Yesterday was my graduation and wow was it Spanish. Normally the whole everything-being-different-in-Spain thing does not really bother me anymore, but during the whole thing I could not help but think "This would never, ever happen in the US."
It started off with the actually graduation ceremony which was at 19:00. (I will be writing with a 24 hour clock to simplify things.) The ceremony was the most recognizable part of the whole thing, everyone crossed the stage, the mayor talked too long, the other speakers talked to long, people sang "We are the world." Basically the same old same old. But after the ceremony, we all went to the school for the graduation party, and that is when things got Spanish.
For one, there was an open bar... in the school. I never thought I would see an open bar in a school and it was rather disconcerting. There were also uniformed waiters circulating through through the crowd with platters of different foods. The cost of this affair was 10€ for 3 people. A school not trying to make a profit off of something was also highly surprising.
After the in school party, the parents and teachers went home and us students went out for the night. We had a discoteca that we had rested out for the night and partied the night away until 5:00 or so. Then we screwed around in the street until the metro opened up and we could take that to get to the bus that took us back to the school for churros and chocolate.
We got to the school at about 7:00, but had to wait until 8:00 to get into the school. As Ray (the other exchange student who is in my class) observed, the whole discoteca experience is really nothing more than the final test. A holy pilgrimage to Madrid and back to prove that yes you really are able to be a Spanish adult. Kind of like hazing in fraternities, but a lot more fun.
All of the non-graduates had class at 8:30 and so, as they began to trickle in, we formed a tunnel at the entrance and chanted "A clase! A clase!" (To class! To class!) as they walk through it. Once they had all gone through the tunnel, we got our churros and went home. I got home at 9:30, went straight to bed, and did not get up until about 5:00. All in all it was a great evening/night/morning, quite possibly the best I have had so far, and I will never forget it.
Sadly, all this lack of sleep/not taking my medicine because I was out for the night has led me to get a sinus infection. AKA, my life is now miserable.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
So big things have happened since my last post. They were so big that I did not have time to write (lie. I am just lazy). Let us start the most recent news and work our way back.
Last Saturday I went to Valencia with my football team for our second playoff game. We lost, but I could hardly be more proud of the team and especially of myself. We lost 34-0, but we were playing a team that had more than twice the number of players, and the majority of them were bigger than all of us. So sure they scored 5 touchdowns on us and made two safeties (our defense did a LOT better than our offense at first, so we would both go 4 and out with them slowly gaining ground on us until they got safeties), BUT I personally managed to block every single extra point attempt. Even though accidentally used my testicles to block the first one. That hurt. The first half I played wing on offense and did terrible. But the second half I got moved to QB and had a hell of a time. We ran a lot of option plays and QB keeps and it was rare for me to run for less than 5 yards. One time it took 6 of them to take me down. (I am rather proud of that.) I do not think I have ever played that hard in my life and my body still hurts as proof of it.
So our season is now over and we have been eliminated. We finished 4-2 and I had more fun playing this year than I ever have had playing football. I will probably never set foot on a football field as a player again but I am ok with that because I cannot think of a better season to got out on.
I have also been done with school so almost too weeks now... kind of. I finished class of the 12th, but I still go to two classes a day of 1º de bachellerato (11th grade) just so that I have something to do while everyone else in my class is studying for selectividad (the spanish college entrance exam). I also have my graduation tomorrow so that will be... an experience. To say the least. The sad thing is that I actually ended up passing far more classes than the rest of my class. I do not know exactly how I did it, but when I counted it up at the end, I had passed almost all of my classes. Which was a very nice surprise!
There was more... but it appears the big things that have been happening are so big that I can not even keep them all in my head! And so I am going to bed. Buenas noches mundo pequeño.
Last Saturday I went to Valencia with my football team for our second playoff game. We lost, but I could hardly be more proud of the team and especially of myself. We lost 34-0, but we were playing a team that had more than twice the number of players, and the majority of them were bigger than all of us. So sure they scored 5 touchdowns on us and made two safeties (our defense did a LOT better than our offense at first, so we would both go 4 and out with them slowly gaining ground on us until they got safeties), BUT I personally managed to block every single extra point attempt. Even though accidentally used my testicles to block the first one. That hurt. The first half I played wing on offense and did terrible. But the second half I got moved to QB and had a hell of a time. We ran a lot of option plays and QB keeps and it was rare for me to run for less than 5 yards. One time it took 6 of them to take me down. (I am rather proud of that.) I do not think I have ever played that hard in my life and my body still hurts as proof of it.
