Salamancans are pretty cool in terms of music. Yeah we shot this video. Ok just kidding. But we want to do this on campus next year. And you get to see parts of our city!
yay! K&M
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Cathedral Tower
Con Cariños,
EuroSistersK&M
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Immobile Moby
We must share our tale about a puppy.
Immobile Moby
One rainy day at the start of our trip, Michelle noticed a dog laying in the grass under a tree. Rain was falling on this puppy and it was a very pitiful sight. The puppy's owner was standing not too far away and was shouting at the puppy to get up and out of the cold rain. The puppy just laid there and looked around with a sad face. The owner kept yelling and the dog just shook from the cold. Kendra didn't seem to notice any of this happening, but Michelle found it hilarious and very entertaining.
Over the next week Michelle noticed the dog again and again, always laying in the same grassy area under trees.
The puppy can only be described in one word: immobile.
It doesn't move.
We call it Moby for short.
This past weekend Kendra actually saw Moby moving with the owner along the sidewalk, and she said it was as if Moby was missing a leg and the owner was practically dragging Moby with the leash.
Anyway, Michelle loves Moby so much, she felt it was blog worthy.
Con Cariños,
EuroSistersK&M
One rainy day at the start of our trip, Michelle noticed a dog laying in the grass under a tree. Rain was falling on this puppy and it was a very pitiful sight. The puppy's owner was standing not too far away and was shouting at the puppy to get up and out of the cold rain. The puppy just laid there and looked around with a sad face. The owner kept yelling and the dog just shook from the cold. Kendra didn't seem to notice any of this happening, but Michelle found it hilarious and very entertaining.
Over the next week Michelle noticed the dog again and again, always laying in the same grassy area under trees.
The puppy can only be described in one word: immobile.
It doesn't move.
We call it Moby for short.
This past weekend Kendra actually saw Moby moving with the owner along the sidewalk, and she said it was as if Moby was missing a leg and the owner was practically dragging Moby with the leash.
Anyway, Michelle loves Moby so much, she felt it was blog worthy.
Con Cariños,
EuroSistersK&M
Monday, June 27, 2011
Barcelona!
Video of the water show at the Fountain of Montjuic.
Hola!
It's Michelle here, back from a weekend trip to Barcelona with some of the people from our group. This trip was separate from the study abroad program and had to be paid for on our own, so not everyone decided to go.
Anyway, 9 of us took the 6 hour train ride to Barcelona early Friday morning and got there in the afternoon. We spent Friday visiting the FC Barcelona stadium (where we spent a lot of money), figuring out the metro system and trying to find our hotel. Friday was a rough day of traveling. That night we got fancied up and went to an ice bar at the beach. It was a room covered in ice and was -9º celsius! We were given giant coats and gloves to wear inside. The drinks were served in cups made of ice! Most of us women were wearing sandals and eventually we lost feeling in our feet, so we did not stay too long. We started out early on Saturday and we were able to see and experience a lot of Barcelona. We went to the Park Guell, the Sagrada Familia, the Fountain of Montjuic, the Ramblas, the protests at the Plaza Catalunya and the beach! We took a dip in the water and collected shells. There were a lot of topless women which was different. We also took a bus tour of the city, shopped and ate some delicious food. Later that night we went out to the clubs near the beach again and experienced the night life. Overall it was a great day except for the fact that I lost something on the metro. I was really upset about it and the lovely ladies that I traveled with are so kind that they secretly chipped in money to replace what I lost! It was really very nice of them and I am very grateful to have experienced this trip with them. Sunday we simply had breakfast and traveled home to Salamanca by train.
My favorite part of the trip was visting the Park Guell which was designed by Antoni Gaudi. I have always wanted to go to this beautiful view point and it was amazing to finally see it! If you want to see more photos check out the album "Spain 4"on my facebook.
Con cariños,
EuroSisterM
Hola!
It's Michelle here, back from a weekend trip to Barcelona with some of the people from our group. This trip was separate from the study abroad program and had to be paid for on our own, so not everyone decided to go.
