Madrid!!!

Hola! I have not written much lately because we really have not done much in the past two weeks. The weekends before Madrid we were just trying to save money because of Madrid so we stayed in Santiago and went out here. Everything has been going well our friends from Brazil left almost two weeks ago it was very sad. Last week we had a class activity where we learned how to dance Galician style haha. It was actually pretty fun and interesting, I had no idea that Galicia (the state we live in) had such a Celtic background. I felt like I was dancing in Ireland.

So last weekend we went to MADRID!!! I loved it there so much it was amazing. On Friday night we arrived in Madrid and found our hostel, which actually turned out to be very nice. After we got ready really fast we met in a close plaza for the bar crawl that we all signed up for. We were waiting for awhile and sure enough the most shady looking guy ever strolls up and tells us he’s the guide lol. It actually turned out being pretty fun we went to like 5 different places, but the money we paid for the bar crawl only got us a shot at each bar and no entry fees, we still have to pay for other drinks which sucked. Once we finally got to the discoteca I ordered a beer, and it was Budweiser!!! American Beer! And then the lady told me it was 7 euro and I was like holy craaappp. Saturday morning we woke up and visited Plaza Mayor which is the main plaza in Madrid. There were several acts going on and cool stuff to see there. After that we went to a palace that used to house kings and queens of Spain. It was so awesome inside and we went through several rooms including the throne room. I tried to sneak some pictures because we weren’t allowed photos but I got caught so I had to stop haha. After the palace it was time for the SOCCER GAME. The stadium is called Santiago Bernabeu  and we watching Real Madrid vs. Levante. The field was so amazing and watching the game was so much fun. It was my favorite part of the whole trip and I am so excited to watch Barcelona and go to Camp Nou in April. Saturday we decided to sleep and get ready for another full day on Sunday.

Sunday morning we woke up and some of the girls went to Museo Prado but I’m not really into art that much so I decided to wander off to the famous market that takes place in Madrid every Sunday. It was so fun and definitely very cultural. There were streets full of small shops on the sidewalks and it seriously never ended. I walked around forever and still hadn’t seen everything by the time the other girls met up with me. There was a little bit of everything, clothes, food, jewelry, soccer jerseys, handmade crafts, and many people playing music on the corners. It was definitely one of the coolest things I had experienced. After we left the market we went to a huge garden that is in Madrid and it was also very pretty. There were 3 or 4 palaces in this garden and we visited a few of them, it was beautiful there. Gardens and parks are one of my favorite things about Spain. Also, Sunday we found MEXICAN FOOD. I was SO excited to find something spicy for the first time its not even funny, I was eating jalapenos like candy I swear hahaha. It was delicious. That night we decided to go out but realized quickly that there was not much open on Sunday nights surprise surprise. We ran into these guys from Argentina who just made fun of our American Spanish accents haha, but I thought it was funny too because we must sound ridiculous. We all ended up at a salsa bar. I think that we accidentally stumbled upon some serious culture because the dancing was AMAZING. I have never seen women and men move the way they were in this bar. I probably looked so dumb just staring at everyone but it was so awesome. A couple of older men tried to teach us a little bit but the steps for salsa are surprisingly difficult, us Americans have no clue how to dance lol.

Monday we decided to go to Toledo which is a very historical city close to Madrid. It was so beautiful. The city is build basically on the side of a mountain but a river runs around the whole city kind of like a moat around a castle. It was amazing, Toledo is also known for its sword making which may seem kind of strange but it was interesting. We talked to an old man who has been making swords and silver objects like necklaces and plates for over 60 years. It was interesting to hear about it all. The roads in the old town were even smaller than in Santiago but the buildings were so tall; it was definitely claustrophobic, haha. So we left Toledo a little early in order to go to Reina Sofia before we had to catch the plane home. Reina Sofia is a museum that is famous for its Picasso paintings. It also houses the famous Guernica which is a painting by Picasso that represents the people of Spain during the time in which Franco was a dictator here. It was so cool to see such a famous painting. Also something that I really liked here was they had a room full of probably 100 framed newspaper articles from all over the world reporting the 9/11 attacks on the United States. It was so sad but I was very happy that they dedicated a room to this in the museum. I couldn’t believe once I thought about it that it has been 10 years this year. Time flies. Speaking of time flying next week is March already and I cannot believe it. I have been here for almost two months, I love it here and I do not want to go home!! So time needs to slow down! However, I am SOOOO excited for London in two weeks, and then Rome and Barcelona in April. Things are great here and I am really enjoying traveling around. Hope everything is fantastic at home! Take care! <3

