...plus, my dad has informed me that this series of blog posts is a little confusing, so I thought I'd conclude them with a post offering some clarification.
Every installment of what I unimaginatively dubbed "Blog Redo" was written and posted today, Monday, February 28. The italicized date found under the equally unimaginative subtitles of each post is the date that post should have been written and I tried to word each part as if I was writing it on that date, instead of weeks later.
Instead of making up for lost time, I seem to have merely confused people, but if you read these posts in order, starting with Part I, everything should make a little more sense.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Blog Redo Part V: Move-in Day
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Move-in Day went without a hitch. I've met most of my flatmates already.
There's Marine, who's French. She's very friendly and outgoing. There's also Tati, short for Tatiana. She's from Germany and is new to the apartment, like me. And there's Audriana, the other American. She seems very funny. I still haven't met Kati, short for Katarina. She's from Germany, too, but right now she's in Morocco. We also have staying with us for the time being Cata, short for Catalina. She's from Romania and knows about six languages fluently.
I'm already bad with names, but it's going to be extra difficult with names like Cata, Kati, and Tati.
Anyway, here are some pictures.
The bedroom, where I do my sleeping:
The kitchen, where I do my eating:
The bathroom, where I do my bathing:
The living room, where I do my living:
And last but not least, the terrace, where I do my relaxing:
Move-in Day went without a hitch. I've met most of my flatmates already.
There's Marine, who's French. She's very friendly and outgoing. There's also Tati, short for Tatiana. She's from Germany and is new to the apartment, like me. And there's Audriana, the other American. She seems very funny. I still haven't met Kati, short for Katarina. She's from Germany, too, but right now she's in Morocco. We also have staying with us for the time being Cata, short for Catalina. She's from Romania and knows about six languages fluently.
I'm already bad with names, but it's going to be extra difficult with names like Cata, Kati, and Tati.
Anyway, here are some pictures.
The bedroom, where I do my sleeping:
The kitchen, where I do my eating:
The bathroom, where I do my bathing:
The living room, where I do my living:
And last but not least, the terrace, where I do my relaxing:
Blog Redo Part IV: An Understated and Belated Thank You to Yael and Matthias
Saturday, February 12, 2011
This weekend, I'm staying with my friends Yael and Matthias in their apartment. I don't move into my apartment until Monday, but I needed to skedaddle because the American girl is coming to stay with Carmen and Rafa today, so Yael and Matthias have been kind enough to offer their place for the time being. It's a much nicer option than staying in a hostel for the weekend, and cheaper.
So thanks, Yael and Matthias!
This weekend, I'm staying with my friends Yael and Matthias in their apartment. I don't move into my apartment until Monday, but I needed to skedaddle because the American girl is coming to stay with Carmen and Rafa today, so Yael and Matthias have been kind enough to offer their place for the time being. It's a much nicer option than staying in a hostel for the weekend, and cheaper.
So thanks, Yael and Matthias!
Blog Redo Part III: An Understated and Belated Thank You to Dierdre
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Two of my American friends and I recently split a membership on EasyPiso.es in order to facilitate our apartment search. It's a pretty cool website where you can search for habitaciones disponibles (available rooms) in apartments around the city you're living in. You can view photos if the owner has uploaded any and you can contact the owner if you're interested in seeing the place. A premium membership is 20€, which isn't too bad when split among three people.
With the help of our friend Dierdre (thanks Dierdre!) we've been calling people and setting up appointments to look at open rooms together. Speaking on the phone with native Spanish speakers has been more difficult than we anticipated, and Dierdre helps out a little here and there if there's a communication problem. In other words, we make Dierdre call everyone.
We saw a nice three-person apartment yesterday, but we were reluctant to take the first thing we saw after having just paid for a membership on EasyPiso. We were also concerned that if we all lived alone together, we would never practice our Spanish together.
Tonight, we looked at an apartment building that seems much more promising. It's right near the ocean and it's filled with other foreign students all eager to practice their Spanish. The inside is really nice and it has a terrace on the roof with a nice view of the ocean and the city. It was pretty much exactly what we were looking for and we've decided we're going to take it.
On February 14, I'll be moving into the fourth floor apartment and I'll be living with one French girl, two German girls and an American girl from New Mexico. The French girl, Marine, seems very friendly and she said she was excited to be living with another American.
