Politics

It is interesting being in another country as the primary elections are going on. Granted it is a milestone election, with a woman and a black man and all, but it is more important for me now to know what is going on. It has been easier and less boring this year to pay attention to the news on politics since I have come here.
The people here are from many different countries, but most learn about US politics and everyone has something to say about George Bush. Many people ask me about my views on the politics and this has forced me to take an interest in order to know how to answer questions. I have also had to explain how the political system works, to which I usually answer I don't even understand it and I have no expectations of anyone else to understand it either.
Even more interesting is that there this March in Spain there is a Presidential Election. I don't really understand the parties here, although it has been explained to me, but I have been paying more attention to the amount of media coverage. In comparison, there is little coverage here. The two main candidates have their faces posted all over the place, on billboards and posters, but the amount of tv and even newspaper coverage is a lot less.
Being here also gives me some idea of how little I know about the other country's politics and history, even geography. I think that besides being in Spain this is a great experience because I get to meet people from all over.
Oh and I'm glad the writers' strike is over. And may I just say that I think it was good, cause the SNL this week was actually good (and most of you know how much I despise that show- at least the current ones). Food Network: Porn for fat people, and "Bitches get stuff done. That's why catholic schools use nuns as teachers instead of priests" ... come on, it's funny. So thank you writers for coming back better than ever.
Anyway, I had class today. It was good, although so far I think my professors in Sevilla better, at least than my first professor. Hopefully, this afternoon I will be going out to find a market. My roomate and I were going to go explore a little bit, but she has not returned from the school yet.
Well I will keep you updated.
Jenn

I HAVE INTERNET!!!

So yesterday I made the long journey from Sevilla to Salamanca. It was an eight hour bus ride, and when the Spanish list 3 stops on the schedule you should be prepared to stop at least 6. But when I arrived to Salamanca my welcome was much better. I found the keys and the house with no problems. This city is a lot more like Madrid and is easier to figure out. The streets are larger (I will post pictures of the tiny streets of Sevilla sometime this week) and the buildings are much more decorative.
but despite the fact that Sevilla is a spiderweb of streets meant to trap tourists, I will always have good memories of the people I met there. I have realized one really large draw back to moving cities is having to leave people before you can really truly be friends. I met so many people in Sevilla that I really felt I wanted to know better. It is kind of lonely here so far. I miss the activity of the house in Sevilla. But I remember feeling somewhat the same about leaving Malaga.
Friday I went shopping with Louise and her friend from school, Lucy. I didn't buy anything but it was nice to look at all the shops in the center of town. I think if I hadn't been too scared to go out by myself and get lost I would have enjoyed more of what Sevilla had to offer, another reason I wish I had stayed there a little longer. Friday night we went out to the Plaza and met a lot of people from school and then we went to some strange bar until 4 in the morning again.
Yesterday when I arrived only one person was in the apartment, a guy from Brazil. He is nice, but is leaving at the end of the week. There was another girl I met later, though she does not speak much English (and I don't know about her Spanish). I don't know what country she is from, but she is Asian, as is my new roomate who arrived just a little while ago. I do not know much about her yet because she came and dropped her stuff off and then left quickly.
Today I did not do much. I was tired from going out on Friday night and not sleeping much on the bus. So I slept late and then went on the internet. I found a site that has Prison Break episodes, so I caught up. Then I went out for some food. I didn't stay out long because it was kind of cold (although I guess I shouldn't complain because I checked the weather for home and it's 30 degrees lower) and started to rain soon after I started walking.
Tomorrow I start classes here. It will be hard for my teachers here to top the teachers in Sevilla. I really enjoyed them, but I will give the ones here a chance. I also hope I meet some people at school because it does not seem like I will connect with the people in my house. It takes a little more work, but I guess that's good, since it seemed way too easy and convenient that the people in my house in Sevilla were so nice and easy to get along with. Maybe if I had stayed longer we all would have hated each other. No one knows. But I met some people in the school during the second week in Sevilla that I wish I could have known better. I had fun touring with them and going out and things.
I'm glad I have internet here because I was beginning to get a little homesick. Especially on Friday when I had to pack up and move.
Anyway I will be going to bed soon. I have a bit of a headache today. I will write soon and hopefully put up some pictures.

