El Fin de Semana Con Clara! ^^

I’m actually going to be on top of my game for once and write not but one, but two whole blogs in a single week! Whoa! In all honesty, my body just to decided to be an insomniac, so I’m currently starting this blog at approximately 6 AM in the morning.

I wanted to give the events in this post some special attention because of how much fun I had. As mentioned in my previous blog (which I’m sure you all read with vigorous enthusiasm), I recently had been in contact with our classmate from Biomechanics class, Clara, a bit more. She is very hard-core into triathlons, so while we were at coffee the other day, I told her that I wanted to watch one of her competitions if I could. Well, it just so happened that this past weekend (May 14ish) she was going to have one near her home, which was near Malaga. After figuring out my plans, I asked her if it was still okay if I came along for the weekend. My inquiries were met with a resounding, “Claro que sí!!!!!” Mind you, plans weren’t finalized until Wednesday (obviously), so I packed my bags that night, met Clara after class on Thursday and away we went! Since she had a car, we were able to drive ourselves and arrive in around 1 hour and 15 minutes. We chatted the entire way there, in both English and Spanish, getting to know a little more about each other with each minute that passed. She lives in a town called Mezquitilla which is about 35 minutes away from Malaga. I was beyond excited to get away for a while, experience a real Spanish home, work on my linguistic skills, and meet more people! When we arrived we were greeted by Clara’s dad and dog, Duna. We unloaded our things and I was given a tour of their beautiful home, one that they designed with the architectures themselves. While getting a tour of the house, I noticed they had a piano. I told them that I took lessons a long time ago so they asked me to play. Clara's sister had a little sheet music so I sat down and played for a bit. Man, did that feel good! Yes there definitely mistakes made, but I've realized that I'm just a happier person with music in my life so
getting to plunk out a few notes was very therapeutic for me. After checking our e-mails, we gave my mom a call at school to introduce her to Clara via phone—fun! Clara’s sister Berta, who is my age, was also home. She is studying to be a translator at the University of Malaga, so her English was quite good. The two girls and I sat around the kitchen table for a while and chatted over tea, hot chocolate drinks and galletas. Around 8 PM, Clara took me to a town nearby called Torre del Mar, which is located right on the beach and is frequented by a lot of Europeans during the summer season. It is a cute little place that has many local shops, pretty scenery, and of course, the ocean. As we walked, she bought me Orchata, a drink native to Spain. This beverage is a blend of a ground up chufa nut, water, sugar, and cinnamon ingredients that create a cold, smoothie textured drink! This was a mighty tasty treat and I got to watch the waves roll onto shore—what a memory. Keeping in tune with the real Spanish culture, we headed back around 10 PM to have dinner with her family. Her mom, Lucia, is a pediatrician in Torre del Mar so the late dinner hour, suits her job perfectly. We had some lasagna that her mom had made the day before, and I was glad to see that other families indulge in leftovers like mine does! It was so awesome to sit at the dinner table with them and just listen. They didn’t hesitate to include me in the conversation either, which made me feel welcome and at home.

We woke up the next morning and had a traditional Spanish breakfast: coffee with a tostada with real ground tomato paste and olive oil. Clara thought it was really funny that I filled almost my entire mug with actual coffee, leaving just a bit of room for a splash of milk. I told her that Jen and my dad drink their coffee without anything in it and she looked aghast. After breakfast, we got ready and headed out for a little sight-seeing. First we went to Nerja and got some pictures, then she took me to Frijiliana, which is a traditional looking Spanish pueblo (town). It was located on the mountainside, complete with all white houses and cobblestone streets which was quite breath-taking. We returned home for lunch with the family at about 2:30, which consisted of main course lasagna, always a side of baguette-like bread, and her parents had a small glass of red wine with each meal. This was followed by siesta-ing, and finally taking a short run on the beach in Torre del Mar. Despite the fact that her ‘slow jog’ was probably my race pace, I think I kept up alright. We came back and had dinner with the family again at 11:00 PM! Late!

Clara and I worked on each other's language throughout the weekend. We both carried a pocket sized notebook around wherever we went and were continuously writing down new phrases or words we were learning from each other!

