This time last year, boy were things different!

I am knee-deep in school work (actually I should be writing my paper on the BP oil spill right now), but I couldn't help but remember where I was last year around this time of the year.  I was in my apartment, sulking in the fact that I didn't know if God was calling me to go to Spain or not.  What a stressful time of my life that was.

Recently I talked with several juniors who were debating whether or not they wanted to study abroad, and as I was hearing their anxieties about going abroad, I involuntarily was taken on trip down memory lane.  I felt their pain! I know their pain! So, me as a oh-so-wise senior, the response I gave them was this: "I know that whatever comes out of my mouth right now is going to be momentarily soothing, but make you even more confused.  So the only helpful thing I can say right now is, I know what it feels like to be in your position, and trust me, it's all going to work out."

And really, take it from my experience. God's going to take care of you. He is the Provider.

I still revert back to the horrible first two weeks of me being in Spain, and am so thankful that I was not left in that hole of darkness. Thus, when I face difficult patches in my current stage of life, I must remember that sad little place I was in, and how things paned out eventually. (Although, I must admit, sometimes I think some of my current hardships come from the fact that I was away for a semester...That doesn't mean I regret going though!)

Sometimes I feel so nostalgic, and ache to be back in Madrid.

Some things that were a part of my everyday life...

Plaza de España

Weird meals. Actually this was one of my first meals

out in Spain. 

The courtyard in the apartment I lived in. :'( I miss it!

Churros con chocolate de San Gines. YUMM

Plaza de Cibeles 

Mercado de Ventas. Crappy but cheap pastries from

the local market near my house. 

Las Ventas!! Plaza de toros. 

Fun activities at Retiro :')

Last but not least, the funky handles of the Metro. Can 

I just say how much I MISS THE MADRID METRO? 

Being back in Boston, I realize with stronger conviction

that the Metro in Madrid ROCKED. 

Oh, I miss you Madrid. When will I be back??

Barcelona part 2

The previous post on Barcelona was more or less entirely on Gaudi, but there is a lot more to Barcelona than just Gaudi's buildings.

So I am here to talk a little more about my trip to Barcelona in detail. :)

Cultural differences: false cognates

Spanish and English have very similar words, similar sentence structures, and share the same alphabet, more or less.  And personally, I think that's why it's easier for English speakers to pick up Spanish, in contrast to Swahili. (In fact, a long standing joke among Americans is that if you add a -o or -a to an English word, you get a Spanish word. Obviously, not true.)

For instance, if I wrote, Ángela estudia economía en Boston. With some intellectual will-power, you could probably deduct that that sentence means "Angela studies economics in Boston," or at least something to that effect.

Likewise, you could probably guess, universidad means university, concentración means concentration, fútbol means football.

BUT! There are so many false cognates as well! AKA because the Spanish word looks similar to an English word, you assume it means the same thing as it does in English, but it actually means something completely different in Spanish.

Shall we look at some examples?


- Librería: looks like "library," no? Well, it actually means "bookstore."
- Actualmente: looks like "actually," but it actually (har har) means "currently." "Actually" would be better expressed as "en realidad."
- Colegio: Not "college." Refers to "high school."
- Culto: Not a "cult." Means "a church service."
- Red: Doesn't refer to the color red. In Spanish it means "network" or "web." So when they talk about the internet, sometimes they use this word.

So those are pretty standard, but here's two that I find hilarious.

- Embarazada: Does NOT mean embarrassed. It means pregnant!! Haha I know tons of people who have made this mistake.
- Constipado: LOL Funny story. My host mom was really sick at one point this semester, and she was telling me all her symptoms when she says, "Estoy muy constipada." And I think, "Woah lady, I know we've gotten close, but I rather not know about such bodily functions."  Then I realize she's talking about her nose!  Constipado is equivalent to congested, NOT constipated.

Yay for language barriers!

Anyone have a time turner?

Remember when I said I needed Moolah?

Well, I just shot myself in the foot this morning, and basically wasted 60 euros. It hurts to think about it.

But my flight for Bilbao was at 7:55 AM. Got to the airport, through security, and was just about to board, when they ask, "pasaporte, por favor."

My heart dropped.

Because I am flying within the country, I just thought, oh, my driver's license should work, but I'll bring a copy of my passport just in case. I don't want to lug around my real passport and risk losing it.

Oh, how that cost me this morning.

I feebly tried to see if the attendant would take pity on me and let me board, but she said I could not, and I needed to go back and "rescue" my ticket and pay extra for a later flight.  MOTHER OF PEARL.

Sigh, so after walking around the airport feeling pretty defeated, I went up to the counter and changed my flight for another one at 2 this afternoon.  And I made the 45 trip back on the metro to my house, and here I am, extremely tired, and hurting at the thought of how had I done ONE thing differently, this trip didn't have to cost so much.

:(

God, is this an indication that I value money too much in my heart?

I'm trying to forget about that 60 euros, and pretend that it didn't happen, and still enjoy this weekend. Wish me luck.

Life Application #1

This past weekend, we ate like kings.

I was a little bewildered at all the food and the fancy table settings for Friday's lunch. The only thing I could think of that would trigger this extravagance was the fact that my host mom's sister was in town, and so they were having a nice big family lunch. (Their big meal of the day is lunch, not dinner.) But then her son brought her flowers. I didn't think of it much, at that moment I just thought, "Awhh, how nice!"

Little did I know, it was my host mom's birthday. Wahh! Why didn't anyone tell me ahead of time? I felt so awful. But then what's more, Sunday was her son's birthday! So on Saturday we had champagne with lunch, and Sunday we had some kind of wine that was pinkish and bubbly. I knew better on Sunday, and asked that they give me only a tinsy-little bit rather than a full glass because I don't enjoy the taste of alcohol, and I don't really know my limit, and I'm not about to test my boundaries during lunch with my host family.

So where does the life application come from? Well, all weekend long, the house phone went off ALL DAY LONG. People continuously called to congratulate them, wish them a happy birthday, and wanted to catch up and see how they were doing. Each call lasted a good 5-10 minutes. At first I thought it was so strange, but I realized, that's how I want it to be. We've gotten so used to seeing on Facebook: "Today is _________'s birthday! Write on their wall..." Usually we didn't even know it was that person's birthday, and what's more, unless you have a relatively strong relationship with the person, the message starts and ends with "happy birthday" with maybe a smiley face or an exclamation mark. How sad?

I know it's slightly awkward to start all of a sudden, but I'm going to make an effort to 1) remember the person's birthday and 2) call them, NOT text them, not facebook them, and heavens no, tweet them, to wish that person a happy birthday. Granted I'm not going to call the girl I barely know from tenth grade, but I think the people I love and care about deserve at least a phone call. Maybe even a snail mail, hand-written card. I love snail mail. (And to those I said I'll send a post card, sorry it's been taking so long.)

What a wonderful way to share love. :)

<3