The Month of November....

Oh my goodness everyone... I know I have not been in a very long time and I just want to say that I am so sorry for this. November has proven to be crazier than ever... and I haven't even traveled! Right now, I will tell you that I have been very busy with choir and studying and maintaining a social life in Alcalá. Let me take some time to update you with some things that have happened to me this month!

This month has been all about choir. I have so much respect for almost everyone in the choir. Their dedication and rich tradition was proven during the choir's thirtieth anniversary weekend. That weekend was a whirlwind for me because we literally had about thirty hours of choir concerts and rehearsals all wrapped up in one weekend! We got a lot of free food out of the deal so of course I was content. My favorite meal would definitely have to be the breakfast we had of pan frito (fried bread) with hot chocolate! Yum! We performed about three concerts that Friday and then we were loaded up with eight hours of rehearsal all Saturday. Normally, we have about thirty to forty people in the choir on an average practice or concert. With the alumni coming back for the weekend, our choir nearly tripled. It was incredible and you could see the rich history of thirty years that the choir had when everybody sang for our grand concert on Sunday. I felt like such a huge part of the family and loved by all of my friends I have made through this organization whether old or young, it has just been a great way for me to make my time in Alcalá so much more enjoyable. We also last weekend had a concert in Madrid and we sang with two other choirs from different areas of Spain. Personally I thought we were the best and most diverse choir, but I am pretty biased. My favorite part after concerts, as I have told many of you is the fact that we always get together and share appetizers. It allows me to get to know the people in choir more. Right now in rehearsals, we are preparing for our Christmas concert series and busily learning Spanish Christmas carols. Needless to say, I love choir!

In terms of regular life and school, things have been picking up as well. My school life has maintained a pretty regular stream of normalcy and I am usually trying to study a lot on the weekends to improve my Spanish or for my classes. We are nearing finals time for three of my classes which will take place during the midway point of December right before Christmas. My other final I will take after break with many of the other foreigners who are studying at the actual university during the month of February. That is how the university testing system works around here. My parents are coming in the end of December so I am also very excited for their visit and them meeting my host family and all of the traveling we are going to do! My social life is good. I am meeting tons of people who I really care about and fortunately two of those people I will be going back to Madison with. Hannah and Maggie two girls in my program also go to Madison and they are two of my closest friends here and I am so fortunate that we can continue our adventures in the States.

Next weekend, we have a very long break due to many festivals of the Saints that they have here. We have from Thursday til Tuesday off and I plan to be very active in Madrid! Sorry it has taken me so long to write but I will make sure that long of a break doesn't happen again! Miss you all and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Extremaduras and Halloween Weekend!

Hi Guys! I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update... but it has been a crazy past week and a half. Let me start with Extremaduras... I would say that this trip was not one of my favorites mainly because I got really sick during it. I guess you all know that being sick kind of puts a sad cover over whatever you are doing. I loved our hotel... each room was themed with a different color and our room was the pink room and it had little pink chairs and pink sheets! We also visited a Roman amphitheater and a coliseum. These structures are impeccably well-kept and beautiful and it was cool to just be sitting in there and looking around at all the architecture. I also liked seeing the acqueduct that was HUGE and still just as magnificent as ever. My friend Hannah commented on how amazing it is that something so monumental and beautiful could have been made so long ago with almost nothing. It does make you think about how amazing people are! Unfortunately, my camera died that weekend so I barely have any pictures.

I am starting to fall in love with Alcalá especially after Halloween weekend. I mentioned in an earlier post that I am part of the choir here and we had our big Halloween concert with a choir from Berlin on Friday. Then we had a big choir party afterwards where everyone brought food and wine and there was a lot of merriment! There was a huge party and then we would have singing battles against the Berlin choir (I would definetely say that our choir has more fun..) Then the other Spanish kids asked us to go out with them. I was also able to go out with both the adult and younger group of kids just because it is more of a culture norm here to be able to go out with your adult figures! It was so fun getting to know everyone better and I am finally starting to make better friends with the choir members and feel a part of it! On Halloween, I went out with my friend Molly and we wandered around the city to three different bars. One bar that we went to was really interesting because before you entered there were people who wore a lot of make-up and acted like prisoners and they would come up and talk to you and act very scary. It took about five minutes before Molly could get me to go through that! I hate scary things! But the best part of that night was when we met some random Spanish girls in the bathroom and we talked with them for about a half an hour about our lives and our time in Spain... they were so nice! I love this town!

