And more studying...

Well, here I am in my first week of "real" finals. That is to say, this is my first week without class. As of today, I have already taken three finals, and know the results of two. While studying abroad, I just need a 5 out of 10 to pass the class, and do not receive letter grades for classes.

So here are the exams I have taken thus far: Spanish (8.5, yay); German (8 yay); Computer Networks (no score yet, just took it, be patient!).

And I have three more to take: Artificial Intelligence, Local Area Networks, and Logic Design.

So how am I feeling... well, the first tests I have taken I feel pretty good about, and I feel confident about passing Artificial Intelligence and Logic Design. However, I am extremely worried about Local Area Networks. Looking at last years grades, it seems only a few people passed the exam... like literally less than 5. I am worried because the odds are extremely against my favor, especially since the class uses some difficult terminology and there is very little material to prep for the exam with. Scared? You bet I am.

Sad stuff first. Tiina from Finland left last Friday. While we didn't hang out as often as we probably could have (mostly my fault), we did go to a couple museums and go to the movies and hang out a bit. So now, Tiina and Nils (Germany) are both gone. I hope they both have a good time back home.

Ok, now the fun-nish stuff. Apart from studying, I went to church on Monday with Jessica: it was the day of St. Vincent the Martyr, patron saint of Valencia. The service was very long, due to long songs and a very long, read off of paper homily. But afterwards there was a procession that was pretty interesting. They carry a statue of St. Vincent around the streets near the Cathedral, with a band leading the way, military personnel, and the Archbishop (I assume it was the Archbishop anyway). Pictures!

Cell-phone Pictures: Left-to-Right, Top-to-Bottom (bulleted list)

• Inside Church, statue of St. Vincent the Martyr; Jessica taking a picture.
• Spanish Mounties (joking); Santa's Cousins (joking?)
• Ladies in black are part of a St. Vincent society, they had a large block pendant around their necks and wore either velvet or some type of fur black coats, and had black-lace headgear; The band.
• A very happy priest; Bishops and Archbishop, and a military man apparently sleeping on the job.

Then on Tuesday night, after both of us had a test, Jessica and I got together at a little coffee shop. It was spacious, quiet, and had a great atmosphere. I will definitely go there again. We spoke in English the entire time... and boy did that feel good! Not that I speak Spanish all the time, but it was nice speaking English with another native speaker. Neither of us had to slow down, we used whatever words we wanted, without having to stop and explain anything... really nice. Let's do it again sometime, shall we?

Last night I went shopping for shoes and pants. I couldn't find any pants I liked, but I found some shoes. I decided I wanted to get something very Spanish in style. I figured I should try something new and exciting... so what did I buy? Converse All-Stars! Go American shoes made in Vietnam!!!!

Well, I should get to studying. I will let you know next week how things are going. Until then, toodle-loo!

And then there was studying...

So... what exciting events do I have to talk about... not many.

I have basically been studying, working on projects, and avoiding society as a result. I had my first exam last Thursday: Spanish class exam! It wasn't too bad, and I am 99% certain I passed it, so no more worries there. My next exam is this coming Friday: German! Should be easy to pass as well.

It is my other classes that are giving me a headache. I have to finish up all of my labs this week, starting tomorrow with Logic Design. I have all of the coding done, but I have no clue how to run the simulations. Argh! Then, Computer Networks, which shouldn't be too bad, but the looming exam on the 23rd might cause some trouble. In Local Area Networks, I am not certain if I have more lab work to do. Regardless, the exam on the 31st really scares me... I hear only two foreign exchange students passed it last year. I also have to finish up my Artificial Intelligence lab and present it Friday... I have very little done and don't know what to present because I don't understand the lab very well; hopefully all will be well by Friday.

So, 5 exams to study for over the next few weeks, and 2 labs to finish within this week... not fun. Also, Nils from Germany wont be here next semester, nor will Tiina from Finland. I am losing two good friends, but we will at least keep in touch.

