Recently, I spent a week in our nation's capital. It was an interesting place in early December. If you are planning a trip there, I would say it's definitely I nice time to go! Since it's the off-season as far as tourism, I got to see a lot of things and barely waited in line anywhere. It snowed one day when I was there, but it wasn't like Colorado snow. The rest of the time was pretty good weather, although it is a lot more humid than I am used to, so it felt a lot colder than it was. Other than that, though, all the seasonal decorations were up, and the town looked beautiful.
I toured the White House, and had an amazing time. There is so much history in every room (or at least the rooms we were allowed in)! There were displays of old Christmas cards from different presidents and other mini-exhibits, but just walking the halls was neat by itself. After that, I ventured to the Capital for another tour. I also got to sit in on the senate. If you have the opportunity, I highly suggest it. All I had to do was walk across the street to my senator's office and get a pass from the receptionist there, and I could sit in the Senate Gallery and watch the proceedings. It was truly amazing to be so close with our nation's governance.
In addition to touring around town, I also went to Arlington Cemetery, Old Alexandria and Georgetown. The last was really an amazing neighborhood to walk around. There was tons of shopping, but still felt very homey. I had the chance to eat at Martin's Tavern, a favorite of a few of our presidents. Old Alexandria was also charming, and went to the water front. It was great to walk around, and had a nice variety of things to do. We missed the parade of lights, but considering how cold it was during the day, I'm not sure I could just sit at night and watch the boats without freezing!
I have uploaded some photos, so take a look at my Facebook album for the best pictures of my trip so far!
I also got to wander around the Library of Congress, which was quite awesome. I have an online account and will be reviewing all the historic pieces of art I saw there (including the Guttenberg Bible). I also was able to meet up with some of the local NaNo WriMo folks for the Thank Goodness It's Over party, and talk novel writing shop with lots of nice people. We had a blast, and it was nice to visit with people from a different area about their experiences writing a novel in November.
As far as the city itself, I really enjoyed walking around D.C. There was too much to see in one week, but I did get a feel for the town. It's impossible not to be involved in politics, but it's also a great place for young professionals. I got around the metros OK, but I think Barcelona's Metro system was a little easier to navigate and had better signage. Other than that, though, I found it fairly easy to get around. We stayed at The Quincy, which was downtown and close to a lot of what I wanted to see. Although it didn't have a lot of standard amenities such as a pool or breakfast, the rooms were awesome and great to go home to after long days of touring around on my feet! I would very much like to go back to D.C., and for a longer period of time.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
NaNo WriMo
Hello all!
This post isn't necessarily travel-related, but I'd like to post it anyways!
I worked pretty hard for four weeks, teaching, going to class, planning lessons... when I got back I ended up being bored!
However, another activity came in to play, with prefect timing: I am participating in National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by November 30. I am doing pretty well, and have about 19,000 words written so far. I am very excited, and have been having a lot of fun with it!
This post isn't necessarily travel-related, but I'd like to post it anyways!
I worked pretty hard for four weeks, teaching, going to class, planning lessons... when I got back I ended up being bored!
However, another activity came in to play, with prefect timing: I am participating in National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by November 30. I am doing pretty well, and have about 19,000 words written so far. I am very excited, and have been having a lot of fun with it!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Best of Barca: Pics are up!
Hello all. I've been back in town for a few days now, and have gotten my pics uploaded to share with the world! I had intended to post them a few days ago, but was distracted by all the *snow* all over the place the last couple days!
Here's the Placa del Sol in Gracia, a great place to sit, relax and chat with friends. It would also not happen here in Colorado because the idea of sitting outside on the cement in October is nothing I would wish on anyone in Boulder right now. However, in Barcelona, this pastime is quite nice!
You can view the album of my photos so far here Facebook Album: Best of Barca! You do not need a Facebook account to view them.
I also have some photos up at My Photobucket Barca Album, however, I haven't added pictures or titles yet, so it's a little rough still.
Here's a picture of my TESOL class celebrating our last day of classes at The Wembley. Some of our tutors and students showed up, and we all had a great time!
I am hoping to have some more time next week to really organize things, but if you are desperate for some pictures of beautiful Barcelona, those should do for now!
Here's the Placa del Sol in Gracia, a great place to sit, relax and chat with friends. It would also not happen here in Colorado because the idea of sitting outside on the cement in October is nothing I would wish on anyone in Boulder right now. However, in Barcelona, this pastime is quite nice!
You can view the album of my photos so far here Facebook Album: Best of Barca! You do not need a Facebook account to view them.
I also have some photos up at My Photobucket Barca Album, however, I haven't added pictures or titles yet, so it's a little rough still.
Here's a picture of my TESOL class celebrating our last day of classes at The Wembley. Some of our tutors and students showed up, and we all had a great time!
I am hoping to have some more time next week to really organize things, but if you are desperate for some pictures of beautiful Barcelona, those should do for now!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Last week in Barca!
