This week went by really fast. We had 2 big excursions and a small excursion to the Museum of Segovia. One of the things I enjoy about classes here is that our professors are all really helpful and try their best to help us fully understand what is being taught. Also, I only have class till 1pm which is nice and then at 2pm I have lunch.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I started teaching English at the non profit organizations Caritas and that has been going great. The feeling I get after teaching class is great. There are 3 of us girls from the program that teach the class. There are about 15 students each class and they’re all adults. I’ve really grown to get to know the people in class but I’m still working on learning names, I just recognize faces. Teaching the class is really helping me become more of a leader, I’m slowly enjoying being in the front of the class and teaching.

The museum of Segovia was really neat to visit. I especially enjoy going with my professors because they always explain everything really well. There is so much history in Spain and Segovia it’s unbelievable. Our next excursion was to La Montana. Here we were able to learn about the Spanish war and we saw where one war took place, we saw trenches and it was really cool to see with our own eyes where people fought and lived. The history part was really cool but the walk up was not easy.  I can only imagine how soldiers were able to walk up with all their gear and everything. The walk down was way easier. To top off this excursion the view at the top was amazing! To see Segovia and the surroundings from the top of a mountain was so neat.

Exploring the battle site

Trenches

Really cool picture! follow the leader 🙂

Edu! my culture and civ professor. He’s Awesome!

My host mom continues to make delicious food for me, this week we had Paella again except this time it was made of Chicken and it was really good. Since I was home this weekend my host mom really wanted to spoil me and she made Tarta de Queso (Cheesecake) it was really good. I told her I need the recipe so I can make it back home. Any weekend that I am here I go to Sunday mass with my host mom and that is nice because I go out with her and she enjoys that.

Our excursion to Toledo was awesome as well. I know I’m expressing myself a bit much but everything I’m experiencing here is so wonderful and I’ve fallen in love with Spain! Toledo was a really cool city to visit, it was once the capital of Spain but it is now Madrid. Toledo is seriously built on a mountain and is surrounded by the Tagus river all around. We visited the Greco museum and that was neat too. To travel around Spain and Europe in general is really cool because their is so much history in this country!

The view of the city!

AHA Group in Toledo

The group from Oregon! they’re all from U of O

After our excursions I went out with the group and hung out with them. One night we went to dinner to La Juderia (a Jewish quarter where Jewish people lived) and we had Indian food at a nice restaurant. For it being my first time having Indian food it was really good. After dinner we went out to the bars and had a couple of drinks. It’s going to be different when I go back home because I’m of age to drink here in Spain but when I get home I’ll still have another year before I can drink. It’ll be different to not be able to tell my friends to just go to a bar and hang out since we wont be able to. I’m still not much of a stay out till 3-4am on the weekends even though. That is the common thing around here. It’s so interesting to see so many people out in the streets so late at night and to see little kids out with their families as well so late. They do have dinner at 10pm here so that is another reason they’re out so late but still. I still can’t stay up so late.

People out at night!

The life here in Spain is so much more relaxed and laid back. I’m really enjoying my time here it’s so different than the states. I feel less stressed and life is more tranquil unlike in the states everyone works and then goes home it’s like a non stop routine and here it’s so much less stressful. Midterms are coming up net week and then fall break! Time is flying. I’m halfway through my program.

Week 5 in Spain went well. I think I have fully adjusted to the culture and lifestyle here. Taking classes that are all in only Spanish is a really neat experience. I feel I am getting a lot out of this program. Now being here for over a month I have even begun to speak the Spanish spoken here, I’m catching on to the language.

This week a few of the girls from my program and I traveled to Paris for the weekend. Paris was amazing! We visited all the main big attractions so it was really fun. The Eiffel tower was breath taking. Going to the top of the Eiffel I’d have to say was the highlight of my trip.

The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower

WOU in Paris!

I went to the Louvre as well and saw the Mona Lisa

Traveling to France and spending some time there I feel that Spanish people are so much nicer and welcoming. Although I didn’t know the language and didn’t understand anything I feel that Spanish people are a bit more approachable even for people that don’t know the language. I did get to meet one of my friends cousins who lives in Paris and him and his wife were really nice.

It’s been quiet an adventure traveling in Europe especially with public transportation being our only way of transportation. Coming from Oregon where I live out in the country where public transportation isn’t really available I feel coming here I’m really getting a full experience of living life without a car. It’s the norm around here for everyone to walk or take public transportation. Not a lot of people use their cars, it’s just so much easier to walk especially in Segovia. My host family has a car but they never really use it. I’ve only been in their car once and that was the day they picked me up from the bus station.

