Oh what a lazy day. My host mama literally wouldn’t let me go to school because she thought I was sick. As of now, I appreciate her extreme thoughtfulness because it looks like a storm is brewing outside and I am damn happy to be curled up in bed eating my peanut butter with chocolate chips (homemade Reeses) and drinking my earl grey tea. Everything is happy and warm and delicious right now :)
Ten things you wish you could say to ten different people right now:
1) I’m not sure how I’m living without you right now. I don’t laugh nearly as much. You’re irreplaceable. Please take care of genuine lamb skin.
2) We both knew it wouldn’t work. I really do love you though.
3) You are straight BRED. Damn, if only I knew how to hit on you better in Spanish.
4) Our adventures have been kushdy ahaha. Madrid wouldn’t be the same without you.
5) You are the only person I can tell absolutely anything to. I can’t describe how much I miss just being around you. You really are the cheese to my macaroni.
6) You’re going to owe me like 3 straight weeks of massages when I come home. Miss your Spartan body ;)
7) You’re reppin’ Alborg too hard. Oh and why did you even come here?
8) You’re my favorite boy in the world. We’re both going to have amazing years.
9 )If you lose I’m seriously not going back to the United States.
10) I miss your cooking and having the comfort of knowing you’re nearby.
Nine things people should know about you:
1) I hope I never grow up too much.
2) I like my whiskey straight up.
3) Having 3 brothers has basically given me the personality of a boy.
4) Curiosity will eventually kill me.
5) My hands are freezing cold 85% of the time.
6) I’m not down with shoes/socks. Barefoot pawns.
7) Accents drive me whack.
8) Ganja.
9) I really don’t like fruit. Besides grapefruit and select berries.
Eight ways to win your heart:
1) I
2) am
3) not
4) that
5) picky
6) just:
7) Humor
8) & Romance
Seven awesome movies
1) The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2) Mulan
3) 300
4) The Royal Tenenbaums
5) Anchorman
6) Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
7) Wayne’s World
Six things you do before you fall asleep:
1) Brush my teeth.
2) ...
3) ...
4) ...
5) ...
6) Fall asleep.
Five people who mean a lot:
1) My parents.
2) Whoever discovered how to make chocolate.
3) Funny stoners.
4) Skilled baristas.
5) Will Ferrel.
Four things you don't like
1) Extreme weather conditions.
2) Decaf.
3) Bad European techno.
4) Haters.
Three things you like:
1) The ocean.
2) Christmas.
3) My snooze button.
Two things you want to do before you die:
1) Canoodle with the Real Madrid goalie.
2) Become Nomadic.
One confession:
1) I'm incredibly fortunate and don't show my thankfulness nearly enough.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
One more line, one more rhyme, like groovy and fine
The night before I left Santa Rosa I went to a Chinese restaurant and got a fortune cookie. The little slip of paper inside said “you’re on the verge of something big”. Who knew a fortune cookie could be so spot on.
I get butterflies every time I think about tomorrow, next week, next month...It’s hard to describe. I feel like my life has already been changed forever and it’s been less than a month, so I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen in the next 8. For the first couple weeks I kept thinking “What in the world am I doing oceans away from my home, family and friends???” and now I keep thinking “What would I have done if I hadn’t come here???”. I’m so thankful...
Not to say school is any easier, but last week I met ViVi (Violeta), Marcos :), and Lucas, who basically just made school really fun. They’re the only people I’ve met in school who are actually chill enough to hang out with outside of school. Which I did. On Friday they took my “botellon” virginity, ahaha. Urban dictionary that shit. On Saturday I met Lucy in Madrid and we went our favorite bar to watch the Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid soccer game. It’s really funny how crazy people get about soccer over here. Loves it. Afterwards we just happened to meet some Euro boys. 2 boys from Australia, 1 from France, and 1 from Ireland. Fabulous accents. We went to the hostel they were staying at and had a lil’ party. It was a good weekend.
Speaking of crazy soccer fans...yesterday me, Nico, and Fernando (papa) drove 4 hours to this beach town, Villareal, to meet up with Nico’s friends. His friends flew all the way from Denmark, along with 100 other Danish fans, to see their team play against Villareal. Talk about dedication. But I had a really amazing time. All the Danish guys were SO nice. That might’ve just been because I was the only girl in their section haha. Nah, they actually were genuine sweethearts. And the game was LOCO. I was on my feet for 90 minutes yelling catchy Danish chants and dancing with half naked guys, HAHA. Oh man. I’ve never had that much fun at any sporting event.
I'll post pictures/videos in the next blog...peace.
I get butterflies every time I think about tomorrow, next week, next month...It’s hard to describe. I feel like my life has already been changed forever and it’s been less than a month, so I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen in the next 8. For the first couple weeks I kept thinking “What in the world am I doing oceans away from my home, family and friends???” and now I keep thinking “What would I have done if I hadn’t come here???”. I’m so thankful...
