So, some of you may be giving up on my blog here because you are either thinking that I gave up on it or that I forgot about it. Well, neither of those things are true. The fact is I have been really busy over the past couple of weeks. Anyway, I have been told that y'all back in Colorado want me to write a tad about how skiing in the Alps compared with skiing in the Rockies, so I will go ahead and include that in this post. So, I'll go ahead and start with skiing:
After skiing in both the Alps and the Rockies, I am not able to say which was better or which I liked better. Skiing is great in my opinion, whether you do it in the Alps or the Rockies, so for me one is not better than the other. Anyway, while there were a few easily-noticed differences, overall it was more or less the same.
The first difference is one that you hear from everyone who skies regularly and has skied in both ranges is the snow. And this is really the first difference you notice when getting off the lift for your first run. The snow just feels different. I can't really explain it, but it just feels different. I tried explaining it to my family here, and I tried explaining it to my family in Colorado, but I find that most feelings cannot be adequately expressed in words, and I am definitely not capable of explaining this with words. So, if you want to know what I am talking about when I say it feels different, you'll have to see for yourself.
The second big difference is the lifts. First of all, many of the lifts (probably between 1/3 and 1/2) are surface lifts, whereas almost all of the lifts at resorts in the Rockies are aerial lifts. The other difference I noticed was that the resort is big enough and spread out enough that there were never really any lift lines, which I liked a lot. The thing is though, that, whereas we Americans are used to lines and generally are polite and patient waiting our turns, the Europeans are sort of assholes. They all (especially my host dad) seem to believe that waiting is for other people. Their attitude is cut as many people as you can, as fast as you can, until you get onto the lift. This really bugged me. Now, I can be an asshole to my friends, and that doesn't bug me a lot, because that is a part of a lot of friendships. I can also be an asshole to people serving me in restaurants of coffee shops if they are incompetent and if I am already ticked, and I don't beat myself up for doing that. But, being an asshole to complete strangers that are stuck in the same situation as you, I mean I can't even think of a word to describe how I feel about doing that. I mean, you have to be pretty low to do that. Now, don't interpret this as me calling my host dad the scum of the earth, because, in fact, I really like him, and all of the family here, but there are just some things that tick me off, such as this. So I would end up between 10 and 20 people back in the line. Anyway, back to what I should be writing about.
The third, and probably last, difference that you really notice is your surroundings. Whereas it is almost all trees until the uppermost slopes in the Rockies, it is almost no trees until the bottommost slopes in the Alps. I have to say, it the lack of clearly defined runs caused by this through me off pretty much the whole week I was there, and it was probably the thing that I had the hardest time getting used to. The other thing that you might be expecting to see in this paragraph is the difference in the surrounding mountains. But there wasn't really any definable difference. In both ranges, the views from the top of the slopes are incredible and beautiful and all of those other similar, wonderful adjectives often used to describe views of nature.
I lied (I thought of this while writing the above paragraph), there was one other easily noticed difference, and that was the eating places. While the eating places are placed similarly and appear more or less the same in both places, the way they are set up is a tad different. The on-slope restaurants in the Alps feel a bit fancier and more formal than the ones in the Rockies. In reality, when I now think about it, they really aren't that different. In both places they are cafeteria style, where you go in, pick up a tray, pick up the food you want, pay, and go to a table to eat. The thing though is that it feels much more formal in the restaurants in Europe. They are smaller restaurants, usually aren't as crowded, and are furnished a bit nicer, and so you get a formal feel when you enter.
And now it is March, and I still haven't finished this post, and so, I am still sorry I have been taking so long. But at least it is for a good reason - I have been busy. Busy with school, busy with basketball, and busy planning a trip with some of my friends for right before I return home. And so, I haven't had a lot of time to write. Anyway, to continue...
The other day, I went to a festival in a small town a bit outside Madrid to watch a bullfight. . .
Well, I just finished going through the pictures from the bullfight, and I have decided that I am going to tell you all what happened by using the pictures, but because of the number of pictures, I am going to do that in a later post.
So, on to the AFS orientation:
We had our second obligatory AFS orientation in Toledo. Overall, it was a lot better than the first, but still was quite lacking. Anyway, everyone from the AFS Madrid group met in a bus station in Madrid at 9 AM Saturday morning. We then took a bus to Toledo, where we arrived around 10:30 or 10:45. We then walked from the bus station to the train station, where we met a pair of students that had come in from Valladolid to do the orientation with us. We then walked about a kilometer uphill to the hostel we were staying in. The hostel was inside an old, castle-like building, and was actually quite nice. The room I was in was quite spacious and had a beautiful view of Toledo across the river. Anyway, the activities we did were similar to the ones we did at the first orientation, not super fun, but not incredibly boring and sucky either. The thing that made this one a tad better though was that we didn't stay in the hostel the whole time. Although it was only for a couple of hours and was part of a scavenger hunt, we did at one point get the opportunity to go into Toledo to walk around. Toledo was quite nice and pretty. If I had the opportunity to pick where I was going to go to visit in Spain, I probably wouldn't go there again, but for a place to spend a few hours walking around in, it was quite nice. Anyway, other than that, and getting to see some of the other students again, there isn't anything all that exciting to tell about it.
