UNIVERSIDAD de OVIEDO

Week #1 (4/4/08-4/8/08)

After an amazing time traveling with Brittany the past two weeks, it is once again time to start studying. I do not feel very apprehensive towards starting school here in Spain due to the fact that I have looked forward to this moment for the past four-to-five months. My speaking ability slowly left me while studying in Alemania, but I have no reservations that I will be able to get it back and also improve upon it.

On Monday all of us new students walked with Reme, one of the coordinators for the AHA International Study Abroad program, to the Universidad de Oviedo so that we could take our placement test and begin our orientation. Upon arriving to the campus I felt very relieved that I was finally here! We walked into the auditorium where the other new students were sitting and the Universidad language staff was waiting to start the orientation program.

Almost immediately, the director of the foreign language program started speaking in Spanish to all of us, not slowing down for anything. I will give the credit for being very articulate and speaking well! Soon after he was done talking we started our placement test. Just sitting in our seats trying to remember everything we could. I found myself quite pleased with how well I did. It was a test that had some very advanced material on it and I felt as though I got some of that stuff right rather than a lot of the easier material!!!

After being placed within our respective courses, we all left with our professors to meet them and go over what we will be covering in class throughout the month. To give you a brief background about my professor, his name is Victor. He is married and has one newborn son. At this point, I feel very thankful to have him as a professor. Not only have I heard great things about him, I have got to experience some of his humor already. He loves to use Santa Clause as an example when explaining certain things to us!

Throughout this week in class I felt very welcomed. All of the professors, including Victor are very nice and are willing to help you in any way possible. Other than the other American students that are in my class, there are also some students from Alemania. There are a few others from Austria, France, and some other neighboring European countries. I feel as though it is a very good mix of students.

Our first official weekend as students of the Universidad de Oviedo, we went on an excursion that the Universidad had planned for us. Throughout the term we have three such excursions, all taking place on Saturday of each week. The school rents a couple buses for all of us students that are attending the language courses during the summer so that we can make our way to some very neat places within Asturias. This week our excursion took us to the towns/cities of Coaña and Luarca. They are both beautiful beach towns with amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean. One of the neat things about these excursions is that a couple of our professors join us for the day. They will give us some history about the city we are visiting and tell us some cool places to see/visit and then let us do as we please! And if you think any English is being spoken, you’re wrong! Nothing but Spanish from the professors!

We arrived back in Oviedo around 7:00pm and had to immediately get ready for the ESPICHA! The Espicha is the welcoming party that the Universidad throws for all the foreign language students. They rented out one of the popular sidrarias here in Oviedo to host our party. The Espicha included all the students from my program in Oregon, the German students, and the other various groups of students from the neighboring countries. This event was something that all of us looked forward to throughout the whole first week….we all had great anticipation! There was live Celtic music, all the tapas you could eat and all the wine/sidra/sangria that you could drink! On top of that, all of our professors were there to witness us students take advantage of free food and drinks….catastrophe waiting to happen! It ended up being a very fun night in which a lot of us got to know our professors, the other students, and the city quite a bit better!

7/13/2008

I didn’t have all that much Sangria last night and it was still difficult to get out of bed this morning J!

Today I hung out with my friend from school and some of her friends who are currently studying in the same program here in Oviedo. In talking to them about their classes thus far, they all say they are happy with the program and the way that they are being taught. Each one of them truly feels as though they are learning a lot!

7/12/2008

Today I spent more time at one of the internet cafes in town trying to get in contact with my friend from school. Finally I got directions to the student housing and made my way over there. This is the same student housing that I will be staying at during my term in August.

After spending a couple hours using the internet at the housing, we all went out to have some “Sangria” and then to the bars. Sangria is a sweet red wine that is served in a glass pitcher. Within the pitcher along with the Sangria are thin slices of oranges and lemons. It’s a good drink, but one that you would not want to have a lot of…..! A lot of sangria equals an adventurous night and an awful next morning!

Typical of Spain, we started our night at around 12am at one of the local Sangria bars. From there we made our way to different bars around downtown Oviedo. As the night went on, I started to notice that partying in Spain doesn’t really start until around 2am. We all eventually decided to call it a night around 4am!

7/11/2008

My first full day in Oviedo consisted of me mulling around my flat trying to entertain myself and also wandering around town trying to find a lavadoria and an internet café. Luckily I found both! Funny thing is that when you ask the Spaniards where an internet café is they look at you as though you have just cursed! They obviously do not call them internet cafes here in Espana!

