¿Vale?

hola a todos,

Every spanish speaking country, including spanish speakers in the United States, have their own slang. There are so many differences because all over any given country there will be diferent dialects and sayings and what not. One thing that is very Spanish, though, is the word "Vale". The actual definition of "vale" from spanish to english is "it is worth." Spaniards use this word all the time, all day, every single day (note that not many to no one in the US will use this word). It may not sound that weird to you, but it would be like you trying to learn english in England when you know that American english is a lot different. Americans don't speak the exact same english, and so it is the same here with spanish and "Vale" is a big difference in their spanish. How do you they use it? I would say they use it in times of saying the phrase "ok" or "alright". So if my house mom asks me if im hungry and i say yes, it kinda goes like this: "¿Grant, tiene hambre?" oh si "vale". I'm not gonna lie, i love it, i think its great.

What else is going on? Well, this weekend we go to Cordoba and see one of Spain's largest Mosques. It is supposed to be pretty incredible, and this past weekend we went to Italica, a place full of history and battles and gladiators and things like that. It was pretty cool, just to see some of these old ruins and rooms that were thousands of years old and to hear the history was pretty amazing. I feel like my spanish is getting better, classes have started and I have a Childrens Literature class and it is really helping with my vocabulary and I am also recongnizing verbs and things like that. Also, I have to get a job for this one class, and I am going to work at a bookstore across the street from the school. I am really excited and the owner seems like a really cool guy. He usually has students from Tech working there and he knows how to work with them and teach them. I won't be getting paid, it is merely for the class. It is really hard to get in job in Spain anyways if you aren't from Spain.

One last thing, our house mom Carmen is very cool and hilarious. Every lunch she stuffs us with food for about an hour or an hour and a half and we all watch The Simpsons in spanish, she loves it. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, so that time with her is pretty important and I feel like my biggest times for learning is at home with her. Also, Soel, my roommate, and I got very lost last weekend, but we ended up remembering where were and hung out with some friends. Here pretty soon we get "tutors" which are college students from the University of Sevilla. They talk to us in spanish and usually they try to get students to hangout with them and their spanish friends. It has been pretty hard so far, and I didn't expect for it to not be, and I know I am learning a lot and I just have to continue to study and talk to people and it will start clicking. I hope all is well and hopefully next blog I will post some pictures up. Adios muchachos.

grant weldon