Aquarium, Valenciano and History

Over the weekend, I visited the Oceanografic for the second time.  It is that good of an aquarium.  This tome I was able to see the whole dolphin show.  They used a total of seven dolphins and they had them doing flips and twirls of all sorts.  They had them speak and a guy rode a dolphin again.  It was an awesome show.  My favorite part of the aquarium is the Arctic.  The outside is shaped like a giant igloo and inside one can see walruses and Beluga whales from the top and underwater.  In the Beluga whale exhibit, they sometimes have seals because they live together in the wild.

Today I had one class: in English, History of Spain through Cinema.  There are other Americans in the class but they are part of a different program.  I am grouped with the other exchange students from Europe and South America.  They are in a program specifically for Americans who come to Spain with knowing limited Spanish.  Today we were talking about when the Romans conquered Spain and I learned an interesting fact.  The Romans invented the shopping mall. In one of the event centers in Rome, the walls were filled with shops.  When there was a break in the fighting, the Romans would go do their shopping.  My other two classes were cancelled so I only had my internship at night.

Fun Fact:  Most people here think that all of Canada speaks French.

A note on Valenciano:  Valencia has its own dialect called Valenciano.  It is not used often but there are influences from it all over the city.  The Spanish word for street is "Calle" but the streets say "Carrer" which is the word for street in Valenciano.  All of the signs for the bus and metro are in Spanish and Valenciano.

Visit with the Doctor

For those who have met me, you know that I am always coughing, whether I am healthy or.  For those who really know me, you know that I usually I am sick often and when I get a cold, most of the times, it's not just a cold.  I seem to be making it a habit to have to go to a doctor wherever I live, home, Nazareth (the Wellness Center staff know me by name) and now Valencia.

Last week I began my week with a cold and this week it was still not gone...or getting any better.  So I called the nearest health center.  The receptionist only spoke Spanish but I was able to make an appointment for today.  When I got to the health center, I had a different receptionist who also didn't speak English.  Somehow, I was able to understand enough to give her my identification card and my insurance card.

Next, I was very lucky... my doctor spoke some English.  I brought my pill bottles with me and I was able to communicate that I was allergic to Ibuprofen.  She checked my throat and when she got to my ears, I heard an "ahh."  Just as I suspected, I have an ear and throat infection.  I was given an antibiotic that I luckily know.

What is different about their health system is that you take your prescription right to a pharmacy.  It doesn't matter what pharmacy.  You hand it to them, they go in back and grab your drug.

I am already feeling better and I am on my way to recovery :)

Last Names and University

I would say today was a good day.  I made it to classes today and yesterday.  I can understand up to 40% of what is said but better than nothing!  Luckily, most teachers put things online so I copy all of the power points for I go to class.  Classes actually aren't going too poorly though.  The readings are hard and time-consuming but the students are nice and helpful.

Another picture of

beautiful Valencia

Today we were talking about a Theorist in my Anthropology class who was an honorary member of the Seneca Nation.  I mentioned that I live really close to the nation and I received gasps.  Whenever I say anything about the United States I receive gasps or everyone is quiet and listening because you never know what you might learn.  I feel like an exhibit in a zoo.

I also had to explain what I call the friends of my parents and how our last names work.  In most Spanish speaking countries, you have two: your father's and your mother's.  When you get married you don't change your name and your kids have the last names of their grandfathers.  For example:

My Spanish name would be Alicia Sciolino Bruce.  Say I marry Justin Bieber, who would be Justin Bieber Mallete in Spain.  We have a child named Moss.  His full name would be Moss Bieber Sciolino.  

Please do not let me marry Justin Bieber.. or name my kid Moss.

A note on Universities:

1.  Everyone calls them "Uni"

2. You receive a fixed class schedule and you stay in one room.  The teacher comes to you.

3. Everyone uses their iPads in class.  I have never seen so many in one room outside of the Apple Store.

Bioparc

I have been sick for the last few days and even though I am still a little bit under the weather, I still went to the Bioparc.  The Bioparc is an African Zoo.  They have animals from all over Africa.  We started in Madagascar.  We walked through a set of doors and we saw nothing.  We were just about to walk away when I looked up and there sat a ring-tailed lemur.  All of the small monkeys were in the trees above us!  It was so cool!

