Getting into rountinue

Hi guys! Sorry I got so behind life here has gotten really busy with the start of school and everything going on! On Wednesday night Andrea, Bria, Kristen, and I went out after supper to see more of the city at night and just hang out.

On Thursday morning I met up with a group at the cafe where we always hang out and do homework and whatever. Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were really just focused on getting into the routine of things and even though when I walk to class it looks like I should be on a vacation...I am not. As I sit do hours of homework at the cafe I am reminded of that. We do get to start traveling this Saturday though on a day trip to "El Valle de los Caídos" which is the valley of the fallen.On Thursday, there was a market in the Plaza Mayor (the biggest plaza in Segovia), which was cool because there was fresh fruit, sweets, clothes, shoes, books, and a lot of different things. On Thursday night we went to our first discoteca. It was so much fun! We went at 12 but there was no one their, because here no one starts until around 1 and 1 is early for them it is crazy. What was most surprising was that they majority of their music is American music, except a few of the songs, so we know a majority of the songs. Friday was a very long day, because I had six hours of classes after having two days of no classes. My literature classes are in the morning for three hours and then I have an art and civilization class at five until eight thirty which is awful on a Friday especially our first week in Spain. We were all so overwhelmed by Spanish at that point that we all kind of sat in class like zombies. Friday night we went at eleven to have ice cream at The Colonial, our favorite cafe, and they brought us up three huge sundae bowls of all of the flavors of ice cream for free. There was probably eight of us and it took us all to eat all the ice cream. I hadn't ordered anything else yet so this was perfect! We had an early night with our heads full of Spanish and stomachs full of ice cream.

On Saturday I slept in and then Andrea and I went shopping for the first time to the stores around our neighborhoods. It was a lot of fun because I love shopping, as most of you already know. ;) I bought a new dress, a pink top, and a long sleeve shirt at one store. Scarfs at another store for supper cheap, and a necklace and ring at another store. For lunch we had leftover pizza and a rice mix with tons of veggies in it, which I am not such a fan of because why ruin the rice by mixing the vegetables in! I don't always eat a lot at meals because as we all know I am a picky eater, and my host mom thinks I am going to lose weight and none of you will recognize me, which isn't true because I eat enough bread at meals to make up for it. LOL. After lunch I took a siesta (which I am so becoming addicted to) and then met up with some of my friends to do homework. My host mom was gone all weekend at her Dad's house and so we could do whatever we wanted for dinners all weekend. On Friday night my host sister, Marina, made us pizza and bagel pizza bites and I was in HEAVEN! I tend to crave food that is familiar, and I am a little timid every time I enter the kitchen to eat, but not on Friday night. On Saturday night, Andrea and I decided at the last minute to go to Foster's American Hollywood Restaurant. There they have menus in English and Spanish, and meals just like in the USA. It was amazing to have a simple cheeseburger, fries, and free refilled pop. I almost felt like when I walked outside to go home, that I was actually going to my real house. Except that here you always have to ask for the bill, otherwise the waitress will just leave you sit, because they don't rush through things like Americans do and take more time to talk with one another. Later a group of us all went to two different discotecas to dance and meet people. At the first one there was no one there but us but it was almost more fun. Later, at the other discoteca there were a lot of people. The strangest thing is that the discotecas are for all ages. The students haven't returned to Segovia for school yet and won't until the end of September, and so the majority of the people at the discotecas are not what you would expect to see in America, my host mom here would fit right in. I was exhausted and left at 4:30 in the morning, but others stayed out until 6 and later. The night life here is SO much fun but really tiring!

On Sunday we went as a group to an evangelical church up the road from my house. It was a really small church but very welcoming. Without us there there only would have been fifteen people, I think. It is one of the few churches that is not Catholic in Segovia, because the majority of people are Catholic here. To start the service we all had to introduce ourselves and say where we are from. Then everyone else introduced themselves to us and told us where they are from. There were people from the Dominican Republic, Chile, Mexico, England, Peru, and many other countries. I really like the music because it was more contemporary like I am used to and they had the words on a screen so we could sing along which was so much fun. It was cool to know that I can praise the Lord in more ways then I used to think possible. It was fun to praise the Lord in Spanish and to commune with other brothers and sisters in a different language. Two things were a little different though... one I didn't understand half the sermon it was so fast and second for communion there were Ritz crackers for the body of Jesus, which was just really weird to me. I enjoyed it though and plan to go back again next Sunday. It felt really good to start out my week there. After church at around one, we all went to Ricardo's home to eat American brunch. His house is gorgeous with a huge kitchen (unusual for here) and huge patio that overlooks the greenery of Segovia. Ricardo's wife and two sons (Ricardo, 8 and Acto, 5) were there for us to meet. It was fun to meet them because Ricardo Jr is learning English, Spanish, and French. Acto is learning Spanish and English right now, and was adopted from Ethiopia which I just happen to know some other awesome kids from there as well :) We ate french toast, eggs, fruit, toast, real American bacon not like Spain's, and when we thought we were done they brought out pancakes, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice. It was delicious! We sat and talked at his house and some people played a game of soccer until five thirty in the afternoon. It was really relaxing and fun! Then we all had to go do our homework.

On Monday all I did was literally go to class, eat a lunch of a noodle and cheese salad, and do homework all afternoon in the cafe. Monday night Andrea and I met up again to finish homework and we went to a cafe where they had donuts. AHHHH so good! When walking home I ran into two girls from our group and we started talking in English just to have a break and ended up standing in the exact same place talking for over two hours, but it was really relaxing. On Tuesday I had class all morning and one other class in the afternoon. Last night we had ham sandwiches but this time she put tomato chunks, HUGE tomato chunks on them, gross! When she left the room I kind of sneaky took them off.  I tried to go to bed early last night, but at 12 here it is only 5 there so I always get a second wind and end up on my computer or working on something.

Today I went for the first time to Pitifuos, which in English is Smurfs, the daycare at which I will be doing part of my co-op credits. I will go every Wednesday 8 until 2 and work with all the ages of kids. I am very excited to start because they were so cute today and I miss being around little kids. It was really funny because while we were talking in the hall, one of the toddler classes was going to their lunch and one boy just stopped and stared at us and stared at us, until finally his teacher took his hand and led him away. He was super cute! After this Bria and I went and bought our textbooks. I only needed four novels but it ended costing 40 euros which is better then any other semester I have had that's for sure! I am tired today but I am going later to the cafe.

First I am going to switch bedrooms. Tomorrow we had two more students coming to stay with us through December, one is from America, and one from Canada. I am moving to my host sister's bedroom which is super awesome with a bigger bed, TV, lounge chair, and it's own bathroom. The new girls will be in the other two bedrooms upstairs. For one week Natsuki, the Japanese student here, and I will put one bed on the floor and share the room until she sadly leaves next Saturday. This is all because my host sister who is 19 just passed two test she needed to in order to even apply to college and there was lots of hugging and kissing and happiness that day, but afterwards they sat me down to ask if I would be ok to change, because they need the money for her to go to college in Madrid. She will travel from here to Madrid everyday for school which is odd, because in the US she would live in a dorm, but that is not common here at all. I am excited to move to the biggest and girl-est fun room of the house, and they are moving their stuff downstairs today.

Sorry it took SO long for me to post again but I had lots to say. I hope you are all doing well! God Bless!
Love,
Jennifer :)