02/07 Monday
What a weekend to fo
llow up on!! The girls and I, after the late night of ruckus the night before (MaryAnn and I actually shared a bed the remainder of the night because we were both still a little freaked out), decided we coul
d still make it to school, so we got up and got going. Luis, the director of our program who was the one who came to talk to us last night, came in his car and picked us up for school. We left after track class to go on a field trip with our cinema professor to La Ciudad de la Luz which is a film school / film studios area a bit down from Alicante. We toured the entire school and then got to see a presentation on a director who had died just the year before: Luis García Berlanga. His wife was there and everything for the ceremony :) the recept
ion afterwards was full of cocktails and other strange foods... as well as beer for those who like that and orange juice in wine glasses for those of us who don't! The school was definitely impressionable and they had a great amount of equipment for learning and producing films. I couldn't help bu think of all of the little movies th
at my brother and Ken Etheridge used to put on back in the day... and how they would have loved this place.Krista and MaryAnn got to go home after this, but Caitlin and I still had our afternoon classes, so we had to go back to the school and sit through another class. Finally at 4:30 I got home and did a bit of homework. I called mom and dad on skype, talked for a bit and then napped from 7PM - 9PM. Got up, ate dinner, joked around with the roommates, and then went back to bed for good. We decided to take a humorous picture of us all sleeping together in one bed, scared for our lives. We got the bed part down... but we're laughing too much to look scared.
02/08 Tuesday
Today was the first day that I used the school gym... and MAN I have never seen a gym that was more smelly, or in worse condition that this gym is. At least the weight room... none of the equipment is up to date, its all scattered everywhere and it smells like molding sweat is wiped on everything. bleh. Oh well -- it's a gym and it'll have to do for now. The plus side of this is that I get to shower at the gym and they have HOT showers and th
e water pressure is amazing!! Way way way better than showering in my apartment.
Today I also signed up to be a volunteer English teacher at an English school close to the University. I wasn't sure when I signed up if it'd be adults or elementary kids, but it looks like it's going to be adults. Not sure at the moment what to think!!
On the bus home I saw the cutest baby in little red boots and a tan pea coat. :) ahhhh !! makes me miss my cousins back home.
Tonight is my second cooking class -- can't wait! The walk up that hill isn't very delightful though. :( AND today I had a thought: I need to start hanging out with more Spaniards! I'm speaking entirely too much English! I need to turn on the T.V. and listen to only Spanish music... try to learn as much as possible. No time like the present to start, eh?
(hmm let's apply that to now?! hahaha considering I never turned on the T.V. BUT I did start hanging out with more Spaniards, and I started listening to Spanish music).
02/08 Tuesday
Today was the first day that I used the school gym... and MAN I have never seen a gym that was more smelly, or in worse condition that this gym is. At least the weight room... none of the equipment is up to date, its all scattered everywhere and it smells like molding sweat is wiped on everything. bleh. Oh well -- it's a gym and it'll have to do for now. The plus side of this is that I get to shower at the gym and they have HOT showers and th
e water pressure is amazing!! Way way way better than showering in my apartment.Today I also signed up to be a volunteer English teacher at an English school close to the University. I wasn't sure when I signed up if it'd be adults or elementary kids, but it looks like it's going to be adults. Not sure at the moment what to think!!
On the bus home I saw the cutest baby in little red boots and a tan pea coat. :) ahhhh !! makes me miss my cousins back home.
Tonight is my second cooking class -- can't wait! The walk up that hill isn't very delightful though. :( AND today I had a thought: I need to start hanging out with more Spaniards! I'm speaking entirely too much English! I need to turn on the T.V. and listen to only Spanish music... try to learn as much as possible. No time like the present to start, eh?
(hmm let's apply that to now?! hahaha considering I never turned on the T.V. BUT I did start hanging out with more Spaniards, and I started listening to Spanish music).
At cooking class we made Potatos a la Riojana (a type of soup), Merluza en Salsa Verde (another type of soup - Hake in Green Sauce) and for dessert: CHURROS!! with chocolate of course mmmmmm!!!
Churros Ingredients
2. Place batter in a "churrera" or pastry bag and squeeze into approximately 6cm long pieces. Deep fry in olive oil and turn and brown completely. Drain once fried. Top with granulated sugar and serve.