No sé

So I finally went and saw some things in Sevilla. It was raining the whole beginning of the week so I didn´t do much. I went out to the Factory, a "big" mall that had different stores. I got myself a new jacket and some other things since they are now in "rebejas" season.
Wednesday night we watched No country for Old Men and then we went out to Plaza El Sebasitian and to Boss. It was a lot of fun and I didn´t lose anything this time! We rode our bikes back at around 3:30 in the morning and I finally went to bed around 5.
I had class the next day in the morning so I got up and went to class. Then someone from my class was visiting the gradens at Alcazar so I decided to go along. They were all Dutch and I really like hearing the language. It´s cool because it sounds like it is all made up to me, like they just put a bunch of sounds together. Everyone here is Dutch so sometimes I wish I spoke it too.
After the gardens, which were very beautiful and large and hard to navigate, I came back to school to meet to other girls from my class. By this time I wasn´t really tired anymore because I had been walking around so much I just forgot to be tired. The two other girls and myself went to Trianna to eat tapas. On the way we walked past Plaza de Toros (Plaza of Bulls) and the Torre de Oro (Tower of Gold). We ate at a little cafe and then I went home. Last night we watched City of God.
Today I have to pack my suitcase because I suppose I will go out tonight with either the people from the house or some others from my class. Then I leave tomorrow for Salamanca. Again I´m sad to go and leave the people, but I will meet new ones. My roomate from this house is also in Salamanca now and I believe I am in her apartment.
I will write from Salamanca.
Hasta luego!
Jenn

Me molesta no tener internet!

It´s getting a little ridiculous not having internet all weekend. I was pretty busy most of the time so I didn´t notice, but it would have been nice to have Friday night.
We started A2 classes on Thursday and this week I am in a new class in the morning instead of the evening. We have a lot more people in our class now, which can get a little annoying, but it´s ok. I have one of the same teachers, but the second part of the class is a different teacher. So far he is ok, but I miss Cielo (for those who know what this means in Spanish, one brownie point).
Friday I went out with all teh kids from my house. The boys went for dinner over someone else from the school´s flat and then we met them right before they went to the club. The club was fun, everyone from my flat was there as well as some other people. The trouble came when I realized I did not have my ticket from the coat check. I have no clue what happened to it, although I can assume that since my pocket book is so small it probably fell out while I was paying for drink. I was pretty sure I knew my number and after some convincing the lady showed it to me, but it wasn´t my jacket. She told me to wait til 6:30 when the discoteca closed or come back the next day. At that point I was tired and mad so I returned home and decided I´d go back the next night.
It wasn´t til the next morning I realized my keys were in the pocket. Luckily there is no address on the keys, but it does mean that I will not get some of my deposit back. I went back to the club but they didn´t have the jacket. It was a little aggravating, but there´s nothing I can do about it now. I will go shopping today to try and find a new jacket because of course it is cold now and it will be cold in Salamanca. Oh, well.
Saturday we did not do much. During the day we went to the supermarket and then Wan Chen, Victoria and I made tortillas. They turned out ok for our first time, but they need to be perfected a little bit. After dinner we all sat together in the living room and watched a movie in Spanish, although I can not remember which. Then I went to the club to look for my jacket. The others went out at like 2:30 but I was too tired so I just went to bed.
Yesterday we all sat around studying and watching TV until a new girl arrived at our house. Victoria and I took her to figure out the bikes and then took her around the town to find the school and such. It was a nice day.
Today I had class and now I think I will go shopping.