Saturday morning I told Clara I wanted to return the favor for making me Spanish breakfast, so I made her a little omelet with veggies and toast! It seemed American enough to me. J Then we were off for more Spain sight-seeing, going to Madrid for the day with Clara’s sister Berta. We ate at a bocadillo (sandwich) place and walked around the city, seeing different things like the Malaga Cathedral, some Roman theatre ruins, the newly refurbished port of Malaga with its astounding architecture and interactive play park, and a Tetería, or tea/café stop. We returned home, laid on the beach for a bit, then came home and relaxed so Clara could get some rest for her competition the next morning.

Sunday was race day! We woke up and were getting ready to go to the competition, when one of Clara’s friends called her, telling her that her race, which she was told began at noon actually started at 10:30! We kicked into high gear, grabbed the equipment she needed, and hopped in the car for the 50 minute ride doing my make-up and drinking my coffee on the way. After arriving, in less than 50 minutes mind you, she had to quickly leave me to get all of her things set up for the race. So, I wandered around aimlessly until I found her Mom and we went to the beach side to get ready to be Clara’s very own paparazzi. The entire competition was soooooo cool! Seeing these women brave the waves (you like that rhyming?!), then continue to bike and run was beyond impressing. Doing a triathlon has definitely been put on my bucket list for life!

After the triathlon, we all went out to eat at one of their favorite restaurants in Torre del Mar. Clara ordered for me because I had no idea what I was doing and I got to taste some fantastic authentic
Spanish cuisine including sarichozo, and more names of differently prepared ham that I have no clue how to pronounce or spell. We got home, relaxed a little bit, then packed up our stuff to head on home. I was sad to see such a wonderful end-I truly had a blast! The ride home ended up taking twice
as long due to traffic, but we couldn't be bothered because we were jamming out to a Glee CD I made for her before we hit the road. Much to my utmost horror, she had never heard of Glee and as most of you
know, this just can't do if you are a part of my life! No worries, she's been 'Gleeked.'

If you hadn’t noticed by the crazy amount I have written in this post, I had a GREAT weekend with Clara. I am so glad to have met her and know she will be a friend of mine for life. She’s even thinking of coming to visit when I return in July…YAY!

Torre del Mar

Orchata!

Frijiliana

Notice my hand is ahead. I win.

Duna the dog, soaking up some rays.

In Malaga with the girls for the day.

Malaga Cathedral

The interactive play park.

Clara y yo.

Ready, set, GO!

Whizzing by on the bike.

Headed to the finish!

My little tri-athlete.

I got to dive into the Spanish culture a bit more and attend a professional indoor futbol game. A few of the playeres come into get treated at my clinic, so Mariano asked me if I wanted to go see a game. I took both of the girls to the Saturday evening match and let me tell you, it was unlike any soccer game I´ve ever seen! It´s a lot more fun to watch a sporting event in which you know some of those who are playing. Indoor futbol uses a smaller field and the teams play 5 on 5. The ball itself is a little smaller, to coincide with the decreased playing field dimensions. This particular game requires a lot more explosive power and refined ball-handling technique. The rules are slightly different regarding yellow and red card regulations all while utilizing hockey´s power play rule after someone gets a red card. I can´t believe how intense this game gets! In total, there were 7 yellow and 3 red cards given throughout the match, along with a lot of yelling, cheering, and screaming from both the crowd and the playeres. The Granada team prevailed, however, winning the match 2-0 and ultimately becoming the champions of the league for the regular season! They play back in Granada in a few weeks and I´m planning on attending the game.