Well, I am going to finally publish this post now. It has been awhile since I published, and again I am sorry for that. Also I am sorry if there are any major spelling errors or any parts of the above post that just didn't make a lot of since - I am feeling too lazy to proof-read it, so it is quite possible that there are errors above. If not, well then I am pretty amazing at writing. So, anyway, till next time.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Birthday
Well, today is my Grandma's birthday. I was originally going to send a postcard, but since I have yet to mail off the Christmas presents, I kind of knew that the postcard wasn't really going to be sent on time (although it will be sent before the end of my time here). So, as a "temporary" place holder for the postcard, I am writing this post.
Now, if I had to guess, I would say that Nonna would ask me "How is it going in Spain?", "Are you enjoying your time there?", and "What have you been doing?". Normally, the answers to those questions would be "Good", "Yeah, definitely", and "Not much. You know, just normal stuff like school and basketball". But, because it is her birthday, I will go into a bit more detail:
So, how has it been going?
Well, it has been going pretty damn great. I am loving everything about here. My family here is perfect, my friends are great, the chicks are hot. Really, the only thing that could be better is school. It is a tad boring, but I am passing most of my classes (minus Lengua, Philosophy, and CMC or Sciences for the Contemporary World). But overall, I am loving it here.
Well, am I enjoying my time here?
Without a doubt. You could infer from my above answer that I am enjoying it here. I mean, and this will be a tad cliche but, What's not to enjoy?
Now, what have I been doing?
Well, only having what is probably the best year of my life so far. Now, I don't know if Nonna has been reading my blog since I don't think she has a computer, and if she does I am almost positive that she doesn't use it, so I will go ahead and give a brief summary of what I have been doing since I got here. (If you want more detail, Nonna, feel free to head over to your oldest daughter's house, have her put my blog up on her computer, and read my earlier and future posts). So, starting from the beginning, here is what I have been doing:
In September, I arrived in Madrid, and met some of my fellow exchange students. I then got picked up in Madrid by my host family, and was introduced to their home in the town of Soto del Real. My second day there, I woke up to find almost all of my host dad's family getting ready to eat, and so I met all of them. After a couple of days there, I went out with Dani to meet some of his friends for the first time. As the month continued, I met more of his friends. We then went to the birthday of a girl named Carol, and there I met the rest of the group of kids Dani usually hung out with. School then started, and I met my new classmates and teachers. I also got to see just how much I could understand in Spanish (at that point, not a whole lot). Basketball also started, and I met my new team and coach. Then, as the month ended, we headed to a town about two hours away, where I met my host mom's parents and one of her brothers. And then came October.
October wasn't really as busy as September. I turned 17, and the following weekend celebrated and met the rest of my host mom's family. School continued, and my understanding of Spanish improved. I had an AFS orientation, and got to hang out with my fellow AFSers from the Madrid area. As I listened to them talk about their problems and how they were missing home, I realized that I was incredibly lucky with my placement and that I hadn't really been missing home a whole lot. Then, Halloween came, and I spent it hanging out with friends and realizing that winter was coming.
And so I entered into November, my third month here. I spent the first part missing my AFS friends that I connected so well with. I then got slammed with a week full of exams. The weather started getting colder, and I we started to hang out inside more often on the weekends. Dani's friends stopped being "Dani's friends" and started to become "my friends". Thanksgiving passed, and I missed everyone back home a bit more than usual.
And around rolled December. I got to see the majority of my AFS buds again as we did a Free Hugs Campaign event and followed that up with a lunch the next day. I again had a week full of exams before escaping into Winter Break. Christmas was a quite affair. Home started being Boulder, and Soto started being home. New Year's Eve was spent with Esperanza's family, and New Year's morning was spent celebrating at my friend's house.
January started with a 24 hour bus trip to the French Alps, where I spent the week skiing. The week ended with another shitty bus ride, and I returned to school. The weekends were spent indoors instead of outdoors as the temperature continued to drop. Basketball continued, as did school, and life in general.
And so came February. I went to see bulls for the first time, and the following weekend headed out to Toledo to have another AFS orientation, which was better than the first. Carnaval came, and I partied with all of my friends here. And then I realized that I am more than halfway done as I started choosing classes for my senior year at Boulder High.
And now I am here, sitting at my computer in my house here in the wonderful little town of Soto Del Real, in the Madrid province of Spain. And as I have been writing this, I have realized just how much I miss all of you in Boulder.... Zero.
