They Aren't Applauding Cuz We Left, Right?

Jeeze, I'm really starting to suck at this, lo siento chicos. Basically a lot has happened since I last updated, so I feel like this is gonna be a doozy. Let's begin with about where we left off, last weekend. I'm sure something happened in school, but I know you all don't want to learn about what I'm learning. Oh, besides the class thing, we went to El Castillo, which has the most amazing churros con chocolate on the face of the earth (or at least that I've tried so far) where we were invited to some Celtic music thing later that night at a cafe. It ended up not being exactly what we expected, but a good time nevertheless. Plus it was away from Calle Santiago where the Grim lives (because he showed up again Thursday night after we went out to the bars). And then the next day we went to Segovia.

I'm not going to gush every detail of the day here because it would probably bore you all to pieces, so I will just give a preview and (hopefully) soon there will be a fully commentated slew of fotos on facebook. If you don't have my facebook, you're probably a creep and should stop reading about my life. Just kidding, but seriously. Anyway, Segovia; it's pretty spectacular. It's even smaller than Valladolid, but unlike this precious city in which I'm currently living, Segovia has a giant freaking aqueduct at the entrance to the city. This aqueduct was the product of the Romans in the 1st century. It's still standing quite solidly without any use of cement. It was a little terrifying but awe-inspiring at the same time. We proceeded to be lead through the city by one of our 3 male professors because apparently the women know nothing about Segovia. That's probably not true, but the male teachers are the ones with subjects that deal with visiting cities. We learned a lot about how the city was built/decorated before they let us loose for a  small break. We checked out the Catedral (Cathedral) there which was the last gothic cathedral constructed in all of Spain. Besides costing 3 euros, I'd said it was pretty neat, but it wasn't any warmer and I'm not particularly religious so I could've done without in all honesty. Following the Catedral, a small group ventured over to the contemporary art museum. It was much better and cheaper. One of the exhibits was cinematography about a woman who painted her lover's shadow and is now the only art left after an attack. There was also some strange hand puppetry about Zeus and one of his lovers. It got awkward. Then the last was a room with different photos of people standing in front of famous art which appeared like they were in the art itself. The last thing we checked out were some Esteban Vicente pieces. They were very he-got-paid-for-this-how?, but I did enjoy it. The only problem was that my mind liked to make me think that the colors were bleeding into one another when they definitely weren't. Also, one of the employees followed us around the entire time like we were going to pocket one of the paintings the size of an ancient computer and run off with it. And then it was time for Alcazar! So this is the castle is Segovia. We got a very awesome tour of it, led once again by one of our professors. Lots of history, humor, and horror. The fotos will explain much better about some of these themes. Then we got the chance to walk up to the top of the tower, which I did, of course. 152 steps later (yes, that is bigger than the Hill in Eau Claire), I got to see one of the most gorgeous sights of my life. We once again had some free time in which we looked at touristy shops and bought some delicious concoction from a sweet shoppe. Seems like it went by fast, and it did, but dang I was sore by the end and slept the whole way home.

That night we returned to Valladolid and our houses like little freezie pops. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I KNOW it's freaking cold in Wisconsin, but you also have ski jackets. I have a fleece and the interior coat from my winter jacket. Not sufficient, especially when walking about 30-45 min home at night. Our host mom wanted us to go take a shower (not together) to warm up... which is extremely weird because I can't even leave the hot water running when taking a shower, so she must have been really concerned. Which reminds me of this great story I haven't yet shared.

So, I'm on our balcony hanging up my laundry when Belen lets someone in the house. She calls Katie out and I hear a man's voice. I'm mildly curious, but don't leave my chores at that moment. Of course this didn't last long and I went to see who was here. It was a police officer in full uniform. Belen asks if he needs to talk to me, too, and he says yes! It was the casual exchange of niceties before he drops the bomb. "Documentation" I'm sure you can figure out what that means. At the same time, Katie is coming out of our room with her passport in hand. We have NO idea what's going when Belen bursts out laughing! Turns out it was a huge joke and the police officer was her friend that she invited up since it was so chilly.