So our season is now over and we have been eliminated. We finished 4-2 and I had more fun playing this year than I ever have had playing football. I will probably never set foot on a football field as a player again but I am ok with that because I cannot think of a better season to got out on.
I have also been done with school so almost too weeks now... kind of. I finished class of the 12th, but I still go to two classes a day of 1º de bachellerato (11th grade) just so that I have something to do while everyone else in my class is studying for selectividad (the spanish college entrance exam). I also have my graduation tomorrow so that will be... an experience. To say the least. The sad thing is that I actually ended up passing far more classes than the rest of my class. I do not know exactly how I did it, but when I counted it up at the end, I had passed almost all of my classes. Which was a very nice surprise!
There was more... but it appears the big things that have been happening are so big that I can not even keep them all in my head! And so I am going to bed. Buenas noches mundo pequeño.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Alumnos de Bach 2C (1 of 3)
So this post is for Tania Benito, who was curious as to my opinions of the people in my class, of which she is one. So here ya go Tania. Now read it then get back to studying!
Marcos de la Mata: Marcos is one of two people in my class who is also on my football team and one of the best players we have. He is a cool guy, but LOVES being contrary. Alex (another guy on my team) are always arguing like an old married couple, so we call them Mommy and Poppy. Marcos is not fond of being considered a woman.
Estefania Airoldi: Stefi is the first person to get to class ever morning after me and she is odd down to her genetics. She is half Spanish, half Italian and was born in Germany. She refers to me as "f-ing Lucas" but writes it like "faquin Lucas." She always says that she is only going to speak to me in English which lasts about five minutes, and this happens every couple weeks. I could write a lot more
Tania Benito Alfaro: Despite the fact the fact that Tania and Stefi sit together, they do not share the same time table. She usually shows up about 10 minutes late. Sadly, we have only hung out like twice. And she still owes me 10€ from the second time! (sorry just remembered that.)
Maria del Pino Borges: Her name is Maria del Pino but everyone just calls her Pino because her sister's names are all Maria (Maria de las Nieves, Maria del Rosario, etc). Pino means Pine... as in the tree. So I just call her "tree" sometimes to tick her off. She was my second Spanish friend and probably helped me more than anyone else in those first few months here.
Paula Cerezo: Paula is what I guess you would call our class rep. Which means she yells at us when we have not been going what we should have been doing... except she is not very good at yelling at people because she is too smiley. Basically, she is too nice to be mean.
Cristina Ihavenoideawhatherlastnameis: Cris is nice, but I honestly have not talked to her much, which is kind of sad because she sits right in front of me...
Beatriz Sanchez Puerta: Bibi is the skinniest person I have ever met in my life. My thigh is thicker than her waist. She kind of quiet at times and a seems a bit shy. But she is really friendly and probably speaks English better than anyone (except for Sara and Jorge who are both special cases).
Jorge de Solis: Jorge is Jorge. My first day I sat down in an open seat which happened to be next to him. Turns out he had spent a couple years on a US military base (His dad is a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish army. I think he is special forces.) and can speak English almost perfectly. The problems that kid gets into are truly remarkable.
Viktor Montaña: Viktor has had to repeat a number of times for various reasons, most of which are related to certain illegal substances. I think he will be turning 21 pretty soon. But all in all he is an OK guy, even though I would not exactly want to go hang out with him.
Raymond Fuqua: Ray the other rotary exchange student in my school, and as such, we spend a fair amount of time together. He is from Hawaii for which I hate him. But all in all he is a cool guy. So I guess I forgive him his Hawaiian-ness.
So that is the first column. There are 2 more, but I will write about them later.
Marcos de la Mata: Marcos is one of two people in my class who is also on my football team and one of the best players we have. He is a cool guy, but LOVES being contrary. Alex (another guy on my team) are always arguing like an old married couple, so we call them Mommy and Poppy. Marcos is not fond of being considered a woman.
