I'm Back!

8/8/2011 @ 1:15 | Wow... that title is misleading... I'm not "back" as in back in Madison. I'm "back" as in "I haven't posted in a while so here it is!" I guess I've just been very busy. Every day I wake up early, about 9:00 AM (haha... early), and eat breakfast in the cafeteria-like room. Then I practice my violin for about 20 minutes, sometimes helping others with either their orchestra music or their separate pieces, and head then head to orchestra at around 10:00. Orchestra is more difficult than I had expected it to be. Because I am considered a teacher in many cases, I'm only in the orchestra to enhance the sound and possibly help the other violinists, who are in middle school. All 4 pieces that we are playing in orchestra have their difficult sections to them and that threw me off at first because I had no idea it was about to be difficult! :P haha...
Anyway, next is sectionals. The violins go with Raquel Paraiso. Raquel is the reason I am here. She is my teacher back in Madison but originally from Spain. We have sectionals together and then practice with all the strings. By this time it is about 11:30 and everyone's fingers are beginning to wear. Then all of the students have choir and all the "teachers" have chamber practice. Luckily, I get to practice with the teachers! YAY!!! :) I absolutely LOVE chamber music!!! :)))))))))))))))))
After that, I usually help Elisabeth (yes, with an "s") practice her part of our duet. We are playing a duet version of Bach's famous Minuet in G. It is quite fun and she is really getting the hang of it! Good job, Elisabeth!!! :)
After that we have lunch at around 2:30 and then a siesta (where you get to do whatever you want for about 2.5 hours). During that time you can take lessons on how to play the pan flute (here we call it sikus) and I've been helping/learning with that. After the siesta you have taeres which are various activities that the teachers host and the students participate in like making a bird house, making a music video, making maracas, making sikus, and carving stone. I made my maraca and now I need to paint it but I have no amount of patience with painting and drawing so I do know... haha! Apart from that, I've been helping Raquel and Pancho teach the sikus class. I've not been teaching, per say, but I've been assisting. Today I fixed an entire set of sikus... twice... well, the first time I messed up and then the second time I got it right! :) my hands hurt a lot from that because you need to pull the string very tight to keep the pipes together and the string cuts your hands.So, entonces, my fingers hurt... a lot! Between playing all day and sikus making all afternoon, me duele mucho! :)
After taeres we have snack, 30 minute services to the camp, dinner, and veladas (a conclusion). Veladas is the last thing we do every day. The teachers end up making fools of themselves by wearing silly clothing and acting like crazies. :P I've recently become a part of this and have a lot of fun with it! Today we made a music video and it was HILARIOUS! The kids will be able to see it tomorrow night :)

Anyway, I'll try to write more later but it is after 1:00 here and I'm well ready for sleep!

*my parents also say that I should go to sleep about now! :P

With that, good night, and good luck (with the challenges and adventures to come!)