Back to the frigid night, we decided to go out, but not far because 1) we didn't think we could make it and 2) we didn't want to walk on Calle Santiago. We ended up finding a little cafe not far from home. We got hot chocolate and it was a good time.

Sunday was a relaxing day. Got some more churros con chocolate with Andrea, Kelsey, and Esteban before seeing wizards on our way home. Yes, there are wizards in Spain. Okay, probably not, but they were wearing cloaks and looked like wizards, no joke. So I've decided I need to try to get into the Ministry of Magic here, somehow. The rest of the day was sleepy, lazy, and homework filled which is never fun, so I will not bore you with those facts.

So these past three days... I'm just going to sum up. School is going well still. I don't think it's ever going to be too bad except facing my oh-so-favorite professor. I talked to the family of the little girl I'm going to be teaching. So I have made my first official Spanish phone call. It was frightening and an experience I wish not to repeat. Tuesday led to the discovery of Blanco, a clothing shop that is freakishly like ModCloth... I might have some problems over here. It was also the day of the first meal I didn't like! It was mushrooms, so you can't really blame me, right? And then the big event of today was my getting a library card and checking out the first 3 Harry Potter books in Spanish. It is my goal to read them while I'm here, and I'm very excited. One last exciting thing before I go, Superbowl Sunday. I'm gonna watch it at a bar here at 2 am in the freaking morning! Pumped!

I'll Call Him Hot Pudding

Oof. It's Thursday already. Where we last left off, I was about to purchase my Grammar book, which was not in... yet again. Let's just say we had quite a few troubles with buying that book. I walked down to Fray Luis about 9 million times (and by that I mean like 5 or 6), but I did have great fun in the different bookstores. I really would like to return to Maxtor to spend a day looking through books there. I have a bit of an inanimate crush on the place, is that weird?

Hmm, let's see what else has happened. The days seem like a bit of a blur because we're finally getting into a routine around here, which is very nice. Also, I tend to waste a lot of time sleeping for much longer than siesta allows. Naps here are short; my body doesn't agree. So the proceeding tales have happened sometime between Monday evening and now.

Shopping: Yes, I've been shopping. It's good and bad. There are tons of rebajas (sales), so I don't feel too bad. I'm also doing pretty well because there are a lot of things that I could just buy impulsively and have not, so kudos to me on that one. I did buy jeggings, though... Not so sure how I feel about it myself, so please no judgment. 1) They were on sale, 2) they are extremely popular here, and 3) Andrea told me I needed them. They will stay here upon my return home more than likely. There was also a vair vair cute shirt that those that would judge about the jeggings would approve. Don't worry, I'm not completely insane just yet.

Cafes: We've stopped at a few cafes. I like them a little too much. I need to stop. Coffee here is completely and inexplicably wonderful. I always want more. Also had some good little sandwiches and ice cream. Phwoar! I have an addiction to helado (ice cream), so I'm surprised it took me this long to get some. I'm pretty sure there are some photos that shall be on Facebook in good time. There are tons of places to go here, though. Almost every time I turn around there's something else to try. Fun stuff.

Class: Class is well... class. We definitely have things to do, but it's no where nearly as much work as back home. I appreciate it. It also almost feels like high school because we don't really leave the room unless it's break. Beside that, I'm liking all the subjects so far. Some classes are much better than others, but I attribute that to the professors more than the subject area. None of the professors are bad, just some are less enthusiastic than others. And yes, I am actually doing by work around. It's not all fun and games- although there is a lot of that today.

Food: I love the food here. It's beyond yummy (almost all the time). I can't really remember too much of what we've eaten, but I had to put this in here for my funny story of the day. So I don't know if you all know this (I know my mum does), but I had a HUGE problem eating things like fish and chicken when I was little. If it had bones, I couldn't do it. My mom would take the meat off the bones, and even then I found things wrong with the food (like veins). Today we had some fish... with the spines still in them. I couldn't look at it. I did eat it, but I was freaking out the entire time. The one and only time I have not wanted to finish my food here. Okay, so that wasn't really as funny as I thought it would be. As cliche as it sounds, I think it was one of the things you had to see.