same 'ol

This past week has been pretty uneventful. Last weekend we stayed in Santiago, I'm trying not to spend as much money this month because last month was outrageous. The nights are getting pretty repetitive here, bar til 3 or 330, discoteca til 7 or so haha. I still like it, but I'm very excited for Madrid next weekend. We are going on a pub crawl in the city and then sunday to a real madrid game. Drinking and soccer (in Spain), what else could I ask for!!! Last Thursday Aimee and I booked our flights to London for the break we have in March. I am SO excited. We also booked our Harry Potter tour, which may be the best thing I do while Im in Europe haha. Booking this trip also made me realize how ridiculously weak the dollar is. Its killing me over here, 1.75 US dollars is 1 pound in England. Like I said, KILLING ME. But thats ok, I figure this is once in a lifetime chance. I decided to splurge and go ahead and spend the money to go to Rome as well. We are planning to go at the beginning of April, Im pleased with that decision. Last Saturday my family was out of town and it was so great, I did whatever I wanted in the house, Becky came over and we watched the Real Madrid game it was so fun. Then I realized that we have no microwave in this place because we were going to make popcorn. No microwave, and no toaster, so strange. My mom sent me a package with MOUNTAIN DEW in it last saturday. I cannot explain how excited I am to recieve that. Im not completely sure where its going to end up once it gets here but hopefully I find it haha.
Usually there are these 3 huge dumpsters outside my front door to the apartment building I live in. So today I was walking home and I realized that I was at the end of my street and I was so confused, so then I realized that they moved the dumpsters and that was my only real way of knowing which door was mine haha. So I had to like peer into the doors to figure it out. Its pretty ridiculous, but at least now I know. And my host family thought it was pretty funny when I told them so at least they got some entertainment for the day.
Today we had a class activity going to a museum and I realized that I really dont like art that much and I mostly dont understand it at all haha. Some things looked like scribbles that took 30 seconds and it was supposively famous artwork, definitely not my thing. On Tuesday we had volunteering again, let me just say that it is NOT working out. First off we walked in and no one acknowledged our presence. Then they pretty much told us they dont need us. Im probably going to stop going because its seriously so unorganized and kind of a waste of time because we dont do anything while we are there but watch kids do their homework in Gallego (its not like we can help). However, I really enjoy my internship it has been great so far. I think that my spanish is getting better and I'm starting to feel better speaking it. 3 more months!!! Hopefully they slow down, miss you all in the states! take care.

No pasa nada

Hola amigos. The weeks are passing fast and i cant believe its already february tomorrow. Nothing super interesting happened last week. We had a group activity wednesday night we watched a movie and had tapas afterwards. the movie was pretty good but it was scary. i actually followed alot of it, but thats because they had subtitles and even though they were in spanish it is easier for me to read things rather than hear them sometimes. With that said, i think my spanish is getting better, but who knows haha. Last weekend we went to Ourense, a small city close to here by train. It was really nice there. However, before we left we booked hotel rooms for friday night but when we got there the hotel was like really far out of the city lol. So we just had a hotel party friday night. We definitely learned a bit about traveling. Ourense has natural hot springs. So on Saturday we went to one of those, and they were amazing. We relaxed all day in them, but us girls noticed that people in spain are NOT embarassed to stare. In the United States if you get caught staring it is kind of rude and embarassing. HOWEVER, HERE they do NOT look away if you catch them. Its very creepy and i did not like it lol. And thats EVERYWHERE not just at the hot springs where we were in our bikinis. This weekend i was forced to speak spanish becasue 3 students from brazil came with us and they know portugese and spanish but no english, so that was actually very good for me to speak more spanish but challenging. Ourense was beautiful but of course ive spent too much money so i wont be traveling again until we go to madrid next month. Which im very excited for! I have my first exam on Wednesday and another next Monday so hopefully that goes well. I feel more relaxed here than I do at home, obviously due to the culture and I dont worry as much. Which is the title of this blog, no pasa nada, it basically means dont worry. This phrase is used constantly here and I feel like its the theme of their culture haha. Pictures are on facebook if your interested. Because i still cannot figure out how to add them on here. hope all is well! besos!!

