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Link to Sahi Denduluri’s Blog

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

Please find my blog here:

www.sahispain.blogspot.com

Thanks and enjoy!

Sahi

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Vanderbilt-en-Espana: Verano 2009

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Bienvenidos a España! J I have had a hard time getting this blog up and running so I will just give a summary about what I have been doing so far, and then start giving steady updates from there. I arrived on May 15^th and my Senoras name is Teresa. She has been so nice and welcoming to my roommate and I, and I am so happy that I was placed with her. We have gotten the opportunity to see a lot in the two weeks that we have been here. We have visited El Parque del Retiro, which is a HUGE park that has plenty of things to entertain its visitors including boat rides, street vendors, and disney characters. We have also traveled to Segovia, Spain where we saw the acqueduct and el Catedral de Segovia. We have also visited El Escorial, and El Palacio Real. My favorite of the two was the Palacio Real because e it was so gorgeous! All of the rooms were decorated very luxuriously with tables and mirrors adorned with gold, and intricate paintings on the walls and ceilings. Unfortunately, they did not let us take pictures, but I am glad that we got a chance to tour it. We have also gotten a chance to take in some of Spain’s art scene. We went to de the “Danca Espanola y Flamenco” which was a mix of traditional Spanish Flamenco dancing and modern ballet. This was a very entertaining show and even inspired us to take Flamenco lessons! The other night we went to see a play called Fuenteovejuna. This was fun because our teachers from the university came with us, so they helped us understand the historical context of the play. School has been going great as well, we attend La Universidad Complutense de Madrid and I am taking a class called The Spanish Language, a literature class called Spanish Woman writers, and independent study. This weekend I am going to Barcelona, so I will post about my experience when I return! Hasta Luego! J

We had a great time in Barcelona! Although we were only there for a day, we got a chance to see a lot of the city. We utilized the “Hop-on, Hop-off” tour buses so we could see almost all of the major city attractions and take a lot of pictures J. One of the coolest things that we saw was the Sagrada Familia which was absolutely amazing, it was almost overwhelming to look at since it was so large. The outside was so detailed, it was interesting to pick things out from the architecture. We also got to hang-out on the beautiful beach for awhile—which was wonderful! Today I am going to visit a chocolotería, which is supposed to be a big deal here in Spain, and tonight we are taking flamenco lessons.

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Welcome to France. “Aix marks the spot”

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Bonjour et bienvenue. Thanks for visiting my blog. I’ve had one going on Facebook as a pseudo-blog til I could get this one running, so here goes!

I got in Friday at around 6 or 7 France time, 11 or 12 Dallas/Nashville time. It was a bit hectic. My phone died, the left my bag in Paris. I still haven’t gotten it, so I’ve been using a hand towel ha. Murphy’s law..! I had my first French dinner at un resto U - le poisson (fish. about the size of a cup of gumbo for 14 €. a bit overpriced in my opinion). But it was great - I love the tutors and other students. Saturday we toured Aix, which isn’t too big. Supposedly it’s only 15 minutes from one end to the other, about the size of Vandy campus? Sunday we went to Cassis! What a beautiful beach. We took a boat tour to see the calanques (rock formations). Apparently instead of sunbathing on the sand, they do so on huge rock slabs that jut out from these formations. The water was freezing but so very blue! Yes, the people here really do go topless. “Le mono bikini est tres chic” so they say. I got burned! For some reason this French sun is extra strong. I experienced my first French rain today, and afterwards the weather was perfect. We just came back from our first dinner with our French family. The food was wonderful and they were so nice. The mom said that she’d give us recipes for the meals we like - wonderful! Speaking of cooking, I will be taking classes the next three Tuesdays. And Saturday I’ll be taking a vineyard tour in Palette! Tomorrow we go to Luberon to visit an abbay where some monks still live and to see the ochre where the pigment is taken from rocks for watercolor paints. I’m such a tourist and I love it! Get excited. So check back tomorrow for more pictures. I already have homework - it really is Vanderbilt in France! À plus!