Home Sweet Home

Today I learned a new phrase --> Llueve a cántaros, which literally translated means it's raining jugs/pitchers, but as we say, It's raining cats and dogs!  It was great to see and feel the rain after a month of beautiful, perfectly sunny days.  What a strange thing to say right?  Oh well, here is a picture of my home at school in Charleston, SC (from the College of Charleston Facebook page) during the first week of classes when a hurricane came up from the coast of Florida, my other lovely home, to devastate our sea level city.  In case you're wondering why there are students with backpacks, class were not canceled! Basically, I picked a good semester to study abroad!  Here in Alicante it only rains about 10 days a year (no I'm not making that up), so when it rains, it pours.  The people are not happy and it is quite dangerous.  After the rain stopped, I took the bus home and because the streets were so slick the bus kept skidding.  No one else looked alarmed, but I certainly was! 
On a different note, today at school there was a protest against the government's impending raise on student's fees to attend school.  Just so you all are aware, students here pay at most about 1500 Euros for school, which doesn't sound like much, but everything is relative.  The cost of living here is lower and the salaries are lower.  However, due to the crisis (and the European Union), the government is being forced to raise taxes on everything under the sun: water, electricity, gas, food, clothes, you name it.  It is easy to look on as a foreigner and think, well they 'deserved' this because of a lack of preparation or whatever.  My opinion is that no one could have foreseen this global crisis and no matter what your social status, as a human being you should be able to sympathize with the basic needs of a person.  The 'Socialist' (in quotes because Spain's governmental system is more complicated than the average person would say) countries have been hit harder because they have had the practice of supporting their citizens in the most expensive industries, mainly medical insurance and education, so now that they cannot provide these services, the people are upset.
As an American, I see the benefits of free education and health services, if this makes me 'socialist' then so be it, but I would like to see our country use it's Capitalist background & strength to promote welfare for everyone.  Some say it's impossible because we are have such huge debts, but if we are going to rebuild, why not do it right?

Oh, the Places you will go

Hello all,

So basically what's been going on this past week is a lot of class, a lot of partying, and a lot of planning.  I've settled into my daily routine of shower, coffee, bus, class, lunch, google or beach, *insert random evening activity here*, & night time escapades.  -->Google you ask? My favorite sites recently are ryanair.com and 1channel.ch ....after scouring the internet for cheap flights throughout Europe, I like to reward myself with an episode or two...or three of Burn Notice.  The weather is getting cooler here *frescita* so I am going to the beach less (meaning not every single day).  I have planned trips to Morocco (Marruecos) and to London (Londres) for the month of October.  I'm also looking forward to this weekend because some Italian friends, from last summer's study abroad trip, are coming to visit!  Then just a short week and a half later, I will be meeting my Mom in Madrid for a road trip back to Alicante--> stopping in Cuenca along the way (thank you Ray for the diversion in plans to accommodate my trip to Morocco!) to see other cool stuff.  The days are flying by, but I'm enjoying every second.  Check out my CALENDAR to see what I have planned and if you have any suggestions as to what I should see or do while I'm there, please don't hesitate to tell me!  After my grammar exam this Friday I'll be home free, I can't wait for October to begin!!

Que dia tan largo!

Good news everyone, my classes exist!
       Today I went to my first *legit* Spanish classes at the University and hilariously they are taught by the same professor, which is a good thing because she seems pretty great.  I am taking "Literatura Hispanoamericana de los anos 60 hasta hoy" and "Literatura Hispanoamericana Contemporanea" --> do you see the similarity? ;)  They look to both be interesting classes, in the 1st we are reading novels such as '100 years of Solitude,' 'Love in the Time of Cholera' & 'La Tregua'.  In the 2nd class it is more of a survey of literature so we will read selections from anthologies and lots of poetry.  I have already taken a few lit classes in english & spanish, luckily my Spanish lit class focused a lot on South American literature!  I'm very excited, I think I will learn a lot, and I'll definitely have to work hard.  So my day was so long because I start class at 8 am and go until 3 pm (this is until the end of September), then I went to the office to register, which took another hour.  I got home around 5 pm & Maruja, my host mom, was wondering what took so long!  Then later tonight I have soccer practice from 9-11pm...que dia tan largo...tomorrow will definitely be a beach day!