Estefania Airoldi: Stefi is the first person to get to class ever morning after me and she is odd down to her genetics. She is half Spanish, half Italian and was born in Germany. She refers to me as "f-ing Lucas" but writes it like "faquin Lucas." She always says that she is only going to speak to me in English which lasts about five minutes, and this happens every couple weeks. I could write a lot more
Tania Benito Alfaro: Despite the fact the fact that Tania and Stefi sit together, they do not share the same time table. She usually shows up about 10 minutes late. Sadly, we have only hung out like twice. And she still owes me 10€ from the second time! (sorry just remembered that.)
Maria del Pino Borges: Her name is Maria del Pino but everyone just calls her Pino because her sister's names are all Maria (Maria de las Nieves, Maria del Rosario, etc). Pino means Pine... as in the tree. So I just call her "tree" sometimes to tick her off. She was my second Spanish friend and probably helped me more than anyone else in those first few months here.
Paula Cerezo: Paula is what I guess you would call our class rep. Which means she yells at us when we have not been going what we should have been doing... except she is not very good at yelling at people because she is too smiley. Basically, she is too nice to be mean.
Cristina Ihavenoideawhatherlastnameis: Cris is nice, but I honestly have not talked to her much, which is kind of sad because she sits right in front of me...
Beatriz Sanchez Puerta: Bibi is the skinniest person I have ever met in my life. My thigh is thicker than her waist. She kind of quiet at times and a seems a bit shy. But she is really friendly and probably speaks English better than anyone (except for Sara and Jorge who are both special cases).
Jorge de Solis: Jorge is Jorge. My first day I sat down in an open seat which happened to be next to him. Turns out he had spent a couple years on a US military base (His dad is a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish army. I think he is special forces.) and can speak English almost perfectly. The problems that kid gets into are truly remarkable.
Viktor Montaña: Viktor has had to repeat a number of times for various reasons, most of which are related to certain illegal substances. I think he will be turning 21 pretty soon. But all in all he is an OK guy, even though I would not exactly want to go hang out with him.
Raymond Fuqua: Ray the other rotary exchange student in my school, and as such, we spend a fair amount of time together. He is from Hawaii for which I hate him. But all in all he is a cool guy. So I guess I forgive him his Hawaiian-ness.
So that is the first column. There are 2 more, but I will write about them later.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Yawn.
So yesterday was our first playoff game, and I can honestly say that it was the most boring game of my life.
We ended up winning 13-12 with all the points scored in the first half. For defense, in the whole game, the opposing team ran three plays to the side I was playing. On offense I played wide receiver and we had one pass play... which was to the other side... and intercepted... Basically I took up space the whole game. Fun stuff.
In other news, psychology is silly. We are doing a project on help in emergencies and decided to make a little experiment of our own. So I went to a classroom where I did not know anyone under the excuse that I am an exchange student who was there to listen. Then I pretended to have an epileptic attack complete with slipping myself a pill so that I was foaming at the mouth . I am happy to say that my ability to pretend to convulse erratically has not decreased at all in the last 8 months, and they were totally convinced that I was having a genuine epileptic attack. On the scientific note, I was helped immediately and one girl even knew exactly what to do. Oh and yes, this whole thing was my idea.
We ended up winning 13-12 with all the points scored in the first half. For defense, in the whole game, the opposing team ran three plays to the side I was playing. On offense I played wide receiver and we had one pass play... which was to the other side... and intercepted... Basically I took up space the whole game. Fun stuff.
In other news, psychology is silly. We are doing a project on help in emergencies and decided to make a little experiment of our own. So I went to a classroom where I did not know anyone under the excuse that I am an exchange student who was there to listen. Then I pretended to have an epileptic attack complete with slipping myself a pill so that I was foaming at the mouth . I am happy to say that my ability to pretend to convulse erratically has not decreased at all in the last 8 months, and they were totally convinced that I was having a genuine epileptic attack. On the scientific note, I was helped immediately and one girl even knew exactly what to do. Oh and yes, this whole thing was my idea.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Losing can be good sometimes.
