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!
One of the best things about exchange is meeting people. Before leaving I could say that I had friends from 4 countries. The US, Korea, China and Chile. Now I can say I have friends from at least 14 different countries. Included: Thailand, Turkey, Japan, Canada, Austria, Germany, the US, China, Chile, and others. So I took the opportunity to invite a friend from Finland over while she was staying in my town. We made a video and she taught me some Finnish. :) Enjoy!
I thought I might take 5 minutes to describe this holiday more in depth. Tomorrow/Today is el Dia de los Reyes Magos. It celebrates when the Magi came to visit the baby Jesus and bring him gifts. On this day (tomorrow) we open gifts. Not on Christmas. And it is a big deal. Yesterday and the day before we (being my host family and I) went to two different plays. The one on Thursday was in Colmenar Viejo (look it up on Google maps if you want, it is just north of us in Tres Cantos) and it celebrated the Magi coming and that whole story with Herod. And apparently some of the actors are actually famous actors that are known throughout Spain. I didn't know any of them. And then yesterday we went to the Christmas play of the church. It was quite well done and I enjoyed it. Today we went to a parade! We left around 5 in Train for Madrid and saw the Cabalgata (parade kinda deal) there. There were TONS of people and it kinda made me think of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But less huge. But still huge. We had an Ok spot but we couldn't see all of the stuff between the floats. Just the stuff on the floats. But i had a good time. And then we came home and had dinner and are about to go to bed. And then tomorrow we are going to about 5 different peoples houses (ok only 2 or 3, but still a lot) and bringing them the gifts from us. Oh, and one other thing. Here, the Reyes Magos bring EVERYTHING. So tomorrow we will be bringing people the gifts the Reyes left at our house for them. So know all of you know everything about this holiday. Now off to sleep. Good-Night!
I have been meaning to do this post for about 4 days now, but it hasn't happened until now. Monday i was just plain lazy and didn't do it. Tuesday was a long day and I was worrying about other things. Yesterday I hung out with Robert (another kid from AFS) who is in Tres Cantos because he is switching families to Barcelona (crazy, i know) and was staying with my Tutor. So I am writing it today.
Ok, so normally I would do a video post, those being more fun for me to make and y'all to watch, but today (or Monday, you pick) I decided to do a more serious blog post reflecting on life here, these whole three months, things I have noticed, and just things like that. So prepare yourselves.
Reflection Number 1: One thing I find interesting is how much I am learning about English while learning Spanish. This might sound weird, but let me explain. First thing I learned: How confusing of a language English is. I mean, OK, everyone always says English is a hard language to learn, but what I realized is that they were right. I am not saying I didn't believe them, I am just saying I didn't realize how right they were. We have so many words that mean three or four different things, and there is no way we can tell them apart besides context. For example, Have. You could say "I have three apples" and it is possessive, saying you are in possession of three apples. Or you could say "I have been to the park" and it is not possessive (I don't know what it is) but it means something completely different and there is no way to distinguish between the two. But in Spanish, they have two words (haber and tener). Haber is have (as in have been, have eaten) and tener is have possession. And if there are two words that are spelled the same way in Spanish, they have accents (usually, there are few that don't, and those are usually the same word but between verb and noun form. i can only think of one word that isnt: Como. which means i eat and how). For example, two words spelled with the same letters in the same order but with an accent on one to distinguish it from the other: está and ésta and esta. Está means he, she, or it is. Ésta means this (used as a noun, for example this is blue). Esta means this, as an adjective (this book). Another thing I learned about English is how little we know our grammar. Ok, we know this is the noun in the sentence, this the the verb, and stuff like that. But here (in Spanish) we learn so much more about the grammar. Some of these things I knew before, others no. For example, we learn about these things called Complementos Directos y Indirectos (indirect and direct object, I knew that one), Complemento de Regimen (I dont know what this is exactly in English, and i am still kinda confused on it in Spanish), and Complemento Circunstancial. I will explain this one. These are kind of like a prepositional frase phrase, but they don't have to be. There are 2 major types of these, Adverbial ones and In-adverbial ones. The Adverbial ones you can substitute and adverb for, for example, instead of saying "I went to the park yesterday, you say I went to the park then. That is also an example of a one that is not a prepositional phrase. And In-Adverbial ones you can't substitute an adverb for, for example, "I gave a present to John" you can't put an adverb in in place of "to John." And then there are about 10 different sub-categories, and it just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and you get my point.
Another thing i learn about English is why some words are the way they are. For example, Pulmonary Artery. In Spanish, it is called the Pulmonary Artery tambien also, but in Spanish it makes more sense, because lungs are "pulmones" and the Pulmonary artery goes to the Pulmones. So yay for learning.
Reflection Number 2: I have realized just how privelegdedprivledgedprivelgedpriveleged *anger* privileged I am to be an American (see below) from the US. I mean I always new knew this, but being here makes me realize just how much I love the good ol' US of A. I am not saying that other countries are bad, on the contrary, I am not saying anything against them. I am just saying that I for one prefer the United States of America and the amount of Patriotism we have. Just to compare, lets use Spain (and to make it clear, I am not trying to say anything against Spain, and if it is perceived that way, that was not my intention).