Just kidding. I have actually realized that I miss all of you a ton, and am really wishing that I could be having dinner with all of you tonight.
Happy Birthday Nonna. I love and miss you all.
-Nico
P.S. Another post about the ski trip and the early part of February is in progress and should be posted before the week ends.
Now, if I had to guess, I would say that Nonna would ask me "How is it going in Spain?", "Are you enjoying your time there?", and "What have you been doing?". Normally, the answers to those questions would be "Good", "Yeah, definitely", and "Not much. You know, just normal stuff like school and basketball". But, because it is her birthday, I will go into a bit more detail:
So, how has it been going?
Well, it has been going pretty damn great. I am loving everything about here. My family here is perfect, my friends are great, the chicks are hot. Really, the only thing that could be better is school. It is a tad boring, but I am passing most of my classes (minus Lengua, Philosophy, and CMC or Sciences for the Contemporary World). But overall, I am loving it here.
Well, am I enjoying my time here?
Without a doubt. You could infer from my above answer that I am enjoying it here. I mean, and this will be a tad cliche but, What's not to enjoy?
Now, what have I been doing?
Well, only having what is probably the best year of my life so far. Now, I don't know if Nonna has been reading my blog since I don't think she has a computer, and if she does I am almost positive that she doesn't use it, so I will go ahead and give a brief summary of what I have been doing since I got here. (If you want more detail, Nonna, feel free to head over to your oldest daughter's house, have her put my blog up on her computer, and read my earlier and future posts). So, starting from the beginning, here is what I have been doing:
In September, I arrived in Madrid, and met some of my fellow exchange students. I then got picked up in Madrid by my host family, and was introduced to their home in the town of Soto del Real. My second day there, I woke up to find almost all of my host dad's family getting ready to eat, and so I met all of them. After a couple of days there, I went out with Dani to meet some of his friends for the first time. As the month continued, I met more of his friends. We then went to the birthday of a girl named Carol, and there I met the rest of the group of kids Dani usually hung out with. School then started, and I met my new classmates and teachers. I also got to see just how much I could understand in Spanish (at that point, not a whole lot). Basketball also started, and I met my new team and coach. Then, as the month ended, we headed to a town about two hours away, where I met my host mom's parents and one of her brothers. And then came October.
October wasn't really as busy as September. I turned 17, and the following weekend celebrated and met the rest of my host mom's family. School continued, and my understanding of Spanish improved. I had an AFS orientation, and got to hang out with my fellow AFSers from the Madrid area. As I listened to them talk about their problems and how they were missing home, I realized that I was incredibly lucky with my placement and that I hadn't really been missing home a whole lot. Then, Halloween came, and I spent it hanging out with friends and realizing that winter was coming.
And so I entered into November, my third month here. I spent the first part missing my AFS friends that I connected so well with. I then got slammed with a week full of exams. The weather started getting colder, and I we started to hang out inside more often on the weekends. Dani's friends stopped being "Dani's friends" and started to become "my friends". Thanksgiving passed, and I missed everyone back home a bit more than usual.
And around rolled December. I got to see the majority of my AFS buds again as we did a Free Hugs Campaign event and followed that up with a lunch the next day. I again had a week full of exams before escaping into Winter Break. Christmas was a quite affair. Home started being Boulder, and Soto started being home. New Year's Eve was spent with Esperanza's family, and New Year's morning was spent celebrating at my friend's house.
January started with a 24 hour bus trip to the French Alps, where I spent the week skiing. The week ended with another shitty bus ride, and I returned to school. The weekends were spent indoors instead of outdoors as the temperature continued to drop. Basketball continued, as did school, and life in general.
And so came February. I went to see bulls for the first time, and the following weekend headed out to Toledo to have another AFS orientation, which was better than the first. Carnaval came, and I partied with all of my friends here. And then I realized that I am more than halfway done as I started choosing classes for my senior year at Boulder High.
And now I am here, sitting at my computer in my house here in the wonderful little town of Soto Del Real, in the Madrid province of Spain. And as I have been writing this, I have realized just how much I miss all of you in Boulder.... Zero.
Just kidding. I have actually realized that I miss all of you a ton, and am really wishing that I could be having dinner with all of you tonight.
Happy Birthday Nonna. I love and miss you all.
-Nico
P.S. Another post about the ski trip and the early part of February is in progress and should be posted before the week ends.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Vars
Well, it has been nearly a month since my last post, and I am sorry. I have been thinking about posting for the past 2.5 weeks, but every time I think about it I say to myself "you know, I don't feel like writing today; I guess I'll just do it tomorrow." Well, I still don't feel like writing, so instead of writing about my ski trip, I'll just post some pictures and write about it in a later post when I feel like writing again.