Things at the internship are continuing to run smoothly. I am starting to remember specific modality parameters for different patients, which in itself is a small victory since the words, ´paperwork´and ´documentation´ don´t seem to exist here. They are also giving me a little bit of free reign with patients and modalities. For example,  a soccer player came in with a grade 2 ATF sprain and his foot looked like a giant black and blue balloon. After inquiring when the initial incident took place, I discovered he was 5 days post-incident. I about lost it, but maintained my composure, knowing it´s not my place to question how his treatment plan was being executed. What I did do, however, was massage and ice him on elevation while educating him on the importance of using the classic RICE concept to get the blood and swelling out of the area. He´s slowly improving, but I´m not sure if he´s taking my RICE advice to heart! On a different, yet completely awesome note, I got to hold a 1.5 month old baby at the clinic this past week. She and her dad came in and, me loving the interaction with youngins as I do, I naturally walked over to her. After holding her for a solid 15 minutes, I came to find out she was the daughter of one of the professional outdoor Granada futbol players - COOL!

As a part of our attempt to internationalize Athletic Training, G had set us up for an interview with ´The Chronicle,´a magazine for higher education based out of Washington D.C. The two girls and I sat down and Skyped with out interviewer, Karen, to share a bit about our background stories, and experiences here thus far. In addition tot he article, they hired a free-lance photographer to get pictures of us in action working with the patients at the clinic. Let´s just say I never want to be a celebrity and deal with paparazzi! The photographer was at my clinic for the entire 4 hours I worked on Thursday and he was constantly snapping pictures of me. I mean, I like the spotlight just as much as the next person, but that was a bit excessive. Having the photographer there was also an open invitation for my co-workers to tease me all day about being ´famous.´At least I couldn´t understand all of their jokes. I took it all in stride and was a good sport about it, but I better get some good pictures out of the deal!

This past week we were hosts for yet another visitor, Jen´s mom! She arrived on Thursday and stayed for 6 days. Sandy came bearing many gifts, most of them in the form of food like Tootsie Roll treats, and ingredients to cook us dinner. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with fajitas, beans, chips, salsa, guacamole, and to top it off, cervezas! Then the night before she left we got treated to a standard American dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, salad, and some ice cream cake for dessert. If it´s possible, I miss home-cooked meals more now than when in La Crosse. Both of the dinners were absolutely scrumptious. On Saturday, Jen and her mom invited me to join them in going to Parque de las Ciencias, a well known museum in Granada. It has everything from animal to anatomy exhibits and it is HUGE! Even though a lot of the information was written in Spanish, there were quite a few displays with multiple languages including English, so I´d like to say that I did a fine job in culturing and education myself that day. I plan on taking my family when they come to visit in June, so more details of this great place will come then. (Actually, I just have waaaaay too much stuff to talk about in this blog, and I don´t want you all to have to miss out on life, or work, just to read this - unless of course that´s the kind of excuse you´ve been looking for, then by all means go for it!).

A few Spanish interactions have also taken place in my life over the last couple of days. First, I had to give my very first presentation completely in Spanish! **Note: if you´re still debating being late for work, like, or anything productive, I highly recommend you stay put because this next story is pretty entertaining, mostly at the expense of myself.** Well, this particular presentation was for my Theory and History of Sport class (Teoría y Historía de Deporte for all you bilinguals) and my two other group members, along with myself, had to give a presentation based on an article about Hely Hutchinson Almond of Scotland, who bought and made a name for the Loretto boarding school there. The article itself was in English (thank God!) so at least I was able to easily understand the section they assigned me to read and analyze. The difficult part, however, was to translate what I read back into Spanish, and have it make not only chronological and grammatical sense, but to have it not sound like I was a 1st grader speaking Spanish in front of an audience for the first time in my life. I created a Power Point with slides of what I wanted to talk about and then I proceeded to write out everything I was going to say on a piece of paper that I was planning on having in front of me while I was giving my part of the presentation. When the writing preparations were all said and done, I practiced speaking my part in front of Jen and Karrie for the next few days. The day of the presentation finally came, or so I thought. That particular Thursday, the professor decided to show up to class 15 minutes late and the group ahead of us felt like it would be a great idea to essentially have us read a book on the projector, rather then summarize their article on Power Point slides. Therefore, we ran out of time and I was to present that following day on Friday. We normally have class on Tuesday instead of Friday but the professor switched the days so the students could celebrate yet another Spanish holiday, La Día de la Cruz. Can you tell I was super excited to give my presentation on a Friday, when I usually have no class?! Anyway, Karrie was going camping and Jen was with her Mom, so I was the only one going to Theory on Friday. I arrived a little early so I could get some last minute practice in. I found my group members and we were waiting in the lobby of our building, and it just seemed like a ton of people were entering and waiting around like we were, so I asked my group member, Gustavo, why there were so many people. "Oh," he said, "because this is a make up class, both of the sections are meeting today." Wait, WHAT?! You mean that instead of presenting in front of the 50ish people that I'm already freaking out about, I will be standing in front of double that amount?! To make matters worse, I saw my professor start heading toward the auditorium. You mean that I have to present in front of twice the amount of people, in a room twice the size, on stage?!?!?! The fact that I didn't wet myself right then and there was a miracle in itself. Not only that, but we were the very last group to present our article, giving me a good hour to sit in my seat and do everything possible to prevent a nervous breakdown. We all know that I've been on stage numerous times before, but at that point I would have rather sung anything, rather than have to speak in Spanish. Finally, it was our turn. I stood up, held onto the podium for dear life, and began my part. It went okay with just a few stumbles here and there. I even got to say a quote by Almond in English! Our professor must have really liked it because we got the word, "Excelente!" said to us three times in a row. He also complimented me on how I presented the English quote. Yessss!

