When will the planning be done??

Hellooo everyone. So I realized that in my last post that I forgot to mention something pretty big to me; I'm going to be working at camp again this coming summer!! I'm pretty excited for it; I'll be working on Service Corps again, but if last summer was any indication, I'll be doing a little of everything, which is completely alright with me. The only downside is that I have to be there on May 27th by noon, so I'll barely have any time at home.

So lately I've been feeling like all I do in my free time is look at at bus/train/plane/hostel/hotel websites, trying to plan my trips. I think now everything is set up for our day trip to Toledo, we have bus tickets for the nine of us going to Madrid, and then we have to buy the tickets from Madrid to Toledo at the Madrid bus station. Portugal is almost done now too, all that's left is to reserve the train tickets. For some reason every time we try to buy them online, it doesn't work, so we are probably going to have to go to the train station and get them there. We have our flights from Madrid to Lisbon, and we found a 3 star hotel for about the same price as a hostel, so we'll be staying in a hotel.

I finally got a hold of those two girls, but they can't do anything until after February 13th. The UVA (the university of Valladolid) is having finals right now, except we don't have them since we've only been here 3 weeks. That means that all of the students are doing some hard core studying, so they are kind of busy right now. After that hopefully we will be able to get together.

Last night I went to Cafe España with about 6 people, and there were some jazz musicians playing, a piano, a bass, and a drum set. It sounded pretty good, but it was around 10:30 and we were kind of tired, so it was starting to put us to sleep. We left when they took a break half way through, but by that time we decided that we were hungry, so we wandered around for awhile until we found a Turkish restaurant (not the same one we went to before, but very similar food), and had a second supper there, before returning to our homes and going to sleep. The picture above is what I had to eat, it was really good. This other picture is our dog, Tinko. He's really friendly and hyper. Well, I better go study, I've got my first quiz in geography tomorrow, and I need to review for it. Adios!

Good morning everyone, it's morning because I woke up not too long ago (I was out until 3:30). This week has been pretty good...mostly all that's been happening is school and planning. This coming weekend I'm going to go to Toledo for a day with some friends from school, so we're trying to get that all figured out. Also, some of my new friends from Stevens Point invited me to go to Lisbon, Portugal with them in March for 3 days, so we are trying to figure out transportation and lodging. It looks like we are going to have to take a train from Valladolid to Madrid super late Thursday night, and then a plane in Madrid at 6 in the morning to Lisbon. I think we've found the cheapest way to get there, now it's just the lodging and the attractions. Oh, I finally got my movil (cell phone)! It only took me three tries, but I've finally got it now, and I'm going to put a picture of it up on here.

Last night we had intercambios at the school, where Americans and Spaniards sign up and get together. It's kinda set up like speed-dating (at least what I think speed-dating looks like), but since there were more Americans, some of us doubled up so it was two of us for every Spaniard. It was neat to talk with actually Spaniards, but all of them I talked with were quite a bit older, so I didn't exchange my number with any of them. However, after that the other roomful of people came over to eat snacks. As I was standing there by myself by the snack table these two girls came up to me and started talking with me. We actually ended up talking for quite awhile (we were the last students there), and all of my friends ended up leaving, which was a problem, because I was going to go to McDonalds with them, and I had no idea where it was. So instead I ended up walking with Isolda and Medium to the Plaza Mayor, where they went to catch a bus, and I trying calling a bunch of people before I finally got a hold of someone. I'm probably going to get together with them sometime this week, and I'm looking forward to having a chance to practice my Spanish with actual Spaniards. I ended up going to a few clubs with friends from Stevens Point, and those were pretty interesting. I ended up having to pretend to be the boyfriend of one of them because there were a couple of creepy guys at Sotabanco (one of the clubs). Today I'm going to try to go shopping for some t-shirts, possibly with Erin, and I'm going to go walking with some friends later on as well, I think in the Campo Grande. I'm really excited as it warms up (high of 43 today) and dries out to spend more time in the Campo Grande, it's really a cool place. That being said, I probably should go do something productive (like homework) before I go hang out with people.

To Segovia and beyond...

Hello everyone, I just got back from our first school trip, this one to Segovia, about 1 1/2 hours south of Valladolid. We didn't leave until 9:30ish, and when we got there the first thing we did was split up into two groups, one with Alfredo, and one with Agustin (two of our teachers). We walked around the city, and saw a bunch of things such as the Casa de los Picos, Iglesia de San Martin, the Catedral, a statue of Juan Bravo, and the Roman Aqueduct (very famous, I'll put a picture up here). After that we had some free time to eat lunch and look around the town, so a group of us went and ate on a ledge overlooking the Plaza Mayor. We were going to go to a contemporary art museum, but it was closed, and the other museum we were going to go to was closed as well. After that, we decided it would be really cool to go into the main cathedral, because it looked really cool from the outside, only to find out it cost 5 euros to get in; so much for that. We ended up just walking around the town, and some people bought a few things, scarves, glasses, etc. I had to go buy some batteries for my camera, because my last two died during free time. After free time was over, we went to Alcázar, a big castle in Segovia. It was a pretty interesting place (at least to me), and there was a tall tower on the front that we got to go up in. That was our last stop, so we headed back to Plaza Mayor, and then took the buses back home. I'm really looking forward to the other excursions now, if they are anything like this one. Other than that, I haven't been up to too much other than school. The only other adventure lately has been me trying to get a cheap cell phone for the past week. I've been trying to get a cheap phone from HappyMovil, and they have them at the Phone House, of which there are two of in Valladolid. I went to both of them, only to find out they were out of that phone, and wouldn't have more for a few days. A few days later I went back, only to find out they didn't have anymore yet. The lady then told me that there was another Phone House south of the city, and they had the phone there. The lady then went to give me a SIM card, only to find out that they were out, and not only in this store, but in all three, so the phone wouldn't do me any good anyways. I'm planning on going back this comming week, and hopefully I'll finally be able to get a phone. Without a phone it's really hard for me to get a hold of people when we aren't at school, so I haven't really been able to hang out with people during the week. Well, it's almost time for me to go eat supper now, so I will leave it at that. Have a great day everyone!

