Weekend

Man, so I leave the country for a little bit and all these celebrities start dying. Sign? No idea. All I know is that it's REALLY funny to listen to Spaniards try to sing Thriller. Anyway I got a small taste of young-Spanish nightlife on Saturday- I went out with Nati's (the woman I live with) niece and her friends- we had a good time, except that I didn't understand as much of what they were saying, what with all the slang and everything. That's ok though, now it's MY turn to be the crazy foreigner, right? Haha, anyway before that I went shopping with Nati, checked out the cheap Spanish shoestore called Carrefour- Friday I had gone to the beach, Sardinero, which is absolutely amazing- blue water, amazing scenery, and tons of people! Sunday I also went to the beach, this time Playa de Magdalena (Magdalena Beach) until it started to rain, and will probably go back today as long as the weather stays nice. Now I'm just working on my project at the University, about Santillana del Mar- I'm going there soon, this week or next, to take some pictures and write more about it- I've been doing a bit of translating of documents Miguel and Maricel (the professors I'm working with) have given me, and that's been both fun and challenging for me- I'm really enjoying learning about how projects are put together here- I've been going with Miguel to pick up and return documents, and listening to him and others talk about how they want the project to be organized, and what else we need to do to make it happen. So once I get to Santillana I'll post the pictures I take.

I think it's really funny that there are so many American tv shows on in Spain, since there's a lot of references to American culture- like Family Guy and American Dad- ah well, it's still funny to me! Also, Mrs. Doubtfire was on in Spanish last night, I thought I was gonna die! Luckily I've seen that movie so many times, it was really easy to understand- also, the voice for Robin Williams' character, an Irish/Spanish accent? Awesome.

So the pictures I posted are me with the "raqueros", or sculptures of 1940s kids who would dive naked into the water for coins (at Puerto Chico), a view of Sardinero Beach, and a view of Santander Bay- I took this pic walking home the long way from the university (which I timed at 1 1/2 hours haha!)

Alright, I think that's all I have for now, hope things are going well for everyone! Besos y abrazos (hugs and kisses)

Oh, also, if I don't get the chance to post before then, have a great 4th of July! I'll be thinking about you (and wishing there were fireworks here...and funnel cake!)

Rach :)

First weekend in Santander

Hey! So I got my computer hooked up to the University's internet, yay! I had a really nice weekend- Saturday and Sunday were both really sunny days (the weather here changes a lot, apparently it's cloudy a lot, so this weekend was great!)- Saturday I went to Nati's (the woman I live with) daughter's house and had a huge lunch with the family, and we all went out walking in the park, enjoying the weather and good conversation, and Sunday I went to Noja beach, about 20 miles out from Santander- the water was nice and cold, and the weather was perfect! I'll post some pictures of the beach :)

So far my internship is going great, I'm working on a project about the cultural and artistic patrimony in Santillana del Mar, which is also in Cantabria-30 miles or so away from Santander, I think- I should be going there with my professor tomorrow (Tuesday) to check some sites out and take some pictures.

Nati is very nice and very accommodating, she's like my Spanish grandma! Everyone here has been very friendly and helpful to me, I'm having a great time and learning a lot- if there's anything specific you want to know feel free to leave me a comment, I'm happy to let you know! I'm trying to remember all the details but there's a lot haha! Ok I think that's all for now, have a good week!

Santander

Hey! So I´m in Santander now, but I have no internet at home, so putting pictures up will be more difficult now. :( I´m hoping to be able to find an internet cafe soon, so I c an work on this blog then. I´m attending a class of the professor I work under, so this will be short, but once I get used to this city hopefully I´ll be able to post here once a week. Hope you´re all doing well!
Love,
Rachel

Last few days in Segovia

Hey! Sorry it's been a few days- I was "under the weather" the past few days- that's all I'll say haha! Anyway, I'm leaving on Sunday to start my internship Wednesday in Santander- I'm reaaally excited! I'll have a couple days to play around and figure out where things are which will be nice- plus i want to check out some good places (obviously)- anyway, I went to this cheap chinese outlet store to pick up some things and stuff was sooooo cheap, and they had eeeeeverything! It was crazy! Plus I'm done with classes now (or SpanCram, if you will) so that's cool, though I'm basically in class everyday with all this talking and listening!

So the past couple days I got some pictures of the El Parral church in Segovia, and also the Alcazar, a really huge building for the royals that Disney based his princess' castle after (so I'm told)- I also went to this hunting palace, Palacio Riofrio, which had a bunch of animal horns and heads on the walls and tons of different rooms and salons- it was really cool- plus there's a lot of land surrounding it that people used to hunt on- also, I went to La Granja to see another palace, but unfortunately the people I was with had to get going, so we couldn't go in :( so I'll put some pics up from those days. The first is the Parral church, the second is the floor of the church...where people are buried. I thought it was both cool and creepy haha! The third is from a monastery attached to Parral, looking at the Alcazar, and the last is the Alcazar.

Thanks for all the comments! I'm glad you're enjoying my site-it's been fun so far, putting it together and everything. Anyway, I think that's all I have for now, see ya soon!

Rach:)

Walking through Segovia

Hey again! So this morning I got to walk around Segovia with Luis, my "host-dad", and man there's a lot to see! I wish I had a better word than just "awesome" to describe everything, but it was REALLY awesome! The streets are all windy, and hilly, and the street signs are hard to find (because they're plastered on the wall, not on signposts like in the US- so that makes things interesting) but there are so many cool stores, and old churches, and there are a lot of tourists so that makes me feel better-at least I can speak Spanish! Anyway, I'll post a picture of the Segovia Cathedral (a really cool Gothic cathedral that was on the pilgrimage route of Santiago)-and the picture with the writing says "On December 13, 1474, in the atrium of the Church of St. Michael, in the City of Segovia, Isabella the Catholic was proclaimed the Queen of Castilla" (Isabella and Ferdinand were the powerful rulers of Spain who helped Columbus go to the Americas. Cool, huh?). There were also beautiful flowers everywhere, so I'll post a picture of those.  Anyway, I guess that's all for now. Enjoy!

Rachel:)