In Denial...

Ok so I’ve been thinking a lot about this last post. I originally wanted to get across all the amazing things I’ve learned or say something about the fantastic, crazy, wonderful people I’ve met here, but the thing is.. there are absolutely no words to describe that. You all have been faithful readers so you know exactly what I’ve been up to on a daily basis. For those who joined late in the game, you have a pretty good idea of the things that have been going on here in El Escorial. I guess I have to say that yes, I have missed my family and my friends back at home, but at the same time, I don’t want to leave. After my first day here, I never anticipated that I would become this close to the people here or feel such a strong attachment to them. Actually I specifically remember wanting to go home on the first night. But now? Well.. As the title of this post states, I’m in denial about leaving in all honesty. I think we all are. I have one important thing that I need to talk about. I have mentioned multiple times how extremely lucky I am to have gotten this opportunity so I think it’s time I recognize the people who made this trip possible. Well here’s the list: my parents, all of my Spanish teachers, the faculty who made this possible and my Spanish family. To my parents: Thank you for everything. You always encourage me to go for what I want and do whatever you can to help me achieve those goals, no matter how unreachable they seem. I love you both. Also, thank you dad for the mini Italian lessons that gave me the ability to accent words correctly. To my Spanish teachers: Could have never asked for better teachers. Señora Gallagher, Señora G, Señora Ziff, all of you inspired me and sparked my love of the language. You taught me all I know about the language and culture. I could never thank you guys enough. To the faculty: I’d obviously like to thank Mrs. Lipschutz and Señora G. I don’t know who else was responsible for this trip but you really are the reason the four of us are here. I don’t know how I could thank you for arranging this amazing experience. Thank you for dedicating your time and energy into making sure we’d have a fantastic, unforgettable time. Thank you Mrs. Turner for accompanying us on the first week of our journey. You made sure we were safe and happy and we all have been. You were our mom away from home! To Aleks and your family: I could never thank you enough for welcoming me into your home. Thank you for everything, especially helping me with my Spanish. The memories here will always be remembered and I can’t wait to make more when you’re en Los Estados Unidos!!! Lastly, thank you to all my teachers for having patience with me in scheduling tests and make up work and all of that. Also I’m going to thank you in advance for the help I know that you will all happily give me, Sara, Grace and Olivia in understanding the things we missed (I hope.. please!!).

And to you, all my readers. Thank you so much for following along! I really have no idea whatsoever who's reading anymore, but I hope that you were kept informed on what has been going on here while also being entertained. Todos de vosotros sois los mejores!

This trip was unforgettable and is something I am unable to compare to any other experience I have ever had in my life. It’s been difficult, overwhelming and challenging, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Why? Because it has been worth all of that. It’s been exciting, thrilling, and just perfect. I really can't describe it. It’s been the most incredible learning experience and really a phenomenal opportunity that the other Americans and I have been so lucky to have. I can’t put enough emphasis on how grateful I am to have gotten this opportunity and how thankful I am for all those people I mentioned earlier. I keep looking back on the time when I had to accept the fact that I wasn't able to apply for Spain because I wasn't in Spanish 4 Honors. For this reason, I can't help but believe that I really was meant to come to Spain. That sounds weird I guess, but it's how I feel. I remember when I was unexpectedly told I could apply for the trip.. Then being told I was chosen for it? I couldn't tell you a more happy moment in my life. This trip has not only met my expectations, but greatly exceeded them. It’s truly been a once in a lifetime experience. I haven’t even left yet, but the only thing I can think about now is… when can I come back? 

This will be short.. but sweet :)

Tonight's my last night. Wow. How fast time flies right? I'm sure for the parents it feels like just yesterday when you were dropping us off at the airport. Wishing you could go back to that day or do you miss us?! For the teachers, it's like we were asking you for work to do and scheduling tests so recently. I really don't want to leave. Tonight's a dinner of chicken paella and then Aleks and I are heading out to spend the last night with the Americans and a bunch of Spanish kids. I feel like I'm just getting to know all of the Spanish kids. We really do need more time. Would anyone mind if we spent another month or so here? Just one more week, give us that much please! Well anyway, I'm off to eat dinner then headed out. Don't worry. I have one more post left for tomorrow morning before we leave for the airport. Have a nice night, readers!

I would be lying if I said this didnt make me extremely sad

I Don't Sleep...