Anyway, 9 of us took the 6 hour train ride to Barcelona early Friday morning and got there in the afternoon. We spent Friday visiting the FC Barcelona stadium (where we spent a lot of money), figuring out the metro system and trying to find our hotel. Friday was a rough day of traveling. That night we got fancied up and went to an ice bar at the beach. It was a room covered in ice and was -9º celsius! We were given giant coats and gloves to wear inside. The drinks were served in cups made of ice! Most of us women were wearing sandals and eventually we lost feeling in our feet, so we did not stay too long. We started out early on Saturday and we were able to see and experience a lot of Barcelona. We went to the Park Guell, the Sagrada Familia, the Fountain of Montjuic, the Ramblas, the protests at the Plaza Catalunya and the beach! We took a dip in the water and collected shells. There were a lot of topless women which was different. We also took a bus tour of the city, shopped and ate some delicious food. Later that night we went out to the clubs near the beach again and experienced the night life. Overall it was a great day except for the fact that I lost something on the metro. I was really upset about it and the lovely ladies that I traveled with are so kind that they secretly chipped in money to replace what I lost! It was really very nice of them and I am very grateful to have experienced this trip with them. Sunday we simply had breakfast and traveled home to Salamanca by train.
My favorite part of the trip was visting the Park Guell which was designed by Antoni Gaudi. I have always wanted to go to this beautiful view point and it was amazing to finally see it! If you want to see more photos check out the album "Spain 4"on my facebook.
Con cariños,
EuroSisterM
Friday, June 24, 2011
It's rather difficult to come up with clever titles for these posts.
Hey everyone!
Kendra here. All by myself... Michelle went to Barcelona this weekend with part of the CSUF groupies. Since she is going to blog about her trip next week, we decided that I would do a random post now!
This past week, we took part in many activities. We got to go to a music club, where we actually got to play instuments. We now have the Don Manuel Experience, which is comprised of 5 members of our group. We actually played music that sounded good. The video is on Facebook. I would load it here, but my laptop doesn't post videos for some reason. On Wednesday, we had a class on Spanish movies. We watched part of the Spanish horror movie, The Orphange. Michelle desided that the creepy ghost child in the movie is haunting our bedroom when we sleep. Awesome.
On Thursday, we had a wine tasting class. No worries friends and family! I did not participate and stayed true to my morals and religion. On Friday (which is today), Michelle left at 5 in the morning to the train station. I was happily sleeping.
Now, I think that it is important to mention the little things that happen here in Spain. Just like the little things that seem insignificant, but really make the whole experience better.
1. Animals.
Our lives here are constantly surrounded by animals. Our host family has a bird that doesn't have a name. He constantly sings during lunch and dinner. There is also a dog that Michelle is obessed with. She is going to dedicate a whole blog post to him, so I won't go into much detail here. We also pass a pet store on our way to class. Every now and then they add new puppies and kittens to the window. Currently, there is a beautiful Siamese kitten that I keep forgetting to tell my mom about. It is only 40 euros, which is about 60 US dollars. I would take him, but I don't know how to bring him back... There are also many puppies in the window. Two of the puppies look like mini bears.. still cute though.
2.Junk Food
We are really good at finding the good junk food. We have stumbled upon these chips called "York'eso". They are ham and cheese favored. They are discustingly addictive. There is also this linonada from the local market that is like Chick-Fil-A's lemonade, but only about 52 times better. The candy is really good here too. I don't even know how to describe it.
3. Michelle playing chess.
So Michelle likes to play chess on my laptop. She doesn't really know how to play. She just moves pieces around until the computer beats her. However, it is one of the most entertaining things to watch. She sits there in the same spot, barely moving for the whole 10 minutes of the game. She also exclaims when something good or bad happens. I encourage you to watch her play chess if you ever have to chance.
Well, I think that is all I have for now. Have a good weekend everyone!
Hasta Luego
EuroSisterK
Kendra here. All by myself... Michelle went to Barcelona this weekend with part of the CSUF groupies. Since she is going to blog about her trip next week, we decided that I would do a random post now!
