God Bless!

So, the last assignment, Mari-jane and I were driving the Braydon's express... there being too much rain we switched from the train to the bus. 

Our last family that we picked up thanked us and said, "God Bless you two :-)"

I am heading home tomorrow after Animal Kingdom! 

Love, love, love,

AMM

Braydon's Express & Other Nonsense ;)

The other day I was trained in using the wheelchair lift for the train that drives through the Villas to pick up children and their families to take them where they would like to go! Mari-jane and I will be doing that again tonight :-)

Today was rough. Well, this morning was rough... so I still have tonight. Working in the Gingerbread house is not much fun when the people do not appreciate what you are doing and order you around. Not the families, the work staff. Today was just horrible because the first greeting I got was this lady making a confused gaping face at me as if I were doing that to her... Very frustrating. She was not nice, I doubt Mary Poppins would like her ;)

Other than that this week has been very nice. Very rewarding to work with these children. The other night (Wednesday night) I worked with Sam, the make a wish child. He was not all that nice... he called my brother a nerd and a loser, and I was called a stupid idiot... and after I told him that I did not use those words he seemed to shape up :) I asked him if he saw Mary Poppins and he said yes, and I said she was awesome. He did not agree... and then Mari-jane asked, "then who is?" 

...he pointed at me :-)

As Brandon Spencer put it, I just beat out Mary Poppins! 

That was a good high. I will have to take a lesson from Mary and put my best foot forward :)

God is good. I am looking for Him here, I see Him in the children and the appreciative families. This is a good thing Give Kids the World has going on. 

On a side note, I will never ride the Tower of Terror again! MJ, Hayley, and I went to Hollywood Studios yesterday on our day off, and I was terrified... but it was all in good fun :)

Well loves, 

I am afraid this is all for now. I am coming home tomorrow--flight leaves at 7:40 pm.

Miss you all! Save me some sunshine!

-AMM-

day two @ Give Kids the World!

As I write, I am very tired... so forgive me if I write poorly :-)

Today we left at 7:15 am and got to the Gingerbread House at 8 am for business! There were 27 volunteers today, so things ran smoothly. I did a lot of prayer for patience because I was told many times through out our three hour shift of how to do things that I am quick and speedy to do with out being told. I especially needed patience with James, but after I told him what school I go to (MSU) he made a gross noise in the back of his throat and did not talk to me the rest of the time! Yes, I needed patience :)

Other than that it was nice, I enjoyed helping the children with carrying their food. Highlight of that shift was seeing the family of Matthew, Allison, Jennifer, and Aaron! They are so darling!

Our shift with the cafeteria (Gingerbread House) we stayed for another shift because we would not be coming back that evening because Give Kids the World cancelled the night activities due to the hurricane... the weather is hardly different from any other rain. Just a constant drizzle and everyone is freaking out over nothing! It is very silly...

Nonetheless, I worked with MJ in Amberville, which is a game place with ping pong, pool, and an awesome train track! We did not have many visitors, again, due to the rain.

Afterwards we joined Hayley in the Castle (the boys Brandon and Brandon were at the concession stands in the theatre). The last hour of working in the Castle our favorite family came to visit again! Matthew, Aaron, Allison, Jennifer, and their older sister, Mandy, who was too cool for last night's "kids night out."

...

Yesterday night, Mari-Jane and I being over 18 worked with the kids one on one for an event called, Kids Night Out. It was a lot of fun. We started off playing with Tinker Toys. A group of kids built such a large tower that almost toppled all over me! 

After razing the tower we went to the ICP (Ice Cream Place) for pizza and cake. Being that the put in the pizza just as we got there... we started off with dessert!  Yay!

Then we headed off to the Theatre and watched our friends pie others in Double Dare. 

A lot of laughter, my partner Matthew enjoyed it very much, but I was very sad that he was not picked to go on stage at all, especially being that he is the child that is here from Make a Wish. 

We ended the night with some Peanut Butter Jelly Time, YMCA, Cha-Cha Slide, and the Goodbye song from Bear in the Big Blue House! :-)

A very delightful night for all; I even got Matt to dance! 

SUCESS!

That is the news for now loves,

-AMM-

Today I worked with Mary Poppins!

Today was very exciting at Give Kids the World because I followed a photographer around and played the scribe. It was a fun and rewarding task in that I had to keep track of the photo numbers to get the pics to the children later on, and so that involved asking the parents their room number too! when there were a lot of people, as you can imagine dear readers, that was busy fun! Seeing the children with Mary Poppins, Goofy, and Pluto was great joy! They all were so excited. And so was I! I love Mary Poppins! 

She taught me a few of her phrases which I plan to use, so watch out! ;)

I work again later tonight! 

I will report again soon! 

I miss you all!

Love,

AMM

New Chapter

I will be heading to Florida for a mission with Give Kids the World in Kissimmee. Mari-Jane Trombly, Brandon Spencer, Hayley Pendergrass, my brother Brandon and myself will be working with ill children, seeing that they have the best day that they possibly can! 

I will see about writing all of you dear readers while I am there. See what God can teach all of us. 

If you would like to be a part of this...

Pray! We would very much love your support and prayer.

Thanks!

Blessings,

AMM

Dear Readers,

My travels in Spain are temporarily over. I do look forward to returning. I think of Valencia as a second home, a second home that could be a home if my friends and family lived there too. The experience I gained from being abroad will last me a life time, and I strongly encourage all to study abroad. Even if only a month! The world has so much to offer.

God taught me many things in my day to day living in Spain. I very much enjoyed each lesson. I cannot explain all that I learned abroad because that is like explaining why a tree is a tree or why the sun is the sun or how you are you and I am me. One truly has to walk in the the shoes of the path taken, to truly understand what it is that I experienced. Yes, I thought I was going to come back deaf--at one point in time--yes, I thought I was going to be hit by a firework--yes, I thought I might get lost--yes, I missed you all dearly... So many things, and in due time you'll see the new colors that Spain has painted on my heart. I do hope you notice, and I do hope you like them :)

Peace, Blessings, and Love

-AMM-

May: making the best of each day

Dear readers,

I do not know if you realized, but I had the most posts for April! I am super proud for beating the amount that I wrote in February, I was not sure that I would be able to do it, but I did!

Woo-hoo!

Well folks, time has been slipping by, faster and faster. I still have a post it note on my dasboard (on computer, it is a mac term)  that says, Niebla paper, Niebla translation, and Study... well, I am done with the paper and done with the translation! Amen!

I am now just one 4-page paper, and two finals away from being home. I have already started packing and organizing myself to be home. I do not think I'll be buying any more bonobus passes, I have 3 rides left, that should be enough.

I need to go buy three more smoothies though, if I want to get the 8th one free! I think, perhaps, I should get that free smoothie before I leave. :-)

Today I wrote out 16 postcards... and I am trying my best to get them to you folks... I am hoping to buy a few more, by golly gee wiz... I apologize in advance if you, dear reader, do not get one. The truth is, they are not the easiest task to complete!

I love you all regardless! 

Truly!

I guess it should be: I hope you all love me regardless... ;) 

So... here I am... on my bed... listening to Katie Herzig... while procrastinating the start of my paper that is due Monday, and waiting until after lunch to shower.  I went out last night, and one thing I am looking forward to in the States is that when going out at night, there is no smoking inside for the most part. I have become used to it more or less while I am out, but as soon as I get back home, I reek of smoke. yuck!

I am looking forward to so many things with my return, family: Mom, Greg, Brandon, Wrox, Matt, Grams, Dad, Tío Joe, G'ma & G'pa Work, G'ma Lorraine... the whole lot! friends, my goodness all of you! my love, Scott... 

I also look forward to coffee to go, bubble island, CHURCH!!! My goodness do I miss my family at FPCY and EPC. What a family. I love you all.

I have so many stories to share, I am sure, but where will I start? what will you say? 

I suppose in due time, I'll be home, and we will find out :-)

I will see about posting again loves, but I have no promises, these next few days are already disappearing! 

So God Bless! and Thanks for reading my blog!!! 

Love & Blessings,

-AMM-

Meg the Ripper

So for a big 40 page memoir Meg... decided to tear her BOOK COVERS off of her books! Her precious books! 

Las Meninas, Crónica de una muerte anunciada, La casa de Bernarda Alba!!!

Yes dear readers, I am still in shock. 