Today the highlight of my day was the test I took. Yes. I took a test. In what class you may ask? La clase de lengua. (Spanish class) It was actually so interesting. Seriously hoping I get my paper back to see how I did. As time goes on, I think all of the Americans are getting to know each other better and becoming closer friends. It's awesome. All of today we were playing this card game kemps and it was so funny to watch how intense everyone was getting and how into their teams they got. I really can't believe tomorrow's our last school day here. I swear it's as if just yesterday we were on the plane getting ready to go to Spain. We were all in our seats anxious because the plane didn't take off until much later than it was supposed to and we just wanted to be in Spain. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see my family again, sleep in my own bed, have my privacy, but I'm going to really miss everything about this place. My family, my new friends, the food, the language. It'll be bittersweet. Ahhhhhhh I don't want to think about this. I have over 24 hours left. Going to embrace it while I can!! Anyway, son las dos en la mañana aquí. I need to sleep. Got a long last school day ahead of me. There's also another test. Will I take it? What will my last day in Spain be like??? To be continued....

True or False...

1. The students use the Usted form when speaking to teachers
2. I have grown to like tomatoes and peppers
3. I will now eat fish
4. I'm bringing home a Spanish boy (tattoos and piercings Dad!!!)
5. I took a test today
6. I understand Spanish TV
7. I am returning to the US with such an amazing Spanish accent that you'd think I was born here
8. There are more than 60 words "en la lista" of my new words
9. The kids in my class have mini techno raves between classes
10. I dream in Spanish
11. I'm blogging instead of doing homework
12. There are outfits here that would be completely unaccepted in America
13. I had ham for dinner
14. The 9 of us Americans are like our own little family
15. I'm excited to go home, but there's still so much to learn and I don't want to leave

Let's see how you did!!!

1. False. Students call teachers by their first names and even command them and such. Guess the titles (Señor, Señora, etc) aren't exactly important
2. True! I eat them all the time here
3. False. I will never like fish
4. True!!!!! Just kidding. I'm not bringing anyone back with me.. or am I?
5. True. I did take a test.. Interesting experience
6. True and false. I understand some, completely ignore the rest..
7. Most definitely false... Self explanatory
8. True. I even have some Portuguese ones that I can't pronounce 
9. True. Someone stands at the door to wait for the next teacher and the rest "party." They almost always get caught and it's only my class who does it
10. False. I wish
11. True. Blogging > homework or work of any kind for that matter
12. True. Namely, boys wearing scarves
13. False, false, false. We don't eat meat. I had fried cheese and pizza. 
14. True. I feel like we're getting closer every day. Couldn't have come to Spain with a better group of people.
15. True. Leaving will be bittersweet, but that makes me that much more excited for Aleks to come to the US!!!

I didn't forget!!

Sorry, I always put this off until last minute. Yes I am aware that it is almost 2 here. It's been a busy night! I chose tonight after dinner to start separating my clean clothes from the dirty ones then picking out the clean ones that I plan on wearing over the next couple of days. Trying to get myself ready for Saturday. Proud of me mom? You didn't even tell me to do that!! Anyway, today was a good day in El Escorial as usual. Honestly though, it's hard not to have a good time with the people I've been spending my past few weeks with. In art class, Danny, Grace and I sat at a table together and were joined by two random Spanish kids from our class. Then a couple more joined us after listening to our conversation. It was so much fun. Finally getting the chance to get to know our classmates when we not have 2 school days left. Better late than never right? Oh and a few guys at the table behind us told Grace and me that they love us. Talk about a confidence booster! We also got our tour of the museum part of the monastery today which was beautiful. Kind of sad we couldn't take pictures. Thank god for photographic memories! We learned a lot about the previous kings and queens of Spain which was really interesting. We also got to see the crypt! If you can call it that. It was this bright room directly below the alter of the church made completely of marble. It was this chapel pretty much that had an alter and a crucifix. If you're facing the alter, to the left are all the kings. Why is this? If you're on the alter, facing the exit, that side is technically the right side which is more important than the left.. More important to God anyway. Something like that. Who was the other side reserved for? The queens of course. However! There is one queen who's casket is with the kings and she is the only one on the right side, and her husband, the king, is on the left. Interesting. Today I also realized that a majority of my money has been spent on food. More specifically, candy from La Tienda de Chuches. For some reason their candy here is so much better than it is at home. I never eat candy at home, but I do here. It's so good! Well it's time para ir a dormir. Hope you all had a great day and that tomorrow's even better!