Hasta luego,
Jenn

Adventures in Sevilla

It´s been pretty quite here. I´ve been studying and going to class and hanging out with the people from my house. Last night Victoria wanted to go out, and there were some people from the school going out as well as Remi and Willem from our house so we went along. The boys were going to bike out to the bar so Victoria and I decided it would be better if we rented bikes and go along with them. You can rent bikes for 5 euro a week from the stands, so, with the guy´s help, we figured out the machine, took our bikes and were off.
We got to the bar around 10:30 and the people from school were already there. It was one of the girl´s birthday so we sang "Happy Birthday" at 12 and then the bar closed and we went to a club. The club was fun. It was free to get in and the music was good. At 3 Victoria and I were tired so we decided to go home. We said goodbye to the boys and headed off to find the bike stand. We found it easily and got out a bike. We rode off, Victoria in the lead and headed home.
After a while everything stopped looking right. We kept heading straght, but none of the streets were on our map. I was happy to have the bikes, because walking we would have been so tired. We finally stopped and asked at a gas station, but I have become very skeptical of the Spanish directional skills. I believe they are even worse than mine. I knew we should not take the road he recommended because we had just come from that way and all that was out there was the Cruzcampo Beer factory. I pikced a road and after a few minutes we came to the Cortes Ingles near our house. We parked the bikes, ran across the street and went up to the flat.
The whole time on the bikes we had been joking about how funny it would be if the boys were home before us. When we opened the door to the flat, there they were sitting on the couch. Victoria and I just couldn´t stop laughing. It was hilarious to us because the boys already find our bike riding and directional skills something to laugh at.
All in all it was a good night. We wanted to take the bikes this morning to school but there was only one left at the station. However, we have staked out all the bike stands near the school and plan to ride back so we don´t have to carry our stuff and our groceries so far.