Just a couple more things, I promise. This past Sunday morning, Karrie and I ventured to the Sunday market for the first time. It's filled with a lot of brand name clothes and shoes for cheap, along with a lot of fresh produce! We're hoping to go back and peruse a bit more in a few weeks, when we get a chance. As you all know, and I'm sure celebrated, Sunday was also Mother's Day. I had the wonderful opportunity to Skype with my mother on that day after she ran her first 5K since 1980! I am so proud of her! I also got to chat with my fabulous sister, whom she ran with, and my grandparents. What a treat! Later on in the day, I was finally able to call the Weinberger's and talk with everyone in the family. It was so awesome to hear each of their voices since I haven't talked to them since I left. All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday! I also went to coffee with a classmate of ours, Clara, who knows English. A few weeks after we first arrived, she approached us and said that if we needed help with anything for our Biomechanics class, that we should not hesitate to ask. We then became 'Facebook official' friends and continued to keep in touch. On Tuesday, we decided to meet for coffee just to hang out! It was very cool to see how easily we were able to flip back between Spanish and English, helping each other with their respective languages. She and I also seemed to just click! I will definitely be spending more time with her.

Shout out to my brother and all those who are going to be graduating in a couple weeks. Hang in there - you're almost done!

Besos,
Nana

Penalty shot at the indoor game.

If this guy wouldn't have stood up to cheer, this would have been a great shot. Rafi doing his thing!

This is what I say when I looked out my apartment window one night after my internship.

Aerial view of Granada from a tower in Parque de las Ciencias.

Semana Santa

Hola from Espana once again! As we progress into our 11th week, I'm still plugging away here in Granada.

To say that I was exhausted after the first week of our internship is a complete understatement. My brain felt like mush because of all the active thinking I'd had to do. I was certainly ready for our spring break that was scheduled for the next week. I needed a rest! We started the weekend off with a perfect event for relaxing, a picnic with sunbathing at our friend Petra's house! She introduced me to a new yummy Spanish cuisine called Gazpacho. It's a tomato based soup that's traditionally served cold and is quite delicious! The afternoon was filled with good conversation and soaking up some warm Vitamin D.

