So I am finally in Madrid and have internet connection! For a few minutes at least. I will post later when I have a more time but for now I'm just glad to have a few glorious moments. I'm currently in a Starbucks in downtown Madrid enjoying an Espresso Macchiato :)
Lots of love!
January 28, 2010
January 13, 2010
Dos Semanas
In exactly 14 days, I will be leaving sunny Florida for SPAIN!
I can't believe it's already here. On Monday I received my final housing packet in the mail from my study abroad program. It includes a bunch of information like our itinerary for the first week, other students in our program, and our housing assignments. Sadly I will be the only student representing the state of Florida so I guess I will be making LOTS of new friends. Here is the description of the home I will be living in:
"The apartment is right in front of the sea and has a breathtaking view. The apartment is large, yet cozy. There is one double room to be shared by two students. There are two bathrooms that are shared with the family. The apartment is 20 minutes walking distance from the student office and less than 10 from the city center."
Um.
Um.
Um.
Is this real life?! Because it sounds AMAZING. I was also able to find my roommate on facebook. Turns out she is already in Spain doing an Intensive Month program. She has 5 hours of intensive Spanish classes a day. Props to her because I don't think I could handle that.
I'm ecstatic that it's all happening so soon. But I'm already missing home. It's going to be extremelyt hard at first but it will definitely be an experience. I just want to be able to take advantage of everything the country has to offer and live as close to an authentic Spanish life as I can.
And of course, I will be blogging all of my experiences: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Hope everyone is having a great New Years and stay tuned for more frequent posting :)
I can't believe it's already here. On Monday I received my final housing packet in the mail from my study abroad program. It includes a bunch of information like our itinerary for the first week, other students in our program, and our housing assignments. Sadly I will be the only student representing the state of Florida so I guess I will be making LOTS of new friends. Here is the description of the home I will be living in:
"The apartment is right in front of the sea and has a breathtaking view. The apartment is large, yet cozy. There is one double room to be shared by two students. There are two bathrooms that are shared with the family. The apartment is 20 minutes walking distance from the student office and less than 10 from the city center."
Um.
Um.
Um.
Is this real life?! Because it sounds AMAZING. I was also able to find my roommate on facebook. Turns out she is already in Spain doing an Intensive Month program. She has 5 hours of intensive Spanish classes a day. Props to her because I don't think I could handle that.
I'm ecstatic that it's all happening so soon. But I'm already missing home. It's going to be extremelyt hard at first but it will definitely be an experience. I just want to be able to take advantage of everything the country has to offer and live as close to an authentic Spanish life as I can.
And of course, I will be blogging all of my experiences: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Hope everyone is having a great New Years and stay tuned for more frequent posting :)
December 16, 2009
November 20, 2009
Thank God it's (Freaky) Friday
Fridays never go according to plan for me. Either my schedule gets all out of whack or something just really really weird happens. Today has already had a little bit of both.
Let me back up and explain my funky schedule: last night we had a voting meeting for my coed fraternity, PSP.
Let me back up and explain something about voting meetings. They are notorious for running into the wee hours of the morning.
Let me back THAT up and explain a little bit more about our fraternity. Like other fraternities and sororities, we have a rushing process as well as an initiate process every semester. This is an 8-week long period during which we are supposed to assess whether or not a given individual is a good fit for our organization. PSP is based on a tripod of scholarship, fellowship and leadership. An initiate must exemplify all three qualities and fulfill certain requirements in order to become a brother. And yes, even girls are brothers. That's how we roll.
So fast forward to last night. The 8-week long initiate process is over so it was time to vote on whether they should be brothers or not. We conduct our meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order so we undergo a pro/con debate on each individual. After spending so much time with these people, there is obviously a lot to say about them after the 8 weeks. And everyone wants to persuade the rest of the group in one direction or the other. Of course, this all part of a structured and productive debate, but it can take a really freaking long time! A recent voting began at 6:30 PM one Thursday night and ended at 5 AM Friday morning.
I kid you not.
We had 19 initiates by the last night. They were an eclectic pledge class to say the least but I loved getting to know them. I'm so fortunate to meet all of these awesome people that I normally wouldn't have in my day-to-day life. That's one really cool thing about the fraternity!