This past week, we took part in many activities. We got to go to a music club, where we actually got to play instuments. We now have the Don Manuel Experience, which is comprised of 5 members of our group. We actually played music that sounded good. The video is on Facebook. I would load it here, but my laptop doesn't post videos for some reason. On Wednesday, we had a class on Spanish movies. We watched part of the Spanish horror movie, The Orphange. Michelle desided that the creepy ghost child in the movie is haunting our bedroom when we sleep. Awesome.
On Thursday, we had a wine tasting class. No worries friends and family! I did not participate and stayed true to my morals and religion. On Friday (which is today), Michelle left at 5 in the morning to the train station. I was happily sleeping.
Now, I think that it is important to mention the little things that happen here in Spain. Just like the little things that seem insignificant, but really make the whole experience better.
1. Animals.
Our lives here are constantly surrounded by animals. Our host family has a bird that doesn't have a name. He constantly sings during lunch and dinner. There is also a dog that Michelle is obessed with. She is going to dedicate a whole blog post to him, so I won't go into much detail here. We also pass a pet store on our way to class. Every now and then they add new puppies and kittens to the window. Currently, there is a beautiful Siamese kitten that I keep forgetting to tell my mom about. It is only 40 euros, which is about 60 US dollars. I would take him, but I don't know how to bring him back... There are also many puppies in the window. Two of the puppies look like mini bears.. still cute though.
2.Junk Food
We are really good at finding the good junk food. We have stumbled upon these chips called "York'eso". They are ham and cheese favored. They are discustingly addictive. There is also this linonada from the local market that is like Chick-Fil-A's lemonade, but only about 52 times better. The candy is really good here too. I don't even know how to describe it.
3. Michelle playing chess.
So Michelle likes to play chess on my laptop. She doesn't really know how to play. She just moves pieces around until the computer beats her. However, it is one of the most entertaining things to watch. She sits there in the same spot, barely moving for the whole 10 minutes of the game. She also exclaims when something good or bad happens. I encourage you to watch her play chess if you ever have to chance.
Well, I think that is all I have for now. Have a good weekend everyone!
Hasta Luego
EuroSisterK
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Finally! New Post!
We were out of WiFi contact this past weekend, because we went to Portugal!
Kendra Creeping on Michelle
But, before we talk about that, let’s talk about last week! Through our program, we were dropped off at a museum again. It was really boring. We also had a Spanish painting class with our dancing tour guide, Javier. On Thursday, our group went out with our professor Angeles and her fiancé Phillip for tapas bar hopping! We tried some very interesting and delicious tapas (appetizers).
Now for this weekend. We left for Portugal Friday morning at 8am. We had a 6 hour bus ride. After checking into our hotel, we went to a museum and had a bus tour of the city of Lisboa. (Nobody calls it Lisbon here.) That night, we went to dinner with part of our group and Angeles and Phillip. The next day, we started early and joined part of our group to go to the castle. We took the metro and walked really far to get there, but we saw some really great things. This castle is on a hill, and from the view at the top we could see the river and the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean. From the view point, we heard music from some street performers and it added to the view’s beauty. After souvenir shopping, our group decided to go American and had lunch at the Hard Rock Café. It felt like we were back in America! Michelle ended up paying way too much money for a drink, but it came with a free cup! After lunch, our group split up and Kendra went with part of the group to the coast, while Michelle walked around the city with the others. Kendra saw some of the monuments on the coast and took lots of pictures. She ended up developing a terrible tension headache that night and stayed in while Michelle went out with the rest of the group. They ate at a very confusing restaurant, with a rude and creepy waiter, and bad food. She was planning on attending a Fado (traditional Portuguese music) concert, but it cost too much so she went out dancing with the group instead (which was free!). While she was dancing, Kendra was all alone, watching American tv with Portuguese subtitles and nursing her headache. The next day, we had to go back home, but had a stop in the city of Fatima. In the Catholic faith, it is believed that the Virgin Mary appeared here to three children in the early 20th century. When we arrived there was a GIANT outdoor mass happening. Kendra saw tombs of the children and we saw a chunk of the Berlin wall! We also walked around for a half hour looking for somewhere to eat lunch and proceeded to burn our faces in the sun. Then, we had another 5 hour bus ride home. Our trip was very short, but Lisboa is a very old but beautiful city.
