Hasta Luego Ponteareas, Hola Marín!

On December 5th, the course of my exchange year changed a lot when I switched host families. The only reason why I changed host families was because we didn't have any much of a relation. They were a great host family and I appreciate everything they have done for me. The whole week really sucked because I was really sick and had a fever, right before moving to a different city. I couldn't go to school for the whole week and only went back on the last day to say goodbye to my amigos and profesores. It was kind of tough because I really enjoyed being in that school. I am definitely going to visit my friends and my instituto, if possible.

As of now, I live in Marín, a small town near Pontevedra (the capital of the province). It is 40 minutes away from Ponteareas by car, but almost 2 hours by autobus. I have to admit that it is more appealing than Ponteareas because it is by the river. (Ria de Pontevedra). It is famous for its beaches and is also home to the first Escuela Naval Militar (Naval Academy) in Spain

http://www.concellodemarin.es

My host family is double hosting me and another girl called June from Bangkok, Thailand.  My host dad  is a profesor at the Universidad de Vigo in the Pontevedra campus, and teaches fisioterapia. He also has a fisioterapia clinic in Marin. Because he is really into biking, he helped by doing fisioterapia stuff for the Spain National Cycling Team.


http://www.uvigo.es/uvigo_es/Centros/pontevedra/



On the other hand, my host mom writes novels. Her most recognized series is Dragals. This series is written in Galician but there is also a version in Spanish and also one coming out in English, Catalan, French, Itallian, and Portuguese soon. I've only on the first couple pages of the book because I am a slow reader. It's pretty cool, or "chulo", as the Spanish would say. There is also going to be a TV series or movie, but as of now they are only writing the script. They are also making a video game for sure. My host parents are volunteers that help in the Galicia chapter of  AFS , so they help plan our orientations. 

http://www.dragal.eu/


http://www.galicianliterature.com/elena-gallego-abad

or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FJDAGFlk6I














My host dad's daughter is in France right now with AFS, so I don't get to meet her. He also has two sons but they are a lot older than me and already have their own kids. Every Sunday, we eat lunch with everyone, including sons, and their families. After lunch, I usually just bike or play soccer with the kids. His sons, Roi and Paulo are pretty athletic and do lots of sports. Roi plays soccer in a league, darts, and triathlon. Paulo is also into Triathlon and biking. I didn't know this before, but he is friends with Oscar Pereiro, the 2006 winner of the Tour de France.  

Cultural differences in Spain

I am just going to talk about differences in general and many of these aren't even a big deal. Sometimes, even the smallest things can make a difference when traveling abroad. I probably already mentioned some in the earlier posts.

1. There are lots of flies here, and they are a lot harder to kill!

2. A lot of people smoke here whether it is cafes, parks, or wherever. I heard that it is around 40 %. I have yet to go around the city without seeing at least 10 people smoking.

3. Dogs shit everywhere and their owners don't ever bother to pick up the crap. If you ever visit Spain, you got to be careful...

4. Most Spanish people are environmental friendly and sort out their garbage between plastics, paper, and other food.

5. Not many people here eat on the streets. It is very uncommon to see people walking with coffee or a bag of chips in their hand.

6. Spaniards take a looooong time eating and don't seem to be in a rush when eating. They could sit in the cafeteria or pub for hours while chatting with their friends.

7.  They eat rice or beans with forks even though it is very hard to scoop. To help them, they use a piece of bread in their left hand to help them eat and also to mop up the juice on their plate when finished. I haven't seen this before but it is pretty cool.

8. Coffee is served after everything else. Their cups of coffee are tiny. Also, it is normal to drink coffee at night.

9. Spanish people don't eat a lot for breakfast. Usually just coffee or hot chocolate with biscuits or milk. It is not common to have sausages or eggs or yogurt for breakfast.

10. Lunch time is between 3-4 pm and is the main meal of the day. During this time many stores close and don't open until later. This can be pretty annoying when you have to buy something urgently. Dinner is anything later than 8-11 or maybe even later.

11. In many countries pubs and discos close at around 2 or 3 am. In Spain, many pubs and discos don't open until 2 or 3, and close at around 6-8!

12. When you order a drink at a cafeteria, they usually give you a bowl of chips and sometimes some mini sándwiches. Pretty awesome huh?

13. Zapatillas! or slippers in English. I don't know if they do this in other countries, but Spanish people never walk bearfoot at home
14. Keep your room clean! Normally back home it is disorganized, but here, I have to clean it everyday :(

15. On Sundays, almost every shop and business is closed. All supermarkets are closed and the mall as well, with the exception of the food court and cinema.

