I Need a Syllabus

What can I say, after being fed a syllabus my whole life I am dying with out one right now. I started the University of Granada last week and I am not exactly clear on what I need to do for class so the go-to for confirmation would be my syllabus, but I don't have one!!! Rather than handing out a nice outline as to what needs to be done I have nothing. My teacher rambled off 5 books that we can choose to read from (I have the same teacher for both classes and the same 5 books are options in both classes). I have attempted to confirm a few times how we obtain our grade and here is what I have so far. There are no exams in either class (the Spaniards have to take an exam and the foreigners do not). Papers, not sure. I asked my teacher today and she told me I had to choose 2 of the 5 books to read and write a paper IF I WANT?!?! What does that mean? So I keep telling myself this is great, you don't have to torture yourself with papers but at the same time I am tortured by the fact that I really have no idea what my responsibilities are. More to come on this topic I am sure.

This Thursday is a holiday in Southern Spain so I decided last minute to use my day off and go to Portugal. I am taking an over-night bus to Lisbon and doing the same for my return. Yes, I love buses.

I also had another successful haircut last week. NO MULLET!!

Pablo Update:

I wanted to smack him last Saturday. I went to bed at 6 am on Friday and got up fairly early to meet with my friends Jessica and Tim (Actually I met them through Lauren and Jesse) at Noon. I spent all day with them and came home to rest. I found Half-Baked online (a nice resting movie), turned my lights off, and laid in bed only to have Pablo repeatedly come in my room, stare at me in the dark, unplug my computer cord, and continually attempt to shut my computer. I got annoyed with him and told him I was going to tell his mom, he begged me not to, but yet did not leave my room until he actually left the house. Although I often want to give him the slap he deserves, I actually kind of like him and usually after he annoys me I find it kind of funny. There has not been to much moaning lately and fits have been on a low.

On a more serious note I had a super awkward dinner on Sunday. Paqui called me to the kitchen to eat and Jesús was in there looking all angry. Paqui proceeds to tell me that Antonio and him where fighting about clothes, and he was eating and choked on something. This was proceeded by a nod from me and an uncomfortable silence in which I ate knowing that it would get worse because for some reason fighting about clothes makes Paqui upset. She cried about this a few months back when the girls had a fight regarding clothing. Jesús is not saying a word and I hear Paqui begin to sniffle while she is cleaning the dishes and I am thinking please tell me that is a runny nose. No, it was not a runny nose, she was starting to cry. Jesús made a poor attempt to console her and then left the kitchen so it was just the two of us. Well as some might know crying (and PDA) makes me uncomfortable because I don't know what to say, and that's in my own language. Now this is the sad part. She starts crying a lot and saying that no one thinks about her and she thinks about everyone and how the kids don't understand anything. Then she went on about all their father only picks them up to see them for an hour or so and then drops them off and how he never has to think about feeding the family, school, relations, and everything else that she worries about everyday. I really felt heartbroken at hearing this. She has mentioned the father before, but only to say that he more-or-less is useless as far as raising the kids go. I just felt so sad knowing that she puts so much effort into everything she does for her family and she feels like it means nothing to them. I attempted some Spanish comforting but I am sure that is was awful and felt even worse that what ever I said was no help at all.

Back to Warm Weather

The rebuilt Warsaw city center

It's great to be back in some nice weather. I returned back to Spain this past Sunday and I am enjoying that I do not need to wear two pairs of pants. After I left Krakow, I went to Warsaw and spent two nights there. Warsaw is completely different than Krakow for obvious reasons. Almost the entire city was destroyed after WWII and although they have rebuilt this city and I know people are living there, it kind of has a dead vibe. There were times where I would be walking and not see people, restaurants, or stores for 20 minutes. It was freezing, but even on the coldest day in a city people will be out and about. They rebuilt the town square and one of the main streets with the intentions to replicate what was once there before the war and it looks nice but I almost felt like I was on the set of a movie because it just did not seem real. It's hard to explain, but I guess that after more than 60 years Warsaw is still working on becoming the city it probably was in the past. I spent a lot of my day there looking for buildings that were from before the war, and although they exist, there are not many. Overall Warsaw is an OK city, but I kind of feel bad for it.

After being in freezing cold weather and remembering Chicago winters I was frightened to imagine what my next year will be like in the cold Midwest. I really don't know if I will be able to handle it after my body has nicely adjusted to mild winters. My body is basically rejecting the cold so we'll see what happens next year, maybe I can convince someone (?) to move somewhere warm with me, haha.

