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FAQ: Why!? Why Not? |
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Since I announced I'm going to Spain, it's been 1,001 questions. Here are some of the most popular ones. Thanks all for humoring me when I asked you to wait for the details on my trip. I've been so busy getting ready to leave! Have more questions? Post them in TrekTalk |
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Aqui estoy |
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Ok everyone..this one is going to be totally in English because I need to type fast before the internet cafe closes. I hope to do some messages in the future in Spanish and English.
It´s Monday, 3pm and I am finally in an internet cafe on a nice, fast connection. I have |
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Hablando y Trabajando (Talking and Working) |
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I went to my Spanish class this morning, so I´ll talk a little about it here. I´m in class with 4 other women, and Paula is our teacher. Two girls are from Italy, another from Switzerland. Not sure where the other girl is from, she´s only been in class for part |
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First weekend and all about food |
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Ok, I skipped over a bit..and people have asked..so here´s what I did last weekend and a little about eating here.
On Saturday my hostess Nekane and I visited a flower market here in Bilbao and walked around the Casco Viejo a bit (that´s the original part of Bilbao). We also went |
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?Mucha Mierda! |
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Here´s a funny bit of linguistic interest...
You know how we say ¨Break a Leg¨in English to wish someone luck in theatre (because saying ¨Good Luck¨ is bad luck..)?
Well, in Spanish they say ´Mucha Mierda´, which literally translates into ´Much Shit!´.
Here´s the story: In renaissance times, they didn´t have bathrooms in |
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Terrorism in Spain |
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Many of you may have heard about the explosions in Madrid early today. If you don´t remember where I am, I am up in the north and 4 hours from Madrid, so don´t worry.
Here´s a little bit of history around the bombings today. I´m sure most of you have heard that |
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about work, taking more classes, etc. |
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I´ll talk a little today about my work. I am working at a company called TerraLingua. They send exchange students (adults and kids) around the world from Spain for exchange programs, professional training programs, and the like. The business language mainly used in our correspondance to other countries is English, because |
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First weekend, about food.. |
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Ok, I skipped over a bit..and people have asked..so here´s what I did last weekend and a little about eating here.
On Saturday my hostess Nekane and I visited a flower market here in Bilbao and walked around the Casco Viejo a bit (that´s the original part of Bilbao). We also went |
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about work, taking more classes, etc. |
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I´ll talk a little today about my work. I am working at a cultural exchange company. They send exchange students (adults and kids) around the world from Spain for exchange programs, professional training programs, and the like. The business language mainly used in our correspondence to other countries is English, because |
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Essential Euskara |
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Here are some of the words that Paula taught us in Euskara (Basque). Euskara is the native language in this region. Linguists don´t know the origin of the language, they just know it predates romantic languages like Spanish and Italian. It doesn´t look like any other language either. Knowing these words |
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Happy Birthday to me... |
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Ok, many of you have asked how my birthday was..so here it is:
Gene sent me flowers a few days early for my birthday on Tuesday. That was very cool. (Yes, I miss Gene more than words can express. Will not talk about missing him more now, because it makes me sniffle). |
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Day trip to Vitoria-Gasteiz |
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Today I went with Francesca to Vitoria, a city about 50 minutes away from Bilbao. It has a medieval old city (Casco Viejo) which is really interesting to look at. I do have pictures, will post them later.
We saw the palacio Villa Suso, a medieval palace. Very interesting. We had a |
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Switch... |
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Yesterday I switched familes. Nekane was very sweet, but I wanted to get to know a couple near my age too. I felt a little jerky switching, but it really wasn´t for a bad reason..
I´m now living in a suburb of Bilbao called Leioa. It´s about the same distance (metro wise) |
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Just truckin... |
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Sorry I haven´t written this week..been busy.
I moved to a new family in the area this week, but in Leioa, which is a suburb of Bilbao. It´s a nice place to be, but the walk from the metro is a bit further, which stinks when it´s raining. It´s been raining all |
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Ah... more time to write... |
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Yay. I´m at home and on the net. That´s a neat thing I take for granted at home. So, I´m settling in at the new place, but I have been sleeping lousy and waking up every couple of hours. That stinks! I´m not sure why..but I flipped the mattress, and while |
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Third weekend..what I was up to.. |
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I went to the Arriaga Theatre on Friday to see Imágenes Andaluzas para Carmina Burana. It was a series of scenes with Flamenco dancing and other elements worked in. Very interesting.
Want more info on the theatre? click here: http://www.teatroarriaga.com/
Saturday Francesca and I went to Plentzia, which is out on the coast |
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Switch #2, what?s new.. |
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Well, it´s been quite a week! I moved again... I know most of you are going ¿what!?. Leioa was just too far out, and I was spending a lot of time walking back and forth from the metro.
So, I´m in town in an apartment with 3 other girls - one |
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All about Ratoncito P?rez - |
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In Spain, there isn´t a tooth fairy, there´s ratoncito Pérez (Mouse Pérez). When kids lose their teeth, they place their tooth under their pillow, and ratoncito Pérez will take their tooth and leave a gift in its´place.
(paragraph below from: http://ibidem.blogmosis.com/archives/2002_12.html)
The story is told that King Alfonso XII asked in 1894 the |
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la Madrille?a, por unas d?as |
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Well kids, I´ve made it to Madrid. Sorry I haven´t written sooner, been busy...will try to update everyone on a few things, but if you are looking at my pics, you´ll get the idea.
I´m in Madrid for the foreign service exam on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed. If I pass this |
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Exam done! |
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I got done with the foreign service exam earlier today. It always kicks my butt. It´s a long exam..and was longer this year because they put a second essay in, right behind the first one. An unpleasant surprise, but I did hear about that before we went into the exam.
I |
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Postscript, Madrid |
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A little story:
When I was on my way to the exam the Saturday I was in Madrid (24 April). I was walking down the street and encountered a whole bunch of people pouring out of a disco. Mind you, this was about 7.15 am. You could see the clouds of cigarette |
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Quick update |
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Gene got here fine, we´re already in Madrid, and I´m behind in writing. We´ll catch up with you later. More pics to come!!!
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Eskerrik Asko y Agur, Bilbao |
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Well, I´ve finished up my internship in Bilbao.
I´ve had a great time, met lots of great people, gotten a bit better at Spanish, learned some words in Euskara, and survived being separated from Gene for just over two months.
Since I haven´t written much in a while, I´ll summarize a bit |
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