Both Spain and the US have a National Anthem. The Spanish National Anthem does not have official lyrics (it is one of two in the world that doesn't have official lyrics), our's does. But what really differentiates the two is the usage. We use the National Anthem to start every and all professional sports game, and for a fair amount of other organized sports games (ok, not kiddy soccer, but, for example, a high school basketball game or something, yes). And every child older than about 8 knows the lyrics. And then the Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't realize (although I had never really thought about it before) that other countries don't have a Pledge of Allegiance. And while this isn't bad or anything, I find it a little strange. Here in Spain there is not as much patriotism as in the US. Ok, it isn't like people just walk around all day in the US with flags and stuff, but we have the Pledge of Allegiance and, I don't know, it is just different. But here, that doesn't exist. There is not a flag in every classroom, there is not a Pledge of Allegiance, and people don't have nearly as much pride in their country as in the US. And I am not saying that no one here has pride in their country, I am just saying that it is not the ever present constant that it is in the US. Take the Catalunya situation as an example. While it is still a part of Spain, it is mentally apart from Spain. In history we talked about the difference between a Nation and a State (like a political entity). A nation is a group of people that have the same culture, language, history, and things like that, while a State is all the people under the same ruler or rulers. And a State could be made up of one Nation, for example the US, or made up of many, for example Spain (Catalunya, Pais Vasco, Spain...), or made up of part of a nation, with the rest of the nation in another State, for example Ireland and Northern Ireland. So while Spain is a State, it will never have the same level of unity because it is made up of different Nations. And thus there is not the same amount of patriotism.
Reflection Number 3: Confession time. Reading other peoples blogs, they mention that they chose year programs to build a stronger relationship with one family by living with them for a year, or to get the full depth of the language, or for some other deep thoughtful reason. I didn't. To be honest, I don't know why I chose the year program, or Spain for that matter. Or why I wanted to go on exchange. I still don't know why I wanted to go on exchange. I think I picked Spain because I already knew some of the language, and I just thought that it sounded cool. So that led to the year program, because Spain only has a year program. But that may seem like I was forced into the year program when in reality, I never really thought about not going for a year. It was never even a thought. I just was going to go for the year.
Reflection Number 4: The word American can be way more than we mean it to be. When asked our nationality, we typically respond "American" and while we do not mean to offend, we very well might. Because while you aren't a United Statesian or a United Statesite (which I do think is a flaw in the English language, the lack of a Demonym (I just learned that word right now. How fun.) for a person from the United States of America), people from Canada, or Panama, or Chile, or Brazil, or Mexico or any other place in North and South America also consider themselves Americans, too. So just a warning that you should be careful when and where and how you use it. Because while I am sure you don't mean to offend, you might. And as you see above, I am trying to be careful where I use it and use other words if I can.
Well that about sums it up. And if this seems a little disjointed around the spanish/english grammar connection part, that is because i started this two weeks ago and am just now finishing it. And you may have noticed, but i left all of my spelling mistakes in for your entertainment.
A little update, tomorrow I am going to this monastery. Pictures soon.
Already. Like Holy Cow it is Christmas already! That means new video. Enjoy:
Great picture, I know. Oh, and if you want to see some videos from my track meet that was yesterday, they are on my YouTube wall thingy. So just follow this video to YouTube and click on my name. :)
New blog post! It kinda happened a little bit later than i hope but whatever. I actually did it last night but it takes forever to upload so i had to find time... Anyway, enjoy!
Cool cool. Next time I hope to introduce the family. :)
The title translates to My Crazy Life. And crazy it is... Take a look:
YAY! It took me forever to figure out how to get it on blogspot. Which involved putting it on YouTube. So it is on YouTube if you want to look it up. Enjoy! Actually i just watched it on here and it is awkwardly squished... So it might be better if you watch it on YouTube. :) Just FYI.
Soooooooooooooooo, video post coming soon. :) I am working on it. I couldn't figure out how to do it and then the Application on my computer isn't working. So it's coming. Hopefully.
Knowing all of you bright, intelligent people reading this, you probably know what i am going to talk about. If not, keep reading and see if you can figure it out. I realized a couple of days ago that I told you i went to Santander (actually looking back at my blog post i didn't. So Hey! I went to Santander! There, now you know) but i never did a blog post on it. So here it is! :)
For those of you that don't know (and if you don't, don't worry, I had no idea what Santander was when i first heard the name. If this is you, keep reading. If not, keep reading anyway), Santander is a city in Northern Spain about 4 hours away from Madrid. It is on the Coast and my host family has a house about 30 minutes west of the city. October 12 is Fiesta de Espana (Spain's national holiday) so we didn't have school. So on thursday after school we left the house and drove up there. The next day was Friday, and Carmen, Fernando, Elisa and I went to some festival with cows. There were TONS of cows, but none of them were in any sort of enclosed pen, so you had to be paying attention because occasionally one would go on a rampage and you would have to run out of the way so you didn't get gored by the horns. Pretty cool. And there was a market there too, with vendors selling all kinds of things, from Garlic to Underwear (there was at least a few stalls selling JUST garlic or JUST underwear...). And the next day the whole family (minus Pablo) went to the same little town to go to a different Market (for those of you that are curious and/or want to Google maps it, the house is in a little town called La Herreria and the markets were in a bigger (but still quite small) town called Cabezon de la Sal). Anyway, that was cool, and we got some cool bread stick thingys that were in the shape of a cane. After that we went to the beach and hung out there for an hour or so. It was super nice to see the water and just run around on the beach. Every night we would hang out by the fire and draw or play games or play games outside with Pablo and Luis' friends. One night we sat by the fire and played games and made newspaper hats and roasted chestnuts (over an open fire!!!!! Too bad it wasn't snowing... Maybe at Christmas if we go...). And it was SUPER cool because La Herreria is older than the US. Like a lot older. Like from the 16th century older. And the house was built in the 16th century. SO COOL. And we came home Sunday afternoon/night. So all in all a nice weekend.
