Hello! Remember me? (This was written yesterday at 3 p.m.) Be prepared for a long blog because this is the first time I have had Internet!
I am currently sitting in my room in my house in Buenavista, Toledo, eating chocolates that I received from Los Reyes (the kings)! My feelings about Spain over the past five days have gone from “I’m completely in love with it here!” to “Oh my God, this place is terrible, take me home now.” Right now I’m in between optimistic and sleepy. Optimistic because I know that once I’m on a schedule, a normal routine, I’ll be able to feel more comfortable in my new setting. And sleepy because I just ate a lot of paella with shrimp, clams, oysters, chicken and vegetables, with bread and a baked apple for dessert. Yum!
I am currently sitting in my room in my house in Buenavista, Toledo, eating chocolates that I received from Los Reyes (the kings)! My feelings about Spain over the past five days have gone from “I’m completely in love with it here!” to “Oh my God, this place is terrible, take me home now.” Right now I’m in between optimistic and sleepy. Optimistic because I know that once I’m on a schedule, a normal routine, I’ll be able to feel more comfortable in my new setting. And sleepy because I just ate a lot of paella with shrimp, clams, oysters, chicken and vegetables, with bread and a baked apple for dessert. Yum!
Traveling to Spain with Liz wasn’t too terrible, just tiring. I really enjoyed my drive from Cincinnati to Columbus with my mom and sisters and after checking over 110 pounds of luggage, we ate lunch at Max & Erma’s. Liz and I waved goodbye to our families after security and we were off! Our flight from Columbus to Philadelphia was less than an hour long. In Philadelphia we spent some time on our computers, checking Facebook and e-mail. We wanted our last meal in America to be, well, “American,” so I had chicken fingers at Friday’s and Liz a hamburger. Our flight from Philadelphia to Toledo was… uncomfortable. I think I slept about 15 minutes every hour (on a 7 hour flight), messed up an easy Sudoku puzzle and ate stale pasta. However, once we began landing in Madrid all drowsiness and unhappiness went away.
Four other members of our group, Kate, Adrienne, Jaclyn and Mike, were on our flight as well. We went through immigration fairly quickly and we were all able to get our luggage just as quickly. After checking one of my suitcases into a locker at the airport, the six of us took a bus to a metro station (later I will realize that this was pointless). Liz and I said goodbye to our friends and began a stressful two hours of directing ourselves through the metro and then through the streets of Puerta del Sol. Though we were frustrated, sweaty and anxious, we finally found our hostel with the help of some Canadians and a few friendly locals.
Without meaning to, we took a three-hour nap. Traveling is exhausting! And though it was 4 p.m. when we woke up, it felt like it was 10 in the morning. When we finally emerged from our hostel, Liz and I walked around Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and other surrounding areas for a few hours. At dinner we ate bread, baked potatoes and chorizo at a bar. It sounds simple but it was actually really delicious and just what we needed. It had been a long day so we returned to our room, read for a bit, and fell asleep around midnight. We didn’t wake up the next day until 1:30 p.m. It was completely unintentional (but later we found out that the other group had slept in until 4 p.m.)! We left our room, walked around and ate a quick lunch of sandwiches. Every shop in the area was having a rebajas (sale) and so I took advantage of that and bought two scarves at H&M. Liz and I found an Internet café and spent an hour or so on Facebook and such. We went back to our hostel to drop off our purchases and headed back out for dinner. We spent a good three hours in a café drinking coke and eating paella and cake. It was really nice to just sit and talk about how we were missing our families and it was strange that (on that day) everyone would be moving back into school.
On our third day in Madrid, Liz and I met up with our teacher, Kit Brown, and got a mufarena (muffin) and café con leche (coffee with milk) for breakfast. We then took advantage of the sunny day and took a scenic walk to La Reina Sofia art museum. La Reina Sofia is amazing and it was free that day! Though I have been there before, all of the art, including the Guernica by Picasso, was just as incredible. The museum closed at 2:30 p.m. (it was Sunday) so we said adios to Kit and continued to walk around, grabbed a quick lunch and just enjoyed the Puerta del Sol.
The next morning we woke up early and checked out of our hostel, no problems. After a donut and coffee at Dunkin Coffee, we navigated (with much more success) the streets of Puerta del Sol and the metro to the airport. We met the rest of our group and though we had to wait for four people on a delayed plane, we began our 45-minute drive to Toledo.
My family includes Marisa, her husband Alberto, and their two children (Alberto and Laura). Alberto and Laura are grown and do not live at the apartment, but I met Alberto (32) and he was really nice and tried to talk to me a lot. Tusca, the dog, is large and black and very friendly. He’s like 14 years old so he just lays around and lets you pet him. Marisa is very sweet and patient and tries to talk to me a lot. Her accent is really hard to understand at times, but usually if I repeat a word I don’t know she’ll explain what she means. I love Alberto! He reminds me of a grandpa. He’s really helpful, has a comforting laugh and is always willing to ask me questions and talk, or just sit and watch TV. I like spending time with him the most. He took me to school yesterday for a group meeting and rode the bus with me and showed me where to go and how to get home.
I ate a plate of pasta and tomato sauce and a friend egg for lunch yesterday. It was really good! However, the Albertos ate their food really fast and then Marisa came in and just watched me eat. It was a bit strange but I just acted like she wasn’t staring at me. I unpacked, cried because everything was overwhelming, talked to my dad and wrote in my journal. Alberto and I went to school and I finally got to talk in English! I didn’t get home until about 10:30 that night because Halle and I helped Jasmine get to her apartment. After we got lost trying to find her apartment, we got lost trying to get back to Buentavista. But we did and then Marisa made me amazing fried fish and chopped up tomatoes. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until noon today!
