Toledo

So today we went on a trip to Toledo, with some kids from school, and we started out driving around in a bus with the tour guide explaining the history of Spain (with the Muslims, Christians and Jews) which I had already studied do I was really interested in seeing where it all took place.  There are so many beautiful bridges, churches, cathedrals and castles everywhere. After Madrid became the official capital of Spain everybody from Toledo started moving there and somehow (it was hard to hear everything the tour guide said) that lead to just about every building being given to the church and turned into another cathedral or church or something which made for some pretty interesting times back in the day.

Toledo is hands down the most beautiful part of Spain i have seen so far, I will snatch some pictures from my roommate Mary and put them up when I can (I'd have my own but my camera battery died, need to charge that tonight).  After the bus part we got out and walked around to see all the churches and such for a few hours and it was raining the entire time.  I was really glad that my mom bought me a dorky pancho and that I brought it as well as my umbrella, cause I stayed so dry and I helped keep my new friend Andy dry too who's shoes and socks and jacket were basically soaked for a while there.

So aside from the cold everything was amazing, we ate some marzipan (yuck in my opinion, but everyone else loved it) which is something Toledo is known for and then saw some MORE churches and then an old synagogue... at the entrance to this synagogue there is an x-ray machine for your bags, and it was already a convoluted experience trying to close my umbrella, take off the poncho, and then take off my bag but to top off my goofy-looking-ness... My scarf (unknown to me) was wrapped around the handle of my bag and pulled me into the x-ray machine for a second, yes, I'm a doofus.

From that point on we were all pretty much just set free to do whatever, we saw El Greco, found some lunch, a big, scary, evil, barking dog scared the living daylight out of me and caused me to jump over about ten people, ate some more marzipan, and then finally got back to Madrid in time for dinner.

So I have a Spanish quiz in the morning so I'm going to go study for that now...

Love you all!

p.s. make comments so I know people are actually reading these!

Art class vent...

So I'm going to take this opportunity to vent about my art class... more specifically, my art teacher...

So this guy is really skilled and nice and what not, speaks no English but I like that because it forces the class to use Spanish the entire time...

BUT...

he is starting to drive me crazy.  He is really specific about how he wants us to do some things which are really individual and not fair to make us do (metaphor: making someone tie their shoes the bunny ears way when they are used to the standard shoe lace knot which works just as well and makes no difference what. so. ever) and then he DRAWS ON MY PIECES!! I cannot stand it, its not right, its not okay, he needs to stop.  He likes to take pieces during class from us and show the rest of the class how we're doing, what advice to give, what the next step is if we are ahead.. and normally I am ahead cause I always get right to work to try and get it over with.. and he'll start drawing all over my work, and I need to figure out a way to handle this guy before I flip out. haha. so any suggestions would be grand  ;-)

Segovia, el Rastro y Leticia

Segovia...

I went to Segovia this past weekend for a day with about 50 other students from SLU Madrid and I put up pictures from it on facebook so go check them out.  Since Segovia is more south than Madrid it was really cold, I couldn't feel my fingers for most of the afternoon, but it was worth it because Segovia is absolutely beautiful.  We visited the castle that inspired Walt Disney when he created the Disney logo and it looks a lot like the castle at the Disney parks.  my other favorite site in Segovia is the aquaducts, the Romans were in Segovia when they were basically taking over the world and built this aquaduct that brings fresh, drinkable water through all of Segovia.  For lunch we found this little restaurant that had the most amazing food.

El Rastro...

Also this weekend I went with my roommates to el Rastro which is Europes largest flea market.  It is crazt there, we were there for a few hours and still did not manage to see everything.  You can get just about anything at this flea market.  We each got a new hat and I got a new pair of boots, total = <20>

Leticia...

The pest part of my weekend was seeing the girl who stayed at my house for a few weeks as a foreign exchange student 4 summers ago.  She is from Madrid and her name is Leticia, or Leti.  I brought two of my roommates and she brought her best friend and the five of us went out on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed catching up with her.  I think I'm going to be hanging out with her a lot while I am studying here.  This coming weekend I'm going to her house so her parents can meet me, they really want to make me a 'thank-you-for-having-our-daughter-at-your-house-four-years-ago dinner'.

Gotta go now, I have a lot of spanish homework due tomorrow and I'm not used to having a class every day so I have to do it the night of, basically right after class.

Love to everyone!

p.s. I got to talk to most of my family (2 grandparents, 2 parengs, 2 uncles, 2 cousins, 1 aunt, 1 brother and 1 kitty) last night on Skype and I really really enjoyed it! I miss you all tons!  Everyone needs to get Skype so I can talk to you all more often! Facebook or e-mail me your Skype names, please! ]

Mis Clases

So now that I have had all of my classes I can tell you all about them...

1st off my class schedule this semester is pretty easy, all the teachers, students, administrators, everyone says to take study abroad semesters easy...

