Transitioning

So now that I have been back in the States for almost a week, let me just say it is weird to be back.  I keep having mixed emotions.  At some points I can't even believe that I am home, and it hits me at really weird times like yesterday I was sitting on the couch and I was surprised that I was actually sitting in my own house.  And then when I realize that I am actually home I am so happy that I am home.  And then at other times, like during the day when I'm really bored and wasting way too much time on Facebook and other pointless things I wish I was back in Spain walking the streets, going for ice cream, sitting in El Campo Grande, or touring a new city.  I really miss Valladolid and the atmosphere of the whole town.  I loved how it was set up where everyone just walked places and you would go outside and see someone walking.  There would usually always be something going on at the Plaza Mayor, and I miss the conveniences of meeting people there and having a glass of wine or something. Here no one walks anywhere, but that's because Batavia isn't really set up as a walking town.  


Overall though the transition has been good.  When I first got home last Saturday I was surprised by all my friends from home.  I literally had no idea, but my parents were so sweet and invited them and my mom also made my favorite dessert and so we were able to talk and catch up.  It was so nice.  

Then the next day my dad grilled burgers for us and they tasted so good because I hadn't had a burger in forever!  Other foods that I missed in Spain that I was happy to have again here were peanut butter, cereal, and real flavored chips, like cheetos.  In Spain they would have really weird flavored chips, like jamon(ham), or Salsa, so it was nice to taste chips that tasted like real chips.  


For breakfast though, I have stuck with the usual breakfast that I had in Spain, two pieces of toast with butter and jam.  I never thought I would, but I had really grown to like that breakfast.


But, here in the states I am happy to have my shower again.  In Spain we would have to shower with this sprayer thing, so we would have to hold it, and then turn off the water when we shapooed to save water.  Now it is nice to not have to do either of those things.


One thing I did learn for the trip though is that I can live on a lot less.  My wardrobe for the whole six weeks consisted of only a few  bottoms, tops, and a couple dresses, but it worked!  No one really cared if you wore the same shirt in the same week or anything and it also motivated me to be more creative with what I had.  Everything was a lot smaller sized and simpler, which was nice to live with for six weeks.  

So I guess this is my last post for this blog.  Thanks to everyone who read along! 

Ugh

Today was a stressful day in which I almost reached by breaking point.  I am in Madrid and I fly home tomorrow morning.  The day started in Valencia, which was great, and then we took the train back to Madrid where I would be staying with two other girls from the trip, Haley and Jessica, in a hotel near the airport so I could fly out easily tomorrow. 


Well, Kevin, Chris, Danny, and I all got off the train and then we went our separate ways.  I took the metro by myself from the train station to the airport where I would then catch a shuttle to the hotel.   I was so glad that the metro went smoothly and now I feel like I am an expert at taking them metro, but then when I got in terminal 4 I realized I had missed the shuttle to the hotel by 5 minutes, so I needed to take a taxi.  So I got in the taxi and told the guy where I needed to go, the AC Marriott.  Then he said that he didn't know where that was.  I was thinking to myself, how do you not know where that is, you're a taxi driver?  Then he asked me for the name again because he said there was more than one AC Marriott and so I said the AC Marriott Corrado, and he still didn't know what I was talking about.  Then he went and asked one of his taxi friends where the hotel was and then we started driving.  He kept saying how there were so many and he didn't know the last name and I said Corrado and he said he didn't know.  While we were driving it had been a pretty long day and I was really ready to get to the hotel, get my stuff together for the morning, and then go to bed.  