16. TV shows tell you how long the commercial breaks are. 

17. The F*** word. In Spain joder (fuck) can be heard everywhere from the 9 year old boy to the old grandma crossing the street. I hear teachers say it and even when students say it, the teacher treats it as if nothing happens. Also, most swearwords (palabrotas) aren't censored on TV

18. At school, you call your teachers by their first names. Also, nobody raises their hand. 

19. Teachers don't hand out notes in class. You have to go to the photocopy room and pay for your own notes.

20. Wedding rings are commonly worn on the right hand. 

21. They use military time (24 hour clock)

22. There are no commercials when you see a movie at the cinema.

23. Spanish people take ham very seriously. They have lots of different types of ham in the supermercado.

24. Nobody uses Facebook in Spain anymore. Instead, they mostly use Whatsapp or Twitter.

25. Multiple Choice tests in Segundo Bachillerato (12th Grade) are pretty much non existent.

26. It is not uncommon for people to repeat grades. There are around 8 people in my class that are repeating.

27. No one ever wears Basketball shorts or sweatpants to school.

28. The Spanish National Anthem doesn't have any lyrics.

29. Clothes dryers aren't as common because most people hang their clothes outside.

30. When entering a supermarket, you have to put your backpacks or bags in a locker.

31. Father's day (Dia del Padre) is celebrated on April 19th and Mother's Day (Dia de la Madre) is celebrated on the first Sunday of May.


32. Most people have two last names. they use their dad and mom's last name


33. 0'123 and 5,00 really means 0.123 and 5.00

34. Most bathrooms at home have a Bidet.

35. There are three types of police in a town or city. Policia local, Policia Nacional, and Guardia Civil.
36. The Car shapes and brands are different. Most cars are in manual instead of automatic. 

La quiniela

This is a really short post. La Quiniela is basically just a lottery game operated by the "Loterias y Apuestos del Estado" (National lottery and betting). Normally, you have to be 18 to do the lottery in España, but for some reason people don't care how old you are, so a lot of Spanish youth like to play this game. 

http://www.loteriasyapuestas.es/es/la-quiniela

This week's Quiniela for matches in the UEFA champions league. Basically, you predict which team will win( or tie). Usually, there are 10 matches from La Liga and 5 from Liga Adelante. The games for Liga Adelante make it way harder for people to win. Sometimes it can be so screwed up for example last week, Real Madrid tied against a Segunda B Division team!!

• 1ª Categoría: 14 correct: 12% de la recaudación (which means prize)
• 2ª Categoría: 13 correct: 8% de la recaudación
• 3ª Categoría: 12 correct: 8% de la recaudación
• 4ª Categoría: 11 correct: 8% de la recaudación
• 5ª Categoría: 10 correct: 9% de la recaudación

My friends play this game every week and have only won once (only 2 Euros) , which shows you how much luck you need for this...


Then, there is the other sports betting game that is popular as well. It is called Sportium and it is just a machine that you can find in bars.

El Partido de Celta

On Saturday, I went to a professional fútbol game for the first time. Most of my friend's and also my favorite team is Celta De Vigo, a professional fútbol team that plays in La Liga BBVA, the highest league in Spain. 

http://www.celtavigo.net/es/

Fútbol is probably the most popular sport in Spain. I mean, they did win the 2008 Euro, 2010 World Cup, and the 2012 Euro! Although Celta de Vigo is my favorite team, they are one of the worst in La Liga. It doesn't matter too much as long as they don't finish in the last 3 stops of the standings. (The worst 3 teams get demoted to Segunda Division and the top 3 teams in the Segunda Division get promoted to La Liga BBVA). The home stadium of Celta De Vigo is Estado de Balaidos. We sat on the left side of the field, and sat as close as we could get to edge of the field.

Balaidos before the game

The video above is the "himno de Celta de Vigo". They sing this song before kickoff while showing off their Celta scarves.

This is the game that I went to. Celta De Vigo beat Almeria 3:1!!! This is also their first home win of the season.

Like most sports games, the fans are wild especially whenever there are goals or fouls. Whenever a player gets fouled and a referee doesn't give them a yellow card, the fans get really mad and yell "Falta, hijo de puta!!!".  Also, whenever a player of the opposite team takes a long time to throw the ball in, people yell "Sacalo cabron!" or "Vamos hostia!". The guy below us was shouting irrelevant things like "nunca mais!".

Castellano vs. Galego

In Galicia, there are two official languages; Castellano(Spanish) and Galego(Galician). According to my observations, most people speak Spanish while a handful of people speak Galician. In most public schools, Galician is the language that is used for the majority of the classes with the exception of other language classes. In my school right now, all the material and textbooks are in Galician, although my History and Philosophy teachers teach in Spanish. In some private schools, they mainly teach in Spanish. My host family speaks Spanish all the time at home and most of my friends speak Spanish when they hang out. (There are some friends that speak Galician at home).

