Un poco más de la cultura Español - "A little bit more of Spanish culture"

Here's some more typical Spanish culture that I'm growing accustomed to:

Dos Besos: Dos besos or "two kisses" is a tradition in much of Europe, and definately here in Spain. Instead of a handshake, it is customary to give a kiss on both cheeks both when meeting someone for the first time and when greeting them everytime after that. A kiss on the left side, then on the right side is customary. As my actual university classes haven't begun yet, and the majority of the people I've been introduced to here have been other exchange students (many from the U.S., but some who are not), it's been quite a funny process trying to figure out if I go for the handshake or the dos besos. I love the awkward moments when I think I'm being introduced to another American though really they're not, and they lean forward (me thinking they're going for the handshake) though really they're going for dos besos, so I reach my hand out and grab theirs, awkwardly receive one kiss, then realize I'm now giving a handshake while doing dos besos. Yes it has happened. I'm sure it will happen many more times. Maybe I'll just be safe and stick to dos besos!

Tapas: Tapas are typical appetizers or snacks in restaurants and cafes served mostly late at night. It is typical to go out for tapas between getting off work and when eating dinner (dinner in Spain is always late, 9 pm often). There's a wide variety of types of tapas. A few nights ago a large group of us went out for tapas and experienced about 10 different kinds: ground beef in tomato paste, cracker type crust with some sort of salty seafood paste and an anchovie on top, empenadas, tortilla española (Spanish omelette... an egg omelette with potato), Murcian salad (tomato, olives, peppers, hard boiled eggs in a sauce, no lettuce), fried potatoes, Spanish pizza, and several others! Some were amazing, some definately were not, but we enjoyed the experience. Tapas are also amazingly cheap, between 1 and 3 euros a plate (which has more than enough to share). Another popular dish here in Spain is slices of toasted french bread served with crushed tomatos, olive oil, and salt. The taste is amazing, and definately something I'll be making for myself all the time in the United States. They eat it for every meal here! The man working at the restaurant we ate tapas at kept bringing us more and more tapas. We were incredibly full by the end of the tapas experience. But, the waiter was very nice and gave free shots of limonchello (sugary lemon alcohol shots) to our entire group of about 20. I'll document some of my favorite tapas and get the recipes so I can share the experience with all my friends and family in the U.S. upon my return!

Una visita a Lorca - "A visit to Lorca"

Yesterday, a group of about 15 exchange students with origins in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, and others went on an excursion to a nearby small town called Lorca. We knew very little about the city except that it was exceptionally cheap for round trip bus tickets to get there (for a trip over an hour each way) and we knew that there was a castle there. That was enough for us!

The town: Pretty small, very cold, great buildings and history. We arrived at the Lorca bus station at about 11 am equipped with walking shoes, a brown bag lunch for later, cameras, and eager minds. We explored the city a little bit, taking pictures of all the beautiful and history-rich buildings. We stopped at a plaza with a large fountain and decided to have our lunches there. After taking even more pictures, we packed up and started our hike to the top of the hill of the city, where an ancient castle was looming above the city. We listened to some classic Spanish singing and guitar playing on the street as we walked through the main city towards our destination. We also came across a gorgeous church "Iglesia Santa Maria" that caught our attention for a while.

The castle: It wasn’t an exceptionally large, beautiful, or extremely important castle, but it was a castle, and it did hold a lot of history for Spain. Known as “La Fortaleza del Sol” or “Fortress of the Sun”, the castle is of Arabic origin and dates back to the 13th century. It was a fortress to protect the city of Lorca. The castle also marked the border between the Christian and Muslim kingdoms. The city itself lived for many years as a mixture of these religious cultures. The castle had a lot of exhibitions. They also use it for entertainment events, historical teachings, etc. Here’s me picking an orange at the castle. These orange trees are all over the region of Murcia. On the way back from the castle, we visited a tiny home built into the hill where the castle is. One of the girls in our group had to use their bathroom earlier in the trip, and the family asked that the entire group come by to say hi. A woman with eight daughters and no sons greeted us with open arms, explained some history of her family, some of the buildings surrounding her home and the castle, and gave us some information about Lorca. Her daughter was holding a 2 day old puppy which of course caught all of our attention. It was a great experience to see how a local lives, view how open and nice they are, and to get a piece of history that we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.