Other than that, I'm really loving it here. I feel like I've been here for such a long time already, and it's also crazy to think that we've really only been here a week and a half. Even more, I feel ready to go home at any moment. It's a weird conglomeration of feelings. I could easily stay in Valladolid like this for the rest of my life; I'd just have to take you all with me.

I Need to Buy Tooth Pasta

Still alive everyone! I know you were probably worried since it's been a while and the last thing I spoke of was seeing the Grim, but todo es vale!

So it's been a pretty good couple of days. We did not sleep in nearly so late on Sunday (even though I stayed up until halftime of the Packer game... so like 4 am or later?). We couldn't sleep in so we could go to the free Oriental Museum. Yeah, I know that sounds really strange because I'm in Spain, but they like to learn about other cultures here, too. Like I said, it was gratis, and apparently connected to a church? We walked into what we thought was the museum, and it turned out to be a mass. Needless to say, we quickly turned around and left feeling awkward before moving next door to the actual museum. It was very cool. I took a lot of fotos if you have not already seen them in Facebook. It was a grand time to be had by all. It had everything: comedy, pain, romance, music. Then after we left there was some big market type thing... I don't know, but I found more Harry Potter stuff! Wow, makes my life a little better here as if it's not stupendous enough.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. We ate and did homework. I siesta-ed for much too long again. It came to bite me in the butt later. I ended up writing the end of Cinderella (Cenicienta here) in Spanish. We'll see how that went. My reflexive verbs and object pronouns are probably really sketch, but whatever. It's called learning, after all. What else...? Yeah, I think that was all of Sunday.

School again today. Lunes (Monday) sucks even in Spain with wonderful classes like Grammar and Culture. We took a little break where we bought Magnum Gold! It's ice cream over which we get way too excited. Also, we spoke in Spanish for pretty much the entire time (over an hour). It's really good for us because when we have more than 2 or 3 people we convert to English very easily. Later we're going to go shop and hopefully buy our Grammar book. Oh well, more adventuras!

El Perro y el Creeper

Welcome back, all! So discoteca was not discoteca but a good time anyway. There was mucho confusion about getting to the place. Lisa (who talks to everyone!) started asking some random guys about discotecas and bars, so they brought us to the bar region of the city. It seemed a little sketch for a while, but we had a ginormous group, busy streets, and we left them as soon as they brought us to the area of the city. Anyway, we eventually ended up at this bar...... STOP! We had pre-discoteca across the street! It took us about a million days to decide on what to get, so we all just got a shot of honey rum and some woman there took our picture and offered us free shots. Well, no one but Esteban y yo were willing to, so we didn't. Back to this one bar. We thought it was discoteca, turns out no, but we had a grand time. It was quite loud, which was undesirable and ended up meandering back to some other bar with muchos less people and a bit too much American music. It was alright, and we ended up leaving at about... 2:45. We got home with no problems, but I didn't get to bed until much later because I was talking to people.

Cue this morning... that came and went before we got up at an early hour of 2:30 pm. Buenisimo! Yeah, it was very late because the alarm clocks in our moviles (cell phones) are way too quiet. Because of this, we did almost nothing. We missed churros con chocolate with Andrea, Esteban, and Kelsey, too... We did have some rice with mushrooms (gross) and shrimp though. Our host madre really likes to make us eat a lot of food though, so we did not finish. We also did not siesta after due to our massively late start to the day. I did get most of my homework done. Maybe Katie and I can go on an adventure in Campo Grande tomorrow instead of doing that. I also talked with the parentals. Then before you know it, it's time for cena (dinner). It was also un gran tiempo (great time). We had huevos fritos (or fried eggs), and Katie doesn't like eggs. She tried really hard to eat it, but she just couldn't do it. She felt really bad and made THE silliest faces trying to choke down one more bite. My entertainment in Espana.

After dinner, we had a little time to get ready (by the way, I still can't bring myself to wear leggings by themselves). We were off once again. We wanted tapas (appetizers) and started fumbling around the city for a good place even though Esteban's host madre gave him a list. The first place had too much seafood and was really busy, so we returned to the Plaza Mayor where Lisa proceeded to ask these guys about tapas. They looked really confused before asking us if we spoke English. Turns out they were Swedish and in high school studying abroad! Que comico! They were of little help, but it's okay cuz we found a place. I wasn't hungry so tapas will be for another night.