Back in Alcalá... and loving it!

I have realized my last post was a little scattered and grammatically incorrect. It probably has something to do with being up at 1 AM writing it. I will try to make this one more short and precise. Time is flying past here... I can´t believe next week we have examenes parciales! I have been a busy bee studying for those.... what I study here? (I know.) This past weekend I was ecstatic to be able to stay at home with my family. That was until I realized that I had a day trip to Soria on Friday with my literature class. As badly as I wanted to sleep in, that was just not going to happen until Saturday. Soria turned out to be beautiful. It is not really known for anything here in Spain except for being the place that Antonio Machado wrote about in his poems and where he met his wife of sixteen years old. That was the exact reason that my literature class decided to go to visit it. It is wonderful for me to go to places to experience the reasons why the artist decided to be inspired because then I feel so much more connected to their work. It was the perfect fall day in October and it was beautiful walking down the path seeing the leaves on the trees change colors and fall all around us. Yes, the weather is finally starting to change from 80´s to 60´s, no more reasons to be jealous, I have started to pull out my jackets. The rest of the weekend I basically spent with my Spanish family and studying. My Spanish sister competes for a skating club in Alcalá. Now, I know most of you are assuming ice skating, but alas no, she roller skates competitively, which by the many kids at the competition seems to be pretty popular in Spain. She was tested this weekend to move up to the next level and I finally know how my mom feels when she is watching me play volleyball. Nuria (my mom) and I were squeezing each other´s arms at every opportune moment. She passed! I think that I cheered louder than any of the parents did for their children.

This weekend I am traveling with CIEE again to a different area of Spain, Extremaduras, which is one of the poorest regions of Spain. That should be interesting, except right now I am more worried about studying. Ah exams! But first tomorrow I am going to go to the famous Prado Museum in Madrid for FREE! I am seriously ecstatic... you all have read how I felt when I saw Picasso´s Guernica painting. Well, this museum has Velazquez´s very, very famous painting ¨Las Meninas¨ painting that I literally studied and wrote a paper for at Madison for two weeks. Seeing this in real life is going to be out of this world!

The Country of Pastelerías: Lisboa, Portugal!

Hi Everyone! I am sorry it has taken me so long to write about this trip... for some reason October is just flying by! This past weekend was my fall break and I decided to go to Portugal with a couple of my friends from my program! Let me tell you Portugese may be very similar to Spanish when you are reading it, but it is COMPLETELY different when it is spoken. It makes me very grateful for every bit of Spanish I can speak. I will tell you that Lisbon is beautiful and it blew me out of the water with how many gorgeous views we saw! Our hostel was actually very amazing and in a very convenient area of town with very chill people. After a good night of sleep, we woke up and were ready to go site seeing! Woo hoo! Even though we were wandering around with a map, we still ended up getting lost and having to walk more than we wanted to. Two girls in my group and I were really not in a rush to get anywhere too fast and we ended up walking a lot slower than the others. We tended to window shop and finally we just had to leave the other part of our group behind so we could finally just shop! I am actually right now wearing my one clothing article from Portugal which is a longer gray sweater that goes great with black tights. We then headed over to the Basilica Estrela, but on our way over there there was a huge park in front of the church where they had built this ropes course in the shape of the Eiffel tour! And of course I wouldn´t be me if I couldn´t play on it! I am consistently amazed by how many churches I have been to while I have been here and still they manage to impress me with their beautiful colors and high ceilings. In the basilica, the interior was made of marble painted all different colors. After wandering in the church, we stopped by a pastelería for lunch. Literally, on every street that you walk in Lisbon there are about 3 pastelerías. Lucky me! Food in Portugal was amazingly cheap and on average I spent less then five € a day which is wonderful for a college student like me! Torre de Belem is one of the most famous monuments in Portugal and it sits right on the water. We had no idea that our walk down there would take about forty five minutes. But since the sun was shining and the sky was a crystal clear blue, I remained content. And as we stopped by the Los Padrao de dos Descubrimientos and went to the view tower, I have never felt so blessed to be in a place and see all of Portugal from a bird´s eye view. The Torre was also incredible and sitting in one of the corners that overlooked the water was breathtaking. We did so much sightseeing the weekend that I want to tell you all about, but I am going to try to shorten this up. The next day we visited the Castle de Sao Jorge and went to a thieve´s market that wraps itself all the way around the church. More views and more fun in the sun. I love being able to relax in Europe. Everybody is about you feeling stress free. That is exactly how I felt this trip especially as I was lying on a couch sipping sparkling water overlooking the river!

