December....??

How or when it became December I would not be able to tell you, I can however tell you that it's days like this, days when I begin to grasp just HOW fast my time in Spain is passing, that I appreciate how lucky I am to have the opportunity to stay for the entire academic year. I feel terrible about how bad I've been about updating my blog but consider that instead of staying in and updating my blog I've been out having all sorts of adventures in my second favorite country in the world. I feel young, free and alive.

I was talking with my incredibly awesome Aunt Anne the other day and she completely put into words exactly as I felt/feel. When someone asks me, "How's Spain?" I can barely come up with an intelligible answer and it's because I can hardly begin to think of where I can even start. I have met so many new people, been to o many new places and have had so many new experiences that any attempt to summarize all of it inevitably fails. Where do I even start?

In the past three months I've traveled all over Spain (note the map)

I've been to (in chronological order):

Salamanca

Segovia

Madrid

Toledo

Santiago de Compostela

Astorga

Córdoba

Sevilla (Seville)

La Mancha

Barcelona

(I'll post a link to pictures from these visits soon)

I've been completely charmed by Spain in more ways than I could have possibly imagined before coming here. At first I took much of being here as a new way to appreciate everything that I've come from. The experience opened my eyes to how lucky I am to have the life that I do back in the states. I had a new appreciation for my upbringing, beliefs, family, customs, the english language etc. This is kind of difficult to explain but Spain (especially Madrid) was/is definitely a lot more foreign than I ever expected it to be. I've tried to explain this more than once to people but I haven't quite articulated it very well. While evidence of globalization is undeniably present in certain aspects of life here, mainly in the genre of pop-culture (like I posted earlier, you can't walk into a bar without hearing American music), it has almost strangely left certain other aspects of Spanish culture completely untouched. 

There's a certain intangible essence to Spanish life that feels so real and pure when you live here that makes me thankful that every place in the world isn't like America. Don't get me wrong, I am still 100% as patriotic of the land of the free and home of the brave as I was when I first got here but it's just that now, after nearly four months and 10 trips around this beautiful country I've shifted my perspective. While at first my perspective of being here was focused on appreciating what I've come from, I'm now learning how to appreciate where I am. 

It sort of reminds me of the classes that I'm taking here- at first my list of classes was nothing short of intimidating to me. I have classes in language, history of spanish literature, art and theatre. When telling people about my classes I would find myself saying, "It's especially challenging because a lot of the vocabulary that I'm learning, I don't even know in English." But now I've learned that this couldn't be farther from the truth. I've found that I've gained that best understanding for things when I've stopped trying to equivocate it to something else. When making flashcards for vocabulary I've stopped writing the English translation on the back and instead I describe the words how I understand them in Spanish. 

What I'm trying to say about all of this is that I'm beginning to believe that this school of thought shouldn't just be reserved for language and vocabulary. While I can't deny that comparing things to what we already know is a good way to get our footing in new experiences, I'm trying now (in all aspects of my life) to appreciate things and experiences, especially experiences, as their own entities. When you stop bogging yourself down with what something is similar to, you can begin to see it for what it is and then truly appreciate it completely. As with everything thus far in my life, the more I learn the more I realize how little I actually know. I more than cut this post in half as the rest is more of an account of my travels (don't worry it is already written I will post it after this has been up and marinated with you all for a week or so). 

Hasta luego amigos y familia,

Kathleen

Spanish, my favorite sport.

It is almost officially the middle of October and so I've almost officially been here, in Madrid for an entire month. I'm laying in bed and about to go to sleep but just wanted to quickly post something that I was just thinking about.

I remember my Dad once telling me at a Wethersfield High basketball game that when an athlete begins to master his game he has the ability to slow the game down. He can make thoughtful decisions in high stress situations without breaking a sweat and has the ability to glide gracefully through the chaos, adjusting to each change before it even happens.  I love this idea of time being the variable in mastering a sport and as continue on my journey to perfect my Spanish I can identify with this exact sentiment.