After that we returned to the same bar as last night (the second one with no people). I add that only because tonight it was completely packed. Craziness! It was a lot more fun... and also way less fun in some ways. There was a huge asshole there that Andrea and Lisa met. These posts will probably include a lot of Andrea and Lisa meeting boys. Anyway, he took my beer, shook it up, and sprayed it all over the floor. Rude. We stayed away from him after that. But it was good. We chilled there, danced, and enjoyed ourselves before leaving at 2.

The only notable thing about the walk home was that we saw the grim. No fricken lie. I was going to have Esteban take a picture of it for me to put in the foto book I'm making Eric when it came running at us and growling! I was frightened like none other. Terrifying for realsies. So if this thing doesn't get updated in a while, you can figure that the grim caught up to me. And on that note, buenas noches

I'm eating a chocolate sponge

OUR ALARM CLOCK SUCKS! Aka, my iPod. Did you know that when you plug in an iPod to charge to a computer in a different time zone, it will change the iPod's time to said time zone? No, well now you know. Anyway, that was our predicament this morning. Everything was vale (okay) because we got up and to school on time. We also didn't miss the bus, but there were soooo many people on it. I guess Fridays are just more popular. But seriously, it was ridiculous.

We had class again. Imagine that?! Anyway, it was good. Had some more oral expression, history, and grammar. I'm thinking we're going to have a lot of grammar. Also, oral expression should actually be called speaking and vocabulary. Phwoar, are we learning some new words. Like despota... I look it up in the dictionary, and it tells me despot. Very helpful, dictionary. Turns out it's an adjective for a tyrannical person... like Hitler or Stalin. Anyway, history was good. Everything we're learning at the moment has nothing to do with our finals, so it's fun. Also, I won't have it for the next 2 weeks because Agustin won't be here. Woot! And grammar... it's grammar. Still doing that subjunctive thing. I learned about some Spanish metaphors. Good stuff. I also learned the difference between tener que + verb and necesitar + verb, but I won't bore you with those details.

After class we checked out the cafeteria which is muy cerca (very close) to our building, because we had to wait for Esteban. We only had 3 hours of class, whereas he had 4. So we chilled there. There was some ice cream buying and very bad Spanglish. We are freaking pros. Anyway, Esteban finally left class and we could return a casa. Again, success here. We got this city down... or at least our route home. So we had our lunch (lentils... They're actually good!) and no siesta when we really need it because we are festajamos-ing (going out basically) tonight.

Then we went on another adventure to buy our grammar book, and it's STILL not there. However, we looked around the store and there are so many funny books in there. It's known for languages, so there was a lot in English, too. Pictures to ensue in Facebook. So then on the return, we found this wonderful little store where everything costs about 2 euros. I got a necklace, leggings, eyeshadow, and a coin purse, because the they have euro coins here which make it impossible (another word to read in either language) to shut my wallet. I really like it there, so I'm there will be a definite return. And for now, we are waiting en casa for dinner before going out to the bar across the street from us, tapas, and la discoteka!!!

I'm dyslexic so I read "imoron." Also, I suck at siesta

Hola again mis amigos! Today has been a not so exciting day, but I will impart my happenings anyway. Katie and I got up on time. This is a first and huge accomplishment. We probably deserve a cash prize for it, so if you're interested, let me know. Oddly enough, we were late to the bus stop and had to wait for the next one. Really, Espana? Anyway, the second bus is different from the one we're normally on (aka, there are no accordion sides). We got there in time, so there wasn't a problem really, plus we beat the walkers (Andrea, Steve, and Kelsey) who left earlier today and still were un poco late.

So then it was that whole class thing. Only 3 today, still 4 hours. Literature included answering questions about the middle ages of Spain. I knew most of the answers from high school, but whatever. We have some homework for it, but it went by quickly. Then we had art. I'm really excited for this class. Ivan is really cool. He reminds me of Pace. Quick information break: According to Ivan, we're in the city with the second most amount of bars! He also had us listen to interesting songs. If you want to check them out (and are not offended by bad language) go to these links. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2spZ-NDfS4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PsnxDQvQpw&feature=channel. Then we had two hours of grammar. Really not as bad as it sounds besides it being the subjunctive. Except for writing a full page in Spanish about our first day here in 20 min. That was horrible (you could read that bilingually if you really want to). Then we were done!!!