Anything fun then? I bought a guitar recently, and went shopping for clothes! Here are some pictures! Guitar. Yup.

4 new shirts. I'm as excited as Tom Cruise!

Ruth and her boyfriend came this weekend to get her bags and take a little time off. On Sunday, I went to the IVAM modern art museum with them and Tiina. I liked it a lot... not everything was great, but there definitely were some interesting pieces there, including a full gallery of photos taken in New York!

 Palm Sunday in Valencia by Ignacio Pinazo

Well, that about wraps it up. Oh yeah, I have started a workout schedule... doing fairly well, and I hope it stays that way! The next blog may be a bit boring because of all this studying... I will try to do something interesting so that there will be a reason to read it! Bye-bye now.

My Year (or My 4 Months in Spain) in Review

So here I am, more than 4 months into my study abroad... and I have to ask myself, what the heck did I do?

But before I answer that question, I will first tell you what I did within the last week: a lot of nothing. Ok, so I did do some notables things, but for the most part I stayed in my room, played computer games, and studied a bit. What did I do that was notable, one may ask? Well, I went shopping. I didn't know it tell I got into the stores, but apparently now is one of two (I think) major sales times of the year! Everywhere were discounts of up to 50%, or higher! I have been to the malls and shopping centers here several times, but they have never been as crowded as they are now.

Anyway, what did I buy? Well, the first day I was just on a quest for food. However, I did buy that day MOUNTAIN DEW! Yes, I found mountain dew, so I bought 6 cans. I would be very happy... except the MD here tastes nasty! I am going to write Pepsi Co. here in Spain regarding this... really, it tastes extremely nasty.

Today, I went out again and bought more interesting items. Namely, clothes and a George Foreman grill! Not to be used together. I had to literally force myself to buy clothes here... they are not my current style, but I decided I needed to take some risks. I will hopefully remember to put up pictures next week.

Ok, now the YEAR IN REVIEW!!! Plus some new, never-before-seen photos!

• Two-week language course in Gandia. Meet a lot of cool new people. Spend more than half of my time on the beach. Barely get a tan. Try my first tasty paella (traditional rice dish). Course banquet dinner thing. 'Twas a lot of fun.
• Went to a bull fight!                                                                                 I think I fared better than the bull...
• Went to some Discos (clubs, not like Saturday Night Fever). Got sick for two weeks.
• Went to classes, played video games, saw some movies in English. Saw a movie in Spanish!
• Drank expired milk. Got sick again.
• Went to the beach some more. A few times in Valencia and once to El Saler (a bit south of Valencia).All I have to say is... oh yeah!
• Got care packages (one in November, several in December)! Woohoo, loot!
• Started teaching English at a local private school. Lots of fun!
• Irish roommate Ruth leaves. Do I really smell that bad? And my monthly shower was coming up in two days!
• Lots of dinner parties. I will try to continue these when I get back to the States! Minna eating tacos at my place. Mmm... mexican food in Spain.
• Went to some Museums. Planned on going to even more! But I'm lazy.
• Had a good ol' American Thanksgiving, thank to Jessica Potter. Thanks for Thanksgiving!
• Got a haircut... need to get another.
• Christmas dinners! Even held a turkey dinner at my place on Christmas day... and I didn't screw it up too bad!
• Christmas presents... for me. Didn't send anyone presents.
• Felt shame.
• Got involved (around early December) in Tandem program, where I meet with a Spanish person to talk Spanish and English. Have two Tandem partners, Paula and Natalia.
• Went to friend of Paula's apartment for New Years Eve party. Ate lots.

And anything else carries into this year, so it cannot belong on the list. Thanks for reading everyone, and please remember to leave comments!

Up next week: Studying for exams (ugh!).

¡Feliz Año!

Happy 2007! Plus a few days!

First I have to start of by saying that I hate the electrical system here in Spain. Lightbulbs burn out at the rate of several a month, and outlets spark as you plug things in.