From a girl with a sore butt,
Jenn

Farewell, Málaga; Hello, Sevilla

Sorry for the lack of update. I was shocked to arrive in Sevilla to find that there was no interenet in my apartment and I will ahve to use the school interenet when I can because it is free. I have a lot to write about since last firday afternoon, so I will try to get as much in as I can before I have to go to my class.
Friday night was wonderful. We had a great party full of food. My macaroni came out edible and some people even said they liked it. I enjoyed making it, but mostly I enjoyed eating everything. The professors brought pizza and one of Yumi´s (my roomate) friends made homemade sushi, YUM! WE had swedish meatballs and hummus, salad and enough bread to feed a third world country. There were about 26 people there and we stayed up until early in the morning talking and drinking and listening to music. Then I decided to start packing but did not get very far.
I woke up at 9 in order to get ready before the 1 o´clock bus I wanted to get to Sevilla. I packed my luggage and then Melanie and Magdalena got up and helped me clean up the mess we made of the living room. Tehn I said my goodbyes, returned my keys to the school and headed back to the bus station from where I arrived.
The city of Málaga is still ugly, especially by the bus station. But it has its charms. In the end I really enjoyed the sea and the sun and the people. The school was great and I tested out of A1. I loved my house and my housemates were great friends for the week, which, with the help of facebook, hopefully I will stay in touch with on some level. All in all, I was sad to leave Málaga and embark on a journey to a new city where I had to get to know new people, new teachers, a new schedule and a new town.
At the bus station I was in a pretty bad modd. I realized I really don´t like my traveling days and just wait for the bed on the other end and the next morning to come. As I sat and waited reading my book, I heard a Bon Jovi song on the radio. It was even from the acoustic album that never gets any play in the states. I though maybe the day was about to look up. And they did, for a little while.
I arrived in Sevilla and figured out how to get to the hostel where I had to pick up my keys. I got a taxi and he let me off in front of the street it was supposed to be on. I walked up and down the street twice and saw no sign of the Hostel Catalana. I walked back to the plaza I was let off in, and there it was right in front of my eyes.
The guy at the hostel desk was nice enough. He gave me my keys and a map and showed me where my apartment was. I wish I had realized then that it was not the one that I was first assigned to, because maybe I would have asked more questions about how to get there, since I only had directions to the apartment the school sent me in an email. He advised I take a taxi or a bus number 32. I opted for the buss. I got out at the train station as he instructed and walked toward Kansas City Avenida. It took a couple circles, but I found it in a sufficient amount of time. I knew from my map that the street went in two directions. I looked at the number and saw 32d, C, B... and surmised that 21 would be close on the opposite side of the street.
I crossed the busy road and made a few passes on the sidewalk searching for number 21. Half of the buildings did not have numbers. After maybe a half an hour I asked at a hotel. They called some people and told me that it was near the Cortes Ingles. So, since I had seen that on one of my many times down the road I walked back to teh Cortes Ingles.
The apartment was nowhere to be found. It was not on the side I had been on, it was not on the other side, it was not down a side street. I asked at another hotel but they were not helpful at all. The only told me that the road was really big and outlined it on a map. I made a few more laps up and down the street, but by this time it was getting dark and my arm was about to rip in two from the weight of my suitcase.
I went back to the Occidental Hotel (I would like to thank them very much for their kindness and patience) and asked if they knew where there was a phone I could use. By this time I suspected the apartment was on the other stretch of road around the corner, but I was too tired to explore so I called the school for confirmation of my address and to see it they could give me more detailed directions.
The first number didn´t work.
The second number didn´t work. I was wasting money trying to get the phoen to work. It was a type of pay phone that I had never seen (I´m lucky I had used one in my life) and I had trouble figuring out how to call. I didn´t really care about the money, though, as long as someone would pick up and help me find a place to stay for the night. I was tired (I only got 5 hours of sleep and I hadn´t really eaten since 10 in the morning).
Finally, someone picked up on the third number. The woman informed me that she was at a school in Granada. I explained that this was the only number I had that worked and she very graciously listened to my problem. Being in Granada, she had no idea how to help me but she told me to call her back in ten minutes and she would try to have some answers. I stepped out of the phone booth. I wanted to try and cause the least amount of disturbance possible since the hotel was being so hospitable, the man at the desk even offered me a seat (possibly because he caught me crying in the phone booth). I asked for more change from the desk and waited my ten minutes. I called back and she gave me some information and told me to call back again. I went through this 2 more times before she finally gave me an answer. Soemone was coming to get me! HALLELUH!
I walked outside and waited on the sidewalk and a man came up and said "Jennifer." He was from a pickup service the school uses and he brought me to the flat and took my luggage all the way up to my room. All for free!
So it wasn´t a pleasant welcome to Sevilla, but all ended well. My roomate´s name is Wan Chen. She is from Taiwan. She shared some of her paella with me that night and we watched TV together and talked. I did some laundry, took a shower and retired early to my bed.
The next morning I woke up around ten. Wan Chen offered me some hot chocolate and I ate a breakfast bar I had left from Málaga. A new student arrived around this time. Her name is Victoria, she is from Germany. After she got settled we decided to go find the school together and then we took a long walk around the town to see some of what was there. We saw the big cathedral, the Jewish barrios, the plaza de Espana and some gardens. It was a nice walk and a long one and by the time we decided that we wanted to eat something all teh kitchen s were closing. We found a small convenience store open where we bought water and some tortillas. We returned home and cooked the tortilla and then hung out. We met the two boys in our apartment from Amsterdam.
Yesterday was the test. I did ok. I explained that I had finished A1. The woman assigning my class explained that I culd go into A2 but they are very far along. There was a class of A1 that was finishing this Wednesday so I joined that one and will start A2 on Thursday. Wan Chen is in my class and Victoria has class at the same time so last night we all walked back together and went to the market on the way home to pick up food.
After the test we went out with one of teh teachers to walk around the town a little. sHe explained what things were and some good places to go. When we got back to the school we had about 2 hours before class so we went to a small cafe and got some breakfast things.
All in all, it´s been good here so far. I like my house mates and the school is ok. I like the school in Málaga better, but the teachers here are nice and I am still learning a lot. I have not done much today. I studied some, read a book and then walked to school (a 30 minute walk, which is good after the 2 minutes it took in Malaga because now I get more exercise). I have class soon so I will go.

Thanks for reading,
Jenn

Lo siento...