Las Fraternidades/Fraternidades de Mujeres - "Fraternities/Sororities"

So... as most of you reading this know, I'm a member of a sorority (Alpha Omicron Pi) at my university (Washington State University). I'm only writing this because it's an experience I've had in Spain... and I thought it worth writing about, especially for my fellow sisters back home. First off, the TV show "Greek" is played here in Spain, where there's no such thing as fraternities/sororities, and the stereotypes are outrageous because of TV shows like this. It's a funny show to watch in the U.S. because the situations are so blown out of proportion and outrageous, but when it's played here in Spain with Spanish voiceovers, it surely plants a horrible stereotype on me and all other greeks when I mention I live in a sorority.
        Yes, I'm aware of the stereotypes, yes I realize there are some that may be true to some fraternities/sororities, but I guess others wouldn't really know unless they were involved in one or had close friends in one. They're definately not for everyone. BUT, they are for some people, and I wouldn't go back and change my decision to join for anything. So today in my intensive language Spanish class, we spent the last half hour talking about organizations that other countries have at their universities that La Universidad de Murcia doesn't have and maybe should look into. One European mentioned fraternities for different studies at her university (business fraternity, medical fraternity). This of course led to a discussion in Spanish about the stereotypes of fraternities/sororities in the United States and a kind of intense discussion about their purpose being to "buy friends", "just drink all the time", and "pay a ton of money for nothing". Yeah I was offended, yes I tried to defend them, but as I was the only person in the class who was a member of one, my argument didn't go far.
        Regardless, my thought for today is how glad I am that my sorority doesn't fit the stereotype that the students in the class thought of all sororities. How glad I am that we're individuals, don't wear the same "juicy suit outfit" or "uggs with leggings" in packs everyday like people said, have a purpose, know how to have fun but ALSO get things done, have an incredibly high standard for grades/community service/ involvement at the university, and a bucket list of amazing things to be proud of. I sure as heck didn't pay for my friends. I made my own friends (some in fraternities/sororities... but a lot outside too) and I'm paying to live in a mansion while going to college; which I can afford because I'm on a near full-ride with academic scholarships. Not so typical "sorority girl". I miss all of my amazing girls in Alpha Omicron Pi, my friends in other sororities and fraternities, and my friends outside of those. I've had an unmatchable experience as a member of this organization, including experiences I would never had experienced had I not joined. Who else can say they've lived with 50 distinct, very different, and indeed sometimes difficult personalities under one roof and gladly put up with it because the reason for putting up with it is worth so much more than the reasons to not. Some people who've joined these organizations may not get as much out of it as others, may indeed be "paying for friends", "using it only for parties", etc... but me, I'm not, and I'm so glad. LOVE my friends, miss you all! Being here in Spain has already taught me a lot, and already shown me how much every single one of you means to me.

Algunas cosas differentes de España - "A few different things about Spain"

Living in Spain is definately a new, exciting, though also sometimes trying experience. Things are definately different here, and getting used to the new ways of life will take some getting used to. Here's a few things that I've encountered that are different so far (some for the good, some not so much)-

Walking: Murcia has 450,000 people, but the city isn't actually all that big. For the most part, you can walk to your destinations within 10 to 15 minutes. But, the local Murcianos, according to my Spanish teacher, don't enjoy walking more than 10 minutes worth, so for those walks that are further, they will take the bus (which leads to such crowded buses) or they will take their cars (there's a TON of traffic here in Murcia for how small the size of the city is). For us foreigners without cars, we walk everywhere, which is great! But... by the end of the day, man can your feet hurt if you're wearing "cute shoes" like the rest of the Spaniards.

The Market: Because a lot of people live within 5 to 10 minutes of a market, they will walk there and therefore can only take as many groceries home as they can carry. You probably have to go to the market twice a week (I've been 3 times since I've been here already). A lot of people have small carts (they look like small strollers) that they bring from home and they lock it up like a bike at the front of the store (then they fill it with groceries to bring home). In the store, the baskets have wheels and a large handle. During busy hours, you're lucky if you can get through the aisles. Also, milk and eggs aren't refigerated here. You buy the milk off the shelf in a plastic container and then when you open it you have to refigerate it. Full skinned rabbits are sold for meat here. It's hard to find things you are looking for if you don't know the Spanish vocab word of that thing; all the packaging is so different. This crazy dried out meat is sold by the leg in every market, at every cafe, and in every restaurant. They just hang it on the wall until you purchase a whole one or they take it down to slice it into pieces.