Last weekend i had my first AFS orientation after the first one in September (it was the day after we got here, for those of you that don't know). We had to meet at a Metro Station in Madrid at 11 on Saturday. So i had to wake up early (earlier than i wanted to at least) because the train from Tres Cantos left at 10. We got there, walked to the place, got our rooms, and ate lunch. We then played some games and did some activities about adapting, assessment and stuff like that. Some great games we played:
one kinda like catchphrase, but in the second round you could only say one word, and in the third round it was charades
another like steal the bacon
one were two people leave, and then return, and have to ask all the other people questions to find out what is wrong with them (like not wrong, but like why they answer questions the way they do)(i was confused too)
Also, the losing team of steal the bacon had to do a punishment. The punishment was to dance in front of the entrance to the theme park that is about 400 yards away. So me and the rest of the people on my team had to dance the macarena. And then everyone had to do this other dance. We had to march in place and then they would shout "LET ME SEE YOUR FUNKY CHICKEN!" or funky alligator or funky Michael Jackson and we would have to do either a chicken dance, an alligator dance, or a Michael Jackson dance. But what made it hilarious was the AFS volunteers accents. It sounded like they were saying let me see your f-ing chicken. So all the Americans and about everyone else was laughing. It was pretty great. And we had a good time. Great moments from the weekend:
My thumbs: They all thought that it was hilarious that i have short thumbs (Cameron about peed his pants he was laughing so hard). But apparently Megan Fox has thumbs like mine.
Alexis got a dreadlock. (like i am seriously not kidding)
We learned that in Spain they say there is 5 continents, not 7 (Antarctica isn't one and the Americas are one, not two)
We had to write letters to ourselves, and it was cool to see everyone writing in there native language (like Thai, or Japanese, or Swedish)(We are such Americans)
So all in all it was quite fun (although we slept very little) and i am looking forward to the one in February.
And finally, I am sick. Ugh. It started Monday night, when i left Track early because my head hurt (i almost wrote "when me head hurt." My english is going down the drain...) and tuesday my head hurt a little and my stomach hurt some. And i didnt eat during recreo, which is a definite sign something is wrong. And then PE and the visa appointment didnt help (two hours of sitting on a train...). And today my stomach has hurt at least a little (sometimes more than a little) all day. But i still went to school because i had a test. So yep. But at least i haven't barfed yet (Hallelujah.). I hope I get better soon because i am going into Madrid on Friday and Saturday.
So, I realized I have never done a post about school and my classes and stuff. So here it is.
First of all, a quick explaination of the my daily schedule and the grading system in Spain. My schedule:
7.30- Wake up and shower
7.50- Pack up my backpack and go downstairs for breakfast
8.10- Finish breakfast and put my snack in my backpack
8.12- Leave and walk to school
8.25- School starts (I think...)
2.15- School Ends (Except on Thursdays when i have Septima and i get out at 3.00 (i think)... For more on that, see my previous blog post entitled "Septima...)
2.30- Get home and eat lunch with Fernando and Pablo (except on Thursdays i eat lunch by myself because they have already eaten when i get home at 3.00-3.15)
3.00-6.30 or 7.05- It depends on the day what time track starts (Wednesdays 7.00, Monday, Tuesday and Friday 7.30) but during this time i will waste time, look at Facebook, Skype with AFS friends, do homework
6.45 or 7.15- Leave for track
7.00 or 7.30-anywhere from 8.30-9.30- Track in the center of Tres Cantos.
Get home sometime after that, eat dinner and then go to bed.
Now the grading system: Here in Spain you get grades between 1 and 10. 5 and up is passing, and 4 and down is failing. Quite simple.
And my classes:
Mates: Ok, so it's full name is Matematicas, but who says that? Certainly not me. Anyway, Mates is fairly straightforward... We just finished the second chapter which was polynomials and synthetic division and factoring. It was super easy and I loved it. I really like Mates because I understand about all of it almost all the time. So that is nice. And the teacher is really nice. And it is really easy because i have done it before. So basically all pluses.
Lengua: Language. It is pretty much the Spanish equivalent of our English classes in the US. We do literature and grammar and stuff like that. I don't really like this class a ton. The teacher is OK, but i don't really understand much. Right now probably about 20-30% on the average day. Today less, other days more. And i have a test in Lengua on thursday (maybe... more on why later...). My goal: to pass.
Estudio: Study Hall. Pretty straightforward.
Fisica y Quimica: Physics and Chemistry. This class is ok. It is pretty boring and i understand some of it depending on the day but it isn't my favorite.
Tecnologia: Technology. This class is actually pretty cool. Right now it is kinda boring because we are just learning all of the electrical stuff and about circuits and stuff but later in the year we get to make robots and projects and stuff.
Historia: So I used to really not like this class (it used to be my least favorite...) but right now it is not to bad. I used to really not like the teacher because she would just sit in the front and read off her notes and we were expected to copy it all down and she was really strict, but now we switched seats so I am in the front of the class and every ten minutes she will ask if i am doing ok and when we have to copy stuff down she will make sure i copy it right and yesterday, she wrote something on a paper at the desk where she was sitting and i (being in the front) was trying to copy it upsidedown but she just gave it to me once she was done so i could copy it. So right now it isnt too bad. :)
Ampliacion de Matematicas: This is amplication of math. Basically we just do harder topics than we do in regular math. But it is a different teacher who i dont like as much...