I have to first admit that this path is not a constant one and that one day I'll feel like a native speaker and the next I'll feel like I've never taken a Spanish class in my life. I've suffered from whiplash from these sorts of scenarios but what makes it worth it is this feeling of slowing down the game. And by game of course, I mean Spanish. Poco a poco (little by little) I feel the chaos of the Spanish language slowing down around me. The crowd at the tapas bar on the corner has begun to talk more slowly and what once was white noise on the metro now sounds like a conversation between two friends. When people ask me a question I feel less flustered when finding an answer because my thoughts flow more seamlessly than before. I'm more aware of my surroundings, I'm more present in my every day life and I can feel myself growing as a player in this crazy game. It feels like all of Spain has kindly adjusted themselves to speak more slowly than when I first arrived but as I think about the wisdom my father once shared with me I realize that time is just the metaphor and that it isn't actually time that is changing but it is me. Like I said, I'd be lying if I said I genuinely felt like this every day but when I do feel the game slowing down it's like magic. That's all for now. Goodnight!

Wrapping up Segovia!

Helllo all!!!
Yet again I've been slightly negligent with my writing here but I do have SO much to fill you all in on. My life in Madrid has only just begun and I have zillions of stories already.

BUT FIRST! I wouldn't be right if I didn't write a little bit more about my experiences in Segovia. I only lived in Segovia for two weeks but it felt like I had lived there for months. I learned so much about the Spanish culture and language in those two weeks, probably more than I've ever learned in a classroom. While the first few days were much more challenging that I had anticipated the rest of my two weeks was far more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. In such a short time I became so close to this family that I had essentially just met and I even teared up when I boarded my bus to leave them for my new family in Madrid.

Mercedes, the mother, is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She always went out of her way to make sure that I felt included and at home. Almost every other day my laundry was done, folded and ironed. Yes, ironed. Almost EVERYTHING is ironed. I'm pretty sure that no one's host family used or even had a dryer. Clothes are washed and then hung out to dry and then ironed before being put away. There's a boy in my group who even had his socks and boxers ironed for him every day.

Nerea, my 22 year old host sister was unbelievably nice and patient with me. She spent some time studying abroad in the US near Albany, New York and so she could relate to the struggles that I went through, especially in the beginning. I have to say that studying abroad really gives me a whole new appreciation for international students and anyone who is ESL in the US. There is no possible way I could have ever been as patient with anyone as anyone, especially Nerea was with me. There were times  when I would ask about the same word at least three times in the same day but every single time they spoke to me slowly and would find a way to explain it to me that I could understand.

My host father, Antonio quickly became one of my favorites. He is just such a character. He appreciated my sense of humor and valued the opportunity to ask me questions about the US. At first he seemed rather anti-american citing Michael Moore films as realistic representations of the United States and asking me, "If the USA is supposed to be the most free country in the world why did you kill all of the Indians and make them live in reservations now?" I sat back and listened to how and why he had the opinions that he did about the US and grew frustrated with the complaints. I found that I came upon these frustrations a lot, especially in the beginning when I would hear Spainairds criticizing the US but at night 90% of the songs in the bars are American pop music, during the day 80% of the television programs are American shows dubbed in English and every night on the news almost half of the broadcast is dedicated to something pertaining to the US. This paradox between how central US culture is in their lives (especially in comparison to the almost non-existent presence of Spanish culture in our US lives) and how useless they would simultaneously claim the US to be left me frustrated, sometimes angry and always confused. I have yet to hear the same anti-american sentiments since I've been out of the pueblo but it was an interesting frustration to encounter nonetheless.

I've digressed. I meant to discuss how well I got along with Antonio despite our social and political differences. Antonio turned out to be my pal, cracking jokes all the time about all sorts of things. One thing he was fascinated with was how early American's eat dinner. When I told him dinner is usually around 6pm in the US he was absolutely shocked... convinced that I must be exaggerating. I remember hours after we had the conversation he would knock on my door every few minutes with a follow up question usually involving a circumstance in which it would be impossible to have dinner at that time. "What if, for example, your father's car broke down and he couldn't make it home before 9...." haha you get the point. Here in Spain the eating schedule goes as follows.... Desayuna (breakfast) is at around 9am or whenever you wake up and is usually just a coffee and cookie or toast at most. (More on the coffee here later) Comida (literally translates to food but is what we know as lunch) is eaten at home, with the entire family present at between 2:30 and 3:30 and it is more food than you could possibly imagine. There is almost always at least two courses if not more, almost always meat and always dessert. Anytime you eat between lunch and dinner is called Merienda although this doesn't necessarily happen each day. Cena (dinner) is served no earlier than 9:00 but usually closer to 10 and even later on weekends. Dinner is always smaller than lunch and breakfast is always the smallest of all. I've at this point become accustomed to it but for the first week or so it was actually pretty difficult to adjust to. Okay I've got so much more to say but I'll wrap up with things that I learned in Segovia about Spain that are different from in the US.