My books are still in one piece, I am guarding them day and night to bring them home safely :) 

-AMM-

Good example of Hiperbole... (hyperbole)

Studying for Zugsay is going to kill me :-)

Esta semana con Zugsay voy a morrir...

en las palabras de mi buen amiga Alicia, "gracias Mateo" ;-)

-AMM-

¡GOL, GOL, GOL!

Valencia won, we won, we beat Osasuna!!!

and I was there :-) One of the last games in the Mestalla stadium in Valencia.

Vale, no more procrastination on my part, I am working on my paper now!

-AMM-

A day of play in Peñiscola

Él que sueña (the poem that got 3rd place)

Que yo regresaré pronto
En el futuro cercano.
Te daré besos por aire,
Pero sólo por ahora.
Me gustaría despertarme
y regresarme a los ritmos;
Mas en este sueño vivimos.

Un sueño que nos aleja,
Y tal vez que nos acerca.
Por el agua que está
entre nosotros, se va
si nos despertamos de este
sueño de lo que estamos.

¡Vamos! Por Dios ha dormido
bastante ya y podrá despertarse
porque es en aquello sueño que
Él sueña que estamos soñando.

Por lo menos hemos aprendido mucho,
En nuestros mundos sin uno al otro.
He aprendido no siempre pensar en despertar
Sino que como vivir mientras soñar.
…Y he visto los colores más vibrantes,
He tocado lo mejor del arte,
He olido el olor de las naranjas que hay en cada sitio,
He oído lo peor del peor por el Chikilicuatre,
Y he probado todo que hay para probar en este sueño.
¡Lo he probado! ¡y lo he disfrutado ché!

¡Y agora amor, te has despertado!
-Él que sueña,
Dios


(To know what this is about be sure to read the blog below... :-D)
-AMM-

¡El cabaré!

Yesterday was by far one of the best days ever, the Cabaret could not have been better!
First... we had Brittany play the violin, very beautiful.
Then... some poetry reading I believe...
and the announcements of winners for the poetry and short story contest "miguelet de oro," and the poem I submitted one third place! :-D
Upon winning 3rd place, I had to read my poem... I did not know I would have to read my poem! I had never read it in voz alta before, so... that was fun. But I assure you dear readers, it went well :-)!
After the winners were all announced the show continued with a funny skit with my friend Alicia, Kevin, and Danny.
Started off saying that if a couple has not had a baby by the age of 30 or so... that the government would not allow it, and so it goes on, and a photographer, Danny, is trying to make money and knocks on the door in which Alicia thinks Danny is going to make her pregnant... and so he goes into describing his work... and as you can imagine... it was very comical.
Then was Kirsten & my skit, I imitated a professor, and her another. We reacted a scene of Agustín talking about how Madrid lost, and it was rather funny. The audience reacted well :-D
After this scene, her and I cited quotes of two professors. Her prof. Jeannie LaPlatney, and I... prof. Mateo Zugsay

(Rewind for a moment) I had been spying for Zugsay before the show started to see where he'd be sitting, and upon him coming in, I realized that the show could not work like that... he was just too far away.
So, I asked another prof. Jorge, "do you know Zugsay?" (conoces Zugsay, porque todo fue en español, obviamente)
"No"
"Matt?"
"Oh, sí!"
"Vale, well he is sitting really far away, and he cannot be sitting far away"
"Vale"
and off he went, telling Zugsay something... and he got up and moved to the front! yes! mission accomplished, the show can take place.

(Fast-forward back) With the last quote, Zugsay clearly knowing that I was making fun of him, I said, "me llamo Matthew, o como los españoles dicen Mateo, o mejor..." I turned my head and, "Sr. Sexi" gave him a wink!

By far the highest moment of the night. He truly did say that on the first day of introduction as a joke, and after it all, winking at him, everyone just lost it, and in the recording I can see Jorge cracking up with the realization of why he had "Matt" move to the front for me :-D
The night went on... with one more skit, a funny one, but I did not get to follow it as well because I was preparing for the last number, danzas del mundo!
We danced, the audience thought we were going to be boring and super serious the whole time...
NOPE! It was hilarious! and I think it is safe to say that everyone enjoyed it, we were super silly, had wigs, sunglasses, silly faces, silly songs, dances, it was fast changes from silly to proper dancing, and... wow. It was crazy! The crowd enjoyed the chiki chiki I'm sure :-)
With the last dance everybody got up to dance with us.
...not that they had much of a choice... because we yanked them up!
Over all, wow, the night went well!
A night of surprises and full of laughter.

I am still bummed that Agustín was not able to see me imitate him... but I have it recorded to share with him.

Vale folks, that is all for now :-)
Time to write a paper, hopefully write it all before the soccer game tomorrow... and start on the other one before Sunday ends. So close... oh mosques.

Love,
AMM

Los pasos

Brittany and Ryan: uno, el breikindance


Alicia and Heather: dos, el crusaíto


Elisa (sp? sorry love) and Amanda Prince: tres, el Maiqelyason


Yo y mi professor de baile Nacho: cuatro: el robocop!

Those are the pasos en el chiki chiki folks, as shown by el taller de 'danzas del mundo.'
Somos guay!

-AMM-

Finally: I gave over the peanut butter

Vale, yo tuve que esperar....
haha, jk.
So... I had to wait until I got my grade back from Professor Augustin Reyes-Torres (for personal reasons) to give him the peanut butter that I have had for the past 3 months here in my room... just waiting to be given to him, and all the while I wanted to eat it because Margaret and I have already eaten a whole jar ourselves. So the temptation was hard... but we made it through ;)
Yes, today...
FINALLY, I gave the "crema de cacahuate"to Augustin. He was very happy, upon receiving it he joked that I'd get an A... ja... ja... but moreover he gave me a hug and said, "muchas gracias... Amanda... se dice en inglés, 'you made my day.'"
I have never been given four words in a row from him in English, he only ever says a word in English... every once in a great while. Well, at any rate, I was surprised.
I do not know if you readers know, but there is not this expression in Spanish, so it is hard to express in Spanish ;)

Well, later on after knowing the fact that he would not be going to the Cabaré, in which I'll be imitating him, I found out that his mom has not been doing to well, in health terms... not so sure, but all I know is that perhaps... that Crunchy JIF peanut butter was especially needed, and I am really happy that it got to him today.

Thanks mom for the peanut butter :-)

Love,
AMM

For those that may not know

Yes. I did get my eyebrow pierced. March 30th.
It can be known now because my mom has found out...
Sorry Haley that I did not tell you
and I will not be doing anything else while I am here in Spain, so no more surprises :-)

Love,
AMM

JOB SEARCH

This summer... I am afraid is going to be one of the hardest to get a job because no one wants to hire a seasonal employee. Dear blog-readers, if you happen to know of anyone that would offer just a summer job, please let me know! :-)
Thank-you!

Blessings.

Where I am

...besides being in Spain ;)
Well folks, time is winding down and I only have 17 more days here in Spain.
This is good and bad for all the likely reasons.
What I am looking forward to THIS week is the Cabaret! (Cabaré). I will be in two of the shows.
One of which I will be acting, or moreover imitating a few teachers, which shall be fun, because after having imitating them I'll still have to go to a few more classes with them... haha. And the other act will be dancing! Some crazy things, but all in good fun with the sole objective of making the audience laugh. But acts... so I guess I have become somewhat of a comedian here in Spain ;).
That being said, this week is a rather full week, with extra Zugsay classes... and rehearsals... and stress about little things... and paper due wednesday on a silly entremés by Cervantes... Not to mention vocab quiz... final projects and final papers!
So, I will not be updating until it is all said done and over, in which case I'll be beginning to study for finals!


I love you all, miss you all, and hope all is well at home!
hasta
-AMM-

Ferrer vs. Almagro

Today, Andrea, Kirsten, and I were up bright and early for a tennis match, that was at 11 am, but got put back to 3:30 pm...
HERE IN VALENCIA! :-D
It was an Amazing match between Ferrer and Almagro, where at times I was really worried Ferrer was not going to win.
"Vale David!" the audience would shout.
Being at a professional tennis match was intense, never have I been more intimidated by an athlete, they own the stadium. They OWN it


(The winning serve)

Ferrer won in a tiebreak set with a winning score of 6-2; and over all score: 4-6, 6-2, 7-6!
Quite intense.
I also watched a tennis match of two men in wheel-chairs, it was intense but not as well publicly loved I'm afraid... but I enjoyed it, and the one I rooted for won :)

La Copa del Rey

Hey, quick culture bite-



Last Wednesday was the final game for the Copa del Rey tournament and it all boiled down to Valencia and Getafe CF. We won! Valencia won! I was very excited. I unfortunately did not get to watch it due to a translation project I had due the next day (a consumer's text), but I knew when we scored because there were fireworks, oh Valencia.. how I love you! :-D
Also, once we won the honking of horns did not stop until dawn. Seriously.