Two of my American friends and I recently split a membership on EasyPiso.es in order to facilitate our apartment search. It's a pretty cool website where you can search for habitaciones disponibles (available rooms) in apartments around the city you're living in. You can view photos if the owner has uploaded any and you can contact the owner if you're interested in seeing the place. A premium membership is 20€, which isn't too bad when split among three people.
With the help of our friend Dierdre (thanks Dierdre!) we've been calling people and setting up appointments to look at open rooms together. Speaking on the phone with native Spanish speakers has been more difficult than we anticipated, and Dierdre helps out a little here and there if there's a communication problem. In other words, we make Dierdre call everyone.
We saw a nice three-person apartment yesterday, but we were reluctant to take the first thing we saw after having just paid for a membership on EasyPiso. We were also concerned that if we all lived alone together, we would never practice our Spanish together.
Tonight, we looked at an apartment building that seems much more promising. It's right near the ocean and it's filled with other foreign students all eager to practice their Spanish. The inside is really nice and it has a terrace on the roof with a nice view of the ocean and the city. It was pretty much exactly what we were looking for and we've decided we're going to take it.
On February 14, I'll be moving into the fourth floor apartment and I'll be living with one French girl, two German girls and an American girl from New Mexico. The French girl, Marine, seems very friendly and she said she was excited to be living with another American.
Blog Redo Part II: ¿Me debo ir o quedarme?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tonight I decided I'm going to try to find an apartment in the city.
It turns out Carmen and Rafa thought I was only staying with them for three weeks, until the end of my immersive Spanish course. Carmen offered to let me stay on for the same price I'm paying now, but she needed to know if I was going to stay up until June or if I might leave before then to live in an apartment. They were offered the opportunity to host an American girl until June, which would be a better deal for them than allowing me to stay until I find somewhere else to live.
For many families in Cádiz, hosting foreign students is a source of income. The student pays a certain amount of money per day, and everything is taken care of: meals, laundry, cleaning, etc.
It's not a bad deal at all, considering that staying with a host family is also likely to improve one's Spanish. On top of that, I have it a lot better than some of my friends. I have my own room, my own bathroom, my own work area... I'm staying with an incredibly friendly family and Carmen is an amazing cook.
But apartments are rather cheap in Cádiz during the Spring and the idea of being more independent appeals to me. I may not eat as well on my own as I do here with Carmen, but not having to adhere to a strict meal schedule will be nice and I don't mind doing my own laundry. Living in an apartment will make traveling easier and it will mean I can have guests if a friend wants to visit me here in Cádiz.
In an already awkward conversation concerning money, made more awkward by the language barrier, I may have unintentionally insulted Carmen by saying that her prices were a bit too high for me. I think this is sort of a cultural thing; I was trying to express that I was a poor college student and that I would be spending considerably less money daily if I lived in an apartment, but I may have accidentally insinuated that her cooking and other services weren't worth the money I was paying. This is, of course, not what I was trying to say, and I felt badly afterward.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have made the conversation about money. The economy in Spain is even worse than the economy in the United States right now and a lot of people here are en paro, which means "out of work." Some friends have said that one or both of their host parents recently lost their jobs. I feel a bit like an insensitive American, trying to bargain for a lower price the way I did.
When I changed the subject to matters of independence, Carmen was much more willing to see things my way. She assured me that it was normal for someone my age to want to be more self-sufficient and that there would be no problem if I wanted to find an apartment. She just needed to know one way or the other, so she could finalize things with the American girl.
Although I'll miss everyone in my host family, I think I made the right decision in telling her that I would be leaving. Carmen and Rafa have both been very understanding of my decision and have offered to help me on my search. I'll let you guys know when I find something.
Tonight I decided I'm going to try to find an apartment in the city.
It turns out Carmen and Rafa thought I was only staying with them for three weeks, until the end of my immersive Spanish course. Carmen offered to let me stay on for the same price I'm paying now, but she needed to know if I was going to stay up until June or if I might leave before then to live in an apartment. They were offered the opportunity to host an American girl until June, which would be a better deal for them than allowing me to stay until I find somewhere else to live.
