Didn't know I could post from my iPhone. Don't know why I am tonight but I guess I might as well type up something Spain related.
So,
Bull fights. They are really cool but gruesome too. Once the shock and awe of the first bull being killed is past you can actually enjoy(or watch rather?) the rest of the fights.
There are 6 bulls that are fought in a night and 3 matadors. There are other random matador like guys who distract the bull while guys on horses start the bleeding process. But regardless it ends up being man vs bull. It's pretty intense especially when the bull gets a few licks in too, as we saw several times that night. Seeing someone get trampled by an animal with horns that is backed by 1 ton of muscle is very scary. But it's amazing too. As the first fighter went down and was stepped on by the bull numerous times until the other matadors could distract the bull your thinking there is no way this guy is getting up. Even if he is ok he has to be knocked out or something but for this first one he was ok and walked to the side of the ring and washed the bulls blood off his head he went back out and finished his business up. What was more impressive is all the matadors where younger than me. By at least 2 years. You wouldnt find me doing anything remotely close to that.
Anyways more to come(probably from state side but I figure I could squeeze one more post from Spain in here)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Barcelona pt. 2
The night is when Barcelona really comes to life. The city is so much different at night. Party goers all over the place as well as people everywhere trying to promote the club they work at. It was different trying to walk around and just people watch when guys try to get you to go to their place. (don't worry I didn't partake in any clubbing :))
Every night we would walk around for a while just kind of killing time and hanging out, which is a big part of Spanish culture. We would sit in a public square and people watch most of the time. But a couple nights we went to different areas of the city and were able to see some nice areas where the rich of the city played. There was a pier which housed all the boats and at night it was really cool. They had this long dock that went out in the harbor a bit with these bright underwater lights on it and the fish were swimming around in the green water. It was an awesome night.
That same night is when we did the light painting(see my profile pic) we had a blast doing that for a couple hours and people walking along that pier just watched us and laughed. Some people there even filmed us as they were hanging out there. It was just a blast.
The weather in Barcelona was incredible at night because the humidity dropped a lot and it made it perfect. Since its near the ocean it's a lot more humid then in Madrid. (more on that later) but for the most part it was bearable and it wasn't until we started bussing inland that I realized how humid it was. We stopped a few times on the way to Madrid and it was so nice to get out in the mountain air away from the city and ocean air. It was nice and dry. It was about 10 degrees hotter but obviously less humid. It was in the high 80's in Barcelona and in Madrid its 90's + every day. But without the humidity you can hide in the shade and actually feel cooler.
The bus ride to Madrid was an uneventful 7 hour ride. We had to take a culture test for my class during the trip so I studied for a while then I took it so I could relax for the trip. A guy in our group had a show on his computer about the "winter classic" (an NHL hockey game in the middle of winter that's played outside once every year). It was documentary series about the two teams playing in it and the weeks leading up to it. So we watched several episodes of that. It is very interesting since I love sports and I love documentaries. Also I had watched part of the game for reasons I do not know since I am not a huge hockey fan so it had that interest as well.
Since I was so late to get in on this trip I didn't have a housing assigment and while everyone knew roughly their situation I had no idea. People knew who they were rooming with and I had no idea. So the whole trip there I was just hoping i got in a good place and if I had a roommate that it was a good situation.
As soon as we hit Madrid airport(were our host families picked us up) we got off the bus met out fams and were whisked away. More to come...
Every night we would walk around for a while just kind of killing time and hanging out, which is a big part of Spanish culture. We would sit in a public square and people watch most of the time. But a couple nights we went to different areas of the city and were able to see some nice areas where the rich of the city played. There was a pier which housed all the boats and at night it was really cool. They had this long dock that went out in the harbor a bit with these bright underwater lights on it and the fish were swimming around in the green water. It was an awesome night.
That same night is when we did the light painting(see my profile pic) we had a blast doing that for a couple hours and people walking along that pier just watched us and laughed. Some people there even filmed us as they were hanging out there. It was just a blast.
The weather in Barcelona was incredible at night because the humidity dropped a lot and it made it perfect. Since its near the ocean it's a lot more humid then in Madrid. (more on that later) but for the most part it was bearable and it wasn't until we started bussing inland that I realized how humid it was. We stopped a few times on the way to Madrid and it was so nice to get out in the mountain air away from the city and ocean air. It was nice and dry. It was about 10 degrees hotter but obviously less humid. It was in the high 80's in Barcelona and in Madrid its 90's + every day. But without the humidity you can hide in the shade and actually feel cooler.