maya

El Campo

I arrived at the camp today, 8/3, at around 4:30 PM with Pancho, Alberto, and Katie.
Alberto and Katie, thankfully people I know fairly well, came to pick Pancho and me up at the bus/train station and we promptly began our gorgeous drive to Soncillo, a small village where the music camp is. On our way there, we stopped at a small restaurant and ate so much food and every bite was delicious. I have decided that from now on I will never eat another ounce of “American food” because the stuff in Spain is SO MUCH BETTER! Apparently it is customary in Spain to have three courses or platos. First, we had soup: leak soup (Mom, I know you would’ve absolutely loved this dish. It was fairly similar to the soup that you make except a bit thicker and I believe they used a few more spices… we’ll chat!), lentil soup with pork and ribs and chorizo (I think…), and also (my favorite) the chicken dish (I don’t know what it’s called or what exactly was in it… hahaha… but it was FANTASTIC!). For the second plato we had a cod dish and a chicken dish. I think I preferred the first plato, but this was still magnificent. Each dish came with a side of patatas or “french fries” made at the restaurant. We finished with my favorite part: the dessert! For our last plato we had three different desserts (keep in mind that we have been passing plates and bowls around throughout the meal… except Pancho---haha… :P --- so we’ve all gotten a good sense of each dish—which I LOVE!). For dessert we had a coffee chocolate mousse, which I would eat at least 100,000 times over, a lemony flan-like dish which I can hardly describe (it was flan-like, except thicker and a little lighter… but SO exceptionally delicious!), and last but not least the melon (which was a honeydew sort of melon with some sort of light caramel—but not really caramel—dressing). Anyway… from lunch we went to a beautiful scenic passage where there was water as clear as glass and waterfalls so steep, but small :) Next, after taking countless pictures (which I cannot wait to show you), we left for the camp.
At the camp we played games and my Spanish (I promise) got better! It was quite exciting. :) I have two kid tour guides whom I know from Madison: Celi and Elisabeth (with an “s”). They are both bilingual, which is extremely helpful for me :)
‘Tis time to rest. All of the other teachers went out but I’m still recovering from jet lag. I’ll probably go out with them tomorrow… but it’s 2:30 here and they’re still not back yet. I don’t know if I can “party hardy” like them! Haha :)
¡Buenas noches, Madison! Voy a escribir más mañana :)

maya

by the way, this is what the whole drive was like!

I'm On a Bus...

It’s 10:32 AM, 8/3, and I’m riding on a bus that goes through Burgos, where I will be getting off. From there, I will somehow get to a small village about 45 minutes away where the music camp is. I’m traveling with Pancho and am thankful that I don’t need to be doing this alone because I wouldn’t be able to understand half of what is going on without him. Thanks, Pancho! :)
Last night I skyped with my family. It was about 7:00 PM for them while I was stuck unable to fall asleep at 2:30 AM. Yikes! But it was still nice to talk to them. I was a little homesick due to lack of sleep and seeing my family. Because of the time change, it is almost as if I skipped 7 hours of my life. Even though when I return to Madison it will be undone, it is still weird.
Last night, so as to wake up on time, I set my phone’s alarm clock to 7:30 AM and my iPod’s alarm to 7:45. I turned off both alarms and promptly fell back asleep. This will not be a surprise to my parents. :) I finally got out of bed at 8:12 AM or so… maybe it was more like 8:21… haha. But I did get out of bed, and that is the most important thing… :/
Lines needed to leave for work, so I was home alone for a while. It was nice because I didn’t need to think about paying attention to Spanish and trying not to die. Ha! Lines came back with Pancho, who had just gotten off the plane (Pancho lives in Madison but is originally from Mexico and works at the camp. I know him through Raquel), and said that it was “time to go.” With that, my luggage already packed, we left her apartment to meet Pancho downstairs and then left for the station.
To tell you the truth, I was looking forward to the possibility of taking a train to Burgos, but I suppose it is more cost efficient and realistic to take a bus. But, then again, I have never been on a travel bus in Spain before, so … cool! :)
So… to conclude this post, I am now on a bus to Burgos. I am planning on taking a nap so as to be fully awake when I arrive at the camp and see Raquel! :)
It is around 4:00 AM in Madison right now, so get some sleep and I plan to post again soon.

Hasta luego,
maya

I Can’t Sleep

Hey everyone…
It’s 11:15 PM in Madison and it’s 6:20 AM in Madrid. I am on a plane (and am pre-writing this post) about 2hrs15mins from Madrid and I cannot, for the life of me, fall asleep. This plane is freezing cold, I’m on the window side so I can’t get up whenever I please, and I want my sweatshirt which is in the compartment out and above me… :/ *sigh*
Oh well. Enough complaining. It’s time for excitement! I am preparing myself for landing and pondering whether I should watch the 1995 movie Balto right now or not. I’m thinking yes because if I can’t sleep anyway, I might as well amuse myself! :)
The plane has a little map where it shows the plane's placement on the map at this exact moment (like an iPhone) and I can see Spain! It’s usually zoomed far in, so if you can see you destination on the map it must mean that you’re getting close! :) YIPPEE!
Okay… Balto’s coming!!!!
Tootles :)