THE COFFEE! Okay, so this is one of my favorite things here. The coffee in Spain is way better than you'll ever have at starbucks. Antonio calls American coffee, "agua sucia" meaning dirty water. Water is never used in coffee here. Only milk and actual coffee. ¡Muy rico!

WATER here is unbelievable. It's a weird thing to note but the tap water in Spain is so good. I would choose it over the bottled water any day. It is something I know I'll dearly miss when I leave Spain, I'm sure.

SHOWER CURTAINS are nonexistent. This may not sound quite as weird as it actually is but imagine showering with no shower curtain!? Now imagine how much water is all over the bathroom after your shower  and how awkward it is to clean it up because there is no chance that you will be risking your slim supply of toilet paper. Which leads me to my next point...

TOILET PAPER is one of those things that you never appreciate when you have but always notice when you don't have it. I was one of the lucky people in Segovia who had toilet paper as an option but it was rarely in the bathroom when I needed it. I had to get awkwardly creative many a time. Some of the people in my group who shall remain nameless didn't have such a luxury and were left with only one option... to learn to use the bidet. I refuse to go into greater detail. While I never used it, there was indeed a bidet in my bathroom.

TRASHCANS were even more scarce than toilet paper. I'm pretty sure that everyone in my group was in the same boat as far as this went. There is only one trashcan in the entire house and its located in the kitchen and is reserved specifically for kitchen scraps. This may not sound quite as bad as it was but take my word for it, please. There was not even a trashcan in the bathroom. I really wanted to make an effort to abide by the customs of my family and not seem quite as unapologetically american as I'm beginning to believe I am and so I naturally created a secret garbage bag in my room. You laugh, but it got me through the two weeks in Segovia. Imagine not having anywhere to throw out your kleenex, q-tips, tags, scrap paper etc. I kept it (my secret stash) behind my suitcase and beneath the dresser in the corner of my room so that my family wouldn't see that I was hoarding trash in my room. Even harder than keeping it hidden was transporting it on my 45 min bus trip to school to throw out. Seems silly in retrospect but fitting a bag of garbage into my school bag was at one point a serious concern in my life.  (update... I now have my own trashcan in my room in Madrid!)

BREAD is served with every meal and you WILL be judged if you don't eat all of it. Spaniards say that you can tell who is an American because they only eat with one hand and barely eat all of their bread. All you have to do to spot one is look for the left hand sitting on the sidelines and there you go, you've found an American. I've made a conscious effort to not fall into this category since I already have the blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin working against me and believe me... easier said than done but this is what I've learned. Bread is the secret weapon to always using both hands. If you're not using your left hand to cut the meat then you should have bread in it at all times. Bread is kind of a utility player if we're talking baseball. It serves many purposes and can thus always be in your left hand ready for action. You can just eat it, use it as a shoveling device to get food onto the fork or everyone's favorite, use it as sponge to wipe the plate clean before you then resort to option one and eat it. Just to clarify when I say bread I'm not talking wonder bread I'm talking baguettes. Every family goes through about one full baguette a day. If you come to Spain and want your family to like you just ask for more bread. I swear the first time I asked my host mom here in Madrid for more bread there were tears in her eyes. She later even called her friend to tell her about it she was so proud. I truly wish I were kidding/exaggerating on anything in the bread section but I'm not. Bread is life here.

SIESTA! Boy do I love siesta-ing. Siesta is a special time in the Spanish day reserved just for a little post lunch nap. Trust me, the amount of food that you get at lunch is enough to exhaust you right into a siesta but the key is to not sleep too long. At first it was hard to maintain this balance but I now consider myself on the way to being a professional.