Well, if I ever regain the willingness to write, I'll post again about whatever is new, so, until then.
View out the window of the apartment we stayed in.
Looking down from the lift on the way to my first run of the season.
My cousin, Augusto
Dani
The view from the top of the chair that we started each day on. This is looking from the far edge of the Vars side out towards the rest of the Vars area. Over the other side of the mountain featured in the picture is a bowl area and another mountain. On the other side of the second mountain is the Risoul part of the ski resort.
My cousin on one of the tow lifts at the resort. Surface lifts are much more common here in Europe than they are in the USA
Dani jumping
Augusto stopping after a jump
A picture taken from behind my goggle lens. I got a bit bored on one of the chairs.
Well, if I ever regain the willingness to write, I'll post again about whatever is new, so, until then.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Catch-up / New Years
NOTE: As you will soon see, I have been a tad busy over the past few weeks, which is why this post is coming a bit late.
Well, to put it simply, a lot of stuff has happened since my last post. So, as a result, this post has the potential to end up a tad long. In other words, unless you are prepared to suffer through multiple paragraphs of my shitty writing, now would be a good time to leave.
Anyway, for those of you that are still reading, I will go ahead and start with the first thing that happened since my last post. So, here goes:
Two Fridays ago (the 16th), we had an optional AFS event in Madrid. Although it was optional, I decided to go because I thought it would be nice to hang out with my AFS friends. Also, there wasn't really anything going on in Soto, so I wasn't missing anything. Anyway this event was one of those Free Hugs things. The AFS Madrid chapter organized it in part because it would be fun, but also so that they could distribute some fliers and raise awareness about AFS in order to recruit more host families. Not many of us went (just 6 of us that are here for the year, but there were also some Spanish kids who just got back from other countries who came). Anyway, we all had cardboard signs that had written "Abrazos Gratis" or "Free Hugs" on them. We started out giving out hugs in the Puerta Del Sol in Madrid, but at one point we wandered over to Plaza Mayor for a little while before returning to Sol. We ended up giving out hugs for about two hours, and for the most part it went as you would expect. While some people came to get hugs, the majority gave weird looks and muttered things along the lines of "Free hugs? Yeah right". Anyway, most of the people I hugged were rather normal, except for a couple. One was dressed in a gorilla costume, which is always weird if it is not Halloween. Another asked for a kiss, and then proceeded to open his mouth to show me the two-inch long barbell piercing his tongue. As one might expect, I declined and slowly took a few steps backwards. After giving out hugs, we went to the "Museum of Ham", which is a bar known for their ham sandwiches, and I ordered and ate a ham sandwich, which was quite tasty. After eating, we hung out for awhile before we all returned to our respective homes.
On Saturday (the 17th), I went to see a choir performance. There were three choirs that performed, and my Spanish mom was in one of them. For the most part, the music and singing was quite good. While I recognized some of the songs, there were other Spanish ones that I hadn't heard before but that were quite nice. All three of the choirs were very good, and they all performed the songs to near perfection, although the second was missing a fair number of people, so a couple of their songs came out a bit odd. Overall though, I quite enjoyed the experience and the music was quite pleasant.
The following Sunday (the 18th), we had and AFS reunion with our host families. Unfortunately, my family couldn't come because they were celebrating my sister's birthday for the second time, so I went with the family of Hanna. Hanna is a Finnish girl who is also in Soto, and her brother and I had met and hung out before. Anyway, for the reunion we all had to bring some kind of food that is commonly eaten around Christmas time. I attempted to make "pigs in a blanket", but due to lack of proper ingredients, they didn't turn out incredibly pretty, but they still tasted decent. The reunion was fun for the most part, and it was nice seeing some of my AFS friends and meeting some of there families. And the food was quite tasty (many people brought cookies or some kind of desert, so I was happy).
On Thursday (the 22nd), I had my last day of school for the trimester. Everyone arrived at school around 10:30, we received our grades, my class ate breakfast together, and then we left at 11:00. My grades are as follows (from highest to lowest):
- Lengua Extranjera I (Inglés) 9
- Matemáticas I 8
- Física y Química 7
- Educación Física 7
- Dibujo Técnico I 7
- Tecnología Industrial I 7
- Ciencias Para El Mundo Contemporáneo 3
- Lengua Castellana y Literatura I 0
- Filosofía y Ciudadania -
The philosophy teacher originally didn't want to give me a grade (I think she ended up putting a 0), so I ended up with a dash. Anyway, after getting out of school, a bunch of us all went to a bar to hang out before going to the park. We ended up hanging out until around 10 at night, so it was much more fun than a normal school day.
Christmas and Christmas Eve are in another post, so I am not going to bother repeating.