Totes Legit

Surprise!  Hercules Femenino B is the second highest level of soccer that exists here in Alicante and we just happened to stumble into their practice...  Yesterday we had our first game and it was 'away' in Villajoyosa (we basically showed up, got into a teammates car & had no idea where we were going, haha) I wasn't expecting to play, seeing as I had only been to one practice, but the coach had other plans.  I started the 2nd half as a left forward (delantero) and about halfway through he switched me to right midfield (I think).  I went out for the last 5 minutes or so, but playing was pretty exciting!  Melanie, the German girl who brought me to the team, played well also and she played a lot of the game, too.  They are a very nice, friendly bunch of girls (especially seeing as they outfitted us head to toe...)  So I am planning to continue going to practices, I have no idea what the schedule looks like for the season, but hey life is always an adventure, right?  Also, last night I couldn't find the energy to go out after the game (Thursday I went out until 5 am & I had class at 12...) so I had a chill night watching about 1/2 an episode of Burn Notice before I passed out until 11 am the next day.  Today I'm planning to go to the beach and then go out tonight with some of my friends & their 'Intercambio' partners (since I haven't gotten mine yet) --> Intercambios are students who are studying English, so we help them & they help us.  Needless to say...I love weekends!

Sometimes you're the windshield & sometimes you're the bug

and sometimes you're both....

This morning was *supposed* to be my first day of university classes, but the universe had other plans.  I got there at 8 am & scurried off to my first class (sin cafe-->.<) upon entry I noticed I was the only extranjera- glorious.  I sit down and realize, shit this is NOT castellano, so as I sit there trying to figure out if it's French or what, I realize..it's Valenciano (which is a dialect of Spanish that sounds much different from the Spanish I study).  Finally the professor asks me, what's your name & where are you from?  Which I could make out more or less, so I responded, "Soy Shannon, soy de los estados unidos.  Este clase esta ensenado en valenciano?"  He said, "Si"  I said, "Vale, creo que necesito cambiarme de clase"  Everyone laughed as I got up and left...then I ran around campus like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to figure out my next move.  Only to look at my schedule and realize that I had entered the wrong classroom (it was RIGHT next to it), *blonde moment* but by the time I returned the class had already finished or been canceled.  Anyway after talking to my adviser again, I went to my 2nd class, which was also canceled.  However, there I met a girl from Germany named Melanie.  We got coffee together & she told me she plays soccer and was planning to try out for the women's league of Alicante, it's called Hercules.  I said, Oh that's too bad, I play too but I didn't bring my cleats.  She said, Oh me either, but I'm going to buy some at the outlet mall (right next to our university) so I went with her and bought beautiful Nike cleats (pic later) for 40 Euros *INSANE* and then went to class from 12-3.  I returned home, ate Spaghetti alla Carbonara *score* & fell asleep for 2 hours.  The practice went very well, the team is pretty serious, apparently it's the feminine side to their city's men's team, Hercules, which is a legit team.  Luckily we are playing B side though, so it's just competitive enough for me without being crazy.  At the end of practice, the Coach told us to be at the field on Friday by 630 to go to a game on a bus.  I figured, oh ok to watch right? Nope, they're bringing us uniforms, socks, shin guards, the works and we are playing!  Que buena suerte, no?  #mylifeisawesome

la bonita Valencia

This video pretty much summarizes the past few days.  We went out Thursday night, I had class Friday & went straight to the beach afterward & got back around 9, showered & turned back around to go out until 3 when we returned to sleep for 5 hours until 830 am to get on a bus to Valencia....did you follow that?

Anyway it was all worth it because Valencia is a beautiful city!  It is about 2 hours away by bus.  It has one of the biggest aquariums in Europe, which is part of a bigger Oceanographic museum.  We didn't enter them for time's sake, but we walked around outside and took photos.  I loved the architecture, but Ainhoa said that none of her architecture teachers like it.  (Richard I will post photos for your opinion!)  We did a quick bus tour of the city, seeing all of the important buildings: Correos, el Ayuntamiento, el Banco Viejo, la Catedral de Santa Catalina, the Train Station...etc.  I did my best to take professional photos, ha.  Then we took a tour of the Cathedral.  I met up with Ainhoa at 2 for a nice lunch, and my friend Gwen came too.  We had pretty touristy paella de mariscos, but the flan was great!  She took us to see la Plaza de los Toros & we walked around shopping for a few minutes.  I bought some allergy medicine, which worked miraculously.  When we returned Pepa, Marisa, & the tour guide David were shocked to find out that my accent had changed into una 'Extremadura' accent (dropping 's' and speaking quickly).  Their jaws almost hit the floor, then I reminded them that I lived in Spain.  Well now Professora Pepa will be expecting more from me, whoops haha.  Anyway after that we went to tour a Palace, my camera died...oh well.  Then we returned by bus and I slept like a baby, so I'm ready to go out again tonight! VIVA LA FIESTA!!!!

