Not yet snowing...

It's not yet snowing over here but it's supposed to start snowing this week! I'm so excited but I'm not sure if I'll freeze or not. It's pretty cold though now and it's also raining which makes it extra cold.

Classes are great and I think I'm really getting the hang of Spanish. I can basically understand pretty much the whole class and I don't even need to open my dictionary anymore.

Photos!

Here's a link to my photos. Only problem is there's a 100mb limit, so I was only able to post the pictures of Angelo, Roberto, and Tala's stay here.

The site is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofiainspain

I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but I think the easiest thing to do is click on sets, and then you'll see all the pictures combined in an album.

Last week & My birthday + Olimpiada Solidaria

Last week was a pretty hectic week, and I didn’t find much time to blog. By Thursday, I had to have read the prologue and Chapter 1 of El Quijote for my Literature class. On on Friday I had a Redacción Exam, a presentation about El Camino de Santiago, and a paper to hand in about the current law of tabaco in Spain.

Needless to say, I spent the whole week researching, studying, preparing, reading, and staying up late. Come Thursday, Literature class went pretty well and I was able to understand what I was reading. The Redacción Exam was pretty hard, and I handed my exam in five minutes before time was up. I was so nervous during the start of the presentation that I completely forgot the history and origin, but thankfully, everything else went well. But at least now, that’s all done!

Saturday morning I woke up late. I went to mass then headed to the train station to pick up Julie and Maya. Julie and Maya are my cousins from Barcelona who came the weekend to celebrate my birthday! I was really happy to see them and they told me that my Spanish is really good which made me even happier.

We went to book a room at the hostel first then had lunch at a nearby restaurant with Marina. Afterwards we walked around the university with Marina playing tour guide. I showed them the apartment next then we headed to the commercial center. We saw Plaza del Castilla and the Encierro statue then went shopping. After walking around we had merienda at a café, which we later realized was the same restaurant we had lunch in!

There was a dinner in Larrabide for ShanShan and me, whose birthday is also November 16. ShanShan’s Chinese, and the dinner was Chinese styled. We had rice and stir fried beef as well as soy sauce, which I was really craving for.

On Sunday I had breakfast with Julie and Maya then we walked around Yamaguchi Park taking pictures and making kwento. I brought them to the station and they caught the 12:30 train back to Barcelona. I really enjoyed having my cousins around, and it made my birthday a greater day.

And then my mom called me from my grandmother's house and I spoke with my siblings, cousins, and lola. It was really funny because I couldn't really hear well and I kept mistaking what they were saying. But all in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable phone call (the longest one I've ever received) and I realized that I miss you guys more than I thought I did.

For lunch, I ate out with Bea, Marina, and Maria at Shamrock’s. Good food and even better dessert! After lunch we went to ShanShan’s apartment and had coffee with the other girls.

Then Maria and I watched High School Musical 3! It was pretty funny because all the other people in the theatre were ten year old girls and (about three boys) and their parents. But still. The songs were still in English and I quite enjoyed the movie. Okay, I enjoyed it a lot. I was the only one clapping and cheering at the end.

We went to mass after then for dinner I had a surprise of a sort of chocolate pudding and good company. A really great weekend, and I enjoyed my birthday.

Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! :)

(Pictures to follow when my cousins send me the pictures and when Ange tells me how to upload the few pictures I have from my camera. I forgot to put in the memory card and so the pictures are stuck in the internal memory.)

By the time Monday came around, I was glad that everything had settled down, and I'd finally be able to get some sleep. As well as siesta after lunch! Bu then I found out in class on Monday that we were to have a Spanish Partial Exam the next day and then I remembered that I also had to read Chapters 2,3 and 4 of El Quijote, as well. So it was 'Goodbye, siesta and hello, studying!'

But a positive thing about studying (I mean, aside from the fact that you'll get higher marks when you study): a sort-of-oraganization, Olimpiada Solidaria. La Olimpiada Solidaria de Estuido is an "innovative action for the development of education and awareness of solidarity." It was created by a Spanish NGO in 2003, and aims to finance and create educational projects in specific countries (the countries change every year).

This year is the sixth year it is being done, and it lasts from November 5 to December 5. For every one hour you study, one euro will be donated by the sponsors to finance the educational projects in Ecuador, Cameroon, Haiti, and Angola.

There are specified study places that are affiliated with the organization and Larrabide is one. The Olimpiada Solidaria is also done in a few other European countries.

So while I’m studying, I’m also helping another child receive an education. How cool is that?

For more information, you can visit: olimpiada solidaria de estudio.

Post coming soon...

Hey everybody,

Yes, I'm still alive. And happy, and safe, and sane, and well, and fine, and nineteen!
It's been a busy week and weekend and I'll be blogging as soon as I get the chance.

Lots of love,
Sofia

ILCE Excursion

Yesterday, I and the rest of the ILCE students went on an excursion to Olite, Javier, and Leyre, cities in Navarra.

The past few days it had been raining, but yesterday morning it was bright and sunny. Our first stop was to Olite, some 30 minutes away. The city was very pretty. It was old and medieval like and I couldn't stop taking pictures. We visited the Royal Palace where we had a guided tour then had about an hour free time.

Olite, beautiful city.

The palace.

Isabel (Switzerland) and I outside the palace.

The Queen's garden. So pretty!

Patricia, Me, Isabel

With Winifred now.

After Olite, we took the bus to Javier! It is famous mainly for being the town where St. Francis Xavier was born. It was a small city with nothing much to see. We had lunch then walked around a bit. I found the Castle very pretty although we weren't allowed inside. Another pretty sight was the church.