Karrie and I had to end the picnic a little earlier because we had a soccer game to attend! During the week at my internship, Mariano, my tutor, asked me if I liked futbol. After I replied with yes, he proceeded to ask me if I wanted tickets to the game which just happened to be the upcoming weekend. I think my energetic, resounding, "SI!!!" was enough to confirm that I'd love to go. So that next day Mariano presented me with two tickets for the game that Saturday. It was definitely a great memorable experience! Karrie and I had initially planned on riding a bus to the stadium, but we weren't sure which bus to take, so we ended up catching a taxi. After getting through the gates, we attempted to look for our seats, to no avail. Absolutely NOTHING is labeled in the stadium. So after roaming around aimlessly and asking various people, we decided just to walk down as close to the sidelines as we could, find two open seats, and grab them! We ended up getting to second row. Our plan to avoid any stern ticket checkers was to bat our eyes and smile. That's always a solid plan, right?! Good thing the Spaniards are ridiculously relaxed because we had no trouble at all. It was a scorching afternoon but that didn't stop the fans from screaming their heads off or the players from giving the fans a good game. I'm surprised I didn't have ringing in my ears for the next couple of days, hearing the uproar of the crowd after Granada would score. The Spanish definitely love their soccer! I remember leaning over to Karrie saying that I kind of wanted an injury to take place, just so we could see what it was like. Well, luck was on my side, because there was a fantastic collision between two of the players that resulted in one of the Granada team members to be taken out on a stretcher, in which we later learned was a definite broken nose. It was cool to see and I was most definitely 'that person' standing up to get a better view while I also took pictures, haha. Granada still ended up winning 2-0 and I'm so glad I got to go!

Our Semana Santa ("Holy Week") spring break began that following Monday with me working at my internship for the first half of the week. Slowly but surely my Spanish is improving. Speaking a different language involves accessing a completely different part of your brain, one that's pretty rusty in my noggin'. But the gears in my head are gradually getting greased and I'm starting to be more conversant with everyone instead of being that awkward kid in the corner. My coworkers and I have begun to establish a relationship, telling one another about our lives outside of the clinic. I told them that I really enjoy theatre and singing even though that that is something quite different from Athletic Training. I probably should've kept my mouth shut because after numerous attempts of nagging, I told them I would sing for them. So, one afternoon, I swallowed my nervousness and whipped out the only Spanish song I know from church, 'Pescador de Hombres' for Mariano. No words, no music, just me. I guess he must have enjoyed because just yesterday I had to sing for everyone in the clinic including the patients. Despite being super nervous it was great to sing again because I haven't been able to since being here in Granada, and that's just too long.

The rest of the week was finished out with some visitors, Karrie's aunt Tia and grandma Sonja! We had fun touring some new tapas places, discovering a great pizzeria that is close to our apartment. The ladies and I also attended a flamenco show, which was outstanding to see. The passion and focus involved with both the singing and the dancing took my breath away. It was so refreshing to watch a performance similar to a theatre production! Those that I know that are involved with dancing and the arts (all my theatre geek buddies) would certainly appreciate because the dancing is along the lines of extreme tap dancing. So cool!

We also took part in spectating some of the daily processions that take place in the streets of Granada during the entire Semana Santa week. These processions are a huge tradition in which large amounts of people dress in full robes, carrying crosses and candles while different women are dressed in all black as a symbol of mourning. They process through the streets with these massive floats of scenes from Jesus’ life and death. The floats, beyond extravagant and complete with gold décor, are carried by 25+ men and I’m told each of them hold about 30-40 kilograms while they walk. Bands play a processional type of music while hundreds gather to catch a glimpse of all the hulabaloo. The girls and I got a front row seat, not once but twice during two different processionals! The first was while we took Karrie’s grandma and aunt out for tapas. We were enjoying our meal when all of a sudden music and massive amounts of people started advancing towards us. On Easter Sunday, we decided to wander around the city a bit and we ventured into the large cathedral. Not ten minutes are we’d been there, we once again heard the sound of music (you like how I got that one in there?!) getting closer and closer. We turned toward the giant doors and a float, this one of Jesus being resurrected, was being carried in by all the men on their knees!!!!! They carefully maneuvered it until setting it in place towards the back of the church. This was all followed by a loud, well-deserved round of applause. It was definitely something spectacular to see!

Apart from wandering the city, Easter weekend was pretty low-key. On Saturday, Karrie made us Sloppy Joe’s from the recipe and ingredients that her grandma had brought over with her. Oh, were they good! That night we had a movie night and watch a chick flick, “Love and Other Drugs.” We all got the chance to talk to/Skype with our parents who were celebrating Easter with our families. I was so happy to get the chance to Skype with my Dad’s side of the family at grandma’s house. I’ll admit I was definitely homesick that day, but getting to say hello to all of the cousins, aunts, and uncles really put a smile on my face.