We walked home again, except this time, we knew what we were doing. Yeah, we're pros. We didn't use a map. Turns out we walked the wrong way on Paseo Belen which totally messed us up the other day. We got this down though, so we feel a little better. Also, what is also wonderful is that we walk past "Tu Secreto" a little dirty lingerie store. We have a laugh each time we walk past it. I'm sure one day we will have to stumble into it. It'll be some good stuff. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Then we were home. We siestad for too long... again. We're still tired. We also really haven't done anything besides eat dinner and do homework. So begins the life of a student. I still blame the siesta...

You Can't Sing in the Shower Here

This is what I learned in class today. First day of classes, woke up late. I have an issue with setting my alarm clock for the right time. We're working on that. Otherwise, class... it's pretty basic. I had completely different classes today than I did yesterday. We had geography, oral expression, literature, and culture. Oral expression is for speaking in Spanish with one another and our prof. just walks around to help us. It's nice, and I made a friend from Taiwan in the class! Geography will be... interesting. It's super introductory right now, but it's about all the parts of Spanish geography, not just the land... and really, not just Spain. We looked at the Spanish territories and even Portugal. I like literature (surprise, surprise). We're not reading any entire novels (que lastima!) but doing a survey of literature from different time periods and how they influence modern writers. Plus, we played a game in class today. How cool is that? And my ultima clase (last class) was culture. It's really short (only 10 hours this semester) which is muy triste (really sad). The prof. is crazy- but awesome. We talked about how Spanish people like to stare at others and don't shower for a long amount of time because there are lots of droughts. Yeah, less than 5 min people, and I'm succeeding, but as soon as I'm back in the States, hour long shower, baby.

Then we walked home..... after we got lost. Luckily, we found some girls from our program. One of them is in my classes, so we recognized her and followed them until we could at least get on our map. Yeah... the map they gave us of the city doesn't freaking have the university on it. It's really dumb, but now, I think we know what we're doing, so we'll walk back tomorrow and then to school again on Friday because we don't know how long it takes us. Anyway, we were lost. We had an adventure and saw more of the city outside of Plaza Mayor. That being said we got back really late and ate lunch late because of it, but Katie and I finally ate all of our lunch. It was tuna (but it looked like steak, how weird!) and green beans with oranges for dessert. Also, since mi maleta (suitcase) finally arrived, we gave Belen our gifts for her and got to share some of the chocolates I got her, MMMM!

Right after lunch, we left to figure out why are phones cost money. It was a sad day because we couldn't siesta... craptastic. Anyway, it's because there's a connection fee, but after it's free. Also, we found our exact phone and plan at a different store for 30 less euros. We tried to return our phones, but apparently, you can't do that. We want to check at the other store to see if that's true. The employees there are much nicer anyway. We are even setting up an intercambio (language exchange) with one of the girls because she's taking English classes! In any case, the phone situation is really stupid and kind of put a damper on my fantastic day.

We decided to stay en casa since we've been out the past two nights and had pizza (SO MUCH BETTER HERE!) and rotillas (which is like pudding with a cracker on top... I don't know, but also very good). I also put all my crap away. I'll probably need to organize a little more, but it's sufficient work for now. Katie and I also watched La Casa de los Espiritus. It's normally in English, but this was dubbed in Spanish. It was really funny because we couldn't figure out why they were using vosotros (a verb form really only found in Spain) since it takes place in South America. Then Katie realized that it's in Castellano (what we speak here). We also learned cabron, which is a he-goat (there you go, Andrea!), bitch, bastard, a bunch of other ugly words of the sort. It was interesting to watch it in Espanol because I'd only seen it English, but this is Vino-a-go-go land and I must do as the locals do!

Cannibals in the Castle

Hola todos. This post will be much shorter. Not too much has happened because life seems to be starting a routine. It'll be nice, but a little less exciting. I guess that will make the special occasions even more special and this whole ordeal less of a vacation in my mind. I'm loving it nevertheless.