Well I started getting concerned when we were driving for about 15 minutes and the taxi fare was already 20 something Euros because I was told this hotel was only like 6 minutes from the airport, but then again I could have been wrong.  So finally we got there to this AC Marriot Atira or something and the taxi fare ended up being 34 Euros! The taxi didn't take debit cards, so he drove me to an ATM to withdraw money.  I was kind of upset, but just hoped that this was the right place.  I went inside and said that I was checking into the room with  Haley Nelson and they said there was no one of that name staying there.  Then asked me, "could it possibly be the other Marriott?" And I said yeah it could be, so he pointed me about 2 blocks down the street to the other Marriot.  So I walked down there will all my stuff and said I was checking in with Haley Nelson and this guy told me the same thing.  He said which Marriot are you looking for? And I said Marriot Corrado?? He didn't know the name either.  Then I said it was close to the airport and he looked at me with a face of horror and said oh no, we are so far.  It turns out the Marriott I was looking for was the Marriot Cozlada, not Corrado.  At this point I was really fed up because I knew that I had to take another taxi all the way back near the airport and pay another 30 Euros.  The guy at the counter gave me the address of the new place so I could give it to the taxi driver.


I checked my wallet and realized I didn't have 30 euros, so I went to an ATM and then started freaking out because I couldn't find my debit card.  It wasn't in my wallet, but I remembered taking it out the first time when I withdrew money.  I thought I had thrown it in my purse because I was so frazzled after the first ride, but my purse was jam packed with maps and tickets and I couldn't find it.  This was the point I almost started crying.  But I knew I had it somewhere so I just decided that I needed to get to the hotel and got in the next taxi.  This guy drove me to the hotel and the fare ended up being 30 Euros.  I only had 15 Euros in my wallet, and I looked at him and said, "lo siento, no tengo dinero sufficiente" (I don't have enough money).  He just looked at the 15 Euros and said, "Pero esto no es mucho" (this isn't alot).  I tried to explain the situation, that I was sorry, that the other taxi driver took me to the wrong place and I spent all my money on that one, that I lost my debit card and couldn't withdraw more money.  He didn't say anything.  Then I frantically started looking through my purse and found my debit card! What a relief, so he said he took debit cards, but he tried it like 10 times and it wasn't working, and there wasn't an ATM in sight.  Then I went inside the hotel to see if there was one, but there wasn't.  I came back out and he set all of my stuff on the sidewalk and I apologized again and he said, "yeah but I want money."  I didn't know what to do.  Then I found 50 dollars of American money and said, I only have American dollars and he said, "dolares? Si esta bien." So I paid him in half euros, half dollars, and then he drove away and I checked into the hotel.  Once I got to the hotel room I went right to bed.  Such a long day, but excited to be home tomorrow.

Last Night All Together :(

Today we are in Valencia and it is our last night that all six of us will be together.  Melissa and Chris are leaving for Rome tomorrow morning, and the rest of us are leaving for Madrid tomorrow night.  This week has just been absolutely amazing and I am so thankful I got to travel with this group of people.  Tonight all of us we piled on a bed (the 3 tall and lankies a.k.a Chris, Kevin, and Eric, and then Melissa and I) and we were laughing about all the fun times we've had.  It's crazy to think that tomorrow we will all not be in Spain together, and even when we see eachother in the future, which we will, it won't be the same.  When are we ever going to all be together on a bed in Spain and traveling around?  It's crazy, and hard when things like this are so temporary.  Right now I'm feeling like I don't want to leave, which is crazy because I remember How I felt when I first got here.  I'm just letting these final moments sink in and enjoying them.  This trip I have made so many memories that will be with me forever.  Spain is nothing short of an amazing country.

Sevilla + Valencia

Well I have alot of catching up to do.  This past week I was also in Sevilla and Valencia!  Both were great cities, but sooooo hot! In Sevilla it was 45 degrees Celsius which is around 110 Fahrenheit.  In Sevilla the first night we went and saw a Flamenco show.  I had no idea what to expect really, I just knew that Spain was known for its Flamenco shows, but It was so cool!  Flamenco involves singing, a guitar, dancing, and clapping, and its all improvisation.  The dancer just goes with what they feel in the music, and the dancers we saw were both really good.  I'm glad we got to see the show.  Sevilla is also the perfect place to see a Flamenco show because that's where all the best schools are.  


The next day in Sevilla we went on a walking tour.  The two top things from the tour were the cathedral, which is the largest gothic cathedral in the world, and also the plaza Espana.  Every major city in Spain has a Plaza Espana, but the one in Sevilla is by far the prettiest.  They also filmed part of Star Wars there.   