We won 3-1 for those who want to know.
TAKE THAT MADRID! :P

ps, 19 more days, today the 19th of April :)

La familia

Hoy, la familia getting ready to go to a first communion and a baptism :-)



All ready to go out.

AMM: Antología

Hey y'all,
hope the weekend is going well, it is thus far for me... I just have a lot of homework and such.
2 papers; one of which I have to read a piece of Cervantes play, El retablo de las maravillas.
1 final translation
3 or 5 more articles to write for the Revista...
I need to practice my skit for the cabaret and the dance...

Well, at any rate I am full. Full of work, life, high-spirits and love. So I am still a truckin'.
I just want to let those who are interested that I now have another blog that has my translations on it, I am still putting them up... but if you are interested in them the site is: http://ammanthology.blogspot.com/

Alrighty, that's that for now!
Love,
-AMM-

Today: I went to the Zoo

Well, moreover Bioparc.
A theme park/ animal safari. It was pretty neat, and I really enjoyed it!
Went with my friend Chad. We had a good time, ate Burger King before going in (they did not permit us to go in and leave to eat lunch, so we ate an early lunch at noon). As he put it we were in a parallel world, that of Lion King. We even saw Simba and Nala ;)


Vale, I'll leave you all with some pics (haz click on the pic :-))

Love & Blessings to all,
-AMM-

Mallorca, and the sun...

(click the pic to see the album!)
This past weekend in Mallorca had its points of beauty and its points of fear.
The first day, my friends and I decided to lounge at the pool for about four to five hours to work on a tan... We are on an island, is that now what one is suppose to do?
(No, it is not...)
Well, at any rate, that is what we did. Afterwards we went into down, chaperoned by the receptionist Luis at the desk. He dropped us off in the city Palma and we had lunch and looked into stores, window shopped and what not (I bought a sweater because I had not brought anything to keep warm).
I complained about my legs a lot, and was constantly rubbing them (one) because they were really hot due to them being burned and (two) because we had been walking around a lot and I have already been having some serious leg issues that I need to talk to a doctor about and see about physical therapy (Sra. Ongaro says that I have been stretching a ligament and it is affecting a nerve that runs all the way up to my spinal cord... and I know she is right because I have had some stinging pain in my lower back). So... once we started to head back on the bus...
Things began to get f-u-z-z-y.
Then everything turned BLACK.
I lost my vision and I lost my hearing.
Next thing I knew there was a bag in front of me and I threw up into the bag and Meg was holding me up because I had passed out.
Then a bus stop came and we got off, and I regained sight as soon as Meg said that there was a step in front of me (to get off the bus). I had been trying to take a drink of water before I lost my sight, and so what was the scariest to me was that I could not figure out what happened to my water... and I found out later that I had tried to hand it off, but then I seemed like I wanted to drink it... and then it just
Dropped.
That is when Laura and Kirsten dropped there jaws and knew that this was not a joke. I am so grateful that Margaret was there to help me and hold me up during this time. God is good.

Pretty scary. and so... I will never try and tan again, it's stupid.

Other than that the weekend was Gorgeous. The island is full of so many wonders of God. Beautiful. Mountains, ocean, beaches, palms, blue skies (though we had some rain).

Another thing-- The receptionist took us four girls out to Soller and paid for a meal... and everything. At no cost... it was awkward... but later we found out that he liked Margaret and he has sent her an e-mail... it is an interesting story, but rather long dear blog readers so I will have to tell you some time when I am home, which will be soon now :-)
I have 22 more days here in Spain. And do not worry, I will enjoy each and every one to the fullest, but I too look forward to being HOME!

I love you all!
Blessings!

Abanicos

Today I got to paint!
Oh what a joy to paint! How long it has been...
I am very content that I went to the taller to paint fans :)
I would take a picture and show you all... but I am afraid you all have to wait and see it when I return ;P
That being said, I must get back to my homework.
I have a presentation this Thursday on 'la Malinche,' I'll let you dear readers know how that goes...

Love & Blessings,
AMM

My desktop background

I thought it might be nice if you all know what my background is on Bradley (my laptop)!
Because... I am rather fond of the photo :-) It is of some graffiti I came across in Paris... or more so art/ mural.

-AMM-

Mejorada del campo

Wow. As if seeing all the beautiful architecture in Spain wasn't enough, yesterday I went and saw a Cathedral that one man is constructing all by himself. Don Justo in Mejorada del campo, Madrid.
IMPRESSIVE.
To be constructing something so glorious, for the kingdom of God has left me in awe. He has been building from donations and recycled goods that people no longer need. Simply amazing. If you, dear blog reader, ever go to Madrid, you are not allowed to leave with out seeing this amazing work!



If you are interested, readers, here is a link to read more:
http://www.citynoise.org/article/732
(I do not know how to inbed links, so you may have to copy & paste! sorry!)

Well, with that said, as many of you know... or may not know(!) I went to Madrid this past weekend. And to my great happiness, I went all by myself! To a big city in which I was/ and am not familiar with at all. I got there about 11:30 am by bus because I did not want to skip any of my classes I had that Thursday, and then after which I had to catch a metro... it being about 12 am... in the morning... by myself. I was a little nervous, for I had never taken a metro by myself. So I asked around, and had lots of help. Nice people. God is good. and I am sooo happy that I know the language and it allowed me to ask for such help!

Okay, so poor Sra. Ongaro stayed up to 1 am waiting for me, I had gotten a little mixed up on the metro and took it the wrong direction. But-- I got there! late... and then we went to the restaurant next to the hotel, VIPS. I had a salad, and then we called it a night. Going to sleep at 2 am with a wake up call of 6 am.

Then I saw Sr. Hillegonds! I was not expecting it, but once he opened the door, there he was! Very cool. We talked about school and such... and then we all had breakfast together... and I accompanied them to the airport.
I asked him if he would have ever expected to see me in Spain, and he said, "from you, yes." (haha).

Good to see him, he is teaching in Saline I believe, and he has a third little one on the way!

After seeing them off, Eliana picked Sra. and I up and off we went to her piso (apartment) in which I met her husband Cesar and later their son José. Very nice family! I really loved them. and when they next visit the US they are coming over for a big meal because they gave me so much. I'll have to be an interpreter of course... because my family doesn't speak spanish :) but it will be a good time!

The weekend was all so lovely, minus my feet pain. I believe I will be needing some physical therapy this summer, I forget what it is called, but I am sure Sra. Ongaro can remind me ;).

Well folks, that is all I have for now, I apologize for leaving a lot out.
but the Cathedral was the most exciting! If you are ever in Madrid, go visit it!

Love you all,
-AMM-

Paris: City of Cigarettes and Rain (the long awaited blog)

The 25th of March at 3 pm, I started my journey to Paris. Met with my friend Kirsten at the usual meeting place at the Bancaja on the corner of San Vicente and Ramón Cajal. Then from there we walked to the Estación de Tren (Train Station) to meet with Laura and Jacqueline.
Hopped on the metro. and there it was, we were on our way to the airport.
We flew Ryanair. Flight at 6:15, and we all boarded late.
Of course. But we made it to Beauvais (I have no idea how to pronounce that) and made it in time to catch the shuttle bus to the city.
To Paris.
We were there. We saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up on the way! oh how exciting!
Then we got off the bus, figured out after lots of deliberation... where we were, and then started walking down rue pierre. It was about a 45 minute walk to the hotel, and it was 10:30ish pm.
We made it.
Then we paid for our rooms and got a night of sleep. Without dinner.
Good thing the Spanish lunch is big.

