Hola!
As of right now I have 2 participants tested and another 8 scheduled. So I’m halfway there…Or at least I will be once I have them tested.
My first testing session did not go very well, but everything worked out in the end.
Right at the beginning, my laptop crashed for some unknown reason. Thankfully, Annie was able to fix it pretty quickly.
Then, my first experiment crashed. I have no idea why. I tested it multiple times before I got participants and it was fine. And for some reason, it worked fine when I tried it again later. I think the Eprime system is just out to get me. But I will soldier on.
All of my participants have been extremely nice so far. They’re really patient with me when I try to speak to them in Spanish. I did have an awkward encounter with one of them though. Due to martial arts, when I am in a more professional situation, I don’t like to touch people other than to shake their hand. So I didn’t know what to do when one of the participants did the double kiss on the cheek thing. Like, I was aware of this phenomenon, but I was not expecting it from participants. So, in true Delaney-klutzy fashion, I tried to give him a handshake when he came in but he kept coming so I gave him a half hug and then realized that he was trying to do the kiss thing. He didn’t seem to judge me to much. One of these days, I’ll fit in a little bit better, but it is not this day.
I have started coding the data from the first participant. I’m really glad that Carla had me work with Praat this year because I bet I’ll be spending most of the summer with the program. Thank goodness it’s free and I could download it onto my computer.
I’ve noticed that most of the participants have a more British English accent when they are speaking in English. It makes sense, but it was not something that I had really expected.
Okay. Onto weekend adventures.
Saturday was Annie’s birthday, so we asked her what she wanted to do. Originally, she wanted to catch a bus to this mountain and go hiking, but she settled for hiking up some mountain trails in Granada. The views were wonderful and I only fell twice. (In my defense, the last section of the mountain was insanely steep. Alex had to hold Angie and my hands while we were walking down because we were terrified that we were going to fall….Only I did, of course. Klutzy life for the win!)
Sunday, we took a bus to Salobreña, a decently small town with a beach. So I obviously spent most of the day tanning and even swam for a while (it was insanely cold). The most interesting thing, in my mind, was that the beaches were not sandy. They were rocks. The one side had a more pulverized, tiny near-sand rockiness, but the other had large smooth stones. I spent time on both sides of the beach and found that the larger stones were surprisingly confortable. I definitely could have napped there.
Monday, Annie, Angie, and Felix made me leave the apartment in the evening and go on a walk. This was probably a good idea, because I was ready to throw my computer against the wall. I love Praat deep down, but man, marking sentences and words are not my favorite activities.
We walked down to a park. I don’t know the name, but apparently it is like the Central Park of Granada. It was super pretty.
There were a lot of roses and I even found some grass. I think that everyone judged me when I laid down in the grass for a while, but I can’t help it. I really miss grass. I don’t mean that I just randomly think “Hey, there’s no grass. That’s weird.” kind of missing. More of a constant “Why is there so much dirt? Where is the grass? What is this madness? What am I supposed to lay on?” kind of questioning/longing. So in that respect, I guess that I am kind of homesick.
Speaking of homesick, I have developed a list of random things that I really miss.
1. Grass. Not to beat a dead horse, but yea. I really miss grass.
2. Martial Arts. I’ve taken to teaching Angie random things.
3. Arabic. I didn’t bring my textbook and I think it is my biggest travel regret.
4. Alita and Austin (my martial arts partners in crime). They’re like the siblings I never had and I miss talking to them.
5. Driving. This is the longest I have ever gone without driving since I got my permit. It’s weird.
And, to end things, I have a list of things that I don’t miss.
1. The money. Euros are way cooler. Angie handed me two US dollars the other day and it took me a minute to figure out what they were. Euros for the win.
2. People that don’t like any language other than English. I just think that’s silly. Languages are awesome, learn all of them.
3. Frustration with people that don’t speak English well. Patience is a virtue.
4. Being asked if I’m a terrorist for speaking/learning Arabic. You’d be surprised at how often this happens to me.
5. Fast food. I lived off fast food this past school year. It’s hard to make time for real food when you go directly from classes to work and are gone from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day. Fast food is greasy and gross. I feel so much better not eating it.