Ingles: Such a great class. :) It is really fun and REALLY easy (obviously...). I really enjoy it. I think the teacher is nice, and every thursday we have an assistant who is from LA come in to help us with our pronunciation. :) I really enjoy that class.
Biologia: This class is ok. I understand some of it but i am not a huge fan of the teacher. Also it is just kind of a hard class. But today was quite funny. One of the few sentences i understood: "Estamos en un testiculo..." We were talking about Haploid and Diploid cells and how they are formed and cellular reproduction. It was really funny.
Etica: Ethics. Right now we are talking about the origin of humans (i think...). This class is ok. I only have it once a week (last class on Friday, whopee...) but the teacher is nice. I dont understand much but it isnt too bad.
Tutoria: This class i also have once a week. It is basically advisory or homeroom, and we just talk or fill out papers or play games and stuff. And my tutora is my math teacher that is really nice.
Educacion Fisica: Yay for not knowing all of my classes... :) Anyway, I have PE twice a week. It is a lot like PE in the US except you dont have a change of clothes for PE, you just wear sweatpants or athletic shorts all day. But it is quite similar. We run in the beginning and will either play sports outside or do exercises inside or outside. And there are the people that actually try (like me...) and the people that every 4 minutes pretend to be tying their shoes so they dont have to run.
So, i think that that is all of my classes. And the schedule is kinda funky. There is no rotation schedule or anything. The classes are just in some random order. And some i have 4 times a week (Mates y Lengua), others 3 times a week (FyQ, Tec., Bio., Historia, Ingles), others twice a week (Amp de Mates, Estudio) and others once (Etica y Tutoria). It is quite weird.
Also, one last random thing: I have noticed my English is getting worse. I misspell words all the time when i am writing in English. For example: (In parentheses is what i meant to say...)
Shee (she)
A (I)
Straighforward (straightforward)
Or i will get ahead of myself and skip words... Anyway, i suppose that means my spanish is getting better! :)
Just to warn you, this post is going to be SUPER random and stuff because I have a bunch to say and I am not even going to try to connect it all together. Just FYI. :)
Last Friday I had to meet all of the other AFSer's that are living in and around Madrid in Madrid. Except for the ones from Europe because they don't have to get their visa extended or they don't have a visa or something like that. Anyway, they weren't there. But everyone else was. So we had to meet at some train station in Madrid at 10 in the morning on Friday, which was great because we got to miss School. I was taking the train and would have to change trains once to get to the right place. I was perfectly fine, I had ridden the train before and if all went according to plan i would be there about 10 minutes early. My train from Tres Cantos was supposed to leave at 859 but we didnt end up leaving until 905. I dont know if this is normal, and we were supposed to wait that long or what, but we waited for about 5 or 6 minutes with the doors open just sitting there. This wasn't a big deal because i was going to have about 10 ish minutes to change trains, so it wasn't like i was going to miss the train or anything. I wasn't worried. That is until we got to Chamartin. (That is another station about 4 stops down the line towards Madrid from Tres Cantos). There the doors opened like normal and then the people got off and then we sat there with the doors open (and i was thinking, "Hey, we are just doing the same thing as we did in Tres Cantos. No biggie."). And then all of a sudden people just start getting up and walking off of the train. And not like people that wanted to switch trains, but people who didn't get off right when we pulled up but who sat there for 5 minutes and then started to get up. So i pull off my headphones and look around. Some girl who looked about 20 says to me, "Sin Servicios." I am like, "Great, what does that mean?" (I didn't actually say this out loud, but that was the first thing that popped into my head). I then realized that, "Crap. This train is having problems. That means i need to change trains." At first i was fine with this, but once i got off of the train and saw how HUGE this train station was, i was really freaked out. I was thinking that it would be some easy train station where it just says the places the different platforms go to and you figure out where you want to go and which platform that is and just go there. But no, this train station had to have some wonky electric signs that were really confusing. So i just ended up following some lady from my train who didnt get up until we had sat there for five minutes. I ended up getting on a train that was going to the station i needed to go to to catch my other train to Aluche. So i arrive in Atocha (the place where i am supposed to change trains) and i try and figure out which platform i am supposed to go to. I saw some electric sign that said i was supposed to go to a certain platform. I get to that platform and see a different sign (a permanent, stuck to the wall type of sign) that says i am supposed to be on a different platform. I run up the escalator, and am halfway down the one going to my platform when the train leaves. So i had to wait for another 10 minutes for the next train. I finally made it to Aluche and was only ten minutes late.
