Eck

I tried my first flan today! Not so great. Definitely worse than I expected. But apparently none of the student's Julia has had liked it. And I didn't feel so bad not liking it because of that reason but also because I've basically liked everything else she's fed me!
But my advice, if you are an American, chances are you probably won't like flan. It's that much of a cultural difference.

Today

This afternoon I went out by myself and just kinda walked around la plaza del Pilar. It's so pretty there, and definitely reminds me so much of NYC. I went to the Disney store (:D) and a couple of other cute little places and got some Zaragoza tourist items but also some practical winter-wear. I had three Chinese people screaming in my ear at a stand asking the lady how much something cost but they were asking in English so I ended up translating even though they were cutting me in line. I'm just a nice person like that.
I realized today that this is definitely my favorite season, fall, even though Spain basically goes from summer to winter. I also realized that I really love it here. I love being independent and this gives me that opportunity every day.
Also, the other thing that was almost, and maybe even more exciting than the Disney store was a TEA SHOP! (Yes Mom, that's what I said :)) Super excited to buy some more tea soon :)

reminds me so much of New York! this is in the plaza del pilar

saw this at the bus stop yesterday! translation is I want you, princess or I love you, princess. so cute!

Hmmm

You know you're from New England, when your host mom says she was freezing last night and had goosebumps and you feel bad because you were still hot enough to sleep in a sports bra with the window open...

huzzah

Before I forget, I had an epiphany tonight. I realized that for the first time since I've been here while walking home tonight, I really felt like I was where I was supposed to be. that feeling of security in knowing you are where you belong for at least that one moment in your life even if it never happens or feels that again. it was really great! and motivating to walk faster to make sure I was home before curfew :)
of course I miss the states, my parents, noodles and red door.
but I know this is where I'm meant to be right now and everything happens for a reason!

Curfew

It's amazing to be able to walk down the street at 11:45 at night to be home for a midnight curfew and be completely safe. It's almost inconceivable where I come from. Especially, a teenage girl alone with money. Unheard of.
Today after school we went to a girls house because she lives in a gated community in a huge house with a pool in her neighborhood! I didn't go swimming, and I think I was the only smart one of the group in that sense. It was fun, nonetheless.
Then we all met up later at the school for a movie night. It was our students and other Spanish students from a program called Joven Erasmous (not sure of spelling) and we watched a super weird movie but didn't get to finish it because the restaurant had our sandwiches ready and waiting for us. They were okay but not filling enough so my friend and I went exploring.
We ended up at a park with a gorgeous fountain, a playground and a concert! The concert wasn't that good, and neither was the expensive food we wasted our money on, so we spent our time in the playground singing show tunes to each other. Or basically me singing show tunes to her to cheer her up. It was loads of fun, and I didn't care who was staring!
On our way to our bus stops, we passed Señor Morse and his dog! So they accompanied us back to the street where we were headed.
It wasn't a super exciting night with tons of cool stuff but it was a relaxing and fun night, which is pretty much exactly what I needed. Although I think I could have done without the very strange movie (titled Obaba). I definitely do NOT recommend it.
That's all for tonight. I can barely stay away to write this!
Also! It was nice to talk to Andrew Marco, Steph or Dandy May Hoag, and a little bit to Peeetaahhh! tonight! Love you guys :)

Field Trip

Today, our myths and legends class went on an hour and a half field trip, basically just walking around Zaragoza. It was great! We got to see different places and streets that had to do with the fiestas del Pilar coming up on October 12 that last for 9 days! I'm SO excited to experience the hustle and bustle of the streets with thousands, even millions of people! There are parades, and amazing lighted floats, fireworks, religious ceremonies, concerts, outdoor street markets, dances, and joyful people celebrating throughout the entirety of the night.

My Package

The last post shows the package that my wonderful parents sent me. I got the dirtiest looks while trying to carry it home! Even on the bus! It was very strange, like no one gets packages here too? Who knows. I was excited to get it and that's all that matters I guess.
So exciting!
You guys should send me some letters!
My address is:
School Year Abroad
Paseo Pamplona, 2
50004 Zaragoza, Spain
And if you can smuggle me some peanut butter I will give you a shout out on here, facebook, and I will be your friend forever!!!!

Yay!

Gracias padres!

Why do Spaniards love meat with cheese in it so much? I don't know if I will ever understand..

