Universidad Europea de Madrid

"April showers bring May flowers"

"Rain, rain go away. Come again some other day. Little (child's name) wants to play"

Do you remember rainy days as a child? You probably had to stay home so you wouldn't get wet and catch a cold. Or maybe you were lucky and you got to put on your red rubber rain boots and your rain coat so that you could go out to stomp in the puddles? And you might have had your very own umbrella! What fun!

Everything was green and there were flowers. You probably didn't notice that too much. You were concentrating on making the biggest splash possible. The big goal for the afternoon was to splash your sister!

Now it's spring again. There are blossoms on the trees, the fields are green, and the wildflowers are coming up everywhere. It's SPRING! Get out and notice it! It only lasts a few short weeks in the Madrid area.

In English we say:

"April showers bring May flowers"

This is a typical saying or proverb.

Do you have a similar proverb in Spanish? Do you know the equivalent in any other language?

Vocabulary:

go away: disappear; alejarse

to get wet: get water on your clothes, the opposite of stay dry; mojarse

catch a cold: to get sick, to get a cough and sore throat (tos y dolor de garganta); acatarrarse

to stomp: step hard; pisar con ganas

puddles: water let after the rain,;charcos

saying/proverb: a traditional expression showing folk wisdom (sabiduria); dicho, proverbio

Publicado por shakespeare

Spring Break = Easter vacation = Semana Santa

This year our spring break was from April 4th to 12th, and it already seems like that was a long time ago! In Spain most companies give their employees a 4 day holiday, and schools are off the week before Easter. I know in the States, Spring Break at universities often doesn't coincide with Easter week. Whatever the dates many be, everyone needs those few days off !

Where did you go this year? I went to Paris! And I didn't spend TOO much money either. The flight was cheap. The trains in and out of Paris were more than we expected, but the rest of the time we walked or took the local buses. The double-decker tourist bus was 29 Euros each. Well, that was out so we just got on and off buses and trolleys and saw a lot of neighborhoods we wouldn't have otherwise.

We knew the Eiffel Tower was really not within our budget, and after taking these two photos, we decided we weren't destined to go up it. We'd seen it.....from a distance.

Go! Go tomorrow! Go!....................................Don't go!

We did go to several museums: the D'Orsay, the Rodin museum, the World War I and II museums at des Invalides, the Louvre.....twice! And we walked along the Seine, across the Seine, over the Seine and back again. We went to see the gorgeous stained glass windows at Saint Chapelle and the rose windows at Notre Dame.
.........Sainte Chapelle...................................................Notre Dame..............

We sat in the sun and searched for Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame as the bells began to ring out over the Seine. He, of course, didn't appear, but we saw the gargoyles high up above us, laughing at the tourists.
I spent 5 days laughing at myself as I attempted to communicate in French.
The rest of the time I sat home alone. Yep, it was a nice vacation.
I hope you got to go some place special for your spring break.

Wendy

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/
http://www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm

Publicado por shakespeare