iYa esta!

Nik nire klaseak bukatu ditut. Nik nire etsaminak bukatu ditut. Osteguna ni etxera joango naiz. Hala ere, asteaztea nik maletak prestatuko ditut...


I'm done with classes, I'm done with exams. Thursday I go home. However, I'll pack on Wednesday.



Whew, time flew! Especially finals! Well, it helps that they were all ON THE SAME DAY.


But I think I did well. On all the art tests I have been getting A's, and in Euskara our teacher graded the exams so we could know what we got before we left.

I got a 99 on the midterm, a 98 on the final project, a 96 on the exam, and my final grade was a 97. As Natalia (my teacher) said, "ZORIONAK!" I am not sure what that means, but I think it's congrats or something.

And she was so sweet today, telling us that she cannot say "agur" (goodbye) because she'll get too sad. Instead, she says "gero arte" which is "see you soon."
"Agurrik ez, gero arte baizik!"= No goodbyes, but instead a see you soon!

After she told me my grade, she insisted that I continue with the language because I am so good at it. I would love to, but being in Chicago with 3 people who know basque (the three Loyola students in this program), that won't be very likely. I am sure I will say "Kaixo"(hello) and "ongi"(good) a few times, as well as "neska"(girl) here and there.

I am definitely going to miss Natalia, but I plan to keep in touch by email.


And finally I had my Track/grammar exam, which wasn't too bad. I was actually surprised by how easy it seemed, but we shall see how my grade turns out. Looks like I'll be getting a B in that class, but a high B, which isn't too bad.

Aihnoa (my Track teacher) had chocolates and cookies for us at the test, which was a nice treat. We gave her a card wishing her a good summer and an early congratulations for her baby (she is pregnant, and BIG TIME showing...I think august 3rd is when she will "dar la luz" aka give birth). It's gonna be a boy, and she has a name picked out already, but I can't remember what it is.

But wow. The semester is over. Now I have two full days of nothing until Wednesday evening when I catch a bus to Madrid at 7pm. THEN I am waiting there for 5 hours until my 7am flight, then I am off on my long journey home. I wish the travelling times weren't so cruel.

Allow me to translate.

Okay, so a short time ago I posted a little thing in Euskara, or Basque. Now I have time to translate.

The assignment was to write a jounral of monday and tuesday, as well as a future journal of what we were doing that weekend. I will translate line by line.

Astelehena= Monday
Gaur goizean ni jaiki naiz eta ni jantzi naiz. =This morning I woke up and got dressed.
Nik sukaldeon kafesnea edan dut.= In the kitchen, I had some coffee with milk.
Ni klasera joan naiz eta nik klasean aditzak ikasi ditut. =I then went to class, where we learned new verbs.
Ni etxera joan naiz eta nik pelikula ikusi dut. =I went home and watched a movie.
Nik gurasoak deitu ditut. = I called my parents at home.
Nik nire argazkik organizatu ditut. =I organized my photo album.
Guk sendi baterakin afaldu dugu. = As a family, we ate dinner together.
Nik ataza egin dut.=I did my homework.
Ni nekatu naiz eta nik lo egin dut. = I became tired and then went to sleep.

Asteartea= tuesday
Gaur goizean ni jaiki naiz. = This morning I woke up.
Ni dutxatu naiz eta ni jantzi naiz. = I took a shower and I got dressed.
Nik olo prestatu dut eta nik gosaldu dut. = I made oatmeal and ate breakfast.
Nik posta elektronikoa irakurri dut. = I checked my email
Ni klasera autobusean igo naiz. = I went to school on the bus
Nik aldizkaria irakurri dut. = I read a maagazine.
Nik klasean olerkia irakurri dut eta nik klasean kanta entzun dut. = We read poems in class and we listened to a song.
Nik balzkaldu dut eta nik patata frijituak jan ditut. = I ate lunch and had some french fries.
Ni parte zaharrara joan naiz eta nik ikurriña erosi dut.= I went to Parte Vieja and I bought an ikurriña (basque flag).
Ni etxera joan naiz eta nik klaseak matrikulatu ditut. = I went home and signed up for classes.
Nik ataza egin dut.= I did my homework.
Guk sendi baterakin afaldu dugu. = My family and I together ate dinner.
Nik lo egin dut. = I went to bed.

