S.IMM&R SPENTEN'.SPAIN. •

Every summer Cabrini sends students over to Spain to study and for an intense experience of Spanish culture. The following story is a modified version of Renee Di Pietro's journal of her experiences this summer.

by Renee DI Pietro

Part One

June 29, 2001

perspectives editor

Hola, I am in Spain! This is so much fun. Dr. Jimenez, our program cfrrector,treated us to lunch in Malaga when we landed. He pointed out different sites such as the rock of Gibraltar and the huge windmills from the tales of Don Quixote on our bus ride to our permanent summer home here in Cadfz.

Our host family is awesome. The mother is wonderful and speaks lots of English while teaching us Spanish. The house is about nine flights up. Tonight Jenn, Jeanne and I went out on our first walk alone and learned our way around. We observed bow different the culme is here and could not help but describe it as scarily perfect. No one fights in the streets; they all respect their elders immensely, and are extremely family-oriented.

Jone30,

2001

Second day in Spain. We slept 14 hours last night, so today we were full of energy and fun. Tonight we met up with others from our group and took a bus to the main beach of the island. We drank at a beach bar and then walked back to our part of the island along the beach. The walk home was so refreshing but also tiring so goodnight for now.

University of Cadfz. I love my professors. There are a lot of students from all over the world in my classes. The European students are amazing; they all speak a minimum of three languages.

Every Thursday, Dr. Jimenez meets with our group after classes to see how everything is. Last Thursday be gave me two birthday presents because my birthday was Tuesday. Everyone signed a card and I was very surprised.

The younger son, Alfonso, that we live with is 19years-old and can speak a fair amount of English. He is training for the navy and studies physics at a university near Madrid. He plays the guitar everyday and always asks if Jeanne, Jenn and I have any requests. He knows a lot of American artists. He reminds me of my brother Rob. There is an Internet cafe near our house and we go to check our mail at night before we go shopping or on our way back from the beach.

Each night this week Jenn, Jeanne and I have been pretty religious with getting ice cream at this amazing shop. The ice cream is to die for and the guy who works in the shop also has the most exotic eyelashes we have ever seen.

July 8, 2001

Hola, yesterday was incredible. Jenn, Jeanne, Matt Breidenback and I went to the big Victoria beach that is in the new city. Jenn and I went swimming for hours, pie water was nice and clear. Friday night our group got together and went out in the new city to a disco. At 1 a.m. the place was empty, but at 2 a.m. it was packed. Late nights .are an understatement when describing the social life durir.; ~11eweekends.

We went to Jerez today with Dr. Jimenez, which is his hometown. He took us to see three beautiful churches. I all photos cowtesy of Renee Di Pietro

July 7, 2001

Samday. First week in Spain. This week school began. We wake up at 8 a.m. everyday. and shuffle around our shoebox room. Walking to school wakes us up and we window shop on the way, wishing that after classes the stores could still be open but at 2 p.m. the town closes up for siesta and we head home for our lunch.

Mavy is a great cook, maybe even second to my mother. She took cooking classes and it shows greatly. We normally have some kind of soup like gazpacho, or beans to start off. Then the main course is anything from fish, to chicken, to meatloaf. Watermelon is always available for dessert and is so good. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Spain. Dinner is at 10 p.m.

School is challenging. We are taking three classes at the like to refer to Dr. Jimenez as the book of knowledge because he seems to know absolutely everything. Matt asked him if we could see a bull fight before we leave Spain and now we are going at the end of the month. I am very excited but I never knew that they killed the bull at the end.

Today Jeanne and I sat on the roof to do our homework and then chatted. No touch of home today, the Internet cafe was closed.

July 9, 2001

Hola! It is Monday, the beginning of our second week of our five-week program. The weather is wonderful.

Today was Alfonso's birthday and we bought him a little wooden fish and I wrote him a little card in English so he can practice his English. We got him a fish because whenever we are talking to Alfonso and cannot remember the word we are trying to communicate we all get silent and he says to us, "And now, we are fishing."

Editorial

Welcome back, or if you're new to Cabrini, welcome. Wbat you're holding in your hands is the first issue of the 2001-2002 Loquitur brought to you by a brand new staff. Whenever a publication changes hands, many differences start appearing on the pages. Our staff of 11 editors is full of ideas that will get brighter and brighter as the year goes on.

A great publication requires feedback. We need to know what you like. Even more important, we need to know what you hate. If you hate it, consider it gone. If you like it, you'll see more of it. Think of the Loquitur as your paper. When you open it up you want to be informed and entertained. The 2001 21.' staff wants nothing more than to satisfy those two 1~~quirements. • Edge. That's what our edition of the Loquitur is going to have. On the cover of last year's first issue was the an-. nual "Day of Service." This year we're covering the effects of ecstasy, cocaine, acid and other street drugs. Running rampant in today's society, more and more deaths are being attributed to drug overdoses. On page three you'll also find a story about OxyContin, the best selling, and one of the most addictive painkillers in America.

Style. We're working on making the Loquitur a visual feast. With a new photo staff on board, we're hoping to make every issue as enjoyable to look at as it is to read. Dependency. We want to be your first choice for news. We'll work to get the stories that impact you in every issue, week after week.

Keep a constant eye on every issue of Loquitur published this year. We promise you more of what you want and we hope that you'll come back to us from now until finals. Enjoy.

The editorials, viewpoints, opinions and letters to the editor published in Loquitur are the views of the student editorial board and the individual writers, not the entire student body or the faculty and administration.

Editorial Board Michael A. Kazanjian