Zenit Imperial Valladolid

... US is very rarely eaten with family. Even dinner, usually the most "formal" meal, is often split between soccer practices, band rehearsals, working late, running late, etc. Here, all three meals a day are together. I think in the US we're under the impression that it’s simply impossible to spend that much time with family…but in reality, we’re just not putting that much effort into doing it.

The time spent living in the ...

... doesn't seem to have plans to develop here yet. Now the building and its huge garden functions as a community home, social center, bike workshop, meeting point for change and creating alternatives to live more (self)sustainable for example for the BAH food co-operation: "Bajo el Asfalto está la Huerta" (under the asphalt is the field/garden). According to their website: a co-op covering the production ...

... weeks. Basically...time to start wrapping things up around here. It's insane, I have 4 days of classes left and then 3 days of finals. It seems like I just got here! What the heck?

Annnnyways, looks like I've got things figured out for Germany. I'm staying with Rabea (old classmate that studied abroad in the US my senior year of high school) at her boyfriend's apartment. Sounds like I'm going to get my own room ...

... After getting out of the winter wonderland we drove in rain for a little while longer before stopping for a bite to eat. We got some delicious omelets and egg salad at a little bar. You wonder why I’m talking about food in the middle of my description of the weather don’t you. Well it’s because right when we finished it started hailing. I’m not talking little hard snow ...

Today I came home from school to quite the dramatic scene in the kitchen. My host mom was standing in the kitchen, with two girls who had just came in from Holland to study here for two weeks. The two girls looked like deer trapped in the headlights of a car, and my host mom was talking to them as loudly as she possibly could in hopes that a volume adjustment would improve their lack of Spanish understanding.

The whole thing ...

... normal conversation.

One situation that was brought up in Crisholm that I can really identify with now is the hypersensitivity to what I’ve come to call “tourist noise”. I do a lot of my work outside of the library in the courtyard, which just happens to be across the street from one of the more historical churches in the city. It’s almost embarrassing seeing American tourists sometimes. I remember one specific instance ...

... a y que sus nietos no tendrian los ojos rasgados y dirian "Laowai" cada vez que la vieran, después de conseguir cerrar la maleta sentandome sobre los 4 kg de latas de fabada litoral, despues de leerme por vigesimo quinta vez la guia lonely plante de china seccion Guangdong, despues de verme la última peli de mi ciclo de cine de inmersión china de Wong Kar Wai, después de darme cuenta de que la ruta Valladolid-Guangzhou, no era calculable por Google maps y que en 12 horas cogeria un ...

The end of this week is the first time we've actually had work that is somewhat comparable to work in La-Crosse. For the first two weeks, our homework pretty much consisted of reading 1-4 pages of some packet and then coming to class with questions. Fully reading the packet wasn't even a prerequisite, as all of it was gone over in detail during class ...

... they thought John looked sad at the news. They had to call us so we could explain what was happening so he would stop looking sad. I tracked him down at a nightclub...oh the hardship :) But it seems that everything else is going well. I like that Jesse and Madison wrote on the blog! I never thought of that. See what happens when you try something new? Other people perfect it. I´m glad that both ...

... Salamanca for the day. Some people are talking about staying the night but I think I´m coming back...I need to save money for Rome. Hopefully I will get more out of the tour than I did in Burgos. If not, I should get some interesting photos. I had a test today in gramatica...that went alright...actually I think I did really well, so congrats Tyson! Well, other than the usual...school ...