And now about the visa appointment itself. We all met up in the train station. It was really fun to see all of my AFS friends there and see how the first few days of their exchange were going. Once the AFS person got there (she arrived later than i did) she told us what was happening and where we were going. We then proceeded to walk about a mile to this building where we were having our first of two appointments for our visa extension. Oh, and i forgot to mention something. It. Was. Pouring. Like rivers down the streets, my shoes were soaked in minutes, this is crazy what the heck are we doing pouring. It was bad. And then when we get to the place we have to go through security. Like full out, take off your backpacks and put anything metal on this table. And we were all soaked already and this building with the security was about ten feet wide. So there is this long-ish line out one side and then about 2 people can fit inside to actually go through security. It was crazy. But the appointment took altogether way to little time. I seriously walked up, sat down, said, "Hola" to the lady, gave her my passport, sat there for two minutes, took back my passport and two other papers, said, "gracias" and then left. Really. I had to get soaked and walk a mile in the rain and freak out with the trains for a two minute appointment. Oh, and i forgot to explain something. To get your visa extended, you have to do 3 appointments. The first is in your city's city hall where you register yourself as a citizen. The second is this one, which is where you make the appointment for your final one where you present a bunch of documents and stuff. So basically we had to have an appointment to make an appointment. Pretty great. Anyway, we walked back to the train station and then all of us AFSers decided, "Hey, we are already soaked, lets just go into Madrid and hang out." So we went to Madrid, all 11 of us in our Bright yellow AFS t-shirts that you really couldn't see because of all of our coats. But it was fun. It actually didn't rain on us in Madrid until we were in Retiro and we were going to split up anyway. Me and this other guy named Robert had to go to the train station. We looked at a map and we knew which way we were supposed to go. We had to walk south out of retiro and then west a little to get to the train station. So we walked. And walked. And walked. Retiro is SO HUGE. It took us forever to get out of the park. Not to metion we couldn't find the exit, so we ended up walking to the south east corner when we needed to go to the south west corner, and then we had to walk all the way over to the south west corner to get to the train station. And it was pouring, again. But it was a fun day and i didn't go to school so it was worth it. :)
And then Saturday I had a birthday party in Madrid and we walked a ton (like even more than friday) and then Sunday we went for a hike. So i basically walked all weekend. It was fun but i was (and still am...) super tired.
Now random things...
IT HAS BEEN ONE MONTH SINCE I LEFT SAMMAMISH! Wow. I have never been away from my family for more that a week, and only once outside of the country without my family (to Canada. For a day. So that doesn't really count...). I really miss them (some days more than others...) but i am having a great time here. I would have said this earlier but i started writing this post yesterday and am finishing it today.
Super great questions I have been asked:
Do high schools look like they do in the movies? Depends on the high school (like Bear Creek not so much, but others, as far as i know, do), but for the most part yes.
Do people watch Jersey Shore? I about died when asked this, i was laughing so hard. Which is bad because it was in the middle of class... Anyway, i said some people do.
What are all the english swear words? I was asked this Yesterday during Recreo by two of my friends, Monica and Maria. I did my best to avoid answering and told them the already knew all of them. They then proceeded to list all of them off and i was like, "Yep, thats all the ones i know..." It was pretty awkward.
I got some pants for you! Would you like me to mail them to you? This was my mom. My answer: "Sure..."
Yesterday I skyped with my friend, Erin, for two hours and twenty six minutes exactly. It was really nice to talk and see how she is doing. We talked about things we miss from the US, random things about exchange, school, and independent travel. Oh, and just as a warning mom, i might have to do some independent travel... Because i REALLY want to go to Barcelona. Anyway, it was really fun, and, Erin, we are doing it again.
WE MOVED SEATS IN CLASS! This is NOT GOOD. Now I can't talk to Carla and ask her what the teacher said, i have to fend for myself. AHHH!!! But whatever, I'll manage. It will help my spanish because now i cant talk to her in English during class... But I did lose my laughing buddy for English class.
I got my package today!!!!!! Two pairs of pants (yep, she actually did send them...), two large jars of peanut butter, one bag of chocolate chips, and the whole assortment of American measuring cups and spoons.
Ha, i just now realized that i probably should talk about the title. So Septima is when we have 7 classes one day a week. Most days we have six, and our schedule goes twp classes, recreo, two classes, recreo, two classes and then we are done. But on Thursdays I have septima, so i have three classes at the end of the day. That means i dont get out of school until 3:00. And i dont eat lunch (thats right, lunch) until 3:15 ish. It is super annoying. And we dont even have a regular class, we have Tutoria, which is like Homeroom or Advisory. Ugh. And i never understand any of it.
Christina Grimmie: So when i have finished my homework (or maybe not...) and no one is home or everyone else is doing something or i am just bored i doodle around on the computer or play the piano or look up songs on Youtube. Well a couple days ago i found Christina Grimmie. I was looking up people singing "Some Nights" by Fun. and found her. She is super good, and Christian, and she just has a super fun personality. Watch the video and see:
Tuesday I went to the library! I was looking for Harry Potter in Spanish, but they didnt have it. So i ended up getting Hamlet (the No Fear Shakespeare version) and The Lord of the Rings. Both in English. I havent started them yet but will soon. Hopefully.
Yesterday in English (and apparently every Thursday in English) we are going to have an American lady come in to help us with our pronunciation. It was really funny yesterday because she asked us some questions, and we were supposed to write the answers in our notebooks. The questions:
What do you know about the US?
Have you ever been the the US?
If so, do you want to go back? and where?
my answers (quoted word for word from my notebook):
A TON!
Yep. I live there.
See #2. And I am going back in July. I have been to: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Montan, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, WASHINGTON, and Wyoming.(and maybe South Dakota...)
And then later she asked, "So, was anyone here not born in Spain?" I slowly raise my hand. "Where were you born?" "Seattle..." Pretty great. :)
Okey Dokey. So i have decided that i want to do a Q&A. Send me all you questions and i will try to answer as many of them as possible. I dont care how, just send them to me. Facebook, Email, comments on this post, any way you can. I am really interested in answering them.
And two things more:
Today i am going to the American Store! :) :) :) i am super excited and am going to bring my ipod for pictures. :)
And i dont remember the second one. Whatever.
Hope you are all doing well. Send me letters! My address is:
Ronda del Aguila, 52
28760 Tres Cantos (Madrid)
SPAIN
It costs $1.05 to mail a letter (i think). So do it! :)
Miss you all!
Adios!
P.S.
I remebered what i was going to say! and something else!