Todos los Americanos!!!! :)

Only a Tuesday

Well today was just like yesterday. Nothing too crazy. Went to the library, went to class.. Same ole, same ole. At one point when we were in the library, one of the malvern boys' Spanish guys came down to talk to us. His name's Guillermo (he's 18) and we all think he's pretty interesting so we told him to give us advice on life. From what he's told Brendan, he's had a pretty tough life and that's how he started his little story, if you will. He meantioned having a tough life, but he had found a more positive way to look at it. In understandable, but slightly (very, very slightly) broken English, Guillermo began to tell us a story his dad told him. It was more of a metaphor.. He started it out by saying that life is like a blacksmith and all of the things that went into making a sword. God is that blacksmith and we, each person, is their own sword coming into form. To be made into a better sword, the sheet of metal gets hammered repeatedly. Guillermo told us that his father said that each time we, our own sword, gets hammered, we are getting hit by a bad time; however, we need to be hammered to be made into the best sword we can be. Because of this, we need to understand that while each hammer hurts us, it is only helping us in the long run. It was a really inspirational story coming from him after knowing a couple of the things he's been through. I've never heard anything explained that way before. I figured it was an appropriate story to share with all of you for two reasons. 1- I have nothing else interesting to say about today and 2- I didn't think anyone would have heard that metaphor before. I really liked it. So I guess instead of being funny or entertaining, today's post is more thought provoking. I think the only thing that Guillermo's dad was missing from that story would be all of the good times that also form you into that amazing sword. I don't know what that could be in reference to the metaphor, but I do know that whatever it is, I'd have to consider coming here one of those great experiences forming my own sword. Cheesy, but hey. It's true! Anyway, tomorrow we're getting a tour of the tourist part of the monastery. Hopefully I'll have something better to blog about then. Night, readers!

Hi

Today was pretty normal. Went to the library for a couple classes (English and Math) and stayed for others (obviously). Oooh! Danny and I ventured into gym class. Now that was interesting. We ran around the perimeter of the "gym" in circles that gradually got smaller and smaller and then eventually they stopped to stretch. After that they were doing summers saults onto mats over rope and through hula hoops so we opted out of that... And the rest of gym class for that matter. After the summer saulting, they moved onto some handstands and cartwheels and other random gymnastic feats that we weren't exactly capable of so we kind of just watched curiously. Later I went to get ice cream with some other Americans and let myself back into Aleks's empty apartment with the key. Such a liberating experience! Really though. Hmm.. didn't do anything interesting after that. Our dinner was really good. These kind of tortilla-like things that involved so many of the vegetables I mentioned in my last post. Yum. Vegetables. I'm not eating them for a couple days when I get home. I think I need a break from them. In the past month I have had vegetables (literally) with breakfast, lunch an dinner. Who does that??? Oh well. I really can't believe that I have less than 5 days left in San Lorenzo. I don't want to leave yet, I'm not ready to come home!! :( Sigh. Well.... Buena suerte with your midterms everyone, I'm going to bed!

Comida

Ok, so as promised, here's the list of food that you really can't get by in Spain without eating.. Well they're foods that I have extremely often and some foods with essentially every meal. Not too sure about the other Americans though.

• Rice
• Chicken
• Cheese: all kinds. At Aleks's we have a lot of this Bulgarian cheese which is kinda salty, but good.
• Salt. Not exactly a food, but soooo much food here is really salty.. in a good way.
• Bread. They have it at every meal (yum)
• Vegetables (especially at my house. They're vegetarians pretty much): mushrooms, avocados, onions, peppers, random kinds of beans. 
• Fruit: mandarins, apples, pears, strawberries.
• Tomatoes. Not too sure whether to consider it a fruit or a vegetable because it's technically a fruit.. Regardless they appear at every meal.
• Yogurt

I can't think of any others, but I know the other Americans eat a lot of ham, fish and other meats. Not us! Can't complain.. I love the food here. Had paella for lunch. Too good. I have yet to decide whether I'll be happy or sad to eat my favorite American foods again when I get home..

Whoops!

Today was so relaxed and nothing happened so I almost forgot to inform you all on my really not exciting day! Good thing I remembered. Well Aleks and I woke up relatively late and had churros and chocolate for breakfast at around 1 and that threw our whole day off! I introduced my Spanish mother to my parents and two brothers through Skype later. She was really impressed with your Spanish, dad! We ate lunch at 6 which is late for lunch considering they usually eat it between 1:30 and 3. That really threw our day off. It meant no dinner! We ended up eating toast with this tomato stuff around 10:30 though and it was good and also bastante (enough). OH! I learned how to make paella today!!!! The vegetarian version. I'm learning the one with chicken sometime later this week. Speaking of all this food, tomorrow I'm going to make a list of all the foods you can't get by in Spain without eating. Can't forget. It's an interesting list considering back at home I wouldn't eat half of the food on it. It's also snowing right now. YAY! I hope all of you have a nice MLK Jr day. Don't take advantage of your day off, I'll be in school! Granted by the time I get out most of you will still be sleeping.. Still, enjoy the day off. Buenas noches!