Day one in the city: We woke up early and made our way downstairs to breakfast. We were so excited that breakfast was included. I had coffee and toast w/ jam. I was expecting a lot more than that... like eggs and bacon, right? but... this is not what they eat in Europe for breakfast. The man spoke english. That was nice.
After breakfast we set off on our walk to the Louvre. Again, a 45 minute walk.
We got there, taking pictures along the way, and standed in line, and made our way in!
Wow, in line for the Louvre!
The Louvre! Never had I thought it possible.
But
there
I
was
in line.



It cost 9 euros. I used my debit. Made our way to the help desk and got a map. I got one in English and Spanish (of course).
The group split up, Laura and I, and Kirsten and Jacqueline. We had different paces, so this worked the best :)
I saw many beautiful works, my favorite and most exciting thing to see was the Greek god Aphrodite (of Melos).
Drop dead gorgeous!


Even if she was missing her arms ;)

I only got to spend three hours in the Louvre. Rather upsetting if you ask me, so perhaps I'll have to visit again... :(
Also, I do not know that there was Monet, I did not have too much luck finding him... but that is okay because I have seen a lot of his work in Chicago.

Seeing Mona Lisa, at long last, was rather disappointing.
Very.
I knew she was small, that was not surprising to me at all. What I did not enjoy was the fact that to see her, it was like fighting with the paparazzi. I got a picture of her. and that was that. turned around and left. I wish I could have appreciated her more. or even take a picture with her. I really wanted to walk across and see if what they say is true, that her eyes will follow you.
Oh well.

After the Louvre we walked to another museum, the Picasso Museum. In Paris, yes. He lived there for a good bit of his life, a surprise to me. I enjoyed the museum, I love his work. He truly experimented with everything. There were pictures of him with what looked to be a sparkler (from the 4th of July) and he had drawn pictures in the air with them. One to actually draw something that full and complete is awesome, and two to catch it on film for people to see, even more so.
We were tired.

Left the museum and had some lunch! Good food! We had bocadillos. It is difficult mind you dear reader, I do not speak french so I said, "parlay voo angle" a lot (that is the phonetics, I cannot spell in french)!

Lunch was good :)
Afterwhich, we went to a famous ice-cream shop! The best ice-cream I have ever had. AMAZING.



With that ice-cream we began our way to Notre Dame!!! Stood in a line. . . For about 45 minutes.
In the rain. But we got in, paid and got a student discount! and then got to see the amazing view of 400 steps up in Paris!
Beautiful, truly breath-taking sight. I got my picture with a gargoyle :), I believe his name is Victor ;).
Not really sure though.



All of those stairs were quite the work out. We were beat. Kirsten had a hard time cominng down them because she was afraid of falling, and for good reason eh. The stairs were very steep, narrow, and winding. Just a pick spiral staircase straight up to the bells. We did climb a different set of stairs to see a bell. That was nice.
On the way down some nice english folk assured Kirsten that they were not in a hurry, they were really nice. And I like English accents.



That was all day one. After climbing the stairs of Notre Dame we then went inside in which we let our legs rest. Mine were shaking, uncontrollably. So the rest was good. Especially since it was an hour until we would get back to the hotel (by foot). We stopped for food on the way home. That was good :)

Day two: Let's see...
Day two was not as tiring as day one. We began our day, early again, walking to museo Rodin. Cost 4 euros. Not bad. I loved this museum! I got to see the famous 'thinker,' but sadly I did not get to see him too close.
There was a brief moment when I could have but then they closed it off again due to construction... who has construction around the one statue I wanted to see the most in Paris, eh?
That's okay though. I got to see many wonderful works of art.
One I was excited about was 'the three virtues' which I remember reading a tid bit on Humanities with Ms. Adams, I think in the play Oedipus? I am probably mistaken though.
At any rate I was excited to see something I learned about. I saw a lot of art I learned about in Humanities with the wonderful Mr. McCreedy. I wish he was there with me in the museums to be a guide. That would have been awesome, I am sure he would have loved the art.
I did get to see a painting by Monet! Finally! in Paris! in the Museum Rodin, but the painting was rather worn to me. It is old, no doubt. I was more fascinated with one of Van Gogh because I tend to paint like him and I can relate to his brush strokes. I have a picture of it and when I get home I want to try and create something with the same conventions that he used in the painting.

After that museum we walked to the Eiffel Tower, and got some fun pictures in front of it. I jumped over and over and over, trying to have Kirsten catch a picture of me clicking my heels in air. It was difficult.


Very.

After seeing it from a distance our group of four split off again, good thing, emotions were high...



Kirsten and I walked under the Eiffel Tower and then were on our way to take a boat ride (Laura and Jacqueline did not want to join us, it cost 8 euros). It was a nice relaxing ride to Avenue des Champs Élysées. Famous road of shops.
I was bad and bought three shirts. Yep.



Confession out. They were not over 15 euro though, they were all below, and two were 7 euro. So it was not that awful, right?
Plus, I did not really pack a lot of close to live for four months here in Spain, I have felt very... boring wearing the same thing week after week. And now I can spice it up a little, with three shirts ;). Actually, one I'll wear for my presentation next week. So that was a good buy.

At the end of the street we walked to see Arc de Triump. Very cool. We snapped some pictures and that was that!
We then began our walk home. Stopping at a bakery on the way home to buy something for dinner.

I stayed up late that night because I got rather involved in my book Niebla. Very good. I like that Unamuno! I stayed up to midnight. To wake up the next morning at 6:30 am... :)

Day three:
The last day. We got up earlier than usual so we could see a few things before check out time at 11 am.
This day we went to see The Sacre le Cure, a rather old church, a famous plaza (place du Tertre) in which artist set up art and barter, and Moulin Rouge!



Time well used. We made it back.
Checked out.
Went to a Locutorio for our friend Laura because she had to register for classes at 11:30 am here, because in DC they registered at 7am. All went well, I checked my emails. and relaxed.
Then... we had five hours until we needed to catch the shuttle bus back to the airport...
five
hours.

That was the hardest time to spend, we had done so much sight seeing, we had seen just about everything... and we were tired. I had my rolly luggage and all the other girls had back packs.
So I was not as able as them to go in and out of places.
With it being cold Jacqueline (Jewish) wanted to go and see churches... to... you know...
warm up.
Ha... and so I felt really ridiculous with my luggage. I did not roll it around when I went in. and I am sure God has forgiven me ;)

There was some time that we spent in a café. I asked, "eel a teel day twalet" (phonetics) and was told no. . . and then later on to my surprise, once the mans friends left the shop he came up to me and spoke at me in French, and I interpreted it responding, "oui!"
And so I followed him down the stairs and into the basement to a bathroom!!! That little bit of French got me a free bathroom, I was so excited!



Then afterwards we spent about an hour trying to find a bathroom for Laura, because she did not want to use the bathroom there for some reason. With the language barrier and what not... I felt bad. But she really could have waited for the man to reappear before we left and asked if she could too use the twalet.

We were homeless on the streets as Kirsten put it, in Paris. For five hours. A good portion of it we spent on a bench with our umbrellas up because, of course, it had began to rain.
We revisited Avenue des Champs Élysées, in which I said I was not going into any stores because of my bag. The girls looked, but did not buy anything... So I am not really sure why Laura wanted to go, but that is okay because on the way back I had a crêpe with nutella, and it was delicious!

That was my adventure in Paris.
We walked to the bus stop, took about 45 minutes, in the pouring rain, my pants wet up past my ankles, and... got on the shuttle, took the plane, and hopped on the metro back to my home here in Valencia.

Where they speak a language I know and understand! YAY!

Hope you all enjoyed the write... ;)
Love & Blessings,
-AMM-

ps, I will see about uploading pictures... I'll keep you all updated!

The 25th

Today is the day I leave for Paris.
Do I have my homework done? No.
I will be reading Niebla in Paris.
I have my French phrase book, so hopefully I'll get around ;) enough. I'll be able to ask how much things cost and what not. Por lo menos.
Too bad they don't speak Spanish. I'm thinking about learning Esperanto, the international language... except I do not believe that many people talk it. So there goes the point of having a universal language...
Any how, Once I get back from Paris, Margaret and I are going about an hour away to Villajoyosa to visit a friend for the weekend. We booked our bus... but I have no idea where we get on the bus... We'll figure it out. (With research and prayers).
God is good.
And I look forward to see what He has in store for me in Paris. I just hope that I can get on the shuttle bus... the company was rather late in sending me my ticket... I got it this morning. So hopefully all works out.
I know it will, because God is good all the time.
I am working on those postcards... bought some stamps today. I still have about 50 more to send out... and 9 will be going out today. :-)

I love you all,
Blessings.