The next day in Sevilla we went and saw the Alcazar, which is a place with really pretty gardens and architecture.  We flew to Valencia Wednesday night and got to stay in this really nice apartment for only 13 Euros a night.  It was great and it had a T.V. and everything so we were able to watch the Spain game.  In Valencia we went to a really cool Aquarium which had exhibits outside, we went to the beach, and also went to a really cool science museum.  All of the cities we visited this past week were amazing but my favorite is still Granada.  

Granada

So on Saturday we arrived in Granada!  It was beautiful, but super hot.  It was 42 degrees celcius, which means 107 degrees Farenheight.  We went and saw the Alhambra and it was amazing.   It amazing to think it was built hundreds of years ago.  And it was also huge!  To see the whole thing it would probably take you four hours.  There were so many pretty flowers and fountains and buildings and everything was amazing.  Later we went on a bike ride throughout Granada and it was really cool.  We went on a dirt path and all throughout the ride there were Mountains and cool little houses.  It was really pretty.  Then we stopped in this super cold river that felt like an ice bath and swam for a little.  It was so cold, but after felt so goo when we were riding our bikes because it was so hot outside.  Then later that night we went to Plaza San Nicholas and saw this amazing view of the Alhambra at night.  It was probably one of the top views I've had in my lifetime.  It was so amazing.

 

So far I'd say that Granada is one of my favorite cities.  If I would ever live in Spain, Granada would be the town I would choose.  People are so much friendlier in the south of Spain, and it's much more laid back.  We left Granada this morning and now are in Sevilla.  It is equally as hot here, like in the 100s.  I think tonight we may go and see a Flamenco show.  Well that's all for now.  I'll try to update later this week!

El Ultimo dia en Valladolid!

So right now I am packing my suitcase and getting ready to leave Valladolid.  My trip is not officially over because we still have one more week of travel, but this is my last day in Valladolid and last full day with my host family.  It will be sad to leave.  What a blessing these past five weeks have been, and all these great people I've gotten to know!

The final days started last night with a group dinner which was delicious.  Some of our teachers came to the dinner and it was so great to see them one last time.  I loved both of the teachers I had here in Valladolid.  Cristina, my lit teacher always was so full of energy and was really funny.  Alfredo, my culture teacher was also great and very knowledgeable about everything.  Both of them were great helps to us when we were traveling if we needed to print boarding passes, or to give us advice on the best tapas places.  I will miss them!

Then today we had a graduation ceremony!  I really can't believe it's already over.  I remember the first day when we were taking a tour of the city and they said, here is the building that you will have your graduation ceremony in, it'll come before you know it, and they were right!  

I've also gotten to know people from other schools, not just Iowa.  There are some Pennsylvania people that I will miss a lot and i probably will never see again! My roommate and I were talking and we agreed that sometimes certain people are only meant to be in your life for a short time.  Sometimes they were just placed in your life for a little while and that's it.  Maybe to teach you something, or help you through a certain phase of life.  It's sad to leave those people, but I guess there is a chance if sometime I randomly go to Pennsylvania I will see them again!

Then we had lunch with our family this afternoon and gave them gifts and thanked them for letting us stay with them.  I brought them  real syrup that my aunt and uncle who live in Wisconsin made directly from the tree.  I was so happy because she was so excited when I gave it to her.  She said she lovvveeesss syrup and it's really hard to find in Spain, they don't really sell it in the stores.  They are getting ready for a wedding which is tonight, so we will be on our own tonight for dinner and everything.  We took some final pictures with them.  I am so glad to have had Cristina and Felipe as my host parents and will miss them alot! But I have their e-mail address so we can still keep in touch.  And I have decided that this will not be my last time in Spain.  I will definately be back to Valladolid sometime in the future!

What's been happening the last few days

What I've been up to the past few days....

Attending class

Dodging pigeons in el campo grande (one seriously almost flew into my face yesterday.  The pigeons fly so close to the ground here and aren't afraid of getting close to humans.)

