9 months of winter? I'm from Chicago.

So once again, I have been lacking in my blog posts. I swore this wouldn't happen again..buttttttt you know how things go.

Well we are almost to springtime here in Madrid and have been getting some really beautiful weather.  But of course, not everyone feels this way.  The madrileños feel like in Madrid, they have 9 months of winter, 3 months of summer. By the way, the average temperature here in the winter is approximately 53 degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, it was nothing compared to the one that you all have been enjoying stateside.

This is my second stretch from January-July in Spain, and I learned that one of my favorite times in Madrid is the start of spring.  At the beginning of March, that's what we got.  The sun came out, temperatures rose to 70+, jackets came off (or in the case of old madrileña women, the fur coats got switched for wool coats--really, Spain?) and everyone is outside! The parks that I love here- Templo de Debod and Parque del Retiro- are littered with people, the terraces of the restaurants are set up outside, and I finally have an excuse to eat ice cream (not that I really needed one).  This is what I most love about Madrid.  Unfortunately, this next week or so will be a little colder and rainier, but at least we got a taste of what's to come!

In the past few months, I have done a few more cool things here in Spain that I will share with you all.

First of all, I went to a Real Madrid football match at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu! It was really fun!! I really like soccer (thanks, Dubnicka family!) and hadn't seen a professional match here before besides a charity match.  I went with a few of my friends and had a really good time!!! The tickets were not too expensive as it was not a huge game, so it was a really fun thing to do! Plus, it's prepping me for the World Cup this summer!

The view from our seats 

Also, we went to Bilbao and San Sebastian at the end of January.  I had been to San Sebastian before, but not Bilbao, so that was really fun!  The north of Spain is known for its amazing pinxtos.  These are basically tapas on top of a piece of bread and they are incredible.  Luckily, my friends and I all had the agreement that we were going to the north of Spain to eat, and we had some really great food.

Some of the amazing pinxtos at the bars in the north!

The way these pinxto bars work is really cool! Basically, all of the pinxtos are set out on the bar as seen in my picture (sorry for my mediocre photography). Depending on the bar, you can order from the waiter and he will warm them up if need be.  Or, you can just elect whatever you want and grab the pinxto.  Each piece has a toothpick in it that determines the price of the pinxto, and when you're finished, you just count up the number of toothpicks and pay that way.  Last time I was here we didn't really indulge in the pinxto culture, so I was sure to enjoy plenty of them this time around!

Besides eating our way through the weekend, we did walk around each of the towns!  They are both really unique. San Sebastian is on the coast and is absolutely beautiful.  It has an amazing beach called Playa de la Concha, but unfortunately it was really stormy while we were there!! Bilbao is more industrial, but it is still a really cool city home to a cute old town area and the Guggenheim museum (which we didn't go into, but outside).

Beach in San Sebastian 

Spider outside the Guggeinheim in Bilbao!

February was a calmer month.  I didn't go anywhere but stayed in Madrid and had a lot of fun!  My friends had visitors so we did some fun things in Madrid.

One weekend we did go hiking in the mountains of Madrid! We went to Manzanares el Real, which is pretty close by! The trail was fun and it was really nice to get out of the city and do something fun!

Finally March started to feel like spring.  The first weekend we spent outside! The first day we went to a market that we hadn't been to before.  It was really fun but the best part was that outside there was a live band with tons of tables and chairs set up with food and drinks! It felt like summer at home!

Finally, last weekend we went to Las Fallas in Valencia! Las Fallas is their biggest festival that they work on all year.  Literally meaning "failures," the Fallas represent a part of the last year in Spain and are satirical in a sense- they poke fun at the events and the problems of the last year.  Then on the final day, they burn all of them- I guess it symbolizes starting fresh for another year.  This day is always March 19. Unfortunately in Madrid, we didn't get the day off this year so we went the weekend before, when the festivities started!