-AMM-

Copy and Paste

here's the link folks

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562579192RNKDND?vhost=good-times&start=0

Finally, all the photos for you dear blog readers to see! :-D
I sure hope you enjoy. and once again-- Happy Easter!


Blessings,
AMM

piercing

So... I may come home one piercing less.
I lost the earring in my cartilage and... so I hope it will not seal up. It is actually a rather funny story...

Crystal, asked if I had lost a little hoop earring, and of course I responded, "no."
I had no recognition of the tiny hoop. it looked like it belonged to a little girl. and so when Margaret got back, we I asked her if she had lost an earring and she said no...
So... the day goes on... I come back from eating dinner out, the first time out in Spain--ridiculously expensive--and that is when I realize that I am missing an earring... a small hoop from my right ear.
I then informed Crystal that it was my earring and that I hadn't recognized it before (because I never take it out) and then she said she threw it out and so she starts looking through the garbage! oh boy... I felt rather bad.
If I am lucky, and my hole does not seal up before Monday, I'll buy an earring to replace that little hoop!

-AMM-

Happy Easter :-)

Alrighty, so this picture is with the Virgen (Virgin) in my favorite plaza here in Valencia :) (Plaza de la Virgen)

Easter is tomorrow, pretty cool. I'll probably have another solitary day. I am working on getting some homework done... I am leaving for Paris the 25th (Tuesday) and so I have pulled out my phrasebook to hopefully be able to get by with out knowing the language :). Next time (if there is a next time) I go to Paris, I will be able to speak french :)! Guarantee.

A lot going on... so once I get back on the 28th, I may be leaving the 30th to visit Tania in Villajoyosa, about an hour away from here... and then the next weekend I and my roommate are going to Madrid!!! Where I will get to see Sr. Hillegonds and Sra. Ongaro!!! Superguay! :-)
and then... the weekend after I am going to Mallorca. Just to relax on the beach. I do not plan on doing too much :).
Once this week is over... I only have four more weeks of school. this is crunch time... I am in theatre... so I'll be performing... yikes! and... I also work on the Revista (a magazine) for the semester. Hopefully all goes well.
I am a bit stressed. but what's new?

I love you all, and I would like to wish you all a Happy Easter :)

-AMM-

The war is over...

So today, being outside and walking my last stretch home was rather calming. I did not see many people on the street, no loud music, and I did not have any petardos thrown at me :)
Fallas
the good--
the beautiful artwork at just about every street intersection
knowing someone to get us into a "casal" and have free drinks all night long.
the churros stands everywhere
the amazing castillos (fireworks)
wonderful pictures (that I still have yet to upload)
the bad--
shin splints
fireworks being thrown into the crowds
staying out til 4am for 5 days

Overall, it was Amazing, and I would perhaps come back again to see and re-live fallas once more. But I really hate petardos, so we'll see...

Borrachos

Right now, I am sitting in the only place in the apartment that allows me to get on a wireless network.
Any guesses?
.
.
.
The Balcony! So... I am on the balcony to write this blog. and there is a guy in the building across from me recording people outside. I just hope he does not try zooming in on me... I highly doubt it. It is now... 3 pm,and it as if the mascleta has not finished. Infact I woke up to the mascleta.

I would like to share that last night... I almost got hit twice with a petardo, not just any petardo--a borracho, which is one that chases... I said, "If I get hit by a petardo, I am going to hate Spain," and as soon as I said this a petardo went off and came shooting towards my friends and I. I ran and as we became separated running through and with the crowd, the borracho was still chasing me. Then soon after another came running towards us all again.

Folks, it did not hit me, and it did not go kaboom. So do, and some don't. So I am very lucky. I still have all four limbs and no burns!

God is good!

Tid bits

Last night was an adventure.
On the way to meet Paula (intercambio) Margaret and I were walking in what seemed to be a parade... or rather a procession. They all had flowers and we realized we better not continue walking with them, but when there are so many people it is hard not to do so! They were all bringing the flowers to the plaza de la Virgen for the ofrenda. Which will be amazing no doubt, I am very excited to see it, and so I better go today! I'll take pictures so all of you dear AMM News blog readers can have an idea of what a big deal this offering is here!

Today after a quick siesta (I hope) Margaret and I will be meeting with some other friends to walk(?) to the beach and see the falla that is set up there, I am very excited. And today we have 70 degree weather, so it shall be a nice day.

Pretty exciting. I have been working on putting an album together for you all of Fallas on the pic site, and so here is the link for those photos and I will be adding to it within the next couple days :-)


by moorea21
I especially cannot wait to see these beautiful works of art be burned... just because I am in denial and I need to see it to fully appreciate it. Hopefully that will make for some good pictures, but I am sure it will just look like a bonfire at night (laugh).

I hope all is well with everyone at home!
We are all coming walking this week through some difficulties and our Lord is doing amazing things and He will be raised on Sunday, so this week in general is pretty exciting! and I am sure processions will be nice here. The processions people dress up in what americans would at first glance say klu klux klan, but it is not so. It shall be fun to see!

...and... I suppose I should start reading Niebla, oh Unamuno... :-D

Love you all, and miss you all as well.
-AMM

Valencia en Fallas

For starters... Happy Sunday!
Here for me it hardly feels like Sunday but it will once I fully get up and out of bed. I also will be going to church this Sunday, not sure if I will be walking the whole way or if maybe I'll be able to take a bus... but I cannot imagine a bus would be much faster because all the falleros here in Valencia have taken over. A band just walked by... with traffic becoming backed up behind them.
Completely taken over.

It is Amazing! There are no words to fully describe it. I got home last night at 4:30 in the morning... never in my life have I been out that late... wow. Well, the Castillos were very pretty last night. Castillos (castles) are firework shows that start at 1 am in the morning, and it was a really nice show, I have not seen fireworks as guay before in the States. During the Castillos in the big crowd of people someone lit off a petardo, so I was rather scared for my limbs... A petardo would be a ridiculous firework that all can buy and little kids and all alike love to light them off and make my ears ring. They are rather dangerous, so being out here in Valencia at any time of day during Fallas, one has to be very cautious.

We went to a bar. I had a coke. Spaniards sang happy birthday in english to make fun of us. Julia made a ridiculous display of how they were singing it wrong and corrected them. and so then they sang it again correctly. Irish bar. I may have been the only person in the place that actually has irish blood. :)

I rather enjoyed last night, and a nice gentlemen, Chad from our school program, walked my roommate Margaret and I both home last night (even though it is out of his way).


Well, that is it for now loves!

-AMM-

and ps-- Sra. Ongaro, please e-mail me with the hotel information when you have a chance.. because I cannot get my e-mails through to you (blog below). my cell number here is... 634213301 for future reference :-)

¡Sra. Ongaro!

So... to get the message to you, Sra Ongaro, I figure I would write a quick blog-Because-
I do not believe that my e-mails are going through to you. I have resent it three times... and still a no go.

I am researching this weekend a way to get to Madrid, and I will get the hotel just fine, taxi :) just let me know what hotel it is as soon as you know! Awesome, I really hope you get this message!

Love,
Amanda May Moore

Life thus far

Hey loves,
sorry I have once again failed to keep you up with the adventures and such.
well, right now, I am eating a pringle... so... that is exciting ;)
no really, okay--

This weekend was Great! Got a lot done, but at the same time nothing at all.
How is this possible you might wonder?
I... did everything but my homework! Yes.
On Friday, Meg and I met our "intercambios" Paula and Alba.
Paula is Valencian, and Alba is from Menorca. Now, with our intercambios we practice our spanish and in return they practice their english, though, we mainly speak spanish. It is a lot of fun. Tried Horchata, Spanish style... b/c I like the Horchata from México but here it is made with water, sugar, and chufas (a nut). Very different, but also very good! :-)

After having met our intercambios they set up a time and place to meet on Sunday for the Mascleta!
Meg and I were a bit nervous, we did not know what to think... we can hear it just fine from our apartment, so why go?

Saturday, we went to Xátiva!!! Such a darling city! I could see myself living there (though I would never leave you loved ones at home, so do not get any ideas). It reminded me of México almost, except that the streets were all so nice and even, but they were tiny and windy like Guanajauto :).
We climbed a mountain to see the Castle that protects the city.
I AM SORE. But it was worth it!

