Blogs from Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe - page 14

Tonight mi padre showed me how to make tortilla espanola. Now, when most people think of a tortilla, they think of the corn or flour tortillas that are used to wrap up tacos and burritos and such. But that's mainly just Mexico/Latinamerica (as is most of our knowledge of Spanish culture). Well actually, the word tortilla originated in Spain, and it actually means omelette. When the Spainiards came to the New World, they saw the native americans making a flat food and they just called it a tortilla...interesting, huh? In Spain, tortilla espanola is VERY popular; it is a staple of any Spanish diet. It is basically a huge omelette made with eggs, potatoes, and onion, but you can add any "extras" that you want (like peppers, meat, other veggies, etc). There is actually a very ... read more

This morning we had a guided tour of Toledo. We started out on a bus, went around the whole outside of the city across the river (the whole city is practically surrounded by a river), which is where some of the "whole city" shots came from. Then, we went on foot for awhile (we went on the biggest escalator I have ever seen...and it is outside!). Then our tour was over and some of my new friends ( :D ) and I went exploring for about 6 hours! We walked all over. We went into la Iglesia de los Jesuitos (a church), and climbed all the way up to the top of the tower (that's where I got some awesome pictures of the cathedral). It was scary, because the stairs were really narrow! But I did ... read more

Hmm, well my first class went ok. Granted, I only understood about a third of the class. I´m going to have to ask mi madre to help me go through my syllabus so that I make sure I know all the class requirements. The class is spanish grammar and composition (it´s kind of a repeat of a class I took at SNC last year). We have to write 8 large papers, and we have about 10 hours of homework per week (according to the professor). Now I realize why there aren´t any classes on Fridays! My next class is spanish phonetics. It starts at 12:45 and goes until 2pm. Then I am going to go home for lunch and a siesta, then I have to come back for my "Maximizing Study Abroad" class from 7:45 until ... read more

Here's a little bit about my host family, my house, and spanish life in general so far: Mi madre is from Washington, D.C. so she speaks english (which comes in handy when I am really confused!). She actually went to UW-Madison -- small world, huh?? She is super nice, and she seems to really want to help me do well. Mi padre also speaks english, but he is from spain, so his native language is spanish, and he also speaks french. He seems to be really interested in history; he told me all about the historic importance of Toledo yesterday! Our house is located in el "casco historico" which means the old main city (so it's in the old Toledo, the part that was walled in long ago). It is about a 5 minute walk from ... read more

Went to Toledo today with my host and a bunch of other people on CS!!! It was such a nice group! got a very nice guide to guide us around the town. Toledo was the old capital of Spain so there are many nice old buildings and a castle! It was larger than I think and walking around it took a long time! The Sinagoga was very beautiful with a lot of history, the Cathedral was huge and beautiful from the outside BUT, didnt like the idea of paying 8 euros to get in..HAAAA...so I didnt. The alcazar was nice but too bad couldnt get in.....the view around the city was beautiful as well with the river and the green! It was very touristy, but still very beautiful. At night with the Xmas lights, it was ... read more