España

It's been rough

2008-07-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

So, if a few of you bloggers are wondering why I didn't finish the year out writing in my blog, it is because I was experiencing computer problems as well as internet problems. Now, things are back up and running smoothly (hopefully it will stay like that), and I am going to attempt to finish writing my blogs.

I am going to start with the major trips I went on since the last post and if anything else comes to mind while I am writing I will make sure to make a note of it. As for the pictures, I am still fiddling with my computer and so they might take a little while longer. I am sure most of you enjoy the pictures more than reading the blog so I will try and hurry up.

I hope all of you haven't lost interest. If you are curious or want a more detailed account or experience of my travels and studies in Spain, feel free to email me at:

pattonch@gmail.com

I'll respond in a timely manner, promise!

Talk to you guys soon,

Patton

Semana Santa and little bit more

2008-03-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

These past couple weeks have been very hectic for me. I have been traveling, and studying quite a bit. I have decided that I am going to work a little harder during the first half of the semester so that I am not stressed out at the end, what a concept. I guess, first I will start with my classes for this semester.

I am only taking four classes, just like last time, but I believe the course load will be easier this semester. Two of the classes will not have a final exams and the others, the exams will be in the first week of June. The classes are, translated into English, Comparative World Politics, Nationalist movements in Spain and the rest of Europe, Ethnology in Mexico and Central America, and Latin American Short Story class. All the classes are very interesting and I enjoy going to class and learning.

Last semester I was overwhelmed with two full-length novel literature classes. This semester I decided to do things differently. I have come to discover that I like Latin American Literature better than I like Spanish Literature. For those of you who can't believe that Spanish Literature and Latin American literature are different, I am sorry, I can't explain it either. The Ethnology class really intrigued me the first day I went. Since I was in Mexico this summer, I have wanted to learn as much as I can about the country. In a broad sense, we discuss the relationships between the colonizers and the indigenous people from many aspects; economy, tradition, religion, etc. Great Class.

The Comparative World Politics class is just that, and very interesting. At Santa Barbara I haven't had a chance to take classes like these and I have always wanted to. Same goes with the Nationalist movement class. I am learning things about Spain's history that puts our (The U.S.) problems into perspective.

That is pretty much it for the classes. I have readings and essays to write throughout the semester and I can assure you that I attend class everyday, haha. As for my travels, I have been doing a lot. Since the semester started in February, I have taken day trips to Segovia and Alcalá de Henares, spent some time with Seara's cousin MaryCate and Seara's dad, before spring break and during our spring break road trip through the eastern part of Andalucía, respectively. Let me walk you through the trips in a quick and orderly fashion

Segovia is really cool, fun, and had a lot to offer. Segovia is known for its old Roman aqueduct that towers above the rooftops and was constructed without morter. Only gravity holds together this standing testament to Spanish history. Alcalá on the other hand, was a sleepy little town whose only claim to fame is the birth place of the author of Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes. Above all these trips, the road trip with Seara's dad was one of the best trips I have been on. We managed to cover a large part of Spain and see a lot of amazing things. We spent a day in Sevilla, a day in Cadiz, two days in Gibraltar, one day in Ronda, and afternoons in Jerez and Tarifa. In addition, we saw some really cool small villages tucked away in the mountains, the remains of an ancient Roman city, tiny little beach towns and the legendary Pueblos Blancos. All in all, it was an amazing trip.

I could talk forever about these places, especially the road trip, but I think you guys would get a little tired after page 10. Here are the pictures of my trip and if you want some more stories or a detailed report, I would be glad to share them with you guys. I will write another post regarding the road trip so check back soon.

As for the next couple weeks, I plan to visit a friend I know from Mexico in Barcelona and then My parents and Frieda come to visit. The vacations just keep getting better and better. We went through a little cold spell, but it is sunny and bright again. Hopefully it stays that way.

I look forward to seeing you (Mom, Dad, Frieda), I am sure all of you will see the pictures when they return.

Patton

Finals are finally over!