I have Spanish Monday through Thursday every morning at 10am and I really like it, there are only about 15 people in the class so we are going to be a close, tight-knit group, the teacher is a lot of fun and there is not a lot of homework because it is an oral class but that means that there is a lot more responsibility on ourselves to learn and practice everything, but that's okay since we are actually in Spain and are practicing all the time anyway.  I have also made a few friends in the class already so I'm really excited and like it a lot

I also have a drawing class which I think will be interesting... however my first class was actually freezing because they had yet to install the heaters... the teacher does not know any English so if I get lost I am worried I will just stay lost, but the class should be fun if I can get my head into a more creative state.

My last class is dancing, which I absolutely love, this class is also entirely in Spanish but am not worried about it because I already have a background in the Salsa and Merengue and can move my hips! haha

No I am not only in 3 classes, I am in two others but they are online, one public speaking class which is not difficult but very interesting, and the other has yet to start for me because my professor messed up and did not register me for the class (for SLU online classes the teacher registers the students) so he is trying to fix that now, hopefully I will be able to do some work tomorrow.

Okay, so since I don't have class tomorrow I am up late, but should be getting to bed.  Goodnight!!

Cure for the Cough

I really don't want to over load this page with too many blogs, at least I don't want my postings to be too frequent, but I just have to share this...

So I was sick all last week and all I have left of it is this stupid cough, which normally isn't too bad but sometimes it sounds like I am about to hack up a fur ball or maybe even an entire lung... which scares my host parents, so tonight after dinner my friend Mary comes in to see if I'm okay, and as she's walking out my host mom walks in with two clementines (sp?) and says that they will help my throat, and as see is walking out my host father walks in with a bag (I assumed they were couch drops) but they were really those small peach candy circles and when I asked if he thought they would help he said (in spanish) "they help everything!"  and later he came back in with some chocolate for me, so cute!

I love my host parents!

By the way, yesterday there were 3 other girls (students) living here besides me, and as it turns out there is supposed to be a total of 7, and one of the 3 missing girls showed up today finally, she is really sweet, a freshman, but I cannot remember her name.

And I love my other roommates so far!

I Love Ana and Juan

I could not have had a better welcome into my new home...

I got a taxi from the airport with my two large (read: overweight) bags, my carry ons AND pillow and got dropped of at campus (where I ran into an orientation group that I was supposed to be in but was 3 hours late for because of the airline mess from yesterday).  I looked like a fool with all of my stuff trying to haul it into the Student Life building but finally made it (feeling rather alone and confused) and was shoved into the last hour of an orientation tour.  They were then re-grouping and heading out to a 5 hour tour of somewhere in Spain, but I knew I would never make it so one of the Student Life administrators helped me call my host family (Ana Anton and Juan Velmazan) and get a cab to my new home...

So I pull up to the front of the building and I am not even out of the cab yet when a woman comes rushing up to me almost in hysterics she is so excited, and it is my new host mother, Ana, she is absolutely wonderful.  Wearing a big green fuzzy hooded coat she grabs my overweight bags from my hands and rushes me up to the elevator, talking so fast (in spanish) (but I hung on and understood what she was saying, yay me!) and hugging me every chance she got.  Then we get up to the 5th floor and standing in the doorway is Juan, this adorable bald man in a fancy suit with a hot pink shirt with white cuffs and collar and a black and pink tie.  He wrapped me up in his arms and gave me a tour of the apartment, which is so unbelievably charming (I will take and post pictures as soon as possible).  There are 2 doubles and 1 single room, so my friend Mary and Lisa are in one room, Maria and another girl are in the other double, and I have my own room. It is very small but it is perfect for just little me. 

I figured I would update you all with my excitement and let you know I am safe in Madrid.

Off to take a nap now  (this bed is so comfortable!)

Official 1st Post about Spain...

... or rather the Chicago airport....

I was supposed to be going to sleep in about a half hour, in my new bed for the next 5 months, in Spain... but no... i'm in the Chicago airport...

Yesterday I get to the StL airport, all ready to go, half of me filled with excitement and the other half, sad to say goodbye to family and friends.  Then my 10:20am flight was delayed to 11:15, then canceled all together, so I got moved to the 12:40 flight, that got delayed to 2:25, then canceled all together, along with all other flights into Chicago that day... So I got my bags and went home.

Today was like the movie Groundhogs Day... if you have not seen it, Bill Murey is a reporter or something and is doing a report about Groundhogs Day but he's basically a big Groundhogs Day scrooge and so the universe basically makes him repeat the day over and over and over and over again until he learns his lesson to be nice... So it was a huge de ja vu (spelling?) this morning when I re-did everything.  Only this time I DID make it to Chicago...

But I get here only to find that my flight to Madrid is delayed from 4:45-5:55, not too bad, and I made a friend which makes this lay over less boring.   This girl I met, also named Laura, is also going to SLU Madrid and was on my flight yesterday that got canceled.  So we have been hanging out this entire time and she is a lot of fun.  Yay friends!  haha  She is a Psychology major and Spanish minor, very cool.  And as it turns out we are in the same dance class in Spain!

Okay.. going to get a bite to eat before boarding the plane to Madrid... 8 hrs that I need to spend sleeping so my sleep schedule is not messed up when I land at 9:00am spain time (2:00am StL time)