School, and College, and Apps..OH MY!

Things have been crazy busy! No time to rest! Or sleep! But of course plenty of time to eat..
I finished 5 of my 10 supplements today! I also had a really good interview for the disciplinary committee! So I went out and got really expensive gelato to celebrate, naturally.
I've been getting some feedback from the viewers and I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you again to everyone who reads along but also thank you to those to send me emails to let me know they are reading and like it!
I got an email today from Lyle, and it pretty much completed my day, along with the amazing nutella-tasting gelato. Even though his email was a bit confusing and lacking simple words that usually make sentences make sense, I loved it anyways.
Still plugging along at my homework, college apps, and trying to not completely ignore my host mom! She sat on my bed while I was working last night and was just kind of asking me about school. It was nice, but I feel bad I'm so busy! Oh well, I'm sure she understands. At least I'm not like the girl she had last year and stay out till 9 and then do homework till the wee hours of the morning.
Sorry for the lack of excitement, except for all that is college!
I'm very much looking forward to the weekend. TO SLEEP FINALLY! You probably thought I was going to say to go out and go dancing or something. Nope, this is me being antisocial and no fun at all. I'm currently falling asleep as I write this.
Now it's time to study for the ACT and the SAT subject tests! Yay! *please note the sarcasm I tried to incorporate but semi-failed to because it is simply text in a blog post on a screen and it's hard to grasp when I'm being serious or sarcastic.

no tengo ni idea para el título..

another day, another dollar as they say. actually I wish that was the case!
just another stressful, boring day at school. I have an interview tomorrow for the schools disciplinary committee. wish me luck!! I applied for one of the three spots on the committee.
more shall be written tomorrow!
buenas noches!

interesting..

So in my apartment building,  you can basically here everything. You can here when someone above you or next to you flushes the toilet, you can hear crazy angry Spanish women screaming at either the children or their husbands something about their cabeza, and you can here random Spanish guys singing what might be an American song but it's totally incomprehensible but absolutely hilarious!

Gracias!

Nothing really exciting happened today. Got some more saldo for my phone, which basically means that I put more money on it to be able to call and text people. Super exciting!
I will take this time of lack of events to just say thanks so much for reading my blog! I'm always hoping that I'm writing this for more than just my parents and Bana :) (not that you guys are insignificant! But more of an audience is always appreciated). Hope you are enjoying it so far! It hasn't been hard to keep up every day so I think I should be able to write every day as well in the future!
If you have any suggestions to better my writing or my content, or just have comments PLEASE email me!!! hfrew13@gmail.com or hfrew13@westminster-school.org
I check both multiple times a day :)
¡Hasta luego!

Familia

Just got back from eating lunch with part of the family. I got to meet more people, finally! I met Julia's daughter, brother and his wife, niece and nephew, and two other people who I'm not sure how are related because its one of those confusing family things and even more confusing in Spanish. But they were all super nice! One of the adults studied in Chicago last year (I think it was last year) and spoke English so that was helpful and the kids did too but they were too shy to speak in front of me so I tried speaking as much as I could in Spanish to show them that they didn't have to be afraid! No way is my Spanish good enough to be proud of haha
The food was amazing, as always, and it was really nice to be with a big family again. It kind of reminded me of Thanksgiving or Christmas with my crazy family. Big, loud, but loving. Come to find out, they all came here first because they are going to a funeral right now. Julia said if it was a party I could come but she didn't think I would really want to go to a funeral. That was nice of her. It would have been interesting to experience a funeral at a pueblo but I have too much to do! A couple of us are meeting up at Pilar around 6:30 so that will be another nice study break. If I can ever get my homework done! I'm making good progress though, so as long as I can stay focused and motivated I should be fine!

The Most Beautiful Place I've Been, Yet.