Eating ice cream for my friend Jess's birthday

Planning our last week of travel to Granada, Sevilla, and Valencia

Studying for exams (tomorrow!)

Jk they're not really this bad 

On the way home from school saw two people with giant backpacks who were doing el camino de Santiago! It was cool because we just learned about the camino de Santiago last week in culture class

Things I still plan to do...

Go to dulcemania!

Attend a graduation ceremony

Attend a graduation dinner

Pack

Madrriid

Hola lectores! Last weekend I was in Madrid!  I liked it, but not as much as Barcelona.  It was really crowded and busy, lots of people, and really big, but we still did some cool things there.  As a group we went to el museo del prado (an art museum), and it was actually really cool.  I got to see all these paintings that I remember learning about in class, but in person.  There's something different about seeing a painting in person that is really cool.  Here are some of them that I saw

This is a painting of the Royal Family by Velasquez.  Velasquez actually painted himself in the painting on the left.  Everyone seems to be looking at you because Velasquez is painting the King and Queen who are near the same spot as the view of the painting whom you see reflected back in the mirror behind the girl in the white dress.  It also shows that the girl in the center is the next heir to the throne because if you connect everybody's heads together in the painting, they create a constellation that is her name.

This is another painting of the Royal Family by Goya.  He also included himself in the painting  in the back left.  He is painting the royal family, but the question is how can he paint the family when he is behind them?  The answer is that there is a mirror in front of them and so he is painting them from the mirror.  Also, the girl on the left has her head turned away because she is not yet part of the royal family.

Later that day we continued to just walk around the city and take some pictures.  

People get crazy for soccer

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

mounument thing by a lake

Plaza Espana

Wish I could be there to see this :(

Then later that night we went out and got Kebabs beforehand and it was seriously one of the best things I have tasted in a long time.  I can't even explain it, it was like meat, tomato, onion, lettuce, mayo, and some other really good kind of sauce.  Basically it changed my life.  It was so good.  


The next day we woke up and went a giant flea market where they sold stuff for really cheap! I boughts some scarfs and gifts for people back home.  By the time we left my feet were ready to fall off from walking every where.  So far my favorite cities in order are  Barcelona, Segovia, Madrid, and Salamanca.  Next week we will be traveling to Granada, Sevilla, and Valencia.  We finally booked all our tickets for trasportation for those trips.  We are literally taking all types of transportation...bus, train, and plane.  I'm excited to travel, but also can't believe this is my last week here.  It'll be sad to leave my host family, but I'm so ready for classes to be done.  Hasta Luego!

The Cinnamon Challenge

Today we had a funny conversation at lunch.  Estella, their daughter, was visiting again and so we all sat down for lunch together.  Then randomly she asked us if we had ever done the cinnamon challenge.  I immediately thought of this video on YouTube-the Glozelle cinnamon challenge, and said no that I had never tried it but I had seen it on YouTube.  Then I told her about this Glozelle video that I had seen on YouTube and how funny it was.  Then she said she hadn't done it either, but had also seen a video of it on YouTube.  She described the video on YouTube that she had seen and motioned a girl taking a giant spoonful of cinnamon and how she dumped it in her mouth.  Haha, I knew immediately after that we were talking about the same video.  We both laughed about it, and described what happened to our parents who had never seen it.  We talked for awhile about different food challenges, such as the eating 6 saltine crackers in a minute or something, and then the gallon of milk challenge.  Here is the video of Glozelle if you haven't seen it yet hehe.

random tired day

Today was a rough day.  After coming home from Barcelona I really did not feel like waking up for class.  Today was a super long day because we had our life in Spain class which meets once a week and then our conversation partners.  My brain was just so tired and it was very difficult for me not to tune out when people were talking Spanish to me.  I just wanted to sleep.  Also my body was sore from hiking on Sunday.  I feel like I could go to bed right now at its only 10:38.  I probably will.   Sorry for this random boring post.

Long Weekend in Bar(th)elona!