I arrived on Friday night by the AVE (the high-speed train-- once you use it, you can't go back! It's amazing) after my friends got there Thursday. I arrived to some amazing tapas and we wandered around the town! Saturday was the start of everything! We saw the mascleta which is a huge firecracker display in front of the town hall. It is SO loud- which I was warned of by all of the Spaniards I talked to before I went.  We walked around to see some more Fallas- they were all incredible.

 The festival was a huge family affair-- different from other festivals that are targeted towards young people. Little kids throw firecrackers everywhere (kind of dangerous but you know, it's tradition) and they sell beer in the streets. Some of the makers of the Fallas sell beer from the tap and the euro you pay is a donation to the falla! Kind of cool! We had absolutely perfect weather for it.

That night we went for some amazing paella! Valencia is known for its paella, so we decided to go to a nice dinner for the experience! It was of course incredible. We got paella valenciana, wine, amazing jamon iberico and stayed at dinner for 3 hours! Spanish style. We met some people from Valencia and they showed us around that night!

All in all it was a great weekend!

This past weekend I also was able to see an old friend from high school while she came to Spain to visit her brother! It was really nice to get a taste of home.

So I have about 4 months left in Europe before I go home. I'm starting to get really sad!  I did apply for another year of the program, but am pretty certain I will turn it down.  However 4 months is a long time and is packed with fun trips and visitors, so I can't wait!  I will be going to Germany for spring break in a couple of weeks, so I have a lot to look forward to!

Feliz año!

So I have been absent from the blog for quite a while. Once the holiday season hit, it was a solid month of holiday activities.

Being in Madrid for the holiday season was definitely difficult. I really missed home! The holidays were celebrated a little bit differently here.

First of all, Spain obviously doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, which is what I think kicks off the holiday season at home.  However, I, along with 4 of my American friends, made a Thanksgiving dinner on the night of Thanksgiving and invited my Spanish roommates and a few of their friends. The food was delicious, and it was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember! And my roommates and their friends thought the food was delicious. The only thing was that we ate at 9 pm (a terrible idea on Thanksgiving) and I was really upset to be working the next day with my food hangover! Never again.  One good thing- waking up on Thanksgiving morning, there was a little bit of snow! So I felt like I got a taste of home.

This is a picture of me with my roommates and one of their friends!!

 And this is some of our delicious food!! 

Right after Thanksgiving the holiday season started. There were so many Christmas lights up all over the city. Madrid also had a bus, called the NaviBus, that takes you around to look at the lights in the city.

Christmas lights on a famous shopping street in Madrid, Calle Preciados

Lights at Banco de España

Christmas lights at the Christmas market in Plaza Mayor

We continued the season with a gift exchange with holiday cookies! Then we were back to preparing for our trips!

For the holiday season I went to Amsterdam for 3 days and then to Paris for 5. I went with three of my friends, which was perfect! The trip was nice because I hadn't been to either city before. Paris was nice, but I absolutely loved Amsterdam!

First canal shot in Amsterdam!

Amsterdam was a really beautiful city! It was a really nice to start out there. The first day that we were there, we got in early and stayed near the Vondelpark, which is a really big park in the city. One thing that we needed to get used to was that there are so many bikers in the city! They have special bike paths on every street and do not stop for pedestrians! We wanted to bike, but unfortunately it rained our entire trip so we didn't. 

An example of all of the bikes!

We spent a lot of time just walking around. We saw the Vondelpark, the floating flower markets, Christmas markets, Dam Square, the Red Light District, the I Amsterdam letters, and more! We also went into the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh museum, and the Heineken museum. We took a boat ride on the canals, and ate some great food! Overall, I thought it was one of the most beautiful and interesting cities I had ever been to. And it was very cozy for Christmas!

Our next  stop was Paris on the 23rd.  I hadn't really ever wanted to go there, but I thought it would be good to go one time! Two extended stays in Europe and never going to Paris would be kind of weird.  There was a lot to do here, too. We stayed near the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur. 

Me and my friends in front of the Arc de Triomphe

Our first stop was walking down to the Arc de Triomphe from where we were staying through Parc Monceau! Then we walked down a really famous street, the Champs-Elysees, and saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time.  We went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe that day as well, which was really cool. We spent the rest of the day walking around the Christmas markets on the Champs-Elysees, drinking hot wine, eating macaroons, and finally trying some French Onion soup for dinner!

