The difference between "tocar", "tomar", and "dar", una fiesta, and speaking más español!

On Tuesday in my "conversacíon oral" class I was bored to death while we were practicing how to speak to clerks in stores, ask prices, ask for a dressing room, explain what we want to buy, etc. We were told to partner up and have a dialogue in which the store clerk helps the customer, and then customer is dissatisfied with the service/item/etc and complains to the clerk, and I was with my friend Paige. We have bonded a lot over the past few weeks and I would now consider her a close friend - and all my close friends know I'm a liiiiittle bit weird :) so naturally to spice up the super boring class I pretended to be a porn star (sorry mom and dad, family, etc - it was a joke!) shopping for clothing for my next film. I had no idea we were going to be asked to repeat our conversation shortly thereafter in front of the whole class as an example. So after we were instructed to present I quickly started in on the conversation skipping over the background of my character, and went straight to asking Paige, the store clerk, about underwear and bras available in her store.

We bantered back and forth, and then when I was pretending to try on the items I angrily exclaimed that I found a hole in the underwear, or I thought I did anyway. After that it got a little awkward - when I actually shouted "¿Por qúe tú tocame los calzoncillos con un rasgón?!"
What I meant to say was "why did you give me underwear with a hole?!" - What I actually said was "Why did you touch my boxers with a hole?!"
Then to correct myself I changed "tocame" (which it tocar: to touch) to "tomame"(tomar: to drink/to take - in this case, to take) and loudly again said, "¿Por qúe tú tomame los calzoncillos con un rasgón?!"...which is really no better since I said "Why did you take my boxers with a hole?!"

Third time is the charm, as I FINALLY used the right word "dame" (dar: to give) and while the whole class was laughing said "¿Por qúe tú dame los calzoncillos con un rasgón?!" "Why did you give me boxers with a hole?!"
Never did get the whole "underwear" (ropa interior or bragas) versus "boxers" (calzoncillos) thing until my Professor corrected me in front of the whole class...

It's lucky for me I'm not easily embarrassed :) - and I can promise that I will NEVER again forget the correct definitions of the words "tocar" "tomar" or "dar" again.

Oh, and Paige and I accidently matched yesterday, aren't we precious? ;)

Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to a birthday party for my friend from Spain, Hugo. In our program we were assigned partners who want to learn English, so they speak English to us, and we speak Spanish to them, and then help each other learn new things, etc. Hugo is the partner of both me and my friend Erika in the group, so we decided it would be nice to celebrate his birthday with him, some other people from our program, and some other friends of Hugo's. We went just outside the city to a "pueblo" or small town, basically a suburb to his house to have a delicious lunch. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we had a wonderful time meeting new friends and celebrating!

We also went to the beach there, and to the house of another person in our program who is learning English, Oscar, who's parents own a dairy farm. I got to milk a cow!! So awesome :)

My lovely friend Erika

Meeeeee

Erika, our partner/friend Hugo, and me

Alex, me, and Erika

Fun fact: tons of tourist souvenirs here revolve around cows because Santander/Cantabria has it's very own kind of cow - although I don't know exactly what type that is, I will find out!

Also, yesterday Hector/Mauricio, who's given name is Cedric (as referenced in my first blog post) met another Cedric yesterday! This Cedric is Dutch and speaks 5 languages. Yes, 5! English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and German. ¡Lo impresionante! My friends and I were feeling a liiiiittle inferior just struggling to speak 2, but nonetheless, Hector/Mauricio/Cedric was very pleased to meet a friend with the same name.

Today I went to school, came home and ate lunch, napped, then went to el centro to plan some trips with my friends, and then my host mom asked me to show a French girl around who is staying in Santander with one of her good friends for the week. I nervously accepted - because my backup plan is always English when Spanish fails me...and I don't know anything but "oui" and "merci" in French if I get stuck and don't know a word in Spanish.
It was great though! Her name is Justine, and she's 18, and we walked around near the beach for the better part of an hour and were able to speak Spanish to each other the entire time and get to know each other! I don't care what anyone says, that's AMAZING. I relied solely on my Spanish to get to know someone, and was able to :) it's so exciting, and I'm so proud! haha.  We might meet up tomorrow again so I can introduce her to some of my friends and show her around town more.