Sunday, went to the Mascleta.
I am not deaf, so that is good. I would go again, but we'll see. The singing was by far the coolest, all of Valencia singing together. Then the..
FIREWORKS.
I thought my insides were going to explode! no joke, especially at the end, which I did not record.
Wow.
I cannot imagine being at war...

With all of the excitement of the weekend, I am back to reality... working on school stuff and such, this week is pretty hard b/c Fallas are starting, I have a translation due thursday, a paper due friday, and all I want is to have a break. Which I will have at the end of this awful week.

I hope you readers, all have a wonderful week! Happy Monday!
Blessings!

-AMM-

"lo siento"

My sincerest apologies for not writing lately.
With the exams... the strike... and tarea, I have been a bit overwhelmed.
Plus the lack of internet, that has become a lot more frequent here in the apartment.

For the most part exams went well... I did not get any A's though... which is funny... I should talk to my linguistics professor because I do not believe I deserved a C. But, ya está, it is done. over. Furthermore, I have one week left before two weeks off! I am so excited. and if you, dear reader (being a university student), care to complain... let me tell you that my classes are all longer than normal to make up for the vacation. This happens in the spring because there are Fallas, and this year they have squished Fallas and Easter/ "Spring Break" together. We lose a day of Fallas too. We also make up for it by having classes on Fridays every few weeks.

Yeah... I know... that does not really sound that tough at all. Right. I know :) So I have no complaints. But... let me tell you... when I come home I will never complain about walking ANYWHERE!

I am really looking forward to Spring Break, I believe I will be able to see Sharon! :-) That would be Awesome! OH, and I have decided that if I cannot sleep... during Fallas I may go visit Tania. I need to go visit her regardless, but this could make for two visits. Funny thing, all the Valencians leave during Fallas and our city becomes unbelievably full of tourist. Sooo full that the buses and metros do not run. To lessen the shock the buses are already on strike, but only from 6 to 9 in the morning and night. Not bad at all. In fact walking to class twice a week has been beautiful. Granted... today I was three minutes late and Zugsay was not happy... but he had not even started class! If he marks off any points for being slightly tardy I will be very upset! He too has been late to class due to the "huelga."

Yesterday I worked for four hours in a translation, so I hope I redeemed myself from my first project... and from my midterm. Now, I worked on it for a long time, but I also got six hours of sleep. So this is good :)

Today I received my second letter in the mail from Grandpa Billy! :-) Oh, I love this man! For those that do not know, Grandpa BIlly is not of blood relation, just a wonderfully animated member of my congregation at First Presbyterian Church of (good o') Ypsilanti. There are so many I miss there, I love that congregation--my family, home.

Tomorrow(!) I will be meeting my intercambio Alba (which I find funny because in literature and translation class we have talked a lot about how Alba means dawn and white... purity... oh Bernalda Alba...)!!! I am very excited, Margaret and I are going to meet with two girls--spaniards--at six pm at the statue at the plaza de toros!
Intercambio is a program we have at school that matches us with someone to speak spanish first for one hour and then english for another hour. So while we are bettering our spanish, later we can help to better their english! -PLUS- I haven't any spaniard friends here... the city... is a little hard to find spaniards to hang out with.

I have a lot of homework again this weekend, and a BIG paper due on friday for Zugsay, which means I have to do well. He is by far the most demanding teacher I have ever had. He stresses me out a lot, and I always have a headache in my linguistics class by the end of tuesdays and thursdays. . . really too bad because I admire him. A lot. Just a tough teacher.

On Saturday I may or may not be going to Xátiva. It depends if there is enough room on the bus (field trip type thing through the school). You'll know dear AMM News Blogger readers, soon enough.

And so to end this blog-write, I want to share a funny story that happened today in class. Translation of course, one of my favorites (but my grade... not my favorite). Well, today we were talking about calques and afterwards Chad (classmate, only boy in our class--minus prof.) says, "lo siento" and Zugsay responds with, "really? you really are feeling it?" (with emphasis on the it). Hahaha, I Love calques.

Love,
AMM

weightless

To do list:
buy more postcards
buy stamps to send the one I have ready to go :)
finish a pretty picture to get in the mail. my lack of painting has lead me to another form of art.
(I really miss my acrylics)
read "La Celestina" (medieval play)
read Borges "El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan"
and start working on some stuff for Teatro and la Revista :)


God is good
and with that I would like to say that my heart and prayers went out to many last week, but especially to those that loved our friend Candy and all those that she loved in return. May God keep her and may she have rest.

-Blessings-

"sin bus y sin metro"

I really should be studying, it is 8 pm, but seeing as I have an hour before I eat dinner perhaps I will get this write out before I have to return to the books... :(

Tomorrow I have a midterm, but no pasa nada, because the exam is at 5:20 pm. But! I have three exams on Thursday... hm. So I'll be studying for two before I go to bed tonight... perhaps buy a spanish red bull... and see how I survive. ;)


Vale.
TODAY! Today, I was not aware... but today the EMTs started their strike. So... Many buses did not even leave the station... Not knowing this I was very surprised upon my arrival to the bus stop to see thirty people waiting. Wow! I called Julia to ask if she had already caught a bus to school, and luckily she hadn't. and we are waiting.
and waiting.
AND waiting.
Then finally our bus comes (David at this point is with us too) and it stops.
Lets everyone off.
and keeps on its way.
with
out
us.

Yes, there went our bus... and we had fifteen minutes before class. Cannot walk, we'd be over 45 minutes late.

We took a taxi. and were only five minutes late.
Wow, never have I seen so much traffic. What a day.
-But- at least the sun was shining, so not all was lost. ;)

What a good start to my exciting day... class... I survived the reign of Mateo Zugsay my first two classes... and made it to Augustin. I am always happy to make it to my conversation class b/c Zugsay... wow, super demanding. but I am still living, so I have God to give thanks.
Linguistics was fun today :) so... overall. good day!

And... on the way home someone asked for directions to San Vicente Martir... and so Meg and I walked him there! It was so Marvelous! God is soooo GOOD. I find a lot of delight in strangers... and this one was a good one, from Toulouse and so he spoke Spanish but his maternal tongue is clearly French. It was nice because he was thankful we helped him to where he needed to go, and he was surprised we have only been here for one month! Our Spanish is not as horrible as we would like to think! Oh joy. ;)
He was actually on his way to the armory... and then he assured us that he is not a terrorist! haha, what a silly guy. Mind you he was at least... 65 years old.
In departing from him, he called us "simpáticas, amables, y Guapas."

Well, dinner is soon... so... I'll be studying for the rest of the night... I hope you all are having a good day!
Blessed Be :-)

-AMM-

ps-- I saw my friend TANIA yesterday!!! for... about five minutes... her and her parents came to Valencia to see the Sorolla exhibit. She stopped by the center and there was a bit of a mix up... and well, I was in class... so I left, telling my prof. "regresaré." In leaving the class I found that she had just left! So I thought I would not get to see her! but... I went back to the class... (jaja...) and grabbed my phone... called her, went outside, and she said I see you! and we ran towards each other and met in a great big HUG :)
SupermegaGUAY!

alright. studying. right... oh when I become a teacher... I wonder if I will feel bad for assigning un montón de homework... :/ (nah).

Sorolla

The two paintings Iike most, so you can have an idea! :-)





The first one is of Sevilla, titled "El baile" (the dance). This is not the full picture. Sorry! It is a celebration in May, with a Cross/ Cruz in honor of the occasion.

The second is clearly Valencian due to the oranges. It is of a procession. Not entirely sure which!

Fallas

Agua de vida (water of life)


I said I would write a blog today, and here it is folks!

Alright, I would rather not summarize my week because my week was rather.... well, it is over now.
Instead--
I would like to say that Fallas are among most impressive works of art I have seen! They are worked on all year long, each year here in Valencia (no other city in the world) to be BURNED! Above pictured is my favorite falla that I saw, mind you all of my pictures are of fallas that have been honored in a museum over the years.
This concept is very hard for me to grasp, because it is hard for me to give up one of my paintings (that do not take a year to paint)... let alone having labored in something for a year so it can be a bonfire! (Not literally, but you get the point).

The fallas are magnificent. But... they project some interesting themes in life... they are most often dirty, and not too many people enjoyed that aspect, but I loved them all because it is arts unto itself. I couldn't lose my admiration because the falla represents a controversial or inappropriate theme. So, I will leave you to make your own decisions loving readers!

