{"id":2112,"date":"2018-07-05T17:15:07","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T21:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/?p=2112"},"modified":"2018-07-20T09:52:46","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T13:52:46","slug":"no-pasa-nada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/2018\/07\/05\/no-pasa-nada\/","title":{"rendered":"No Pasa Nada"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a1Buenos d\u00edas de Toledo! I\u2019ve just finished my second week here in Toledo, and despite what my title literally translates to, I haven\u2019t been at a loss for things to do. Rather, I\u2019ve taken this phrase and what it means in Spain as my motto for this trip. \u201cNo pasa nada\u201d is a common saying that essentially means \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it\u201d. As I\u2018ve gotten more comfortable in Toledo, this is the approach I\u2019ve tried to take in my daily life. Did I just mangle a conjugation of a verb? S\u00ed. Did I answer \u201cyes\u201d to a question that wasn\u2019t a yes or no? Of course. Did I accidentally ask my host mom\u2019s daughter if she likes mojitos? Absolutely. Does any of it matter? Of course not. No pasa nada. I have realized that I\u2019m going to make mistakes speaking Spanish because I\u2019m still learning. The only way I\u2019m going to improve is to allow myself to fail, learn from it, and move on with the conversation.<\/p>\n

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In the city itself, my classes have really kicked into gear and I\u2019m having a blast. One class is about the five greatest Spanish painters: El Greco, Vel\u00e1zquez, Goya, Picasso, and Dal\u00ed. As someone who loves art but has never taken an art class, it is really opening up a whole new subject matter for me to explore. I also feel as though I\u2019m absorbing much more about Spanish culture just by learning about its artistic heritage. My second class, Art and Architecture in Toledo, explores different historical buildings from the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures that are still prevalent in Toledo. This class is particularly interesting and has immersed me much deeper into Toledo\u2019s history than I ever would have been without it. I even find myself noticing the same styles and themes we talk about in class as I walk down the street.<\/p>\n

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Without a doubt, my best experiences have been building relationships with Spanish citizens. At this point, I\u2019ve met most of my host parents\u2019 family, including their three sons, a daughter, and two granddaughters. I find the differences between them in terms of age, interest, and way of speaking to be fascinating. It has certainly helped me become a better speaker. I had to speak with their grandkids, ages 7 and 10, for 2 hours! I\u2019ve never felt dumber around kids before, but it forced me to speak and speak well or I was going to get made fun of! Even around Toledo, I\u2019ve managed to make friends with the local population. These are people like Emilio, the bartender at the bar we go to, or Rosa, a worker at one of our favorite stores. Each person and their stories adds a little more depth to my Toledo experience.<\/p>\n

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A forest of arches in the Mezquita-catedral de C\u00f3rdoba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As far as travel goes, my whole school took a trip down to Andaluc\u00eda over the weekend. What a magnificent trip that was. We saw the Mezquita-catedral de C\u00f3rdoba, a stunning cathedral that is inside what was formerly the most important mosque in Spain. After that, we worked our way down to Granada.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0T<\/p>\n

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Two dancers engaging in a flamenco duet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

hat was one of my favorite cities I\u2019ve ever been to. Two events stand out. One was a flamenco show in a gypsy cave. To me, this was a true cultural experience, watching the flamenco being performed as it has been for generations. The next day, we toured La Alhambra. This was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. The art and architecture are simply breathtaking. I truly don\u2019t think I can do it justice with words.<\/p>\n

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The stunning Plaza de Leones in La Alhambra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s a wrap on week two. I\u2019ll be back soon. \u00a1Hasta luego!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a1Buenos d\u00edas de Toledo! I\u2019ve just finished my second week here in Toledo, and despite what my title literally translates to, I haven\u2019t been at a loss for things to do. Rather, I\u2019ve taken this phrase and what it means in Spain as my motto for this trip. \u201cNo pasa nada\u201d is a common saying … Continue reading No Pasa Nada<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3013,"featured_media":2121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[290963,63994],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sla-blog","category-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2112"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2123,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112\/revisions\/2123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}