On Monday (the 26th), my host brother and I went to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid around 11, where we met up with my Spanish grandparents and a couple of cousins to see a Belén, or nativity scene. It was extremely intricate and quite interesting. The whole time we were walking around it, my abuela was explaining to me all of the different parts of the nativity scene, so by the end of it, I was more or less an expert on nativity scenes. (My cousin has some photos, so when I get them, I will try to remember to post them). After viewing the scene, we went to the house of my abuelos to eat. After lunch, we walked to a building at which we met my sister in order to watch Cirque du Soleil. It was incredible. If you haven't been to Cirque du Soleil before, you have to go. If you have, well you already know you want to go again. Although there were a few mistakes during the show, overall it was amazingly well done. Some of the stunts that they do are just crazy difficult, but they still manage to execute them without mistakes. My favorite stunt was probably one during which included a man, a woman, and a pair of ladders. To start, the woman climbed onto the man's head. The man then climbed an unsupported ladder until we was standing on the penultimate rung. He was then handed another ladder which he held above his head. The woman then climbed that one until she was balancing on one hand on the top rung of the second ladder. It simply blew my mind. The amount of balance you need to be able to do that is just incredible. Anyway, after the circus ended, we returned back home and hung out with friends.
On Wednesday (the 28th), my host brother and I once again took the bus to Madrid. This time though, we went to Santiago Bernabeu, the stadium of Real Madrid. We met my other abuelo there, and we went to do the stadium tour. I had done it before, but I didn't really remember much and it was much better doing it with my abuelo as a guide (he knows a lot about Real Madrid). I have a few pictures, so I will include those in the next post with a tad bit more information. After the tour, we went to eat at the apartment of my abuelos, and after that we returned to Soto. Again, we spent the night hanging out with friends.
I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything special on Thursday and Friday, but am not positive. I think that all I really did was hang out with friends and set up for New Years at my friends house.
New Years Eve / New Years:
We left the house on the 31st around 10:00. My host family, minus my sister (like always), drove to Madrid and went to the Prado, the big and well-known museum in Madrid. We didn't spend nearly as much time as you could there, but we saw all of the more famous stuff. It was quite incredible the amount of artwork there - one could easily spend a day looking around. It is interesting because my appreciation for art and that kind of stuff has grown a fair bit over the past four months (already four months!). Before coming here, I just wasn't really into that stuff. After the museum, we had lunch, where I had my second real hamburger in Spain. It left me full but happy. After lunch we walked to Sol because my Spanish parents had to go to El Corte Ingles. I was extremely happy because it gave my time to do something I have been wanting to do since I learned I was placed close to Madrid - go to FNAC. I realize that to most of you that doesn't seem very exciting. Some of you probably don't know what FNAC is, so you will probably go look it up on google right about now. Then you will probably decide that it isn't really that exciting. I mean, you could say that it is just another big store that sells electronics and books, and you would be right. But, I really like that store, and, just like the Prado, it would be easy to spend a day looking around inside. Anyway, after we were done shopping, we went to my Spanish uncle's house to celebrate New Years with my host mom's family. It was quite fun. For dinner we had a stuffed turkey that was delicious (my abuela is a master cook). Then, around 11:50, we switched on the TV. In Spain, the tradition is as follows:
- 11:50 ish - turn on the TV
- 12:00 - watch the ball drop in Sol in Madrid. After the chimes for the quarter hours, the chimes for the hour start. Every time the clock chimes, you eat a grape (12 grapes in total for you that are bad at math or just not very smart).
- 12:01 - start yelling and hugging and kissing everybody because it is the New Year
And so that is what we all did. We stayed at my Spanish uncle's house listening to music and dancing and singing until 2:30, when we returned to Soto. My brother and I were then dropped off at my friend's house. We had set up his basement with lights and speakers and all. Anyway, we ended up partying there until around 9:00 in the morning, when my brother and I returned home and went to sleep. I was woken up by my Spanish dad around 4:00. We then all had lunch together, and I am now here writing this.
So there you have my holidays in Spain so far as well as an outline of what happened for New Years. I am leaving for the French Alps in 2 and a half hours, so I will post once I return. Anyway, it is now time for me to sit back, pull out my beef jerky, and listen to the Jets game on my computer, so until next time.
Well, to put it simply, a lot of stuff has happened since my last post. So, as a result, this post has the potential to end up a tad long. In other words, unless you are prepared to suffer through multiple paragraphs of my shitty writing, now would be a good time to leave.