We had our first day of classes. I'm in the 5th level of 6, which I felt good about. We only had two classes today, history and grammar, and there wasn't much content in either. It was a special day since they kept us out so late last night. I think I'm going to like them a lot. We're focusing on two time periods of Spanish history (when Spain was the biggest empire in the world and from the Civil war until today pretty much). Agustin (our prof.) is very passionate about the subject and really nice. He's probably a little crazy, but he wants us to enjoy the class and history as much as possible, so I'm excited for it. We also apparently have one of the best professors for grammar ever. She also seems very nice, but we didn't do much work in grammar today. We'll be working a lot on the subjunctive (GAG!) but by the time we leave, we should be pros. That's the whole point anyway, right? Anyway, I think it'll be good. I don't really prefer taking classes, but if all of my professors here are like Beatriz and Agustin, it'll be a good semester, and I'll learn tons.

We also managed to get ourselves home by bus, except we're going to walk from now on. Our host mom asked us to so we're hungrier for lunch, but she just makes so much food. Today we had pasta with broccoli, and I don't normally like broccoli, but it was delicious. There was just way too much and she thinks that we don't like the food. So from now on, I'll be walking even more. Yay for my waistline!


Katie and I seistad again. God I love naps. Seriously, best idea ever. I could really get used to it. Then afterward, Kelsey, Andrea, Katie, and I went to go find our grammar books. It was an adventure. We got a little lost, but not too badly. Katie and I are learning how to navigate this city. Unfortunately the bookstore didn't have the books we needed, but I got a notebook and pencil for class tomorrow. All the notebooks here are like graph paper. It's super strange, but whatever. I'm becoming European now, haha. Then we had to head on home for cena (which is dinner) and it was at 8:30. I can really get used to the times for food here. I like it a lot. We had tortilla espanola again with tomatoes. The food here is amazing, and dinner is always manageable for Katie and I to eat.

After dinner, we made our way to Cafe Espana to see flamenco. It was like a little show in a coffee house back home. It was really awesome and I wish I could have gotten some pictures, but they were all horrible quality, so I deleted them. We also got bebidas (drinks) there. I tried a mojito, and me gusta mucho. I'm gonna have to stop having a drink every night. Tonight was the first night I had to pay for it, but it's really expensive, so it will have to be special treats, because I don't want to be poor. It was a fun night, though. I wouldn't mind getting to see more of the culture in that way, but probably not on school nights. Class starts at 9:30, but we need to be on the bus by 8:45 in order to get there on time. I wonder how long that will take to get home. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Boarding the Freedom Train

Ay dios mio! It's been a crazy couple of days. Let me start at the beginning.

Andrea's casa (I'm warning you now, you might need google translate for this blog because my mind is already starting to want to go directly to Spanish, and it's very possible that I will write a few words or phrases en espanol). Anyway, we left Andrea's in the morning after her grandparents came to say goodbye. Her grandma was asking us all these questions about going over to Spain, like if we were going to date and if we were excited/nervous. My favorite was when she said that we had the look that we were boarding the freedom train (hence the magnificent title). It was a pretty uneventful morning compared to the events about to conspire. The ride to O'Hare was nothing and then all the fun stuff happens.

This is my story of coincidences before the trip actually began. We were in the restaurante in the Hilton connected to O'Hare, and when we got there, I saw this girl who looked a lot like a girl I went to high school with during freshman year. I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't really sure, but then we overheard them talking about Spain and someone named Pilar (which is the name of Andrea's host mom). Turns out, they were also studying in Spain, but in a city more north than us. It's right on the coast, as where we are between the coast and Madrid. Anyway, when they were leaving, one of the moms said Kendra's name, and I knew it had to be her, so I asked if she had gone to Bay Port, and she did. It was crazy. That reminds me, I still need to add her on Facebook. Anyway, that was the little coincidence to start off this loco trip.