I am back home now and things are starting to pick up as examenes parciales are creeping around the corner! Today, I just sang with my choir for the Welcome back event that the University of Alcalá has. It was very cool because in the church all the heads of the different colleges march in wearing their colors of their department. We sang the ¨Hallelujah¨chorus and it reminded me of home and Westminster so much! There was then a reception and we got free tapas (appetizers) and drinks! Definetely my favorite choir event so far... and to put the cherry on the cake, my Spanish friend in the choir said she was watching Telemadrid today and guess who was on the TV: me singing with the choir! Six weeks in Spain and I am already making my television debut... watch out world!

I am back home for the weekend

Asturias y Cantabria and the Wonderful Atlantic Ocean!

Hello everyone! I am sorry it has taken me so long to post, but things have just picked up so fast since I have started traveling. I want to tell you about Asturias and how absolutely amazing of a time I had! We were able to see all of these amazing things because we went with one of the professors from the university that works directly with our program. He is very knowledgable and took us around to all the fun sites of northern Spain! We went to three cities Llanes, Oviedo, and Covadonga. I could tell you the theme of this trip would be ¨churches¨. In the church that we went to in Oviedo, there was this incredible gold sculpture setting of the life of Jesus at the front of the church and it literally went across the whole back wall. I was stunned when our director lit it up and we could see it in all of it´s glory with the lights on it. We also were able to see two pre-romanic churches after a climb up a mini mountain. The next day we woke up early to explore the Mountains (Picos de Europa) and Lakes Enol and Ercina in a microbus. Unfortunately, I sat in the back of the van and we were twisting and turning up the mountain for about 30 minutes. I believe I could have enjoyed the incredibly stunning view much more if I wasn´t as busy keeping my breathing steady and easy. Needless to say, the rest of my companions let me sit in the front of the bus on the way down. After this little adventure, we went to see a little chapel which was built into a cave. They were hosting a service in Spanish when we arrived so I stayed for a little bit as people circled through. We then took our bus back to Llanes. This was hands down my favorite part of the trip. Our director and guide wanted us to get a feel for the town, but there was one thing on our mind when we got there: the beach! It was sunny and about 70 degrees when we were there. So me and four girls in my group grabbed a picnic lunch, put on our swimsuits, and headed down for some fun in the sun! I can´t tell you how amazing it was to swim in the Atlantic Ocean in October because to be honest I still can´t believe it! The ocean was a crystal clear blue and the sky was perfectly clear... it was my favorite day in Spain yet! We also had karaoke on the way back home on the bus and I graced everybody with a great version of Part of your World and Halo. Everyone needs there fix of Beyonce and Disney. So, I am back from that long adventure! I have tackled my classes for this week and now this weekend I am off to Lisbon, Portugal because we have fall break! No classes as usual on Friday and then there is a holiday on Monday! Can´t wait... my friend Natalie just went there and reading her blog has only got me more pumped up! I will blog once I return!

Personas+ Pastelerías+ Patito Feo= Reasons I love Spain

I wanted to give you guys a little update before I head off to my trip this weekend. I LOVE it here because each day I am meeting someone new and unexpected whether it be an American, Spaniard, French, German, or even Chinese person they are always very nice and want to get to know you. I think that is the best feeling of living in a town like Alcalá. I have started my classes at the regular university and I have to say on the first day it was very intimidating and overwhelming to be surrounded by people who speak the language perfectly. I am hanging on to my professor´s every word fearing that I miss something. Fortunately, I am taking a class called Enseñanza La Lengua or Teaching the Language, which deals with things that I can relate directly with my career as a teacher. Today, on my second day of class, I understood almost everything she said and was comfortable with the subject matter. Maybe I will actually get the courage to participate and ask a question one of these days!