Hey everyone! So I am now back in Valladolid after spending 5 days in Barcelona.  Let me just say it was amazing.  I loved the city so much and did not want to come back to Valladolid.  I would definitely recommend going there, and you probably need at least 3 days to see the city.  We got there Wednesday night, checked into our hostel which was close to Las Ramblas (the main shopping strip), got a free dinner, then relaxed for the rest of it so we would be ready to go in the morning.  Here is a summary of all the wonderful things we did!


Thursday
We woke up around 8:30 and headed to this AWESOME market for breakfast.  It was so great that we went there every morning.  It had every kind of fruit, fruit juices, meat, fish, fudge, bread, dessert, everything.  The first day I got coconut-strawberry juice for 1 E.  Other good finds were banana chips, bread, and pizza!  


Later that day we took a ski lift up to this castle and got a great view of the city!

After, we went to la playa (beach) and swam in the Mediteranean sea! It was cool to think that we were actually in the Mediteranean.  


Friday
Friday was probably one of my favorite days of the trip! We rented bikes and biked across Barcelona to Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triump, and another park.  It was such a great idea because it only cost 10E for the whole day and it was awesome to bike around the city.  At first it was a struggle, because bikes aren't allowed on the sidewalks because there are too many people, so we had to ride them in the streets.  Basically, we had to ride them on the far right side of the road in a tiny space between cars/busses and the sidewalk.  Not gonna lie it was a little frightening at first, but I was surprised at how aware and respectful that the drivers were of bikers.  I'm glad they were patient because there were 9 of us biking down the road and not all of us were experienced bikers hahaha.  It was pretty comical.  There was some random stopping, going on and off the sidewalk, almost running over people, running through red lights, and trouble getting on and off the bikes, but we all made it out alive!  My favorite part was when we got to a different part of town were there was an actual bike lane in the middle of the road! It was so much fun.  Here are some pictures.

The Arc de Triunfo was really cool.  I just realized that in the 30 day photo challenge I did last year I said that somewhere I'd like to travel was Spain and I posted a picture of this exact arc! I'm glad I got to see it in person!

We also biked to the Sagrada Familia, and let me just say it was the most beautiful Church I have ever seen in my life.  Everthing about it was amazing.  I like the style of arctitecture, it was a little more abstract and had a TON of details!

What's awesome is that even though Gaudi died, they are still continuing to build the Sagrada Familia according to his blueprints.  


Saturday
Saturday our group of 9 split into 2 different groups.  Half of us went to Camp Nou, the Barcelona soccer Stadium, and the other half of us went back to the Sagrada Familia to see the inside.  I chose to go back to the Sagrada Familia, but the people who went to see Camp Nou said it was incredible! One guy said he got goosebumps and my roommate said she almost cried.  If you have any interest in soccer at all I would recommend going there!  They got to see the locker rooms, training rooms, stadium, pictures and I'm such a lot of other things.


I'm glad I went back to the Sagrada Familia though because the inside was breathtaking.  I was in awe the whole time. My favorite part were the beautiful stained glass windows.  I was talking to my friend Jess, and we both agreed that it was so peacful inside.  No matter how many people were in there there was still this feeling of tranquility.  I have never been to a church like that and would love to attend a service there.  

Sunday
This was probably my favorite day of the whole trip because Melissa, Eric, and I went hiking in the Pyrenees mountains!!!!!!!  Props to Melissa for planning this trip because it was so amazing.  After asking 5 different people for dirctions and practically running to the train station at 7am we barely made our train and headed north to the Pyrenees.  It was about a two hour ride but felt much shorter because I slept the whole way.  Then we took another small little train up higher to the mountains which was about a half hour ride.  When we got there there were so many mountains and we were really excited to start hiking. So we stepped out of the train and for some reason I thought it would be okay to wear shorts and a t-shirt to go hiking in the mountains. Haha, bad idea because when we got there it was freezing!  I knew if I didn't get a sweatshirt or something I would just be miserable the whole time, so we stopped in a gift shop and bought the cheapest sweatshirts we could find.  I'm glad be bought them though because it ended up being a good souveneer. 