As all vacations do, Semana Santa ended way too early and before I knew it, I was back to my full schedule with class and my internship every day. Not only that, but this past week I had my first exam of the semester in Biomechanics! Eeeeeekkk! I had no clue where to even begin studying, so I went to a café about a block away from our apartment. I then attempted to translate all of my notes into English so I could remotely understand what in the world we might be tested on. This made for pretty much double the amount of studying I had ahead of me because I had to decipher my notes between two different languages. Whew. One good thing though, was this little treasure trove of a café I found. It’s called ‘Café Picaro’ and is just the cutest little nook! It has an older piano inside, along with a lot of antique 30’s Swing Era décor. To top it off, they were playing such things as Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and the ever classic Ella Fitzgerald while I studied. This soothing music warmed my heart because it reminded me of when I go to visit you, Tutu and Jim! I will be back to this place more than once before I depart for back home. Not real sure how the exam went, but we'll find out soon enough. At least the professor knows we're not fluent so maybe he'll take pity on 'los Americanos.'

Still missing everyone back home. I think about you all on a daily basis and while I am truly enjoying my experience here, it will be nice to be surrounded by family and friends.

BESOS!

Getting ready for the futbol game!

Check out this crowd!

Post-collision.

Yes, I took many more pictures.

Woman dressed in black to portray mourning.

The costumes were quite elaborate.

Look at these floats!

Gazpacho!

Paella! Another Spanish cuisine: a rice mixed with a special paella spice

complete with calamari, shrimp, and mussel.

 The start of the flamenco show! I'll try to post a video on here, because pictures don't do it justice.

The cathedral.

Enter the massive float! At this point the men are still carrying this thing on their knees.

This thing is huge.

Ahhhh, Barrrtttthhelona

After coming down from the high of having visitors for a week, we were quickly gearing up for our next rendezvous. We’d booked flight tickets back in February to take a weekend trip to Barcelona April 7-10, so after Thursday’s classes we headed to the Granada airport to start our first airplane trip! We got through security and discovered that our 9:55 PM flight was delayed an hour. This wasn’t at all a problem because we passed the time by striking up a conversation with a guy who lived in Michigan and traveled worldwide for his business. He not only knew where Sleepy Eye was, but he’d been there!!! He had to travel to Del Monte foods for one of his business trips, just another example of how small this world can be! An hour-ish later, we boarded the plane and an hour and ten minutes later we landed in Barcelona. After taking a bus to the city center and a taxi to our hostel, we finally arrived in our temporary humble abode at about 2 AM. I think I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow.

We awoke the next morning around 9 because we wanted to have plenty of time to find the tour we were going to take. Jen’s brother told her about a tour called the Flat Tire Bike Tour which takes place only in four cities in the world, Barcelona, Berlin, London, and Paris. For 20 euros, you get a bike and ride around the city for about 4 hours with a tour guide, stopping at various local attractions all while getting the historical details about the buildings and the city. This was twenty euros well spent! We made stops at the Barcelona city center, bullfighting ring, cathedral, Arch of Triumph, and Goudi’s La Sagrada Familia just to name a few. I did not realize the amount of history that was involved in the city of Barcelona—simply amazing! Following the bike tour we met up with a few of our friends that visited us in February and were studying in Barcelona. Together we walked around the city and strips like Las Ramblas, stopped in little shops and just all around experienced the culture. I got to taste ‘patatas bravas’ for the first time which is fried potatoes with a spicy red cream sauce that is a common Spanish tapa to be served at restaurants.  I just couldn’t get over how huge this city was.