Not to say school is any easier, but last week I met ViVi (Violeta), Marcos :), and Lucas, who basically just made school really fun. They’re the only people I’ve met in school who are actually chill enough to hang out with outside of school. Which I did. On Friday they took my “botellon” virginity, ahaha. Urban dictionary that shit. On Saturday I met Lucy in Madrid and we went our favorite bar to watch the Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid soccer game. It’s really funny how crazy people get about soccer over here. Loves it. Afterwards we just happened to meet some Euro boys. 2 boys from Australia, 1 from France, and 1 from Ireland. Fabulous accents. We went to the hostel they were staying at and had a lil’ party. It was a good weekend.
Speaking of crazy soccer fans...yesterday me, Nico, and Fernando (papa) drove 4 hours to this beach town, Villareal, to meet up with Nico’s friends. His friends flew all the way from Denmark, along with 100 other Danish fans, to see their team play against Villareal. Talk about dedication. But I had a really amazing time. All the Danish guys were SO nice. That might’ve just been because I was the only girl in their section haha. Nah, they actually were genuine sweethearts. And the game was LOCO. I was on my feet for 90 minutes yelling catchy Danish chants and dancing with half naked guys, HAHA. Oh man. I’ve never had that much fun at any sporting event.
I'll post pictures/videos in the next blog...peace.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Weekend highlights:
-Meeting Cooper
-Exploring Plaza Espana and Puerta del Sur
-Cute festival in some random town
-Meeting Lucy in Madrid
-Funny Arabic man
-Discovering an amazing bar/club
-Margaritas!
-Everything being LEGAL
-Meeting crazy republicans from Colorado. Not chill.
-Getting lost on the Metro
-Running through Madrid during thunderstorm
-Having to take a taxi to Lucy's house
-Bonding with my cute new Spanish family
LOVE.
P.S. One of my new puppies. Muneca<3
P.P.S. Oh my god I miss peanut butter and hot sauce. HELP.
-Meeting Cooper
-Exploring Plaza Espana and Puerta del Sur
-Cute festival in some random town
-Meeting Lucy in Madrid
-Funny Arabic man
-Discovering an amazing bar/club
-Margaritas!
-Everything being LEGAL
-Meeting crazy republicans from Colorado. Not chill.
-Getting lost on the Metro
-Running through Madrid during thunderstorm
-Having to take a taxi to Lucy's house
-Bonding with my cute new Spanish family
LOVE.
P.S. One of my new puppies. Muneca<3
P.P.S. Oh my god I miss peanut butter and hot sauce. HELP.
Monday, October 6, 2008
we're too young to fall asleep
I don't think I can put this weekend into words. If you really want to know you can ask me personally. But as Rachel would say...it was BAMB. Madrid is literally a city that never sleeps, and I don't think I'll do much sleeping while I'm here.
I'd say it has been a pretty successful first week.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
"the girl from California"
So, I’m starting to settle in. Although I won’t be completely settled for another month or so. I think I expect myself to adapt to everything super quickly, when in reality it’s extremely difficult to move away from everything you’re use to and basically start a new life. That’s what it feels like, I feel like I’m about to live life #2. There’s the life I was born into and then there’s life #2. A new country, new language, new family, new friends, new culture, everything is NEW. And it’s hard to define the line between trying to stay myself, yet still trying to fit into this new way of living.
I think language is the biggest barrier at the moment. It’s hard to connect with someone when you only speak “un poco” of each others language. I felt semi-confidant with my Spanish before I came here but honestly, the shit they teach you in school barely helps. They don’t teach you about the accent or speed in which it’s spoken. I may know the English form of Spanish, but the Spanish form of Spanish is on a whole other level. I think by the end of 9 months I’ll have it down, but at the moment I’m a bit hopeless. It’s so ridiculous trying to learn a subject in complete Spanish. I can’t believe the company that sent me here actually intends for me to learn anything in a class that is taught completely in Spanish and filled with kids that talk completely in Spanish. The only thing I’m gonna learn is...SPANISH!
Which brings me to my school. It’s a public school in the town of Torres, which is a 10-15 minute bus ride from my house. I actually really enjoy taking the bus. The route is beautiful, and kind of winds down a mountain so you can see all the little towns below. And it’s while the sun is rising so the light reflects of the buildings in Madrid and creates this bright pink hue. It’s nice. Anyways, the schooling system is kinda messed up. There’s three groups of classes that my age group can choose from. You don’t put together your own schedule, the classes are put into groups. So they just put Nicolai and I into the one with the least people. The subjects that I take are: Spanish Language (basically an English class in Spanish), History of Spain, Art History, Computers, English (yay!), Greek, and Latin. WHAT THE FUCK. These are like college courses and trying to learn them in Spanish is IMPOSSIBLE. Literally. But the teachers understand so I’m not getting any homework. And I guess I can change in a couple weeks. And my classmates are SO sweet. People seriously treat me like a goddess because I’m from California, it’s really funny. They all call me “Susan” but it sounds so cute in their Spanish accents. So that part of school is really nice.
