Mirielle´s blog week 2

Lunes 9 de julio

Este fin de semana pasada fui a la boda de mi primo segundo, Ian. El y su novio, Tineke, estaban de buen humor (por supuesto). La boda era en una iglesia y era muy bonita. El banquete y la fiesta después del servicio eran muy divertidos también. Yo di un paseo en la cuidad para ver catedrales y rebajas J La boda fue a 100km, pero no vi mucho en esa ciudad porque la boda duró de las dos en la tarde a la uno en la mañana. Pasé muchas horas en viajando, en autobús, en tren, en avión y en taxi pero valió la pena.

The wedding really was spectacular and I’m glad that I went. It was nice to see so many familiar faces in one place! After almost 11 hours of travel, I got back to my piso at 2am on Monday morning and I have never been happier to see my bed, even though it is more like a cot (not that I’m complaining). I had plenty of time to finish my homework on the plane, and thank goodness I did because the bus ride was very dark. Also, they were showing a terrible American movie from the 60s dubbed in Spanish. Of course I watched it, why wouldn’t I? I had my very first ride in a Spanish taxi, also, from the train station to home. That was an adventure in itself. The funniest part of the weekend was being excited about hearing my native tongue for a short two days, then remembering that communicating in Scottish English as almost as hard as Spanish!

When I got back I was afraid that it would take me a bit of time to get back into the groove of speaking Spanish. It was surprisingly easy today, so hopefully my brain has fully re-adjusted. I have an appointment this afternoon (actually in about 20 minutes) to see the doctor here. I´m quite curious as to what will happen with that. If it´s anything like a visit to the doctor in the US, I should have plenty of time to do some homework while waiting. I have to say though that it could be a cellar with medieval tools and I wouldn´t really care. As long as it´s free, that´s fine by me J


Martes 10 de julio

Ayer fui al médico. Era más o menos como yo pensaba. Marta y yo esperamos mucho pero afortunadamente acabé mucha tarea en esperando. Mi clase de cultura continúa a ser mi clase favorita porque la profesora es muy interesante. Mi clase de gramática es muy difícil para mí porque hay muchos verbos que no puedo producir muy rápido. Durante la clase, hacemos ejercicios de gramática con pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo, condicional perfecto, pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo y más. Necesito estudiar MUCHO esta fin de semana.

Yesterday was quite an interesting day. After classes, Marta and I waited in the doctor’s office for what seemed like an eternity, and communicated across the crowded waiting room in Spanglish. While waiting, I did some homework, which involved shuffling around my books and papers and apparently made an absurd amount of noise (judging by the stares received from multiple Spaniards waiting to see the doctor as well). When I passed my laptop to Marta and she tried to start it, breaking the icy silence in the waiting area, you would have thought I tap-danced across the room and did the splits the way everyone glared (not that it’s much different in the U.S.). Still, when he finally did see me, the visit lasted all of about 4 minutes. He looked at my thumb, declared “it’s probably broken,” and passed a paper across the table. That paper being the key to my next adventure… the hospital radiology center!

So off we went to the Hospital General de la Santisima Trinidad for my x-ray. That wait was much quicker than the doctor’s office. Only five minutes there. Unfortunately, this visit once again proved that when people I don’t already know ask me questions in Spanish, I immediately lose the ability to speak. The nurse at the desk asked me when I was born and I, of course, responded with “Los Estados Unidos.” Excellent job, Mir. When she finally got the information she needed, I was ushered off to a changing room with a gown sitting on a chair. At this point, I wasn’t sure if it was necessary to change into a gown if I was getting my thumb x-rayed, so I took my chances and kept myself fully clothed. This time, I was right. Another five minutes later, I was on my way out the door with an x-ray in hand. Thanks again for all your assistance Marta and can’t wait to be back in the doctor’s office tomorrow!