Exciting times here in España :) ¡Que tengan una semana maravillosa! xoxo

Mi vida personal

This blog is about where I live, and some random tidbits that I think of along the way. My mom has been asking me to post pictures of my room and what I can see out my windows, so here are a few for you, mom :)

My adorable apartment building : Los Magnolios

And my room! There are two beds, I sleep in the one adorned with stuffed animals 

The view from my door way :)

My windows!

Pretty days

Grey days

My host family's chihuahua, and Queen of the house, Coco! (She is adorable, but I miss Batman!)

The corner of my block. We have pizza hut, which I have been craving - along with Mexican food, sushi, and my mom's potato salad, pancakes, mickey waffles, and cookies

The view up my street! My building is the last one on the right

I turn left at the pizza hut (away from Pizza Hut) and have about a 25 minute walk to school up that road. It's a gorgeous walk on sunny days :)

Here are a few photos of my walk - photos of my school to follow sometime soon!

Random tidbits :)

Yesterday when I was having lunch with my host family (my host mom cooks bomb weekend feasts btw), we were chatting about how interesting it is that my host sister, Natalia and I have the same name - because hers is the Spanish version and mine the English, and that we're both 21, and that both of our families have chihuahuas...my host mom then asked how old my dog is, so I told her how old Batman is and his birthday. Then she told me Coco is one year younger and that her birthday is August 5th. I told her that mine is the next day on the 6th - that's when we figured out that my host sister Natalia and I not only have the same name and are the same age, but we have the exact same birthday - how weird!!! I've never met another Natalie with my birthday, let alone someone my age that I happen to be living with haha - kind of cool though.

Also, I keep seeing Australian things here and there while I'm in Spain, and they make me so nostalgic! I had the time of my life this last Christmas break visiting my boyfriend Travis's family (hi Trish, John, Jess, and Brad!). I have taken pictures of most of the things I've seen so far :) except for a pair of underwear made by a Spanish company that have koalas, kangaroos, and Aussie flags all over them. My camera died and the store they were in was closed, so now I'm on a hunt for them so I can buy them for Trav because they were adorable :) 

Here are the other Aussie things I've seen in the 10 days I've been here - besides the Aussie airplane pillow I have with me.

A koala store - they don't sell them haha, it's just the company's logo

Kangaroo brand shoes

And I saw a purse with a map of the world on it - and couldn't help but notice that there's a teeny little typo in the spelling of AustRalia haha :-P

As another side note: my Spanish-speaking skills are dramatically improving already after 10 days here, and I am so excited to see how much I can learn and master by the time June rolls around :) this is such a great experience for me to be able to have, and I can't believe I'm really here, studying abroad in Europe like I have always dreamed about. I am so lucky! I miss my boyfriend, family, and friends (lots and lots guys), but I am making new friends here and have a really warm and caring host family who loves to speak Spanish with me and encourages me to experience as many great things about Europe as I can! 

I also have a new-found understanding and ability to identify with other groups of people since being here, that I haven't in the past - and I really appreciate that this experience that given me that already. I have never understood how monumental it is to move to another place and try to fit in there - especially when you can't speak the native language well! I have laughed and been less sensitive and patient than I should have been (embarrassingly) in situations in the past when I have spoken to foreign people in the states. I'm here to tell you - it is SO tough! When people have stopped to talk to me or encourage me here it has completely made my day and given me so much courage to go out and explore - and on the flip side, I will always remember the experiences here already in which people have gotten frustrated with me (on the bus, in a restaurant, asking directions when I was lost in the city) when I wasn't able to speak clearly to them, and how crap I felt afterwards. It's hard to learn another language, let alone figure out cultural norms, and how to be appropriate in another country! I am getting the hang of it though. I hope to be a lot more graceful in the future when I meet people in that situation, since I have now walked a mile in their shoes :) 

This blog has truly helped me find another voice within myself that I maybe haven't had until now, or just haven't had time to pay attention to before. Spain is such an adventure for me, in so many ways. I am thankful to have this time to reflect, and take a step outside of my "little world" to see how I can improve and be a better me when I return to it. 