Today was my fourth day of school it was by far the best. I am really starting to comprehend what's happening around me and my Spanish is improving very quickly. My favorite part about school though is the friends I'm making. People just come up to me and start talking! It's a lot much different than school in California. There aren't really groups of people, everyone just knows everyone. It's kind of comical trying to have a conversation with someone. I'll try and say a little bit in Spanish and they'll try and say a little bit in English and it takes a couple minutes to actually figure out what's being said. It all usually ends in laughter. I'm so grateful for the attitude of my fellow students. I couldn't feel more accepted.
Well, having said all that, I really do miss everyone at home. The homesickness isn't a crazy, overwhelming feeling that is with me at all times, but it does hit me from time to time. I miss being able to have a conversation with someone without having to translate every single word in my head before I say it. Nicolai does speak pretty perfect English, but to be honest, he can get SO annoying. Sometimes I wish I could just be alone in this experience and not feel like I have a twin attached to my hip. That's what it feels like. He is very clingy and flirts with me in that middle school sort of way where you're being more mean to a person than showing affection. It makes me want to gag. Sometimes I can stand him, most of the time I can't. I pray to god that it will get better with time.
On a happier note, I get a super long weekend due to some fiesta in Torres. No school Monday or Tuesday! I'm also going to downtown Madrid Friday and Saturday. Shopping and Discos. Sounds like a pretty good combination to me. I'll update after the weekend with lots of pictures and stories.
Hasta Luego!
P.S. I miss my mom's cooking.
I think language is the biggest barrier at the moment. It’s hard to connect with someone when you only speak “un poco” of each others language. I felt semi-confidant with my Spanish before I came here but honestly, the shit they teach you in school barely helps. They don’t teach you about the accent or speed in which it’s spoken. I may know the English form of Spanish, but the Spanish form of Spanish is on a whole other level. I think by the end of 9 months I’ll have it down, but at the moment I’m a bit hopeless. It’s so ridiculous trying to learn a subject in complete Spanish. I can’t believe the company that sent me here actually intends for me to learn anything in a class that is taught completely in Spanish and filled with kids that talk completely in Spanish. The only thing I’m gonna learn is...SPANISH!
Which brings me to my school. It’s a public school in the town of Torres, which is a 10-15 minute bus ride from my house. I actually really enjoy taking the bus. The route is beautiful, and kind of winds down a mountain so you can see all the little towns below. And it’s while the sun is rising so the light reflects of the buildings in Madrid and creates this bright pink hue. It’s nice. Anyways, the schooling system is kinda messed up. There’s three groups of classes that my age group can choose from. You don’t put together your own schedule, the classes are put into groups. So they just put Nicolai and I into the one with the least people. The subjects that I take are: Spanish Language (basically an English class in Spanish), History of Spain, Art History, Computers, English (yay!), Greek, and Latin. WHAT THE FUCK. These are like college courses and trying to learn them in Spanish is IMPOSSIBLE. Literally. But the teachers understand so I’m not getting any homework. And I guess I can change in a couple weeks. And my classmates are SO sweet. People seriously treat me like a goddess because I’m from California, it’s really funny. They all call me “Susan” but it sounds so cute in their Spanish accents. So that part of school is really nice.
Today was my fourth day of school it was by far the best. I am really starting to comprehend what's happening around me and my Spanish is improving very quickly. My favorite part about school though is the friends I'm making. People just come up to me and start talking! It's a lot much different than school in California. There aren't really groups of people, everyone just knows everyone. It's kind of comical trying to have a conversation with someone. I'll try and say a little bit in Spanish and they'll try and say a little bit in English and it takes a couple minutes to actually figure out what's being said. It all usually ends in laughter. I'm so grateful for the attitude of my fellow students. I couldn't feel more accepted.
Well, having said all that, I really do miss everyone at home. The homesickness isn't a crazy, overwhelming feeling that is with me at all times, but it does hit me from time to time. I miss being able to have a conversation with someone without having to translate every single word in my head before I say it. Nicolai does speak pretty perfect English, but to be honest, he can get SO annoying. Sometimes I wish I could just be alone in this experience and not feel like I have a twin attached to my hip. That's what it feels like. He is very clingy and flirts with me in that middle school sort of way where you're being more mean to a person than showing affection. It makes me want to gag. Sometimes I can stand him, most of the time I can't. I pray to god that it will get better with time.
On a happier note, I get a super long weekend due to some fiesta in Torres. No school Monday or Tuesday! I'm also going to downtown Madrid Friday and Saturday. Shopping and Discos. Sounds like a pretty good combination to me. I'll update after the weekend with lots of pictures and stories.
Hasta Luego!
P.S. I miss my mom's cooking.
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