Well, the time has absolutely flown by! I leave on Saturday, but I could probably spend a whole nother month here to see everything! The course has been keeping me pretty busy- I taught four lessons last week, and have three this week.We also have all sorts of projects due and tests this week, so the time will go by pretty quickly since we´re all busy. The hardest part for me is the phonemic script based on British pronunciation. It´s quite funny in class, Lizzy the Australian will say "oh right, but Jessica would say it this way- with the ´r´". I love my r´s! :) On Friday I had my advanced students write cover letters, and today we went over word stress in 4 and 5 syllable words, and I had them practice "interviewing" each other, which was pretty fun. I also made a board game with the worst pun in the world-- "the word stress-ful job hunt". Ha ha.
It´s just now getting a bit cold here, although it´s been great weather mostly. I found a great park yesterday afternoon, which had a cafe playing music. There´s also a park right by my apartment building with some wonderful landscaping (palm trees!!) and lots of picnic areas. Last week a lot of us went to the Parc de la Ciutadella and also a fountain for a light´s show, all which was really fantastic.
There´s all sorts of plazas here. For the most part, the streets are fairly bleak as far as plants go, so it seems they try to fit in little parks wherever they can, and plazas for the open spaces. You can tell it´s a warm climate here, because even in October a common weekend evening activity is just sitting on the ground in the plaza, drinking Estrellas and chatting with friends. I can´t even imagine sitting on the cold Colorado cement in a street in October!
Well, we have a test tomorrow, but I am not too worried. Most will be multiple choice with some short answer. I suppose that means I should get to studying.....
ttfn!
-Jessie
It´s just now getting a bit cold here, although it´s been great weather mostly. I found a great park yesterday afternoon, which had a cafe playing music. There´s also a park right by my apartment building with some wonderful landscaping (palm trees!!) and lots of picnic areas. Last week a lot of us went to the Parc de la Ciutadella and also a fountain for a light´s show, all which was really fantastic.
There´s all sorts of plazas here. For the most part, the streets are fairly bleak as far as plants go, so it seems they try to fit in little parks wherever they can, and plazas for the open spaces. You can tell it´s a warm climate here, because even in October a common weekend evening activity is just sitting on the ground in the plaza, drinking Estrellas and chatting with friends. I can´t even imagine sitting on the cold Colorado cement in a street in October!
Well, we have a test tomorrow, but I am not too worried. Most will be multiple choice with some short answer. I suppose that means I should get to studying.....
ttfn!
-Jessie
Monday, October 5, 2009
Barcelona Update!
Hello all,
Last week ended up being super busy! I've already planned and taught two lessons, and will teach two more this week. Our Language Journals on Macedonian are due today, but mine is in good shape and looks great! Since everyone in the class has been working really hard, a few of us decided to relax this weekend! I came into school at 10 on Saturday and worked until they closed the school (around 2 pm). After that, we headed to the beach! There was an international Fly Race going on (sponsored by Red Bull), so the beach was crowded, but we still got a great place. The planes were really neat to watch- I can't imagine doing something like that! After the rounds were over for the day, we all hopped in the water for some amazing salt water swimming. It was a beautiful, warm summer day and perfect after a week of hard work!
Well, I just wanted to give a quick update, now break time is over and it's back to lesson planning!
:)
Last week ended up being super busy! I've already planned and taught two lessons, and will teach two more this week. Our Language Journals on Macedonian are due today, but mine is in good shape and looks great! Since everyone in the class has been working really hard, a few of us decided to relax this weekend! I came into school at 10 on Saturday and worked until they closed the school (around 2 pm). After that, we headed to the beach! There was an international Fly Race going on (sponsored by Red Bull), so the beach was crowded, but we still got a great place. The planes were really neat to watch- I can't imagine doing something like that! After the rounds were over for the day, we all hopped in the water for some amazing salt water swimming. It was a beautiful, warm summer day and perfect after a week of hard work!
Well, I just wanted to give a quick update, now break time is over and it's back to lesson planning!
:)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
First few days in Spain
Hola!
I had my first day of class yesterday, and it went pretty well. This week we will be learning some Macedonian to better understand what it´s like to learn a foreign language (like I didn´t know what that was like already...). I also picked up the alphabet fairly quickly, and we made name tags for ourselves in Macedonian. There´s a pretty diverse group of people in my class (including another ling major yay!), so it should be a pretty interesting four weeks.
My teaching practice for the first two weeks is at night after class, which means I have mornings free for for a while to do some touring around and study. Technically, since I don´t have to be at my TESOL class until almost 2 pm, I can sleep in and relax in the mornings. Tomorrow I will probably be palnning in the morning, as I will be teaching in the evening. My first clas is a Beginner English class. The people we teach sign up for a month´s worth of classes here at the school, it`s only like 60 Euro something, and they know we are teachers in training, but they still get lots of English education in the mean-time.