Look Javier, I'm in Javier!

Beautiful Church entrance.

We headed to Leyre next. It began to rain but fortunately this was our last stop. We took a tour of the monastery and I bought some pasteles to finish off the trip!

Church entrance.

Close up.

We were lucky we were out on an excursion today. The Edificio Central, where all the ILCE classes are, was being cleaned (because of the fire and the bombing) but some of the materials used were toxic. Later in the afternoon, practically everyone who was in the building had to go to the hospital because they had problems with their breathing and other things.

As of now, all classes held in the Edificio Central are cancelled. Today, I only had one class!

It's nearing winter time... (+Pictures)

Welcome to winter time in Spain, where a scarf is not merely an accessory but something you wrap around your neck to keep you from freezing and when you wear three layers of coats not caring if it makes you look fat, so long as your warm (and I’m still not). Gloves keep your hands warm and your skin from cracking, and boots are a must if you want to feel your toes.

It’s getting really cold here. Really, really cold. And it's not even winter, winter yet. It scares me to think, if I feel cold now, what more when winter really comes. Another thing is that the sun is starting to rise later than usual. It's harder to wake up in the morning and I get so tempted to go back to sleep.

Other than that, everything else has been great. Classes are getting a little harder, and I’m forced to think and study. I have a vocabulary test tomorrow, which I should be studying for right now.

Halloween here is nonexistent. Especially compared to the Philippines where everyone dresses up and eats lots of candy. Friday morning I went to school as usual, went to mass, studied and did my homework. Later on, I looked at pictures of my family and friends celebrating Halloween and it made me miss home. It made me miss candy too, so on my way home I bought some to eat. :)

Some pictures from Angelo, Roberto, and Tala’s visit:

Roberto, Me, Tala, Angelo, Maria after dinner the first night.

Roberto, Angelo, Me waiting for the metro in Bilbao.

Tala, Angelo, and Roberto outside the Guggenheim.

Tala and I with the tulips at the Guggenheim.

Me, Angelo, and Roberto in Bilbao.

Tala and I in Bilbao.

Angelo and Tala in San Sebastian.

It was very cold...

...but the beach was still a sight to see!

There were some crazy people swimming too.

Back in Pamplona, still raining!

Who's next to visit? :)

And this is a picture of Maria and Marina just because they wanted to be in my blog. Marina is my flatmate and Maria lives in the apartment across ours. Sunday night Marina and I had dinner with Maria while watching Mamma Mia! en español. (Songs still in English).

Maria, Me, Marina

Look who came to visit!: Angelo, Robero and Tala

Angelo, Roberto and Tala were here for two days to come see Pamplona and me. It was great having them around; I enjoyed the Filipino company (and two days off from school).

They arrived on Monday night. I took the bus to the train station to pick them up. It was raining and we took a taxi to their hostel. Their hostel was pretty nice, and about a 15-minute walk to my apartment. We chilled awhile in their room then walked to my apartment. It was cold and they had a cup of hot chocolate before leaving. We had dinner at a nearby bar with two of my friends, Maria and Winifred.

On Tuesday we took a daytrip to Bilbao. We went to the bus station early to buy our tickets then had lunch at the café. It was a long two hour trip and we slept most of the way. When we arrived in Bilbao, it was raining pretty hard. We took the metro and decided to see the Guggenheim first. I had already been in the Guggenheim with my parents, but still, I couldn’t help admiring the building all over again. Another thing was that the temporary exhibit had changed, so I was also seeing something new. By the time we finished the museum the rain had subsided. We had a big lunch at a nearby restaurant. Afterwards we still had about two hours 'til our bus so we took the metro to the Casco Viejo (Old Town). We walked around, had dessert, and saw the pretty sites.

We arrived back in Pamplona at around 8pm and the weather was about 4 degrees! I showed them the Plaza del Castillo, the Ayuntamiento, and the Encierro path and statue. We decided to have dinner, but none of the bars and restaurants were open yet! So we took the bus back to the area near their hostel and had Italian for dinner.

On Wednesday we went to San Sebastian. Like the day before, it was raining hard. When we arrived we decided to eat some pinchos at a bar and hope the rain would subside. The pinchos were delicious but the rain showed no sign of stopping. So we just walked around, saw the beach, the town hall, etc. We decided to go up to Mount Igueldo, from where you can look down and see all of San Sebastian. We walked the 30-minute walk to the Furnikular (kind of like a tram that takes you up the mountain) only to find out it was closed! We rested awhile then just had lunch at a nearby restaurant.

After lunch we walked around looking for a taxi to take us to the bus station, we couldn’t find any and we were soon panicking because our bus was leaving soon. We spotted a hotel and decided to ask the receptionist to call us a cab. We waited inside the hotel since it was cold and raining pretty hard. When we saw the taxi, we went outside and it was hailing! After staring at the hail for a few seconds, we rushed into the taxi. We asked the driver to take us to the bus station, and fast please. When we got to the station we rushed out and into our bus. Unfortunately, in my haste I lost my phone.

When we arrived back in Pamplona we still had a few hours before their train back to Madrid. We walked through the Ciudadela (a walled park kind of like Intramuros),and I showed them around the University. It was really cold, and we decided to have merienda at a bar. After eating, we went back to my apartment to get their stuff and then took a taxi to the train station.

It was a fun-filled two days, despite the weather. I had a great time in their company and I hope they enjoyed seeing Navarra and the Basque Country. I'm waiting for any of you to come visit me! Haha.

Pictures to follow.