Anyway, time for me to tell you about my New Years Eve! I went to Paula's (my Tandem/Language partner) friend David's house. The night before, a few of us went shopping for food. I was a bit confused. I could understand most of what they were saying, but because I still don't understand food specific terms and ideas, I spent most of the time just standing like a deer in headlights.

As you already know, the next night was New Years Eve. There were 12 people in total, though I only met 10 of them: Paula, David, Miriam, Anabel, Ramon, Eva, Marina, Miguel, Marta, and ME (ok, so 9 people then). I got there around 8:30 pm, and we had to carry groceries between houses. Once that was done, time to start preparing the food! Since I had no idea still what they were making, I just waited in the living room for everything to be finished.

Here is the food before being utterly destroyed by hungry students.

Ok, so after just sitting, talking, eating, and waiting for 2007, the moment finally arrived. After deciding on which channel to watch (funny, we ended up watching the countdown from Valencia), everyone grabbed their grapes. Grapes? Yep, grapes. The tradition in Spain is to eat 12 grapes for each of 12 chimes that sound after the new year commences. Twelve grapes for 12 months of good luck. So, if you want, try eating 12 grapes in 12 seconds, 1 per second... not very easy. There was no counting down to the New Year... instead, everyone was mentally prepping for the grape task at hand. Looking around the room, everyone had a grape already halfway in his or her mouth... shouldn't that be cheating?

Happy New Year! Chime... grape... chime... grape... chime... you get the picture. Here is the aftermath.

No, she is not about to throw up, she just has grapes in her mouth.

After that, hugs, handshakes, and kisses on the cheeks all around. Yelling (after you finish swallowing the grapes) "¡Feliz Año!"-- "Happy Year."

Cell phone systems in Spain supposdly crash due to the large volume of calls made on New Years Eve.

What better way to ring in the New Year than singing Karaoke, right? Ok, so it wasn't karaoke, it was Singstar, a videogame for the Playstation 2, and boy were they excited to play it. Jumping up and down, screaming Singstar... I was scared. The game matches your intonation, notes, and rythm and gives you a score at the end on how well you sang the song. The game has 30 songs, 25-26 of which were in Spanish, and that I had never heard of. However, when it came to "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones, I rocked the house. No one could compete!

Marta and David duke it out to decide who will become the true Singstar!

After that, we decided to head into the center of the city. On the way, the girls spotted a semi-drunk, very sad girl trying to call someone in a phone booth. The girls helped her out, and as such did their good turn for the year. Phew, good thing to get that out of the way. After the drama unfolded, we made it into the city center and went to Pinball... a club/bar which (that night) had a lot of broken glass on the floor. After Pinball, we tried to go to another place, but it was closing or something, so we all decided to head home. A few of us took a Taxi back to David's, and by the time we arrived, it was 7 am.

Yep... 7 am. I said bye to the few who were left, and decided to try and take the public tram system home. It supposedly starts at 7, but it starts at the other end of the tracks... meaning that I was able to walk home before a single tram passed in my direction. Grrr. Total time spent: 50 minutes (20 waiting for tram, 30 walking). So I made it home just before 8 am my time, and decided to call home. I called them right after the stroke of midnight... I think they were pleasantly surprised. I then made a few more phone calls, but I was really tired so I decided to go to sleep rather than continue my phone madness.

I have as such been spending the last few days trying to get back onto a normal sleep schedule. I think I am almost there, luckily.

Ok, this blog is already too long. I was going to do a Year In Review, but I think I will hold off til next weeks blog. To leave you all, here are some more pictures of the night. Hope you like them!

 

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

• From left to right, front to back: Someone's Hand, Paula, Miriam, Anabel, David.
• Left to Right: Eva, Miguel, Miriam, Marina.
• Ramon and Miguel discuss the meaning of life and its consequences, or something, I don't know.
• Pouring Champagne (Cava) to celebrate the New Year.