Like I was saying, 19 of 'em. We got out at 1 AM last night and people considered this a huge success compared to 5 AM. However, my bedtime is usually 10 to get up for my 7:30 AM classes.
Let me tell you, those 3 hours make a HUGE difference. I slept through 2 alarms but made it to class 15 minutes late. But I was all sorts of out of whack. My brain was so scattered from the frantic getting-ready process that it took me a good minute of searching to find my pen. Spoiler alert: it was in my hand. Just one of those days, ya know?
So there goes my schedule for today.
I'm done with class by 9:30 so I hopped on the bus to head home. I had an appointment with my toilet to kick it's clogged ass. (Don't get me started.) On the bus, everything was fine (besides my scatterbrainedness). About 1.5 miles from my stop, the female bus driver pulled off on the side of the road outside of a sketchy gas station.
Homegirl radioed in to the bus driver HQ to tell them she had to "take a dump".
WHAT?! What just happened?! I have never witnessed this in my life. Obvi everyone on the bus was in complete shock. But she just opened the bus doors and ran over to the gas station, leaving the bus running and the doors open. She returned about 10 minutes later with a mug of coffee, a bag of pretzels, and (hopefully) relieved.
Is there something about Fridays that make people act ridiculous? I know it's almost the weekend and all but I just can't figure this one out.
Have a great weekend and GO GATORS!
Let me back up and explain my funky schedule: last night we had a voting meeting for my coed fraternity, PSP.
Let me back up and explain something about voting meetings. They are notorious for running into the wee hours of the morning.
Let me back THAT up and explain a little bit more about our fraternity. Like other fraternities and sororities, we have a rushing process as well as an initiate process every semester. This is an 8-week long period during which we are supposed to assess whether or not a given individual is a good fit for our organization. PSP is based on a tripod of scholarship, fellowship and leadership. An initiate must exemplify all three qualities and fulfill certain requirements in order to become a brother. And yes, even girls are brothers. That's how we roll.
So fast forward to last night. The 8-week long initiate process is over so it was time to vote on whether they should be brothers or not. We conduct our meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order so we undergo a pro/con debate on each individual. After spending so much time with these people, there is obviously a lot to say about them after the 8 weeks. And everyone wants to persuade the rest of the group in one direction or the other. Of course, this all part of a structured and productive debate, but it can take a really freaking long time! A recent voting began at 6:30 PM one Thursday night and ended at 5 AM Friday morning.
I kid you not.
We had 19 initiates by the last night. They were an eclectic pledge class to say the least but I loved getting to know them. I'm so fortunate to meet all of these awesome people that I normally wouldn't have in my day-to-day life. That's one really cool thing about the fraternity!
Like I was saying, 19 of 'em. We got out at 1 AM last night and people considered this a huge success compared to 5 AM. However, my bedtime is usually 10 to get up for my 7:30 AM classes.
Let me tell you, those 3 hours make a HUGE difference. I slept through 2 alarms but made it to class 15 minutes late. But I was all sorts of out of whack. My brain was so scattered from the frantic getting-ready process that it took me a good minute of searching to find my pen. Spoiler alert: it was in my hand. Just one of those days, ya know?
So there goes my schedule for today.
I'm done with class by 9:30 so I hopped on the bus to head home. I had an appointment with my toilet to kick it's clogged ass. (Don't get me started.) On the bus, everything was fine (besides my scatterbrainedness). About 1.5 miles from my stop, the female bus driver pulled off on the side of the road outside of a sketchy gas station.
Homegirl radioed in to the bus driver HQ to tell them she had to "take a dump".
WHAT?! What just happened?! I have never witnessed this in my life. Obvi everyone on the bus was in complete shock. But she just opened the bus doors and ran over to the gas station, leaving the bus running and the doors open. She returned about 10 minutes later with a mug of coffee, a bag of pretzels, and (hopefully) relieved.
Is there something about Fridays that make people act ridiculous? I know it's almost the weekend and all but I just can't figure this one out.
Have a great weekend and GO GATORS!
November 18, 2009
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