Un Sabado Fantastico

So in short, today was amazing. My sleeping is so messed up so I wake up, fall asleep, wake up and fall asleep and do this over and over, but I guess that's kind of irrelevant. Anyway! At 12 Aleks and I went horseback riding (I wore a helmet mom!!!) and that was so much fun. However, my horse decided two things. One- even though the human on his back (me) had basically NO idea how to control him, he deserved to be leading the pack in the front... always. Two- he wanted to get on the other horses nerves. You know when you're driving and some person who's in a rush is "riding your tail"? Well my horse literally did that to the other horses. It made me nervous but for the last half hour or so of our walk, I finally got him under control. Phew. Then tonight we went to a discoteca. Aka a teen club. It was seriously too much fun! If they have these anywhere in Philly or near me, my goal is to discover them. It was a nice GNO kinda night. I hung out with Sara, Grace and Olivia and while we wished our amigos nuevos, the malvern boys, were there to entertain us, we still had an fantastic time. Even though I have had classes with all 3 girls before coming here with them, this trip has given me an opportunity to get to know them much better and I'm so grateful for that. Same goes for the malvern boys. All 8 of the other Americans are amazing kids and I'm really hoping these friendships last after Spain! Anyway, it's time for bed. Almost 130 here. Ay! I'm telling you now that tomorrow's not going to be interesting, but I'll still blog anyway so you know I'm alive. Night, readers!

Today!!!!

Today seriously ROCKED. It was awesome. Everything was pretty normal up until the period after break when we got to go with the geology teacher, MaryBel (the one who likes to embarrass me the most) and the director of the exchange program who's our English teacher, Suzanna, to have a culture lesson on Spain. We got to learn how to dance!!!! It was so much fun. Suzanna dressed up in one of the typical outfits of the dancers and she even had those little clapper things (called castañuelas)! We got to try them out. Not to brag or anything, but I had a real talent with them.... The song we danced to was called Sevillana: Algo se muere en el alma. It was a sad song about how you pretty much die inside when your amigo says goodbye. You'd never know it just by listening though because you need to know the words and understand their meaning; other than that it's pretty upbeat! We got to dance and we were partnered up with the boys which was pretty interesting. It was all fun and games until MaryBel said something about how the dance was very flirtatious and you were supposed to look into your partners eyes in a sexy way. Then we all just felt awkward. You loco Spanish people! It was still really fun though. Then we talked about two dishes typical for Spain. Paella and cocido. Paella is seriously too good. I'm asking Aleks's mom to teach me how to make it!! Cannot wait. I will actually make it once a week at home if I can be successful.. Praying I can be. We're having another session next Friday and by then we have to get the ingredients and learn how to make cocido (chick pea stew.. not exactly a fan of those..) but that's our homework. Oh fun fact. They don't use the word tarea really.. Mostly they just say "deberes" which means the same thing. In geology class (it's economics) I started a list of all the words in the book I didn't understand and I've decided that I'm going to become a Spanish Economics maestra (master). Go me! I'm honestly learning so much here. You know the saying "you learn something new everyday"? Well, I learn something new every hour, I swear. So excited for the next few days ahead of me, but I can't believe it's my last week. Going to soak up all the culture while I can. Hasta mañana!!

Reasons I'm Convinced the Teachers Here Like to Embarrass Me... Just Me

• The first day here when I introduced myself and spoke in Spanish, I was the only one corrected when I know for a fact I'm not the only one who messed stuff up.
• The Spanish teacher read only my answers to the questions out loud when she made us participate in some activity.
• That same teacher also made me go up and write something on the board on a different day (she made another American do it too though).
• Grace and I went to the library today and the math teacher (Nacho) saw her leave but when I went to leave he asked me where I was going so I had to explain myself and ask for permission.
• The geology teacher made me read some paragraph today out loud to the class. The most embarrassing event of them all. When I looked up at her, the look on my face was probably "Please don't make me do this. Why me?" She saw that and said "Basta. Lee." Ok. Sweet.  

As far as I'm aware, I'm the only American here who has experienced any of this. I mean, I guess I don't really mind because it makes for interesting stories. Oh well. Yay España!!! 

Today was nothing special..