Michelle Creeping on Kendra
Now we are home. Michelle is afraid of the bats that fly outside of our window at night. She thinks that one is going to fly inside (the windows don’t have screens) and bite her and she will become a part of their coven and she will be forced to fly away with them. She has been in the sun for far too long.
Oh and we have foreign people living in our house. Our mother has taken in 3 Italian students. We don’t know how old they are and they don’t really talk to us. They whisper in Italian at the table and then stare at us when we eat… We thought that they were only going to be here for a few days, but that was a week ago. Now , we aren’t sure how long they are going to be here…
Hasta Luego
EuroSistersK&M
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tour guide dance!
So while we were in Segovia, a woman came up to our tour guide and asked him to dance! And we happened to catch it on film! :D
Wooo!
K&M
Monday, June 13, 2011
What We Did Last Weekend
Here is our past weekend!
Self Explanitory.
Graffiti outside of the bull ring.
Oh, and Michelle got pooped on twice by two different birds.
Hasta Luego!!
EuroSistersK&M
Viernes: We wrote our Midterm papers, all day. Kendra actually finished hers. Yay! Michelle didn’t. Don't worry. It's not due until Thursday. Later that night, we went to another concert that was outside of the university façade. It was one of the last performances from Facyl, so it was free! It was a Swedish band, ShoutOutLouds and they sing in English! It was pretty boring until the lead singer (who Michelle was in love with) jumped out into the crowd! (He really wasn’t that cute. ~K)
The lead singer in the crowd.
Sabado: We went on a trip with our group and our tour guide Javier to Segovia and Avila. In Segovia, we saw an ancient Roman aqueduct and the Spanish royal castle that inspired Walt Disney. Say what?!?! It looked a lot like Hogwarts! In the castle, we walked up 152 tiny medieval stone stairs to get to the top of the tallest tower. The view was worth it, but the stairs were very tight and difficult to climb. Michelle’s thighs are still burning, 2 days later. We went back to Avila that day and got to walk on the city walls. It was relatively boring. We also saw some time travelers (Renaissance festival people).
Us and the aqueduct!
The castle!
Domingo: We slept in. WOOO! In the afternoon, Michelle went to her first bullfight. Kendra elected to stay behind…and find WiFi. WIN! But Michelle will tell you her horrible tale of this Spanish tradition. It was one matador who fought 6 rounds with 6 different bulls. During the first round, Michelle didn’t realize that he would be killing the bulls and was shocked and horrified. (This is why Kendra refused to go.) Some of the women in our group were also horrified and actually cried during the first couple of rounds. The native Spaniards around them were making fun of them for these tears. At one point, the matador was walking around while spectators were cheering and he threw something that looked like a hat into the crowd. One member of our group almost caught it but the man in front of her grabbed it. It turned out to be one of the bull’s ears, chopped off its body. Lovely. Although she understands the cultural aspects of it, Michelle never wants to go to a bullfight. Ever. Again.
Oh, and Michelle got pooped on twice by two different birds.
Hasta Luego!!
EuroSistersK&M
Friday, June 10, 2011
Acrobat show!
This is a scene from a free acrobat show we saw in the Plaza Mayor this past Tuesday night. This show was part of the FACYL international art festival that is going on in Salamanca this week. The acrobat troupe is from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in Africa.
Cariños,
EuroSistersK&M
View of the Plaza Mayor
This is a view of the Plaza Mayor from the City Hall balcony. We were invited there to hear a speech given by the Salamancan Head of Turism who was welcoming us to the city. This balcony is really old (of course) and has held important people like celebrities and royalty from many different countries . Michelle's mom will be excited to hear that Princess Diana stood in the same spot!