This weekend was..just absolutely amazing. Words cannot completely describe the magic of Alquezar. On Friday, we took the bus at 8:30 and stopped in some very cute little town around 11 for a snack on the way to see cave paintings. When we got to the site, we had to hike down to the caves. They were barred off to the public but we had special guides and got to see the paintings up close! No pictures, though. None of us really wanted to get in trouble by the government of Aragon. They were very cool, but a little too much hiking for it. Wasn't really worth it for me, but I can still say I saw them!
Then we were on our way to Alquezar, the hostel, and lunch! The bus ride was a very horrifying experience. The bus was so close to the edge, just because of how narrow the road was for a double decker tour bus, that every corner we took I thought we were going to fall off. I was so freaked out, so I wasn't able to enjoy the view of the mountains and the valleys as much as everyone else. Alquezar is this beautiful pueblo city in the mountains in Aragon. First off, the food was absolutely AMAZING. I was in food heaven. Like seriously. After our two hour lunch, we got to explore! We went with our advisee groups and went to an iglesia and got a tour there. Then, we got to spend some time getting to know the people in our groups and then free time to explore the city! It was so beautiful and fun! We found grapes, almonds, figs, walnuts, and pomegranates. So much fun!! Then we got to have dinner, also soo good. And more free time after that. A group of us went down a little bit to explore and found this smaller valley where there was a rock we all laid on and watched the stars. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Something you only read about in books or see in movies. We all got back to the hostel around 11:00 and got ready for bed but our room of 12 people didn't really go to sleep until around 12:30. It wasn't nearly as horrible and uncomfortable as I thought it would be! After breakfast in the morning, we went on a two hour hike. It was a little rough but the outcome was SOOO worth it. We ended up at this beautiful pond and waterfall. The water was so gorgeous, it looked like the water in one of those ideal vacation spots in the Caribbean or out of National Geographic. So amazing. And so serene. I didn't bring my bathing suit just for lack of wanting to get wet during a hike, but still went on an adventure, hopping from rock to rock, and found a really great spot to sit on a huge rock with my feet in a stream and had a real moment to ponder life. But yes, I did end up falling in at one point so my jean shorts were a bit wet for the next 5 or so hours. It was so ideal, no one could have planned it any better. Some of the photos I took cannot even do a justice to how amazing and beautiful this place was.
After we hiked back up and left Alquezar, a sad moment for all, we ended up in a city called Huesca for lunch. We ate and had a lot of time to walk around and explore. We found a really cool mural on a wall right after a huge like open square. It was very cool to see the art and just walk freely around this also foreign city.
That concluded our weekend, but it was definitely time to get a nap in on the bus ride home and shower once back in Zaragoza. But definitely a weekend that was worth the trip!! And the shower was very rewarding too haha :)

Yummmmm

the prefect meal
aka my favorite meal

salad with iceberg lettuce, corn, salt, and olive oil
tortilla de papata
watermelon with lemon juice and sugar

Disney

This has come up on conversation twice this hour so I figured I might as well share with everyone.
I've been homesick a lot, clearly, and I've found a method to calm me down while I do homework.
I watch disney movies on youtube!
Here is the list so far that I've watched:
Alice in Wonderland-3 times
Peter Pan
Cinderella
Snow While
Sleeping Beauty
Bambi
Dumbo
Next, I'm thinking about Pinocchio but it might be too sentimental from this summer. We'll see.

Este fin de semana

This weekend the whole school is going on a retreat to Alquezar, which is in the mountains. We will be staying in a hostel (eek) and is kind of a trip to familiarize the adivsees with their advisors and vise versa. The way my advisor put it, basically there's no gender separation so boys and girls just shower together no big deal. He is also the head/principle of the school. I won't have internet from tomorrow morning till Saturday night so I figured I would update you now! I promise to take lots of pictures and keep track of what I want to tell you! I am looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of hiking, swimming, and bonding. The bonding part, not so fond of. But it'll be a nice break.
Hasta luego!

Different?

There are a couple of things that are different here that I just can't seem to get used to.
1. the tampons are really weird here. i'm not a huge fan.
2. the special k is so different! it's almost inedible for me!
3. the lack of air conditioning in the house when its like 90 degrees out
4. how amazingggg the gelato is.
5. and how it's so easy to go broke because of all of the amazing food!!!! (shout out to Bryan Austermann. thats what Iiiii'm talking bouttt.)

Today was a much better day! I guess everyone has their days! And yesterday was mine for the week. Last night, I decided to pump myself of and give myself some encouragement (instead of doing my homework like I should have been doing).