We then moved to the Equatorial Forrest where we saw gorillas and chimpanzees and all sorts of different animals.  Basically you follow this long path throughout the park and sometimes you come across "fallen trees" and you walk through and see a different view of the animals.  After we went through that part we went to the Savannah.  There were at least ten giraffes.  There also were rhinos and zebras and crocodilles and much more.  I was very disappointed that they only had one elephant on exhibit and he was hidden behind some trees.

My favorite part of the Bioparc was the lion exhibit.  We couldn't see the male lion but we did see the cub.  He was stalking a bird and went to chase it when all of a sudden his mother ran over and pinned him down.  She cleaned him and they played.  Then he went back to stalking things and sure enough, Mom came back over.  It was adorable.  When I get home, I really want to go to the zoo!

Classes: Take 4!

After arriving to class yesterday, finding only school supplies in the room and then being dragged to a welcome day for education majors (realized that halfway through), I was a little discouraged about today.  I went to campus early since it is a 45 minute commute and I studied while I waited.  At 2:45, I was supposed to have a meeting with my coordinator who is also my professor for my class at 3:00.

2:45.  Nothing.

2:50.  Nothing.

2:55.  Nothing.

3:00. Nothing but an empty room.

3:03. Tidal Wave... All fifteen students came within that one minute, along with the professor.

What happened with my meeting was that she was kept at her office with another matter.  No worries, we talked after class.

So I had my first class in Spanish.  She had me present my name, where I am from and what I study.  When I said that I lived near Niagara Falls, some girls gasped.  For me it is not a big deal but I don't think anyone in my class has ever been close to them.

I understood maybe 1/8 of the class, if that.  The one girl kept saying she didn't understand the concept and I thought at least you understand the words the teacher is saying.  Luckily we were just talking about a reading so I can just read it at my own pace.  I had to have a girl explain to me what the homework was after the teacher said it but she was okay with it.  She even gave me her number in case I had questions.

Everyone was very friendly.  I got a couple remarks about how my Spanish was better than their English which was nice.  They have probably taken English a lot longer than I have.

I am finally registered for all my classes so the next step is to study hard!

I hope on Monday things go just as smoothly.

First Few Days of Classes...or not

Well you know it is going to be a rough day when you use your body wash to clean your hair....

I was supposed to have class today but I was told the wrong building for the class and it would take to long to get to the campus where the class really is.  This happened yesterday too.... I am trying again tomorrow.  I hope that the third time is the charm.

I also had my internship today but my supervisor wasn´t here.  I finished my work yesterday, I can´t access her email to send te emails I need to send and the flashdrive is locked in her desk. I had nothing to do.   At least they were playing Frank Sinatra in the office today.  Even though it was sang by Michael Buble, it was better than nothing.

International House Valencia

So I had a blah day today.  However I noticed a quote in my agenda that inspired me:

"No existe una manera fácil.  No importa cuán talentoso seas, tu talenta te va a faltar, si no lo desarrollas. Si no estudias, si no trabajas duro, si no te dedicas a ser mejor cada día."

Translation:

"There is no easy way.  It doesn´t matter how talented you are.  Your talent will diminish if you do not develop it, if you don´t study, if you don´t work hard, if you do not dedicate every day to get better."

Ironically, this quote is by Will Smith.  It reminds me of why I am here in Spain.  I am here to study Spanish, to experience the world and to better myself.  It isn´t easy, but if I work hard, it will get better and it will be worth it in the end.

Flamenco

My morning was really uneventful today but, after reading profile after profile at work, I experienced a piece of the culture here at Spain.  For dinner my friends and I went to Chinatown.  The food is cheap and good and it helps that my one of my friends is from China.  I ordered fried shrimp noodles and it was amazing.  There were different vegetables mixed in with it.

After dinner, my friend Lena and I went to see the traditional Spanish dance, Flamenco at a small cafe in the Northern part of the center of the city.  We waited for an hour in this little cafe.  There was no room to move in the room.  We were given two drink tickets so we enjoyed the night with some glasses of sangria.

In Flamenco, there is a singer, a guitarist and the male and female dancers.  The guitarist was spectacular.  His fingers moved so eloquently and smoothly across the strings, moving his fingers on the guitar in a way I had never seen before.  The singer bellowed his songs in Spanish and put so much emotion into them.

The dancers each had their own dance solos but I liked it more when they danced together.  They danced in sync but they never touched.  Flamenco is very rhythmic and regal.  They express so much emotion in their faces while keeping a steady rhythm.  They do a lot of foot work and at one point the man was dancing only on his heels.  When the woman danced, she incorporated the bottom of her dress into her dance.  It was simply amazing.