Jueves 12 de julio

Hoy estoy enferma, muy enferma L Tengo dolor de la garganta, me duele la cabeza y estoy tosando. Es muy divertida. Mi familia me de un paquete de no-sé-que para mezclar con agua y tomar como un chupito. El brebaje fue como un fuego en mi garganta, pero fue muy refrescante también. Dormí toda la tarde y me levanté a las ocho. Mari-José (mi “madre”) me preparó un almuerzo de sopa para mi garganta. Ella es muy, muy simpática.

Being sick in a foreign country sucks. I can’t think of a better, more polite way to say it. All I want to do is lay in front of the TV and drink ginger ale, my standard cure-all in the U.S. Unfortunately, I feel like a weirdo laying on the couch in front of my host family’s TV and I was too tired to go to the store for ginger ale. So instead I slept all afternoon and drank enough water to flood out whatever evil Spanish cold germ has taken over my sinuses. Pleasant thought, I know. Oh, and the “shot” of questionable brew that I spoke of before was not as bad as my host mother made it seem. I understood for certain that she told me not to smell it while I drank it, or I would vomit. Again, another pleasant thought.

My classes today were like a foggy haze. I vaguely remember walking to class in the morning. In my grammar class, every time the teacher was about to ask me to give an answer, I would inevitably cough or sneeze with just enough time to allow her to change her mind. I’m sure I was the picture of beauty. In Global Communications, I gave a presentation, and no one seemed to notice that my voice was that of a 95-year-old chain smoker who ate gravel for breakfast. In the other two classes, I’m pretty sure I was mistaken for that of a hungover fiesta-seeker who was desperately seeking that afternoon siesta… although, that part was true. I couldn’t wait for that wonderful Spanish siesta.


Viernes 13 de Julio

Después de las clases tomé una bebida y comí con Marta y Gaby. Pues, fui al estación de autobuses para comprar billetes para viajar a la playa este fin de semana con mis tías. Ojala que yo esté bien mañana porque no quiero estar de vacaciones con catarro. El autobús sale de la estación a las 9 en la mañana, pues puedo dormir un poco antes de caminar a la estación. No sé dónde vamos a dormir mañana por la noche porque todos las hostales eran completos. Yo hablé con un hombre en Gijón (lo que dónde vamos) que me dijo “Necesita pasar mañana porque hoy, no sé.” ¡Eso va a ser muy interesante!

At the bus station, we had an encounter that was probably half a miscommunication on our part, and half the ticket person’s fault (or 100% her fault in our minds). Originally, we wanted to take the bus that left at 4 in the morning so that we would arrive early and have the entire day to walk around. Well, when we went to the station, we said in our best Spanish (por supuesto) “we would like four tickets total, two on this credit card and two on this other one.” She proceeded to acknowledge our request and print out the first two tickets that we wanted. “Great!” we thought, “the bus is probably going to be practically empty at that hour.” At that point, she took the other credit card and announced, “there is only one ticket remaining on that bus.” Well great, thanks so much for letting us know that 10 minutes ago. We then had to exchange all three tickets for the later bus, killing our excitement and annoying us with her annoyance. The worst part is, I can never tell if the person is just irritated by life and behaves that way all the time, or if they are annoyed by our lack of communication. In her case, I’ve decided she was just a disagreeable person. Case closed.

On a happier note, I tackled two major tasks this week with ease. The first was a presentation I gave in class yesterday about Barcelona. The assignment was to pick any topic of interest about Spain and present it to the class for ten minutes. I’m sure you will all be proud to know that Anne-Marie and I volunteered to be the first two. The sooner I present, I thought, the sooner it can be over with. So I talked about how modern it is and Gaudi and all the parks and Las Ramblas and it went by much more quickly than I expected. Now it’s done and I can sit and watch the rest for the next couple of weeks. The other was our mid-term exam in oral class. The questions were relatively easy and since I was blessed with a last name that starts with “C” I got to go second. Again, over and done with. Despite my broken thumb and the plague I experienced, it’s been a pretty good week.