Week of September 11th-16th ...Build up to Madrid Excursion and First Day at Pitufos Daycare

This week was a pretty normal week. I had classes and homework to do all day Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday night I went with Charlie, Bria, and Andrea to a bar with a TV to watch part of the soccer game Barcelona vs. Milan (Italy). It was the first soccer game I have ever watched on TV and was the first professional game I have watched ever. It was also the first TV I had watched since coming to Spain, which is kind of weird. What was really exciting though is that right before we had to go eat supper, Barcelona scored a goal which was very exciting! I thought there would never be a score! I still like good-old American football better then soccer but it was still fun to watch.

On Wednesday, was my first day at Pitufos (Smurfs) daycare. I was going to get up at 6am thinking that I had to catch a bus at 7:07. My alarm didn't go off until 6:40 so I rushed out of the house to sit at the bus stop until 7:47 when my bus actually left, because I had looked at the wrong schedule. Awesome Jennifer move I know. Not one cafe was open and it was freezing. I like to pretend I did it on purpose just to watch the sunrise over Segovia ;) lol My first six hours went really well at the daycare. All the Spanish was really tough, because the kids spoke fast and sometimes were hard to understand just like some little kids are hard to understand in English. The kids were absolutely adorable though and didn't know what to think of me at first. The 3 and 4 year old quickly warmed up to me though and keep asking me what my name was all day, and saying "Jennifer look or Jennifer come here". If I didn't go right away they would grab my hand and drag me with them. I had about 6 shadows all morning and every time I sat down I would have three on my lap in a heartbeat and a couple close by. If I didn't realize we were speaking Spanish I would have felt like I was at Atonement with all the kids there. I got my kid fix while practicing my Spanish and learning more words. I need to learn more commands and words to talk to the kids and to split up fights. I also REALLY NEED to learn songs and stories to entertain the kids in between activities, because when the other teacher was busy I didn't know what to do to keep them busy. So it is diffidently going to be a learning experience too. I was so exhausted after that I slept for an hour and a half siesta in the afternoon and then went to the cafe to work on my Spanish Co-op Blog. I did manage to find ice cream more like U.S. ice cream so that was really exciting! I found a normal ice cream sandwich and it was only 1 euro so even better!

Today I have gotten all my homework and stuff done, because this weekend we will be in Madrid for two full days. I am really excited to go and see a different part of Spain and to get out of Segovia for a little bit. I really hope we don't do museums the whole time and get to explore more like the shops and prehaps...McDonalds of course ;) We will probably go out dancing tonight and maybe watch another movie in Spanish at the center tomorrow night. A group of us is planning another trip to Madrid to shop and to go see Lion Kind on Broadway in November. Another group is also thinking about going a weekend in November to London which is SUPER exciting!!! I have been here almost three weeks and can't believe it only another week and it will have been a month already which is super sad, it is going by so fast. Natsuki is leaving Saturday already which is super sad because we have had many "sleepover" talks at night of course in SPANISH which has been a lot of fun! I will miss her and she is so not ready to leave!

I hope you are all having a fabulous week and I will try to post again after Madrid and tell you of all my adventures there!

Love and miss you all!
Jen XOXO

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

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 :)

Days 3 and 4

Hola!

Yesterday was the start of classes! We only had a half hour of each class just to get us started. I am taking three classes which are art and civilization, modern literature, and classic literature. During my art and civ class we will get to go visit the different cathedrals and places in Segoiva that are very much so a part of the history and arte of Spain. It will be fun to actually get to see what we are being taught in the classroom and in the books! My two literature classes are going to be more difficult, because they involve quite a bit of reading and reflection, because they are upper level classes. After class was time for lunch and a siesta. For lunch we had some REALLY good chicken and a lettuce salad. It is weird because before this trip I really hated tomatoes, but I am starting to get use to their flavor, because Spainerds use tomatoes for almost EVERYTHING. Compared to the rabbit and lamb meal this was perfect. I am already starting to crave American food for example a greasy hamburger and fries would be perfect, but since I would still rather be here I had a peanut butter sandwich for dinner last night as a substitute for my cravings. LOL