2008-02-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

Finals are finally over. For the past month, I have been locked in my room studying frantically so that I can pass my classes. So far I have already received one grade back, which I am very happy with. The others I feel very confident about and I will hear from the teachers on Wednesday. Due to the long extended final exam period, I was able to take a short trip to visit some friends in Granada. One of my close friends, Chris, is returning home early from a year program in Granada to finish up a few classes for his major. In order to graduate on time, he must take those classes at his University in Santa Cruz. The trip was a lot of fun and of course it was good to see my good friends. The guys I hung out with I had met in Mexico this summer. We don't get to see each other often because we are all studying in different cities in Spain. Also, I think I was going crazy from all the studying, I needed a break.

Granada is a beautiful city. We didn't do many touristy things but we got the city tour and explored the city streets. We walked through the old and new parts of town, saw some amazing graffiti art, and took a hike up to a Gypsy's cave tea house. Everything was amazing. When I returned I had two tests 3 days later, and I believe they went just perfect.

As for upcoming news, my plan this semester is to take advantage of the little work I have early in the semester and do some traveling. I really want to make sure I see everything I want to see in Spain before I set my sights on cities outside the country. I will be visiting Granada with My parents and Frieda, and when Seara's Dad comes, we might go to Cádiz. That just leaves a few more weekends for the other major cities.

As for the end of the year, I was planning on returning early for summer school but the classes I was hoping for are not offered this summer. Instead, I am going to take advantage of my time here in Europe and possibly do some backpacking. In the northern states of Spain, there is a 500 mile trail stretching from the Pyrenees and ends in a city on the Atlantic Ocean. The trail is called the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage and it takes about 40 days to hike the whole thing. Maybe I can just hike a part of it, but we will see. Mom, I will let you know if I need my backpacking stuff (haha). Well, This one is short and sweet, but to be honest, I haven't done much this past month but study. Get ready for a fun and exciting second semester. Here are all the pictures that I have taken since the last upload of pictures.

¡La Loca Nochevieja! - a.k.a. Crazy New Years

2008-01-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to stay in Madrid for New Years. I had heard that Madrid has notoriously crazy parties that night but I was not prepared for what was about to unfold that night. First let me start with the day before, December 30.

At this time Molly and Brian had made it from Switzerland to Madrid to spend the next three days with me. That night we went out to dinner downtown, not to late, around 9 typical for Spainiards. By the time we finished around 11:30, the entire downtown plaza was filled with people drinking, singing, yelling and just hanging around. We knew that this was the place for the New Years celebration but we were all terribly confused. The first thing we did was check our watches to make sure we had the right date. After trying to make our way through the crowd with little luck, we decided to stop and just enjoy the craziness. For those of you that don't know, (which may be most of you,) the tradition in Spain is too eat one grape at every stroke of the clock tower at midnight. After asking a few locals we find out there is a "practice run" with the grapes at 12 midnight. As we panned through the crowd, everyone around us had grapes, party hats and beer cans in their hands. Once again we all checked out watches because we could not believe what we were seeing. After the stroke of midnight we were finally able to make it through the crowd and back home. At least now we knew what to expect tomorrow night.

The next night we started early. We met up at Seara's house for dinner and then barely made it to the downtown plaza in time for the grapes. This time there were police and barricades, a foretelling sign that tonight was the right night. Braced with our Champaign and grapes we waited for the stroke of midnight. At each stroke we shoved a grape into our mouth, and if anyone has ever played Chubby Bunny or the like, you know it is not an easy task eating that much food so quickly. Everything went smoothly but the night was not over. The second half was just about to begin.

Another tradition on New Years is to go to a discoteca and spend all night there until they close at 6 or 7 in the morning. For 40 euros, you can dance all night, open-bar all night, and free party favors and tapas, a good deal if you ask me. Around 1 a.m. we made it to the club and did not leave until 6:30. We were absolutely exhausted but all agreed that this was one of the most exciting and tiring New Years celebrations any of us had endured.

Brian and Molly left early on the morning of the 2nd. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed seeing them once again. I am glad that I was able to save them a couple bucks by letting them crash on my floor. Hostals in Madrid can be a little pricey especially that time of the year. Just when I thought things were settling down after the Holidays, school picked up again and Now I am studying for finals. A finals update will come when I am done studying, as for now I must get back to the books.

