Celebrity spotted

Today we had Floorball match against Adil from Leganés. My friends came to support and other regular supporters said that they were so good supporters that they should come again. We won the match 4-3 and ensured the second place in the league table before the last match.

I spotted Xabi Alonso who is middle fielder of Real Madrid when I went for a walk first time to the park Retiro in Madrid. He was able to walk in peace because people did not go to ask his autographs or take photos with him. Only one paparazzi was hiding from him and taking photos.

Learning more Spanish

To improve my Spanish I Have said to my friends to point out my mistakes which I make. Especially I am trying to focus on pronunciation of 'Z' and 'C' for example in words like zapato and gracioso. I feel a bit annoyed when my mistakes are pointed out even I want them to be pointed out. I just have to get over it and not to get upset. When I write Spanish I forget the articles. Now I feel that I can follow the conversation between Spanish people better than before. I have still a lot to learn to master Spanish.

Surname

Spanish people have two surnames. One they got from their father and other from their mother. When they get married they keep the fathers last name and change their mothers last name to the last name of spouses father. There are some very common last names therefore it is possible to have two times the same surname for example Martinez Martinez.

Procession

Procession

The Catholic church is the most practiced religion in Spain. During this week which is called the holy week there are each day a bit different procession symbolizing the events of the Easter. People gather to see the processions to the roadside. To the procession participate people of all ages some are playing horns and drums. For me everyone looked like members of Ku Klux Klan because I had not seen before that this kind of costumes are part of Christian church.

Peñafiel and Valladolid

Valladolid
View from the castle

Chencho, Me, David and JoDan in Peñafiel

On Monday morning I went to Peñafiel with Chencho, David and JoDan. Region Castilla León is known of wine production and religious people. For example in the town of Peñafiel where is about five thousand habitants are four big churches and the Eastern ceremony in the town is televised to the whole Spain. We took a obligatory guided tour with three euros entrance to the castle in Peñafiel. Castle has a interesting form of a ship.

On Tuesday cousins of David showed us the city center of Valladolid and of course the football stadium. We took a look to a dead little town where you could see the ruins of old houses. In the evening we saw the first Eastern procession and more are coming up later on also in Alcalá.

Easter holiday

Sunny plaza Cervantes

Easter holiday started and it means that the whole next week is holiday. When there is a long holiday it means that many Erasmus students go to travel or visit their families. I am going to take just a few day trip to one town and city nearby Madrid. One thing why I do not like holiday is that it means break from playing floorball or from other nice things what you might have normally.

Spanish Facebook

In Spain Facebook is not the number one social website. Spanish have their own Facebook called Tuenti. I have not created own Tuenti account. Many Spanish Have both accounts and they say that Tuenti is better.

I found one new course for this semester which will be in English. It is intensive course which takes just two weeks but there are are lessons everyday 3.5 hours. Course is called decision support system for management control.

Asturias

North coast of Spain

Oviedo

This weekend we had match on Sunday in Gijon but we left from Madrid already on Friday to take a look of Oviedo and Gijon. Area is called Asturias and it is know of cider production. In Madrid pubs are called Cervería but in Asturias pubs are called sidrería. Cerveza means beer in Spanish and sidra means cider. Natural cider should be poured to the glass with high pressure therefore you take the bottle as far away as possible from the glass when you pour the cider. You should also always pour just the amount of the cider what you are able to drink with one gulp. I noticed that the nature is much more greener than in the central Spain. We won the match 2-15 and eight goals in the last period left good feeling from the match.

Spring

It feels like spring have finally arrived. Last few days have been quite warm and I have spotted few people walking outside with a t-shirt. Spanish people have said that the past winter was the coldest winter for a long time.

In the center is market which is the nearest place for me to do food shopping. I have bought something from there but there is one fact that I do not like. Dealers touch the food with their hands and handle the money with the same hands without washing them. So far this have not made me ill but maybe I should ask them to put gloves on when they cut ham and meat for me.

Spanish house

Bidet

In Spain people wear shoes inside the house and do not take them off right after coming inside like in Finland. Usually people change shoes for more comfortable sandals when they are at home. My current flat in Spain is heated with air conditioner and it did not heat up very well when it was very cold outside. Landlord said that the heater was not able to heat up very well because it was so cold. When you really needed the warm air the heater was not working properly. I hope that when the weather gets very hot it is able to cool down the air and it is not too hot for cooling down the air. Another difference you can see in the bathroom. In Spain bidet is a standard feature in bathroom but I have never seen a bidet in a Finnish bathroom. Instead of the bidet there is a bidet shower in Finnish bathrooms.