Anyway, for those of you that are still reading, I will go ahead and start with the first thing that happened since my last post. So, here goes:
Two Fridays ago (the 16th), we had an optional AFS event in Madrid. Although it was optional, I decided to go because I thought it would be nice to hang out with my AFS friends. Also, there wasn't really anything going on in Soto, so I wasn't missing anything. Anyway this event was one of those Free Hugs things. The AFS Madrid chapter organized it in part because it would be fun, but also so that they could distribute some fliers and raise awareness about AFS in order to recruit more host families. Not many of us went (just 6 of us that are here for the year, but there were also some Spanish kids who just got back from other countries who came). Anyway, we all had cardboard signs that had written "Abrazos Gratis" or "Free Hugs" on them. We started out giving out hugs in the Puerta Del Sol in Madrid, but at one point we wandered over to Plaza Mayor for a little while before returning to Sol. We ended up giving out hugs for about two hours, and for the most part it went as you would expect. While some people came to get hugs, the majority gave weird looks and muttered things along the lines of "Free hugs? Yeah right". Anyway, most of the people I hugged were rather normal, except for a couple. One was dressed in a gorilla costume, which is always weird if it is not Halloween. Another asked for a kiss, and then proceeded to open his mouth to show me the two-inch long barbell piercing his tongue. As one might expect, I declined and slowly took a few steps backwards. After giving out hugs, we went to the "Museum of Ham", which is a bar known for their ham sandwiches, and I ordered and ate a ham sandwich, which was quite tasty. After eating, we hung out for awhile before we all returned to our respective homes.
On Saturday (the 17th), I went to see a choir performance. There were three choirs that performed, and my Spanish mom was in one of them. For the most part, the music and singing was quite good. While I recognized some of the songs, there were other Spanish ones that I hadn't heard before but that were quite nice. All three of the choirs were very good, and they all performed the songs to near perfection, although the second was missing a fair number of people, so a couple of their songs came out a bit odd. Overall though, I quite enjoyed the experience and the music was quite pleasant.
The following Sunday (the 18th), we had and AFS reunion with our host families. Unfortunately, my family couldn't come because they were celebrating my sister's birthday for the second time, so I went with the family of Hanna. Hanna is a Finnish girl who is also in Soto, and her brother and I had met and hung out before. Anyway, for the reunion we all had to bring some kind of food that is commonly eaten around Christmas time. I attempted to make "pigs in a blanket", but due to lack of proper ingredients, they didn't turn out incredibly pretty, but they still tasted decent. The reunion was fun for the most part, and it was nice seeing some of my AFS friends and meeting some of there families. And the food was quite tasty (many people brought cookies or some kind of desert, so I was happy).
On Thursday (the 22nd), I had my last day of school for the trimester. Everyone arrived at school around 10:30, we received our grades, my class ate breakfast together, and then we left at 11:00. My grades are as follows (from highest to lowest):
- Lengua Extranjera I (Inglés) 9
- Matemáticas I 8
- Física y Química 7
- Educación Física 7
- Dibujo Técnico I 7
- Tecnología Industrial I 7
- Ciencias Para El Mundo Contemporáneo 3
- Lengua Castellana y Literatura I 0
- Filosofía y Ciudadania -
The philosophy teacher originally didn't want to give me a grade (I think she ended up putting a 0), so I ended up with a dash. Anyway, after getting out of school, a bunch of us all went to a bar to hang out before going to the park. We ended up hanging out until around 10 at night, so it was much more fun than a normal school day.
Christmas and Christmas Eve are in another post, so I am not going to bother repeating.
On Monday (the 26th), my host brother and I went to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid around 11, where we met up with my Spanish grandparents and a couple of cousins to see a Belén, or nativity scene. It was extremely intricate and quite interesting. The whole time we were walking around it, my abuela was explaining to me all of the different parts of the nativity scene, so by the end of it, I was more or less an expert on nativity scenes. (My cousin has some photos, so when I get them, I will try to remember to post them). After viewing the scene, we went to the house of my abuelos to eat. After lunch, we walked to a building at which we met my sister in order to watch Cirque du Soleil. It was incredible. If you haven't been to Cirque du Soleil before, you have to go. If you have, well you already know you want to go again. Although there were a few mistakes during the show, overall it was amazingly well done. Some of the stunts that they do are just crazy difficult, but they still manage to execute them without mistakes. My favorite stunt was probably one during which included a man, a woman, and a pair of ladders. To start, the woman climbed onto the man's head. The man then climbed an unsupported ladder until we was standing on the penultimate rung. He was then handed another ladder which he held above his head. The woman then climbed that one until she was balancing on one hand on the top rung of the second ladder. It simply blew my mind. The amount of balance you need to be able to do that is just incredible. Anyway, after the circus ended, we returned back home and hung out with friends.
On Wednesday (the 28th), my host brother and I once again took the bus to Madrid. This time though, we went to Santiago Bernabeu, the stadium of Real Madrid. We met my other abuelo there, and we went to do the stadium tour. I had done it before, but I didn't really remember much and it was much better doing it with my abuelo as a guide (he knows a lot about Real Madrid). I have a few pictures, so I will include those in the next post with a tad bit more information. After the tour, we went to eat at the apartment of my abuelos, and after that we returned to Soto. Again, we spent the night hanging out with friends.