Patton

Philips SHN9500 Active Noise Cancelling Headphones

2008-01-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

I just bought the Philips SHN 9500 off Amazon.com and they are great. I was worried about buying them online without trying them on first. The last pair of headphones I had hurt my ears, but everything turned out great, these completely cover my ear. There is a nice, tight seal around the ear, which helps a lot with outside noise, even when the NC is off. The noise canceling works great. It only covers the low range sounds, which is perfect for the buses, planes, and metro. I think, but its hard to tell, when the NC is on, the bass is slightly reduced. I saw that mentioned on a lot of reviews of other headphones so I don't think that is something to worry about and plus, you can barely tell anyways. All and all, I think the headphones are an excellent buy, especially for under 100 dollars. They don't fit too tight, nor do they feel like they are going to fall off and they deliver a high quality sound. And the product comes with a convenient carrying case and two headphone adapters. What more could you ask for!

I have returned from Germany safely.

2008-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

First off, I would like to say that German is a very angry language. Everyone always sounds pissed off when they are talking to you. Thank God I didn't run into any problems.

Christmas was beautiful. Although it wasn't the same without my family, I was able to enjoy it with Seara's family in a beautiful place. We stayed at a resort in Souther Germany in the Alps. The resort was an old army base and now caters only to the army. We were able to go snowboarding one day and the other two days were spent relaxing and enjoying the Christmas atmosphere. I am very grateful that I was asked to come on this trip, Seara's Aunt and Uncle were both really happy to see us together. I am the first boy friend of Seara's that they have met (not that she has had a lot). Aunt Cappy and Uncle Mike live in Georgia along with the rest of Seara's mom's side of the family. The whole experience was absolutely stunning.

As for the first part of the trip, Amsterdam round two was amazing as well. It felt really good to be amongst my good friends again. It had been a while since I had seen most of those guys, some as far back as last spring. It was really cold in Amsterdam though, something I was unprepared for. It was so cold I was forced to buy a scarf, which I swore I wouldn't do. It gets cold here in Madrid but I was getting by fine without one. I told myself that I wouldn't buy a scarf because I would have no use for it when I return to Santa Barbara. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures and I caved in and bought one. Now I use it everyday.

On the flight home, Seara and I got really lucky. Our flight was canceled leaving Munich to Barcelona which could have left us stranded in the Munich airport. Originally we had planned to fly to Barcelona and take a bus to Madrid, that was the cheapest route we could find. But once the airline fixed the problem, they stuck us on a plane that went directly to Madrid. Everyone else going to Barcelona had to catch a flight the next morning while we just went home. Although we were out 25 euro from the bus tickets, the problem was solved in our favor.

The whole trip was crazy but I enjoyed every minute of it. I am not sure I like traveling so much but every minute was worth it. The train rides through Germany were absolutely beautiful with all the snow on the ground. Also not speaking the language can be very stressful but thankfully I had Seara to complain to. I enjoyed Christmas very much and I hope everyone else did as well. I want to wish everyone a very Merry belated Christmas and Happy New year.

Enjoy some new Madrid Pictures. Expect some Amsterdam pictures soon!

Patton

Its Christmas Time!

2007-12-17T10:44:00.001-08:00

Wow, Christmas is practically upon us! I miss the Christmas spirit a little, it is not as prevalent here as in the United States. They don't even give out presents on the 25th. The day for gifts is the 6th of January, which is the All Kings Day. Crazy Spaniards! Hopefully I will be able to enjoy the Christmas joy that is waiting for me in Germany. Starting the 23rd I will be in Germany with Seara and her family. They will be renting a cabin in a resort and we are going to stay with them. It should be really beautiful and full of Christmas spirit. Before that I am meeting a few of my good High School friends in Amsterdam. One of my friends has flown over to Europe for month to do some traveling. He will be accompanied first by his girlfriend, Molly, in Italy, meet up with John, Eddie, who is changing continents, and Steve. Then they will meet Seara and I in Amsterdam. To finish off their trip they will be spending New Year's with me in Madrid. I am really excited to have them here and show them where I live.