Asteburua= Weekend
Gu Burgosera joango gara. = We're going to Burgos.
Ostiral goizean gu aterako gara eta gu autobusera igoko gare.= Friday morning we leave and we get on a bus to go to Burgos.
Guk Katedral ikusiko dugu eta guk arkeologia-aztarnategia ikusiko dugu, ere bai.= We will see a Cathedral and an archeological digs site, too.
Gu bidean ibiliko gara.= Together we'll go on a hike.
Igandean guk “Skins” ikusiko dugu eta nik gailetak prestatuko ditut.= My friends and I are going to watch the show "SKINS" and make cookies.



See, not so hard to understand, now was it?

Try THIS, all you non-Euskaldunak!

Here is some homework I had for my basque class last week. We had to write a journal of what we did on Monday and Tuesday, then what we planned to do on the weekend.

Here it is:

Astelehena
Gaur goizean ni jaiki naiz eta ni jantzi naiz. Nik sukaldeon kafesnea edan dut. Ni klasera joan naiz eta nik klasean aditzak ikasi ditut. Ni etxera joan naiz eta nik pelikula ikusi dut. Nik gurasoak deitu ditut. Nik nire argazkik organizatu ditut. Guk sendi baterakin afaldu dugu. Nik ataza egin dut. Ni nekatu naiz eta nik lo egin dut.

Asteartea
Gaur goizean ni jaiki naiz. Ni dutxatu naiz eta ni jantzi naiz. Nik olo prestatu dut eta nik gosaldu dut. Nik posta elektronikoa irakurri dut. Ni klasera autobusean igo naiz. Nik aldizkaria irakurri dut. Nik klasean olerkia irakurri dut eta nik klasean kanta entzun dut. Nik balzkaldu dut eta nik patata frijituak jan ditut. Ni parte zaharrara joan naiz eta nik ikurriña erosi dut. Ni etxera joan naiz eta nik klaseak matrikulatu ditut. Nik ataza egin dut. Guk isendi baterakin afaldu dugu. Nik lo egin dut.

Asteburua
Gu Burgosera joango gara. Ostiral goizean gu aterako gara eta gu autobusera igoko gare. Guk Katedral ikusiko dugu eta guk arkeologia-aztarnategia ikusiko dugu, ere bai. Gu bidean ibiliko gara. Igandean guk “Skins” ikusiko dugu eta nik gailetak prestatuko ditut.



Oh, wait, you don't speak basque, do you? I shall translate next time. At least you know I'm learning something!

Tortilla de Patatas

Okay, so I will be honest and say that I am not putting full effort in this b/c it is 1:48 AM and I have to wake up early tomorrow. You'll have to deal.


Okay, so last week was my last cooking class. We had normal class on Tuesday, which is when the class normally is held, but then we met again Thursday to take our final.
First, we showed up and instead of meeting in the kitchen as usual, we met upstairs in the second dining room, where we were given the test. We previously received a copy of the test so we could study, but the copy we had received had way more questions on it than the actual test.
This fake test we got also had tons of errors. All of the questions were in Spanish, and one question asked something along the lines of "What ingredient is indispensable in ajorriero" or something like that. Ajorriero, or so I think it's called, is made with ajo, or garlic, as well as about 2 pounds of cod. There are other things too. The answer options were: garlic, cod, onions, and cream. Obviously, if something is made with 2 pounds of cod and that is the main part of the dish, other than the garlic of course, wouldn't you think that was also indispensable? Anywho, I asked Patricia before the test and she said that it was in fact an error, since obviously you couldn't make a dish without the garlic or the bacalao. She told me not to worry since it wasn't on the test, though.


