Spanish Word Of The Day

"Feria"

Feria (fair-e-ya): Fair

On Saturday, I made my first trip outside of Malaga, and I went all the way about 40 minutes, outside of the city by train to a town called Fuengirola. I have a few Auxiliares friends who live in "Fuengi" and they were all really excited about the Feria in Fuengirola. Even though I knew Feria meant "fair," I guess I was expecting some arts and crafts booths, and some food. But when we got there I was shocked to see an all-out "state fair" type carnival, with actual roller coasters, every type of food you can think of, and straight up bars in the middle of the fair. 

Legit coconut water. 

There were women and girls dressed in these beautiful, traditional  (I'm guessing) gowns. 

When I said there were bars at the feria, there were full service bars with music and everything! 

This girl was definitely enjoying the bar in her beautiful dress :)

Here are some of the rides and lights they had:

I had never seen this before, and I thought it was pretty cool. These were "bubble balls" (like you see at sporting events where people race across the field/court in them), but this time, they were in water!

Spanish Word Of The Day

"La Comida"

Comida (co-me-da): Food

Simply put, the food here in Spain is delicious. Due to siesta, a break that all Spaniards take in the afternoon, the traditional "eating schedule" in Spain is different from the typical schedule in the US. Spaniards typically eat a light breakfast in the morning--and when I say light I mean toast and juice, then eat lunch around 2pm, and dinner around 9pm.  Lunch in Spain is the main meal of the day, comparable to dinner in the US, and many restaurants offer a menu del dia which consists of two courses, a dessert, bread, and a drink for about 10 euro.

I went to a restaurant with my French roommate Andrea, and another French guy Pierrick (more to come on him later), and had my first menu del dia. For my first course I had pasta bolognese, and for the second course I had fried octopus.

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Por Fin"

 

Por Fin (poor feen [like fiend] ): Finally

After a week of struggling without internet in my apartment, when my roommate walked in the house last night with our router, I literally screamed por fin! It makes things so much easier having internet at home, versus going to the locutorio (internet cafe) and having to pay just to check my e-mail.

That being said, expect about a million a few posts today to update everyone about how my first week has been Spain! Isn't it weird to think that I had been counting down for so long to leave and come to Spain, and now I've already been here a week :)

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Piso"

Piso (pee-so): Apartment

Piso is the word used in Spain for apartment.  I'm pretty sure this word is unique to Spain because I told this Dominican guy that I was going to find my own piso in Spain, and he had no clue what I was talking about, and said he had never heard this word before; some other countries use apartamento for apartment.

I chose piso as the SWOD because I think I finally found a piso!!! The piso is right in the center of Malaga, and only about a ten minute walk from the beach :) The piso has four rooms and if everything works out, it will be myself, my friend Andrea from the hostel (who is French), and two Italian girls who are in the same Erasmus program as Andrea.

I think it's cool that even though none of us are from Spain, Spanish is the only language we have in common. I also think it's cool that one of my goals before I came to Spain was to learn French, so now I have the chance to learn French and Italian without even leaving my piso. 

 

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Visado"

Visado (vee-sah-doh): Visa

It's here!!!!!!! The last thing that I have been waiting on to make my move to Spain official was my visado, and today, it arrived!!!!! A few weeks ago, I did a post about all of the paperwork required for the Visa , and after all of the waiting, all of the background checks, and a trip to Washington, DC...it's here!!!

 Now it truly is official, next Monday morning I'll be moving to Spain. :)

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Medicina"

Medicina (meh-dee-scene-ah): Medicine

Today's SWOD is pretty straight forward. Medicina is only one letter different from it's English cognate, medicine.

I went to the dentist today to get a filling, and even though it was a quick and painless process, I literally couldn't feel OR move the right side of my mouth for a couple of hours after my appointment. This made for a very interesting afternoon at work trying to speak Spanish only having the ability to move one side of my mouth. Needless to say, there were plenty of laughs all around :)

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Piscina"

Piscina (pi-scene-ah): swimming pool

 

Since I'm at the beach this weekend, I thought I would give a "beach-themed" SWOD (please forgive the fact that I still have been lacking in the daily part.)

On those hot summer days, people worldwide love to spend their day at the piscina.

My view today at la piscina.

Spanish Word Of The Day (SWOD)

"Falta"

From wordreference.com:

Falta (fall-tah):

1. (carencia, ausencia) ~ de algo ‹de interés/dinero› lack of sth;
   por ~ de fondos owing to a lack of funds;
   ~ de personal staff shortage;
   es por la ~ de costumbre it's because I'm/you're not used to it;
   no es por ~ de ganas it's not that I don't want to;
   siente mucho la ~ de su hijo she misses her son terribly;
   a ~ de un nombre mejor for want of a better name;
   a ~ de más información in the absence of more information;

Essentially una falta is a lack of something. In my post below where I stated "The only problem is una falta de motivation to run," I meant that I have a lack of motivation to run. 

If there are any words or phrases that you'd like to know how to say in Spanish, or any Spanish words that you'd like to know how to say in English, feel free to leave them in the comments and they can be the next Spanish Word Of The Day!

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Tapas"

From wordreference.com via Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary © 2009 Oxford University Press:

Tapas (top-uhs): "In Spain, these are small portions of food served in bars and cafés with a drink. There is a wide variety, including Spanish omelet, seafood, different kinds of cooked potatoes, salads, cheese, ham, and chorizo. They can be very elaborate, and people often order several to make a meal. Tapas are part of a lifestyle and the social aspect is very important. The practice of going out for a drink and tapas is known as tapeo."

Here are some photos of some of my favorite tapas:

Spanish Tortilla (Similar to a potato omelet)

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/ss/tortilla.htm

Croquetas (Fried dough that can be filled with chicken, ham, cheese, tuna, vegetables, etc.)

http://www.recetasdiarias.com/recetas/carne/croquetas-de-jamon/

Dátiles con Tocino (Bacon Wrapped Dates)

http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=qDEp8O-EREbWu_bQNb5ChA&select=0wWFrv6iFWBU9wsCGKnWXA