Semana Cultural, por fin!

As promised, I finally have some pictures from Semana Cultural (culture week).  To refresh your memory, for one week we took two classes instead of our normal course-load,  and I participated in Comics and Imagen (video).  At the end of the week, there was an assembly to present everyone's projects to the rest of the program.

For our video, we created a short film about a popular myth in Oviedo/Asturias.  The myth is that fantastical womens, called Xanas, are trapped in fountains from birth and can only be rescued if a brave man comes along and answers a tricky question correctly.  If he answers incorrectly, he is trapped forever too, but if he answers correctly, he and the Xana live happily ever after with lots of gold.  It is on youtube if anyone is interested in seeing.  It is of course, in Spanish, but I think you can get the general gist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTGnuGb8c3I (and actually Abigail put an english translation underneath the video, if you want to click on it).

Here are some still shots that Abigail took of us filming:

I was the original witch, but I tricked Jackie into switching with me so I ended up filming the whole thing! I am so sneaky :)

The cast hard at work watching play back. The actors: Tomonori, Jackie, and Abigail

Before I sneakily tricked her into switching with me.  Please note our baby, actually a camera case, hence its "boxy" figure.  

For Comics, we basically just had to create a one page strip about something, usually Oviedo related.  For mine, I did all of my adventures that I have had here.  Getting locked out, setting the kitchen cabinets pretty much on fire, trying to cook tortilla and failing, and things like that.  At the end of the week thing on Friday, all the students voted on which comic they liked the best, and they voted s mine and my friend Lindsey's number one!   We won!  We each got a prize, which included an Oviedo backpack, a digital clock, a little radio, and a packet of information about Oviedo/Asturias.  I was very very dorkily excited.  

Us getting college credit for coloring!  Lindsey, me, and Patrice.  

Unfortunately, it is very blurry, but this is my award winning comic!  Hopefully it will be scanned so we can all see them online later.  Either way you can get the gist.  My failing with the tortilla, having to fix the sink, getting locked out, breaking my computer, burning things on the stove, but that it was all worth it in the end, because I got to live in Spain! 

Me encanta la playa! I love the beach!

We have been blessed in Oviedo the past week with gorgeous weather.  70 and 80 degree weather, sunny weather, no clouds, no rain, and it just puts a smile on your face the whole day long.  I know it is silly, but a nice day just puts a new spring in my step!

Today we decided to organize a trip to the beach right after class.  We all met up outside and tramped down to the bus station to go to Gijon for a lovely afternoon.

The water was freezing for the Iowans (who had never seen an Ocean) and the New Zealander (who is used to warmer), but for me and the UMass Amherst kids from Massachusetts it was gorgeous.  I thought it was going to be too cold to go swimming, so I had stupidly not worn my bathing suit!  However, after seeing everyone frolicking in the Bay of Biscay, and loving the ocean so much myself, I just couldn't handle it any longer.  I rolled up my tube top, and fashioned a kind of bathing suit and sprinted in.  It was freezing, and I was soaked the whole bus ride home, but I loved every minute of it.  It was just perfect :)

I was so excited to go to the beach, I was literally jumping up and down after class.  Plus I love Jackie's hat :)

Jackie, applying sunblock.  Apparently this Mediterranean sun is killer!

The brave souls who joined me in the water (Jackie (NZ), Patrice(MA), Dave (MA)

The lame people who stayed on the beach (Aubrey, Kayla, Kate, and Abbi (Iowa))

Celeste and Liz

This is Patrice trying to make me pose with my wet gross hair. Ah, what are friends for. 

It was so nice, that people were out in all forms of water recreation! It made me really want to go sailing or boogy boarding.

Mmmm Mmmm good :)

I wanted to update the blog all this week, but I am waiting on pictures from a friend of mine.  This week was "Semana Cultural" for our program, which meant that regular classes were cancelled and we took two new classes.  However, I am going to go into that when my friend gives me the photos. So stay tuned!

So instead, I just have a little update about the daily simple life in Oviedo.  I don't know if any of you have ever had "puppy chow" in the states, but it is a delicious snack treat made of Chex cereal, peanut butter, chocolate, and then covered in powdered sugar.  It doesn't get much better than that!  My friend Aubrey's boyfriend had just come over to visit her, and had brought all the necessary supplies, so the other day we sat down to make ourselves some good old American artery hardening treats.

So first, you have to melt all of the peanut butter and chocolate and a teensy bit of butter in the microwave, and you mix it together with the Chex cereal in plastic ziploc bags, as Aubrey is demonstrating here.  

There were some casualties however.  Apparently if you microwave the chocolate peanut butter mixture for too long, the bowl will get so hot that you will burn your hand and break the bowl.  Poor Aubrey!  

The most fun part of it though, is that you get to mix everything in together by shaking it and dancing around the kitchen.  I love a snack that you can make with a fun activity!  

The end result!  You know that you want to eat them, they just look so delicious.  I took a bag back home with me, and it is already finished!  

Anyway, more updates on culture week later, hopefully with pictures!  Also, yesterday marks the one month marker until I go home.  Write it in on your calendars, Sam Mackie returns to the states on May 25th!

Luanco, Round 2

Sorry that I have not updated in quite some time, but since I am nearing the end of my time here, my days are a whirlwind of hanging out with friends, doing projects and work, planning the few trips I still have time for, and numerous daily yet insignificant acts that are not really blogworthy.

This weekend however I went with some friends to Luanco (where Lex and I had previously visited) for a fun picnic at the beach.

It really could not have been a more stunning day.  We had PERFECT weather.  

We sat on these beaches and people-watched while we ate our picnic lunch.

Then we walked around town, and found this fun door!  These are the two girls I went with, Shani and Amanda. 

We also found this cute little show of springtime love :)

There is really no reason for this picture, except to show that spring is in the air!  