Sorry readers! Pretty boring day in San Lorenzo. I went to school, ate lunch, went back to class, came home and did work. Well.. Two semi interesting things did happen today. First of all, I don't think they understand sarcasm here because when Grace and I make comments about the cute Spanish version of Justin Beiber in our class, they think we're serious. Today I as asked if I liked him and wanted him to be my boyfriend. No, you crazy people! It's a joke!!!! Oh well. Grace and I laugh it off. Next, I joined Grace to Skype with her Spanish class and her teacher thought I was her Spanish girl. It made my day!! Another person thinking I'm Spanish. Kind of insane considering my blonde hair and blue eyes, but hey. I won't argue. It's a compliment. Other than that today wasn't anything exciting. Tomorrow we're having a culture lesson on Spain with the director of the exchange program who's also our English teacher as well as the Geology/Economics teacher. That should be interesting. I'm excited! Anyways, good night everyone. Hope my post tomorrow can be more entertaining (sorry mom)!!

Side Note...

I have absolutely no idea who's following this blog anymore, but whoever you are, I hope you're enjoying it! :)

Where to Begin..

Well to be honest, today wasn't anything too exciting or crazy or funny. I got to Skype with my Spanish class! I miss them and all of my other classes too. I think they're expecting me to be amazing at Spanish or something now... Awkwaaaaard cause I'm not.... Basically the only noticeable difference in my Spanish is the lisp and I've picked up some new vocab. I still can't speak fast! Oh well. Today Grace, Danny and I officially realized something about our classes and teachers. If they acknowledge you (they usually don't. we feel special....) then you have to participate in class. Maybe not participate but at least pay attention a little bit. Those are usually the teachers who give you something to do so you can (attempt to) follow along.  Sometimes we get homework. Well, the other Americans have. I haven't! .... yet. Kind of hoping I don't. Not too sure I'll feel motivated to do it. Anyways, when the teacher doesn't acknowledge you, you can do whatever you want. Sleep, read, write, do other homework. I think phones, laptops and music are frowned upon though. I haven't tried because my phone doesn't work without wifi and I'm too nervous to bring my laptop to school, but just common sense really. It's an easy way to get by. Today we FINALLY got our tour of the school/monastery. It's absolutely enormous. It makes you feel completely insignificant, you have no idea. Wait.. I'll give you an idea:

The green is "el colegio," the part where the school is and the blue outlining is kind of a rough perimeter of the whole property I guess. The pink is where I took this photo from:

Gorgeous right? Absolutely breath-taking. This is my town, San Lorenzo de El Escorial!! I think we were only allowed on one part of the roof but when our guide said he wasn't following us, I decided to be daring so I went to explore.. That's when I found the staircase. I couldn't resist. ALL of the staircases in this part of the monastery building are the creepy, dark, stone, spiral staircases. The one leading up to this viewpoint was pitch black but beyond rewarding when I finally got to the top. So overall, today was an amazing day. The things we got to see on our tour were amazing and informative while also fun. From here in Spain, we are wishing all of you well in America!! 

Rubia! Rubia!

My new nickname. It means blonde. Since I'm the only one, it's easy to call me that because I'm the only one who responds to it. I actually love it! Randomly in class or during break when we're outside, I'll hear "Rubia, rubia!" because someone's trying to get my attention. All of the kids here love the Americans. We get so much attention. We're so popular here! Aleks asked me if I wanted to get a Tuenti (Spanish social networking site) because it'd be an easy way for me to learn some Spanish. I'm pretty sure you have to be invited to join it so when Aleks sent me the request email I figured "por qué no?" and signed up. It'll give me a way to keep in touch with all the people I meet here, especially Aleks. It's easier than email. All of the other Americans besides one got them too so we friended each other. Next thing I know, all of the kids from school are requesting me and the other Americans. We're all up to about 25 friends.. So popular!! The kids here really are interested in us though. Oh.. I got homework in a class? Art class. I had to finish a drawing kind of thing. There were outlines of bodies without clothes with a picture of a car and a discription above. We had to draw and color in clothes to match the description and the car. I kind of felt like I was in 4th grade art again, but it was fun. Tomorrow we finally get the tour of the entire monastery. Can't wait for that. WAIT! I had pizza for dinner tonight. Pizza in a box.. Ordered from a restaurant. Yum? Yes. It was so good. There were onions, mushrooms and tomatoes on one half but it was actually delicious. It was nice having that kind of meal. Well anyway.. Feliz martes y hasta mañana!