I'm sorry for the late post. I am not dead or part of a workman's camp or held hostage by the military. I am just tired and every time I have a little time to sit down and blog it seems too daunting a task.
Today we had a test, so I was studying all week because I was behind the other people here. They have been working on the book for a month and I have only been here a week and a little bit. But most of this book was just a good refresher for me, as I hope the next one will be. I passed the test and passed the A1 level, so barring any problems I should be in the A2 class in Sevilla. I hope maybe I can move through that and then spend my last month working in the B1 book. If I get that far I feel I will have a good basis and will feel comfortable speaking when I go to Mexico.
I have been speaking more and more Spanish, with the people from the school, in class and even in front of some locals. It is nice, but sometimes I still feel awkward. I'm hoping that will pass soon as it is in the moments when I feel least awkward and self-conscious of getting everything right that the Spanish comes out perfectly. (Ok maybe not perfect, but it at least sounds as if I know what I'm doing and not just stringing together random words I know.)
This week has been good. Monday I had school at 8:30. Then I had a nice day of sitting in the sun and studying. At night we watched some movies. Melanie rented Cold Mountain and we watched it together in the living room. They were going to rent another movie but something happened with the rental machine so I said we could rent oe from the internet. But it took too long to download so they ended up watching it the next day and watching Just Friends instead (Thank you Lauren!!!!).
I went to El Castillo and Almaza. They are both historic buildings in teh heart of town. Sanna and I left after class on Tuesday and went to the center by bus. We decided to go to the Castillo first. The Castillo, which means Castle, is at teh top of the hill and I believe that it served as a defense for the sea port, however this is all conjecture as there were no signs that explained exactly what they did there (or maybe I just didn't understand them correctly). The castle is at the top of a mountain overlooking all of Malaga and the sea port. We slowly walked up the steep incline. It was nice to have the excuse of stopping for the view every time the path zigged back in the other direction.
It was a good half hour walk maybe until we reached the top. It was worth it though. It was a spectacular view. I did not realize that Malaga was as big as it is. It spreads out in every direction. From the top you can see the ocean, the old Cathedral and the bull ring. We walked around the whole wall and then headed back down to the bottom to visit the Almaza.
The Almaza is a fort and a living quarters (again I think so) during the Muslim occupation. Many of the buildings features, such as the way the doors arch in threes, are telling of Muslim architecture. There were also some old pottery and things in some of the rooms to look at.
The highlight (other than the wonderful view) was the orange that I took from the patio of the Almaza. Now, there are oranges (or some orange citrus fruit) that grow outside the house I live in and I have eaten them. They are a bit sour, but definitely edible. However, this orange was not only sour but bitter as well. And I eat the rinds of limes and thought that this was probably the most awful thing I had tasted.
Last night I watched Walk the Line with Sanna (Thanks mom!!!!). She made popcorn for real, with oil and corn kernels in a pot. I've never actually made it that way, so it was cool to watch (although I'm pretty sure that I ate some with Lauren and that we have done it that way in girl scout it was still cool). Then we watched the movie.
This morning we had our test. As I said, I did well and will be moving on to Sevilla in the A2 level. I have sort of finished packing, but I still need to do more. I leave tomorrow at 10 or so. Tonight we have a fiesta at our house because Melanie, who has been here for 5 months, is leaving. I cooked macaroni and cheese because one of the girls here had never had it. I'm not sure how it came out so I will let you know the verdict after the night is over. It is my first venture into cooking for someone other than myself or my family so I hope I do not kill anyone. I made it the real way, but I don't even think they have kraft mac and cheese here. And they don't have cheddar cheese blocks, only slices, so it is not as good. But we'll see.