On other news, last Friday, I went to the emergency room. Apparently I had an infected hair follicle. I thought it was nothing at first and naturally didn't do anything about it. It started growing and hurting a lot until finally I couldn't bare it anymore and I walked to the closest hospital. Now I am on medication and on my way to feeling better. They funny thing is, the same type of thing happened in Mexico when I was bitten my some insect or spider and the wound became infected. Thankfully this time it didn't swell up like my leg did. If you haven't seen my leg, check out the pictures from Mexico, there should be a side-by-side comparison of my left leg with my right, the infected one. What a trip!

I am really excited to hear that one of the Chavez's and the Christofides' will be joining me here in April. I certainly will have found plenty of great places to show you and all the best restaurants in town. I hope you guys are as excited as I am!

Well I don't want to make this long, because I will be writing more and posting pictures when I return from my trip. The pictures might be up right away, but I might not be able to sit down and right something until Brian and Molly leave. We will see. Talk to you guys soon and enjoy. Also, there are more Madrid photos, check them out.

Patton

From Toledo to Johns Birthday!

2007-11-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hi all, long time no talk. A lot has happened (as usual!) and I am going to try and cover it all. In order to do that, I might be a little brief with my entry but if there are any questions, email me at pattonch@gmail.com or leave a comment, I will try and get back to you a little quicker than I have been (Thanks Mig!) Let's see, where shall I begin:

Toledo:
The weekend of the 15th, I believe it was the second weekend in November, I had a friend come visit from Barcelona, one that had gone to the Portugal with me. He came to visit for the weekend and we took a day trip on Saturday to Toledo. Toledo was the Old Arab capital on the Iberian Peninsula. Originally Madrid was constructed to protect the city of Toledo from the encroaching Christians from the north. Eventually, once the Christians regained control of the entire Iberian Peninsula in 1492 (Yes that is the year Columbus discovered America), One of the kings renamed Madrid the capital of Spain due to its ideal weather and location in the center of the peninsula.

Our day trip was really amazing, the city is filled with some much culture and Arab influence. There is also a very large Cathedral in Toledo which is something that rivals the Cathedral in Sevilla. While we were walking around the city, we ran into a few friends from Madrid and spent the rest of the day with them. Once it got dark we returned to Madrid.

School has been very tough. I have a short essay to write about once a week in my grammar class and write now, I should be writing a 6 page essay for my economics class. Of course I am procrastinating but you will all enjoy what I have written so it will be worth it.

That is it for the learning part of school, but as for teaching, things are slowing down. My student that I teach twice a week is very smart. I feel sometimes as if I am not helping much but I suppose that any sort of practice helps a little. She knows almost every vocab word I through at her but has problems reading and writing. I can't teach her very much about the verb tenses because I didn't learn that about English when I grew up. I only know what sounds correct and maybe I few grammar tricks. Everything I do seems to help but I hope she is not expecting a full "grammar" lesson, because I would have problems with that.

It is getting really cold here! freezing temperatures during the day and below freezing at night and in the early morning. Once the sun goes down, you have no choice but to bundle up! It reminds me very much of New York weather, with out all the snow. As for Thanksgiving, that was probably the coldest night of them all. Good thing we spend most of the night in the restaurant. All three EAP study abroad programs had a Thanksgiving celebration together. Dinner was great, certainly not a traditional homey thanksgiving dinner but at least we had turkey!

As for tonight, tonight is John's birthday party. His birthday is not until the 3rd of December but his host family is having a small gathering at their house. I am excited to finally meet his host family. I had a lot of fun with my host family and Mexico and I miss that atmosphere, and the food! It should be a fun night.

For the future, I have started planning my Christmas vacation plans. I am spending Christmas with Seara's family in Germany in a small town in the Alps, really close to the Austrian border. It should be a lot of fun and really really beautiful. Also, I am meeting some of my old high school friends in Amsterdam for a few days while they are traveling around Europe. They are visiting about 10 of the major cities in Europe and are passing through Amsterdam right after I finish classes in December. I will let you guys know more about my plans once I plan more.

Thats it for now, take care everyone for the holidays and don't be shy to leave any comments. Love to all!

Patton

Portugal

2007-11-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

So, it has taken me quite some time to write about my trip to Portugal but I have finally found time to do so. I have been swamped with things to do, catching up with school work, teaching, and just trying to relax. Finally, for all the regulars, here is a overview of my trip two weeks ago and what has happened since then.