Cariños,
EurosistersK&M
Video!
IT FINALLY WORKED!!!!!
So we have had the hardest time uploading pictures and videos on our blog because the internet and computers at our school are slooooooooooooooow. But today I got it to work! HUZZAH!
This is the first video we took on our first night in Salamanca, the first time we saw the Plaza Mayor beautifully lit up.
MORE VIDEOS AND PICS TO COME!
Cariños,
EuroSistersK&M
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Our Daily Walk
We wanted to devote a post to walking because that is what we do. We walk at least two hours a day. It is 30 minutes to school one way, and we go at least twice a day. During these 30 minute intervals, we must find ways to entertain ourselves. You might think that walking through the lovely Plaza Mayor and in view of 800 year old cathedrals, our walks would be simply delightful. But no. After the second time you walk to school, you get over these things and you notice how much your feet actually hurt. So we have developed a few things that help us get though our walk.
1. Staring at the mannequins in the windows. We walk through a shopping area and look forward to when the mannequins' clothes change. Like yesterday all of them had new clothes! Yay!
2. The sidewalks here are made out of old tiles and cobblestone. Some of these tiles are loose. When you step on them a certain way, they shift and make noise! We like to count how many we step on that move and see who has the most. Currently Kendra has 6 and Michelle has 3.
3. Natalie. So on our walk, we pass a few bus stops that have advertisments. For the first two weeks these advertisments were of Natalie Portman and some perfume. It's nice to see a familar face. However, now the advertisments are different, but it was nice while it lasted.
We also have to avoid being hit by cars or splashed when those cars drive through puddles, but that is not really entertaining....
Paz. Hasta Luego.
EuroSistersK&M
1. Staring at the mannequins in the windows. We walk through a shopping area and look forward to when the mannequins' clothes change. Like yesterday all of them had new clothes! Yay!
2. The sidewalks here are made out of old tiles and cobblestone. Some of these tiles are loose. When you step on them a certain way, they shift and make noise! We like to count how many we step on that move and see who has the most. Currently Kendra has 6 and Michelle has 3.
3. Natalie. So on our walk, we pass a few bus stops that have advertisments. For the first two weeks these advertisments were of Natalie Portman and some perfume. It's nice to see a familar face. However, now the advertisments are different, but it was nice while it lasted.
We also have to avoid being hit by cars or splashed when those cars drive through puddles, but that is not really entertaining....
Paz. Hasta Luego.
EuroSistersK&M
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Many Things We Do in Spain
So we do not have internet on the weekends. Over the past few days, we have been doing many things here in Salamanca.
We had a tour a few days ago and we were shown a pretty little park that we have chosen to call the Love Garden. We like to go there to read for class. We call it the love garden because there is a well with locks hanging from it. The locks are hung there by couples in love. We often get rained on in this park. The weather for the next week is going to be rainy which is awesome because we walk everywhere. By the way, it really happens like the movies when a car drives through a puddle and the water splashes all over you.
On our tour, we also saw the famous facade of the University of Salamanca. We found the frog that is hidden in the facade. The legend says that finding this frog will bring you academic luck! Huzzah! Our tour guide, Roberto, also showed us this chocolate place, VALOR!, that specializes in churros con chocolate. You can also order and drink pure chocolate. Thanks Roberto!
Last week our host mom Angela sang to us and showed us some Sevillan dance moves. She then proceeded to dress us up like Flamenco dancers! No worries. We have pictures.
This past weekend we spent our time going to the 7 story department store, El Corte Ingles. We also went to the new and old cathedrals, where we saw cathedral cats. No, its not a musical about religious cats. They are just cats that live in and around the cathedrals. We also had dinner with our group and enjoyed a magic show. It was pretty hilarious. Saturday night we went to a free concert put on by the art festival Facyl. We saw Javiera Mena. Facyl is an international art festival that is put on by the city of Salamanca every summer. It is a week long festival with concerts, art shows, performances, lectures and hot air balloon rides, no joke. A lot of it is free so we have been taking advantage of these things.