I showered and received a perfume set from Marisa for Los Reyes (a celebration her for the three wise men). I gave Marisa and Alberto buckeyes (American chocolate is very funny here) and a photo book of Cincinnati. Alberto and I sat and talked about Cincinnati for a long time and it helped me a lot to feel more comfortable. I just got done eating our large lunch now and am waiting for 4:30. I’m meeting with some friends from the group to explore the old part of Toledo, inside the walls (I live outside the walls, in a newer part) at 5.
Tomorrow we have orientation and a tour of the school and they have Internet there. I was able to steal someone’s Internet in the apartment building for about 5 minutes but it was a very weak signal. Hopefully I’ll find a better place in the house to connect. Until next time (with a much smaller post, I promise)! I miss everyone so much but I know that I'm only just beginning my amazing journey.
Hasta luego,
Amanda
Four other members of our group, Kate, Adrienne, Jaclyn and Mike, were on our flight as well. We went through immigration fairly quickly and we were all able to get our luggage just as quickly. After checking one of my suitcases into a locker at the airport, the six of us took a bus to a metro station (later I will realize that this was pointless). Liz and I said goodbye to our friends and began a stressful two hours of directing ourselves through the metro and then through the streets of Puerta del Sol. Though we were frustrated, sweaty and anxious, we finally found our hostel with the help of some Canadians and a few friendly locals.
Without meaning to, we took a three-hour nap. Traveling is exhausting! And though it was 4 p.m. when we woke up, it felt like it was 10 in the morning. When we finally emerged from our hostel, Liz and I walked around Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and other surrounding areas for a few hours. At dinner we ate bread, baked potatoes and chorizo at a bar. It sounds simple but it was actually really delicious and just what we needed. It had been a long day so we returned to our room, read for a bit, and fell asleep around midnight. We didn’t wake up the next day until 1:30 p.m. It was completely unintentional (but later we found out that the other group had slept in until 4 p.m.)! We left our room, walked around and ate a quick lunch of sandwiches. Every shop in the area was having a rebajas (sale) and so I took advantage of that and bought two scarves at H&M. Liz and I found an Internet café and spent an hour or so on Facebook and such. We went back to our hostel to drop off our purchases and headed back out for dinner. We spent a good three hours in a café drinking coke and eating paella and cake. It was really nice to just sit and talk about how we were missing our families and it was strange that (on that day) everyone would be moving back into school.
On our third day in Madrid, Liz and I met up with our teacher, Kit Brown, and got a mufarena (muffin) and café con leche (coffee with milk) for breakfast. We then took advantage of the sunny day and took a scenic walk to La Reina Sofia art museum. La Reina Sofia is amazing and it was free that day! Though I have been there before, all of the art, including the Guernica by Picasso, was just as incredible. The museum closed at 2:30 p.m. (it was Sunday) so we said adios to Kit and continued to walk around, grabbed a quick lunch and just enjoyed the Puerta del Sol.
The next morning we woke up early and checked out of our hostel, no problems. After a donut and coffee at Dunkin Coffee, we navigated (with much more success) the streets of Puerta del Sol and the metro to the airport. We met the rest of our group and though we had to wait for four people on a delayed plane, we began our 45-minute drive to Toledo.
My family includes Marisa, her husband Alberto, and their two children (Alberto and Laura). Alberto and Laura are grown and do not live at the apartment, but I met Alberto (32) and he was really nice and tried to talk to me a lot. Tusca, the dog, is large and black and very friendly. He’s like 14 years old so he just lays around and lets you pet him. Marisa is very sweet and patient and tries to talk to me a lot. Her accent is really hard to understand at times, but usually if I repeat a word I don’t know she’ll explain what she means. I love Alberto! He reminds me of a grandpa. He’s really helpful, has a comforting laugh and is always willing to ask me questions and talk, or just sit and watch TV. I like spending time with him the most. He took me to school yesterday for a group meeting and rode the bus with me and showed me where to go and how to get home.
I ate a plate of pasta and tomato sauce and a friend egg for lunch yesterday. It was really good! However, the Albertos ate their food really fast and then Marisa came in and just watched me eat. It was a bit strange but I just acted like she wasn’t staring at me. I unpacked, cried because everything was overwhelming, talked to my dad and wrote in my journal. Alberto and I went to school and I finally got to talk in English! I didn’t get home until about 10:30 that night because Halle and I helped Jasmine get to her apartment. After we got lost trying to find her apartment, we got lost trying to get back to Buentavista. But we did and then Marisa made me amazing fried fish and chopped up tomatoes. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until noon today!
I showered and received a perfume set from Marisa for Los Reyes (a celebration her for the three wise men). I gave Marisa and Alberto buckeyes (American chocolate is very funny here) and a photo book of Cincinnati. Alberto and I sat and talked about Cincinnati for a long time and it helped me a lot to feel more comfortable. I just got done eating our large lunch now and am waiting for 4:30. I’m meeting with some friends from the group to explore the old part of Toledo, inside the walls (I live outside the walls, in a newer part) at 5.
Tomorrow we have orientation and a tour of the school and they have Internet there. I was able to steal someone’s Internet in the apartment building for about 5 minutes but it was a very weak signal. Hopefully I’ll find a better place in the house to connect. Until next time (with a much smaller post, I promise)! I miss everyone so much but I know that I'm only just beginning my amazing journey.
Hasta luego,
Amanda
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