I haven't taken a ton yet, but here are some of what I have for all to see!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Pleased in Puerto Rico
It'll be a short post today, but it was just a great day! I got up, put on my pants and found $5 in my pocket, got a fridge that I was 100% not expecting, got my classes switched around so I have a new schedule, got an id photo taken, got my mailbox all set up, went to class, loved my 2nd class (Acquisition of Teaching English as a 2nd Language), did my homework, got grocies I CAN REFRIGERATE, and am now messing around online wishin' her silly boyfriend wasn't at work tonight. :)
A few people asked for my address, so I'll go on and post it on here in case anyone wants to send letters, presents, etc. I hope everyone is having a great day (and for you Kentuckians complaining about that snow storm, I would have loved being in snow today...so darn hot!)
Alexandria Bivin
PMB 219
PO BOX 5100
San German, PR 00683-9801
A few people asked for my address, so I'll go on and post it on here in case anyone wants to send letters, presents, etc. I hope everyone is having a great day (and for you Kentuckians complaining about that snow storm, I would have loved being in snow today...so darn hot!)
Alexandria Bivin
PMB 219
PO BOX 5100
San German, PR 00683-9801
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Puerto Rican Peanuts
I learned a very important weekend lesson my first Saturday here; getting bored and eating the majority of a can of peanuts, then followed by some peanut butter, then ending with an apple and peanut butter does not present a very enjoyable experience in the morning.
Regarding the weekends here, saying that the majority of people go home is an understatement. There are less than 20 people that stay on the weekends and the rest go home to visit family. The good part about this is there are less girls screaming from the fifth floor to the first floor trying to get people's attention.
Some of our girls went on a trip this weekend to Ponce, about an hour from here. Kristi and myself hung out here, as the details were a tad too sketchy for us. All of the girls may now be planning a weekend to San Juan this coming weekend, but I feel like a chicken for being the one hesitant to go (and the poor one who doesn't wanna pay for a hotel room). With no classes on Friday the weekends last a bit longer, which will be nicer once I get to meet some more people. This weekend consisted of chilling in coffee shops and bars, walking around downtown, catching up on the Office online, oh yea, and that thing called homework.
Other than that not too much has happened here. Ricardo is planning a group trip to the beach on Feb. 5th, so everyone's pretty stoked about that. I've tried to start taking some pics, but don't have enough to upload yet. Hopefully soon.
And as an ending, while no surprise, it is still a good 2 million degrees here and the coke in the shower trick is not as successful as I was hoping.
Regarding the weekends here, saying that the majority of people go home is an understatement. There are less than 20 people that stay on the weekends and the rest go home to visit family. The good part about this is there are less girls screaming from the fifth floor to the first floor trying to get people's attention.
Some of our girls went on a trip this weekend to Ponce, about an hour from here. Kristi and myself hung out here, as the details were a tad too sketchy for us. All of the girls may now be planning a weekend to San Juan this coming weekend, but I feel like a chicken for being the one hesitant to go (and the poor one who doesn't wanna pay for a hotel room). With no classes on Friday the weekends last a bit longer, which will be nicer once I get to meet some more people. This weekend consisted of chilling in coffee shops and bars, walking around downtown, catching up on the Office online, oh yea, and that thing called homework.
Other than that not too much has happened here. Ricardo is planning a group trip to the beach on Feb. 5th, so everyone's pretty stoked about that. I've tried to start taking some pics, but don't have enough to upload yet. Hopefully soon.
And as an ending, while no surprise, it is still a good 2 million degrees here and the coke in the shower trick is not as successful as I was hoping.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Problems in Paradise
While the island is stunningly gorgeous, it seems some problems have arose since I have been here. Perhaps it was when part of my luggage got left in another city and I had to return to the airport to get it, or when I walked into my room and realized that there was no AC and no fan. Either way, I went to classes today and realized what could've been the worst thing in awhile...I could not understand anything the teacher was saying. And not just in one class, but both of them!
As it turns out, the Spanish I have been learning all of my life is "mexico spanish" which is formal and actually uses the tenses that have been drilled into my head for so long. Now the problem with Puerto Rican spanish is that they are not formal at all. In fact, it's similar to Kentucky english...whatcha doin'? i'll see y'all later, etc. In summary, I did not understand a thing today and am now stuck on what to do next.
In other news, the city I am in is gorgeous. It's very hilly and green. The students all seem very nice, the ones I can understand at least. The campus buildings are very spread out so it's definitely a nice walk to get place to place. And the hills only add to the excitement. But the view outside my window is easily my favorite thing so far. There is an older building to the left with a forest surrounding it all, red flowers in many of the trees. To the right you can see the buildings of downtown, more trees, and the campus church, which has a steeple that completes the scenery. Dorm-wise I have no roommate and am in a 4 person dorm with a shower that has 2 temperatures: scalding hot and freezing cold. It makes it fun to switch back and forth between the temperatures really quickly during bath time.
But back to the scenery. The majority of downtown San German is comprised of older building and cobblestone streets. There are some restaurants, a few bars, etc. The majority of shopping is a short drive away in Mayaguez. You can catch a ride there on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, but that's about it. It's absolutely gorgeous here, though the heat could be a little less. :)
In summary, this is the start of the trip, who know where it will go from here.
As it turns out, the Spanish I have been learning all of my life is "mexico spanish" which is formal and actually uses the tenses that have been drilled into my head for so long. Now the problem with Puerto Rican spanish is that they are not formal at all. In fact, it's similar to Kentucky english...whatcha doin'? i'll see y'all later, etc. In summary, I did not understand a thing today and am now stuck on what to do next.
In other news, the city I am in is gorgeous. It's very hilly and green. The students all seem very nice, the ones I can understand at least. The campus buildings are very spread out so it's definitely a nice walk to get place to place. And the hills only add to the excitement. But the view outside my window is easily my favorite thing so far. There is an older building to the left with a forest surrounding it all, red flowers in many of the trees. To the right you can see the buildings of downtown, more trees, and the campus church, which has a steeple that completes the scenery. Dorm-wise I have no roommate and am in a 4 person dorm with a shower that has 2 temperatures: scalding hot and freezing cold. It makes it fun to switch back and forth between the temperatures really quickly during bath time.
But back to the scenery. The majority of downtown San German is comprised of older building and cobblestone streets. There are some restaurants, a few bars, etc. The majority of shopping is a short drive away in Mayaguez. You can catch a ride there on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, but that's about it. It's absolutely gorgeous here, though the heat could be a little less. :)
In summary, this is the start of the trip, who know where it will go from here.
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