Spaniards trying to speak English

So, my host family is great. And my host mom is probably the cutest lady that every walked this planet. She is so generous, and caring and giving, and sweet and nice, and she has a very calming voice (which I actually just realized when I compared her voice with the loud penetrating voice of the cleaning lady María...)  Anywho, you can't help but love her. 

Things like this just make you love her more:

She doesn't know much English at all. What she does know is what is sometimes seen on TV or in the movies, and she (kind of) knows how to say "fish and chips". Since Spanish is a phonetic language, meaning the words are pronounced exactly as they're written, it's difficult for them to pronounce many English words.

Maybe no one else will think this is funny, and you really have to hear it to understand its cuteness, but just sound this out: corrrrn FLAH case. stress on the FLAH. then she giggles a little bit. what could she be trying to say? That's right, friends. None other than the famous American cereal, Corn Flakes. She does the same with most English words. White is another one, pronounced by my host mommy Victar as "wee-tay"... And of course, Brraddd Peet. (dont' forget to roll the R. They think he's pretty good looking over here, as well...

As if I didn't love her enough for doing my laundry, cleaning my room, and fattening me up with lots of yummy (sometimes not yummy) Spanish food....

intense class with Spaniards

In case you didn't know, I'm sarcastic, and that title is very sarcastic.

On Tuesdays, I have a class with Spanish students for 1 hour. 55 minutes to be exact. 12-12:55. Not too bad. 

Today, we got out of our grammar class at noon, and I rushed over to this next class. the door was closed and locked, and of the 40+ students that are in the class, there were maybe 10 outside waiting. They didn't really seem to care. I went to the bathroom, came back, now 5 past 12, and the door, still locked, professor still hasn't arrived. Hey, I'm not complaining. But at least let us know if you're going to cancel class. Shoot, spoke too soon. She shows up a minute later. This is approximately how the class went after that:

12:07-12:10: teacher enters the room and sets up her computer and powerpoint. 

12:10-12:13: teacher passes out a few packets of notes to a few delegates, which everyone will obtain at some point to make copies. 

12:13-12:20: Students continually ask if she can simply send the notes via email; students discuss the prices of making photocopies; teacher claims--incorrectly--that making photocopies is cheaper than printing off at home; one student talks about putting them on the class's online folder; professor doesn't know how to do this so the student walks her through it on her computer; after all that, teacher decides not to post it on there.

12:21-12:27: (I actually remember looking at my watch at 12:27)...teacher reviews what was gone over the last class. Sometimes that's good, but it was unnecessary in this case. 

12:28 or so: we finally get started on the day's material: extensions of education. She asks why they're called "extensions".

12:28-12:31: she says "no" to about 20 different attempted answers by students. 

12:31: we start to talk about hair extensions. 

12:32-12:55: we talk about the actual extensions of education, which were more or less what those volunteers had already said in class.  

All in all, a productive class session...I learned a lot. 

wide ruled or college ruled?

That option does not exist in Spain. Nope, nope, nope. Lined paper? Have yet to find it. 

This blog is dedicated to my good friend Allison, who, along with the majority of Americans in Spain, including myself, is bothered by the fact that Spaniards don't have lined paper.

So, what do they use? Well, there are two options. One, you can pretend that every class you have is a math class. And hence, its corresponding notebook will be graph paper. Who actually likes to write on graph paper? The spacing is bad, you either have to keep the letters within one square, which is difficult and teeny tiny, or you have to keep them within two vertical squares, which just looks sloppy and big. 

The other option is plain white paper, like for printing a paper. Just plain computer paper. However, normally this doesn't come in notebook form, a cause of extreme disorganization. If you have nice handwriting and can write straight, then all is well. Looks kind of nice actually. However, if you are a normal American, and have spent your entire life writing on lines, then this change can be pivotal to the success of your note-taking in Spain. 

I guess it's good, though, for the Spaniards. They know how to write neatly without lines. In case there's ever a "writing neatly and straight without lined paper" contest. I will not enter myself in that one. 

One might think, this is such a silly preoccupation. However, for meticulous and perfectionist type people, such as Allison and myself, it is life altering.

Thankfully I learned this lesson last time I was in Spain, and remembered to bring my own college ruled notebooks with me. It's been great :)

Blob

My mom just called my "blog" a "blob." She was 100% serious. I love that generation. 

Spanish television

It's pretty bad. Lots and lots of news, some decent Spanish programs, some terrible Spanish soaps, lots of game shows, and lots of American shows dubbed (Simpsons--most popular, Friends, thank goodness, CSI, House, and some others). I'm talking about the basic basic stations that most everyone has. There are about 6. Sometimes 7, on a good day. It is interesting because usually in the States we literally have hundreds of channels. I do miss HBO. And ABC. Anyone want to update me on Grey's and Brothers and Sisters???

My host family got a new cable box type thing, and the whole family is flipping out because we now have a whopping....drum-roll please....TWENTY EIGHT CHANNELS!!! Pretty exciting stuff. :)  

An orange a day....

Ok so maybe an orange a day (or even an apple...) doesn't keep the doctor away. Even so, orange are quite the common fruit here in Spain. (Most are grown in Valencia, a wonderful city on the eastern coast of the peninsula.) 

Our host families usually give us a little snack to take to school to eat between classes, magdalenas (muffins...also very very common), cookies, or some fruit, an apple or an orange. My host family usually has oranges. And about these oranges, I have realized something that I had never really thought too much about: an orange that peels easily is worth a lot more than one might imagine.

I normally get a break after a couple classes, have time to relax a bit. But on Tuesdays, I have classes from 9AM to 3 PM without a break. (ok there's like one 5 minute break, but I have to use that to go to the bathroom and to actually arrive on time to the next class...so no, there's not really a break to chat with friends or grab something to eat...) We will call these days, "Tuesdays from Hell." Also, in Spain, it's a lot less common to see students eating in the classroom. So anyway, the seconds, literally seconds, that I have to eat something, it is very helpful if that "something" is easily edible.

Some days, the oranges are very hard to peel and after about 10 minutes of digging my nails into this silly little orange for a supposed "quick" snack, I end up with orange rind underneath my nails, sticky orange juice all over, and my hands smell like an orange for the rest of the day. (doesn't smell too bad, but still annoying). And then there are the days when I can thank God for the creation of these little mandarin type oranges that peel in seconds. It makes life much easier :)

So, this all might sound silly. But, it made me think. It is just a funny recognition really. I ask myself how many of you have ever thought about the ease of peeling an orange. If you have ever lived in Spain, I'm sure you have...

'tis all. ta ta. until next time.