Time flies

Wow, just realized that my time in spain is almost over. Sadly, I have just one week left in this amazing place. I have learned so much in my time here and I have every intention of returning as soon as possible. Exams are coming up and thank god i only have two. I personally feel that America should adopt some of Spain's customs because there's parts of both countries I love. Idk how I will survive without tapas, tortillas, bakeries on every corner, and the plaza. on the other hand I really do miss my jeep and friends. Overall this trip has taught me so many things that I can't learn in a classroom and being forced to speak spanish 24/7 has helped me so much.

Me encanta España

Well today we went to segovia and avila. Segovia has a really old roman aqueduct which was pretty cool to see and Avila has the largest and oldest city walls in europe and is also the home of Saint Teresa. It was really hot but fun to have some free time to just chill. I have to do my homework more often but I think I'm going to do well in classes. Last night My roommates and I went out with Ashley Adams and some of her friends. Its nice to go out with non-lpi people from america. well the chinese lady is kicking me out of the cafe because its closing so chao!

Swing of things

So my first week of classes is finally done. It's getting pretty routine now and I have to say I do not mind the spanish lifestyle. Breakfast (a very small meal) is at 8 and classes are at 9. I only have three classes but the work is pretty challenging. My first test in destrezas orales is identical to my final oral exam for spanish 3 honors except I only have 7 days to prepare this one. I get out around 1 which is one hour to do homework and such before lunch (largest meal of the day) aroudn 215. We usually sleep or chill for 2 hours before hanging out in the plaza. oh man....yesterday my roommate tony got punched by a homeless man. It was hilarious! We were walking down rua mayor and tony sat down a little too close to his money which angered the man. It wasn't like a serious punch but it was one of the funniest moments so far. A german with a british accent screaming "Are you serious? Someone should lock this man up, he could hurt people and NOBODY cares!" hahah okay well maybe you just had to be there to laugh at it... anyways my friend charlie was incredibly smart and challeneged some local kids to a soccer match tomorrow but since only 3 of us have actually played soccer (Me, charlie, and carter) I think we are going to get dominated. pues...hasta luego!

Salamanca

Well the past few days have been crazy to say the least. Ben, Casey, and I met our host mom yesterday and also our family. We have a roommate from Germany named Tony, and roommate from Singapore named Kate(but the british accent is confusing, she is from an english family), and Veronica is from Virginia but originally El Salvador. Our mom, Clemen Matilla Calvo, is the nicest señora in the world and she loves Real Madrid so we hit it off great. For 7 people to live in one aparment in america we would expect a large house, this apartment is crazy small. one hallway with a kitchen the size of my shower and 5 tiny bedrooms with one bathroom. The Spainards make the best out of such small space. Tony is awesome and we've hung out with him almost all our freetime. The city is perfect for walking around and I have fallen in love with European lifestyle. The plaza mayor is by far my favorite place to be at night there is so much to do. I took my test today and find out tonight my level of skill. tomorrow I start my classes and I cant wait! I have definately hit the jackpot so far on this trip. Great food, friends, family, and life.

Toledo

Today we left madrid and visited the valle de los caidos and the escorial before getting into toledo itself. The Valle de los caidos (Valley of the Fallen) is amazing. Its a giant tomb for all the soldiers that died in the spanish civil war (BTW thank you ms davis everything I learned in your class has come in handy from goya in the prado to franco to the placement test you had us take in your class). Its got a chapel in it that was only blessed after they cut it in half so it wasnt bigger than the vatican. Then we went to the escorial which is a palace built by felipe 2 as a summer palace. Then we got around 2 hours to go into toledo and eat at this cafe where the waitress was a retired teacher that destroyed me with spanish grammer. It was nice tho to find out i cant say puedo tener so now I wont make a fool of myself in cafe's. Then we had to wait forever for the taxi's to come because they were slow as anything. We watched a wierd slideshow in the plaza while we waited. Tomorrow we are getting a real tour of toledo and then who knows. I cant wait to meet my family.

El prado y palacio

Today my group toured the Royal Palace and the prado museum. It was a lot of fun. We were split into three groups to make it easier to do things. My group, group green, went to the palace first and walked to the prado. It was so wierd to see all the paintings ms davis made us study in class. I already knew most of what the guide told us so it was really cool to see in person. We then got free time to just go chill out. My friend ands I went to a cafe a few blocks from the hotel and ate wierd spanish food. ( I had toast with shrimp on top) before going to Corte Ingles. This store is amazing. Try combining walmart with a belks/dillards/mall/home depot/ ingles. There 8 floors with everything from the supermarket to sports to clothes to cellphones. I love it and dont know what ill do back in America. We are heading to toledo tomorrow so ill probably be on a bus for most of the day.

Meeting the group

So today I left my mom and met with my study abroad group. So far its gone great and I can't wait to see what else happens. We took a tour today on a bus and had our orientation. We will spend all day tomorrow touring and then the next day in toledo. We'll get to salamanca friday and finally meet my host family. It should be fun