My host mom is the nicest person, she absolutely loves me and treats me like I’m her daughter. Her cooking although took me some time to get used to I now really enjoy it and I’ve gotten used to the food here. I feel that I’m even more open to trying new foods. To be honest some of the foods I eat here especially vegetables I would never eat back home or even try. Although my host mom is all about the healthy food and I have times where all I want is a Coca Cola or some candy or junk food I really appreciate her for not having that in this household because it keeps me from eating so much. But I do go out sometimes and indulge in some sweets, we all need sweets in life. Something I noticed about lunch here is that we always eat plate 1 and then plate 2 of food. Plate 1 is always like a vegetable or soup and plate 2 is always a meat or fish. For the final plate it is either fruit or desert and we always only drink water in our meal. Back home we always just have 1 plate with all the food so having 2 plates of food here is a bit much for me. For breakfast though, since my host mom is still sleeping when I get ready for school I serve myself breakfast, I’ll either have toast or cereal with a glass of orange juice and a yogurt. The table in the kitchen is always set up for me with a plate, utensils, napkin and anything I may eat in the morning. I’ve heard from other students their breakfast is always a grab and go kind of thing or they make themselves whatever they want in the morning but it is never set up. I’d say I have a pretty great host mom!

Week 6 is fast approaching and I have 2 excursions this week. One to “La Montana” and the other to Toledo.

Getting back from Barcelona sunday afternoon and then having to do homework that night and go to class the next morning was a bit rough but I managed to get it all done. Classes are almost to the half way point, we have midterms in about 2 weeks. I’m pretty excited for midterms because once we’re done we get a whole week for fall break. I will be spending this week in Italy! Learning so much and keeping up with homework keeps me busy.

Highlight of this week was definitely experiencing a Real Madrid soccer game. Experiencing this with the whole group was really neat. A good game filled with so much excitement, seeing the players and winning 4-0 was a fun filled night.

The soccer stadium- Awesome!

Some of the group at the game

Cristiano Ronaldo #7 Awesome soccer player Picture credit to Tyler

I feel like the weather is soon to get cooler but it still hasn’t happened. The sun shines every day and I’m still taking in the sun getting darker by the week. I can’t wait for the cooler weather and rain so I can feel like back home in the Oregon weather.

Another day in Segovia

Another week of classes started and they went well. I’ve gotten used to living in Spain and made Segovia my home. Living with my host family has been going well as well. I’ve gotten used to the food and have found some of my favorite dishes. I had paella a typical Spain dish for the second time. I really like it. I’ve also gotten used to the Spanish tortilla which is not what I expected. It is made of potatoes and eggs. Potatoes are a really common vegetable around here, any vegetable really.

Seafood Paella

I’ve really adjusted to the language here as well because even now that I talk to my mom on the phone I start to say words from Spain. Although some words they use here are really strange to me, I enjoy learning the new words.

As week 3 of classes finished up my first trip with some of the girls from the group approached. Thursday night we took the night train to Barcelona. We spent the weekend in Barcelona and that was great. It was nice to visit a city that is filled with so many tourist attractions and to see the wonderful architecture and art by Gaudi. Barcelona has beautiful beaches as well and that was nice to take in the sun. Barcelona is filled with tourists. There are many bus tours available in Barcelona for a good price. A friend and I went on a tour bus and that was the best thing we could have done. We got to see so much of Barcelona which we would not have seen on foot. On Sunday we headed back to Madrid on a plane and that was so much better than a train. Our flight was only an hour and a half compared to the 8 hour train ride. I’m glad I got to see Barcelona, it’s a beautiful city.

Barcelona Bus Tour

La Barcelonata Beach. The Mediterranean Sea!

La Sagrada Familia

Building by Gaudi- La Pedrera (Casa Mila)

Where the 1992 Olympics were held in Barcelona

Rambla del Mar bridge

Barcelona cathedral

The girls at the fountain show in Barcelona

I’m excited for week 4 because this week the whole group is going to a Real Madrid soccer game.

After our excursion on Friday last week the weekend went by and that was spent exploring Segovia. There is so much to see and explore around here. There are beautiful views and so many places to take nice walks.

The view of the cathedral from the Alcazar

The view of the castle from a park

A jump in front of the Alcazar!

Week 2 of classes began and everything went well. This week we really began to get into the classes. I’m really learning a lot in all of my classes. I find it more interesting learning everything in Spanish. All of our professors are really nice and our director Marian is great too! We visited the Cathedral on Thursday, we were able to go inside. It’s such a big, well kept cathedral. As we walked around and Marian taught us about the meaning and history of many things I can’t but feel so privileged to be in Segovia and be learning so much.