Reme, the homestay coordinator from the University of Oviedo came to pick me up for some afternoon coffee. She is a very nice woman in her 50’s I believe. However, she does not speak english! We went out for some coffee and a short tour of the city. I was surprised with how well I did communicating with her. After being in Germany for the past three months, I really have not forgotten all that much Spanish. It’s just difficult to put a grammatically correct sentence together!

The landlord of the apartment/flat that I am staying is a very nice woman. Her mother, an 80 year old motor mouth, comes over every day around lunch time to clean. Me calling her motor mouth stems from her speaking to me as though I was born and raised in Spain. She talks a mile a minute! I am grateful that she comes over to clean my room
and make my bed everyday.

I have a friend from Oregon State that is studying in Oviedo during July. So I spent much of my day trying to get in touch with her. It was problematic due to not having a phone! And after a few uses of the pay phones, you start to become broke….those things eat your money up like its nothing!

7/10/2008

Wooden benches don’t have to much give in them! Both Scott and I woke up around 7am. He headed out to catch the early train back to Barcelona so he could continue with his traveling before he returned home. I went inside the station and found a nice comfy seat in which I sat in for the next few hours until my train was to arrive.

I specifically remember talking to a ticket agent the night before when we were stranded at the Zaragoza train station about whether or not I would need a reservation for the train to Oviedo. He told me I would not need one; that my euro rail pass is sufficient. Well when it came time to board the train the conductor asked for my ticket and I showed him my pass. He immediately started raising his voice and telling me in Spanish to go get a reservation. At this point I was beside myself and so pissed off that I could not gather any Spanish words together to reply to him. So I went ahead and raised my voice in my mother tongue haha! He was not too pleased!! After some pointless arguing the conductor stepped onto the train and shut the door in my face. At that very moment the thought about spending another night on wooden bench began to cross my mind.

Luckily I stayed calm and found a bus that departed at 1:15pm from Zaragoza. What ensued was an 8 hour bus ride to Oviedo. I’m happy to say that I survived the eight hours and am now here in Oviedo! The only beneficial thing about the bus ride was that I got to see a lot more of the country than I would have if I had taken the train. Where the scenery started to get really impressive was when we entered the state of Asturias or the Pyrenees Mountains. The tall mountains, trees, and lakes remind me somewhat of the Sierras. If anybody ever has the chance to visit the Pyrenees Mountains, do it, they are beautiful!

7/9/2008

After spending the night in Barcelona, we woke up early to catch a train to Pamplona. What we thought was going to be a rather quick journey to Pamplona ended up being a strenuous/tiring one. Our train from Barcelona departed around 9am and was to arrive in Zaragoza around 10:30am. Well it took us until 2:30pm to arrive in Zaragoza! Arriving this late meant that we missed our connection to Pamplona. While in Zaragoza we were told that we needed to take the train that departed two and a half hours later. So we waited around and boarded the train. What we were told and also thought was to going take us to Pamplona ended up being a train ride for people coming from Pamplona heading back to Barcelona. The train basically took us out to the middle of nowhere so the people heading back to Barcelona could switch trains and board one that would take them the rest of the way to Barcelona. When the train stopped to make its connection in the loneliest city within Spain, I asked the conductor if we needed to change. He replied to me that we were on the correct train. We watched the majority of the people get off and board the other train. As our train departed I asked the conductor once again where the train was headed. He replied, “Zaragoza!” I could not believe it!!! In all, we spent around 10 hours on the trains today, making it only halfway to our destination! On top of spending all that time on a train, the conductor of the train that we boarded in Zaragoza told me that we are on the correct train if we would like to go to Pamplona!!! This guy was full of it all afternoon! Our day was doomed from the moment we set foot on that first train in Barcelona!

Upon arriving back in Zaragoza, we got something to eat and then scouted for a place to sleep within the train station. Eventually at 12:00am we got kicked out and had to move outside. There we found wooden benches that looked more comfy than anything else around. I am sad to say that this is my second time sleeping at a train station during my stay here in Europe. I hope it was my last!

7/8/2008

Yet another travel day! Spent on a train from Nice to Barcelona! I had been warned by a few friends that the rail system within Spain is not the best….well I should have believed them! Our last connection at Port Bou (I think at the border of Spain and France) we boarded our final train. This train was neither the best looking train nor the fastest looking train! The seats were simply plastic covered in fabric…made for an excellent seatJ! We happened to be on this train for about 3 hours…!

At this point in the journey it was finally starting to set in that I am actually in Spain! It is refreshing to be here, knowing that I can finally start furthering my speaking ability without feeling some sort of awkwardness!