Most of you probably already know what Spanish is, since it is one of the most spoken languages in the world (410 million native speakers) and is an official language in 20 sovereign states.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_Spanish_is_an_official_language

This is just a paragraph from my history textbook about Francisco Franco. (In Spanish)

In Spain, the c's and z's before i's and e's are pronounced with a "th" sound.

Zapatos (shoes): "Th"apatos
Zumo (juice): "Th"umo
Gracias (thank you): Gra"th"ias
Cesped (grass): "Th"esped


If you are wondering what Galician is, it is a romance language just like Spanish, Italian, or French. Apart from popular belief, it is not a dialect of Spanish. Believe it or not, hundreds of years ago, Portuguese and Galician used to be the same language. Spanish and Galician sound really alike. If you barely know any Spanish, you probably cannot tell the difference between the two when listening. For me, reading is a whole lot easier. The first couple weeks of school, I had a hard time telling the difference and I had to ask my friends. It is better now because I can use clues that show whether it is Spanish or Galician.


How I tell the difference from Castellano and Galego

1. If the person is using "sh"  a lot while speaking, it is probably Galician. In Galician, the j's and g's placed before i's and e's are replaced with x's.

English: For example              Biology                   Game                 Chess                 Gym              
Spanish: Por ejemplo              Biología                  Juego                 Ajederez            Gimnasio
Galician: Por exemplo             Bioloxía                  Xogo                  Xadrez               Ximnasio


2. They count differently

       Spanish                   Galician

1      uno                          un
2      dos                          dous
3      tres                          tres
4      cuatro                      catro
5      cinco                       cinco
6      seis                          seis
7      siete                        sete
8      ocho                       oito
9      nueve                      nove
10    diez                         dez


3. Whenever I hear these words:

Galego                                          Castellano                                     English

Mais ou menos                             Más o menos                                More or less
Como te chamas                          Como te llamas                              What is your name
Home                                          Hombre                                          Man
Abaixo                                        Abajo                                             Under
Falar                                           Hablar                                             Speak
Facer                                          Hacer                                              Do/Make
Eu                                               Yo                                                  I
Poñer                                          Poner                                              Put
unha                                            una                                                  A/One
os                                                los                                                  The

English	Galician (Official)	Galician (Reintegrationist)	Portuguese	Spanish
Good morning	Bo día / Bos días	Bom Dia	Bom Dia / Bons dias	Buenos días
What is your name?	Como te chamas?			¿Cómo te llamas?
I love you	Quérote / Ámote	Amo-te		Te quiero / Te amo
Excuse me	Desculpe			Perdón / Disculpe
Thanks / Thank you	Grazas	Obrigado		Gracias
Welcome	Benvido	Bem-vido	Bem-vindo	Bienvenido
Goodbye	Adeus*			Adiós
Yes	Si	Sim		Sí
No	Non	Nom	Não	No
Dog	Can	Cam	Cão	Perro (rarely, Can)[53]
Grandfather	Avó /aˈbo/	Avô[54] /ɐˈvo/		Abuelo
Newspaper	Periódico / Xornal	Jornal		Periódico
Mirror	Espello	Espelho		Espejo

A little bit of Galician from my Economics class

Galician is spoken by around 3 million people but honestly, it is not that useful because you aren't going to use it a lot around the world. (But it can help me get a head start for learning Portuguese). I really want to learn both, but my priority is definitely Spanish.



Hasta Luego! 

Galicia

In Spain, there are 17 autonomous communities. Autonomous communities have the power of self government within limits of the constitution of Spain. Within these autonomous communities are other provinces which have their own capitals. 

   The link to the left is a map game

 I currently live in the Autonomous community of Galicia, which is where Santiago de Compostela(the capital) is located. As you can see, there are four provinces in Galicia. Galicia proudly boasts of their fishing industry and Zara (started near A Coruña). The most important cities in Galicia are probably Vigo, A Coruña, and Santiago De Compostela. People of Vigo and A Coruña are really proud of their fútbol teams. 

Real Club Celta de Vigo, who plays in Primera Division de La Liga BBVA, is my favorite fútbol team even though they suck. I think they're #16 in the standings right 
now...

This is Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña. They are the biggest rivals of Celta de Vigo. Hate them or love them, the truth is they really really suck. As of now, they play in Segunda Division, one level lower than Celta De Vigo. (Puta A Coruña)

On the other hand, Santiago is like the jem of Galicia. It is home to many famous cathedrals, the last stop of the camino, and the Universidad de Santiago. If you go there, you will see lots of English speaking and Japanese tourists with hiking gear and stuff.



http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/20131203-where-is-the-seventh-celtic-nation

Flag of España and Galicia

Chau tío!