Light switches: So far, you flip it down to turn it on... backwards of the U.S.

Kitchen: Dishwashers are rare in university apartments. Hand washing everything makes every meal take just a little bit longer.

Coffee: It's not as common to drink coffee here as it is in the U.S., and especially not to drink it on the go. Yes there are cafes, but a coffee is simply sold in a tiny ceramic mug to be drank there at the cafe. Starbucks venti sizes would be unheard of. Usually a cappuccino or "cafe con leche" (coffee with milk) are the most extravagant kinds you can order, unless going to the fancy Drexco coffee shop, where coffee with brandy is a specialty.

Washing clothes: Washing machines are tiny and slow: small loads only. It generally takes FOREVER to do one load. Dryers are extremely rare here in Murcia where the endless sun can sun-dry the clothes. Although, in the winter, it can still take 3 days for clothes to become completely dry.

Spanish beauty: These are my perceptions of Spanish beauty so far. A lot of men have gelled hair, wear scarves, fine leather shoes, leather jackets, and tighter jeans. Very rarely have I seen a man wearing sweatpants, sweatshirts, or tennis shoes. Women are similar in that they always seem dressed up. No sweatpants, yoga pants, no tennis shoes, no sweatshirts. Although, women tend to leave their hair au natural: rarely straightened or curled, usually just air-dried and frizzy. Makeup is usually minimal as well. As far as clothing, women wear heels and nice leather boots all over the city (to the supermarket, to work, and even to their gyms to workout where they will THEN change into tennis shoes). Leather is huge for women as well. Tons of people wear leggings as pants (probably because jeans take a century to air dry). Regardless, everyone is dressed up all the time. I've also been told that the Spanish dress up for the season and not the weather. So even though Murcia will be 65 to 80 degrees within the next two months, it will still be considered winter season, so Murcianos will continue to wear their leather boots, leather jackets, scarves, etc. Sandals aren't worn until summer season actually starts. Flip flops are not worn, ever. You will be called a "guidee" for doing so (meaning "foreigner").

Prices: For the most part, anything American is expensive, and anything local is not. Also, most alcohol is dirt cheap (unless it's something from the U.S. like Smirnoff or Bacardi, these cost about the same). Wine of good quality is anywhere from 1 Euro to 4 (equivalent to 3 to 7 dollars about). The nice wine can be found for 18 Euros or about $30 (but I rarely see anyone reach for wine of that quality; it appears that the low priced wine is sufficient in quality).  Here's some super cheap wine!

Nightlife: In Spain, "going out" doesn't begin until 12 or 1 am usually. The Spanish will go to their first bar at this time and the young students will generally stay out until 5 or even later dancing at different clubs or hanging with their friends at various bars. 7 am was the time I experienced when my roommates took me and the other new roommate out to visit the city. We came home at 6 am to eat "breakfast" then finally went to bed. The streets are filled with people during the whole night (making all hours pretty safe).

Siesta: Nearly all businesses close from 2 until 5 pm for "la siesta" (nap). The Spanish will go home, have their lunch around 2, perhaps prepare for the dinner meal, and usually take a short nap (so necessary... read "Nightlife section"). Businesses will reopen after 5 and close around 9 pm, although it's not expected that they ever open when their hours are actually listed. Banks usually don't open again after they close at 2 pm unless it's Friday. The siesta definately makes things difficult to accomplish, although I'm becoming accustomed to just relaxing for a few hours and slowing down, just like the Spanish!

Accent: The residents of Murcia have a thick accent that makes it hard to understand the Spanish language here. As if it wasn't difficult enough to try to understand when I'm not a native speaker. They often drop all "s" and "z" sounds, and a lot of words are just cut in half or shortened. The town Murcia is pronounced like "Moor-thee-uh" (and very quickly). "Gracias" is "Gra-thee-uh" (very quickly), and "hasta luego" is simply "sta- luego" (also very quickly). Pretty much everything said is very quick!

Smoking: People smoke all over the place, in most cafes, restaurants, and bars. If you go out, you WILL smell like smoke also. The first night out, it was dizzying how much smoke was in the bar. At the end of each night we have to out hang jackets etc. on the hanging clothesline outside overnight for them to air out and have the smell disappear. There are cigarette vending machines everywhere as well. Quite a different mentality from the United States.