Also today I went to an exhibit of Sorolla! It was Amazing, such large obras (paintings). I loved the depth of the paintings. I tried to step close to look a the brush strokes but an alarm went off, (laugh). This display of paintings I saw today is touring Europe at the moment and will return home to New York when it is all done seeing Europe! Funny it's home is not Spain though, Sorolla is a Spaniard.

While looking at these fallas, keep in mind that they are burned! and... I tried making a slide show to make it more facile to look at these photos... but no such luck! here is the link for the photos though :)

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562226229zbpqxa?start=84

Love,
AMM

Tomorrow!

Alright, Tomorrow, tomorrow I am writing a blog for you all!
I have been rather sick lately, so I must apologize for you blog aficionados ;-)

Love,
AMM

¡OJO! --what I did want to say, that I forgot to mention, is that... if you have left a comment, I comment back! :-)
Just so you know, and don't think that I don't love you ;)

besos, abrazos.

Hallelujah!

Before I truly get started on my paper for Literature... I thought I would share this with you dear readers at home!

So... at dinner Carlos sneezed and so I said, "salud, salud, Jesus." Then Chrystel pulled his attention away from the newspaper article he was reading and told him I said that, and he thought I said "salud" and that Meg said "Jesus." He thought this because he later explained that Protestants say "salud," and Catholics say "Jesus." Ha... odd thing... he likes to make comparisons between religion a lot, and he often says that Meg will appreciate Fallas more because it is a "Catholic thing." Eh.

Well, anyway... after talking of the different forms of saying "Bless you," we drifted on to the commercial that has the "Hallelujah" song from the Shrek movie, and our hosts asked us if the song was to God. We responded yes.
Then they went on to say that they do not always know because the song "It's raining men..." has the word "Hallelujah" but it is not used in a good sense towards God...

Oh boy... It's raining men... Hallelujah... Meg and I got a good laugh out of this because they are not able to know that it was used in a different context... Madre mía...

Yep, that's the story for tonight. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Blessings,
Amanda May Moore

ps, I have been here for a month now! woo-hoo! wowzers!

StereoByte.

(quick comment on my part)

So at lunch today, there being 13 people in a tiny dinning room... we were having a good meal with good conversation, and then Meg and I were asked if we have clams in the US. Well, "yes, of course we have those in the states," I responded. Then there was a comment that they were bigger in the US, and then our host mom says, "they are bigger in the US because the people are bigger."

Yep. and the guy on the end of the table who speaks french, noticed that Meg and I were a bit offended... yes, because duh, we can understand... and to add to the whole not understanding... she talked on the phone a few days back about Meg and I, infront of us while we were eating! She was talking of how one of us (me) had thrown out our lunch while they were out... I felt horrible... but at the same rate, she did not need to talk about it in that manner... As if we did not understand what she was saying... Good Lord lady! We are learning Spanish, no?

Today, I'll have to say was a bit frustrating. When our director Nancy Marino visits, I have a few things I'll be telling her... Nancy is a sweetie, I am looking forward to having her next semester in the fall :-)

I hope all is well with you dear reader! I love you!

-AMM-

quisiera saber (un poema)

quisiera saber...
si todo saldría de la mente de Dios como fuera.
lo que es, y lo que era
quisiera saber...
si viviríamos en un mundo sin miedos
todos fuéramos lo qué somos.
quisiera saber...
si nuestro amor sería mejor
quisiera saber...
si nuestra amistad saldría con más color (de flor)
¿quisiera saber Dios?
no, por que Él es sabio.
de lo que es, lo que era.
y lo que será


Vale, no sé si la gramática está bien... si alguien quiera corregir, por favor hagalo. Yo preguntaré a un@ profesor/a si está correcto.
Gracias.

Trilingual Table

Our host family is getting new furniture, and it is coming from France. So our host mom, Chrystel, had her mother, sister, and brother-in-law over for dinner! The table consisted of Spanish, French, and English (we did not talk English)! A table with the ability of three languages. I was offered bread in french and I responded, "no gracias."

I have new photos up if you, dear reader, are interested!
The link again is: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562226229zbpqxa

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend! I am, but... also... I am procrastinating. Majorly! I have a three page paper to write... an analysis of Romances del Rey Rodrigo, I have a small paper to write on an article for conversation class, I have to read two chapters for traslation, a book I still have not received in the mail, and... I have to read two short stories. Woo-hoo! :-)
God is good!
and my pics... are from yesterday (btw) and they are from when we went to l 'hemispheric. hope you enjoy!

oh, and one more thing-- I have changed my facebook to be in spanish, Aunt Zan & Uncle Matt :-) and... it is rather funny because there are a few things that are... well grammatically incorrect. One example is "el pared" instead of La pared. and one other funny thing I have in a picture below :D it cracks me up, and further more, in spanish there is a way to say "5th" and too, one can get around it... but... the translators... haha... I do not know what to think... ;) but now that I have facebook in spanish, I can talk about it at school more because I am learning the words!

Love,
Amanda May Moore

¡Día de San Valentin!

Okay, so I am going to stray from complaining too much in this blog! Because here, let's look at the facts, (one) I am in Spain and (two) I am sooooo blessed. Vale, ahora ya está.
So... how was your Valentines? I hope it was full of... cheesy loves songs, poems, everyone at school wearing red and pink, candy-grams, the whole nine yards! Because well, dear reader, that is Valentines day!
My day started off a little shaky, and continued to be pretty shaky... but I had a lot of highs! no doubt, I started my Valentines day off with staying up until 3 am to finish my translation of Guillermo de Torres' poem "Paisaje Plástico" (which I translated to Panoramic Passion). With little sleep... having to wake up at 7 am... I had a looong day. My first class we went over Las Meninas, which I still have yet to read, and during which I bit my tongue horribly... I am still in pain and I did it 12 hours ago... I have a visible beautiful bump if you will on my tongue. Then... to go on the day went pretty well, just had to get over the project last night really, I really should not have put it off that long, but I did truly enjoy the translation. OH! so many things, and if you are interested in seeing the translation, perhaps I will take a picture and send it to you... if you know of this poem you will also know that it is very graphically written, the lines form images. So... I cannot really serve it any justice if I just typed the translation.
Well after translation class... conversation went really well, first presentation today! Wow, it was great! (We all have to do a presentation of at least 25 minutes). Bailey talked about Love in Hollywood, "el Amor en Hollywood" and it was Great! and good subject for Valentine's day, eh?
Well, after lunch... I studied (for the first time) for my Linguistics exam that I had in an hour. So the exam was really not difficult at all, but what was difficult was that I had a rather bad headache for lack of sleep, and stress, and it is kinda... important to be able to see the questions, no? (my vision was a bit off).
Overall today was pretty wonderful, not because it was Valentines day, but because (besides it being a start for the weekend) I got to hear some BEAUTIFUL poems recited in Spanish and Catalan (which I understood pretty well with out looking at the translated spanish version! My favorites were "Me basta así" de Angel González and the other by the famous Becquer, "Rayo de Luna." Both brought me tears. Oh what beauty!
Then Julia, Kirsten, Meg, and I all walked home! A route that did not take an hour! Thanks to Julia! AMEN! :-D
Lastly, the best part about today, upon getting home Meg gave me a box of Valentine day Chocolates :) oh, how dulce!

and Scott-- you made my day too :-) thank-you.

Love,
Amanda May

ps, I still have yet to send my valentines... haha... to a special few ;-)
I am still... in search of stamps. I'll get on it and hopefully a late valentine will be equally appreciated, it is in spanish! :-D

First Rain!

Yesterday was the first day of rain here in Valencia for me :-)
I am not going to say it is something I love, it is raining again today... but it is exciting! Cold! and I am losing my voice! Eh, that means I will not have to talk in class, right? ;-)
OH, and Grams, I am really glad I bought that umbrella in Chicago! Thanks!
So I know it seems funny I am talking of rain, because it is not a horrible happening at all, because you all have a Ton of snow, no? Well, spring will be coming SOON!

Sorry I have not blogged in awhile, but I have been a little sick, so rest is good, and I have a bunch of work... I have my first Linguistics exam tomorrow, new phonetic alphabet than what I learned last year... but it shouldn't be too bad. I am more worried about my first graded assignment for translation class, due tomorrow, that I have yet to start!!!