Potatos a la Riojana Ingredients
Merluza en Salsa Verde Ingredients
My two favorites were the Potatos a la Riojana and the churros... I didn't really like the Merluza because I don't like fish. If you want any of the recipes for these, I have them :)
After school it was the usual.. skype, homework, walk around Alicante to see what else I could find that I hadn't seen yet until the girls and I went to Cafe del Sal! It was a pub that one of our friends was opening and so we figured we'd support him on the opening night! I didn't stay long at all.. I think I was home by 11:30 and not sure when the rest of them came in. It's a cute little pub, though, and I'm sure it'll have great success in the future. There are couches all around, a fussball table, and it's two stories tall (well -- there's a basement and the normal floor).
So... yesterday and today were my two big send out postcards days!! In order to get valentine's day things out on time, they had to be sent by today! "Me haces tilín-tolón!" I finished an online assignment for my mom, some driving course, after school and then went shopping with Caitlin to get pens and envelopes. We found two cute little shops right down our road... one called Folders and the other called -- well I'm not sure what it's called but I like it.
After a long day of classes, I went to the gym today with Matt and Gerald!! (two guys in my
program). I did legs and such and they did other stuff. After the gym we had
a USAC basketball game! It was loads fun and my team ended up winning the majority of the game. Sylvain -- one of the program's employees, popped his arm out of 
socket (GROSS)! I got to have another hot shower in the gym and then after searing for MaryAnn and Krista to ride the bus home with, left to go home a little afterwards with no luck of finding them. I went into a few shops after school just because I could... I found baby boots... SO ADORABLE!! I want to be able to come back here when I'm a mom and go shopping for my babies. I picked up a little valentine's present for the "hombre" and then I went to dialprix to go grocery shopping with Alec and Chantelle -- got my vitamin C with my bag of oranges, a few bottle of milk and called it a day!
Woke up today to the girls saying they were leaving to go up the coast to check out some small towns... that would have been fun but hey! since I didn't know about the plan, I got a whole day to myself to catch up on packing for Elda (to go see Aida tonight!!) and
editing pictures.
Elda is a small town about 30 minutes away from Alicante. It was once a major shoe manufacturing town before China took over! When I got there I figured out that Elda and Petrer (where my other friend, Francisco live) both make up the same town, basically. You can't tell where one starts and the other finishes.
Aida and Francisco studied at Clemson with me last semester (Francisco = all of last year), so it was really good to finally see them! Up till now, I hadn't been able to meet up with them yet in the month that I've been here.
At the train station, when I finally left to go to Elda, I met some people from Ireland who advised me not to go to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. They said that unless I was really into drinking I'd better go somewhere else and come to Ireland another time... haha I guess that made up my decision then, eh? They were a really sweet old couple and I really enjoyed talking to them! I boarded my bus (on my second attempt.. because on the first one I alm
ost got on the wrong bus) and met up with Aida at the bus stop about 30 minutes later. AHHHH!! I loved Elda! It was a quaint little town... cleaner and smaller than Alicante and I just loved it. Aida took me back to her family's apartment where I changed and put down all of my things. It was SO GORGEOUS! It was very modern and nicely decorated and they had an upstairs and a wrap around porch because they were the top floor. From the porch you could see the castle (Torre del Homenaje del Castillo -- built in the 12th century) and all of the mountains in the background. It was breathtaking!
Aida and I walked around to one of the big plazas, delivered a cake to her friend's apartment, and then went to this little pub to grab two fantas while waiting on her friend to finish work. Monica, her friend, picked us up in her BMW and we went up to where Monica lives (further up one of the mountains... closer to the castle) so that we could climb up and see the castle and the old church (the church of Santa Ana).
We climbed up to the church and the castle and while we were on our way... Francisco came up from over the other side of the hill! I was so excited t
o be seeing both of my friends in one night! We finished our walk up to the castle, had a short look around since it was closed, and then went back to Monica's house to order food for the night. Us four hung out at Monica's house (she is OBSESSED with cow's -- haha) and ate, laughed, talked... etc. till we went to one of Francisco's favorite pubs with a few of his friends. Aida and I had really nice cappuccinos and then we left around 1 something or 2 to go back to her place. Her mom had already made a bed for me out of the couch upstairs and it was lovely! The couch bed was more comfortable than the twin I sleep in at my apartment.
Sincerely,
Till Next Time!!
Churros Ingredients
- Flour
- Water
- Salt
- Oil
2. Place batter in a "churrera" or pastry bag and squeeze into approximately 6cm long pieces. Deep fry in olive oil and turn and brown completely. Drain once fried. Top with granulated sugar and serve.