I had an interesting incident on my way back to Spain. I arrived to Madrid on Sunday and went to the bus station to buy my ticket to Granada and the woman working told me that all of the buses are full and the next one would be Monday at 7 am., so bought it. I was not ready for an unprepared bus station sleep so I went to go talk to the bus driver for the 11 pm bus. I was hoping that someone would not show up and I could get on. He told me he had to make another stop in Madrid and he could not guarantee that a seat would be open. There was another woman waiting who wanted to do the same, but she had a 1 am bus ticket. So we sat together and chatted and then she left to go catch her bus and I was left alone to contemplate the next 6 hours. Well she new how badly I wanted to leave and talked to the bus driver who came to get me from the station to tell me there was in fact space on his bus. So thanks to this nice Spanish woman I was able to take the 1am bus. Now why the woman working told me otherwise I am not sure, but I know to basically not listen when people tell me buses are full, or I could always buy my ticket in advance.

I started at the University of Granada this past week. I am taking two literature classes and some how I have the same teacher for both classes which I think is going to be good, well I hope . I am kind of lost as to what is going on but I know that we are using the same books for both classes so I guess that is a positive. My teacher goes on some intense rants and it is really easy to flake out and not pay attention. When I try to re-enter into thought it's hard because he speaks fast. Overall I don't think it is going to be to bad, but of course I say that now, we'll see what happens in a few weeks.

Tak Tak Krakow

Tak is the only Polish word I understand. It has been the only word I have been able to pick out and ask what it means because it really sticks out from the rest of the language. Yes Yes Krakow!

In front of the Wawel Castle in Krakow

My first night here was quite interesting. I was exhausted from traveling but went out to eat and get a drink and I met an Northern Irish couple. They seemed to be good people and it was nice to talk to someone. Well as we were talking they started drinking more and more and the husband was basically saying the people from Northern Ireland are the smartest in the world, that's what I got from his statements at least. Apparently in Northern Ireland you have to take a crazy test when you are 11 and that test determines whether you go to grammar school (for the smart ones) or the other school (for stupid people) and it more or less decides your future. But both schools are hard and apparently other people in the UK try to send their kids there as well. Well he kept going on and on about this and by the end I was almost convinced that the people from Northern Ireland are the smartest in the world, haha. At the end of dinner the couple had shared about four bottles of wine, I had a glass or two from the four, and they were drunk. The wife fell up the stairs and was having some issues with walking. I really wanted to go to bed but they convinced me to go with them for a drink. So I had my drink and I wanted to go and that is when the wife went CRAZY! She started yelling at me and telling me that I was an old lady and that she never wanted to see my face again all the while she could barely stay on her bar stool. She continued on and I wanted to egg her on some more so I said I have your husband's email, I send you one soon. She did not like that and told me that they would ignore it and said some more nasty stuff. So at that point I had enough and just left. I bet she had a hell of a hangover the next day, haha.

Zakopane

Today I went to Zakopane which is in the Tatra mountains in the south of Poland. It was the first day that I have stepped foot in snow since I left in Chicago, haha. It was really pretty and a nice relaxing day in the mountains. When I arrived I was walking down the street and kept seeing these vendors selling something that I thought was bread. I then created in my mind that this bread would be amazing and that it was filled with delicious items like meats, cheeses, and vegetables or even chocolate and nuts so after looking at them long enough I decided to buy one. A lot of the women selling them were old and I assumed they would not speak English so I just decided to pick one and go for it. Well upon taking my first bite I got more than a surprise, it was not bread but the biggest cheese curd I have ever created (besides the even bigger ones they sold). It took me a while to get over it because I was expecting something completely different but after accepting it, I started to like it. I also felt really stupid for a while, like why didn't I at least attempt to ask what I was buying. Before arriving to Zakopane I had read that they are famous for their smoked cheese so now I know why. I somehow managed to eat about half of it throughout the day and it's about the size of my hand. Pictures to come when I get home.

Smoked Cheese Vendor (Or a dream of stuffed bread)

Biggest Cheese Curd I Have Ever Touched

Possible reenactment of my face when I found out it was all cheese

Accecptance of the Cheese Curd

On a more serious note I went to Auschwitz and Birkenau and it was of course very sad. Seeing where millions of people were tortured and murdered is something that few words can describe. It just really made me think and feel sad for what happened in the past.

I also went to the part of town where the Jewish people used to live before WWII, the Jewish Ghetto where the SS brought all of the Jews when they took them from their homes, and I found Oscar Schindler's factory.

Some people in my hostel are going "clubbing" right now including some of the girls that work here who are all really nice and very pretty. (FYI the girls in Poland are really good looking. Maybe the best country I have seen so far) Part of me wants to go but I look like a border line bum and I don't know if I can handle being in a club with a bunch of girls who look really cute. I am an old lady, haha.