This is a quote/paragraph/thingy that Isabelle put on my Facebook wall last year. It is about exchange. I DID NOT WRITE IT. But it is super good:
How do you know what is a dream if you never accomplished one. How do you know what is an adventure if you never took part in one. How do you know what is anguish if you never said goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears. How do you know what is being desperate, if you never arrived in a place alone and could not understand a word of what everyone else was saying. How do you know what is diversity if you never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world? How do you know what is tolerance, if you never had to get used to something different even if you didn’t like it. How do you know what is autonomy, if you never had the chance to decide something by yourself? How do you know what it means to grow up, if you never stopped being a child to start a new course? How do you know what is to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone and had a computer screen to prevent you from doing it. How do you know what is distance, if you never, looking at a map, said “ I am so far away”. How do you know what is a language, if you never had to learn one to make friends. How do you know what is patriotism, if you never shouted “ I love my country” holding a flag in your hands. How do you know what is the true reality, if you never had the chance to see a lot of them to make one. How do you know what is an opportunity, if you never caught one. How do you know what is pride, if you never experienced it for yourself at realizing how much you have accomplished. How do you know what is to seize the day, if you never saw the time running so fast. How do you know what is a friend, if the circumstances never showed you the true ones. How do you know what is a family, if you never had one that supported you unconditionally . How do you know what are borders, if you never crossed yours , to see what there was on the other side. How do you know what is imagination, if you never thought about the moment when you would go back home. How do you know the world, if you have never been an exchange student?
and 2. I FOUND FROYO IN MADRID. Like legit, exactly like the US, pay by weight froyo. Super happy.
That might seem like a fairly weird combination of things, but that is a great explanation of my weekend. I'll explain. Let's start with Friday:
Friday I had school (I know, kinda obvious) and after I had track at 7. In between, when I probably should have been doing homework, I was busy talking with my mom and a friend via Facebook. My friend wanted to skype (this might sound like i didn't want to skype, i did) and my mom wanted to skype. And both of them wanted to skype at the same time. I was trying to ask my friend if we could skype thirty minutes earlier during her lunch but she was in school so it was kinda hard to get a response, and my mom was adamant about skyping during office hours. So i came home from track, still not knowing who i was skyping with when, and basically sat at my computer for an hour figuring out who i was skyping with. I ended up skyping with my friend for about 20 minutes, and then i called my mom. I send the thing and when it opens up and i can see her, it isn't just her but about 15 of my friends all crammed in her office having a surprise birthday party for my via skype. They sang happy birthday to me and had cupcakes (i didn't get one :( ) and people came and went as office hours went on. It was nice to see them all after two and a half weeks and i really enjoyed it.
Saturday morning i woke up too early. I wanted to sleep longer but couldnt get back to sleep. It was really annoying. But we had churros for breakfast (these are different from Mexican churros, although similar...) and that was nice. After breakfast we cleaned the house. I was assigned the front porch so i swept and mopped the whole thing (Pablo helped towards the end after he finished the back porch). After that I went up stairs to do my homework. Whoo Hoo. It actually wasnt too bad. I just had to fill out a map of Europe (made more difficult by the fact i had to fill it out in spanish (I know, crazy)) and do a family tree of the Kings of Austria, or something like that. Once i finished that i pretty much just hung out all day until about 5. At five i left the house to go to the train station. I was going to Madrid to meet a friend of a friend (the same friend i was skyping on Friday). I caught the train and made it to Madrid without too much difficulty and waited in Puerta del Sol for Maria to get there. We went to Starbucks (it tastes the same here (except for the whipped cream. That tastes different)) and walked to the Royal Palace. There we sat and talked for a while, then retraced our steps back to Puerta del Sol and walked to Parque del Retiro. It was probably a twenty minute walk from Sol to Retiro, and we saw many interesting things on the way, such as a tandem bike (ok, we saw this at the Palace, but i am putting it here on my list of interesting things (and no, it wasn't really that interesting for me, but Maria had never seen one before)), a super tiny bus (like SUPER TINY. It moved before i could get a picture), a riot (we don't know what they were protesting but they were quite loud) and we walked through a wedding. Ok, its not what you are thinking. We didn't walk through all of the people sitting down and the bride and groom standing there with the dude reciting all of that stuff. We walked through all of the people outside of the church in all of their fancy clothes and stuff. So don't freak out, mom. It wasn't bad. Anyway, we went to Retiro. It was really cool! I got a really good picture of the sun setting over these trees and stuff. There were tons of people there and a lot of street vendors and performers. After retiro we walked back to Sol and I ran down pretty much 10 flights of stairs so i wouldn't miss the train back to Tres Cantos (there was another one fifteen minutes later, so it wouldn't have been that bad to miss the train, but i didn't want to wait fifteen minutes). But all in all, I had a great time in Madrid and it was really nice to meet Maria. I got home and my host family was still gone at some relatives so i hung out for an hour and a half. I skyped with my family for thirty minutes and then went to bed right after my host family got home.