Right now, I am still in my pajamas... it is 12 pm (6 am at home, most of you are not up), and my hair is straight! and I am listening to the gorgeous Jack Johnson (full blast).

I joined Theatre Club! that may seem shocking to some of you, well, if not... it is SHOCKING TO ME! jaja
I am not sure what I am going to do for the show yet, either a presentation on cultural differences and shocks we experience here in the form of a skit, for example:
Students talking, you can hear the hum of English, and then... Suddenly the start speaking Spanish once they pass through the magic door into school! (that would make for a funny skit).
Another one would be a short skit of a spanish mother saying, "come más, come más" and putting more and more food infront of the host student... jaja. They always feed us too much...
Also we could do a skit of the taking the bus or metro... in which we get funny looks because we look silly or because we are more than likely speaking english... oh boy...

OR

I would like to imitate a few teachers... jaja, they all are so distinct!!! and the audience would have to guess who we are acting out. Mateo Zugsay always says, "Houstan tenemos un problema"
and Pilar Guitart always wears the cutest clothes and high go-go boot, she is very good lookin' and very animated.
another teacher I do not have... but is funny, he always says, "mhm mhm, máaaas cosas"
Well, these things may not seem too funny, but they are distinct characteristics of teachers that the audience should be able to guess :)

OR...

We could do something silly like "Highschool Musical..." (no, por favor). or... perform a dance... or translate a song... like in my translation class, we are translating "All my life" by KC and JoJo... Okay, I have never heard this song, and EVERYONE (my age) knows it... I must have lived under a Rock, eh? Well, the song is Super Cheesy. But we are going to perform it for the show at the end of the year (in spanish :)).

So, that is a little exciting, eh?

I love you all! and MISS you all! and you all are in my thoughts and prayers. everyday.
Love,
AMM

ps, there are new pictures up on that picture website... if you scroll down to the blog with the flower pic... you can click on the link again and see some new pics :)

Stayin' Alive.

Okay, so this weekend has had it's ups and downs...
Overall it has been good :-) I got a lot of nice pictures round and about the city and I went to an international Church! So that is a feat in itself.
I am a bit embarrassed at the moment because our "madre," Chrystel prepared us food for lunch to eat while the family was out, and I not feeling to well earlier today (I am sick) and also, I not really particularly liking the food... tossed it in the garbage... and tonight after dinner I saw in the garbage that she unwrapped it to see that one of us (Margaret or me) did not eat lunch... yikes! So, I feel really bad. But... I did eat all of my dinner... Oh boy... hopefully I will not remember this in ten years... so it really is not that important, but yikes, it was half my meal (a little more than half)... :(
Yesterday I felt rather embarrassed when I ran into a girl (girl, not woman) and I apologized in english... and her mother gave me quite the glare... yuck.
Well, on a brighter note... I have a lot of homework ;) just kidding, that is not brighter.
Let's try again... on a brighter note I think I may go and visit my friend Tania next weekend with my roommate Meg!!!
So that is super Exciting! and hopefully I survive the week... of Las Meninas... that I have yet to read... survive my Linguistics exam on Valentine's day, survive my translations, survive theatre, survive the Writing Reviews/ Revistas, survive... survive... all this week. I just want to be the little birdy in the poem I am struggling to translate and fly on home. But, I'll survive. Survive this harsh winter ;-).
How are you all enjoying the snow?

Love,
Amanda May Moore

ps, keep an eye out for new pictures on that website link from the previous blog.

Lost in Translation

Here is a translation I worked on in class today (I was too shy to share it with the class)...

English.
"All good things (come to an end)" by Nelly Furtado

Honestly what will become of me
don't like reality
It's way too clear to me
But really life is dandy
We are what we don't see
Missed everything daydreaming

Okay, so I know I have some translation loss... but... dandy could mean glamorous person dressed up, so it could be that life is dressed up... and... I tried to create some sort of rhyme pattern because in this english song we have a lot of /e/ sounds; honestly, me, reality, really, dandy, see, everY(thing), dreaming... I changed the /e/ to the common rhyming character /a/ in spanish. It works somewhat. and... well, the beats are another thing that is lost in translation because the rhyming scheme of english involves feet. and spanish... the beats are dependent upon the syllables.

A ver...

De verdad qué de mí será
la realidad no gusta
a mí demasiada clara (feminine b/c it is referring to vida)
pero de verdad vida es disfrazada
somos lo que no miramos
perdida todo soñar despierta.

eh, más o menos... yuck.

Today folks is Thursday, and it is 12:14 am now... and I have no school tomorrow!!! YAY! The First Friday I have off!!! How cool is that? ¿¡Qué guay!?

I hope you all had a good day!
Love you!

Can I be your Marilyn Monroe?

Today, was a highly productive and fun day :-)
In translation class... which I think (THINK) may be my favorite class... Well, in class we looked at a quote and our challenge was to translate it for an American audience.
Quote: "¡Adios Pirri! ¿Quieres que sea la Sonia Bruno de tu existencia?"
Our translation more or less was: "Hell-oo Demagio. Would you like for me to be your Marilyn Monroe?"
So... I do not know if you caught this... but this is a cat-call. Which in America, we do not do often. Some, maybe... sure. But not most people cat call, and especially girls.
Okay, let's break it down to see how we got to this translation; Pirri. Who is this person? Well, Pirri is a famous soccer player of the 60s from Spain. And so now we wonder, who is Sonia Bruno? She is the perfect other for him, and they were married. She is an actress. So this is more or less a "match made in heaven," an athlete and an actress (of course...).
At first Julia suggested we translate this to be Beckham and Posh. Well... sure... that works... but we are not being too true to the time that this phrase in use. And so we think a little longer and arrive at, Joe Demagio and Marilyn Monroe.
Hahaha, I love translation. So many things come up, do we want to leave the quote with the original names? So to make it more authentic to origin? or... do we wish to make it better understood in the culture to which we are transposing it into? So many questions a translator must think of, and there is no wrong answer. Tough science ;).
Translation... definitely a sweet (guay) class!!!

That is only a part of why today was so great, the second part... is that in my conversation class we went from saying today was "super martes" (super tuesday) to super monday which was last monday... and it was "super" because of the soccer, in which Madrid lost and Valencia won. Well, my professor Reyes-Torres is always talks about Madrid and how he hates them, and he always adds that we say nothing of this to Sr. Valle (the director, and another professor) because he is a big fan (aficionado) of Madrid. Today... haha, today... Sr. Valle swung open our door and started yelling at our professor for talking about his team! It was hilarious, my professor's face--turned red! That, that alone made my day! hahaha. It was HILARIOUS! and so we stopped talking about them for, mmmm, about thirty seconds and then Torres went on to say something about Madrid for some reason and again, the door swung open and he continued to yell at Torres!!!
What better way to have a day made, eh?

Also, I found Valentines today!!! So, today was pretty Awesome. It could be better only if I had my Demagio... ;)

So... now it is almost eleven pm... and so I should start my homework... yikes. yuck. blah. but... I will...
Hope you all had a nice Tuesday. :-)

Love,
Amanda

ps, I still have to find stamps and envelopes... but my Wonderful friend Tania told me to go to the Tabaco store... haha. Vale.
:D

Mundane Monday...

So, I will start this write now... and perhaps add more later...
I have one class today, and it is not until 3:40 pm! So when I woke up this morning, I had five hours until going to class... and now it is about 2 pm (lunch time) and I am working on my translation of "Estación de la mano" which I am guessing means... "Season of the hand" because... "station" sounds rather funny, and from the content of the text, "season" makes more sense.
With having sooo much time, I did my hair. So that is a plus, I will always look especially cute for my monday and wednesday classes. Not that I need to look good, Scott is not here.
Well, Chrystel is making lunch, it sounds and maybe smells good. A ver, we will see. I am never really all that excited to eat here, because I am a rather picky eater... and so... I do not ask what I am eating. Who knows... maybe I will eat with out complaints when I come home ;-)
Oh, and... today is especially nice, sunny, and warm. But... I have to wear a jacket, a funny thing Margaret and I do because all the Spaniards wear a coat because it is still "winter" for them. Not for us! It is nice out, but... so we do not look too odd, we wear our coats :-)

Here is just for fun a pic of before and after hair shots ;-)




Hehe,
Love you all!