The School Newspaper of Cherry Hill High School East

Eastside

The School Newspaper of Cherry Hill High School East

Eastside

The School Newspaper of Cherry Hill High School East

Eastside

East student blogs about experiences in Spain: Post #2

So apparently Frederico Garcia Lorca did a lot while he was in New York in the 1930s. I wish I could tell you what he did, but I can´t. I´m sure someone has told me at some point, but the amount of Spanish I comprehend is inversely proportional to the amount of sleep I get. We´ve all been sleeping for around 6 hours a night, and everything that our director says goes in one ear and out the other.

I´m still in Guadix. My group has teamed up with the Spanish youth to put on a play about Frederico Garcia Lorca, a man from the Guadix-Grenada area who went to New York, was homesick, and made friends. The play is all music, dancing, and interpretation–none of the actors speak. You would think that by doing a play without words, everyone would be able to understand the play, but I´m still not quite sure what I´m doing.

I find that I´m learning much more about Spanish culture from the Spanish kids I hang out with than I ever could from this play. They take us out a couple of nights each week, and we go to the park or to a party, and my group speaks Spanish and the Spaniards speak English. They´ve all been really great, and it´s a lot of fun trying to explain in another language that yes, Harry Potter is an angsty teenager but no, that does not mean I hate the books.

Yesterday, we went to the beach. I can´t give an opinion on European beaches based solely on Dulce Agua, but there were a lot more topless people there than in America. Other than that, it was pretty much the same as any other beach I´ve ever been to.

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It´s difficult to understand some of the people I talk to because of their accents. Here in Guadix, for instance, some people cut off the ends of their words. I think comprehension will come with practice, so I´m not too worried.

On Wednesday, our group separates for our homestays. I´m going to live with the Castellanos family in Atarfe, which is apparently on the outskirts of Grenada. I don´t know how most of the group feels about the separation, but I´m getting antsy here in Guadix.

We´re done with our ceramics lessons, and I have made some very lovely necklace charms, as well as a mirror frame. I don´t know how I´m going to transport all of this home, but I´ll manage.

Something that Spain has a lot of is stray dogs. I adopted one at a party the other night. I´m naming him Scruffy, and if I hadn´t lost him, then I would´ve taken him home with me. He is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen, and I hope he´s okay.

One of my Spanish friends has given me a book written entirely in Spanish. It´s called El Colgante Maldito, which I think means “Tiki Doll of Doom.” I can´t decide if it was originally written in English, but from the cover, it looks to be along the lines of Bunnicula, so it probably was. I´m excited to start reading it; I hope I understand at least some of it.

Well, I have to go to a barbacoa in honor of our new Spanish friends. I´ll know much more about Spanish culture next time I write.

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    ADBJul 15, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    Juliet,

    This is a great story! I can’t wait to hear more.