Wed. Oct. 31:

Brandon arrives after a 7 hour bus ride from Barcelona. He arrived in the morning before I had school so I let him into the house so he could sleep. Around dinner time we met James at the bus station. We had some problems at first with the tickets because James had not received an electronic confirmation when he bought the tickets. It took a little work but we were able to get the tickets and at 10 at night, we left for Cádiz. The bus ride to Cádiz was very long. We arrived at 5 a.m. the next morning in Jerez and made it to Cádiz a half hour later.

Thur. Nov. 1:

James, Brandon and I get off the bus at the end of the line. We have no idea where we are and can only assume we were in Cádiz. We had slept the whole way down and had not heard the bus driver say anything except for that the bus was turning around and everyone needed to get off. It was really cold, really cold! and dark. We made our way to a hotel and asked for directions. Apparently the bus had dropped us off in the opposite corner of Cádiz. We ended up walking along the beach for about an hour before we found the old city walls and the old gate leading into the city of Cádiz. Since the old days, the city has expanded but it used to be a stronghold that protected from foreign boats entering the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar. The reason we left on Wed. night was because there was a holiday for all of Spain on Thursday. Of course we had forgotten about this holiday so we spent the frist 6 hours of our trip hiking around the city with not a single car or person in sight. The only people we saw were the cops that had stopped us thinking that we were terrorists. The had to cross check all our IDs and look at our cameras because we had taken some pictures of a government building. It was really a ridiculous scenario but I suppose you can never be too careful.

Walking around was a great way to explore the city but we were also very hungry and had no way of getting food. After spending the whole day in Cádiz, we made our way to the bus station and bought tickets to Jerez. The ride was short but we all slept anyways. We had hiked all over the city of Cádiz with our packs on our backs and now we were very tired. At Jerez we rented a car and made our way to Sevilla to meet up with Chris, our forth member. By the time we arrived in Sevilla, it was dark, but not as cold (thankfully). We walked around the city for a while, once again exploring with our packs, until we found a hostal. We dropped our bags off and went out to a bar for Chris' birthday.

Fri. Nov. 2:

The next morning, Brandon and I woke up early and walked around the city. Now that the holiday had past, the city was filled with tourists and visitors alike. We would have liked to check out the Cathedral and the Castle there but the lines to get in were incredibly long and we didn't have that much time. After exploring we gathered our stuff up and took the car our on the road. From Sevilla we drove across the Portogal/Spanish border all the way to Faro where we had an early dinner/late lunch. It was a long drive to Faro only because we drove along the coastal highway, that way we could access any of the beach front roads easily. In Faro we had some excellent seafood and walked the streets a little bit. From Faro we went to a really pretty beach for the sunset and then made our way to Lagos to spend the night. At this beach we ran into our second Police experience. Apparently we don't look like the locals. Some woman who was vacationing there assumed we had broken into her car and stolen her purse. If we truly had done that, I don't know why we would have stayed at that beach to watch the sunset, but we were harassed anyways. Once again they took our IDs and made us take all our things out of our pockets and walk in a single file off the beach. Thankfully we had James, who spoke portuguese, to help us out with the police. He was able to communicate with them and tell them we were not involved in any way with her missing possessions. What an ordeal.

By the time we made it to Lagos we were all very exhausted and tired from the day's activities. It was dark but still early when we arrived. We decided to walk around the city and check out some of the night life. We met some English-speaking backpackers in Lagos who told us that Lagos is a backpackers' party town. Apparently there are some really pretty trails along the southern Coast of Portugal. After we went out for a little while, we all came home and crashed to get ready for the next day.

Sat. Nov. 3:

We woke up early and once again walked around the city, to get a feel for it in the day light. We got some food and made our way to the beach. We had to spend some time at the beach since we were so close! Once we got to the beach, the waves looked great! Our buddy James was super amped on renting boards so we made our way to the local surf shop as quickly as we could. The waves were great. We all got a chance to surf a little and everyone had a lot of fun. We spent almost the whole day at the beach surfing and hanging out. It was a lot of fun, and of course, the excellent weather made the day that much better. By the time we returned the boards we were starving. We ate at an Indian restaurant, which was amazing, and then continued on our way. We had asked a local about where to go next and he recommended we head another 30 Km down the road to a small rural town called Carrepeteira. We drove there not realizing that rural really mean rural. When we got there the town only had one cafe where everyone was hanging out and a few houses. We found the only hostal in town, which was of course closed. Now we were desperate so we asked for help. They sent us to the cafe to ask for Olivia and she would be able to help us with a place to stay. At the cafe some guy led us up the hill to where Olivia was and introduced us to Olivia. Thankfully Olivia was very nice and offered us a room to stay for the night. We parked the car and paid Olivia and went into our room for the night. We played some cards and then went to bed.

