Donde ha Pasado el Tiempo

Day 84.

More than 1/3 of my time here.

¿DONDE HA PASADO EL TIEMPO?

Time for some updatin’.

Here we go:

As of Friday, I started running at an athletic facility in Pavones, a district of Madrid. It’s a challenge at the moment, partially because of my lack of running over the past 2 and a half months, and partially because I’m with a group of runners who are in their mid twenties and run marathons. Their “running pace” is my cross country “race pace”, therefore, 40 minutes with them is somewhere close to 40 minutes in hell. They’re all super nice though and I went back again on Monday.

Monday didn’t turn out as well. After their jog, and my race, I was walking with them down to the facilities gym while it was sprinkling. We arrived at a set of steps and I was talking with one of the people from the group about why I was in Spain, when all of sudden, I became one with the steps. My feet were no longer under me, but instead in front of me, and my butt was united with the concrete at what felt like about 100 mph. My back is greatly suffering from the unfortunate incedent that occured, but on the bright side, it got me out of swimming today, and P.E. tomorrow. As of now, my best friend is “Ibuprofeno” as the Spanish say.

Shoutout to my host mom for supplying these beautiful drugs to me.

While we’re on the subject of my host mom: She has been avidly protesting for some reason I’m not completely sure of, but protesting here isn’t too uncommon. It all has to do with something in the medical world. No sé.

Moving on… I finally snapped a picture of my little twin Anna. It’s a little difficult to see straight up how she looks, because use of cell phones in the school I go to is like one of the deadly sins and she was in her play cage… literally it’s a cage for children; but here ya go; I’m sure you’ll be able to make do:

WHAT A CUTIE. Am I right or am I right?

Sorry for the half selfie, it’s a difficult process holding your phone in one hand, trying to take a picture of a kid in cage, all while there are about 500 other kids slipping their hands through the rails, slowly ripping your hair out.

Lastly, I got a message on Facebook today from a girl in North Penn who is thinking about applying for the Spain exchange for next year. It’s just so weird. I remember being in her position and first hearing about this whole thing and that was only a year ago… and look where I am now.

Esta vida es loca.

Happy Tuesday.

The Weekend in a Sentence.

I’m really not in the mood to be blogging right now therefore here’s my past weekend in one big long run on sentence:

I was in Leganés and on Saturday I went for a walk with friends, got pooped on a bird and then had lunch with my host parents grandmother who has Alzheimer’s and really has become attached to me for some reason but she’s pretty cool and then on Sunday I tried duck liver which was not a favorite and black Pailla ( a dish of rice usually colored with yellow food coloring, veggies, and meat of your liking) but this Pailla was colored by squid ink and let’s just say I like the yellow better.

Enjoy your days off this week, I’ll be in school.

Home. Spanish. History.

Today, I can say, was the first day that this place really felt like a home.

It was like any other day, but that’s what made it home. I have a routine here.

I went to school. Understood a lot. Fell asleep on the couch. I’m sitting in front of the fireplace working on my SAT prep book and failing miserably because I haven’t had a proper math class in 5 months and basically suck a lot at reading comprehension. At least I get an extra 10 months to prep. But it’s a good feeling to know my surroundings and have a place where I’m actually understood.

I can proudly say I haven’t had a conversation in English with anyone in 2 days. A word here and there for my host sister to translate, but major progress I’d say.

We are in Leganés for the weekend so it’s a nice change of scenery.

However I must start reading a book in Spanish for religion class, but I’ll manage. My teacher’s pretty cool. He told me not to do the homework, so we’re on good terms.

One last thing real quick that I need to complain about a little more and extending on my blog post from yesterday: history class.

My teacher spits A LOT when he talks. The wonderful thing about that is that when he gives his lectures on the Antiguo Regimen blah, blah, blah, in his miserable tone of voice, he stands next to me. This results in my book, my desk, and in some, incredibly disgusting situations, my body covered in tiny speck of saliva. Pretty nasty. There’s no escaping it. It’s like it’s raining Emilio spit.
When he talks, he screams. He like the sound of his voice, only he likes it more when it’s at 6391629176291919 decibels. So by the end of the class, I’m unsanitary and deaf.