Hasta luego,
Jennifer

Estudiar (to study)

Song of the moment: Seek up- Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds: Live at Luther College (it's been playing non-stop for like an hour now)
I meant to write this for a couple hours now. It's like 11 here now and I just finished studying for the night. I have class tomorrow at 8:30 now so I should have kept a better eye on the time but hopefully I can complete a blog and get to bed at a decent time.
Sorry that my last post was a little scattered. I had a lot of thoughts and did not really know how to organize them. I hope to make this a little more understandable, especially since more has happened in the weekend than during the week.
I went to see the movie on Thursday night. It was a British movie in V.O.S.E., meaning version original subtitlos espanoles. Therefore, it was in English which was nice because the dubbing can get pretty annoying. The movie was good. It was about a man with Tourette's Syndrome with OCD. It was called Filthy Dirty Love. I enjoyed it and it was nice to meet the girls in Sanna's house.
Friday I had class again. After class I came home and finally got to skype Mom. Then I took a nap because we didn't have culture class and I knew I would be up late. I studied a little and at 9 met Sanna at the bus station because we planned to go to the movie that night at the University as well. We went into the center and walked to the University (which is up a huge hill). We got a coffee along the way. There was a talk going on before the movie, so we sat outside and talked until people started to come out. The movie Friday night was about depression and was called Wilber Wants to Kill Himself. I thought it was a good movie. It was a little bit of a comedy, but dealt with the subject pretty well.
After the movie Sanna and I went back toward the center and looked around because Carnaval was in full swing. We caught the end of a drag queen show and saw some other street performers and many people in costumes. We bought some popcorn and made our way back to the bus station.
When I got home around 1 o'clock, Ana and her sister, Simona, asked if I wanted to go out with them. I decided that when in Spain do as the Spanish do and start going out at 2 (insane, I know, but I'm only here once). So we got ready and left for the bus at around 2. We took the bus to the center and went to a bar because the club wasn't open yet. We hung out in the bar and met some "bombestos," firefighters. They were nice and we talked with them awhile. One of them spoke Spanish I understood pretty well, so I was able to have a conversation. Someone said he was from Morocco, so it might be why he didn't speak as fast and pronunciated better than many of the natives do. Then we moved onto the club.
The club was interesting. It was a cool building, it looked more like a bar than a club with nice tile floors and tiled walls and an old wooden bar. It was nice. However, they only played techno music. Now, I will dance to just a drum beat, but listening to techno music for more than 10 minutes makes me feel dumb, as it takes no talent to produce. But I had fun with Ana and Simona and we ended up being chatted up by these older guys who bought us some drinks. I have to say it was an interesting experience. First off, the drinks in Spain are way too sweet. Everything has to be cut with some kind of syrup (they cut their beer with fanta...I have still to try this). Second, I don't know what men that age were doing in a techno club...one can only guess. They were nice enough and, as I kept my distance, they kept theirs. However, as it is a different culture it feels different than at home, where I know how the boys were raised. I don't know how to explain it, they were not mean or aggressive, just different.
Anyway, we left the club and took a taxi home. We got in around 6 and I took a shower because smoking is not ban in clubs here and I smelled like an old man's ash tray. Gross.
Saturday I didn't do very much. I got up around 10 and then did some studying. I hung around and eventually decided I should probably go out and do something in town. I didn't feel like riding into the center on the bus so I went down to the ocean and looked at it up close for the first time since I got here. I walked along for a while. It is very beautiful, but I think every family in the town was there. It was nice to see some of the locals. I saw lots of children, which I haven't really seen around. I sat for a while and watched the people around me. One little girl sat and fed the pidgeons right in front of me. I am not particularly fond of birds flying over my head, but I decided to stay. A little boy came over and was very excited by the bread and the birds. It was cool cause I could learn form the family talking to the little boy.
Saturday was the first day I really felt a little lonely. I just didn't want to go around by myself and wanted to have someone to talk to as I saw everything. But it passed. I came home and watched some tv in Spanish and went to bed early.
I woke early this morning because we had to get the 9:30 train to Fuengirola (pronounced Fwen here ola). Magdalena (a girl in my house) came to wake me up just as my alarm went off because we had not talked the day before about when we were leaving and she wanted to make sure that I got up. We met Sanna at the bus station and Julie and Eileen were on the bus when we got on. We exited at the center and walked to the train station. After buying tickets for the train (which is always weird cause they won't take my visa without a pin..I have to figure out if I have one) we boarded and took the 45 minute ride out to Fuengirola.