Then we stopped in the cafeteria we had there and got a bocadilla to save for lunch and a croissant for breakfast.  And oh my gosh, I don't know what it was but it was seriously the best croissant I have ever eaten in my entire life.  It was just so soft and i don't know if there was cream cheese in the middle or what, I don't think so, but whatever it was it was delicious, so I just thought I'd dedicate a paragraph to talking about the croissant.  


After that we began our hike up the mountain and every view was spectacular.  There was one point when we sat behind this rock at ate our lunch overlooking the mountains and it just felt like it was a dream.  Everything looked not even real, like a painting.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.  

Then there was one point where Eric thought it would be fun to go off the trail for a little bit, so we did.  We hiked off the trail across the mountain, so we were literally scaling across a mountain!!! It was a new experience being off the trail because it made me feel like I was a real mountain climber conquering the mountains. haha It was awesome.  There was another point in our hike where Eric decided to go off the trail on his own and Melissa and I continued on the trail, but we kept our eye on him just to make sure he didn't fall or anything.  But while he was walking away it was such a humbling experience because he literally looked so tiny compared to the mountains, like an ant.  You don't really notice when it's just you hiking along, but then when you see another human being you realize how small you really are.  Not that it means your insignificant, just that you have no reason to be proud.  It was very humbling.  We hiked for a total of 5 hours and by the end we were dead tired and hungry.  We got back to the hostel around 10 and Eric and I split a pizza.  It was so delicious because I hadn't had pizza in forever! Overall Barcelona was a fantastic trip and I am so glad that we went.

Ready for the Long Weekend!

So tomorrow I am leaving for Barcelona!!!!!!! I can't wait.  We don't have class Thursday or Friday, so we are going to be staying there for 5 days and are going to be seeing the Sagrada Familia, park guell, las ramblas, going to the beach, and possibly hiking in the Pirineas Mountains.  More posts to come after that, but for now I have all of my stuff packed into my backpack to carry on the the plane.


Also, here is a map of Spain if you are curious as to where Valladolid is and where Barcelona is

Adventuras

Wow, sorry for the blogging hiatus, but these past few days have been packed with many adventures!

Wednesday 

Wednesday night we went out for Tapas! I had never been out for Tapas before so I really didn't know what to expect, but I was really fun!  You order a drink and then eat appetizers.  We went to two different places, I think I liked the second place better.  Here is a picture of the food at the second place

And this was my favorite thing at the first place.  They are called Patatas Bravas

Thursday

Thursday was a really relaxing day.  I took a 2 hour nap, then went for a run, then went to this really pretty park near our house and spent some time with God.  It's a really cool place, you walk up some rocks and then it's kind of like this secret area hidden up high with trees and a view.  I really enjoyed this time where I could be alone and just read my bible.  It was very refreshing and I think I am going to make a habit of this.  On Thursday we also figured out our trip to Barcelona! Our flight and our hostel is booked and we leave this Wednesday and will be there until Monday! I am so excited!  

Friday

Friday It rained here, but I still decided to go running.  I actually enjoy running in the rain, and it is more fun to run in Spain because there is more scenery than in Iowa.  After running we went to the Plaza Mayor and got some ice cream!  Here is a picture of the Plaza Mayor at night.

Then this lovely fountain that we walk past on the way home

Saturday

Saturday we went on an excursion to Salamanca! It was a beautiful city.  While we were there we took a tour of the city, and then later took a tour of this amazing Cathedral.  It was seriously so amazing and I can't believe people actually built it, there are just so many details put into the whole thing.  Here are some pictures

After that we went out for dinner for our friend Jessica's birthday, then we went to a bar after, and later to a "discoteca."  The discoteca was called Mango's.  People do salsa dancing there, and there is this girl in our group named Heidi who is really good at salsa dancing and she said if we go, there are Spainards there who can dance with us and teach us how to salsa dance, so I am going to learn!  We got home around 3 and then slept in pretty late this morning.  Today I am just planning on relaxing and studying for my examenes on Tuesday.  Hasta Luego!  