Nerd Status

Mama & Grams will be proud.....
In my spare time I usually like to go to the beach, talk to la gente, tomar cafe o helado, etc etc, but yesterday  my friend asked if I wanted to go to an Archaeology museum after class, so of course I said yes.  Apparently it received an award for one of the best museums in Europe, it definitely deserved it.  It was one of the most high tech, fancy, & detailed museums I've ever been to (means a lot bc of the whole living in DC thing) and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  The English translations on the signs were funny & almost unreadable, so good thing we speak Spanish!  It was only 1.5 E too! After the museum & some coffee, I went out with the Americanos to a club that turned out to be having an International Erasmus (European study abroad scholarship) event, which was good & bad.  Anyway we met people from all over, my favorite being the Brasilians!  Pretty cool people.  Anyway today I went to the beach as per usual and tonight we are going out again although we have to be at Plaza de los Luceros at 8:30 am tomorrow to take a bus to Valencia!!  My camera is charged and ready to go, no more incidents like the last tour!

Starting into my Routine

So these past few days have been CRAAAZY.  The 1st day of classes went very well, my professor's name is Raquel & she is as animated and fantastic as the professors I have had at College of Charleston *shout out*.  For some reason I had signed up for a business class, so today I talked to Pepa (our head of CCCS) & she allowed me to change into a conversation course because I can't just 'drop' a class...even though no one else at my level is in a conversation class.  When I pointed this out she said, well you'll be the best! ha.ha.  But on the good, great, excellent, fabulous side of things.....the WINDSURF class is being planned!!!!  Apparently before there wasn't enough 'interest' meaning it wasn't well advertised, but at least 6 people will be in the class & it may start in Oct or Nov, not sure yet.  Yesterday & today we toured the University (yes it is HUGE) and we bought our bus passes yesterday, so I'm all 'alicantina' getting myself back & forth, really it's quite simple- even easier than the DC metro!  Between the beach, walking around, tours, classes, & night time paseos I am exhausted, so why am I writing this blog post at 12:30 am instead of sleeping? bc I love ya'll that much...<3  Anyway today was my favorite day so far because we took a tour of Alicante that started at the Plaza de los Luceros (google it) around 5:30 & ended at the Castillo around 10!  We learned a lot about the history of the city, & bc I'm a 'freaky' =nerd I enjoyed every second of it, most of the tour was in Spanish, so a lot of students lost interest.  We ended up at the top of the castle right at sunset (as if they planned it or something hmm...) & took beautiful pictures.  Of course my camera died...at la Plaza de los Luceros...but luckily mis amables companeros americanos took pics of me & all of the things we saw, so I'll do some facebook stalking & I promise I'll put some photos up soon!  I just haven't wanted to be all 'tourist' with my camera everywhere/ I really need to pay attention to where I'm going.  There is a beautiful legend about the castle, but I will have to find a picture & the story to explain, and right now I'm too tired, so  posiblemente manana, vale?

Alicante Por Fin!

Yesterday I drove cross-country from Navalmoral de la Mata to Alicante and my how the land changes!  Most of Spain is very dry, it doesn't rain much here so the land if it isn't being watered for crops is very brown in the summertime (not a super pretty drive).  So Tinin and I are driving along and bam! There's a beautiful mountain right on the outskirts of Alicante.  He looks at me and says, "Ya estas lista?" >>Are you ready?  And of course I was nervous, but on entry to the hotel some Americans heard me and yelled down the hall, so I joined them to wait an hour for orientation, which then lasted 2 hours!  Orientation was....pretty bad & boring.  Then we had 'dinner' but really it was tapas, not much food at all.  Afterwards we walked around the city around 9 pm and boy did we look silly us 30+ Americans.  Mila called me during the walk and I told her thank you SO much for everything & I talked to Esther a little, told her she's my favorite little sister haha.  We had a little botellon en the hotel & went out around 12, Americans learn quickly about nightlife practices : P  Overall it was a very fun night, waking up the next morning at 9....not so much.  This morning we took a tour of a small portion of the University, basically just to know where we need to go tomorrow.  Now the part that you've all been waiting for....MI FAMILIA!!!  The parents names are Maruja Martinez Torres & Jon Paolo (like the Pope) Torres, they have two sons that are 30& 33 (who live elsewhere & 1 is married) and *drumroll please* a DOG!!! named Poncho lmao how funny is that?!  He is a mixed breed, not sure what I asked but didn't understand the response, but he is Lorelai-sized, of course a little fatter & not as cute, but I digress...I'm so excited.  Also my bed has 3 pillows! For those of you who know me understand my obsession.... Also, they are super nice, apparently they host students a lot so they are accustomed to foreigners (they also talk slowly for me which is great).  Poncho just came up to say hi on my bed, but he just got in trouble lmao Maruja said, "A la cama no, a tu cama si!"  Whoops....but looks like I have a new friend!  Tomorrow starts my life as an Alicantina verdadera.....vamos a ver lo que va a pasar!  Tengo ganas de empezar a la universidad, pero tengo que estar en clase por 3 horas, can I do it?? You'll just have to wait and see...