La Tele

Tele is short for television in Spanish which as you can probably guess, means television in English. My host family spends a lot of time watching TV. After school, my host brothers watch The Fairly Oddparents, or Phineas and Ferb, or Wipeout. (All kid stuff...) When my host brothers go to sleep, my host parents watch the news, then some show depending on the day. The problem with the TV shows is that almost all the most popular programs are American TV shows translated into Spanish. It pisses me off because the Spanish voices sound ridiculous and doesn't sound anything similar to the original voice. Watching comedies translated from english to spanish isn't as funny either. I tried watching Big Bang Theory (called Big Bang in Spain) in Spanish and it wasn't funny at all. I understood what they said, but the comedy just doesn't translate well. Same goes with Two and a Half Men. (Dos Hombres y Medio). The other problem with TV, is that all my favorite and most of the popular TV shows start at 10:30 and end at 12:00. It is a little bit too late at night.

Lunes

My host parents watch Isabel, a TV show about Isabel I, the queen of Castilla from 1474 to 1504. I personally don't like this show because I don't follow it and find it boring

http://www.rtve.es/television/isabel-la-catolica/

Martes

We watch a soap opera Gossip Girl kind of type show called Vive Cantando. I find it cheesy but watch it anyways just to practice my Spanish. 

http://www.antena3.com/series/vive-cantando/

Miercoles

I like to watch Top Chef España. I don't think it is as dramatic as hell's kitchen and the judge rarely yells at the contestants but they do swear a whole lot. My favorite contestant is Hung Fai, but he is eliminated

http://www.antena3.com/programas/top-chef/

Jueves

My favorite show on jueves is Aguila Roja. It was one of the most popular Spanish made TV shows in Spain. If you live in the US or Canada, you should go to www.dramafever.com and watch it with English subtitles. Even though this show is good, it gets kind of cheesy, predictable, and repetitive after 6 seasons. Basically, this TV show is about Gonzalo, a teacher and a disguised hero(ninja) who fights crime and injustice. Kinda like Spiderman.

Viernes

At night, we usually watch some Disney Channel show with the whole family. 

Sabado

Every Saturday night, my host family watches a TV show called Uno de los Nuestros. It is a singing show kind of like American Idol, X Factor, or The Voice. Basically, the contestant performs with a twelve member band, and if the band doesn't like their singing, they can press a button and stop playing their instruments. If more than six members of the band press the button, the contestant is eliminated. It is entertaining at times, but definitely cannot compete with American Idol or the Voice. 

¡Mi Casa!

En mi casa, hay 3 pisos. I am very lucky and thankful to live in such a nice house. 

Arriba

Mi habitacion

Mi Armario
This is very hard to keep organized!

El baño

Pasillo

This is la habitacion of my two host brothers. I don't think they mind sharing rooms because the only thing they do in this room is sleep. It is kind of different in North America because we spend a lot of time in our rooms doing homework or video games or other stuff. By the way, the brown stuff animal on their beds are Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots. 

Segundo Piso 

El Comedor
We eat lunch in this room on the weekends.

Este es la cocina. I spend a huge chunk of my time in here making sandwhiches and chocolate milk :)

This is the sala de estar. After my host brother's go to sleep, my host family and I usually watch TV, read, or just relax in here.

This is kind of like the living room of my host brothers.They spend most of their time here after school or on the weekends. This is where all the toys are, where they do their homework, play wii, and where they watch TV.

Pasillo


Abajo

This is the room where I do my homework. No one really ever goes in here except when my host brother, their friends, and I play board games on the weekends.


El Garaje

There is nothing special about this room except for the fact that there is a huge bookshelf with tons of books that no one actually reads. Oh, and the puppy sometimes sleeps in here

As you can see, this is a huge garage. There is a bathroom... and there is a ton of space even after two cars are parked. The thing on the right is a futbolin table

Afuera

Whenever it is sunny or warm, my host brothers study here. This is just another place to chat whenever guests come over

This is obviously the swimming pool. After the first couple days of October, it is too cold to swim here. The shack on the left is to store swimming pool toys, balls, and rafts.

This is the barbaque inside the building behind the swimming pool

This is the kitchen inside the building behind the swimming pool

 Campo de futbol
I only play soccer with my host brothers whenever their friends come over. One of my host brother only plays with his friends and the younger host brother hates soccer but likes padel tennis. The building behind the court is a storage for gardening tools.

The turtles live in the sandbox

Estanque with fish inside

Outside of the house, they have another garden with lots of fruit trees and plants. (Kiwis, apples, chesnuts)