This morning I went to La Pedrera, which was amazing. They have all sorts of models set up to show the design, as well as an apartment that was pretty neat to walk through. I got some great pictures of the terrace, and some amazing views of the city from there. Tomorrow, I am thinking about going to a cafe near Sagrada Familia just for a snack afte I finish up teaching. I hear it´s great lit up at night, and I don´t think I really need to go inside, since it`s pretty touristy. There is also a Chocolate Museum which I`ll visit Thursday morning as I tour around more of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.
So far, I have managed to avoid getting lost anywhere. My tactic is to plan out my trips and check the maps before I leave my flat, and that has been working pretty well. The area around the school is very easy to navigate. The only thing about the streets in Spain, is that the street names aren´t on sign posts, but on buildings on the corner, so they´re a little hard to see at first. The schools is only 3 metro stops from my flat, and a few blocks from Passieg de Gracia (so if I feel like buying some Armani or Chanel right before class, I can....). There´s also some really good little cafes nearby. Yesterday I picked up lunch in one, and ate a "bocate con bacon", which is just some really nice fresh bread, what I think is crushed up tomato that gets spread on every sandwhich every where in Spain, and some ham and bacon. Needless to say, it was incredibly yummy. I also indulged in my default drink here which is cafe con leche. Served with sugar, it´s just simple coffee and milk, but perfect.
I´m glad I get to finally use my Spanish, although, if I didn´t know any I probably wouldn´t need it since Barcelona is such an international city. Still, it´s nice to improve at least my Spanish listening skills, and I´ve been able to use my Spanish in all restaurants, etc so far. I am staying with two other people in a flat. One of them used to work at the school I am taking my course through and usually has someone from the course stay with her each month, and the other person is an Irish guy who works at HP. They both keep everything super tidy, so that´s a nice change, and also necessary given the space we have. My room is fairly small, but it´s not like I have that much stuff, so it works. I have my own desk in there to study, and the living room is pretty nice to lounge around in.
Well, I think that´s a pretty good update for now. I`ll keep you posted on how teaching goes tomorrow!
I had my first day of class yesterday, and it went pretty well. This week we will be learning some Macedonian to better understand what it´s like to learn a foreign language (like I didn´t know what that was like already...). I also picked up the alphabet fairly quickly, and we made name tags for ourselves in Macedonian. There´s a pretty diverse group of people in my class (including another ling major yay!), so it should be a pretty interesting four weeks.
My teaching practice for the first two weeks is at night after class, which means I have mornings free for for a while to do some touring around and study. Technically, since I don´t have to be at my TESOL class until almost 2 pm, I can sleep in and relax in the mornings. Tomorrow I will probably be palnning in the morning, as I will be teaching in the evening. My first clas is a Beginner English class. The people we teach sign up for a month´s worth of classes here at the school, it`s only like 60 Euro something, and they know we are teachers in training, but they still get lots of English education in the mean-time.
This morning I went to La Pedrera, which was amazing. They have all sorts of models set up to show the design, as well as an apartment that was pretty neat to walk through. I got some great pictures of the terrace, and some amazing views of the city from there. Tomorrow, I am thinking about going to a cafe near Sagrada Familia just for a snack afte I finish up teaching. I hear it´s great lit up at night, and I don´t think I really need to go inside, since it`s pretty touristy. There is also a Chocolate Museum which I`ll visit Thursday morning as I tour around more of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.
So far, I have managed to avoid getting lost anywhere. My tactic is to plan out my trips and check the maps before I leave my flat, and that has been working pretty well. The area around the school is very easy to navigate. The only thing about the streets in Spain, is that the street names aren´t on sign posts, but on buildings on the corner, so they´re a little hard to see at first. The schools is only 3 metro stops from my flat, and a few blocks from Passieg de Gracia (so if I feel like buying some Armani or Chanel right before class, I can....). There´s also some really good little cafes nearby. Yesterday I picked up lunch in one, and ate a "bocate con bacon", which is just some really nice fresh bread, what I think is crushed up tomato that gets spread on every sandwhich every where in Spain, and some ham and bacon. Needless to say, it was incredibly yummy. I also indulged in my default drink here which is cafe con leche. Served with sugar, it´s just simple coffee and milk, but perfect.
I´m glad I get to finally use my Spanish, although, if I didn´t know any I probably wouldn´t need it since Barcelona is such an international city. Still, it´s nice to improve at least my Spanish listening skills, and I´ve been able to use my Spanish in all restaurants, etc so far. I am staying with two other people in a flat. One of them used to work at the school I am taking my course through and usually has someone from the course stay with her each month, and the other person is an Irish guy who works at HP. They both keep everything super tidy, so that´s a nice change, and also necessary given the space we have. My room is fairly small, but it´s not like I have that much stuff, so it works. I have my own desk in there to study, and the living room is pretty nice to lounge around in.
Well, I think that´s a pretty good update for now. I`ll keep you posted on how teaching goes tomorrow!
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