For many families in Cádiz, hosting foreign students is a source of income. The student pays a certain amount of money per day, and everything is taken care of: meals, laundry, cleaning, etc.
It's not a bad deal at all, considering that staying with a host family is also likely to improve one's Spanish. On top of that, I have it a lot better than some of my friends. I have my own room, my own bathroom, my own work area... I'm staying with an incredibly friendly family and Carmen is an amazing cook.
But apartments are rather cheap in Cádiz during the Spring and the idea of being more independent appeals to me. I may not eat as well on my own as I do here with Carmen, but not having to adhere to a strict meal schedule will be nice and I don't mind doing my own laundry. Living in an apartment will make traveling easier and it will mean I can have guests if a friend wants to visit me here in Cádiz.
In an already awkward conversation concerning money, made more awkward by the language barrier, I may have unintentionally insulted Carmen by saying that her prices were a bit too high for me. I think this is sort of a cultural thing; I was trying to express that I was a poor college student and that I would be spending considerably less money daily if I lived in an apartment, but I may have accidentally insinuated that her cooking and other services weren't worth the money I was paying. This is, of course, not what I was trying to say, and I felt badly afterward.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have made the conversation about money. The economy in Spain is even worse than the economy in the United States right now and a lot of people here are en paro, which means "out of work." Some friends have said that one or both of their host parents recently lost their jobs. I feel a bit like an insensitive American, trying to bargain for a lower price the way I did.
When I changed the subject to matters of independence, Carmen was much more willing to see things my way. She assured me that it was normal for someone my age to want to be more self-sufficient and that there would be no problem if I wanted to find an apartment. She just needed to know one way or the other, so she could finalize things with the American girl.
Although I'll miss everyone in my host family, I think I made the right decision in telling her that I would be leaving. Carmen and Rafa have both been very understanding of my decision and have offered to help me on my search. I'll let you guys know when I find something.
Blog Redo Part I: In which Vid reveals his plan to eat a lot of Sugus
I live in an apartment. Did you know that?
I was all ready to write up a post that should have been written two weeks ago, letting all of my vidlings know how my move went and sharing photos of my new apartment, when I realized that a casual reader of this blog had no way of knowing that there had been any such move.
So what follows is all at once an excuse to eat a bunch of Sugus, an overcompensation for my lack of blogging lately, and an approximation of what my blog would have looked like if I had done this thing right the first time.
I was all ready to write up a post that should have been written two weeks ago, letting all of my vidlings know how my move went and sharing photos of my new apartment, when I realized that a casual reader of this blog had no way of knowing that there had been any such move.
So what follows is all at once an excuse to eat a bunch of Sugus, an overcompensation for my lack of blogging lately, and an approximation of what my blog would have looked like if I had done this thing right the first time.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Spanish Candy: An Experiment in Self Motivation/Discipline
The vidlings are growing restless, so I must appease them with another blog post. That is, I think maybe one person complained about my sporadic updates as of late, and I got to thinking about how maybe my unreliability and seeming lack of sticktoitiveness in terms of blogging could be generalized to the rest of my life and it made me feel bad about myself. And, you know, there's no better motivation than the need for reassurance that you're not as slothful as, say, a sloth. Except for maybe...
SUGUS!
Sugus are basically Spain's version of Starbursts. They're actually Swiss in origin, but now they're owned by Wrigley and I guess they're pretty popular in Spain. They're available everywhere I go in Cádiz.
Like Starbursts, they're highly addictive and they make you feel disgusting if you eat a whole bag in one sitting. Which I've done (sloth, gluttony... let's see how many deadly sins I can rack up in one blog post).
Unlike Starbursts--packages of which contain a measly four colors and flavors--each package of Sugus boasts a whopping FIVE colors and flavors, which I will now list in order of how much sense each pairing makes, from most to least:
1. orange=orange
-Okay, I'm with you.
2. yellow=lemon
-Seems reasonable.
3. red=strawberry
-Not really breaking any ground there.
4. purple=cherry
-You know what? Sure. Cherries sometimes have a sort of purplish tint to them. Seems like an elegant solution to the whole strawberries-and-cherries-are-both-red-fruits thing.
5. blue=pineapple
-Wait, what?