El Primero Día de Escuela

Wow. Uhhhh.. One word pops into mind when I think of today. That word? Different. Their schooling here is so much different than ours in the US. Classes start at 9am. You have two one-hour long classes and then a break which is recess essentially. Everyone goes outside and hangs out in the patio/courtyard surrounding the school. That's for a half an hour I think. At 1130, we went back into the building and had two more hour-long classes, then it was lunch time!! Lunch here is very important so the school gives students an hour and a half for it meaning classes resume again at 3. (Sidebar- Aleks and I walk back to her house to eat lunch everyday.) There are two more classes after lunch so school ends at 5. I'm pretty sure the classes differ everyday, too, which is kind of cool. However...... We stay in the same classroom. All day. For every class. I'm the kind of person who likes moving around and can't sit still for too long. Even though we have a few minutes between classes, it's not enough. Oh well. The English teacher made each of us Americans get up and introduce ourselves in English first, then in Spanish. When I went up to introduce myself I think the class was most amazed by the fact that I said I had my license. They all oooohed and aaahhed at that one. In Spain you can't drive a car until you're 18. The geography teacher (I swear it was not geography, we were doing economics) told us we had to bring notebooks to take notes. Someone want to tell me the point of that? I'm not taking tests in your class. When I told her my name she said "Mackenzie, es un nombre feo, no?" or "Mackenzie, es un rio, no?" So she either said I had an ugly name or that my name is the name of a river (which it is, Mackenzie River in Canada) but Grace, Danny and I swear we heard her say feo. Either way I think I've decided that class will be my least favorite. In Spanish class we had to do some activity and of course out of all the Americans she decided to have mine read out loud by another student. Awesome. At this point everyone in the class laughs at me because of all the faces I make and how embarrassed I get. Oh well. At least it makes it interesting. Also... today I felt a little tug on my hair during class. What was it you may ask? Oh nothing important.. It was just the girl behind me (whose name I still don't know) playing with my hair. Normal. They're obsessed with it here. "Qué suave!" I think I get that almost every day. It's really nothing special? Another random fact.. Everyone stares at us. At "recess" all the Americans hung out and everywhere we walked, eyes followed. I don't know how we seem so different. I mean we clearly all look Spanish!! The uniforms, of course, are a dead giveaway that proves we're outsiders and that's also accompanied by the fact that we don't in fact actually look Spanish. (Bummer!) They're not dirty looks though.. More like, interested, "I-want-to-get-to-know-you" sort of looks. Fine by us. Somos muy populares!!! Anyway, although it's much different here, I do like it and I'm having a great time. I think everyone else is too. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. We have gym class. That should be interesting. Deséame suerte!!

PS. I think today what made me the most excited was that I understood the classes. Well.. a majority. I definitely understood what was going on and what people were saying. Yay me!! :)

Ehhhh

Today was boring.. We didn't do anything. No worries, though. It was really nice. Tomorrow's my first day of school. Ah!!! There's no wifi in the building and I think we all know paying attention is going to be slightly difficult. I have class with another Notre Dame girl and a Malvern boy so hopefully we can hang out together a little bit. I'm excited and also a little nervous, but I can't wait to see what a normal day is like at El Escorial!! I know that they stay in the same classroom all day so it's going to feel like I'm back in 4th grade again. Oh well. As of right now, I'm skyping with my family watching the Steelers game with them. I can hear my brothers arguing and my dad yelling at the refs, as if he can change the calls made or make the calls that the refs missed for that matter. I feel right at home. Anyways, I'm going to bed. Wish me luck for tomorrow and have a good Monday everyone!! (let's pretend like anyone is ever excited for Mondays...) Pues..... Hasta mañana!!

:)

BEST Dinner of my Life

Wow. That was so interesting and delicious at the same time. We had some Bulgarian "postre" thing and I couldn't even tell you what it was but it was fluffy and amazing. That's not why dinner was so good though. It is a traditional Bulgarian dish that they usually eat on New Year's Eve, but we had it tonight. It's for good luck.. Hidden inside were these little notes almost like fortunes from fortune cookies and they were wrapped in thin tin foil to protect them. The notes were written in Bulgarian, but on the back there was a word in Spanish that summed up the Bulgarian writing that I obviously would not understand. Whatever you find is supposed to be what you're going to experience I guess in the new year. For this reason, it's important that you pick out your own piece to be cut. I found two in my first piece, one was a little note with "salud" written on the back. Salud is health so in this new year I'll have good health! Yay! The next one I found in that piece was a 2 Euro coin, the only one in the postre. Que suerte! (How lucky) In my next piece, I found two more notes. The first said "nueva casa" and the next said "el dinero." Guess this means I'm getting a new house sometime this year and as for the dinero? I'm either getting a job or winning the lottery. I'm banking on the latter of the two.... It was absolutely hilarious because Aleks got three. What did hers say? Well the first was amor, the next was bebe, and the last one? This is when we all lost it with laughter.. Una boda. A wedding!! Aleks's new year will include love, a baby and a wedding. How funny is that? Wow. Seriously such an entertaining night. I really do love it here. Un abrazo y un beso para todos vosotros!! Os echo de menos!