If only all school was this nice...

Well, today was day 4 of school. From what we've had so far, I'm not too worried about my classes. The teachers have been teaching international students for awhile now, so they have a good idea of what works well for us. We don't really have much to read for our classes, and if we do get homework, it's very little. I probably have half an hour of homework tonight, and it's not too hard. It's funny, but I feel like I have a lot more free time over here in Spain, even though I walk everywhere. I think part of it is I have less homework, and the other reason is I have all of my classes at once, so when I get done, I just have the rest of the day to eat, sleep, or do whatever else needs to be done. For example, this afternoon, after my lunch, I went over to the Campo Grande, and walked around and took some pictures with Kari, one of the girls from Eau Claire. After that we just went to a cafe (the same one I went too a few days ago) to get something hot to drink. I really enjoy having this time to just spend with people. The only thing I don't like is that Spaniards don't really have people over to their houses, so if you want to spend time with someone, you have to go out somewhere, which usually means spending money. Once the weather is nicer, that won't be that big of a problem, because being outside will be really nice then. All of these pictures are from the Campo Grande.

Sunday

Well this was my first Sunday in Valladolid, and about 6 of us checked out a church recommended to us by some of our friends who had studied abroad in Valladolid in the past and had really like the church. I had a GREAT time. Soon after we sat down one of the men from the church came over and introduced himself, so we got to talk with him a little bit, as well as with the girls in front of us, who were members of the same study abroad program as us, but from Stevens Point. It was really nice to just be able to worship, even if it was in a different language (some of the songs had been translated from English, so I recognized some of the tunes). I'm pleased to say that I understood a majority of the sermon, and was able to get something out of it. I'm really looking forward to spending more time at this church, and getting to know the people more. After lunch I had an urge to go out walking through the city by myself, so I did. I got over to the Plaza Mayor, and there just happened to be a girl from my school there, waiting for another girl from Eau Claire. We went into a cafe in the plaza, and I had Chocolate con churros (which was really good). The chocolate is really rich, it's almost like drinking liquid chocolate (hence the name, no?). While we were sitting there, four others from our program came walking in randomly, and we ended up hanging out for a good hour and a half. I've got school tomorrow, so I probably won't be up as late tonight (meaning not 3 or 4, which is actually kinda early for over here). Buenas noches!

What's all this white stuff?

Well, I guess the snow from Wisconsin decided to follow me here, because it has been snowing all over different parts of Spain, including Valladolid (it's still snowing now). Apparently it's so bad in Madrid that they even closed the airport. I guess they got a bunch of ice too, but it's really not that bad, assuming you have experience driving in this kind of weather, which a lot of them don't (at least not enough of it). On the plus side, it meant a bunch of us Americans got to have a snowball fight with a group of random Spaniards in the Plaza Mayor, so that was cool. I'm not sure which side won. Last night I also ended up going to a couple of discotecas (dance clubs) with friends, which was all right. I didn't really end up dancing with anyone or anything like that, so I pretty much just stood around or danced by myself. I personally didn't find it too terribly exciting, so we'll see if I can find a way to make it more exciting. It's my first weekend in Valladolid, but I don't really have any big plans, other than trying to find a church tomorrow that some friends recommended. I think I'll probably go for a walk to the campo grande (a big park near my house) as well. It's getting close to 12:30 now, and I still haven't done anything super productive, so I probably should get going now. Until next time, adios.

First day of school...

Hello from Spain todos. Today was my first day of classes. We took a placement test yesterday, and got put into group based on our skill level. I'm in a group with a few friends, so that's nice. We also took a walking tour of the town after the test, so I feel like I have a better understanding of the town. That night all the students involved with the study abroad program (from all the schools) got together for a big dinner. On the way we saw a protest about Israel attacking Palestine, so we made sure to stay clear of that. Classes today went pretty well, we only had two subjects today, out of the 4 or 5 we have in total. Some of them we have tomorrow, others not until next week. For our classes we need to buy a workbook, so a bunch of us met after our siesta and went out shopping. A bunch of people also bought cell phones, but I didn't have any ID with me, so I couldn't buy one. I might go get one later, I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do tonight, either hang out with friends our just stay at home, we shall see. Until later, adios.

Hola todos, estoy en Valladolid ahora. We (those of us that stayed at the hostel) all slept past our alarms, so we got up later than planned and had to rush around. We didn't miss the bus or anything, so that was good. We met our host family, and found out the information the school sent us wasn't very accurate. Sara is actually less than 55, Ruth is actually 18, and they have a dog, not a bird. Sara gave us a really big lunch; I can't remember the last time I had a lunch that big, but it was all really good. We have our placement tests tomorrow, and start classes the day after that. I'm looking forward to exploring the town, and I'm sure I'll do lots of that tomorrow trying to find the school! Until later, adios!

Arriving in Spain...

Well, I'm in Spain now. Both of my flights went well, and all of my luggage got here (I didn't think it was going to at first), and I even made a new friend; Javier, a Spaniard sitting next to me, so that was cool. We found our hostel in Madrid, after going the wrong way only once, and it's pretty sweet. I put a few pictures on already, as I'm sure you can see. Tomorrow we leave for Valladolid, and meet our host families then. Until then, adios!