Photos below:
I took this picture because i thought it was really cool to see some kids skateboarding in front of the Royal Palace. People come from all over the world to see this, and this is literally where spanish teenagers just hang out.
The table set for Thanksgiving dinner
And the Christmas lights that line Gran Vía, a famous street in Madrid. The whole city is decorated and looks incredible.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas!!
Just wanted to send you an update and wish you all a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Everything is going great here in Spain. It is everything i expected and much much more. My birthday was wonderful, i spent the night at Emma's house the night before and then in the morning her family made me an apple pie and put candles in it and sang to me. Then the following weekend was Emma's birthday and we went out to a dance club called Independence with some of my friends. On Thanksgiving I attended a huge Rotary dinner with all the exchange students in Madrid as well as the Rotarians. We had an interesting meal that consisted of a drumstick and a small serving of potatoes. Dessert was an orange cake that was not very sweet, but I can't blame them considering they don't celebrate that holiday here.
I wish I had tons to say, but honestly everything I do here has become my life, I go to school, hang out with friends and occasionally travel to Southern Spain (Jerez) to visit my host Mom. I just got back from their yesterday, I went down to celebrate and early Christmas with her. It was great, the whole house was decorated with a tree and lights, very similar to the US. For Christmas dinner we had shrimp( by the way they serve it with the eyes and whole head attached) along with raw salmon and lemon as appetizers, and for the main course lamb that was marinated solely in salt and olive oil (like everything here), and salad. For dessert an apple tart and chocolates. After dinner we opened presents and my host mom got me a cute sweater dress and a beautiful scarf.
Here in Spain Christmas is celebrated a little different than the US, most people now a days celebrate it like we do, with Santa Claus on Christmas eve and ect. But some people celebrate what is called "Tres Reyes" the The Three Kings, on the 6th of January. Little kids leave their favorite pair of shoes out and the Three Kings come and fill them with candy and presents, like stockings. Then they leave a present, like Santa. But, my family has always celebrated Santa Claus, therefore we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day.
Tomorrow I am going to Barcelona to spend christmas with my host father and his sister, along with my host sister and host brother who has returned from the US, do to problems he had there. I am really looking forward to getting to know that city, because my host Dad grew up there so its a perfect opportunity. Other than that, the language and everything else is starting to click here, and I feel more at home every day.
I attached a few photos of what i have been doing:
I wish I had tons to say, but honestly everything I do here has become my life, I go to school, hang out with friends and occasionally travel to Southern Spain (Jerez) to visit my host Mom. I just got back from their yesterday, I went down to celebrate and early Christmas with her. It was great, the whole house was decorated with a tree and lights, very similar to the US. For Christmas dinner we had shrimp( by the way they serve it with the eyes and whole head attached) along with raw salmon and lemon as appetizers, and for the main course lamb that was marinated solely in salt and olive oil (like everything here), and salad. For dessert an apple tart and chocolates. After dinner we opened presents and my host mom got me a cute sweater dress and a beautiful scarf.
Here in Spain Christmas is celebrated a little different than the US, most people now a days celebrate it like we do, with Santa Claus on Christmas eve and ect. But some people celebrate what is called "Tres Reyes" the The Three Kings, on the 6th of January. Little kids leave their favorite pair of shoes out and the Three Kings come and fill them with candy and presents, like stockings. Then they leave a present, like Santa. But, my family has always celebrated Santa Claus, therefore we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day.
Tomorrow I am going to Barcelona to spend christmas with my host father and his sister, along with my host sister and host brother who has returned from the US, do to problems he had there. I am really looking forward to getting to know that city, because my host Dad grew up there so its a perfect opportunity. Other than that, the language and everything else is starting to click here, and I feel more at home every day.
I attached a few photos of what i have been doing:
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hello everyone,
Sorry it has been awhile. Halloween was great, I went to a small house party with some of my sister's friends. I was really surprised to see that everyone was dressed up, and the whole house was decorated. Since then I have just kinda been settleing in. Going to school (kinda) and hanging with friends. I hang out a lot with a girl named Emma, she is also an exchange student from Fort Collins, Colorado. And then also a boy named Jesse who is from upstate New York and a girl named Sam who is from Minneapolis. It is really fun to get togher with them and speak english, but at the same time I sometimes feel guilty for speaking too much english.
The weekend after Halloween was Jesse's birthday, so Emma and I took the bus about 30 mins out of the center of Madird to a town called Majadahonda, where Jesse and Sam live. We baked him brownies from to box-brownies that Emma's Mom sent her and bought him silly gifts. We even put 17 candles on a tiny brownie for him! We went out to a great Italian restaurant for dinner and the Emma and I went back into Madrid.
The weekend after that I went to a street market here in Madrid called El Rastro with Sam and Emma, it is every Sunday in the center of Madrid. It was the second time I had been. After we met up with my host Dad at the oldest bar in Madrid for a delicious lunch and after we went to a theatre that also has a cafe in it and got hot chocolate (which by the way is more like hot pudding here). It was a great day in the city.
This past weekend I went to Jerez to visit my host Mom again with Nerea. Before we left I found out that my host brother (Nerea's brother, Fernando) was most likely coming back to Spain, because he got in a little trouble with Rotary in the US. That whole weekend, my host Mom and Dad tried really hard to find ways to get Fernando to stay in Minneoplis, but in the end he had to come home. In the midst of all the confusion I had a great weekend, I went to my fist discoteca, and it blew my mind. There was a guy on stilts dancing on stage. I also watched a bunch of movies with Nerea and relaxed.
Fernando is in Madrid for the week, and then he will be moving to Jerez to live with my host Mom and attend high school. So thanks to him moving, I dont have to move families, I am very fortunate.