I would also like to tell you that I have discovered one of the most dangerous places in Alcalá or really in all of Europe, the pastelería. Here, you are surrounded by these amazing homemade desserts all calling out your name. It´s so terrible and yet amazing at the same time. I have now had to set a budget for how much I spend per week here especially since it is less three minutes away from my school (yeah, I timed that today).

Spain also has another love of mine that I could not find in the U.S. but most certainly could find in South America. On Disney Channel, which in Spanish has become something that now makes me think during the program, Elena and I have been watching this series called Patito Feo. It is highly entertaining and even kind of racy for the age group of this show. It has become a way for me and Elena to bond during whether we are making fun of the characters or wondering why they all of a sudden are breaking out into song at inopportune moments. Nothing like a Spanish soap opera for fourteen year olds.

So I am off... This Friday I am traveling with my program to Astorias and Cantabria which is near the northern part of the country close to France and near the ocean! It´s supposed to be stunning... everything about Spain is! Love you all! Until Monday!

The Start of Something New...

Hi everyone! This will be my first post giving you an update about what has happened in the past three and a half weeks! First let me tell you, I was very nervous when I left home. Nine hours on a plane by myself without knowing anyone was a daunting to me especially since I hate turbulance! Fortunately as soon as I got to my gate in Minneapolis, I saw my friend and LearningWorks co-worker Natalie. It turned out we were facing the long flight together! I was ecstatic especially when we traded seats and sat next to each other and caught up.

We stepped off in Madrid and all of a sudden it was a whirlwind. I was exhausted having slept off and on during the flight and all of a sudden I had to start speaking Spanish to figure out where I needed to go. Nat had left me after being whisked away by a taxi driver and I tried to get my self oriented to find my director of the program. Everything worked out well and an hour later I met my group of 12 other American students. It was so great to meet them finally and all during orientation I got to figure out why they were coming here to study and find out a little bit of everyone´s story.

These past three weeks have been weeks of adjustment for me. Let me tell you a little bit about my life here. I live in Alcalá de Henares which is a smaller town about half an hour outside of Madrid by train. It is very famous for being the place where Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, was born. I am staying with a host family which includes a mother named Nuria and a daughter named Elena. Elena and I are discovering our love for all things Disney Channel, Hannah Montana, and Crepúsculo (Twilight). She is fourteen but we are bonding much faster than I thought we would over our similar interests. Nuria is a great host mom who always makes sure I am eating enough. Here, we eat at about 2 PM and 10 PM. My stomach has finally adjusted to this crazy schedule and I am finding I eat about twenty times healthier here than I do at home. It is wonderful! Right now, I am attending classes at El Instituto de Ben Franklin which is part of the university but is designed especially for exchange students. The classes are very small and the professors are really there for you to improve your Spanish. Right now, I am taking two classes to improve my grammar and writing skills and one class that focuses on 20th Century Spanish literature. I am also taking one class at the regular Universidad de Alcalá called Teaching the Spanish Language. Classes for that will actually start next week. I am a little nervous but the professor for this class is very nice and it is a pretty small class so I guess I will just have to wait to see what happens!

During the week, I am staying pretty busy. I have joined the University choir with my American friend Mark and we are singing every Tuesday and Thursday evening. It is pretty intense and we sing for weddings, funerals, and graduations. This next week we are going to be singing for a funeral in Madrid. Also, I am thinking of joining the volleyball team here but that is to be debated. I also in October will be joining the gym near my house so I can keep doing yoga and erging when I can. There is a nice running path near my house that I have been running on these past three weeks. During the weekends, I try to relax and do homework. The nights here are crazy... nothing really starts happening in Spain for young people until 2 or 3 am. Last week, I went to Madrid and I didn´t get home until 7 am. Fortunately, I knew this would happen and had done all my homework prior so I could sleep the day off.

One story before I leave you for now. This past week I experienced La Noche en Blanco with my friends in Madrid. It is a night where they open all the museums in Madrid and let the public in for free. We got to go to La Reina Sofia or the museum for Modern art in Madrid. And I got to see Picasso´s famous ¨Guernica¨painting. I couldn´t believe I was so fortunate to stand in front of this work. I have studied this painting in many of my Spanish classes at Madison and to see it personally was breathtaking and I was very emotional. It was the first time that it really hit me how amazing this whole experience is and how fortunate I am. I only hope each of you has an experience like this at least once. That´s all for now folks!