2 Weeks to Go

I thought I would update everyone on the state of my trip so far and any details I've yet to cover about it in this blog. So, I guess you can think of this as a summary of what I know thus far. I will be leaving on June 12 and coming home the 27th of July. While in Spain I will be taking classes in Spanish over culture, conversation, grammar, literature, and the like. I will be living with a host family, a single mother who's daughter is 12. I am going to try to get out some individual communications to my friends and family while in Spain, but I'm not sure how that will work out yet. I have a long list of people to contact while I'm in Spain, and only seven hours the entire seven week trip to do it in. While in Spain I will be visiting several historical sites, which, if you can imagine, I am extremely excited about. I will be attempting to place pictures on my blog, but I can't make any promises since I'm not 100% certain of how often I will be able to use a computer while in Spain.

I believe that's it for now. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

Final English Blog

1) Through this blog I have discovered that I have an ethical mind. This stems from the fact that I have a strong desire to understand society and its innate goals. I want to better understand different cultures and how they interact with each other based upon their intricate belief systems.

2) I exhibit curiosity by doing research and trying to find as much information as I can about what I am interested in. I am not afraid to try something new if I think it will help me to better understand a culture. I also exhibit curiosity by asking myself rhetorical questions and examining the different answers they could create. I generate hypotheses by developing ideas of how one change in a culture could result in a betterment for the whole of the group. For example, I discussed being immeresed in a culture to better one's learning experience. I also see other points of view. In learning about and joining in a new culture I have to be able to coexhist and understand other points of view, even if they are not akin to my own. By studying their society's habits, I show that I can see and acknowledge other points of view.

3) I learned through this blog that I have a deep attatchment to learning about the Spanish culture and history that flows through Spain. With my trip I believe this attatchment will only grow stronger. I have also learned that I have found a new way to write poetry and that it is calming to me. The ability to write bilingually may eventually help me in the future, and I find it also brings me great joy. This blog has helped me to better see myself as just one of many persons in the world, trying to manuvuer in an ever changing society. The continued updating of this blog may help me to further grow in this understanding and knowledge.

Ancient Architecture in Spain

So one of the reasons I decided to try to enter IU Honors was because of my love of ancient history. I've loved history for as long as I can remember, but the Mediterranean has always been one of my main facets of interest. This year, as I mentioned in a previous blog, we studied Spanish culture in my class. This also consisted of Spanish history, which was an area of Mediterranean History that I had yet to study. I was enthralled with the combination of cultures that influenced the Spanish language and society over the century. Learning about the Muslim and Roman influences were some of the most fascinating aspects of Spanish history. During this time, my teacher presented us with pictures of many of the main architectural features of Spain, and I knew that I needed to go. When I first began to study Roman culture around 6th grade, I had dreams of going to Rome. Upon realizing that I could find Roman architecture as well as a mixing of several other historical buildings in Spain, while becoming bilingual, I knew that I needed to go on this trip. As of now, I know that we will be making several trips around Spain and I know that this alone will be one among many fascinating aspects of the culture. I'm not sure which architectural monuments I will bet to see, but I have many hopes. Among the many sites I would like to see are these: http://gospain.about.com/od/spanisharchitectur1/Pictures_of_Spanish_Architecture.htm

This website provides pictures and names of several of the most famous sites.

Hopefully this experience will enable me to further my Archaeological and Anthropological studies. The insights which I might find in Spain may help me to find my path in life, and promise to create some of the most indelible memories of my life.

More on Spanish Music

Over the past 2 weeks in my Spanish class, we have been creating music videos, somewhat like karaokes, to Spanish music. The lyrics are translated over into English, with the song in the background as Spanish. During the time we have been working on this project, I have noticed a dramatic change in my class. Ok, it may not seem like a lot to some people, I concede, but from what I have observed, it seems very important. For one of the first times in my class, people are using Spanish more frequently. They have begun listening to Spanish music, and some of them are beginning to sing in Spanish as well. To me, this is exciting. It gives me hope that my trip in Spain will trully allow me to become bilingual. As the students in my class are surrounded by the stimulus that is hearing only Spanish, they begin to better comprehend pronunciation, as well as learn words at a more frequent pace. Thus, being immersed in a foreign culture should have similar and more rapid effects. I have begun to ponder the possibility that if all of our foreign language programs provided more listening and immersive activities, language would develop more quickly. Through my Psychology class I learned that we are more adept to learning language at a younger age, during a certain critical period. This does not mean that it is impossible to learn after this period in time, but it is more difficult. This being the case, I believe it would be more effective to provide students with opportunities to participate in the culture and immerse themselves in the language than it is to spend 4 years in a classroom. For example, if a teacher guides a class while only speaking the foriegn language after the 1st year or 2 of the language, then students would progress towards bilingualism more quickly. It is my hope that in the next couple of years this will become more obvious in schools throughout the United States so that enthusiastic students can meet their full potentials.

Cultural Views

Anyone who has known me for at least a week should at this point have realized that I am... a little.... obsessed with the television show, BONES. As I watched an episode entitled "The Girl in the Mask," I began to contemplate what views Spanish society has of our culture. At the center of this episode was a comparison of American and Japanese culture. While watching this, I began to realize how little I know of modern Spanish culture. When I go to Spain, I don't want to insult someone because my behavior is not acceptable in their culture. In America, there are often controversies over culture. For example, derogatory terms are used against many races and religions. Differences in clothing, among other forms of appearance often spark fights. I believe the only way I am going to survive in any culture, whether it be a faction of American society or that of another country, I must study their different habits and unique forms of communication. This past year, I have had the luck of learning some customary differences between Spain and the US through my Spanish class. I was also informed at my orientation that one of the classses in which I will be participating in Spain is focused upon customs. One useful piece of information I picked up from this orientation was this: In America, if we are asked whether we would prefer to have one dish over another, if we have no opinion we might simply reply with "I don't care." In Spain, saying "I don't care" is "No me importa." However, such a response as this is taken offensively. In Spanish culture this translates to mean that one does not care for their cooking at all, not that either dish is ok.

I found this website very interesting, in that it explained some of the most prominent differences between the US and Spain from a first hand point of view: http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/information/spanish_cultural_commentary/

Over the next month I plan on completing further research on the subject of cultural differences and when I return will doubtless have many experiences to share.
33 days!