The bus ride to Madrid was an uneventful 7 hour ride. We had to take a culture test for my class during the trip so I studied for a while then I took it so I could relax for the trip. A guy in our group had a show on his computer about the "winter classic" (an NHL hockey game in the middle of winter that's played outside once every year). It was documentary series about the two teams playing in it and the weeks leading up to it. So we watched several episodes of that. It is very interesting since I love sports and I love documentaries. Also I had watched part of the game for reasons I do not know since I am not a huge hockey fan so it had that interest as well.
Since I was so late to get in on this trip I didn't have a housing assigment and while everyone knew roughly their situation I had no idea. People knew who they were rooming with and I had no idea. So the whole trip there I was just hoping i got in a good place and if I had a roommate that it was a good situation.
As soon as we hit Madrid airport(were our host families picked us up) we got off the bus met out fams and were whisked away. More to come...
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Barcelona pt 1
Barcelona Spain is a very, very diverse city. It has lots to offer in the ways of beauty and sight-seeing. There is so much to see and after a week I still felt as though I didn't see everything. It was only on the last day that I got to visit the ocean and even then only got to wade in. So I still count it as taking part in the Mediterranean.
During our time there we happens to be there when the seasons were changing for the fashion world. Almost every store has a 50% off sale in order to get rid of the stuff that is "so last season". In most cases literally everything in the story is 50% off. Even with that much marked off it usually made it normal American price. I managed to get a couple shirts that were a little less then the USA could price them. Still it was 50% off so you had to take advantage of it.
While there I was able to eat some Spanish cuisine. We had the national dish which is called paella and is basically rice and shrimp. It was pretty good even though I don't really like seafood. We were at a restaurant near the beach when we had the paella. We also got to try something I didn't catch the name of but it was squid or octopus ink on rice with the meat mixed in. As disgusting as this sounds it was actually pretty tasty although if you got the ink on you it stayed there and stained badly. (for once I didn't get anything on me while I ate)
One day while walking through the city we found a local group of musicians who played near this cathedral-like place and enjoyed sitting there listening watching the people pass by.
The band was very good. Their were 3 guys who played the steel drums and a clarinet. The clarinetist could have easily been the Spanish version of Kenny G. One of our guys bought their album and that night we listened to it as we were falling asleep. Sadly they only had about 5 or so songs so when we saw them again we had heard all their stuff multiple times.
During our time there we happens to be there when the seasons were changing for the fashion world. Almost every store has a 50% off sale in order to get rid of the stuff that is "so last season". In most cases literally everything in the story is 50% off. Even with that much marked off it usually made it normal American price. I managed to get a couple shirts that were a little less then the USA could price them. Still it was 50% off so you had to take advantage of it.
While there I was able to eat some Spanish cuisine. We had the national dish which is called paella and is basically rice and shrimp. It was pretty good even though I don't really like seafood. We were at a restaurant near the beach when we had the paella. We also got to try something I didn't catch the name of but it was squid or octopus ink on rice with the meat mixed in. As disgusting as this sounds it was actually pretty tasty although if you got the ink on you it stayed there and stained badly. (for once I didn't get anything on me while I ate)
One day while walking through the city we found a local group of musicians who played near this cathedral-like place and enjoyed sitting there listening watching the people pass by.
The band was very good. Their were 3 guys who played the steel drums and a clarinet. The clarinetist could have easily been the Spanish version of Kenny G. One of our guys bought their album and that night we listened to it as we were falling asleep. Sadly they only had about 5 or so songs so when we saw them again we had heard all their stuff multiple times.
Monday, February 14, 2011
First Post
Well as bad as I am at "managing" my other blogs I am determined to update this one more than once or twice a year. haha.
This is to give an incite to my current life and all its craziness. From my internship at Fox 59, to my sole class to my time at TSC in goshen and possible job shopping.
Anyway these are fun times and I plan to blog them more for my own purpose and also to give my ailing granddad a little bit to read!
This is to give an incite to my current life and all its craziness. From my internship at Fox 59, to my sole class to my time at TSC in goshen and possible job shopping.
Anyway these are fun times and I plan to blog them more for my own purpose and also to give my ailing granddad a little bit to read!
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