{"id":1602,"date":"2013-02-04T07:33:59","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T14:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2013-03-19T14:10:22","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T20:10:22","slug":"hola-encantada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/2013\/02\/04\/hola-encantada\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a1Hola! Encantada."},"content":{"rendered":"

(FYI, “Encantada” directly translates to enchanted and is how the Spanish say “pleased to meet you.”)<\/p>\n

Well, this is my first post, but I’ve been here for just about two weeks now and there are about a million things to write about. \u00a0For everyone’s sake I’ll give you the condensed version.<\/p>\n

First, the basics: There are 5 of us here in Toledo from CC right now and each of us is living with a different host family. \u00a0My host mom, Charo is a stay-at-home mom and oversees the entire (very busy) household. \u00a0She is also definitely the Spaniard I am closest to in Spain. \u00a0Her husband spends a lot of the week away on business trips but comes back on the weekends. \u00a0My host brothers, Christian and Oli, \u00a0are 23 and 26 respectively. \u00a0Oli lives and works in Madrid but has come back home a few times since I’ve arrived. \u00a0Christian goes to school in Toledo and still lives at home (a common phenomenon these days with Spain’s economic crisis). \u00a0And then there’s Paula. \u00a0Paula is the most adorable and energetic 7-year-old adopted Chinese girl ever. \u00a0Also living with us is a cat named Messi (after Leo Messi of Barcelona f\u00fatbol fame) and Kelly, another American exchange student from Notre Dame. The abuela lives in the apartment below us (though I have no idea which side of the family she is from). \u00a0This cast of characters comes and goes from the house freely along with novias (girlfriends), dogs, playdate friends, and neighbors. \u00a0I never really know who will be there when I get home.<\/p>\n

We have class with this very nice profesora named Natalia. \u00a0She has the most interesting wardrobe I’ve ever encountered; the other day she wore these awesome Aladdin pants that I think were made out of corduroy. \u00a0This block it’s all grammar, all the time. \u00a0It is 15 hours a week, just like a majority of CC’s blocks, except we have class Tuesday and Thursday for 3 hours in the morning and then another 3 hours after lunch. \u00a0And then Friday we have morning class as well. \u00a0Lunch is the biggest and most important meal of the day in Spain so the whole family comes and eats together at around 2:30. \u00a0Then the siesta (it’s real it’s real!!!) last until about 4. \u00a0I actually just learned that siesta is not a direct translation for nap. \u00a0Siesta only refers the the mid-day rest after eating. \u00a0I tired to tell them I was going to take a nap one morning before lunch and they informed me I had been incorrectly using the word siesta for most of my life now…<\/p>\n

Obviously there is a lot more to tell, but for now I’ll leave you with some photos of this gorgeous place. \u00a0Toledo is so different from any place I’ve ever been before and I’m just happily soaking it all in. The following images are: 1. one of the gates leading to the historic part of Toledo (El Casco) 2. a view looking towards the Casco, taken in a park near my house 3. Messi!<\/p>\n

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(FYI, “Encantada” directly translates to enchanted and is how the Spanish say “pleased to meet you.”) Well, this is my first post, but I’ve been here for just about two weeks now and there are about a million things to write about. \u00a0For everyone’s sake I’ll give you the condensed version. First, the basics: There … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “\u00a1Hola! Encantada.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mediterranean-semester","category-study-abroad","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1RtXj-pQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1602"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1878,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions\/1878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}