Other than that I have just been living like a Spaniard, learning lots of spanish still, and trying my hardest to speak it.
Just some funny thoughts:
1. They don't have bagels here, and it is quite depressing.
2. The weather is still very warm here for the middle of November.
3. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, but Rotary has put together a dinner for all the exchange students.
4. I don't have school from Dec 23- Jan 10, and will most likely be spending Christmas here in Madrid, which will most likely be beautiful because I have seen the lights they are putting up in the city.. I don't know about New Years.
5. Spain is very power conservative, almost all houses hang dry all the laundry.
6. Still reading Harry Potter in Spanish and I am learning lots of Wizard vocabulary.
I will be visiting two former exchange students, Julien and Victoria in Paris France from Feb 20-28 and I couldnt be more excited.
Hope all is well, all good thoughts*
Sorry it has been awhile. Halloween was great, I went to a small house party with some of my sister's friends. I was really surprised to see that everyone was dressed up, and the whole house was decorated. Since then I have just kinda been settleing in. Going to school (kinda) and hanging with friends. I hang out a lot with a girl named Emma, she is also an exchange student from Fort Collins, Colorado. And then also a boy named Jesse who is from upstate New York and a girl named Sam who is from Minneapolis. It is really fun to get togher with them and speak english, but at the same time I sometimes feel guilty for speaking too much english.
The weekend after Halloween was Jesse's birthday, so Emma and I took the bus about 30 mins out of the center of Madird to a town called Majadahonda, where Jesse and Sam live. We baked him brownies from to box-brownies that Emma's Mom sent her and bought him silly gifts. We even put 17 candles on a tiny brownie for him! We went out to a great Italian restaurant for dinner and the Emma and I went back into Madrid.
The weekend after that I went to a street market here in Madrid called El Rastro with Sam and Emma, it is every Sunday in the center of Madrid. It was the second time I had been. After we met up with my host Dad at the oldest bar in Madrid for a delicious lunch and after we went to a theatre that also has a cafe in it and got hot chocolate (which by the way is more like hot pudding here). It was a great day in the city.
This past weekend I went to Jerez to visit my host Mom again with Nerea. Before we left I found out that my host brother (Nerea's brother, Fernando) was most likely coming back to Spain, because he got in a little trouble with Rotary in the US. That whole weekend, my host Mom and Dad tried really hard to find ways to get Fernando to stay in Minneoplis, but in the end he had to come home. In the midst of all the confusion I had a great weekend, I went to my fist discoteca, and it blew my mind. There was a guy on stilts dancing on stage. I also watched a bunch of movies with Nerea and relaxed.
Fernando is in Madrid for the week, and then he will be moving to Jerez to live with my host Mom and attend high school. So thanks to him moving, I dont have to move families, I am very fortunate.
Other than that I have just been living like a Spaniard, learning lots of spanish still, and trying my hardest to speak it.
Just some funny thoughts:
1. They don't have bagels here, and it is quite depressing.
2. The weather is still very warm here for the middle of November.
3. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, but Rotary has put together a dinner for all the exchange students.
4. I don't have school from Dec 23- Jan 10, and will most likely be spending Christmas here in Madrid, which will most likely be beautiful because I have seen the lights they are putting up in the city.. I don't know about New Years.
5. Spain is very power conservative, almost all houses hang dry all the laundry.
6. Still reading Harry Potter in Spanish and I am learning lots of Wizard vocabulary.
I will be visiting two former exchange students, Julien and Victoria in Paris France from Feb 20-28 and I couldnt be more excited.
Hope all is well, all good thoughts*
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Almost 2 months :)
<>Things here are going great. I am starting to fit in and realize that I am living here, I am not on vacation. It still blows my mind, and I have to pinch myslef all the time still. I went to Sevilla/Seville with Nerea and my host Mom. It was absolutely beautiful, but very hot. I was a lot bigger than I expected and I could just feel the history walking around there. We took a bus tour so i could see the whole city and then had lunch in the center of the city. I also went to an amazing place named Plaza de Pilatos while I was in Sevilla it is where scenes from Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars Episode I were filmed! While I was down south I also got to go to Tarifa which is a small summer town right on the Strait of Gibraltar. It is famous for windsurfing. I got to see Morocco from a distance! I can't beleive I was that close to Africa, I hope to take the ferry (30 mins) there one day and explore. I explored a little more of Jerez, where my host Mom lives, it is also very rich in history. It was built 1000 years BC, so the streets are so narrow in the center of the city that sometimes you have to fold in your mirrors to get through.
Other than that I have just been going to school everyday and occasionally taking a trip into the city to meet up with some exchange students. On last Saturday about 25 exchange students met up at a main train station in Madrid and took a series of 3 trains to the mountains above Madrid. When we got there we all hiked about 5 miles to the top of the highest peak in Madrid at about 8,000 feet. The name is El Pico de Peñalara, The peak of Peñalara. It was beautiful and it felt so nice to get out of the city for a little while. I noticed how quiet it was up there, life in the city is always loud. It was nice to speak english for a day also, and I absolutely love the exchange students. I have made some of my best friends in the Rotary students.
Language here is getting way better, sometimes it scares me how much I understand. I have started reading Harry Potter and that is quite a challenge, but I am learning lots of vocabulary.
Halloween is this weekend and my host sister is going to Jerez by herself, I chose to stay in Madrid and dress up and go out with the rest of our friends. The boys happen to be dressing up as the Village People and it should be hilarious. They dont carve pumpkins or trick-o-treat so it will be a different feel, and it will be the first Halloween in my life where its not freezing and snowing!
Hope all is well!!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
