Soaking Up the Normal Things

Fall is the rainy season here in the mountains, which means we have some pretty gloomy days, but the sun is still not afraid to shine. Actually, considering that our altitude accounts for the major drop in temperature at night, and for a colder climate overall, today was absolutely perfect. It was sunny and warm, but not hot, with the bitter nip of colder weather mingled with the air. It's definitely fall now. We even took a hike for wild mushrooms and I took these pictures to prove it!

Anyways, tonight my host mom made mushroom pizza. Now, I know what you're thinking, but it's not that kind of pizza. Imagine a mushroom the size of a small pizza crust topped with cheese and ham. That's about it, but it was so good! That one is going on my list of favorites, and it's so easy to make I'm holding onto the recipe for college.

BARCELONA!!!

My weekend was so amazing! My host parents took us (Alex, Grace, and me) for a mini-vacation in Barcelona. Even though it wasn't the first major Spanish city I got to explore on my exchange (for the record, that would be Zaragoza), it was the first major touristy city I've really gotten to enjoy here, because I just don't count the hour that I spent in an airport in Madrid. Because I'm often so content in a small town, I forget how much I love being in the city! With so much to see and do I find myself feeding off the energy.

One thing to keep in mind about Barcelona, it's located in Cataluna which, unlike Aragon, has two official languages; Castillan Spanish (aka. the official language of Spain/the Spanish we learn in school) and Catalan. Most people in Cataluna speak both languages, and the two are very similar, but there are a fair amount of differences, especially in spelling. Being here for as long as I have, you get used to having things spelled a certain way, and when you see something spelled with a "t" instead of a "d" or an entirely different word used altogether, it can be a little unsettling. It sort of reminded me of that one episode of SpongeBob, "Rock Bottom", where Patrick and SpongeBob get on the wrong bus and find themselves in a strange place where the language is similar, but everything about it is just a little different. That's probably the best way I can explain that.

Friday night we didn't really do much because we got to Barcelona later in the evening. However, once we got our luggage to the room we walked through the city and, after asking a lot of people for directions, we found ourselves at a shopping center in the bay (since Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean Sea) where Alex, Grace and I shared two amazing pizzas. Though it did take us quite a while to find the place we were looking for, I was glad we spent all that time walking around because I got to see more of the city.

On Saturday we took a bus tour around the city, seeing a lot of Barcelona, and stopping to take a closer look at the Park Guel and the Sagrada Familia. Both of these places were designed by the architect, Antoni Gaudi who was greatly influenced by nature in his work. Check out the pictures!

These are the only ones I'm posting for now, but I'm putting the rest on my Facebook page!

Saturday afternoon us girls went clothes shopping, which was nice because now I have a few more options concerning what I wear. Also, not all my clothes are necessarily "fashionable" here.

This morning we took a walking tour around one part of Barcelona. The guide spoke in English, so us exchange students could understand more. It was mostly about the various types of architecture around the city. Parts of Roman walls and parts of buildings from the Roman Empire still exist today. Also, many examples of Gothic architecture can be found.

It's getting pretty late over here, and it's been a long weekend. I have to remember that I have school in the morning, as much as I'd like to sleep in. Happy Sunday!

Fiesta Weekend

This entire week was the Fiesta de Pilar in Aragon's capital city of Zaragoza. This is a huge event, climaxing with a procession through the main street where people, dressed in traditional garb, bring flowers to the square in front of the Cathedral of Pilar. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to see it this weekend, but here's a picture I got off the internet that I think captures the scale of this fiesta.

Though I did not get a chance to attend the main fiesta, my friend Alex got to see it. Also, there was a fiesta here in Sabi all weekend celebrating Pilar. I attended the fiesta Friday night with the girls from my class. We started out the night at 10, heading to a restaurant in town where we ordered food and the girls enjoyed a round of drinks, since all of them are of legal age here. After that we headed to the other side of town to a public gym where the dancing was held. We danced for a few hours, but I tired quickly, already exhausted from a long week at school. I left the fiesta very early, as usual, in the first hours of Saturday. Last night my friends were heading out to go partying again, but Grace and I (since Alex was in Zaragoza enjoying the fiesta there), decided against joining them considering how tired we were. Instead we had a fiesta de pijamas which translates to "pajama party", the Spanish equivalent to a sleepover, which involved hot chocolate and falling asleep while watching a movie. Though I chose the less "Spanish" option last night, I'm glad I did because this is the most rested I've felt all week.

School is exhausting, but that's mainly because I have to focus every minute just to grasp the basic concept that the teacher is trying to explain. Even though my Spanish has improved to the point where I understand what my teachers are talking about most of the time it is still not enough for me. Not only is school exhausting, but I simply can't study or prepare for tests the same way I do back home. Even when I try to study here I read two paragraphs out of a book, only grasp the general concept, can't remember specifics that I'll need on the test next week, and get a headache if I don't take a break every half of a page. Everyone says that my Spanish will improve enough by Christmas that I'll be able to study properly. I can't wait! In the mean time, my English teacher has proposed that I translate pages of our English textbook into Spanish so that she can correct it, just so I get more practice with the language. I have a long way to go, but I'm eager to pass a test!

Society Rules

Hello all, wherever you may be. The middle of this week has marked the end of my first month in Spain. How crazy is that?! Unfortunately, with school I don't really do a whole lot during the week now, but the weekends are always something to look forward to.

This afternoon I took a nice hike with my host dad, Grace, Alex, Alex's host parents and the dogs, Leo and Nala. The reason why my host dad hikes so much is not just for the mountain air. He picks wild mushrooms. The first time I found this out, sometime within the first week I was here, I didn't quite trust the fried mushrooms my host mom was piling onto my plate. Up until that point I had only ever eaten store bought mushrooms. Then I figured that my host dad grew up in Sabi surrounded by mountains, and he goes to pick these things all the time. He probably knows what he's doing. All of the different kinds of mushroom I've tried here I like a lot, which is good, because we eat a lot of mushrooms.

Saturday was the annual family reunion for my host dad's side of the family. It was originally supposed to be held the week I came, but my host family agreed to push it back a month so I could adjust a little. It was all wonderful. I meet more of my host relatives and chatted a little. They all complemented me on my hair (don't get me wrong, there are curly haired blondes here but it's not typical).  However, I ate so much food yesterday that I didn't really want to eat lunch today.

Let me explain how food works in Spain. When I'm just with my host parents I eat (or at least try) whatever they put on my plate. They always ask if I want more if there is any food left, but from day one they have been telling me that if I don't want to eat something I don't have to. If I don't want more I can refuse. They understand there is a culture difference. I understand there is a culture difference, but I'm grateful for their understanding because some days I'm just too full to ask for seconds. However, that's just me with my host parents. Yesterday, when I was with a whole troop of my host relatives, real Spanish Culture kicked in. In Spain, if you've never tried it, you eat it. If your plate has food on it, you eat it. If your plate is empty, that means you really liked the food and want more. If your plate has a something left on it, it means you didn't like it. If you refuse seconds, that means you didn't like it. Not to mention the fact that because I'm now of legal age here all of my relatives kept offering me alcohol. It's not like they were pressuring me to drink. That is simply the norm, honest to God.

Anyways, I came out of the family reunion probably a bit heavier that when I went in, but it all turned out alright. Tomorrow I have school, which I'm not exactly trilled about because, even here where I wake up at 7:30 for school, I still find it hard to get up in the morning. Also, I think I'm getting my History of Spain test back tomorrow. YIKES!

On the bright side, we're going to Barcelona in two weeks. There will definitely be pictures to come!