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Published: February 26th 2009
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Sardine
The Sardine in front of City Hall. martes 24 febrero 2009- I learned in class today that in Espanola, you don’t capitalize the days of the week or the months, so please don’t think that I’m that bad at grammar. After class, I talked to a friend about doing Eastern Europe for my last week and a half after I finish the Camino de Santiago during Spring Break. I hope this works out, but otherwise, I’m going to spend that time in Greece, so I’ll manage with either itinerary, lol. After quickly planning what we want to do and what we were each going to look into for flights, I went to meet with two of my intercambios from Friday. However, when I met them there were six chicas instead of only two, which was a pleasant surprise. I had hoped that we would be able to just talk, but they wanted to go play foosball, so that’s what we did. I would like to thank Santa Claus for bring my brother and I a foosball table years ago because all my years of playing finally paid off and I was able to win 3 out of 4 games. It was nice to just take a break and
Sardine
Leaving out mark. enjoy campus and I look forward to meeting with them again next week. After hitting up the gym, I stopped at the supermarket on my way home to pick up some pop because my family only has it on the weekends and I’m a little addicted. After a siesta, doing my homework and skyping, I went downtown with some friends for guac night at a few of the pubs; they basically give your free chips and guacamole/salsa, so why not go hang out.
miercoles 25 febrero 2009- My six hours of class went well and on my way home, I ran into three other CIEE kids that were going to play pool. Since the bar was close to mi casa, I decided to walk with them from the bus stop there so I know where it was for future reference. However, it was such a chill place that I decided to play one quick game with them before rushing home for lunch because it was almost 4pm. I did hmwk as well as looked up flights and train tickets until 8:30pm, when I met up with two other friends for the Soterrament de la Sardina, the final parade of
Carnival. Let me just preface this all by saying this is the most messed up, but enjoyable parade I have ever seen/been a part of. Ok, since its Carnival, meaning you have to get all of your vices ‘out’ before Lent and there really is no rules, this parade was the exact opposite of what you would have thought because it was suppose to be a funeral procession for a Sardine. Yes I said a sardine. Everyone comes dressed in black with most of the women wearing black veils with Kleenex in their hands and some of the men dress up as women, which is absolutely hilarious because they have facial hair and can’t walk in the heels at all. Also, many of the men and women were drinking beer and smoking at the same time while in their funeral attire. There were also three bands, two brass bands and a band of just oboes, which played before, during and after the parade by taking turns or at the same time, which added to the chaos. I really wanted to grab one of the trumpets and play because it has been almost three months since I’ve touched my trumpet and
Sardine
We were all so 'sad' I’m starting to miss that aspect of my life from back home. Like I said, this was a funeral procession for a huge wooden sardine that everyone signed, so we started by the city hall and did a loop through the old part of town and after about an hour and a half made it back to the plaza in front of city hall. In the parade, the people pushing the Sardine lead, with the three bands dispersed throughout the thousand or so people that dancing along with the parade. It was a blast dancing through the streets with live bands next to a wooden fish. At the city hall, they lighted the Sardine on fire, which was also fun to watch because they couldn’t get it to light at first. I stayed downtown for a while after the burning because there was a Black Ball in one of the plazas, but I had to be home by 1am for the Marquette (#8) vs. UConn (#2) men’s basketball game. This was a huge match up because both teams are really good and although it started at 6pm Marquette time, that made it 1am my time. However, I thought that it
Parade
The parade route going down the Rambla was worth listening to my alma mater try to take down UConn. Although, we did lose, it was a well fought game and I also got to hear my roommate from home as part of the broadcast as well as the pep band in the background during timeouts.
jueves 26 febrero 2009- After getting only four hours of sleep, I made sure to get some coffee before my classes. After class, I went to the gym with two friends before going to the library to get some books on the relationship between the Church and Spain for my History class. I’m a little disappointed to say that the Universidad de Alicante has more up to date and useful books on the Jesuits (that are even written in English mind you) than Marquette University, a Jesuit university. Last semester, I did a paper comparing the Jesuit ideals of the 15th century in terms of education to the education I was receiving at Marquette, so I know that Marquette has tons of books on the Jesuits, but most were much older than I am. After checking out six books, I went to met up with two different intercambios from Friday. However,
Interesting Characters
Two friends and one of the interesting characters from the Parade something must have been either communicated wrong or come up because we didn’t get see each other; so spent my time doing my homework and enjoying the sun. After lunch, a siesta and doing some homework, I met up with two friends to get some snacks for this weekend. I leave tomorrow for Madrid and will be back on Sunday. I’m really excited for this trip because CIEE is paying and organizing our bus, hotel and tours of the Museo de Prado, Palcaio Real, Museo Reina Sofia and walking tours around the city. They are even giving us some money for lunch and supper because we are on our own for those. This is going to be a very stress free trip because I don’t have to plan anything as well as being exciting because it is the capital city of Spain and after going to Barcelona last week, I can’t wait to compare the two cities.
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