Sunday i woke up at 8 when my alarm went off. It was all together too early to get up, but we had to leave the house at 9 to drive to Segovia (an hour and a half away). When we got to Segovia we pretty much parked on one side of the town and walked to the other side of the town. On the way we saw the old Aqueduct (more on that later) and a huge Cathedral (More on that later) and went to this fort. The fort was really cool! There were suits of armor and some really cool stained glass windows and these cool trees and a cool garden and wow i sound like a nerd. Anyway, it was cool. And i got some great pictures. After that we walked to church (which was about halfway between where we parked and the fort...) and after church we walked back to the Aqueduct. I got some really good pictures of the aqueduct and it was really cool to see it. In the US we don't really have things like that because we aren't that old of a country, which made seeing the aqueduct that much cooler. After that we went to lunch at some restaurant because it was my host moms parents fifty second wedding anniversary. I had a pig leg for lunch (and yes, it was a pig leg) and it was quite good! Then we walked to the Cathedral! On the way to the cathedral, i stopped at a shop i had seen earlier because i wanted to get a pressed penny. My host family didn't know what a pressed penny was so i had to explain it to them and when they figured it out ALL of them wanted one. It was really funny. Apparently they don't have the pressed penny machines all over like we do in the states... Anyway, we went to this cathedral. It was HUGE. You couldn't take pictures inside so i don't have any but there were some HUGE books and we saw some room with some cool tapestries. Also, there were some corridors that I swear they filmed Harry Potter in. They didn't but they sure look like they did. After that we went home (which took like 2 hours because there was traffic...) and had dinner and I went to bed.
Monday I had school. No surprise there. Monday night I had track. And it was sooooooooo hard. We ran from the track to a hill on the outside of town. We then proceeded to run up and down this hill for thirty minutes. It was super hard and at the top of the hill it was so steep that you had to walk because your legs couldn't do it. And then we had to run back. Tuesday I had school (again, kinda obvious). But on Tuesdays i have Tutoria, which is pretty much the Spanish equivalent of Advisory or Homeroom. I didn't understand anything. The class was talking about something with the teacher and i was fine with just sitting there, drawing in my planner. But about halfway through the class i hear my name. I look up and still don't understand anything and then ask Carla what we are talking about. Her answer: You. Apparently they were talking about how I was fitting in and stuff... Or that's what she said. And through out class when i asked her what they were talking about i was quite confused. Something about showering in the Morning and me and something else i can remember. It was weird. And then that night i had track. Again. But it wasnt nearly as bad this time. So that was good.
And then last night it rained and it has been cooler the past few days. Which is nice. At least i like it. Ok, now about crosswalks. They are so different here:
Being from the US, i am still not used to the crosswalks here. You basically just walk across the street and assume the cars are going to stop for you.
I almost fell over because i stopped because i wasnt sure if a car was going to let me cross, and then when it was slowing down i started to go, but i guess the driver thought i was letting him go, because he started to go, and then i slammed on my breaks again.
I have annoyed so many drivers it is not even funny.
And i have to deal with this pretty much every day because i have school or track or something.
Anyway, I have been having a good time here! And i miss all of you at home!
So a lot has happened since i posted a week ago. I have made new friends, done my first homework assignment, skyped back home, improved my Spanish, been invited to a birthday party, made plans to go to Madrid this weekend, taken my first test, met my host family's extended family (who i am seeing again this weekend), had my first English class, started track, and figured out where pretty much everything is around town.
So, new friends. To begin with, i have met so many people it is not even funny. And i remember about 0 names. I am usually pretty good with names but in another language... No. Lets see how many names i can list of people i have actually talked to: Monica, Andres, Jorge, Marta, Carla, Paola, Sara, Sara, Maria, Sandra, Alejandro, Enrique, Anne (she is American (more on that later...)), Silvia Dani, (who was in Seattle this summer and went to Redmond Jr. High for something. When he heard i was from Seattle he was like "Where in Seattle?" and was like, "Sammamish... It is kinda near Redmond..." and he was like, "I was in Redmond this summer and i was like "WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!" It was pretty crazy...) and David. Actually that's not too bad, but considering how many people i have met... But I actually have some pretty good friends. Monica invited me to her birthday party on the 29th and so i am going to that. And Carla (who speaks English and sits next to me in class) is really helpful and explains stuff when i don't get it (which is a lot).And most of the people have been pretty nice. It was (and is) hard going to a new school (which is something i have never done before) but i am glad i made the choice to come to Spain.
My school
Homework. To say the least, it is AWFUL. Actually that's a lie. MOST OF IT IS AWFUL. Some not so much (like math). But History. That class is so bad it is not even funny. I understand absolutely nothing and the teacher super strict and she gives tons of homework and i have never really liked history and AHHH!! It is bad. I basically sit there not understanding anything while the teacher talks. And talks. And talks. And then we are supposed to copy stuff down (which actually isn't as hard as it sounds because Spanish is written like it sounds (unlike English)) but the teacher talks really fast and so i always miss something and then i get way behind. So i pretty much copy what Carla wrote down. And then homework. For yesterday, our homework was to write a page (front and back)(in Spanish, mind you) about several topics, including the Inquisition, Martin Luther, Galileo, Humanism, and other stuff. It probably would have taken me thirty minutes if it was in English, but in Spanish it took me probably and hour and a half. I would pretty much write two or three words, then look up a word on Google Translate. And then two or three more words, then Google Translate, and then... anyway, you get the point. And for Monday, we have to make two maps, one of Europe and one of Spain, with all of the countries and capitals listed and the countries in the EU and then make a family tree of the kings of Austria in some century. Pretty great. But some homework isn't too bad. Math is easy because it is math and, being super far ahead in math, i can do it in about 2 seconds. And other classes aren't too bad, either.
On a happier note, I skyped my mom last Saturday! We talked for about and hour and forty five minutes and it was really great. It was nice to hear about what was going on in Seattle and how everyone was doing.
Also, my Spanish has been improving a bunch. I don't have to think as much when i want to say things and i can understand my teachers more and more. Some classes i can understand almost all of the class (like math) and some class almost none (like history) but it is definitely improving.