Officially the Longest I've Been Away from Home

Last time I was away from home for an extended period of time, I was at Villanova for a camp over the summer. I was gone for 10 days, but think about it. Villanova? Not too far from my house. I also saw my mom and sister once halfway through because they brought me clothes and food. So today is officially the longest period of time that I've been away from home. Anyway.. Today! We didn't do much, but around 1:30/2, we went to a park that was kind of between mountains? Not sure how to describe it, but I got to spend 3 hours taking pictures. I got to clear my mind and just focus on that which was so nice. The pictures I got were also good.. Well I think so. This picture was actually the highlight of my day...

Un caballo!!! We were petting it.. There was another one and it was brown with a white spot on its forehead. They were friendly. There was also this huge tree that resembled the Whomping Willow (all you Harry Potter fans out there..) and there was this hole going through it's trunk way high up. Aleks climbed up and I decided to follow. We looked good up there, right?

I'm standing in the hole thing.. Kind of complicated. It was a really fun day though. I can't believe I only have two weeks left here.. Not thinking about it! However, with my camera in my hand I did think about other things on my two/three hour "exploration." Photography was on my mind and I have a few people to thank for this hobby. The first people I have to thank would be my parents. You guys have always encouraged me to do what makes me happy and done so much to advocate my success. That would include gifting me my Canon (my best friend) last Christmas. You always inspire me to do my best and work really hard at what I do, thank you! I also would like to thank my photography teacher. Mr. Smull you rock! You're always really helpful when it comes to me understanding what I do wrong or what I could work on to improve my pictures. It's never bad advice! So thanks for all the encouragement, everyone. It's much appreciated :) Time for dinner.. Hasta luego, lectores! (Until later, readers).

PS. Hope you're learning a little bit of Spanish as you read.

Misión Imposible

Today was the feast of Los Reyes Magos.. You go three kings! My family gave me a pair of slippers. Ironically enough, they're black with some orange and pink, two of my favorite colors. They didn't know my favorite colors... They loved the gifts I gave them! That was a relief. I was slightly worried before. After that it was a pretty normal day. We didn't do much. I got school work done!! Minimal, but still. I did it. Tonight we went to see Misión Imposible con Tom Cruise. It kills me how they do these movies. It's the English version but with random Spanish people talking over the original actors. The mouths and the words don't match up and you also lose the actors voice with it. Kind of a bummer.. What I thought was entertaining though was the fact that Tom's impossible mission seemed to be much less impossible than my mission of translating the whole thing. I understood the general plot but let's be honest, other than a few phrases here and there, there wasn't much I understood. I'm working on it. I swear mom and dad, my Spanish will be better by the time I get home. There's a reason you sent me here!! In fact, last night I started a list of Spanish words that Aleks has taught me. When I randomly want to know a word, I ask her and then "la pongo en la lista" (I put it in the list). I really am enjoying myself here. Three cheers for the weekend, America!

A Post You Will ALL Be Interested In

This post is about what you all know is my favorite thing in the world (no, science department.. not you guys)... FOOD! I'm sure you're all pretty interested, especially my parents because you know what a picky eater I am. Anyway... Well I'll start out by saying I no longer ask. I've given up. I don't want to know what I'm eating. I will also add that my family may or may not think that soy una americana gorda. Fine with me... I love the food here. I eat a lot of bread and they've noticed.. Can't help myself, I'm Italian! (Gracias, padre.) I eat whatever is put in front of me essentially. Oh well. So far I've eaten a lot of things that I don't eat back at home. Here's a list: some random kind of fish, tomatoes, Spanish cheeses, peas and mushrooms. It's all really good here. Don't know what you're doing to our food at home, mom, but it tastes better here!! ;) OH! Today I had paella. Now that was amazing. It was so good. Hmmm what else.. Parker and Mason, they drink so much Fanta here. They have Fanta de limón which I must tell you is fantastic. We eat a lot of chicken and vegetables and the three times I've had dessert it was something healthy. Wait.. I've had dessert four times. Once it was ice cream (vanilla). I also tried the flan de limón that Aleks had ordered when we were out one day for lunch and that was really good. Of course, so far my favorite is the churros y chocolate. Muuuuuy ricos. Considering getting some tomorrow. Well I hope all of you are having fun with your American food! I'm going to savor the flavor of this trip (literally).

Another Awkward Moment..

So last night I finally realized something. First of all, in my room there are a bunch of books that appeared to be written in Greek or a language similar. Same with the channels on their TV and some labels on food containers. I also noticed that I never really understand Aleks's dad when he talks and I thought it was because he speaks in a mumble-y, quiet kind of voice. When I asked Aleks about the TV, she said the language was Bulgarian which explained the books and the labels as well. Then it hit me.. There's a reason I never can hear or understand Aleks's dad. He's speaking an entirely different language! Aleks and her mom can speak it too. So half the time when I don't understand them it's okay because they're speaking Bulgarian. Just makes this trip that much more of an adventure.. Dios ayude me. Por favor!