We made plans the following day to visit the family that was hosting Carli and Lexie, then soak up some rays! In order to get there, we had to take the metro. Now, this lady from lowly Sleepy Eye was definitely a rookie at this whole riding the metro thing. Ride somewhere underground? What? Who does that? After buying our day pass, going the wrong way for a few stops, getting off, walking to a different station and switching metro cars we finally made it to the stop we needed to be (better late than never, right?!). Carli and Lexie met us and showed us the home they’d been living in for the past semester. After a quick tour and introducing us to her host father, we headed to the beach for a few relaxing hours. The other girls had already bought tickets to the Barcelona soccer game, so while they did that, Jen, Karrie, and I decided to hike up to Parc Guall. This is an area constructed by the architect Goudi who had the vision of building these large apartments and houses for a residential area. The idea never really caught on because the buildings, while immaculate to look at, weren’t exactly what a Spaniard would want to live in. I think our tour guide put it best when he said, “It seemed like Goudi and his friends took a bunch of acid and decided, hey, let’s create these crazy buildings for people to live in!” Since no one had any idea as to what to do with the place, the city turned it into a museum. Let’s just say that Goudi is definitely artsy and out there.

Our flight left at 7:30 AM on Sunday morning so it was an early one for us as we flew the short hop, skip, and a jump flight back to Granada. We were exhausted from lack of sleep and used that Sunday to catch up. While it was a short trip, I am so glad that I went because being able to see all of the historical monuments and attractions up close and in person is really something. Nothing against the United States, but I feel like the European history is just so much more rich than our own. I guess that’s what we get for being the rookie “New World.”

The long weekend in Barcelona was going to be our last hoorah for a while because that following Monday we were set to start up our internships. As I said in the previous blog post, each of us three girls would be at separate rotations, working 4 hours a day in the afternoon, observing how the fisiotherapists did things here. Karrie and I found out that our internships were a 30 minute walk away and the buildings were only about a block away from each other. So we left with plenty of time to find the joint and parted ways at around 3:45. As I neared the block where I thought my internship was supposed to be, I felt like a kid who was starting school for the first time, not knowing anyone or anything. I mean, I’m not a shy person by any means and can strike up a conversation with virtually anyone and do just fine. However, it’s a whole ‘nother ball game shooting the shit with someone in Spanish. That was just one of the bazillion things running through my mind as I was finishing my walk and felt like I was about to jump off of the end of the plank. Well, I had about ten more minutes to freak out because I arrived at 3:50 and the door and gates were still locked and shut, I mean, why be there on time? Finally, after what seemed like eternity, someone walked up and unlocked the gate and went to open the door. He noticed me, but I just stood there like the awkward kid who’s just been said hello to by his childhood hero. To make myself even mortified, I just continued to be awkward and follow him into the building. Wow, I felt like a creeper. Anyway, I handed one of the guys my letter and introduced myself, saying that I was here to do my internship. I at least looked smart for 30 seconds before he opened his mouth and started speaking rapid fire Spanish to me. After rambling a few sentences off, he went to get who I now know is Mariano, the owner of the clinic. He came down the stairs and began to fire off more Spanish at me. The blank stare on my face must have given it away because he asked, “Entiendes español?” “Mas o menos,” I replied. Aaaaannnddd, let the brain usage begin. I’ve had to actively listen and speak Spanish for at least 4 hours a day. Between that and the 30 minute walk there and back, I was absolutely exhausted upon arriving home at the day’s end. Despite being completely overwhelmed, I feel like my Spanish has improved in the mere week that I’ve been at the internship. Clientele that frequent the Clinic range from older people doing post surgery treatment from an injury or accident, dancers, to the professional indoor soccer players treating various injuries. My daily duties involve anything from setting up people on various modalities like Shortwave diathermy, laser, ultrasound or massages. They put lots of faith and trust me even on the first day because I was setting patients up on machines I’d not only ever used before, but all the directions were in Spanish. No one died however, so I think I’m in the clear. I’ve been slowly getting to know the patients that come in on a daily basis and have been learning the new vocabulary that goes along with anatomy and different injuries. I’m hoping to do more Athletic Training related things and learn more about general injuries as well, but time will tell. One thing for sure is that my Spanish will improve without a doubt. I think that the learning apparatus will kick into high gear once I get the vocabulary down. So despite that it’s been a long, busy, and involved week, I consider it a successful one nonetheless. Even with the language barrier, I’ve formed friendships with those I work with and the patients I see. One in particular that I’m hoping to develop is with a 25 year old woman who tore her ACL a few months ago comes in to do rehab a few times a week. Her name is Alma and she also speaks English (funny how I seem to just gravitate towards the bilinguals!). She’s very interested in what Athletic Training is and also in learning English, so she and I have an agreement to help each other and have good conversation whenever she is in doing her rehab. It can’t get much better than that!