Not Alone by Darren Criss

Today I just felt very outcast. For some reason I didn't feel like being super social but at the same time I would try to join in conversations and I would get silently shunned from each group. I guess we are all still trying to figure out who is friends with who and my usually lunchmates didn't have a similar schedule as I did so I was too late to sit with them. Not every day is a struggle, and I am so thankful for that. But there are definitely still days that are tough and just knowing I still have my friends and family back home keeps me going.
Not to worry, still working hard and enjoying the Spanish culture all around me!
And the amazing frozen yogurt that is practically right next to school..

Voy al doctor..

So, it's already hard enough to try and describe what hurts in ENGLISH when you are at the doctor..Now imagine trying to describe it in SPANISH! Not something I would recommend doing for fun. Luckily, despite the doctor's bad english skills, he tried and I tried so it was a good team effort and all that needed to be conveyed was conveyed. Success!

Hoy

Today, there was a a protest going on right across the street from our school. These people were wearing white and green and were protesting the government. Since Spain is in such an economic crisis, the government just cut 10 million dollars, maybe more, in education funds including special needs programs, teaching jobs, classes, and supplies. It was very interesting to see and it was a very contained protest! Here is a photo I took with my phone during our free time.

THERE ARE SO MANY BABIES HERE IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!

Hello!

Got to skype with many people today!
Started with Lauren and got to talk to her for a while. It was really great to see her and catch up a bit! It's hard to be this far away from your best friend and only be able to talk when WiFi accessible!
Then I got to talk to Karlie for a little bit before my webcam crapped out (for no apparent reason). It was cool to hear about the happenings on the hill and realize that they don't really matter to me anymore! Not that they really mattered to me much when I was there, anyways.
Next I got to skype with Ronald and talk about random things such as who is getting kicked out, the weird differences between foreign countries, thinking in a different language other than English, and such things as those. It was really great!
Then Bree! I got to talk to Bree, though very shortly before dinner, and she was talking a lot about the teen show at Red Door! I'm so excited for it and I can't even go see it! Nonetheless, they are still part of my family and I am excited for the things they are doing there always!
Last, I got to talk to Lauren again briefly and Mama Dough too!! She was very excited to ask me all about Spain, not realizing at first that Lauren was skyping me because I am in Spain! Haha gotta love her!!
All I have left to do is English homework which will surprisingly probably take me the longest to do. And tomorrow starts a brand new week with brand new adventures!

Sunday=The Day of Work

Sunday is usually known as the the day of rest but for us, it is going to be known as the day of work just as it was at Westminster.
As I am sitting at my desk, which overlooks the apartment complex I live in, I was hearing this almost like a marching band and chanting and screaming kids. Sounded like a lot of fun! It went on for about an hour and a half before I finally asked Julia what was happening. Apparently, for some reason, today the kids of our barrio (neighborhood) decided to sail boats and go swimming in the canal/river right next to where we live! They have drums and are screaming and yelling and I'm jealous that I'm forcing myself to stay inside until all of my homework is done..

Sadly, nothing exciting happened today. Simply a homework day.

Friday Night!

Well yesterday was..interesting.
School gets out at 2 every Friday. We go to lunch as usual, or some people go out to eat or home, and then starts our weekend!
So a group of us went to together after lunch to get gelato, to Sephora, and to an accessories store called I Am. Cool stuff there! After we regrouped at our houses to get ready for the evening, I went and got my ear pierced and 11 of us ended up walking to a place called Delicias. We went to a Tapas restaurante and then later on another similar place for dinner. It was a lot of fun to be with people I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to or get to know yet! After we ate, we went to the Delicias park where there was a festival going on, through tonight (I believe). It was INSANE. Like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was kind of like a big fair, with rides, cotton candy, popcorn, churros, but with a twist. There were hundreds of Spanish kids around, just hanging out and drinking. And no one cared! It's in the culture here that kids start drinking around 13 or 14 years old. We didn't join in, but we did get to meet some Spanish kids our age and talk to them for a while about Spain and the US. And we ate the best chocolate filled churros I've ever eaten! It was fun to really be out with local kids and practice our Spanish while they practice their English! Definitely a different experience all together.

sleeeepy

it's currently 12:31 and time for bed.
but i shall post all about my Friday on Saturday! confusing, sorry..
but you can probably guess that I had a fun day if I'm just blogging at 12:30 am on Saturday morning about my Friday! :)