I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything special on Thursday and Friday, but am not positive. I think that all I really did was hang out with friends and set up for New Years at my friends house.
New Years Eve / New Years:
We left the house on the 31st around 10:00. My host family, minus my sister (like always), drove to Madrid and went to the Prado, the big and well-known museum in Madrid. We didn't spend nearly as much time as you could there, but we saw all of the more famous stuff. It was quite incredible the amount of artwork there - one could easily spend a day looking around. It is interesting because my appreciation for art and that kind of stuff has grown a fair bit over the past four months (already four months!). Before coming here, I just wasn't really into that stuff. After the museum, we had lunch, where I had my second real hamburger in Spain. It left me full but happy. After lunch we walked to Sol because my Spanish parents had to go to El Corte Ingles. I was extremely happy because it gave my time to do something I have been wanting to do since I learned I was placed close to Madrid - go to FNAC. I realize that to most of you that doesn't seem very exciting. Some of you probably don't know what FNAC is, so you will probably go look it up on google right about now. Then you will probably decide that it isn't really that exciting. I mean, you could say that it is just another big store that sells electronics and books, and you would be right. But, I really like that store, and, just like the Prado, it would be easy to spend a day looking around inside. Anyway, after we were done shopping, we went to my Spanish uncle's house to celebrate New Years with my host mom's family. It was quite fun. For dinner we had a stuffed turkey that was delicious (my abuela is a master cook). Then, around 11:50, we switched on the TV. In Spain, the tradition is as follows:
- 11:50 ish - turn on the TV
- 12:00 - watch the ball drop in Sol in Madrid. After the chimes for the quarter hours, the chimes for the hour start. Every time the clock chimes, you eat a grape (12 grapes in total for you that are bad at math or just not very smart).
- 12:01 - start yelling and hugging and kissing everybody because it is the New Year
And so that is what we all did. We stayed at my Spanish uncle's house listening to music and dancing and singing until 2:30, when we returned to Soto. My brother and I were then dropped off at my friend's house. We had set up his basement with lights and speakers and all. Anyway, we ended up partying there until around 9:00 in the morning, when my brother and I returned home and went to sleep. I was woken up by my Spanish dad around 4:00. We then all had lunch together, and I am now here writing this.
So there you have my holidays in Spain so far as well as an outline of what happened for New Years. I am leaving for the French Alps in 2 and a half hours, so I will post once I return. Anyway, it is now time for me to sit back, pull out my beef jerky, and listen to the Jets game on my computer, so until next time.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas Eve/Christmas
So, as you might expect the holidays are celebrated in different ways than they are in the States. So here is how I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my Spanish family:
Christmas Eve:
I got up around 9 this morning, and at 10 we got into the car and drove down to Madrid. We went in order to see an exhibition about Leonardo Da Vinci. The exhibition started at 11 and it started out with a short 10 minute 3d video about the exhibition. We then went into the adjacent to view the exhibit at our own pace, and it was quite incredible. We spent 4 hours there, which was basically from the time it opened until the time it closed. The exhibit started out with models of some of the inventions Da Vinci drew in his various notebooks. This was probably where I spent the most time looking around. Some of his inventions are incredibly advanced for the age, and it was quite cool seeing all of the models that were built. The next area consisted of a large amount of space given to analyzing the Mona Lisa, but it didn't interest me a lot, so I didn't spend a lot of time there. There were other areas in the exhibition dedicated to Da Vinci's study and his notebooks, and another area with paintings of his disciples, but I didn't spend a lot of time looking at these either. The two other parts that really interested me were the areas dedicated to The Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man. Although the Last Supper area was interesting, my favorite bit was definitely the Vitruvian Man. The exhibit went into great depth about the mathematical elements of it, and that fascinated me. Because the exhibition was temporary, there wasn't pretty much everything was reproductions of the original works, but there was one tiny bit where they had some original drawings by Da Vinci, so that was quite cool. Anyway, I really enjoyed the exhibit.
After the exhibit we returned home to relax a bit and eat lunch. Then at 8 we left to go to the house of cousins on Lorenzo's side. All of his family was there to celebrate Christmas Eve. We ate some normal Spanish appetizers to start. Then, we had salad, followed by big shrimp. After that we had a juicy and tender meat that was quite tasty. For desert we had traditional Spanish holiday treats, such as turrón and polvorón, both of which are extremely tasty. After dinner we played cards for a little while before doing presents. Here, it is not common for a bunch of presents to be opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but because the family was all together, we did a small presents thing. Anyway, about 20 presents were lain out randomly on the table. We then all picked random numbers out of the bag. The person who had number 1 then got to pick a gift, but they could only look at the presents, meaning they couldn't pick it up to feel its weight or poke it to see if it is hard or soft. After the first person picked and opened their gift, the second person did the same. The second person then had the opportunity to trade gifts with everyone who picked before them. This went on until all sixteen of us picked gifts. I ended up picking seventh and ended up with a funky candle. After we finished that we watched a small performance that one of Lorenzo's brothers and his wife had arranged. It was quite odd. And I don't really have the capacity to describe it in words. All I can tell you was that it was quite funny but also quite weird. After that we played cards for awhile more before we left to return home around 2:30.
