The build up to the first excursion!

Hola! Time for another blog so I don't get as far behind as last week! On Thursday, I went to the market in the Plaza Mayor with Andrea. Then we went to class and to the cafe to do homework, I know really exciting stuff. We went dancing again until like 4 in the morning but it was so much fun. I slept in of course on Friday, and got all my homework done before we left to go to lunch at Foster's American Restaurant. All but a handful of our group was there to eat good American food. It was so good again!!!! We then went and sat through a three hour class which just is not fun on a Friday afternoon. Then on Friday night the other students arrived. When my host sister, Marina, introduced me we greeted each other in Spanish but the minute she left they wanted to talk to me in English. I felt mean but I was just rattled off my answer in Spanish, because I can't get into the habit of talking to them in English. They are really nice though and we had an AWESOME conversation at supper that night with my host sister Angela, about tons of things, while eating pizza. Things have changed at the house....there are right now seven of us in the house! I am sharing my room with Natsuki who is really easy to live with and so her and I share a bathroom too. Meals are kind of crazy though in the tiny kitchen. Friday night a group of us went to the center and watched a Ratatouille in Spanish which was a lot of fun and very relaxing.

Yesterday we went on our first excursion to the Escorial and El Valle de los Caídos. At 9:15 we all got on a chartered bus to go to the Escorial first, which was about 40 minutes from Segoiva. El Valle de los Caídos is the monument that the dictator Francisco Franco built while he was in power in memory of the fallen nationalists, which makes it now a REALLY controversial because it has become a place of politics rather than religion. What was really gross was at both places there are tons of dead bodies there, especially at the valle because all the dead fallen nationalists and rebels bodies are there and people from the government are now sorting through them trying to identify them more than 10 years later.  It all gave me the CREEPS!!!! Blahhhhhhh!!!!! We even saw kings and queens coffins and there were three more king and queen's bodies decomposing in the room next to us...I get the goosebumps thinking about it! The sites were fun to visit and learn more about and I liked all the history and stories behind everything. The cross on top of the Valle de los Caidos church is really pretty and huge. That was my favorite part to see, because it is all built up into the pretty mountainside, and the view around there was spectacular! Touring all day learning every single little detail about every single little thing did get old after a while though. We rested up after being everywhere in the morning. We went out dancing Saturday night and my host sister went to go study for more tests to get into college, and she is super nervous again so if you could keep her in your prayers this week that would be great!

Today a group of us went back to the church. It is really fun! Today we sang Lord I Lift Your Name On High and another song that we always sing at Atonement...I was super excited! I am going to know that song by heart in SPANISH by the time I get back. I understood more of the sermon today too. The pastor talked about loving your enemies and related it to 9/11 and to the terrorists attacks that occurred in Madrid around the same time. It surprised me that they even recognized 9/11 as a big sad day, but they do. As for me I didn't know there were terrorist attacks in Madrid until I came here. I am finding that people here pay more attention to things going on in many countries as were us Americans tend to focus more on ourselves sometimes. Going to church is not only good for my spiritual wellness and sanity, but also for my Spanish. The service is two solid hours of Spanish to listen to and understand, especially with a little bit different vocabulary. We are going to Madrid next weekend so I won't be able to go to church but a group of us is starting a bible study to do together at the center on Wednesdays so that should be fun too.

This week should be a "normal" week and it is starting to feel like more of a life and not a vacation. Wednesday I go for the first full day at the daycare which I am excited and nervous about since it will be fun but also a challenge language wise. On Friday, during my art and civ class we are going to get to go tour the aqueduct which will diffidently be better then sitting in the classroom. Saturday and Sunday we will be in Madrid, which I am really excited for because I want to go to McDonald's solely to get a McFlurry to have my "DQ" fix. lol Hope you all have a spectacular week! God Bless!

Love,

Jennifer