We got the test. The question was the first question on this test.

I called over Patricia and told her, and she laughed and said I could put A and B since they were both technically right.

We finished the test fairly quickly. One kid in our class (Alec) didn't answer the entire back side of the exam and instead wrote: "Touching squid in the kitchen last week was MY 'A'"

They graded the tests and informed us that we the class was pass/fail and we had to get a 15/25 to pass. Two people failed. The aforementioned kid was one of them. As well as another girl. All of which was announced to the class. Then, the chef guy continued to read every single person's name and grade they got on the test. I got a 21, so of course I passed. I thought it was completely rude, though, that he read out loud everyone's grades. The girl who failed (Annette), for example, is only in Track 2 Spanish, which is like the equivalent of the Spanish level I had in high school about 5 years ago. Therefore, a class completely taught in Spanish about Basque culture would be quite hard for her to follow. Then telling the entire class she failed is just over the top. She didn't even understand him when he said she failed. Because it was in Spanish. But still, her face turned completely red when she found out and I felt angry for everyone that didn't want their grade announced, however good or bad it was.

Anyways, we moved on downstairs, where we had put our Tortillas de patatas. We had to do this in groups of three or so, where we got together and made tortilla de patatas, which is basically a type of egg omelet with potatoes. We had to just do it for a grade, and then, for fun, they had a competition to see whose was best. We were told ahead of time if we didn't follow the basic recipe (eggs, olive oil, onions, and potatoes) then we wouldn't qualify for the competition, but we'd still get a grade on it. The one I made with Cassi and Alex Ireland contained the traditional stuff as well as green peppers and chorizo. We made an extra one for ourselves to eat before class and it was DELICIOUS. So we got to taste everyone elses and some were good, some bad. One group, with a student (Alex Plotkin) who is ambitious to be a chef, put caviar and other stuff on top.

After we tasted those, we sat down for our formal dinner of some veggie stew, duck(?) and salad. In our end of the table, someone found the bladder of the duck on the platter and we all decided to be "daring" and each eat a chunk of it. It was dry and mushy.
We finished the dinner with some kind of flaming dessert that they finished off before us, where they lit some liquid on fire and poured it on top. It was very...foamy. There was fruit as well as some ice cream, but the ice cream was similar in color and texture to the foam, so it was hard to pick that out (b/c the flavor was of course different, the ice cream being WAY better). Ryan commented that the foam part was like jacuzzi foam. The flavor and texture was dead on, which was quite gross.

After coffee, our chef-teacher dude as well as another cook from the kitchen and some dude we'd never seen before came out in the dining room wearing some funny beret-like hats and gowns. They then called our names in threes and each gave us a certificate of accomplishment. Then they announced the winners of the tortilla competition. Apparently the rules of the "traditional" tortilla didn't apply since a lot of people changed the recipe to their liking. He announced third, which was Alex Plotkin's group, then second, then first. Cassi, Alex Ireland and I won first place! Cassi was so excited, you'd think she won $500. We went up and they gave us these blue aprons to wear and we posed for pictures. Then they told us it's traditional in something like this that the winners sing a Bertso, or a freestyle Basque poem. Of course we couldn't do that since we can't speak basque, nor freesyle poetry, so instead we sang the only song we knew in Basque, the Basque numbers song. The chef and them knew the lyrics too, since for them it's like some children's song like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." We sang, everyone sang along, they clapped, and we got to keep the aprons.

That's right, people, a BASQUE GASTRONOMIC SOCIETY said that our tortilla WAS THE BEST.

And if you wanted to know what song it was, I happened to make this great video for you to enjoy.



And here's the link to our Cooking class's photo album...where they have not yet posted pics of our "graduation," but still you can enjoy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35262595@N02/sets/72157613605054986/