Now the fun begins, and by fun, I mean almost everything that could go wrong, does. So we're waiting at our boarding gate. Up until 30 mins or so before our flight, it's on time. Then... 30 min delay. No big deal. Andrea, Mitch, and I walk over to the gate and find Steve, Kayla, Nate, and Aryn. Then our flight is delayed again... Now we're a little worried but we figure that if our flight to Philly is delayed the flight from Philly to Madrid is also delayed. Turns out it wasn't, so they call all of us up to the desk (including 3 students from other universities). We're put on a direct flight with Iberia (we were flying US Airways) and are told to go and get our luggage at baggage and recheck everything. I'm glad they told us to do so, but they probably should have informed baggage that our luggage shouldn't have been put on the flight. So that's how we ended up flying to Madrid with our luggage on another flight.

The flight to Madrid was great. I slept quite a bit of it, but it was always at weird angles. Mitch, Kayla, and Steve made fun of me for it afterward, but who cares. I finally got comfortable using the lap desk with a pillow on it. The hydrocodone for my leg also helped quite a bit. I was awake long enough to get some food (crab salad!) and then before I knew it, we were in Madrid at 7:30 am... wow. That seems forever ago. I tell you the time because we left at 12, and were waiting for at least an hour before we got picked up so you can have a time frame for the crazy that's about to happen.

Trying to find our luggage became our quest. We leave through customs and everything is going swimmingly. At baggage claim, we go up to the desk and ask the man if our original flight is on time (it had already landed, which meant it left Philly on time) and where we could get our luggage. He told us to go to Terminal 1... we went to Belt 1 and there was nothing there. Finally, after waiting for a very long time, we went down to the help desk and filed a claim for our luggage with Iberia and hopped on this bus to Terminal 1. It was fricken far away. Seriously, I thought we were leaving the city because we were up on the highway and everything. And then once we got to Terminal 1, we pretty much explored the entire area. We talked to US Airways and Iberia and US Airways/Iberia (because apparently one works for the other?). Nothing. I don't know how much we walked, but it could have easily been a couple miles from one end of the airport to another. Eventually, we find where our original flight's baggage should be and ours isn't there (this includes some of the people our first flight who also got transferred. We made friends during all this, at least). So we figure that our luggage got to Philly after our flight from Philly left... muchas gracias! So we left the airport with our carryons and nothing else. Sad panda.

Once we got out of the airport, we spent an hour waiting on a late flight and were finally on the road. I slept, even though I wanted to see the country side, but it's all good. I needed the sleep, plus it made time go really fast because I woke up and we were in Valladolid about to meet our families! We got picked up by Belen, our host mom and took a taxi home. It's really close to a major street in Valladolid, which is awesome and we have a doggy! His name is Gabi (short for Gabilondo). He's super sweet and excited to see us all the time. He loves to give kisses. So we get home and unpack, which takes Katie much longer than me because she has everything, whereas I do not. Our room here is nice, too. We're sharing but it has enough space to be comfortable.

After we were all unpacked we went to talk with Belen and her friend Teresa came over. So we talked for about 2 or 3 hours on our first night. It was difficult, but it was good practice. I can't believe how much I already think in Spanish, or want to start conversation in this language. I guess that's a good thing. Anyway, she offered us vino, and it was really nice to just talk and get used to everything. She gave us a run through of the area on the map we were given. Then we ate at like... 9:30 or something really late like that. And then we didn't go to bed until about 10:20, and we were exhausted. It was a mental drain because we had to constantly think about what we wanted to say, but Belen and Teresa are so nice and willing to help. they think we're wonderful speakers and will talk like them by the time we leave. I hope so!

And now to today. We had a test... which I won't talk about too much. It was a placement test and took like no time, and then after we took a walking tour of part of the city. I learned a lot... spaced out a lot... and walked a lot. It's a little like Caesar, except not at all. And then we walked home from La Plaza Mayor which is pretty much at the center of the city. It's only like 15/20 min so it's not bad at all. Belen came to meet us with Gabi. The morning was pretty boring because it was mostly school stuff. I should have pictures on facebook of some of the stuff once I get my camera cord, though. Keep a look out!