Mi llegada en Murcia, Spain - "My arrival in Murcia, Spain"

Getting to Murcia was definately a challenge! Just like my hometown Prosser is a small town (6,000 people) and farther from major airports and cities, so is Murcia in Spain (people say it's a small town, but there's 450,000 people living here... crazy!). After a 3 hour drive to Seattle with my family (and getting there way too early so we stopped at a pet store for about an hour to keep ourselves entertained), I was finally ready to depart at the airport. 1 HUGE 50 lb suitcase checked in. A backpack stuffed to the max (so heavy) along with a large purse stuffed to the max (Probably even heavier) as my carry-ons. I said bye to my parents and went through security and off to find my traveling partner, Lauren (from Seattle and also going to study at Murcia), at the gate of our flight. Thank goodness I had someone else to travel with because I would have been a mess if I went alone. Seeing Lauren there waiting at the gate was the hugest relief. We got to know each other pretty well on the 9.5 hour flight to London. She had a window seat.. and I was supposed to sit by this rude woman wearing head to toe Dolce and Gabbana and a huge lengthy coat covered in long fur... ugh. Fortunately, the plastic was a little loose on her armrest so the airlines told her she was being moved to first class... too bad it wasn't ME that happened to, but I was glad we had an empty seat next to us. I didn't sleep much and my neck was very sore after that first flight. We finally landed in London the next day and were redirected to our next departure gate. The airport was ridiculously huge. I exchanged my U.S. dollars for Euros at a kiosk and got "bloody screwed" by the exchange rate. Oh well. I knew this would be an expensive journey. The flight to Madrid seemed like it was nothing, even though it was 2.5 hours. When we landed in Madrid, the REAL journey began.

           We went to get our luggage... except my luggage never circulated the luggage belt. So we asked the only person we could see working there where we go... the janitor told us about a desk further down we could get it figured out at. The man told me my luggage was left somewhere in London but that they'd have it on a flight to Murcia and I'd have it by 2 o clock the next day. I thought, "hey, one less bag for me to lug around Madrid!". We asked a man at a "Madrid City Guide" kiosk for directions to the Metro station at the airport, and which lines to take to our hostel. He told us to take a Metro to a certain stop, then get onto a train which will take us to a new stop right next to our hostel. Boy was that wrong. We had an English man help us buy our tickets out of this machine. Then we watched people as they entered the metro gate, watch and learn at it's best. Lauren's luggage was too large and we thought she broke the door of the gate... so we scurried away quickly hoping nobody saw. We got on the metro and felt really awkward  swaying around all over the place... it was like learning to surf when everyone around you was a pro. We got off at the station the man told us to, and figured out where the right train was. We watched and learned again as people bought tickets out of machines for the train and then entered the gates with their tickets. So we did it too. The gap between where we were standing and the actual trian or metro was so big that it would take both me and Lauren to lift up her bag and carry it onto the train or metro each time. Thank goodness I didn't have mine too! We never saw the station where the man told us to get off so we just got off at a random one and asked a stranger how to get to el estacion del Sol. We were VERY far off. We never needed to take a train, we were supposed to stay on the same metro as before. After lugging her suitcase up several flights of stairs, and then back down stairs, up stairs again, back down... we finally got on the right metro and made it to our station. When we emerged from underground, it was beautiful! The city was completely lit up with lights and filled with people. It was about 10 pm when we got into our hostel and settled in. It was small and cozy.. we were sweating a ton when we got in because we had to carry Lauren's 50 lb bag plus our carry ons up these tiny thin stairs with wavy wood, up about 3 1/2 flights. BUT our room was perfect. We left our luggage and immediately headed out to see the city a little bit. We had a yummy dinner including a small glass of beer, my first legal alcohol purchase. We walked around the city a bit longer before realizing that we stood out like sore thumbs. We went down some smaller streets and were pursued by almost every man, begging us to come into the bar they were working for. We pretended we didn't speak Spanish, but then they spoke English to us, so we just said "Lo siento, no no" over and over again.  