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Alcazar or the castle. It literally looks like it is out of a Disney movie with blue peaks and everything. We climbed 150 spiral staircase steps to get to the top and we could look out over all of Segovia. It was so beautiful! After looking up their, Ricardo gave us a tour of the rest of the castle. Ricardo told us all about the history and stories behind everything to do with the Alcazar. It was really cool to see so many artifacts from SO long ago! After the castle we went to the paper store to pick up some of our books that the professors photocopied for us. It is weird, here there are separate stores for every product. There is a store for just bread, just paper, just sweets, just books and so on. It is more separated then stores are in America, there is no Walmart or Target to go to and get everything you need which I kind of miss because it makes things so much easier. Last night before dinner my friend Bria and I went to a cafe where we sat on our computers and drank some really good coffee. I had a cappuccino that was REALLY good and full of caffeine. They serve their coffee in small cups because the coffee is so strong. Today I had cafe con leche which is a little bit of strong coffee with milk and is really good. Today is my day off with no class or activities so I am keeping up with my two blogs and my homework. I am feeling the jet lag today I must of jinx myself thinking I skipped it. I will probably take a siesta after this and then tonight I am going to go out to the cafes and bars with a group of friends. Segovia at night is absolutely beautiful no matter what you are out doing and the night air feels so good compared to the hot days. I will probably go shopping for fun before class tomorrow afternoon just because I can. I am off to nap and prepare for tonight so I will blog more later!
:) Love, Jen <3

I finally made it to Spain! (Day 1 and 2)

Hola! I finally made it to Spain at 10am Spain time which is around 3 am your time. We then proceeded to have a full days worth of activities. We went through customs in 2 minutes because all they did was check our passports. Then Ricardo (our professor/trip leader) picked us up at the airport with a coach bus. Once we got to Segovia from Madrid we were picked up by our host families. I of course was the last one picked up, and the more I waited the more nervous I became. Carmen (mom) and Angela (16 year old sister) came to pick me up and they were very nice. The way you greet everyone is a kiss on each cheek which of course is so NOT the American way of greeting but I am getting used to it. My room nice and cozy. I have only 1/2 a closet but could not even fill it with all of my clothes, because I don't have that many with lol. Unusual for me I know. I moved in and then had lunch with my two host sisters and a foreign exchange student that is also living here, Natsuki. I had pure, which I found out later is pureed vegetables, which I ACTUALLY like and we also had chicken and yogurt. I met up with my group later and we went to the aqueduct again and then all over the oldest and most central part of the city. It seems so surreal to be here and even though it has only been 2 days I feel like it has been a week. We have done so much already and the time change is throwing us all of.

Today we meet at the aqueduct and went to the center where we will be studying. Only we will be studying there. We then went down the street to get all of us cellphones at MobiStar. It took forever but finally we came out with phones to use like when we get lost...which of course I will multiple times... we can call someone!!! We then went shopping for shampoo and stuff. It is actually really surprising how many brands they have that are in America. For example: herbal essences shampoo, Skippy peanut butter, frosted flakes, and chips ahoy. Then lunch was the real adventure. I, yes, I tried rabbit and lamb. I have tried lamb before and it was ok, but was better the way they prepared it today. But the rabbit was gross it was mostly all bones but I politely ate one piece which is like 3 bites. Gross. That's all I can say...so just be proud I ate it. LOL After lunch is siesta time which is when every shop shuts down except some restaurants. They close from 2 until 5:30 or 6ish it is weird. They close during prime American hours and go home to their families and eat then sleep. We went walking around the outer part of the city today. We walked through the park and saw the river and nature. At the end of the walk we got to see the castle and take pictures by that. It was SO cool. After that we all skipped tapas time (where everyone goes to restaurants and bars to have a drink and eat free tapas) and returned home which is where I am now. We all decided to rest up. I am writing this and then I am going to try and nap before dinner at 9. Then after that some of us are going out to the bars for the first time. It is going to be awesome!!! Tomorrow our classes start and we get to go tour the castle, and maybe I will hopefully get some time to go buy some souvenirs! Hasta luego! (Talk to you later!)

3 days until departure!!!!

Only 3 more days until we leave! I have been busy meeting up with everyone before I go and busy busy packing. We repacked and repacked only 4 times tonight trying to figure out the best way to pack everything and what stuff to leave behind. I can just lift it up the stairs now...barely! I can't wait to go and I am ready to be DONE packing! If anyone has any good packing tips you got to let me know!

My next post will probably be when I arrive in Spain so until then, God Bless! :) Jen

Only 22 days until I leave for SPAIN!!!!

Only 22 more days and time is flying by so fast! I have not starting packing yet but have bought everything I think I need. There is so much to get done and so little time to do it my head is starting to spin. I only have 1 more full week of work left for the summer. Where did summer go? All I can do is look forward to the experiences that await me!

Jen