the past few days

So our assignment for last week´s Spanish Life & Culture class was to make a traditional Spanish dish. My apartment and a couple people from the homestays made some pretty great food. We made Patatas con chorizo (potatos with chorizo) and Mushrooms Segovia Style. We had a little potluck at one of the other girls´apartments. It was fun to make and eat with everyone.

On Friday, we took a little field trip to the Valley of the Fallen and El Escorial. What the heck is this you ask? I will tell you.
The Valley of the Fallen is a huuuge monument that is the only sign of the late ruler Franco. Franco was a ruler that pretty much everyone hated. They have destroyed almost everything that had a sign of his rule, except for this building. During the Spanish civil war, tons of people that died were just thrown into this ¨valley,¨which is probably a big reason it was not destroyed. There are only two marked graves in the whole place. It is crazy, because there is almost no literature on this man. Everyone just hates him. And if you do like him (fascists), you don´t tell people in public. It´s mostly the older people that do. Everyone hates him because he oppressed tons of people. He didn´t recognize homosexuals, lower-class people, disabled people etc. as humans. However, he did do a lot of good for Spain´s economy. That is the only good thing I heard about him. Although most Spaniards have never even been to this monument, I´m glad they took us here because it is important to know the history.
Theeen we went to this cute little town called El Escorial. We saw the Palace where all the Kings and Queens (and a bunch of other people) are buried. It was pretty, but the tour of the Palace was about three hours and my legs were getting tired.. :]
The whole day was super fun. One of the best things was that there was an actual tundra at the Palace. It was so WINDY! We almost gone blown away. I got some good pictures. They will be up on FB as soon as I get unlazy.

Last night it was one of the girl in our group´s 20th birthday. They had a shin-dig at their apartment. It was WTF themed? Basically everyone dressed up in ridiculous things. The point was to wear the most random stuff you have together. It was really fun. I like dressing up! &my outfit was ridiculous. Pictures to come.

I love you all. I miss home, but I am also literally having the time of my life. I would not trade this experience for anything.

Spanish Life & Culture

Every week we have a class called Spanish Life and Culture, which is pretty self-explanitory. This week we had a Spanish native come in and teach us about pork, cheese, and wine. All three are huge here. In order to get the full experience, the guides took us to three tapas bars. Tapas are like little snacks that you get with wine or beer. Here, they order food with their drinks, not drinks with their food. We went to three different tapas bars and got wine and a tapa at each place. It was fantastic. I love this place.

I just booked a flight to Barcelona for March 26th-29th. I´m really excited. We´re planning all of our weekend trips/spring break and it´s getting crazy. I want to do everything, but know that is not a realistic plan. So far, my for sures are Morocco, Portugal, Grenada, and San Sebastian. I´m also staying until June 5th now, which makes it much less stressful to try to fit everything in.

LOVE!

pictures!

posting pictures on here takes too long. check my album out on facebook! love.

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The past few days have been really fun and very tiring. We went on a tour of the Salamanca-the guide showed us all the historical stuff and pointed out things on the buildings we walk by every day. It´s amazing. My laptop is super slow with this internet, so I probably won´t post pictures til this weekend. Sorryyy!
We ate paella and it was delicious. Like I suspected, the shrimp freaked me out. They keep the legs and eyes on them when they´re served. But after I got those off, it was great!
This morning we had a traditional breakfast: churros and chocolate. How the Spaniards are not all fatties is beyond me. The churros aren´t sweet like they are at home, but then they dip them in melted chocolate. I told you all I was going to come back 20 lbs heavier.
But maybe not, because the walk to school is 15 minutes, and I do it multiple times a day it feels like. We walk everywhere, and I LOVE that. In Azusa and Vacaville, you have to drive everywhere. It´s so nice not having to worry about paying for parking or gas. It´s a beautiful way of life.
Biggest changes I´ve experienced:
I smell like smoke all the time. From cafes to the plaza to whatever, everyone´s always smoking.
People don´t go out until like 2am. The streets are empty at around 11pm. It´s a little hard to keep up.
There are many more.. I will update as I remember them.

LOVE!

reality?

Yesterday we drove into Salamanca and I thought I was going to pee my pants. This is the most amazing city, and I cannot believe I live here. Madrid was cool, but Salamanca has the smaller city feel. Instead of looking like a big dirty city just like one in America, it has cobblestone grounds and the most beautiful buildings and cathedrals like the ones you see in movies.

We went out last night with the whole group and today we had orientation. We walked around the city and saw the school we´d be studying at. It´s called don Quijote and apparently there are a ton of Dutch people that study with us. Sweet.

I can´t believe this is real life. I´m already in love.

Soon, I´ll post pictures of my amazing apartment (that is a lot bigger than i expected) and my awesome roommates that I adore.

miss you all still!

here

I´m in Spain. We´re in Madrid for the night, and tomorrow we are taking a little tour of Madrid and then heading to our apartments in Salamanca for the next three months! Out of about 37 people in our group on our flight, about 20 of us had our luggage lost. So right now I´m wearing the same clothes that I flew in. Perfect. They´re sending our stuff to Salamanca, so hopefully I´ll have my stuff by tomorrow! But whatever, I´m in Spain, I can do without clothes for a day hah.

I love Madrid and will definitely be coming back. I´m kind of in love with Spain already. I can´t wait to be settled into my apartment.
The keyboards are a little hard to use, but enough facebook and I´ll be good to go :]

love love!

Oh hey, I leave tomorrow

I'm in Azusa, and it's 1:04 am. Not a surprise. I have to wake up by 4 am tomorrow and leave for the airport at 5 am. My flight leaves from LAX to Miami, then Miami to Madrid. 13 hours total plus stop-over time. I will be in Madrid for a couple days to adjust to jet lag, then on Saturday afternoon we will be in Salamanca, where I will be for the next three months! 

I said all my Vacaville goodbyes last week, and tonight had the last of my Azusa goodbyes. Tonight was the first time I had a hint of realization that I would not see these people for a long time. It made me sad, but also made me appreciate the pretty wonderful people I have in my life to come back to. 

I still don't feel like I'm going to Spain tomorrow. Ahh.

I don't really know how to blog, and it feels kind of silly, but I'll get used to it. I think it can be a really good tool for keeping in touch. It'll also make my job a lot easier when I get back, while not having to just say, "Oh it was so _____ (great/bad)." Hopefully the former.

I promise I will try to make these somewhat bearable and entertaining. Lots of pictures to come. This will also probably be all over the place- sorry English majors. 

Well, chances are if you are reading this, I love you and will miss you dearly. Find me on skype: nadynejanette

all my love.