The town was very pretty, but very touristic. There are a lot of hotels and more expensive restaurants and people walking around with suitcases. We had a little trouble getting our bearing but we found a map in a Papeleria. We wanted to find the market and we asked a few people for direction. We got there pretty quickly. Sanna and I walked the market together and then went and looked at the ocean. We met the other back at the market entrance at 12.
It could have been a streetmarket at home (except for there were no greasy food carts). The people were selling things that weren't particularly marked from anywhere, although there were a few special things. It was a nice place because things were so much cheaper. Things are so expensive here.
After the market we decided to go find something to eat. We decided on seafood because it is at the ocean. So we looked at a few menus, decided on one restaurant, but their kitchen did not open until 1 or 1:30. What you must understand is the Spanish find eating lunch before 2 a ridiculous idea. So we settled on a cafeteria with much less variety. The meal was good, not the best. But I am in love with spanish tortilla (eggs and potatos) so it was worth it.
After lunch we headed to the castilla, the only thing to really see in the town. We walked up towards it and for a while wandered around trying to figure out where the gate was. We found the entrance and walked up a hill. As we entered I saw a bird on the lawn. It looked dead so I said something to Julie. She said it was just hiding and I said I didn't think it would hide like that. So, Julie decided to test it by throwing a rock gently in front of the bird. It didn't move so she threw one a little closer. We were pretty convinced it was dead (or it was a very talented bird) but Magdalena decided to try throwing a rock one more time. As she threw the rock (which did not hit the bird), a few girls came down the hill. They said something in another language, but Julie, who speaks 3 languages besides Spanish, understood them. She said that they said, in Norwegian, "Look at those girls throwing rocks at a turtle." We laughed about that for a while. We could not understand how the bird could look like a turtle, because it definitely looked like a dead bird. Julie explained that in Sweden (where she is from, sort of) they think the Norwegians are stupid, which just made the whole thing funnier. I thought it was interesting to learn that the Swedes had one people that they thought were stupid, as we have similar prejudices in US against others. It's cool to get to hang out with so many people from different places I know nothing about it.
Back to the story....we laughed about the turtle thing for a while as we walked up to the castle. We decided not to spend the three euro to go in, as it looked like there was nothing inside, and just walked around and enjoyed the view. It was quite beautiful. We made our way back down toward the gate. All of us wanted to stop and get a picture of the dead bird. As we were coming up on it Julie wondered if maybe the bird looked like a turtle from their angle. We stood where they were when they exclaimed, "poor turtle!" and had to admit it sort of looked like a turtle, or a mushroom, maybe, so it was the shrooturbird. It was silly, but it was nice to laugh with someone, especially the people in my class.
After the castle we were done with the town and headed back to Malaga. Julie, Eileen and Magdalena were tired and took the bus from the train station back to the house, but Sanna and I wanted to go see whether there was anything going on for Carnaval. The main street was very crowded and full of people in costumes, more children because it was day time, but it looked like maybe we just missed the festivities because everything was being cleaned up. Since there was nothing to see, we took a walk down toward the harbor because I wanted to see the large, old ship I had seen from the taxi I took to the house from the bus station the first day (the only thing I had noted of any beauty). We saw it, dry docked on some sand a the side of the harbor full of big cruise ships, and then took a bus home.
Since I got home I have eaten and studied and chatted with Melanie. I know that this week I have a test on Thursday, so I would like to do well. This week it looks like I will go to the castle here with Sanna, because it is apparently worth a look around and I can't leave Malaga without seeing anything. I may also go to the cathedral with Melanie. She says there is a day that it is free and that she would like to see if before she leaves on Saturday. Because she has been here for six months there will be a farewell party for her at the house. It will be a potluck type thing. I told Magdalena I would make her macaroni and cheese before I left because she has never had it in her life, so maybe I will make it that day.

PICTURES:
Malaga
Fuengirola

Happy Superbowl everybody! (I will not side because I do not want to upset my readers, I hope the commercials are good. I'm glad they will probably be on YouTube tomorrow. Let me know of any good ones.)
Jenn

PS I would just like to share that there is a cat making the most awful screaming noise I've heard right outside my window.