While I’m certainly having the experience of a lifetime, I am definitely missing all those dear to me back home. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of you all. The countdown to having Sara and Patrick visit in May and my family visit in June has already begun. And to think of all of the hugs I get to give out and get upon my return home is enough to get me through the rough days. Thanks for all of your messages and e-mails and please don’t be offended if I don’t get a chance to respond. I’m all of a sudden busy and have a schedule (which seems unheard of in Spain).

LOVE AND HUGS!

Cathedral in Barcelona

Arch of Triumph

My new ride.

Active bullfighting ring

Goudi's "La Sagrada Familia"

Our fun bikes!

The Aussie tour guide, Buddha. He was fantastic!

Apartments built by Goudi.

Parc Guell

Goudi wanted people to live here. Really?

Up at Parc Guell overlooking the city.

These types of characters were all over the city. They stood still until you put some change

in their jar then they'd perform a little routine of sorts!

Mas Aventuras

The week following Alicante, I got to experience a few local events special to the city of Granada. We were invited by Racquel, our academic advisor, to a special concert put on by the University of Granada symphony orchestra. My school department, the Facultad de Ciencas de Actividad Fisica y Deportes was hosting this in honor of the person that founded this particular department. So, on Thursday evening, the girls and I got all dressed up and attended the orchestra concert. I must say, it was really nice to be in a musical atmosphere again. While it may not have been a musical, I was still smiling the entire time. The concert consisted of pieces from Mozart, Hindemith, and Dvorak and all the compositions performed were outstanding. 

The next day/evening, you could feel the excitement in the air around the city because Friday was game day. No, not American football. The Spain soccer team, which won the most recent World Cup, was playing in Granada! Tickets were waaaay too pricey, but we were told that he games were going to be played in parks for free all around the city. So around 10 pm, we ventured down to an area by the river where we were met by hundreds of people watching the game on a large jumbo tron outside. The atmosphere surrounding us the entire game was nothing short of intense. These people, both young and old, LOVE their soccer and they're not afraid to show their pride. From boos and hisses complaining about bad referee calls to screaming and jumping about after a goal, the crowd said and did it all. Spain ended up beating the Czech Republic 2-1 and thank God! For a while I was worried we might have to duck out early in order to avoid a riot. But all ended well. :)

That Sunday we were greeted by one of our Athletic Training professors, Cordial Gillette and her husband. Cordial got a grant to visit Spain to see how the first year of our grant program was going. Since at that point we had still heard no word on our internship yet, we had plenty of time to be tour guides. She came to one of our Spanish classes and we took her to our Facultdad, where she sat in our Biomecanics class, and met Racquel, who gave us all a tour of the Facultad campus. In addition, Cordial seemed to be the good luck charm that we needed because we received word that our rent is paid in full and we now have our internships squared away! We start on April 11th and will be doing 3 different rotations, the Sports Clinic, a women's Clinic, and an athlete rehabilitation Clinic. I will start at the Sports Clinic and I could not be more excited! While nerves are obviously a part of my emotions, I'm excited to be out on my own, hopefully learning a bunch of new things.

The girls, along with Chuck, Cordial and I decided to take a couple days and head down to Nerja, Spain on the coast. It was fabulous to soak up some rays for those two days, despite the fact that we all got burned. Red color is better than no color, right?! The mini road trip was definitely time well spent in the good company of Chuck and Cordial. They left early Saturday morning and I was sad to see them go! 

Missing all of you, mucho!
Besos,
Christiane

I have no idea what kind of fish this was and he was staring back at me, but I still tried some of it!

Churros con chocolate!

The beach of Nerja, Spain.

Cool flower!

Traditional style homes of Nerja at sunset.

My Spanish boyfriend.