That’s pretty much it.

Back to studying and the fireplace.

Mi casa.

A Little More Bits and a Little More Pieces

I must quick note something:

Last night, while prepping dinner with my family, my host mom started to talk about one of her patients from where she works as a doctor. She was telling me about this specific patient because they are currently living somewhere in Pennsylvania. Did I not say, like two posts ago, “I bet $9,000 that if I brought my host parents back to America with me they would know someone there…”.

I seriously deserve $9,000. What did I tell ya.

Two more things real quick:

1. This weekend I’m finally meeting the girl from North Penn… I think. She may be coming to stay with us because her host parents are going to Italy. So fingers crossed. I need to refresh my English skills.

2. I came home from school today to a package from my aunt, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Made my day. Thanks again guys 🙂

Oh, make that three things…

3. I found a track team to join that practices on Mondays and Friday. I’m so happy. But I also know I’m going to go and hate every minute of it. But hey, that running for everyone. Love to hate it.

Bits & Pieces of Life

This post is a little bit of everything that’s happened lately:

Everyday, I realize more and more how different me and my host family are, and I say that in the most respectable way possible. Our differences are a good thing, because both me and my family are able to learn about habits and customs of the opposing culture. Sometimes it’s a tad overwhelming, because I’m not completely used to the things they do around the house and I have to remember what they expect me to do. It’s just different, but I’m getting there.

This past week I got most of my grades back from the exams I took last week. In math, physics & chem, and history, my teachers don’t count my grades. They are doing this only during the first quarter while I try to improve my language skills. However, in class, I’m learning how to better understand the teachers when they speak very fast. I’m picking up a lot lately. Anyway, in technical drawing I got a 5 out of 10 on my exam, which is passing, so I’m content. If you get a 5 or higher here you pass. In swimming, we had to take a skill test, and lets just say that that didn’t go too well. These kids know how to do the butterfly and breast stroke and I’m in the pool doing the froggy. Needless to say I got a 7 out of 30. Olympics here I come. Lastly in my applied physics and chem class, I got a 7 out of 10 on my exam, which I am more than happy about! It feels good to finally know things.

Yesterday, the first thing I heard from my tutor when I walked into school was that I need to do better in history. There are multiple points I would like to make about this statement and excuse me while I make my blog my journal momentarily:
1. How am I, the American exchange student, supposed to pass exams when the kids in my class, Spanish speaking natives, aren’t? HMMMMM?
2. One may say that I should translate the book. Well that would take about 37192682681 days, okay?
3. I’m not going to spend all my time in freakin’ Spain studying my ass off so I can pass the first quarter. That’s what the 3rd and 4th quarters are for.
4. Some may say I should listen.. I can’t concentrate or learn anything in class when my teacher is constantly spitting everywhere while he talks and spends 80% of the time yelling at the kids.. That part is actually pretty amusing.
5. Lastly, no.

Moving on. You know how they say that everyone in the world has a look alike? Well, I found mine, and she’s 5. Her name is Anna & I absolutely love her. And she loves me. She has the blondest hair and the bluest eyes. I think I may adopt her if that’s possible. AND she knows English very well because her mother is from the U.S. I think she’s the best friend I have since I’ve been here.

That about sums it up. Lastly, I want to give a shout out. A shout out to the kids, who, before I came here, would rudely give me their opinion of why they would never do such a thing. A shout out to the kids who would straight out ask me why I was doing this, and not in the “I sincerely care” way. More like in the “what the hell is wrong with you” way. To that one kid who told me that everyone here would hate me, shout out to you. This is just to let you all know, you missed out big time.

Toledo In a Nutshell.

Just kidding, that’s impossible.

Me encanta Toledo, con todo en mi corazón.

Toledo is a city about an hour outside of Madrid, that used to be Spain’s capitol. Today, I went with my host parents, and I think I fell in love. There’s a large possibilty that in 15 years down the road, you may be able to find me living there.