In the two weeks that I was in Segovia I did so many things and really got a huge taste of Spanish culture. I couldn't possibly do them justice with this list but I've at least tried. I went to an Atletico de Madrid game, I tried an unreal amount of new food, I experienced so many customs and even got to experience the small town summer fiestas. While I may have only been there for a little over two weeks, I will forever cherish the time I spent in Segovia and all I learned from my incredible host family there.

I'd write more about Madrid now but I can't imagine that if you're reading this you'd be wanting to hear any more for just yet and so I'll let these thoughts linger and soon post more on what my life in Madrid is like. Get excited! More pictures to come soon too!

xxxx
Muchos besos de España,
Kathleen

The beginnings of Segovia!

Okay family and friends, again I apologize for the lack of posts but hopefully this post will satisfy your Spanish hunger!

I’m currently in San Rafael, Spain which is about a 40 minute bus ride from Segovia, the home base of our program for these past two weeks. San Rafael is a pueblito (little town) with fewer than 3,000 people living here. So I’ve been here for about two weeks and I leave for Madrid on Tuesday and boy has it been crazy! So much as happened and changed since the first day it’s hard to believe that it has only been two weeks.

Our group arrived in Segovia at the bus station together and slowly we all departed from the station as our respective busses came or as our families came to pick us up. Naturally my bus was the last to leave and was the farthest away and so I had just enough time to really get myself worked up and nervous to meet my family for the first time. It’s funny because in retrospect a lot of this seems so silly but I remember I was wearing my bright green summer dress as I stepped off the bus which, along with my blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin helped mark me clearly as an outsider. My host father, Antonio, picked me up at the bus station and drove me up the hill to their house, my home for the next two weeks. The house is situated just at the base of the mountains providing a breathtaking view that I get to enjoy every day (pictures very soon, I promise!)

The first day was extremely difficult. I think a lot of it had to do with drastic change from being on such a high leaving Salamanca, feeling so confident in my Spanish, surrounded by other Americans and then suddenly I found myself in the mountains of Spain almost 100 kilometers from anyone I knew. It was so hard to communicate that first day. I specifically remember meeting everyone in my family and not even being able to communicate what my name was. I couldn’t come up with simple words and phrases that anyone who took any high school Spanish would easily know. The family let me rest when I first got there (my lack of sleep from my last night in Salamanca was not exactly helping my Spanish lexicon either) and when I woke up I felt like I was six years old. I was scared to leave my room- correction terrified. I’m such an extroverted person and for the first time in a very long time I didn’t know how to act like myself. I’m embarrassed to admit it but I literally stayed in my room by myself, with the door closed for hours until they came and asked me to come outside to talk.

The first night we went to an Atletico Madrid soccer game and it was totally awesome. The game reminded me how much I love sports and the universal language that it provides. My family seeing me cheering when Atletico scored and tormented when they missed a goal allowed them to see that I wasn’t actually a robot and it also gave me a unique platform to be instantly a part of their culture. The whole family supports Atletico Madrid (don’t even think about mentioning anything about Real Madrid) but the father is truly a fanatic. His Atleti collection puts my father’s baseball room to shame. He has a uniform shirt that he wears to every single game (because obviously he goes to every game) that is signed by almost everyone on the team. He also has a jersey that the goalie threw to him after winning some cup game, (just imagine how bad it smells!). My family explained to me in great detail how Atleti has the best fans in the league. Of course, I thought. What kind of superfan wouldn’t say that about their team? This game brought a whole new meaning to the term, “seeing is believing”. The echoing chants left my ears ringing worse than the time I had to bring Emily to a Jonas Brother’s concert. There is not a single person who is not sporting Atleti gear; luckily I was given advance notice that my simple white t-shirt would not suffice and was given an Atleti t-shirt to wear to the game avoiding all sorts of embarrassment. I’ll see if I can post a video of some cheers after Atleti scored but I’m not sure whether or not it will work on the blog.  For now though I'll just post a picture of me and my host sister Nerea at the game. 