Christmas Day:
I woke up around 1:00, which was by far the latest I have woken up on Christmas (my brother usually wakes me up around 7:00). I ate breakfast, relaxed, ate lunch, and then we did a small gift exchange. Most people here in Spain exchange gifts on January 6th, but because we will be in France then, we did a small gift exchange on Christmas. The rest of the day was calm. I talked with my parents, with my grandma, and with my aunt and cousins on Skype. Other than that I just relaxed. Christmas Day really isn't a big holiday here, and so as a result we didn't really do anything special, just another rather normal day.
Anyway, there you have my Christmas and Christmas Eve days here in Spain. A lot of stuff has been happening in the past week or two, and I started a post before Christmas Eve, so the start of that one might sound a bit off. Anyway, I will try to publish that one on the 30th or 31st, so until then.
Christmas Eve:
I got up around 9 this morning, and at 10 we got into the car and drove down to Madrid. We went in order to see an exhibition about Leonardo Da Vinci. The exhibition started at 11 and it started out with a short 10 minute 3d video about the exhibition. We then went into the adjacent to view the exhibit at our own pace, and it was quite incredible. We spent 4 hours there, which was basically from the time it opened until the time it closed. The exhibit started out with models of some of the inventions Da Vinci drew in his various notebooks. This was probably where I spent the most time looking around. Some of his inventions are incredibly advanced for the age, and it was quite cool seeing all of the models that were built. The next area consisted of a large amount of space given to analyzing the Mona Lisa, but it didn't interest me a lot, so I didn't spend a lot of time there. There were other areas in the exhibition dedicated to Da Vinci's study and his notebooks, and another area with paintings of his disciples, but I didn't spend a lot of time looking at these either. The two other parts that really interested me were the areas dedicated to The Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man. Although the Last Supper area was interesting, my favorite bit was definitely the Vitruvian Man. The exhibit went into great depth about the mathematical elements of it, and that fascinated me. Because the exhibition was temporary, there wasn't pretty much everything was reproductions of the original works, but there was one tiny bit where they had some original drawings by Da Vinci, so that was quite cool. Anyway, I really enjoyed the exhibit.
After the exhibit we returned home to relax a bit and eat lunch. Then at 8 we left to go to the house of cousins on Lorenzo's side. All of his family was there to celebrate Christmas Eve. We ate some normal Spanish appetizers to start. Then, we had salad, followed by big shrimp. After that we had a juicy and tender meat that was quite tasty. For desert we had traditional Spanish holiday treats, such as turrón and polvorón, both of which are extremely tasty. After dinner we played cards for a little while before doing presents. Here, it is not common for a bunch of presents to be opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but because the family was all together, we did a small presents thing. Anyway, about 20 presents were lain out randomly on the table. We then all picked random numbers out of the bag. The person who had number 1 then got to pick a gift, but they could only look at the presents, meaning they couldn't pick it up to feel its weight or poke it to see if it is hard or soft. After the first person picked and opened their gift, the second person did the same. The second person then had the opportunity to trade gifts with everyone who picked before them. This went on until all sixteen of us picked gifts. I ended up picking seventh and ended up with a funky candle. After we finished that we watched a small performance that one of Lorenzo's brothers and his wife had arranged. It was quite odd. And I don't really have the capacity to describe it in words. All I can tell you was that it was quite funny but also quite weird. After that we played cards for awhile more before we left to return home around 2:30.
Christmas Day:
I woke up around 1:00, which was by far the latest I have woken up on Christmas (my brother usually wakes me up around 7:00). I ate breakfast, relaxed, ate lunch, and then we did a small gift exchange. Most people here in Spain exchange gifts on January 6th, but because we will be in France then, we did a small gift exchange on Christmas. The rest of the day was calm. I talked with my parents, with my grandma, and with my aunt and cousins on Skype. Other than that I just relaxed. Christmas Day really isn't a big holiday here, and so as a result we didn't really do anything special, just another rather normal day.
Anyway, there you have my Christmas and Christmas Eve days here in Spain. A lot of stuff has been happening in the past week or two, and I started a post before Christmas Eve, so the start of that one might sound a bit off. Anyway, I will try to publish that one on the 30th or 31st, so until then.
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