from where live. She lives with a family of two older Spanish woman, a mother and daughter. That's usually a common set-up in Madrid, the "senoras" rent out rooms to make money as most are widows who are too old to work. Rather than give you a detailed description of our night, I'm going to try to do it in a "touristic" sort of way so you learn a little about the city. First, we headed south towards the "downtown". Liz and I live in northern barrios of the city so our area is newer (think last 200 years). The "downtown" is really the central/southern part of the city in relation to us. The "downtown" is centered around the Plaza Mayor, a lot of government buildings, old churches, and basically "old Madrid" in general (think 500 years ago). It is also where many of the night clubs, bars, etc. are now. We ended up grabbing dinner around 10pm at a place called "pans" (much like a panera..."pan" means bread, get it?). Dinner here is usually around 10pm for everyone and it's common to see little kids out on the street at midnight. Here, afternoon doesn't start until 2pm or later and "night" doesn't start until after dinner. Often people will say "good afternoon" to me at 8-9pm and it is totally dark outside! Anyways, after that we headed a few blocks west and we were in the "governmental" area of town. We took a look at the Palacio Real (royal palace), the local basilica, and even the senate building. It was really neat to see so much history in one place. The royal palace doesn't house the royal family anymore. In fact, the king is starting to lose face with the Spaniards as much of the youth don't believe in an inherited governmental position. After Franco's reign ended in 1975, the government became a "parlimental monarchy". This means decisions are made by congress and the senate, there is still an elected president, but the king is more of a political figure of support. He has no power, in reality, but exisits more as a tradition. Today, Spaniards are calling for a complete republic, meaning everyone will be voted into office (hence, no monarchy) as they don't like their tax dollars paying for his lifestyle without being voted into office. On a side note, the palacio real was also the site where Napoleon tried to put a French king on the throne in 1808, but the Spaniards rebelled and rushed the palace. It inspired Goya's famous paintings, The 2nd of May 1808 and The 3rd of May 1808, both of which I saw at the Prado museum last week. Wow, so there's your Spanish history lesson for the day :) It seems like everywhere you go here there is some historical meaning behind the location which is really neat.

In sticking with the tradition of having a sense of humor:
Funny story: As you may or may not know, Spanish men are known to be a "bit" forward. This could inspire like a million other stories but I'll keep it simple. Sometimes it can get annoying, but most of the time I have no idea what they're saying anyways when they make their "peliropas" (like cat-calls?) so I could care less, especially since 60% of them have a mullet...keep it moving, buddy! Well, I got a wrong-number phone call the other day and could barely understand what this guy was saying. When I got off the phone, I was telling the girls that he actually sounded nice, I thought he said he worked with blind people! The convo went somethin like this: "Bailey, what exactly did he say?" "Well, I couldn't tell for sure, but something about "disfuto las citas a ciego" which I could only roughly translate as "enjoying something with blind people." Turns out the dude "would enjoy a blind date!"....I must have laughed for an hour at myself after this one. Just knowing the word "blind" doesn't help too much! LEARN SPANISH ALREADY, Bailey! haha

a haircut...in spanish

Well, I took the leap and got a trim today! I practiced what I was going to say about a million times: "Please, just cut the ends one inch. That is like two fingers. I am an American. No mullet, please. Thank you very much. No mullet." (but in Spanish, clearly.) The "mullet" is all the rage in Europe right now (now you wish you were all here!). I was terrified something would go wrong, a brain surgery would have been less frightening than my haircut today! But, in the end it all worked out. When I got back to the house I was having lunch with the roomies when my cell phone rang, it was my friends talking in English. My roomie asked in SPANISH who it was so I said "Oh, I can't really hear them but I think it's my friends because they're talking in English." About 30 seconds later I came out of my room to ask my roomie if I had said that in English. Yup! Awesome. At least I asked for naked milk in Spanish!

In other news, I bought my first pair of skinny jeans. I caved and I just lost like 8 friends because of it. I got sick of standing out in Spain so I'm trying to "blend". That's the excuse I'm using, anyways. They're from Penelope Cruz's store, Mango, because you know what they say "when in Spain....."

Funny story #something: I'm taking Capoeira. Youtube it and then you'll see why this is so funny.