Sun. Nov. 4:

We woke up early and said good bye to Olivia and thanked her and then headed out on our way. We decided to hit one more beach before we drove back to Sevilla to return the car. Since we weren't taking the coastal highway on our way home, it took less time to drive back to the border, only 2 and a half hours. Portugal is smaller than I thought. This other beach was very secluded and beautiful. It had a small cafe where we all ate, and as well, James and Chris rented surfboards. We surfed a little and then made our way home.

The trip was a lot of fun, more than I would have imagined. I thought renting a car would have been too expensive or too much of a hassle but it turned out to be neither of the two. I enjoyed every minute and would recommend it to anyone that was considering the same. Portugal is an amazing and beautiful place. We made it back to Sevilla by nightfall, returned the car and bought our bus tickets for the ride home. We made it back to Madrid just as the metro was opening in the morning. I slept for a few hours and then went off to school. Of course I was really tired so I took a heavy nap that day and then went to bed early. I could barely do my homework but it was all worth it.

Here are some pictures

Update

2007-10-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be short, I just want to say a few things.

First, I told you that I had finished the training course for teaching English and I was assigned a class already. I will be teaching a 13 year old girl in a very nice part of town north of where I live. I teach her every Tuesday and Thursday from 5 30 to 6 30. I was supposed to begin today, or at least I thought, but when I arrived at the house, the mother said that I was beginning after the break. We have Thursday and Friday off from school and everyone travels during this time. I guess she didn't want to have one class and then wait a week for the next. I think this girl has a fairly good grasp of English already because she has requested 30 min of grammar and 30 min of conversation. Can you believe that, I get paid to talk to her for 30 min, in my native language none the less. As soon as I finish the 10 internship teaching hours, this teaching gig will be worth every penny. I do actually have to do work, so it's not all fun and games. I prepare lesson plans and games and topics of discussion. I will let you guys know how it goes after my first class.

As for this trip I am taking this weekend, things have changed a little. We originally planned on renting a car and driving along the coast of Portugal until we found surf but I don't think that is possible anymore. Although it would be an amazing and beautiful drive, I can't afford to rent a car when I could easily get to most cities in Portugal for half the price or less. So far all that is planned is our tickets to Cádiz. We are going to try to surf there for a day and then figure out what we want to do, who knows, we might spend the whole weekend in Cádiz if the surf is good.

I have added a few more pictures to the Madrid photo album and I have added one more photo of my room with all my stuff in it. Next time you here from me, will be sometime next week.

Patton

English classes and a weekend trip

2007-10-27T09:59:00.001-07:00

Recently I have been very busy. As you know, school is tough and I am working pretty hard. Because I am working really hard I usually forget to take my camera with me. I have uploaded a few photos into a general Madrid photo album and I will constantly update that one with more photos.

I have started this program here in Madrid where I can be certified in 20 hours to teach English. I just completed a 10 hour training course and I am beginning the 10 hour internship the first week in Nov. The great part about this program is it is completely free! I didn't have to pay a dime to take the courses. Also they guarantee at least 13 Euro an hour, which is about 18 to 19 dollars an hour with the exchange rate we have right now. I hope this will bring in a little extra spending money, so that I can finance some of my day trips or even the longer ones. I also was looking for a job as a waiter or something similar but had no luck. I thought that would be better, especially for practicing Spanish, but I was unable to find anything. Most places require you to have a working Visa, which I don't have. I am not going to teach that much during the week, maybe 6 hours a week, so hopefully it won't affect my Spanish.