It truly was a lovely and relaxing day at the beach, one with no plans, no goals, and only minor sunburn.  I am loving Spain I have to say, and may even miss it when I am gone!!

A lovely day at the beach :)

This weekend was a very fun one here in Oviedo.  Friday night I got icecream with one of my friends, but Saturday was the real fun.  The weather channel forecasted nothing but sun and 70 degree weather, so we headed to the beach in Gijon.

Can't you almost see the beautiful temperature?

The first place we settled down was soon overcome by the tide.  I kind of forgot they had tides in places that were not Brewster beach.  We spread our towels out and set up camp.  

I was REALLY really excited to be at the beach, and Patrice is really good at capturing these things haha. 

The boys of our group: Tomonori and Aaron

The girls: Abigail, Jackie, Me, Patrice

The water was freezing and feet numbing, but that teensy dot out there is Aaron, swimming for his first (of three) time that day.  

Patrice captured our reactions to the fact that he actually was crazy enough to go in!  This is completely candid, and I love it haha. Nice going Patrice!

Finally, we all got pretty hungry, so Abigail and Patrice went to go get us a picnic lunch.  While they were gone, we were quite busy ourselves!  Look at this gorgeous castle.  We were very proud (and subsequently very sad when the tide washed it away).  

Patrice and I smiling about our delicious picnic lunch, and our perfect beach day.

Jackie (from New Zealand) was covering up from the sun with her humungous hat.  Apparently they are taught from a very early age about the dangers of the sun in New Zealand, so she supplied us with the sun screen necessary for our day event. 

But then her hat looked so fun, that I needed to try it!

It would not be a perfect beach day without some Spanish helado!

All in all, I just cannot elaborate enough how much fun of a day it was.  Different groups came and went, but our group of 6 stayed from the morning until late afternoon.  It was relaxing and fun, and only my feet got sunburnt!  We just all kept saying to each other "we are on a beach, IN SPAIN, does it get much better than this?"  And I am not sure that it does :)

Roma 4: Plazas and fountains, good Italian food, and some ending comments

After the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, it was still down-pouring, but I wanted to see the rest of Rome, or all that I could.  I had made a list of all the other areas that I wanted to see, and marked out a route, but when I got down to it, I just kind of winged it until I hit up everything that I wanted to see.

Rome, like Spain, has quite a lot of Plazas.  I am sure in better weather these would be great places to enjoy a cup of coffee or just soak in the Roman life, but since it was so yucky, I kind of just cruised past them, enjoying them as I went.  This is Plaza Venezia.  

Next was the Pantheon.  It is the pride and joy of Rome, because it is the only completely intact piece of architecture/monument from the "classical" eras.  

It was created as a temple to the Julian family.

There is a large hole at the center of the Cupola of the Pantheon.  It is domed, so only a portion of it is exposed to the actual sky, but it was thought to be left open so that prayers could reach the heavens.  However, as you may recall, it was raining quite a bit.  They do not cover up this hole however, just rope off a section of the middle of the floor that people don't slip!  Kind of fun, right?

Piazza Navona: it traces the ancient shape of the Stadium of Domitian.  Rome was big on its sports!

Beautiful fountain in Piazza Navona

The Fountain of the Rivers in the Piazza as well.  Another work of Bernini, but unfortunately it was under construction.  

Fontana di Trevi: Another Bernini fountain, but one of my absolute favorite fountains I have ever seen.  Pictures cannot capture it, words cannot describe it, it is just plain impressive.  It is massive and breathtaking.  

The fountain depicts the scene of the legend of why the fountain was created.  Apparently, a Roman soldier was searching for water and a maiden led him and his men to this "virgin" source.  The water is supposedly very very pure.  

There are many legends concerning the fountain and throwing coins into its waters.  Some say if you throw a coin in, you are guaranteed to return to Rome, others say two coins indicates a new romance, or three will bring on a marriage or a divorce.  Others say that it is good luck to throw three coins with your left hand over your right shoulder.  

I only threw in one coin, and not over my shoulder, so who knows!  Quite a bit of money is collected each year, and it goes to create a supermarket for the homeless of Rome.  Such a great use of the goodluck coins!

The other things the Romans love are columns.  There are tons of them stuck randomly all about the city.  

Spanish Steps: the largest and widest set of steps in all of Europe!  I also met a very nice Spanish couple who wanted me to take their picture, and therefor took mine. 

Fountain of the Barcaccia, another Bernini work, but actually the father not the son, at the bottom of the Spanish steps.  

After all of those plazas, columns, and fountains I was pretty tuckered out, so I headed back to my hotel before meeting up with my friend Anna (from the Oviedo program), for a true Italian dinner.  It was absolutely delicious.  I had tortellini, REAL Italian tortellini, and chicken and potatoes, with a glass of Italian red wine.  I don't usually like wine, but it was Italy, so I had to try.  I followed it up by some real Italian gelatto.  All of it was fabulous.  As you know by reading my blog, the food part of travelling is sometimes my favorite.  In Italy I got everything that I wanted: Pasta, Gelatto, and Pizza.  I was so lucky!  

That FINALLY sums up Roma.  The whole experience was a great one.  I learned a lot from traveling by myself, and a lot about traveling in a country where I did not speak the language.  I am used to the notion that Americans/english speakers are treated with disdain and dislike, but I found quite the opposite.  The people in my new hotel bent over backwards to be helpful, in every way possible.  I had an entire conversation with a women in a tobacco store while trying to buy a phone card, using a mix of hand gestures, Italian, Spanish, English, and miming.  Yet instead of either of us getting frustrated, we continued on and she was very helpful.  It really restored my faith in humanity, especially after having come off of the horrible, lonely, and faceless hostel.  El Fin!