La familia

So these past few days have been a little different because now Felipe (our host Dad) is back home with his two daughters.  Last week it was just Melissa, Cristina, and I at home because Felipe was gone with his daughters in Leon.  Now he is back, and it's been really fun getting to talk to him, and his daughters.    


The first day he was home we were just sitting at the kitchen table and making small talk.  Felipe was really sweet and said that for these weeks Melissa and I are like adopted daughters to him.  He said that if we ever have a problem while we are here we can come to him, except for money, haha.  He also said that if I ever have any questions about what he is saying or don't understand something, I should stop him and he will try to help me understand.  Him and Veronica are really good about asking me if I know certain words and stopping to explain them to me.  He likes to joke around a lot too, and he also tries to learn English.  He will ask us how we are, and we will answer in Spanish, then we will ask him and he will try to answer in English.  He says he will teach us Spanish and we will teach him English.  


Felipe was also in the Military for awhile and told us some really cool stories from when he was in the service.  One of the stories he told was when he was about 18 and first starting to fight and was still a little nieve about things.  He said they were driving their army car on the road and it was really icy.  All of a sudden a little boy slipped on the eyes, fell on his knees, and slid under the car.  They were in a bad neighborhood and he said that you never stop your car or else you will probably get attacked.  But because of the boy who slid underneath, Felipe said to stop the car.  Then a whole bunch of other people came up  and pointed their guns at Felipe and everyone else who was in the car.  This was the part where I got a little confused, but somehow or another, guns ended up being  pointed at this little boy, and they said "We'll let you go if you let this boy go."    So the boy was used as bait to help them pass through.  It was really cool the way he told it though.  


Tonight was really fun at dinner. Their daughters Veronica and Estella left so it was just Cristina, Felipe, Melissa, and I.   The dinner was really fun.  It tasted good, and also we were just joking around and laughing and having fun.  Cristina kept piling more and more food on Felipe's plate and Felipe was like no, I can't eat any more.  Then he said that the meal he was going to eat was the biggest sin he has ever committed.  Then he was joking about how he would need to take a siesta after, and then how Siestas are a national sport.  If our teacher asks us what it the most popular national sports are we say 'siestas' hahaha.  I also learned some new words at dinner.  Felipe will always address me as "Senorita Julia" (pronounced Hoolia).   He will say do you know this word, Senorita Julia?  So I learned that broma means joke and pepina means cucumber.  Good to know!  I am going to start writing down all the new words I learn.  Then after dinner Cristina started singing, and it was just really fun and in a lot of ways reminded me of my family at home because we sing a lot.  It also made me realize that people aren't all that different no matter where you live.  I think I had it in my mind that Spaniards are really serious and boring, but they are actually just like us and like to joke around and have a good time!

Segovia!!

Yesterday we took a field trip to Segovia!  Segovia is a city in Spain about 2 hours from Valladolid.  It was so beautiful! I liked it because it was small and kind of in the country.  There were mountains, and it had a lot of history.  Some of the buildings have been there since the first century.  The history in Spain is really cool because a lot of the buildings are so old, where in the United States our country hasn't even been around for as long as some of the buildings in Spain have.  Here are some pictures of Segovia...

Then this morning we went to Mass with our family.  I didn't really understand any of it, and also am not used to going to a Catholic church, but it was still kind of cool.  We were talking to our host dad after and he said that usually after church people go to bars and get a glass of wine and talk for awhile.  I thought that was funny because no one does that in the United States, but at the same time it would be nice to just sit, talk, and relax after church. So after church we toured this war museum in Valladolid (free on Sundays), and then had a glass of wine at the bar.  Then we went home for lunch.  We had paella, which is basically rice and sea food, it was good, but a little intimidating because all the seafood in it still had the shells and eyes on them! That's how all the seafood is served here.  Also, the name of this blog and url are different, so for all my readers, if you forget how to get to this blog, the url is juliagross.blogspot.com.  Also, thanks to everyone who actually reads this! It makes me feel more connected to ya'll! Gracias y Adios!