As far as some upcoming trips, I have planned to rent a car and drive the coast of Portugal and surf with a few of my buddies from Mexico. We are taking a night bus on the 31 of October to Cadiz in the south of Spain, and surf there for a day. From there, we are going to Jerez, a few kilometers north for some sherry tasting. And finally renting the car and driving to the west coast of Portugal. It should be beautiful and really fun. The weather is supposed to be sunny and excellent so cross your fingers. My buddy James speaks a little Portuguese so we will be able to get around just fine. I will let you know how it goes.

That is it for now. More news when I return from my trip.

School

2007-10-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

So school has been going really well.... I think. I am having trouble understanding what the teachers expect from us, us being foreign exchange students. Some teachers hand out entirely different syllabus' for the exchange students. Our program director helped us pick out classes and teachers that she thought we would be able to handle. She would tell us whether they would fail or be kind to the fact that we are not native speakers. As for me, my classes are as follows

Monday and Tuesday:
Developmental Economy - 10:00 to 11:30
Latin American Novels in the 20th Century - 1:00 to 2:30
Spanish Literature from 1975 to present - 3:00 to 4:30

Wednesday and Thursday:
Advanced Grammar and Composition - 10:00 to 11:30

Friday: NO CLASS!!!

We have just finished our third week of class and on Monday we will begin our fourth. I have visited a few of the teachers to talk about the classes and I will finish up the rest next week. I would like to take some other classes like a history of Spain class but I don't want to overload myself, especially since classes are in Spanish and that is not my native language. I have decided to take on the Spanish Minor because I am fairly close to completing the minor just by coming on this trip. The classes I am taking will (hopefully) all count for credit but I must petition for it when I return.

On other news, Madrid is great. John's parents and Seara's mom and aunt have been visiting for the past week and a half. It has been great company and I enjoy sharing our experiences with them. I have seen some parts of town that I have not seen before, which I am noting in my notebook for future reference. As well as eating at some great restaurants which I have noted as well. Don't worry mom and dad, Seara's mom and Aunt are checking out all the great hotels in the area. They had a little trouble with flights and ended up spending the week in Madrid when they originally planned on traveling a little. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, I continually forget to bring my camera out with me but hopefully I can retrieve some pictures from Seara's camera and John's camera.

Last weekend my roommates and I hung out all together for the first time and it was a lot of fun. We have a very small salon but it was fun, all of us crammed into the tiny room. I would like to have more of those small gatherings. It is good for my spanish to practice and good for our relationship. Being as Seara's mom and John's parents have been here, I haven't practice that much spanish, oops. There almost gone, it's ok, haha! Cooking here has been great. I buy smaller portions which is working out pefectly. The grocery store is two doors down from my apartment which is really convenient. Also, buying small portions allows me keep the food that I buy fresh instead of throwing it away. I have to learn how to make some awesome traditional Spanish dishes, some day...

That is all I can think of now. Next time there will be pictures, I promise!

Patton

Everything up to this point!

2007-10-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to create a blog. I decided that it would be the best way to write down stories and tell my friends and family without dictating to them through emails a million times. Also I will be able to look back at this blog and read what I have written about my travels and reminisce. I am going to give a quick over view of what I have done so far but after this one I will try and write more frequently. Let's see, where to begin.

Leaving Mexico:
Of course I had trouble flying. For those of you who don't know, I run into a lot of trouble coming home from Mexico. I was stuck in Mexico City airport without a flight or a place to stay and I had to think quickly. I was supposed to go directly to SF from Mexico City but I missed my flight due to my previous flight from Morelia arriving late. I got the next flight to LA, which was the only thing left available that day (otherwise I would have had to wait for a few days which wasn't going to happen!). From LA I was supposed to buy a ticket to Oakland but by the time I got to LA the airport had closed and no more flights were leaving that day. I spent the night in LA airport with all my luggage and first thing the next morning, I bought a ticket to Oakland at the earliest possible time. Finally I made it home and spent some time with my mom before she left that morning to help my sister move into her dorm room at Morehead State University. I was supposed to arrive on the 15th, in time to take my mom to the airport on the 16th, but I did not arrive until the morning of the 16th, with just enough time to get my mom to the airport.