The cathedral with the sunset in the background

I think I’ve adjusted pretty well to life in Segovia, not completely but I’m getting there. Adjusting to different meal times and the night life. Going out with the group out of class and going to the bars is nice because we all get to know each other and bond. One night we were out at a bar and played card games, that was so much fun. Although I may be the quiet one in the group I’m adjusting really well with the group and getting to know everyone.

As a part of our program we have the opportunity to have conversation partners with the cadets at the Academy of Artillery here in Segovia. This is a way for us to better our Spanish and for the cadets to better their English. We’ve gone out a couple of times and they are really nice to talk to and get to know. I’m really enjoying learning things about Spain and then comparing it to the U.S. My host brother is very much into politics and up to date on current issues so I enjoy talking to him and learning about things from his perspective.

The only 3 female cadets at the Academy, they’re great!

This week I also got to visit my volunteer site for the semester and I must admit I was nervous at first to learn that I would be an English teacher, have my own class and teach my own class. After talking to the director at the non profit organization “Caritas” I became more comfortable with the idea. The people I will teach to are adults that have no knowledge of speaking English. I asked one of my friends if she would help me out in teaching this class and she agreed so soon we will start to teach. I’m excited to teach people another language. I’m really starting to feel grateful and see the benefits of speaking two languages. Being bilingual is really beneficial and many people have told me how lucky I am to be fluent in both languages.

Today some of us from the group decided to take a trip to Madrid. It was quiet the adventure, we didn’t really have a plan of where we were going, we just grabbed the map and explored. Like anyone else, we were all craving our American food so we went to TGI Fridays for a burger, it was yummy! and of course we all grabbed some Starbucks too! Like in the U.S there is a Starbucks at every corner in Madrid. Madrid is really a big city and filled with so many people. It was nice to explore. I can’t wait for the rest of the exploring that lies ahead in my 3 month stay here. Being in Europe already trips are being planned to many places!

Madrid- The buildings are so unique!

Walking the streets of Madrid

In front of the Temple of Debod in Madrid

We had orientation on Saturday of the week we got here and classes started on Monday. We had a chance to meet our professors at orientation and that was really neat because we got to see that all of our professors were excited to have us. There are 6 classes offered this semester and I am taking 4 of them. My first one starts early morning at 840am. It is a 15minute walk to get to school. As Monday came along it was definitely hard to get up in the morning. I was not used to being up so early and then have to take a 15 minute walk to school since I would usually commute to school. Walking is all we do here, everyone walks, and they walk fast! My friend and I are determined to get to school in 10minutes by the end of the semester. It’s harder because our whole way is basically all uphill. But it’s really neat to be able to walk through the Aqueduct every morning.

Walk through the Aqueduct every day

Day one at school went well and by the end of the day I had learned lots of new things. We call our professors by their first name here and instead of going from class to class our professors come to us. I really enjoy my professors they’re all so nice and I have really been learning a lot from them. At first yes, I must admit it was like Spanish overload. We can only speak Spanish at school and everything is taught in Spanish.I understand everything it just took a bit to get used to my whole day of classes being in Spanish.

I’ve been here for a week now and have met many people. I have been asked several times “Eres Mexicana?” are you Mexican?. I’m not surprised to be asked but I am surprised when people say they can tell by my accent? I didn’t know I had an accent. But I enjoy having a bit of an advantage because I do come from a Spanish speaking background and Spanish was my first language. I feel that I comprehend everything better but I feel that although I speak the Spanish I’ve been learning so much. There are new words I’ve learned and I’m grasping the right Spanish not Spanglish. I’ve been told my Spanish is really good and that makes me feel good but I’m here because I want to be able to better my Spanish more not only in conversation but also grammatically. I want to be able to have a complete conversation and feel confident in what I am saying is in correct Spanish.

My host family has been great! My host mom is really nice and her son is too. They’re very welcoming and we always have long conversations about many things during lunch. I’ve had to adjust to the food, people here have a Mediterranean diet so foods always include vegetables and some kind of meat (specifically pork). Unlike having tortillas at every meal back home, people here eat bread at every meal.

On Friday we had our first excursion. We went on “La Ruta de los Castillos” The route of the castles. We visited two castles. First one was the Castle of Coca, we were able to go inside this one, it was really cool. The second one was El Castillo de Cuellar we were able to explore the outside of this castle because it is currently a high school (how cool would it be to go to school in a castle!) After the castles we went to a winery, tasted wine and then headed out to the vineyard. It was a great excursion I must say!

In front of the Castle of Coca

The group at the Castle of Coca

The vineyard, so pretty!

I’m ready to conquer week 2 in Segovia!