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!

Legal for...Everything

This week has been one of those big "milestone" weeks for me. Not only do I now have my first full week of school under my belt, but it's also my first full week of what can technically be called my "senior year". On top of that, my eighteenth birthday was this weekend. That's right. I officially became a real American adult on Saturday at 3 am. Central U.S. time. To top that all of, this is my first birthday I've spent in a foreign country.

Because of how things run over here 18 is the age where, unlike in the United States, you are considered an adult in every aspect. By this I mean driving, voting, drinking alcohol, and just about anything else I could list. Of course, because I'm living in Sabi on exchange I'm not really planning on doing any of these things anyways, but turning 18 is still treated like a big deal. I've been wished a happy birthday by pretty much everyone I know here, and by several people in the States. Earlier this week I also received the birthday package my family sent me. When I saw the Redvines I freaked a little, then ripped open the package and ate three like the apocalypse was coming. Then I promptly clipped the bag shut and placed it in my desk drawer in an attempt to preserve them. Redvines are one of the candies you can't really find here, even in special American stores.

Friday night the "chicas" came over and threw me a birthday party. We ate pizza and "tortilla de Espana", kicked balloons around the basement, and danced to songs in Spanish. After that we went to a fiesta in the next town over. I consider that my main birthday celebration. The next day, or later the next morning considering how late these Spanish fiestas go, my host parents presented a cake of sorts after lunch and sang another round of "Happy Birthday" (half in English and half in Spanish). However, cakes here are different from those back home. They aren't spongy and fluffy. In fact, the cake we ate, or "tarta", was more of a light chocolate cream thing. Anyways, it was good and, honestly, unexpected. That afternoon some of the relatives came over to wish me "feliz cumpleanos".

This morning my host family and I went to Zaragoza where I met more family. We had lunch with my host mother's side of the family where they sang me another round of "Happy Birthday" over after dinner coffee.

That was pretty much my weekend, but now I have to study for my History of Spain test on Friday. None of you happen to know anything about the finer points of the Roman invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, do you?

In My Defense My Weekend Was Great.

So...some of you noticed that I forgot to update my blog last night. Might I just say oops, and I had a very eventful weekend.

On Saturday there was an End of the Summer Fiesta at a "discoteca" in town. Alex (my friend and fellow exchange student from Rhode Island) was visiting some of her extended host family in Zaragoza over the weekend, so Grace and I met up with the "chicas" and spend the night hanging out and dancing, in my case, badly. The funny thing about fiestas here is that the time where most parties end in the States these fiestas have barely gotten started. Keeping in mind that this is normal within the Spanish society, I'm still not accustomed to it. All of the school dances I've gone to I stayed until the end, but here I'm the girl who always leaves several hours before everyone else.

Anyways, Sunday morning I woke up at about 10:45 and went downstairs for a bite of breakfast before the rest of the family comes over for "la Comida" as they always do on Sundays. When I appeared in the kitchen my host mom commented in Spanish that I was up early. I laughed and agreed as usual because I can't really explain yet why dragging my sleepy head out of bed at 11 am. is unusual for me. In fact, my habit of waking up early and leaving fiestas in the wee hours of the morning is only two of the many habits of mine considered abnormal here. Normally, I let my hair air-dry after taking a shower which causes a little confusion the mornings I wash my hair then take Nala for a walk right after. Most people blow dry their hair here, but it's more than that. Everyone seems to be genuinely concerned that I might get cold if I step outside with wet hair. Sure, we're in the mountains, but it's not even that cold yet. Every time I leave the house everyone asks me if I have my house key and a jacket. I do appreciate the thought, because it's better to be prepared, but I'm just not going to get cold walking down to the post office on a 68 degree morning. Though it does get cold here it doesn't get nearly as cold as Wisconsin can. The "soy de Wisconsin" excuse generally gets the point across that I don't freeze easily, but hey, I'm not complaining. I find the whole scenario quite funny.

School also stared last Thursday. The first two days were difficult because I had a hard time understanding what the teachers were saying, and I couldn't understand everything unless I was in English class. It also didn't help that all of the teachers were itching to ask me questions about where I was from in the United States. The problem is that most people here have no clue where Wisconsin is in the States. In fact, unlike some of my fellow exchange students from my area, I can't even say that I live near Chicago because most people don't know where that is either. The best I can do is say that Wisconsin is in the middle of the U.S. and in the north by Canada. Their next comment is that it must be cold where I live.

No matter how hard the first two days were, school is only getting easier for me. Everyone in my class seems to realize that I understand a lot more Spanish than I can communicate. I'm not entirely lost during lessons despite the fact that I have to, on occasion, ask the person next to me what the homework assignment is for that night. The homework load is a lot lighter, but I also have to factor in that the school day is an hour shorter than Slinger High School, and everyone has only six classes a day. Mondays are pretty great for me, though, because most people take a religion class in school, but it is not required. Since I'm not taking it I don't have any class for the last period on Mondays, which means that I get to walk home early. It's nice to walk home with my few Spanish friends who are also not taking Religion. The town is nearly deserted at 1:30 because most adults are at work and all the kids are still in school. It's quite peaceful walking along the sidewalk and chatting about my classes while the little lizards sunning themselves on the hot concrete scurry under the overgrown, dried out brush on the side of the road.

Overall, very satisfying weekend. If you guys have any questions you want me to write about feel free to message me somehow.

Post-Orientation

I'm just about ready to turn in for the night over here, but before I do I should at least highlight my first Spain Orientation Weekend.

On Friday morning us three exchange students in the town of Sabinanigo woke up bright and early to catch a bus to take us to Madrid (which is about four hours south of us by road), meeting other exchange students and rebound students along the way. Most of us are from the United States, including a girl from Hawaii, but there were also students from Canada, Austria, and even Japan. We encountered people from Facebook groups and re-encountered others we had meet at conferences back in the States.

One mode of transportation or another, all of us converged to Madrid where we climbed on a bus and rode for two hours out of the heart of Spain's capital city, taking us to a location somewhere in the wilderness a few miles outside Madrid city limits. The first night was freezing as we huddled in the provided tents, but the second night we all moved to a large cottage house about a mile down the dirt road from our first campsite.

Most of the information presented to us about the dos and don'ts of a successful year we had heard countless times already from previous orientations, but we also got to meet our Host District Counselors in person. Taking pictures of the views on Saturday afternoon's hike and exchanging pins and business cards with new people was an added bonus.