First glimpse of the Eiffel Tower

View from the top of the Arc

Christmas Eve was a little weird! We did a lot of  things during the day, such as going up to the top of the Notre Dame, going to the Sainte-Chapelle, and going to mass at Notre Dame. Christmas Eve is my favorite day at home, so I was really sad (and may have cried at mass). Going to mass at the the Notre Dame was a really great experience, but was kind of the opposite of home- in a  cold, old cathedral in a language I didn't understand. Whereas at home, I think mass is very cozy and familiar. I don't mean to sound ungrateful! It was just more difficult than I thought it would be.

View from the Notre Dame

Christmas day was nice! We had a Secret Santa in the morning, went to breakfast, and took it easy during the day, ending it with a nice Christmas dinner.

 Though it was sad for 2 days, on the 26th it was strange-- I wasn't sad at all anymore.  The 26th, we went to the Eiffel Tower and to the Louvre and to Napoleon's tomb. The 27th we went to Versailles, which was incredible! And I ended my time in Paris with a last meal of Chipotle (there are only Chipotles in London and Paris so I made sure it was part of my trip!) and I nearly cried. The food in Spain is bland and it was probably the most delicious thing I have eaten in four months!

View from Eiffel Tower

By the end of my trip, I have been to 11 different European countries! I would like to get to 15 before I leave-- we will see if that happens! Just an obscure goal.

After my trip, my friends continued on but I was back to Madrid to prepare for the best reunion ever! My friend from America (who I met while studying here) came to Spain for 1.5 weeks! Another one of our friends is living in another part of Spain right now, and she came for the visit as well. It was very nice, I got a taste of home (and a little bit of food, thanks Mom!), and my roommates were all at home, so it was the perfect situation. We did a whole lot of hanging out and doing exactly what we did when we studied abroad.

During their visit, it was New Years! In Spain, New Years Eve is called Nochevieja and it is a family oriented day with a big meal for dinner. Then at midnight, they eat 12 grapes and make wishes for each month of the year. My friends and I stayed at my house for dinner and the countdown, and then went out at about 2 am! This is very normal in Spain, but on New Years it was very weird to not be at our celebration at midnight!

Spain also celebrates Día de los reyes on January 6th. This is actually a bigger deal than Christmas.  It is when the kids get their gifts (Santa doesn't always come here) from the reyes magos.  There is a big parade in Madrid before, which we went to as well.

So that was my last couple months!

Moving forward, I am planning a couple of more trips within Spain and hopefully one outside for spring break (during semana santa, or holy week).  I am trying to decide if I will be staying here for another year, or what my next move will be! If anyone is bored, please visit me in Spain :)

A learning experience

When people study abroad in college, one comment given pre-departure is that you will learn a lot about yourself that year.  That was definitely true for me.  But this year includes many different experiences that I have never had to deal with before. Clearly, a person right out of college does a lot of "growing up" that first year on the job, but I think because I am in a foreign country, out of my comfort zone, I am learning way more than I would have in the US.

One thing I have learned to do is stand up for myself.  The biggest thing that happened since I wrote last was that I moved apartments. The first one wasn't working out (aka I couldn't breathe because my roommates chain-smoked with the windows closed) so I had to ask my roommates if they could try to compromise with me to see if my allergies got better. When they didn't, I had to call my landlord, explain the situation, show my apartment and rent my room, and find a new place to live.  Yes, I definitely felt bad about needing to move out when I said I would stay, but I needed to do what was best for me. That hasn't exactly been my strongest suit, so I think I am building up an ability that I will need to use forever.  I am a whole lot happier now. I live in a great apartment, have a shorter commute, and live with three really nice Spanish girls, so I am constantly practicing.  There have been a few other cases in which I have had to stand up for myself, and even though doing so in another language is challenging, but I hope it only makes me more assertive in the future.