As i said earlier, i was invited to a birthday party! I am really excited. We are going to go into Madrid and go to el Parque del Retiro. Apparently it is really cool and i am really looking forward to it.
Speaking of Madrid, I am going to Madrid on Saturday! I am going into Madrid and am going to meet a friend of a friend who lives there! We are going to hang out and i think we might go to el Parque del Retiro. I am meeting her right in the center of Madrid near a bunch of stuff, so i don't know exactly what we will do but i am really excited! (like you have no idea) I am going to ride the metro straight there. I get on the train in Tres Cantos about a 10 minutes bike ride from my house and i get of about 100 yards from where we are meeting. I am really excited as i haven't been to Madrid yet and I am really looking forward to seeing it!
Tests are quite similar to homework, except they are harder because i don't have access to Google Translate. The second day of Lengua (It is the Spanish equivalent of English in the US (grammar and reading and stuff)), we took an "assessment" to see where we were as a class. I probably pulled the class's grade down to about a 2 (In Spain grades are 1-10, not 1-100). We had to read a paragraph and then answer about 7 questions, all of them short answer. I answered as many as i could and then sat there for twenty minutes and tried to look like i was doing something when the teacher looked at me. It was pretty bad. But on a better note, Yesterday we took a test in Fisica y Quimica (physics and chemistry) that was actually not bad. It was difficult to figure out what the question was asking sometimes but i think i did pretty well. It helps that i took Physics last year...
PAELLA! And you can kinda see the grill thing it is on...
The cool old church we went to.
Also on Saturday i got to meet my host dad's mom. She was really nice and was at the house for lunch and then stayed until about 8. I talked with her some and it was really nice to meet her. And then on Sunday we left the house at 1030 to go to Galapagar to meet my host mom's family. We got there and then went to this really cool old church, and then we went to her parents house. I got to meet her brother and his family, her parents, and her sister. It was really fun and we swam in the pool, went on a bike ride, and just had a good time. The best part (or one of the best parts) was lunch. We had PAELLA! It was SUPER GOOD! They cooked it over a grill of sorts and it had rice and shrimp and chicken and squid and mussels and it was really good and really cool to see how they did it. Her family was super nice and they gave me a book because it was my birthday on Thursday. It is in both Spanish and English so i can practice. Also, this Sunday we are going to Segovia, which is a city north of Madrid about an hour where there are Roman Constructions. There is an aqueduct and i think a medieval fort and wall. I am really excited.
I think that my favorite class is English. It is super easy (no surprise there) and it is really fun to do super easy stuff. The first day of class we had to put the correct tense of the verb (either present simple or present progressive) in the sentences. Some examples:
This book _______ (belong) to Brian.
My cousins ________ (go) to Greece this summer. They _____ (go) there nearly every year.
We ______ (have) dinner with the Browns on Saturday.
I wish he would stop ______ (phone) me at 11 o'clock at night. He ______ (always/do) it.
The answers are 1) belongs 2) are going/go 3) are having 4) phoning/is always doing. The last one i got wrong. I put he always does it. Apparently that isn't what your supposed to say. And then today we did dialogues with either present progressive or past simple. The one that i got wrong you have to write one way, but if you are speaking you can say either (which is dumb because we were doing Dialogues, which, last time i checked, were speaking). But whatever. My teacher is nice and it is a fun class. :)
So. Track. Apparently right now we are doing Cross Country, or something like Cross Country, but whatever. It is really cheap (10 Euros a month) and I have practices Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (optional) and Friday. I started on Tuesday and it was SUPER HARD! I am pretty out of shape, but we ran a ton. We ran for fifteen minutes as a warm up, then did these stations, then had to sprint 10 straitaways and jog back to the beginning without stopping, then we got a 5 minute break, and then we had to do 10 more straightaways again. I am still sore today and it is Thursday. But, THERE IS ANOTHER AMERICAN IN TRES CANTOS!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) Her name is Anne and she is 19 years old. She is on my track team and we talk to each other and ran together. She is here for study abroad too (but with Rotary) and she is from Iowa. She is doing a gap year so she doesn't have to really try in school (jealous) but it was really nice to talk to someone. Apparently there are 9 students from around the world in Tres Cantos here with Rotary, but i only know Anne. Either way, i was really surprised when she overheard my host mom saying something to the track coach about me being American and came over and was like, "Your American, too?" I was like, "YES!" It was really quite nice.
And now i pretty much know where everything is. I went with Carmen to Luis' badminton and Elisa's Dance and i have been to the Parque Central and the grocery store (which is really small and really different compared to American ones (pictures coming soon)) and the fruteria and the libreria and the biblioteca and the track and pretty much everywhere. So i can get around. And now some pictures:
Me and my host family about a minute after i met them (and i am not kidding when i say one minute)
The lake and my host sister, Elisa
A cool bridge over the lake in the Parque Central
Anther bridge
One of the main roads with a large pathway in the middle.
Wow, this is really long, but hey, a lot has happened. If you want more pictures, go to my Photo blog:
Mrs. Chittenden, email me if you would like me to skype with a class.
Also, at least in Spain, homework is deberes not tarea.
And i think i am going to be on break when y'all are here on the Spanish trip. (also, when you have finalized dates, can you tell me so i can make sure to leave out time to see you and also ask AFS if I can meet you).
If you are going on the Spanish trip, I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU! :) Just FYI.
Oh, this blog has reached 1000 views, so thanks to everyone who has looked at it and is keeping up with my Adventure
You have no idea how cool it is to be able to say, "I live in Spain."
Um, i am probably forgeting something, but whatever.