We got there around noon, and met up with some friends of my host parents, which was no surprise because these people literally know everyone…. everywhere. I’ll bet $9,000 that if I brought them back with me to the U.S. they would be able to find a friend there. No doubt. Anyway, The five of us went for a walk, which was when my inner tourist beagn to express herself. I got some quality photos of cathedrals, castles, military academies, rivers, churches, antique streets, narrow alley ways, the town hall, and Toledo at night. Toledo isn’t something that can be easily explained. Therefore, pictures will be uploaded.

I will tell you though, that we did go to one place where hardcore nuns live. Some of the women that lived there hadn’t seen the streets or outside world in tens of years. They haven’t seen the sun, people, tourists, the blue sky, the rain, trees, nothing, in years & years. I can’t imagine. However, because they don’t go out of their housing, they bake a lot. So we bought some pastries by talking through a wall. We told them what we wanted and they placed the product on a spinning shelf, which then got spun around to us. We then placed money, and did the same  thing, vice-versa. We couldn’t see them, they weren’t allowed to see us, it was all very strange. A tad frightening to be honest. Unatural. I respect that it’s what they believe in, it’s just very foreign to me. Very. I believe there’s a picture in the bunch that I’m uploading.

We had lunch at the friends of my parents, and those people can cook. They invited me to go stay with them again sometime during the year for a weekend, which I promptly took them up on. I’m not sure if I’m more excited about exploring more of Toledo, or eating the food they make. It’s about the same level of greatness.

One more off topic thing: this past week I found out that there is another girl from North Penn who is also an exchange student in Spain. We did not go through the same organization, which is why I was unaware of this. However she doesn’t live too close, but we are planning on meeting up some day because how awesome is that? I have never had classes with her in school, but I’m pretty excited to hang out with someone who is in the same position as me, in the same place, from the same school. Looking forward to that.

Tomorrow I’m going to El Rastro for the second time for some Christmas Shopping for my family back home. Should be fun. And to my family back home: yeah, you probably should be concerned that you’re getting a present from El Rastro, but it’s cheap, so roll with it. It’s the thought that counts.

Mi amor, Toledo:

ANNNDDDDDDDD………

Hell week has come to an end. Five exams have been completed, tomorrow I don’t have school, and this weekend my host family and I are going to a kick ass village an hour outside of Madrid. So this girl is quite happy.

This week, my teachers have been completely awesome. They are all so helpful, especially the one’s who know English, but even the ones that don’t try their best to help me if I have questions on the exams.

I know I keep saying this, but this week especially, my level of Spanish has gone up. I only used my Spanish to english dictionary twice this week during exams, so I’m feeling pretty good. That doesn’t mean my answers and their grammar were of high levels or perfectly written, but I know it was comprehendable.

Oh, and I don’t have any homework this weekend. LOVING LIFE. ♥ ☺

 

All the Eventful Things I’ve Done Over the Past Four Days

Basically, this is what my past four days off looked like:

Thursday:

woke up

breakfast

studied

lunch

siesta

studied

dinner

showered

studied

bed

Friday:

woke up

breakfast

studied

lunch

no time for siesta, must study

studied

went for a walk

dinner

bed

Saturday:

woke up

breakfast

studied

lunch

studied

studied

studied some more

showered

bought a book to learn more Spanish because I need it apparently

dinner

studied

bed

Today (Sunday):

woke up

breakfast

did practices in my Spanish workbook

studying

…….Who knows what the reast of the day will bring. My guess is studying.

Perfectly Lonely

I think being on an exchange is one of the most bizarre things a person can experience. It’s incredibly lonely in some moments, but at the same time, that’s what makes it so unique. I and only I have the experience of representing all that I come from and believe in, while in a country thousands of miles from everything I know. I and only I, remember every little detail about how I felt when I stepped off the plane; how I felt walking into a school not knowing anyone, or the language; how I will feel leaving my second home to return to Philadelphia. It’s one big emotional rollercoater that I never want to get off of. I love feeling so different. I love being the only American in my school, the only exchange student. I’ve grown to learn to smile at those who give me looks on the metro when I speak spanish with a terrible accent, or when I’m in school and people ask me why I’m here, in quite the rude way. It’s a beautiful thing being nice to everyone. Killing everyone with kindness. It gives me a unique type of confidence. It’s that confidence that keeps me going.