The game ended at close to 1am (at the time I didn’t realize this is an early hour for Spaniards) and they won 4-0 but I was amazed to see that practically every single person remained in the stadium until the game was over. No avoiding traffic or any other logistical thinking of the sort… just fútbol. And even when the game was over the fanfare still didn’t end. It continued all down the stairwells, everyone chanting in unison and even still in the streets, echoing throughout the city the thunderous cry of the atleti fans.

Alright so I’m running low on time so I’ll try to wrap this post up.

The first few days in Segovia were really hard, in more ways than I could have imagined but I’m so happy to have had this experience. My Spanish is getting better every day and I’ve come to absolutely love this family. More stories to come soon but for now just know that I’m so happy and feel so blessed to be having this amazing experience. Madrid in THREE DAYS!!!! I’ll make sure I post before then though with more details about my experiences in Segovia!!

Love you all!!!

Salamanca Pictures

HI! okay so I know I've been really terrible and haven't posted in awhile but my computer charger was broken and I couldn't write for a little while. I'm working on new posts now but thought I would post a link to my facebook album of my pictures from Salamanca so you could check those out in the meantime. Here they are! Get excited to read about all of my awesomeness in Segovia....verrrry soon!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054666&id=1086750012&l=91c5188588

Salamanca, a city of splendor.

(Hi everyone! This post was written a few days ago and I’m sorry I haven’t updated the blog but I didn’t have internet until I arrived in Segovia and so I’m only able to post now! Enjoy!)

WOW! So this is my first blog post from Spain and all I can say is… wow.  Unbelievable. I spent so much time getting excited about places like Segovia, Seville, Madrid and Barcelona and so easily looked past my first city, Salamanca. This city is overwhelmingly beautiful in every way imaginable. It is a hidden gem of Spain. Well not exactly hidden because while I may have been totally out of the loop Spaniards definitely are already fully aware of everything this fantastic city has to offer. Salamanca is a beautiful and historic city and I can’t wait to tell you all about it but first let me walk you through what it took to get there.

Getting to Boston’s LaGuardia airport didn’t take any where near as long as anticipated and so we (Mom, Dad & Emily) had plenty of time before I had to go through security. This part gets embarrassing. As we went to get my bags checked we discovered that not one but both of my checked suitcases would be over the required weight limit and I would later learn that I had packed more than anyone else in the program. Like I said –embarrassing. Anyway life goes on and so we went out to lunch before I went through security which was very nice but then the rest is somewhat of a blur. I made it through security and managed not to cry but did choke up after I saw my parents and Emily walking away and sat at gate E4 for what felt like six seconds before we started boarding. I barely remember getting onto the plane or finding my seat etc. but all of the sudden we were flying in the air looking out over the beautiful US of A one last time. The flight was not all that bad though it was a little difficult because the flight is also adjusted to Spanish time and so we were served dinner and breakfast at their respective Spanish times.

The only negative aspect of my journey to Spain was seated directly behind me in the form of a little French boy. For hours this little child who was at least old enough to speak, cried and cried like someone was trying to kill him. When he wasn’t screaming or crying, he was running up and down the aisle but usually was doing a combination of both. The parents tried coaxing the child, pleading for him to settle down but after a few minutes gave up all together and seemed oblivious to the fact that the child was still screaming. Needless to say this made sleeping rather difficult. I was seated next an Italian family and was able to communicate with the mother through Spanish and at one point she looked at me and flatly said, “And this is why nobody likes the French”.

And so eventually we arrived at Barajas airport and made it through customs and found our teacher and all 14 of us in the program boarded the bus and after a couple of hours arrived in Salamanca at El Colegio Mayor, Hernan Cortez where we would be staying for the next three days. We lived in dorms and shortly after moving in we all went for a walk as a group. All I can say is that Salamanca is one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen in my life. This small city is such a precious place and I felt such an instant connection to it. I don’t know how to explain it but the city is so personable and I think that there is a feeling that everyone who visits gets that is almost like the city was made this beautiful just for them. It seems weird to say about a city but it is just so intoxicating to be there amidst all of the splendor and history etc. it is such an intimate place.