El Colegio

Here's a little info about my school here:
I am taking six classes, four of which are in Spanish.
Ap Spanish
English
Ap calc AB
literature of theatre
contemporary art
myths and legends of Spain
I love all of my classes except I'm not really motivated in contemporary art yet because it's not what I was hoping for but its also not a forte or strong interest of mine. And I was put in a very low level of Ap Spanish so it's been easy so far but I can deal!
I will have an opportunity in March to travel to Paris with my contemporary art class!! that's part of the reason why I'm ok with taking that class :) the whole trip, flight, hotel for four nights, food, and transportation, all for 350 Euros. in PARIS! it's an amazing opportunity and CHEAP!
our school day runs from 9-5:15 Monday through Thursday and on Friday it's 9-2. we have something called descanso every day from 10:45-11:20 and we can go and do whatever we please! we also are allowed to do and go wherever we want during our free blocks! i wont tell you how much time we get for lunch because i dont think you really want to know. I love the independence they give us already! and there's only
more to come! I really like the school, despite how tiny it is for 71 students and roughly 12 teachers.
that's it for now.. time for bed!

Study break :)

Well.. vamos a ver..
The past two days I've been swamped. Trying to balance college, and friends here, and friends in the states, and the MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF HOMEWORK I HAVE, and shopping for school supplies, and actually going to class, and trying not to get fat from amazing pastries and gelato everywhere, and sleeping, I'm absolutely exhausted. I still have about a half hour of homework left for tomorrow, which is a nice change from being up till midnight last night. It was veryyyy windy today. In case you were wondering. ¡Estoy muy tranquillo, pero no se cómo! From my desk, I can see into the apartments across from us because I sit right in front of the window..the lighting isn't super great and it's starting to hurt my eyes. I finally bought a clothing item today! Yay! From Zara! And it was only 13 Euros! I would really love to go to sleep right now. I would also really like to not be so homesick anymore. I'm not all of the time but I have my moments and they occur at the most inconvenient and horrible times. Like in school. Or on the bus. I walked home today! Took me about a half hour. But my back and my legs are killing me. My backpack probably weighted around 35-40 pounds. Not the best idea I've ever had, but I needed to work off some really good caramel gelato :)
ME GUSTA TORTILLA DE PATATA MUCHO! It's actually superior to everything. You should look it up. It's amazing. Especially with the watermelon recipe I posted a couple of days ago.
I should go finish my homework and go to sleep! I get out of school tomorrow at 2 instead of 5:30 like a normal day! Yayyy! A few of us are going to the mall and getting our ears pierced. And we are going to a discoteca this weekend, I hope!
!Hasta luego!

Aiiiiiii

No time to blog..
First day of classes...
SO MUCH HOMEWORK
MORE DEMANDING THAN JUNIOR YEAR AT A PRIVATE BOARDING SCHOOL!
LOCO!

Aii!

Today was a super busy day! Kind of..
Took the bus this morning for the first time by myself! And I made a new friend that I mentioned in the last post so no need to mention again in detail.
At school it was just lecture after lecture for like 3 hours just to go over the normal guidelines and whatnot of the school.
After lunch, it was scavenger hunt time! We were in groups by last name and my group happened to be three senior girls! They were very friendly and asked many random strangers on the street the questions on the sheet and we ended up winning the scavenger hunt because we got the most right! I got a CD of random American and some Spanish music..mostly Lady GaGa and the Black Eyed Peas but I will listen to the Spanish stuff as well! The other girls got an art history type book that will be helpful in Madrid when we travel there and a planner with kittens on it. We are going to share the CD and the book but not so much the planner.
After that, we had to take a 2 hour test for a study that one of the teachers spouses is doing. I'm kind of excited to be part of a study! But the test was horrible especially after a long day of lectures.
Then a group of six of us went to the mall! One of the girls actually ended up getting a tattoo! So awesome :) And no, it wasn't me. Don't worry! (Mom and Dad would KILL ME. Love you both!)
So that was a short summary of my day. We finally start classes tomorrow. I'm excited about that but they also told us that the first semester, we are going to see the lowest grades we will ever have in our life. Most of us will get D's and F's until the second semester. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess I will keep you updated on that one.. but that's what happens when 2/3 of your classes are in Spanish!
Hasta mañana!

Some interesting cosas..