      We finally went to our hostel and went to bed. In the morning, we woke up super early and headed straight to the metro. We went to the right stop to transfer to our train to Murcia. They tell you which exact train you take only 20 minutes before the train leaves. So we got down to the correct stop with 5 minutes to go and I found out I didn't have the correct ticket printed out. So needless to say I freaked out, was told I had to go to this distant booth to get it printed out, so I did, but there was a long line at the booth, I freaked out, thankfully one of employees could tell I was desperate and helped me print out the ticket. SO I sprinted back to my train and got on. I slept about an hour of the 4 hour train ride where we saw beautiful landscapes, some ancient homes built into mountains, and finally Murcia.

      The taxi driver was almost impossible to understand, but he was able to drop Lauren off (at the wrong location.. poor girl) and then brought me to my apartment. I rang the doorbell several times and nobody answered. So I took my heavy carry ons with me onto the campus where I wandered around looking for theInternational Relations office where I was promised I would be given my keys. Well, the lady wasn't there..so I found a campus security booth where the men were extremely helpful. They called a ton of phone numbers. Unfortunately, they couldn’t reach the lady, and siesta time was approaching. They told me to go back to my apartment and try again. If nobody answered, to return. When I rang the doorbell this time, I had a speech in my head about what I was going to say when they answered the door “Hola, Yo soy la nueva companera de cuarto”. Well I rang the doorbell, a camera screen lit up and I heard “HEY! Are you the new person? Ok.. I’m opening the door”. I was in so much shock that they were speaking English I was just like, “Hola… uhh yo… nueva roommate”. The response, “umm you can come in, I opened the door. push it open”. I was met by one of the girls, Anna. She’s super tall and skinny and from Louisiana, an absolute sweetheart! She has already been here for 2 weeks because she’s in a different program than me. Michelle is from West Virginia, although she spent the first half of her life in Brazil. She’s feisty and fun, but also probably one of the nicest people I know. Brayan is from Mexico City, then lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is very funny and is going to teach us to dance Salsa, Meringue, techno dance, and how to DJ! The last roommate is a 35 year old woman from the Dominican Republic who is getting her master's degree. She doesn't speak English and has family in Seville, so she spends a lot of her time there, especially weekends. I know this has been a super long post but the adventure getting here was crazy!!

Diez dias hasta que llego... - "Ten days until I arrive...."

My adventure to Spain has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride... and I still have 10 days left before I even leave. Between two applications for studying abroad (one to ISEP and one to WSU), multiple scholarship applications, two scholarship interviews (to no avail.. ugh), although being selected for a seperate scholarship I didn't even apply for (yay!), deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, getting courses pre-approved, sending my dad to go to San Francisco on a day flight to apply for my student VISA for me (which required gathering dozens and dozens of papers and official documents/signatures/notarizations/setting up the appointment months in advance and getting the flights there), being told THREE different departure and return dates (yess... three VERY different dates), realizing that I'll actually be gone for 6 months instead of the 4 to 5 I was expecting, finally being able to buy my plane tickets, having huge translation issues trying to get things figured out for my Spanish advisor and my Spanish landlord, full physical, 6 vaccinations, 2 wisdom teeth removed, skin punch biopsy done before I left, booking a hostel in Madrid and a train to Murcia (even though the train only allows 44 lbs of luggage instead of the 60 ish I'll have with me), and finally getting everything packed up... well lets just say things have been crazy.

The last semester as a whole has been crazy... but I've gotten everything done, somehow got my highest GPA yet at WSU, and had the craziest few weeks of my life while trying to plan my sorority's huge philanthropy event. The four weeks I get off from school before I leave have been so great.  I'm finally getting nervous for my trip... not sleeping well, starting to get separation anxiety, and stressing all hours of the day to get things done. Yet... I'm still excited and ready to go! I honestly can't wait to meet the lovely women I've been in contact with so far, and el hombre who'll be one of my roomies. So far I've been told I have 3 women roommates from Germany, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and one male roomie from Utah, though originally from Mexico. We'll be living in a cute apartment in the city center, 5 bedrooms, 2 bath. I'm pretty excited!!! On the 19th I'll be leaving from Seattle with another girl going to Murcia. We'll land in London on the 20th, trasfer to a flight to Madrid, take several Metro buses to the city center, stay in a hostel in Madrid that night, take metros to the train station in the morning, and finally take a 4 hour train to Murcia, where we'll then take a Taxi to our bank, to the university to get ours keys, and finally to our separate apartments. Man it's going to be an adventure. Welcome to my trip! My next post will be when I'm actually in Europe!!