The three days in Salamanca were incredible and served perfectly as an orientation to Spain and also to our program in general. I didn’t really know anyone from our group very well before arriving in Spain but our group of 14 students became really close over these three days in Salamanca and I think a main component of this has to do with our experiences in Salamanca. While this isn’t exactly ground breaking news, I think we are all drawn together because of this experience we are sharing. In just three days I’ve been frustrated, scared, excited, nervous, overwhelmed and overjoyed and having all of these emotions in such a concentrated amount of time can be pretty crazy but knowing that there are 13 other people going through all this too, maybe not in exactly the same way or order but at least somewhat like it, is so comforting to me.

I definitely have a new appreciation for humanity and the beauty of experience. It is really a beautiful thing to be able to be friends and become so close with people who I may have not otherwise been friends with or even met at all. We are each other’s support systems now.

Okay enough with all of that sappiness. I don’t have too much more time to be writing but I will post some pictures here so that you can see the glorious city that for three days I could call home. Salamanca was incredible and so off I go to Segovia to meet my first host family!

Hasta, Segovia mi gente!

(until Segovia my people)

Okay so this first picture is outside of the University of Salamanca which is one of the oldest universities in the world. This is the entrance to the university and it was commissioned by the Catholic monarchs as an ornate symbol of how prestigious the university is. Somewhere in all of the decoration is a frog sitting on top of a skull and it is tradition for each student to be able to find this before they graduate. It is more difficult than you would think but I actually found it. This picture is only from my phone so the quality isn't fantastic but I'll try to upload pictures from my camera soon and you can see if you can find it! Double click on the pictures to see them bigger!

This is inside one of the Cathedrals in Salamanca. There are SO many of them that we saw in such a small area that I'm not 100% sure of which one this is exactly but believe it or not they are ALL this ornate and this beautiful. It's very common to have weddings on Saturdays in the summer and because the Cathedrals in Salamanca are so beautiful people come from all over to get married here. On our tour of the Salamanca Cathedrals (it was on a Saturday) we saw 5 bodas (weddings)! It was crazy. There were literally brides everywhere. Double click on the pictures to see them bigger!

This is just a picture from Salamanca at night. All of the buildings are so old and the way that the city was built makes the street systems more like a labyrinth to try and navigate. In the picture after this is the Plaza Mayor de Salamanca, which essentially was the city center hundreds and hundreds of years ago. As the city grew and became more populated, since there was already a city center, it expanded around the plaza mayor simply creating a bigger circumference to the city which would be very unorthodox in comparison to the organization of american cities which are much more linear. Double click on the pictures to see them bigger!

And here is the Plaza Mayor. I'll upload more pictures of it later from during the day but here it is in all of its splendor at night. Just breathtaking. It is hard to explain without an aerial photo but this is just the main side and there are four other sides that are similar to this making it a square. The bottom floors are shops, restaurants and bars and the other floors are small apartments, costing somewhere around 600,000 euros. Pretty swanky stuff. Double click on the pictures to see them bigger!

Outline of my schedule in Spain!

Hello all,

I’m currently on a train on my way to visit one of my dearest friends from St. Lawrence, Ariel Lash in Vermont. My planned 3 ½ hour car ride has somehow turned into a 9 hour train ride (I truly wish I was exaggerating). As my luck goes the train that I’m riding actually got struck by lightning, which interrupted the electric communication system. I have no idea what that means but that is how they announced it. Anyway, it is now almost 10:00 pm and I am one of four people left in this entire car of the train and the creepy guy two rows in front of me who is wearing a kilt just turned around and winked at me. Needless to say today will be marked forever as a day of many firsts for me, getting struck by lightning and all.

On to what this blog is all about in the first place –Spain! So as promised in my last entry I’ll give you an idea of what, at least the first few weeks of my time in Spain will be like. I’m saving writing about my families for the trip back since I already watched all of the movies I brought (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Notebook, Wedding Crasher’s and Roman Holiday. Quite the potpourri I know).

I leave the states from Boston and fly directly to Madrid on the evening of August 26^th (Pop Kirby's birthday!) and arrive at Barajas Airport on the morning of August 27^th. Once we arrive we separate our baggage and take only one bag while the rest of our luggage is sent to storage until we arrive in Madrid. We leave the airport with our one bag and go to Salamanca which is northwest of Madrid touching Portugal and we have three days of orientation.