So as some of you already know, we lost our game. What you all probably do not know is the details, and that is why I am here.
They won by a lot. I got a concussion in the 4th quarter after throwing three interceptions. Alex (the other QB) threw five. Add 2 fumbles on top of that and you get the final score: 50-6. We do not need to talk about this anymore.
But in the end, it worked out nicely. For one thing the second place medal looks a lot cooler than the first place one. Second, losing made people realize that we are not invincible and there are teams that are a lot better than us which is an incredible motivator. And last of all losing put us in a better bracket for the playoffs. Bwhahahaha.
On a totally unrelated note, I finally got accepted to the U of I. Also got an apartment now and will be living at in the 500 block of South van Buren. Coolio.
They won by a lot. I got a concussion in the 4th quarter after throwing three interceptions. Alex (the other QB) threw five. Add 2 fumbles on top of that and you get the final score: 50-6. We do not need to talk about this anymore.
But in the end, it worked out nicely. For one thing the second place medal looks a lot cooler than the first place one. Second, losing made people realize that we are not invincible and there are teams that are a lot better than us which is an incredible motivator. And last of all losing put us in a better bracket for the playoffs. Bwhahahaha.
On a totally unrelated note, I finally got accepted to the U of I. Also got an apartment now and will be living at in the 500 block of South van Buren. Coolio.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Strange Days In Spain (And Portugal)
Well well well... I suppose it is about time I got off my butt (or rather sit on it) and write about my trip. And as a special bonus because I took so long to write, I will be including a bunch of other things including but not limited to:
A Football Game!
A Ski Trip!
THE ZOO!
So our trip began on the 8th and finished on the 17th. To our collective surprise, we only had one chaperon: David. Before I say anymore I should say that David was/is the man. He let us do more or less what we wanted and we collectively responded by more or less behaving ourselves. That trip could have been terrible if he had decided to be a turd. But he was not, so it was good.
Our first stop was Granada. To be honest, I did not life Granada that much. Basically all we saw there was El Alhambra and the hotel. El Alhambra was very cool, but so huge that by the end we kind of just wanted to finish and go take a nap.
After Granada we went to Sevilla, but on the way we stopped in Córdoba to see La Mexquita. La Mexquita is a greek temple that was converted into a Christian church, then into a mosque, and later converted into a cathedral. So it is a huge jumble of every type of architecture that has existed in the last 2000 years. Probably my favorite thing that we saw just because the contrast between the different styles was so huge was so huge. Especially when we got to Cathedral part. When we got to Sevilla it was already late so it was not until the next day that we started our touring and my personal high point of the trip occurred: I successfully recognized the palace from the planet Naboo in Star Wars. No one believed me when I said it was there, then the guide was like "Hey! You kids know George Lucas?" I would not shut up about that moment for the rest of the trip. All in all Sevilla was my favorite city even though I am totally unable to say exactly WHY it is.
After Sevilla it was off to Portugal. We spent the night just south of Lisbon right on the coast in a 4-star hotel. It was sweet. That night of chilling on a peer on the Portuguese coast talking with great people was by far one of the best in my life. The next day we crossed the River Tajo to Lisbon and spent 2 and a half days there making day trips to the surrounding area. It was nice, but I definitely preferred Spain. Portugal was basically like Spain, only less interesting and Portuguese speaking...
When we got back to Spain we went to Merida, Salamanca, and Cáceres. By this time everything is kind of jumbled up in my mind due to a severe lack of sleep. However, I can say that it was a very good time, and I was extremely happy to be back in Spain where I could talk to the waiters.
A couple days after I got back we had our third game which was also our first away game. ...5 people did not show up... Many of which were starters... So we had people playing positions that had never played that position before and even some that had flat out never played before. Best part? We still won. My personal low point was the interception that I threw. Luckily the very next play I intercepted the ball and ran in back 70-ish yards for a touchdown to give us the lead which we held for the rest of the game. Other than that it was not quite as fun as the other games though. Boo that. Final Score: 18-10
The Monday after the game I went skiing with Guillermo and some of his friends. The second time down I fell bad and screwed up my knee pretty hardcore. It hurt. Bad. Walking was... interesting.