maya

Three-Hour Delay

Hey everyone! It is Monday, August 1, 2011 at 6:48 PM and I’m waiting on a plane right now. Just so you all know, I am going to end up posting this message once I am already in Madrid, where there is Internet connection. :)
Sooooo... apparently there is too much traffic on the runway to fly out of JFK (NYC Airport) right now. Bah! I WON'T STAND FOR IT! But there's really nothing I can do...
I’m sitting on the plane with about 200 other people listening to Joshua Bell play The Four Seasons very well. Truth be told, he is my violin crush :)

I woke up at 6:17 this morning and promptly left my house at 7:05 to head off to the O’Hare airport where I would catch my first flight from Chicago to NYC, which is where I am now. My first flight was very smooth and short (only lasting about 2 hours) and finding my next boarding site wasn’t hard at all, but the only thing that went wrong, apart from the 3-hr delay, was my lunch. I had a late lunch and I was starving! I went to an air-restaurant and the food was far from pleasant. I ate it happily but it didn’t do well for me afterward… if you know what I mean. (fyi: I didn't barf or anything like that... I just didn't feel good. So now you know what I mean if you didn't before!) I had either tortellini or rigatoni. I don’t remember the difference. :/

Oh, yay! The flight attendant just announced that “we’ll be leaving shortly and all electronics should be stowed away and turned off"-- Oh well. At least we’re leaving… finally. :)
I’ll post again soon! Maybe I’ll write something for when I arrive in Madrid at Lines’ apartment.
Also, did you know that there is a 6-hour time change? I’m going to be TIRED!
With that, good night, and good morning! :)

maya

Packing

Hey everyone! It's 11:50 in the morning and I'm about half way done with packing! Eeeeek! :/
All of my clothing is packed except my night stuff; my toiletries are packed... mostly... but the outlying objects are all musical! I need to fit sikus (pan flutes), a violin, a music stand, music (books and stuff) into my backpack, but also my computer, books, etc. AHHHHH! Any ideas about how to fit all this stuff in? It's only one backpack.... *sigh*

Wait... i should probably explain myself. As you know, I am traveling to Spain from August 1-19. This is my first international trip ridin' solo! My flight leaves from Chicago on August 1 at 11:10 AM to layover in NYC. I leave NYC and arrive in Madrid, Spain at 7:25 AM on August 2. Jet-lag, much? YES. I'm staying in Madrid for a day and a night and then taking either train or bus (i haven't decided which one is cheaper... that's for the train station...) to Burgos, Spain and then somehow traveling about 45 minutes out of town to a music camp where I will be an assisting teacher in the violin classes. As an aside, many people do not know that I have been studying the violin for almost 11 years and will most likely being going to college for the performing arts. Back to future! I will be at the music camp from August 3-11 (I am arriving 2 days late because I am finishing a performance set of Utopia Limited on July 31... today!) and then possibly travel to Salamanca, Spain with my violin teacher, Raquel Paraiso, who is originally from Spain (so she is the reason why I get to do all of this! :D Thanks Raquel!!!!!), and then go to Raquel's village for about 5 days where there is supposed to be a fiesta!!!!! :) Then I'll travel back to Madrid on August 18 and stay there for a night at Raquel's sister, Lines', apartment and then leave from Madrid at 10:10 AM on August 19 and fly to Atlanta, Georgia. From there I will fly to Chicago and hopefully arrive at 5:32 PM that day. It's lots of jet-lag, but I'm hoping it'll be worth it! Who am I kidding? Of course it will be worth it!

I need to go eat lunch now! I hope that my friends and family follow this blog and with that, follow me to Spain in 2011! I am so excited and if I don't share that excitement with someone, my head will most certainly pop off! :/ Please comment so I know you're listening and you're not leaving me on my own in a foreign country.

If you're reading this, thanks!

maya