After our tour and school type stuff, we came home for almuerzo (or lunch). We ate at like... 2:30. It was late, but it was actually the perfect time for Katie and I to eat. Belen always wants us to eat more. We told her we were strange Americans because we don't eat a lot. She's afraid that we don't like the food, which is completely untrue! Everything is very rich here. It's not too different from some of the things back home either. Then after lunch came the most glorious siesta of all time.

Katie and I slept for 3 hours when Belen came in to tell us our friends were here. Kelsey and Andrea live one floor below us. They asked if we wanted to go shopping with them because Emily and Leah were meeting up with them at our house, so we got up... looking all sleepy and whatnot and vamos a compras (went shopping in case the context clues weren't strong enough). We went to an electronic store so Katie and Kelsey could get converters and then down to Corto Ingles. Holy crap, that place is like a 7 story Kohl's! We went up like 5 floors before realizing all the shower stuff was probably on the first floor, which it was... but it was in an area we couldn't see from the entrance. Everyone there was very helpful and I even got some stuff from the States. I have Garnier Fructis shampoo, Herbal Essences conditioner, and Dove soap. Everything is in Spanish though. And then we went to get moviles (what they call cell phones here). Mine is the color "fresh turquoise." I love it. Well the name, the phone itself is pretty basic but it will help me accomplish what I want to get done here. So getting phones brought us almost to 9 when we went to eat dinner with everyone from the program.

The restaurant wasn't far from where we were and we got there in no time at all. Everyone was outside because for whatever reason, we couldn't get in- probably because they had to clear out the entire basement for us. There was so much food (y mas vino!). I tried jamon which is cured pig's leg and this bread with tomatoes on it, and then they brought out this salad with shrimp and mushrooms. I hated the mushrooms, but otherwise it was good. There was also battered shrimp that was deep fried like a mini corndog and what looked like a pizza pocket but with tuna and tomatoes. There was tortilla espanola which is made with eggs and potatoes. It was really good. I like everything and then we had what I think was pork as the main course... maybe beef with vegetables inside with a really sweet gravy. Then they finally brought out dessert which was flan with raspberry syrup on the side. This whole thing took about 2 hours to eat, so it's not that bad. There was also a band that came down and sang to us. It was so neat. They were really entertaining. And then we finally like at like 11:40? It was pretty late, so we don't have school until 11:30 tomorrow and we're done at 1:30, I think.

So that was my first couple days in Valladolid. It's been crazy busy and insane, but I'm already loving it here. I don't feel like I'm staying for the whole semester, and by the time it sinks in, it will be time to leave. I'm trying not to think about that kind of stuff because it's daunting so early on. But I'm happy here, and I'm having a lot of fun. Of course I miss you all very much and wish I could spend my time here with you. You should come visit me! I'd show you the ropes, but I guess that's all for now.

Pre-flight!

So it is 1:35 in the morning...... CST, still. I am not sleeping tonight, or at least that is the plan, because Andrea and I think it will help us to fall asleep on the plane. There might be a problem with this plan, maybe a couple problems. One of them being the fact that our flights will probably be delayed thanks to a lovely snowstorm in Philadelphia. We're not excited... actually we kind of are because we will all be stuck in the airport together. It might also mean staying up two nights in a row to be able to sleep on the friggin plane. We will drink mucho cafe (lots of coffee for you English speakers).

Stop asking me if I'm excited... I am, and I'm sick of that question. I'm also scared, so please don't bring that up, either. Right now it still doesn't even feel like I'm going to be in Spain for 5 months- not at all. I'm not really sure what to think... and I'll get back to you on that (look at that hook to keep you reading).

Today was final goodbyes, technically my last day in the States. It sucked a lot. I don't want to see everyone sad about my leaving because then it reminds me that I'm not going to see for a long time, and then I turn into a blubberball. I don't like it. I didn't wear make-up today for a reason. There were tears... Kind of a good thing that I won't see anyone tomorrow right before I leave. I really don't want to talk more about today (and last night I guess, because there were lots of goodbyes then, too)... because it's really bittersweet, and I'd rather not get all sad again. I know I sound like I don't want to go, because I don't... but I do. That's what bittersweet means.

I suppose that's all for preflight. I'm sure the trip there will be exciting, or in the very least interesting. I'll talk to you all when I'm in Spain... (yeah, still weird)