Well it's been awhile. Like a long while. So basically a lot has
happened. Let's get started!
Since my last post I…
1. …Hiked 75 miles through northern Spain: In March I participated, along with around 40 other AFSers,
on a journey called "El Camino de Santiago." (known as St. James' Way
in English). On Thursday (the second day of Spring Break) a friend came over to
spend the night because on Friday we woke up and left the house by 4.30 (yes,
in the morning) to catch our 6 a.m. flight to Santiago, in the province of
Galicia, in Northwest Spain. In the airport we met up with some other Madrid
AFSers and together we made it to Santiago by the lovely ol' time of 8 o'clock
in the morning. We then wandered around Santiago all day (without seeing the
cathedral, of course (more on that later)) and met up with a few others. We
then caught two buses to reach our starting point in the little town of Sarria.
In Sarria, we met up with everyone that was going on the trip. That was a great
moment, when we pulled into the bus station in Sarria and got to see all of our
friends, many of whom we had not seen since the arrival orientation in
September. The next five days were spent walking through the Galician
countryside. It rained on us the whole time but that really didn't matter, we
all had a good time seeing old friends and making new ones. In every little
"Pueblo" (village) we would stop and get a stamp for our
"Passport", our papers that contained all our stamps and showed all
of the places we had been (I, along with one other friend, was the only one who
filled up their passport completely with stamps). On Wednesday, the last day,
we woke up really early to start walking to ensure that we made it to the
Cathedral in Santiago before 12 so we could attend the Pilgrim's Mass (the
people that make the journey are called Pilgrims). After the mass we showed our
Passports and received our Diploma certifying that we had complete the journey.
The rest of the day was spent hanging out and buying souvenirs before everyone
started leaving the next day for home.
2. …Showed 20 Bear Creeker's around Madrid: Literally the day after I returned from the Camino, I woke
up at 7 to get to the airport in time to welcome Bear Creek's Spanish Trip to
Madrid! I had a great time! That Friday we toured Madrid and saw some of the
main things here, such as the Mueso del Prado and the Puerta del Sol (the Prado
Museum and the Center Plaza in Madrid). The day after we went to Toledo
where we got to see some of the many sights there, including architecture from
three different cultures that all, at one point in time, had control of the
city. I even got to see some things that I had never seen before, such as the
Museo del Prado and different places in Toledo.
3. …Walked where they filmed
Star Wars: After the
Spanish Group left on Monday, I woke up on Tuesday and, instead of going to
school, I went to the local train station here in Tres Cantos. There I met up
with all of my friends and a bunch of other kids from my school. We then caught
the train to downtown Madrid, where we caught the AVE (the high-speed train) to
Sevilla (Seville) in the south of Spain for our class trip! We arrived in
Sevilla at around 12.30-1.00 and then spent the afternoon touring around
Sevilla. We got to see the Cathedral and the Plaza de España, which is where a
scene from Star Wars was filmed! Then we all boarded the buses and headed out
to our campground on the beach. We stayed in cabins for the week and during the
day we would go to different places and do exciting things! We got to go
spelunking and bird-watching, ride all-terrain vehicles on the beach and
through the forest, and go surfing!
4. ...Saw Real Madrid play in their home stadium: I recently went, along with two friends, to a Real Madrid game! I had such a great time. We got some fairly cheap tickets (40 Euros or so) and even though we were in the cheap seats way in the back we had a great time! The whole experience was just amazing, and we even won 3-1. It was amazing!
5. …Wore a suit two days in a
row: I recently had three
first communions in a period of two weeks. First I had my host sister’s in the
middle of May. We all got dressed up fancy, went to the Mass, and then had the
party afterward. The week after, on Saturday, I had the first communion for one
of my host cousins. We did the same process (woke up, got dressed, went to
mass, had the party) except we had to wake up way earlier because his started at
10.30 not 1.00 like my host sister’s. Then the next day, Sunday, we woke up
even earlier for the communion for a different host cousin. This time we
definitely didn’t follow the same procedure. We woke up around 7.00 and were
out of the house by 8. We caught our train at 8.40 and made it to Valencia by
10.30. We then went to Mass in the city and then had the party outside the city
in this restaurant on the beach! We got to go swimming and play in the sand.
Then afterward we made our way back to Valencia, saw a bit of this cool museum,
and then caught our train back home to Madrid around 9. Our train arrived in
Madrid at 11.00 and we got home around midnight. We had school the next day.
So that’s all the fun, exciting things that have been happening over the past
few months. Coming up I have an orientation this weekend, the weekend after I might
go to the beach to see a friend (literally the EXACT place where I went on my
school trip), and then after that I only have a few more weeks before I leave!
ITS CRAZY!
Enjoy a few pictures: (Some of them aren't mine...)
At the airport at 5.30 in the morning!
The day we arrived!
About to start on the first day!
This is one of the signs that marks the trail
Me and a friend after one day of walking!
Photobombing! Can you find all four people?
These last two are just proof of the rain.
The view from my hostel window on the last night! That is the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Flight home!
Plaza de Espana in Sevilla!
Sevilla!
Alexis, Ana, and I
Alexis and I!
The Soccer Stadium!
Valencia!
Adios!
Benjamin
P.S. I am going to try to start this thing called "Question of the Day." I will pick a question (or my mom will give me one) and I will ask my exchange friends for their opinions the day before. Then on weekdays I will post the question with our answers! Enjoy! Stay tuned for the first one later today!