MARISCOS... AHHHH

So last week went pretty well. Classes fly by when they end on thursdays. I started my internship and its very difficult mostly due to the language. The spanish words are similar to english words however the pronuncation is very difficult for me to understand. They all speak english which is helpful when I really cant understand what they are saying but hopefully that will get easier. Basically we are trying to identify the gene that determines sex in a small fish. So we are doing different experiments with that. Its been cool so far and the people are very relaxed so i can basically come and go as i please to do my hours. which means i will not ever be there on fridays :). we start our volunteering this tuesday so hopefully that goes well. Classes last week were good varieties of spanish will be the death of me tho I swear, so boring. The kick about that one is that its our elective lol, good choice.
Everyday I come home from class around 2 praying that I'm not gona walk in and smell fish or seafood. Tuesday was that day, when I was called for lunch and walked into the kitchen I about had a heart attack. There was fish, shrimp, and some sort of clam looking thing. I ate the fish somehow, I decided I would try the shrimp. And first let me explain this is not shrimp like in the United States, they are legit the animal. SO I had to pull off the head and then get the meat out and eat it. My dad was showing me how to do it, so I pulled the head off and then I almost cried I think so thats all the further I got. And there was no chance I was going to eat the thing with the shell. So I think its safe to say that they wont be making any of that again soon. My face probably said enough, im guessing it looked like what our program director looks like when she tries to speak english, painful.
Saturday we went to a nearby town called Vigo. It was really sunny out but not very warm. And speaking of sun, one night I left my umbrella at a dance club and its only really rained once since then, Im never going to pick it up, haha. Anyways, back to Vigo, I really liked it. The water was beautiful and the gardens were even better. Next weekend a few of us are going to Ourense another town close to here, there are natural hot springs! So thats going to be awesome. We also booked our flights to Madrid for next month, I cannot wait. My spanish isnt really better yet, we REALLY need to stop speaking english to eachother or A. we will never meet anyone because we are the foreign freaks in the corner speaking their own language and B. we will never get any better. So thats basically everything for the past week. Everyone take care and stay tuned!

Sacrificing whole days to sleep for long nights out..

SO. we started classes on wednesday and they are all pretty good so far. We have a history class, a culture class, language (which i need desperately) and some other stuff. They arent hard, yet. I start my internship tomorrow at 5pm in the laboratory in the department of genetics. Science is hard enough when I speak the same language, so we'll see how that goes. We found a dominos and a burger king so I've definitely been to both of those places already. Tessa and I walked into Dominos and the woman working handed us the English menu before we even said anything lol, I guess its that obvious that we are American haha. Tuesdays I will be volunteering at the hospital reading books and playing games with children there, I think that it will be fun. It didnt rain for 3 days this weekend it was awesome, but of course it was terrible today haha. This weekend was pretty fun, we stayed out really late all of the nights, probably spent too much money, but it was worth it. I woke up at about 2 everyday and ate lunch, and then fell back asleep after so my day hasnt been starting until a bit later. We are hoping to get our plans and flights in order this week for our trips! I cant wait to go to a soccer game and it looks like we will be going to madrid vs levonte in madrid next month, I am very excited. The spanish hasnt really gotten that much easier but I guess its only been a week. I hope everything is great back in the states!

la vida espana

Spanish life is very different and we are learning fast. The people here are very relaxed, absolutely nothing is open on sundays. The most interesting part about the life here is la siesta. Everyday at about 2 everything closes down for about 3 hours. People go home, eat and relax for about 3 hours. My parents work from 9-2 or 10-2 and then come home for siesta n go back to work from like 5-830. Its interesting, no go on portugal is it very difficult to get to lisbon without flying and the flights are all over 200 euro. Which would be about 300 dollars, definitely not worth it for a weekend trip. We had our placement exams today and it went OK. Im actually hoping im in the beginner class. Beginner here is like intermediate or advanced at home i swear lol. We also have 100 hours for our internship and we have to do 50 hours of community service. No one really expected this and some arent very happy because this does not leave much time to relax, experience, and travel. Hopefully something will change, but then again maybe it will add to the experience. The main places i want to travel are Italy, London, Barcelona, and Madrid. Lets hope we get to all those places. London next month i hope! My family is very hard to understand, they only speak spanish to me directly, otherwise they use the local language Gallego when they speak to eachother. It is very hard to understand and i never know what the are saying, hopefully it gets easier! Things are good over here though for the most part!

First Weekend in Spain

OK so after my first weekend in spain im still doing ok. my host family is very nice but they are not around alot because they work a TON. i like everyone elses moms alot they are pretty funny, celinas mom likes to make fun of my spanish and honestly it is pretty funny. speaking of my spanish, its really not that great, the people here speak incredibly fast but im hoping that it gets easier. we went shopping, twice. i probably should stop spending money lol. but the clothes here are awesome. they have an entire 2 months of huge sales. until feb 28th. thats it biggest problem. we are planning on going to portugal this weekend which should be fun. school starts tomorrow and i am pretty nervous for that. hope everything is good at home!

mi nombre

just noticed my name when pronounced in spanish sounds really terrible. TOEnya.... thats gona get annoying. thought id share that with everyone. 3 days...

4 days...

Hello Everyone! I have decided to journal in a blog throughout the semester in order to keep everyone up to date with my adventures in Spain. Its much easier than emailing everyone individually. Feel free to comment and read whenever!
I officially leave in 4 days. Im pretty much freaking out about leaving the good ol US for 4 months but im also very excited to travel. I made a list for packing, but have not started yet of course, i probably will wednesday night. Im very nervous for when i get dropped off at my host families house and have to communicate with them the first time, I dont know how well i will be able to catch on with the accent! Guess we'll see how it goes!