On the 30^th of August after our last orientation session we are transported to our Segovia village homes. Segovia is in central Spain and is just north of Madrid. The purpose of the Segovia village phase is to be immersed in the Spanish culture particularly in regards to language. Everyone in the program lives with a family and because Segovia is much more rural than Madrid these families are usually more traditionally Spanish. These two weeks are designed to be extremely language intensive and will probably be the most challenging time of the whole experience but I’m so looking forward to it as I think it will be the most rewarding two weeks of my experience as well.

After these two weeks the program then moves one last time to Madrid on the 15^th of September. We have a few days of orientation and lectures on Madrid and time to adapt to our new living situation and then classes begin on Tuesday the 21^st. 

Here is a visual aid of these first few weeks in Spain for me.

Throughout the semester we go on several scheduled excursions throughout Spain as a group and there is also ample time for personal travel. Unfortunately this will be the first year ever that I will not be home for Thanksgiving and I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do for Christmas. Christmas in Spain is celebrated on January 6^th which is the day of the Epiphany and so I could go home for Christmas without missing Spanish Christmas which would be really nice but at the same time I’ve heard from lots of people not to go home because it will make a lot of things more difficult for me and set me back several months as far as the language goes. Just last weekend I had a long conversation with my Dad’s cousin Christy about the predicament. Christy went to Hamilton and also spent a year abroad but in France and the programs sounded relatively similar. Christy felt very strongly that it was important to stay for the year and brought up a lot of other great advice for me. I’m so lucky to have so many people that can give great advice that I can trust. I think mama Lynne would be on board to celebrate Christmas in Europe but I think that Dad is going to be a harder egg to crack. I do see and feel the other side of the argument too and I know that I’m really going to be aching for home and my family if I don’t go back to visit at all so I guess we will see. As of now I still have a plane ticket home for Christmas but I suppose it is still somewhat of a pending matter. Please feel free to vote in the poll on the left side of the blog and give me your opinion and definitely leave a comment if you want to share more about what you think I should do about Christmas.

Even if I did go home for Christmas I would only be home for about five days before I returned to Spain because I’m planning on definitely spending New Years there. Can’t wait!! On January 10^th, the internships for the year students begin. This is one of a few main reasons that I chose to stay for the year as opposed to only a semester. To me, the opportunity to have an internship in Spain was too good to pass up and it is a component only of the year program. I’m still not sure what my internship will be and I won’t find out for at least a little while but I’m SO looking forward to having this opportunity. I will definitely keep you all posted on this! As the other year students and I continue to work at our internships the Spring semester students will be arriving for the first time and beginning their village stay like the one I will have already done earlier in the year. Their village stay is in Salamanca rather than Segovia though. Second semester classes begin on February 14^th and will be similar to the first semester in setup. There will also be several scheduled excursions throughout Spain but the places will be different than the first semester which will be nice. 

I have a spring vacation in April for Easter (Pascua) and am SO looking forward to hopefully spending Easter and at least part of Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Seville where their Holy Week traditions attract Catholics from all over the world. Look here to read about this and see pictures. You can even just google “Semana Santa Seville” and look at the images to get an idea of the festivities. If you can get past the fact that much of the dress resembles the Klu Klux Klan you’ll see that it is truly one of the wonderfully preserved traditions of Catholic Spain. Monks from all over Seville and Spain process through the streets on each day of celebrations leading up to Easter. It really is worth reading more about. Very cool stuff. This would be a great time for any Catholics planning to visit to come. Or non-Catholics for that matter. I don’t discriminate if you have an appreciation for this type of thing. Either way I’m really hoping to be there and I hope that you are excited to read about it eventually!

Our classes end on April 29^th and we then return to the states on May 8^th.  Wow. So crazy that all of this will be happening so soon! I’m scared because I know that much of my time in Spain will fly by but I hope that between keeping a blog and keeping a personal journal I will be able to appreciate and savor my time in España maybe a little bit more as it happens.

In my next post I will write about my Spanish host families and what I know about them so far!! Thank you for reading and please leave comments if you have any questions and continue to take the polls!! Love you all!!!

Besos (kisses!)

Kathleen