Besides that, things have been rather calm.  I went on another day trip to Cuenca, Spain. It is in the comunidad de Castilla la Mancha, and I had never been there before! It was really interesting and really relaxing. The majority of what we did was just walk around and look at the beautiful views. 

These are the Casas Colgadas, or Hanging Houses, in Cuenca. They are really well-known, really old houses that hang off of the cliff. And below is a view of the canyon, above which the old town is built.

November went by really fast, and December is (luckily) a short month!  With the holidays coming up, I am starting to get a little sad being so far away from home, but I will be having Thanksgiving dinner with my friends this week and have decided to go to Amsterdam and Paris for Christmas! So my life isn't so bad. :)

Until next time!

October's Adventures

By now, we have been working for about a month! I'm definitely working on getting settled in. I have a daily routine, friends in Spain (mostly Americans- working on the Spanish aspect), and things that I do during my spare time.  I have had a couple of bumps in the road- difficulties with my school and apartment- so I have been working to sort those out. I am currently in the process of trying to move apartments but after that I hope to be settled for good!

One of the weirdest things for me to get adjusted to is that I'm not in school anymore. I like working, but it is weird to not have any homework or anything to worry about at night or on the weekends. That being said, I am getting quite used to it.  I go into school Tuesday through Friday and teach for about 4 hours a day.  Though it seems really quick, there are multiple breaks so I end up being there for around 7 hours a day. The hardest thing to get used to is the school schedule- it starts at 9:00, breaks for recess from 11:15-11:45, and then again from 12:30-2:30. School runs again until 4:00. The two hour break is definitely something to get used to. I actually think it is pretty counterproductive, because the students are impossible to teach and control afterwards- not that they are easy to teach in the first place. Some of the staff at my school are trying to change it, but that schedule is really common in primary schools here.

This past week was Halloween! Halloween is not a traditional Spanish holiday (the day after- All Saints Day- is celebrated here), but because of all the influence of foreigners, many Spanish people have adopted the celebration. We had been decorating for Halloween for the past couple weeks, and this entire past week was focused on the holiday. Early in the week, we read Halloween stories to the students from the preschool. On Thursday, the entire day was dedicated to Halloween. Nearly every student (and teacher) were dressed up, and we did Halloween activities ranging from reading stories to singing songs to coloring.  There was also a haunted house put on by the parents in the auditorium, which most of my second graders were terrified of (me da miedo!). I did manage to go myself, with one of my students clinging to my arm the entire time.  Then the kids went Trick-or-Treating (Truco o Trato) for two pieces of candy.

One huge difference here is that it is considered weird if you are not in a scary costume! I have never been anything scary, I'm pretty sure, and this year I just ended up buying a witch hat for a euro to wear with my black dress. But the kids went all out with their makeup- fake blood, scars, fake bullet holes glued onto their heads, zipper faces, etc. I do not remember getting nearly as dressed up for Halloween as they did!

Another important thing is that I am in full swing with the private tutoring jobs! Depending on the week, I tutor 7 or 8 hours. This ends up being pretty good money! Most of my classes are focused on conversation.  I teach one girl that is in my class at school, which is relatively easy since I know exactly what they are doing and what they need to work on.  The most fun one is on Thursdays with two boys- 4 and 6 years old. We end up just playing the entire time- speaking in English. I bought a Bingo game with both English and Spanish from the dollar section at Target before I left- best purchase ever. It distracts them for the entire hour and a half!

Up to this weekend, I had stayed in the city for the past month and a half.  But yesterday I went with three of my friends to Salamanca, which is about 2.5 hours northwest of Madrid. I had actually been there before, but it is nice and I wanted to get out of Madrid! We just went for the day. One of my friends brought her Spain travel guide, so we did a self-guided walking tour and went inside some of the buildings. It is pretty easy to see in a few hours, and then we ate lunch and walked around for the rest of the day.

One of the cool things that we did was go up into the top of one of the cathedrals, where we got to look out over the city!

Salamanca is very famous for its university as well as Plaza Mayor.  The plaza is said to be one of the most beautiful in Spain!

So that is pretty much it! Hopefully I will have more stuff to update with soon!