Seeing as I have both a terrible sweet tooth and a proclivity for procrastination, I devised a clever plan to make myself update this blog more often and it involves Sugus. So today I went to Carrefour Express (a grocery-store-type-deal not far from where I live now) and purchased a big bag of Sugus (pictured above).
Here's the plan, pure and simple: I get one Sugu every time I finish and post an update to this blog. I'm killing two birds with one stone here, because in addition to motivating myself to update more often, I'm curbing my Sugu intake, as it's unlikely I'll write 100 blog posts in one day.
It's already past midnight and the idea of eating even one Sugu at this hour is actually sort of nauseating, but I think breaking a rule already would set a bad precedent, so... I think I'll have a red. Want one? Too bad. I need them for my blog.
And since the content of this blog post thus far has been only tenuously linked to Spain (in that Sugus are a popular candy in Cádiz), here's this week's installment of
SPANISH FOR VIDLINGS: Sugus Edition
- naranja: orange (the fruit)
- limon: lemon
- fresa: strawberry
- cereza: cherry
- piña: pineapple
UPDATE: My test was not as difficult as I had anticipated. I passed with an 8 out of 10, which is apparently "notable."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Cádiz in Pictures
Yeah, I know, it's been a while. For what it's worth, though, not much has happened in the last week.
Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (and occasionally Wednesday and occasionally not Friday) I wake up and head to class at 9:30am in this building:
I'm referring to the three week immersion course I've been taking since I arrived. Real classes don't start until next Monday, but this immersion course feels real enough; I have a test this Friday and I'm not exactly looking forward to it.
Class goes until 2pm, but we get a half hour break at 11:30am for a snack. People in Cádiz don't eat lunch until about 3pm, so I've been taking advantage of snack time. I usually get a caña con chocolate, a messy but delicious pastry with melted chocolate inside.
After lunch, I usually meet up with my friends at around 4 or 4:30pm, and we just sort of walk around the city. Stores are closed for siesta from about 2pm until about 6pm, because naps are awesome and Spanish people know it. It's occasionally sort of inconvenient--and kind of jarring, coming from America where grocery stores and fast food restaurants are often open 24/7--but I'm already used to it.
Speaking of walking around the city, though, reminds me that you guys haven't actually seen much of the city. So here are some pictures I've taken (you're welcome to ooh and aah if you feel so inclined):
Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to update more frequently from here on out and I'll let everyone know how my test goes on Friday. Anyway, I better wrap this up; those preposiciones and construcciones pasivas aren't gonna study themselves.
SPANISH FOR VIDLINGS:
Here are some useful phrases in Spanish and their approximate equivalents in English.
Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (and occasionally Wednesday and occasionally not Friday) I wake up and head to class at 9:30am in this building:
I'm referring to the three week immersion course I've been taking since I arrived. Real classes don't start until next Monday, but this immersion course feels real enough; I have a test this Friday and I'm not exactly looking forward to it.
Class goes until 2pm, but we get a half hour break at 11:30am for a snack. People in Cádiz don't eat lunch until about 3pm, so I've been taking advantage of snack time. I usually get a caña con chocolate, a messy but delicious pastry with melted chocolate inside.
After lunch, I usually meet up with my friends at around 4 or 4:30pm, and we just sort of walk around the city. Stores are closed for siesta from about 2pm until about 6pm, because naps are awesome and Spanish people know it. It's occasionally sort of inconvenient--and kind of jarring, coming from America where grocery stores and fast food restaurants are often open 24/7--but I'm already used to it.
Speaking of walking around the city, though, reminds me that you guys haven't actually seen much of the city. So here are some pictures I've taken (you're welcome to ooh and aah if you feel so inclined):
Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to update more frequently from here on out and I'll let everyone know how my test goes on Friday. Anyway, I better wrap this up; those preposiciones and construcciones pasivas aren't gonna study themselves.
SPANISH FOR VIDLINGS:
Here are some useful phrases in Spanish and their approximate equivalents in English.
- Ya voy: I'm coming.
- Nos vemos: See you later.
- Hasta ahora: See you soon.
- Vale: Okay.
- Encantado: Nice to meet you.
- ¿Cómo?: Uh... what?
- No entiendo: I don't understand.
- Sí, vale, ya entiendo: I still don't understand, but I feel like an idiot, so I'm not going to have you repeat it again.
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