Over the weekend we noticed several things.
1. Saturday is the day to get married in Salamanca. We saw at least 4 different weddings all over the city.
2. Sunday is the day to paint Salamanca! Even if the forecast is rainy. There were lots of student artists out on the streets painting the buildings.
3. Twins. Salamanca is full of baby twins. We are not sure what causes it, but just in case, we are not going to drink the water...
Hasta Luego
EuroSistersK&M
We had a tour a few days ago and we were shown a pretty little park that we have chosen to call the Love Garden. We like to go there to read for class. We call it the love garden because there is a well with locks hanging from it. The locks are hung there by couples in love. We often get rained on in this park. The weather for the next week is going to be rainy which is awesome because we walk everywhere. By the way, it really happens like the movies when a car drives through a puddle and the water splashes all over you.
On our tour, we also saw the famous facade of the University of Salamanca. We found the frog that is hidden in the facade. The legend says that finding this frog will bring you academic luck! Huzzah! Our tour guide, Roberto, also showed us this chocolate place, VALOR!, that specializes in churros con chocolate. You can also order and drink pure chocolate. Thanks Roberto!
Last week our host mom Angela sang to us and showed us some Sevillan dance moves. She then proceeded to dress us up like Flamenco dancers! No worries. We have pictures.
This past weekend we spent our time going to the 7 story department store, El Corte Ingles. We also went to the new and old cathedrals, where we saw cathedral cats. No, its not a musical about religious cats. They are just cats that live in and around the cathedrals. We also had dinner with our group and enjoyed a magic show. It was pretty hilarious. Saturday night we went to a free concert put on by the art festival Facyl. We saw Javiera Mena. Facyl is an international art festival that is put on by the city of Salamanca every summer. It is a week long festival with concerts, art shows, performances, lectures and hot air balloon rides, no joke. A lot of it is free so we have been taking advantage of these things.
Over the weekend we noticed several things.
1. Saturday is the day to get married in Salamanca. We saw at least 4 different weddings all over the city.
2. Sunday is the day to paint Salamanca! Even if the forecast is rainy. There were lots of student artists out on the streets painting the buildings.
3. Twins. Salamanca is full of baby twins. We are not sure what causes it, but just in case, we are not going to drink the water...
Hasta Luego
EuroSistersK&M
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
(Insert Clever Title)
Hello Blog Readers!
We woke up late this morning. We were 30 minutes late to class. huzzah!
So there some things that we wanted to mention on our other posts, but they just happened to slip our minds.
1) KEVIN!
So, we have a groupmate named Kevin. He tends to get left behind, kind of like Kevin from Home Alone. When we were in Avila, our group walked to the bus station. We were there for about 45 minutes. When we walked back to the information building, suddenly, Kevin appeared! He didn't realize that we had walked away or which direction we went. So now, whenever we go somewhere as a group, we always double check "¿Esta Kevin?" Once, while taking a tour of Salamanca, we saw him and our professor walking the wrong direction. When we called them over she said "¡Por que estoy con Kevin!" Hilarious.
2) Showers
Our shower is a lie. In order to save hot water, which is expensive, we were told by our host mom to bathe as follows:
-Turn shower on to let water heat up to 38 degrees C.
-Take handheld shower head and rinse body. Turn off water.
-Lather with soap.
-Turn shower back on and rinse off.
It's more annoying than it seems because you are standing in the cold. So no more typical hot showers. This makes Kendra very unhappy.
3)Food!
Our host mom is a very good cook. Yesterday we had tomate sopa con pan tostada and pollo y papas fritas. Also we have albaricoques every day. SO GOOD! There was also this potato soup mush thing that we dipped Spanish pork rinds into. We also always have bead with every meal. It is a type of baggette. This makes Kendra happy! They always serve Michelle too much food. They always want her to eat more.
4) While we are having fun, we miss you all very much.
I miss your faces! (Kendra) We are having the hardest time trying to download pictures with this internet. Hasta Luego
EuroSistersK&M
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