Potatos a la Riojana Ingredients
- Garlic
- Onion
- Paprika
- Chorizo (for cooking)
- Red bell pepper
- Green bell pepper
- Potatoes
- Tomato (crushed)
- water / stock
Merluza en Salsa Verde Ingredients - Hake
- Olive oil
- Flour
- White broth
- Garlic
- Parsley; diced
- Green asparagus
- white wine
- clams
After school it was the usual.. skype, homework, walk around Alicante to see what else I could find that I hadn't seen yet until the girls and I went to Cafe del Sal! It was a pub that one of our friends was opening and so we figured we'd support him on the opening night! I didn't stay long at all.. I think I was home by 11:30 and not sure when the rest of them came in. It's a cute little pub, though, and I'm sure it'll have great success in the future. There are couches all around, a fussball table, and it's two stories tall (well -- there's a basement and the normal floor).
02/09 Wednesday
So... yesterday and today were my two big send out postcards days!! In order to get valentine's day things out on time, they had to be sent by today! "Me haces tilín-tolón!" I finished an online assignment for my mom, some driving course, after school and then went shopping with Caitlin to get pens and envelopes. We found two cute little shops right down our road... one called Folders and the other called -- well I'm not sure what it's called but I like it.
02/10 Thursday
After a long day of classes, I went to the gym today with Matt and Gerald!! (two guys in my
program). I did legs and such and they did other stuff. After the gym we had
a USAC basketball game! It was loads fun and my team ended up winning the majority of the game. Sylvain -- one of the program's employees, popped his arm out of 
socket (GROSS)! I got to have another hot shower in the gym and then after searing for MaryAnn and Krista to ride the bus home with, left to go home a little afterwards with no luck of finding them. I went into a few shops after school just because I could... I found baby boots... SO ADORABLE!! I want to be able to come back here when I'm a mom and go shopping for my babies. I picked up a little valentine's present for the "hombre" and then I went to dialprix to go grocery shopping with Alec and Chantelle -- got my vitamin C with my bag of oranges, a few bottle of milk and called it a day!02/11 Friday
Woke up today to the girls saying they were leaving to go up the coast to check out some small towns... that would have been fun but hey! since I didn't know about the plan, I got a whole day to myself to catch up on packing for Elda (to go see Aida tonight!!) and
editing pictures.Elda is a small town about 30 minutes away from Alicante. It was once a major shoe manufacturing town before China took over! When I got there I figured out that Elda and Petrer (where my other friend, Francisco live) both make up the same town, basically. You can't tell where one starts and the other finishes.
Aida and Francisco studied at Clemson with me last semester (Francisco = all of last year), so it was really good to finally see them! Up till now, I hadn't been able to meet up with them yet in the month that I've been here.
At the train station, when I finally left to go to Elda, I met some people from Ireland who advised me not to go to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. They said that unless I was really into drinking I'd better go somewhere else and come to Ireland another time... haha I guess that made up my decision then, eh? They were a really sweet old couple and I really enjoyed talking to them! I boarded my bus (on my second attempt.. because on the first one I alm
ost got on the wrong bus) and met up with Aida at the bus stop about 30 minutes later. AHHHH!! I loved Elda! It was a quaint little town... cleaner and smaller than Alicante and I just loved it. Aida took me back to her family's apartment where I changed and put down all of my things. It was SO GORGEOUS! It was very modern and nicely decorated and they had an upstairs and a wrap around porch because they were the top floor. From the porch you could see the castle (Torre del Homenaje del Castillo -- built in the 12th century) and all of the mountains in the background. It was breathtaking!Aida and I walked around to one of the big plazas, delivered a cake to her friend's apartment, and then went to this little pub to grab two fantas while waiting on her friend to finish work. Monica, her friend, picked us up in her BMW and we went up to where Monica lives (further up one of the mountains... closer to the castle) so that we could climb up and see the castle and the old church (the church of Santa Ana).
We climbed up to the church and the castle and while we were on our way... Francisco came up from over the other side of the hill! I was so excited t
o be seeing both of my friends in one night! We finished our walk up to the castle, had a short look around since it was closed, and then went back to Monica's house to order food for the night. Us four hung out at Monica's house (she is OBSESSED with cow's -- haha) and ate, laughed, talked... etc. till we went to one of Francisco's favorite pubs with a few of his friends. Aida and I had really nice cappuccinos and then we left around 1 something or 2 to go back to her place. Her mom had already made a bed for me out of the couch upstairs and it was lovely! The couch bed was more comfortable than the twin I sleep in at my apartment.Sincerely,
Till Next Time!!
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