Arrival:
So, things were going very smoothly when I left SFO on the 23rd in the afternoon. I had a lovely 1o hour flight London and I was excited about the last leg of my trip to Madrid. Of course, I had flight problems. It started out by waiting on the plane for 3 hours without moving at all. At this point I was already worried because I told Seara to meet me in the airport at a certain time, the time when I was supposed to land. I was already late. Three hours later, they tell us there is a technical difficulty with the plane and they are going to have to deboard and move us to another plane. By this time, everyone is a little ticked off. We now have to walk halfway across Heathrow airport to the other boarding gate and board another plane. By the time we all get there, over the loud speaker, a voice tells us that our flight has been canceled and we must make our way back to the ticket office and reschedule our tickets. Everyone is pissed! We walk all the way back, again, and wait in huge lines to get a rescheduled flight. At this point, I was a little fortunate. I met a few people who were students doing the same thing I was. We bonded of course and hung out that night. The airlines were gracious enough to provide us with water while we waited in line and fully refund our tickets. They also gave us a place to stay and food for the night and next morning. Now I am really worried about Seara but I had no way of contacting her. It was very stressful. I finally get to the airport and take a taxi to the meeting place and who is waiting in the Lobby, Seara! good timing. After that, everything went smoothly. We had orientation, a free day and the school started for the Intensive language program, ILP

ILP:
Great month! I met a lot of people, had a great time. Classes were going well, and everything was great. I learned a lot from my classes, history of Spain and Madrid, Spanish Literature and a lot of grammar. At the same time, it was stressful. I was crushed for time to find a place to live for the year. It is more difficult than one would think. If you like a place, you can't wait around and think about it because someone else will have already signed the lease, it was very competitive. I found a great place and I am living in it right now and I love it. Here are some pictures. Its great!
One of our classes was the history of Madrid, which was probably one of my favorite classes. Every Tuesday we learned about Madrid and then went on excursions on Thursday. After the Excursions the teachers took us all out to typical Spanish food, Tapas. It always was a lot of fun. The teachers were also a lot of fun and they say they are going to contact us for Thanksgiving, we might have a big dinner together! Even though the ILP was a lot of fun, I was not quite settled in anywhere. Now that I am settled in my apartment, I feel more Spanish and more comfortable.
Here are some more pictures from the ILP.

Week Vacation:
In between real classes at the university and the ILP, there was a week break. Seara, Rebecca and I travled to Brussels and Lille, then Seara and I went to Amsterdam and then back to Brussels. The night we left for vacation, Madrid had a huge cultural festival called Noche en Blanco. All the museums and cultural centers were open all night and anyone can go in for free. There were also concerts and people everywhere. Being as there was people everywhere, we had a lot of trouble getting to the airport and almost missed our flight. I remember thinking "Oh no, here we go again" but thankfully we made it. We had to take a night bus to the airport which was filled with people trying to get home from the Noche en Blanco, that is why it was so tough. The bus also dropped us off about 15min from the airport and we had to find our way to the airport. We could see it across the freeway but we weren't sure how to get there until we asked for directions. Finally we made it. As for the trip, it was amazing. Brussels, Lille and Amsterdam are all beautiful Cities. If you are thinking Belgium Waffles right now, you are on the right track. They are amazing! The Chocolate is also amazing. Brussels is just an all-around great city. It has so much to offer, I wish I could have spent more time there. In each town, we came across guide books that had recommendations for tourists and such like that. Of course we went to some cool museums and as well some cool local spots. I won't spend that much time describing the whole trip but I will say that those three cities are must-see. Lille has the second biggest art collection in France (second compared to the Louvre), Brussels has waffles, chocolate and the European Parliament building. Also Waterloo is just south of Brussels. Last but not least, Amsterdam, which has more museums per square kilometer than any other city in Europe.
Here are some pictures of the places I went.

Now:
Now we are in our second week of school and it is a lot of fun. School will be tough but I am looking forward to challenging myself. It's nice to know that everyone else is doing the same thing. I have seen a few friends since I have been here, such as John Sloat, Matt W., James and Katie from Mexico, and my friends I met in London in Heathrow. Everything is going great. I love my place, my roommates everything. I haven't taken many pictures in a while because I am in school now and I haven't gone many places but around town. Soon more pictures will be up and more stories. Look our for some more soon.

Patton