One Week!

So I've officially been in Spain for a week. Wow. Doesn't seem like its been that long at all! Time's flying by and I feel like before I know it, it's going to be January 21. I'm not thinking about that though. Today we went into Madrid and for lunch went to a Spanish tavern. They had a menu of the day and we were therefore served an appetizer (soup) and our main course without even ordering. I'm not going to explain this meal, mainly because if I could that would mean I had known what the meal consisted of and I have absolutely no idea. To be honest, I've stopped asking. I just eat. I don't think I'd eat the food if I knew what it was exactly. I don't mind. All that matters is that it tastes good! We went into the center of Madrid after lunch and it was absolutely crazy. Packed with people. Would you like to know why? Ok great!! On Friday is this huge holiday here. The feast of "Los Reyes Magos;" otherwise known as the three kings. We in America tend to forget about the three men who visited Jesus bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but the Spanish don't! This holiday is more revered than Christmas from what I have gathered. Anyway... This whole week prior to the feast is the equivalent to our black Friday. All of the stores have sales. Not just sales, but prices are marked down between 30-75% (usually 50%). Awesome, right? So yes because of that, Madrid is un poco crazy right now. For dinner we had ravioli. Yum. Seeing the American girls tomorrow. So excited! Hope everyone is well and enjoying school and headin back to work. Miss all of you!

Que aburrido!

We didn't do much today. It was actually really nice. Finally had churros con chocolate for breakfast. It was too good. I could have that everyday for breakfast. We just relaxed and later went out with Aleks's friends. One of them was this girl named Julia (pronounced who-lee-uh) and she is from the US, but did an exchange program at the school for 6 months, then moved to Brazil. She's trilingual.. English, Spanish and Portuguese. Talented, right? Well anyway.. she involved me a lot and kept talking to me in English while I also tried participating in Spanish. For dinner we had vegetables. Not even kidding. We had a plate of random vegetables (thank god I couldn't translate the names of Spanish vegetables into Englih words, otherwise I probably wouldn't have eaten it) and then this salad thing. Oh and a tried Spanish cheese which wasn't too bad. Interesting day. I do believe we're headed into Madrid tomorrow. Yay! Time for bed though. Buenas noches, amores.

Yesterday...

Hm. Where to even begin. Well we went to Toledo which was a beautiful place. I can honestly say I'd probably be content staying there for the rest of my time here. We saw another cathedral and also a "museum." It's in quotes because it was barely a museum. Then we went to lunch and guess what we found.. frozen yogurt!! It was actually frozen yogurt though. It was as sweet as real yogurt. Didn't taste like ice cream at all. We finally found the gold jewelry we had been looking for but I didn't buy any. Got something for my sister though!! (Don't worry mom. Didn't forget about you.) After Toledo, Aleks and I got dropped off to go see a movie with her friends because it was her one friend's birthday. We saw a scary movie and big shocker here.. I understood it!!! That was exciting. The girl whose birthday it was, Raquel, and this other girl, Aleksia, were trying hard to include me and talk to me in English. When we did get back, however, I didn't have Internet. FIGURES. So all day yesterday I couldn't talk to my family or any of my friends back home. That is also the reason I didn't blog. it made yesterday kind of tough. Today's a new day though and I'm hoping it's much better. How was the winter classic game everyone? Wish I could have watched it. Anyway, have a nice day today, and teachers, have fun in school!!

Officially 1/1/2012

Que guay! I woke up recently.. around 1230 and Aleks said she'd wake me up if she was up before me and I said I'd wake her up.. I woke up on my own but I'm not sure where she is. I think we're having (drum roll please...) churros y chocolate for breakfast!! Homemade. Don't worry Mason, I promise to let you know how they are :) I'm excited. I think we're eating breakfast and relaxing today. Most of the stores are closed and I'm not sure if that's because it's the first day of the New Year or because it's Sunday.. Oh well. Oh! We are meeting up with Grace and Spanish Sarah around 4. Sarah has a friend who's German (or Swedish, I don't know. You'll understand why I'm confused.) and Sarah is going to Sweden for 5 days and when she's there she's getting her German friend. See? It's confusing! So poor Grace is going to be with her family for 5 days, alone! We always hang out with them though (every day so far.. thank god) so I'm hoping I can still see Grace because that'd probably make it a bit better for, well.. the both of us. Anyway, I'm going to see if Aleks is up. Feliz Año, readers!! Have a great day!

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!!