(no subject)
¡Buenos días amigos! I have 20 minutes left of my daily 60 minutes of internet time (down from what, 4?), so I thought I'd drop a little update.
School has settled into a comfortable routine: up somewhere between 7:30 and 9, depending on how well I've slept (and god, I'd give my left arm for a *good* night's sleep, instead of a crappy one or just a mediocre one), homework and studying while I have some breakfast, maybe a walk, shower, dress, internet time, lunch, reading, shopping, school, cultural lesson, tapas and drinks, bed. Last night we had tapas in our neighborhood, which was great--much cheaper than in the center of town, and more authentic, too. Then we went back into el centro to meet some other students, and after walking up and down the same 3 streets like 6 times (an Italian girl was giving directions to an American man...I'm not really sure what that means, but I do know it was a recipe for disaster), we picked a random bar and had some drinks and conversation. It was the latest night I've had since I got here, and I thought I'd be dead to the world within 30 minutes of getting home at 12:30AM, but no, of course not. Anyway, the bar last night was muy authentico, run by a family, I believe. El abuelo was perhaps the oldest man I've ever seen in person, tiny and wrinkled like a raisin, but still spry enough to lug a case of wine from the basement. El hijo seemed to be running the place, and he was no spring chicken himself. I think la camarera (waitress) was actually his daughter, a no-nonsense woman who was nevertheless very kind to us with our halting Spanish.
Classes continue to go well, and Rafael no longer terrifies me :) His lessons are actually quite enjoyable, although still difficult. Everything is taught completely in Spanish, and instead of simply translating words into English, he explains them to us conceptually, which is sometimes hard to grasp. He hates dictionaries, and fusses when we reach for one--but seriously, if you´ve been explaining the word to me for 10 minutes and I still don´t quite get it? Let me look it up in my own language. Sheesh. María continues to be a hyperspastic nutball, but she´s fun, too. Just not to structured, and those that know me know that Renée doesn´t deal well with a lack of structure :)
Have to make some plans for the weekend. No school-sponsored excursion this weekend, boo :( So we'll have to make our own fun. Sunday I plan to go to El Rastro, the big flea market thing, and probably spend some time in Retiro Parque, too. Saturday I'll probably do touristy things, or maybe plan some sort of excursion out of the city.
Ah, a couple of funnies before my time is up:
1) You know that shirt Joey has that says, "God is busy. May I help you?" with a picture of the devil on it? I saw some guy wearing one, but it was in Spanish. It amused me.
2) We were talking about reflexive verbs in class, and Rafa asked us to come up with a verb that was not reflexive. Ana said, "to eat," which is correct, because you can't eat yourself (unless you're really bendy, ba-dum-bump)...anyway, she yammered on to say that you wouldn´t say "me comes" (eat me) either...and then trailed off when she realized what she said, and got all red and we all laughed a really lot. It was funny. Really! Ahem. Maybe you had to be there :)
I miss my kitties, but Weezie says they're doing well. And I'm starting to twitch for the new teevee season and Project Runway, but it will all be there when I get home...
Hasta luego, chicas! (Y Brak) Time's up!!!
School has settled into a comfortable routine: up somewhere between 7:30 and 9, depending on how well I've slept (and god, I'd give my left arm for a *good* night's sleep, instead of a crappy one or just a mediocre one), homework and studying while I have some breakfast, maybe a walk, shower, dress, internet time, lunch, reading, shopping, school, cultural lesson, tapas and drinks, bed. Last night we had tapas in our neighborhood, which was great--much cheaper than in the center of town, and more authentic, too. Then we went back into el centro to meet some other students, and after walking up and down the same 3 streets like 6 times (an Italian girl was giving directions to an American man...I'm not really sure what that means, but I do know it was a recipe for disaster), we picked a random bar and had some drinks and conversation. It was the latest night I've had since I got here, and I thought I'd be dead to the world within 30 minutes of getting home at 12:30AM, but no, of course not. Anyway, the bar last night was muy authentico, run by a family, I believe. El abuelo was perhaps the oldest man I've ever seen in person, tiny and wrinkled like a raisin, but still spry enough to lug a case of wine from the basement. El hijo seemed to be running the place, and he was no spring chicken himself. I think la camarera (waitress) was actually his daughter, a no-nonsense woman who was nevertheless very kind to us with our halting Spanish.
Classes continue to go well, and Rafael no longer terrifies me :) His lessons are actually quite enjoyable, although still difficult. Everything is taught completely in Spanish, and instead of simply translating words into English, he explains them to us conceptually, which is sometimes hard to grasp. He hates dictionaries, and fusses when we reach for one--but seriously, if you´ve been explaining the word to me for 10 minutes and I still don´t quite get it? Let me look it up in my own language. Sheesh. María continues to be a hyperspastic nutball, but she´s fun, too. Just not to structured, and those that know me know that Renée doesn´t deal well with a lack of structure :)
Have to make some plans for the weekend. No school-sponsored excursion this weekend, boo :( So we'll have to make our own fun. Sunday I plan to go to El Rastro, the big flea market thing, and probably spend some time in Retiro Parque, too. Saturday I'll probably do touristy things, or maybe plan some sort of excursion out of the city.
Ah, a couple of funnies before my time is up:
1) You know that shirt Joey has that says, "God is busy. May I help you?" with a picture of the devil on it? I saw some guy wearing one, but it was in Spanish. It amused me.
2) We were talking about reflexive verbs in class, and Rafa asked us to come up with a verb that was not reflexive. Ana said, "to eat," which is correct, because you can't eat yourself (unless you're really bendy, ba-dum-bump)...anyway, she yammered on to say that you wouldn´t say "me comes" (eat me) either...and then trailed off when she realized what she said, and got all red and we all laughed a really lot. It was funny. Really! Ahem. Maybe you had to be there :)
I miss my kitties, but Weezie says they're doing well. And I'm starting to twitch for the new teevee season and Project Runway, but it will all be there when I get home...
Hasta luego, chicas! (Y Brak) Time's up!!!