Echo de menos a todos, y espero que este mensaje te encuentres bien. (I miss you all, and hope this post finds you well.) xoxo

Castro Urdiales y la Pasión Viviente

On Thursday I had a delicious lunch made by my host mom :) it was authentic Spanish calamari, and we (my host mom, 2 host sisters, other American girl, and myself) all ate together and spoke mucho español. It was pretty great. My host mom also invited us all out to get churros that evening. I. Love. Churros. I knew I loved them in the states, but holy moly I love them even more in Spain...it's kind of sickening how often I crave them now - and what's worse is that there are shops and stands ALL over for me to purchase them at. It's a good thing I walk miles and miles every day around this city! If you go to a chocolateria or other kind of sweet shop you will find homemade, fresh churros like these (below), and you choose the type of hot chocolate you want to use to dip it in (spanish is thicker and dark, and french is lighter and has a similar consistency to hot chocolate in America).

I tried Spanish chocolate this time - it was amazing!

Me, Melissa (other American girl), and my host sisters Natalia, and Daniela

The next day I went and visited an absolutely breathtaking town called Castro Urdiales, which is famous (at least in northern Spain) for the live reenactment of the last supper, trial, punishment, crucifixion, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The city is by the sea and the main stage of the reenactment is set at a church that was built in the 14th century. The reenactment is called Pasión Viviente, and it lasted from 10am until 3pm, and moved to several different stages throughout the city. We followed the procession and either stood and watched stagnant scenes or walked around the town following the story. It was a LONG day of walking - 5 hours solid, and many more after lunch and dinner, but it was such a cool cultural experience to be a part of. The reenactment was very serious and graphic - Peter hung himself from a tree...actually jumped from a tree with a noose around his neck (he had a hook attached at the back of his neck so he didn't actually die), Jesus was whipped (not with a cat of 9 tails, and not nearly as hard as the story goes, but still, repeatedly), and all 3 men being punished were hung on actual crosses. 

There was a pretty hilarious moment during the reenactment, though I don't think it was intended to be. Before Jesus is punished he is in a kingdom being taunted and called a false prophet by a King and Queen. In the reenactment they decided to have the king's gypsy women come out and do a dance. There is a lot of American music here, almost entirely actually, and they don't always understand the connotations of the song lyrics. That would explain why they decided to play Beyonce's "Who Run the World (Girls)" at a church built in the 14th century, where a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Jesus was taking place. It was hilarious and very ironic. 

After the reenactment we still had several hours until our bus back to Santander came, so we walked around the rainy city, got food, and went back to take a closer look at the beautiful church (Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción). 

Cliff overlooking the gorgeous ocean

Hector/Mauricio gettin his Spanish patata fix (also, that ketchup is hot as a mofo!)

Danielle, Jennifer, Hector/Mauricio, Margarita, and Oresta

La iglesia

This was my first adventure to another city since I got to Spain, and now I'm planning all of my others :) I am going to San Sebastian this Saturday-Sunday, which is a city in Northern Spain east of Santander with great history and beaches I'm told. Also, at the end of this month I'm flying to the south of Spain for 5 days with some friends to Málaga, then travelling to Sevilla, taking a ferry to Morocco, and maybe visiting Gibraltar! In May I'm looking into going to a Real Madrid game in Bilbao on the 2nd, and am flying to Madrid for the weekend May 17-20. I have so many fun adventures to look forward to! If at all possible I will be heading to Paris for a weekend coming up, and to Barcelona as well :) 

Os quiero a todos :) xo