So after I back from the Rotary trip, I only had 4 days of school-3 actually considering I skipped one to go skiing-until vacations for Semana Santa which just ended this Tuesday. During Semana Santa I:
Went to the zoo.
Ate the best beef I have ever eaten.
Went to the house of the abuelos way out in the country which involved driving on an extremely long, curvy, and bumpy road when I was already sick
And much more.
Our next football game is on Sunday and if we win this one we will have won la liga madrileña. So it will a hard game. Maybe I will let you all know about it less than three weeks later. haha.
Good night world.
A Football Game!
A Ski Trip!
THE ZOO!
So our trip began on the 8th and finished on the 17th. To our collective surprise, we only had one chaperon: David. Before I say anymore I should say that David was/is the man. He let us do more or less what we wanted and we collectively responded by more or less behaving ourselves. That trip could have been terrible if he had decided to be a turd. But he was not, so it was good.
Our first stop was Granada. To be honest, I did not life Granada that much. Basically all we saw there was El Alhambra and the hotel. El Alhambra was very cool, but so huge that by the end we kind of just wanted to finish and go take a nap.
After Granada we went to Sevilla, but on the way we stopped in Córdoba to see La Mexquita. La Mexquita is a greek temple that was converted into a Christian church, then into a mosque, and later converted into a cathedral. So it is a huge jumble of every type of architecture that has existed in the last 2000 years. Probably my favorite thing that we saw just because the contrast between the different styles was so huge was so huge. Especially when we got to Cathedral part. When we got to Sevilla it was already late so it was not until the next day that we started our touring and my personal high point of the trip occurred: I successfully recognized the palace from the planet Naboo in Star Wars. No one believed me when I said it was there, then the guide was like "Hey! You kids know George Lucas?" I would not shut up about that moment for the rest of the trip. All in all Sevilla was my favorite city even though I am totally unable to say exactly WHY it is.
After Sevilla it was off to Portugal. We spent the night just south of Lisbon right on the coast in a 4-star hotel. It was sweet. That night of chilling on a peer on the Portuguese coast talking with great people was by far one of the best in my life. The next day we crossed the River Tajo to Lisbon and spent 2 and a half days there making day trips to the surrounding area. It was nice, but I definitely preferred Spain. Portugal was basically like Spain, only less interesting and Portuguese speaking...
When we got back to Spain we went to Merida, Salamanca, and Cáceres. By this time everything is kind of jumbled up in my mind due to a severe lack of sleep. However, I can say that it was a very good time, and I was extremely happy to be back in Spain where I could talk to the waiters.
A couple days after I got back we had our third game which was also our first away game. ...5 people did not show up... Many of which were starters... So we had people playing positions that had never played that position before and even some that had flat out never played before. Best part? We still won. My personal low point was the interception that I threw. Luckily the very next play I intercepted the ball and ran in back 70-ish yards for a touchdown to give us the lead which we held for the rest of the game. Other than that it was not quite as fun as the other games though. Boo that. Final Score: 18-10
The Monday after the game I went skiing with Guillermo and some of his friends. The second time down I fell bad and screwed up my knee pretty hardcore. It hurt. Bad. Walking was... interesting.
So after I back from the Rotary trip, I only had 4 days of school-3 actually considering I skipped one to go skiing-until vacations for Semana Santa which just ended this Tuesday. During Semana Santa I:
Went to the zoo.
Ate the best beef I have ever eaten.
Went to the house of the abuelos way out in the country which involved driving on an extremely long, curvy, and bumpy road when I was already sick
And much more.
Our next football game is on Sunday and if we win this one we will have won la liga madrileña. So it will a hard game. Maybe I will let you all know about it less than three weeks later. haha.
Good night world.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Later
So this isnt so much an update as a notification.
1) No game this Sunday. Apparently the other team had problems with their field. Boo them.
2) I am going to Portugal. And as such, I will not have a computer until I get back on the 17th.
Hasta entonces.
1) No game this Sunday. Apparently the other team had problems with their field. Boo them.
2) I am going to Portugal. And as such, I will not have a computer until I get back on the 17th.
Hasta entonces.
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