Overall Krakow is great and the food could not be better and cheaper. Tomorrow I am off to Warsaw which I have heard some mixed reviews but I am still hoping will be interesting.

Los Carnavales de Cadíz y Carmona

The last two weekends have been an overload of Spanish Carnivals. Last weekend I went to Cadíz, which is on the cost to the west. I took a bus last Saturday from Granada at 11 am and arrived in Cadíz at 4 pm. Then the bus took as back to Granada from Cadíz on Sunday at 7 am. So yes, no sleep until the bus ride, minus a little rest on the beach in the middle of the night. The carnival in Cadíz was basically a huge outdoor drinking festival of people dressed up Halloween style. The Spanish cannot figure out the concept of Halloween, but they seem to apply it well to the carnival type of festival. There were some creative costumes, and almost everyone was dressed up. I just wore a wig and a mask because I did not want to spend a lot to be creative and the Spanish would probably not understand a Cher costume, haha. One highlight was that there were no bathrooms, none. The city did not provide port-a-johns and the bars would not let people use bathrooms unless they bought something. Therefore, the new toilet was the street. By the end of the night the entire town smelled like pee and the streets were soaked with pee and garbage. It was kind of a gross mess but I had fun. I really wanted to see the parade with the real costumes but it was on Sunday so we did not get to see it.

Yesterday I returned from visiting my friends in Carmona (outside of Seville) where I attended another carnival. This time I dressed up like a "school girl" because that is what I thought my friends were going to dress up as, but apparently I missed something and they dressed up like four year olds not school girls. A slight miss understanding but no problem. I noticed in Cadíz that everyone used shopping carts (dressed up as well) to cart around there alcohol and I was jealous because we did not have one, but this time around I did. We used a stroller, filled it with a bunch of alcohol and then walked in the parade up to the park district type building where the party continued with live music and children until 4 am. I have a few pictures of a 4 year old enjoying the night around 3:30 am, I love it. A Spanish norm. Overall I liked the carnival in Carmona more, but it might also be due to the fact that I knew Spanish people there. I am also almost positive that I was the only non-Spaniard there and almost everyone knew it by the end of the night gracias a mis amigos. It was a great authentic Spanish experience.

My latest on the home front is that I am not to sure about my "older Spanish sister" Maribel. I basically think that she does not like me, but I don't really know what I did. I have not got a good vibe from her since from when I first met her I asked her what here boyfriend did for a job and she answered me with "why", like why are you asking. But lately she has been really quite nasty toward me, starting with the day that I came home at 7:30 am and she was up and I asked her if she was just getting home or going to work and she answered with anger, going to work. She apparently did not think it was funny that I was coming home at the same time she was going to work, while I found it kind of funny. Then the next week she washed the floor and I had to go to the kitchen and eat because I was leaving to meet someone so I waited for the floor to dry a bit and went in and she yelled at me for that and muttered something nasty under her breath. Then last week (this is my favorite) I was leaving and went in the kitchen to get my water and she was in there, no hello, how are you, good day, nothing like that; she shoves the jelly in my face and tells me that if I leave it out of the fridgerater it will go bad. It was really lovely advice on her end, but I did not use the jelly, it was from her family that leaves the kitchen disaster every morning. Almost everyone morning her brothers and sisters leave things out on the counter and I have never left anything out. I always clean up after myself and never leave a mess. Of course she did not apologize for the wrong accusation, why would she, she didn't even ask if it was my jelly in the first place. So needless to say this has created an awkward situation and I have been thinking about how I want to handle it for a few days now. At first I thought I would be a bitch back but then I decided that was to easy. So now I am going to kill her with my smiles and kindness. I am going to be really creepy about it too, I am looking forward to her reactions. I know she is going to hate it. More to come on this.

Right now I am in Krakow, Poland. I flew from Granada and arrived in London last night at Midnight, slept in the airport, then flew from London to Krakow at 6 am. I did not have much sleep this weekend due to visiting my friends so I am really tired right now. Today I just walked around the city and at a great and cheap lunch (NO EUROS!! They have their own currency). I did not know what I was doing but I ordered way to much food. I got perogis and potato pancakes with goulash and it was amazing and only $8. I could have eaten for half the price if I had not ordered like a fat kid. I really like Krakow so far and I imagine that it is even better in the summer because it's freezing. I have not felt weather this cold since last winter in Chicago so I am kind of being a baby about it. My body just does not know what to do with cold weather.

I am going to Auschwitz and Birkenau tomorrow on a guided tour. It is going to be very interesting but very sad.