I have to make my be every morning. But it's been easy so far because I've been sleeping on top of the covers because it's so hot!
I have to wipe down the shower doors after every shower to keep it clean.
I have to wear something, preferably slippers, on my feet at all times while at home.
I pretty much set the table at lunch and dinner, when I am home to do so.
And she makes fun of how much water I drink but it's nothing compared to how much I should be drinking!
And I made a Spanish friend on the bus this morning! Her name is Christina and she's from Ecuador. And she has a lip ring at 12!!!!

Recipe!!

The best way to eat watermelon..like seriously the best.
1. Cut up some watermelon.
2. Squeeze lemon juice out of a lemon.
3. Pour the lemon juice over the cut up watermelon.
4. Add sugar on top.
5. Let that sit for roughly 10-15 minutes so the watermelon can soak in the other flavors.
6. EAT IT ALL UP BECAUSE IT'S SO GOOD AND YOU'LL LOVE IT SO MUCH!
:)

Last first day of high school!

First Day= basically a success!
This weekend I was definitely having my doubts, but during the first day of school, it finally hit me what an amazing year I'm going to have! I'm SO EXCITED NOW!
Throughout the day I kept saying to myself, "oh I can put that in the blog!" And "that would be a good thing to write about in the blog tonight!" But now I don't seem to remember much of anything I wanted to write about! Maybe it'll come to me later. Or maybe if I just keep writing and listening to A Very Potter Musical on YouTube, I might remember!
Basically, this morning we chose classes, then we say in four different presentations. One about host families and about their culture, one about the city of Zaragoza, one about your health and the doctor and getting reimbursed for prescriptions and visits and whatnot, and the last about trips that we will take as a school during the year. That last one got me particularly excited for this year. I just can't wait to be on my own and go exploring the city of Zaragoza, Spain, and other countries in Europe! (possibly with Shelby Gamble!)
Then, we walked around a bit to see where to get school supplies, to mail letters or packages, and finally we ended up at a local school called the Montessori school where we will eat lunch every day! The food was actually pretty decent! I had pasta with meat sauce, made my own salad, and coconut yogurt. And pineapple juice! Something you don't usually think about drinking for lunch in the states.
When we got back, we had to take a written and oral placement exam for Spanish and a math exam. Not so horrible but not fun either.
I'm really excited to start classes on Wednesday. I'm also excited to start going places on my own or with small groups of students around the center of Zaragoza where our school is or just around the city itself!
Hope you are enjoying the blog so far! If you have any comments, questions, or want me to add anything I'm not including at the moment please feel free to email me at hfrew13@gmail.com! Hasta luego!

Mi Mama

I wanted to tell you a little bit about Julia, my host mom, since I keep mentioning her in many of my posts. She has two children, Ana and Luis, and they both live with their significant others but neither is married yet. Her husband died of cancer, but I'm not sure how long ago. She is retired, and I would say in her late 60s, maybe even early 70s. She has very strong opinions on certain things, such as the fact that she hates how many Chinese people have opened up stores here and are ALWAYS working. She doesn't really get into politics but did have a lot to say about the Spanish and US economies, which was very interesting to hear. I am finding that I can understand a lot more than I can speak. Communicating has been very difficult but once I start classes tomorrow it should get easier as the weeks go on. She also spent a year (I think) studying in France so she knows French very well, as her second language. But that also makes it hard to understand her sometimes too because along with the Spain accent, she has a bit of a French accent as well! Confusing but not terrible. She's a very caring and sweet person. She checks up on me every once in a while to see if I'm sad or tired and she get's worried when I'm not hungry for breakfast, partly because she doesn't understand how I never eat breakfast! I think I'm really going to love living here, I just need to give it a little more time!

Día Cuatro

Today we went a visited the Bastillica. It was so beautiful! Bigger and more beautiful than any church I've ever seen. The organ was unbelievable! I also found a frozen yogurt store and a disney store! Day=made. Julia had no idea what frozen yogurt is because it was in English and she didn't really let her kids eat ice cream because she told them it would make them fat! True story. While we were visiting the area around the Bastillica, I saw two other SYA students, Caroline and Theodora! On the bus on the way home, we met a very friendly man who was trying to get a little girl to stop crying. Then he started talking to me and Julia kindly explained that I didn't understand most of what he was saying, so he asked me what my name was in English! Then he started asking about my school and Julia was talking to him for a bit but then it got sketchy.. and then we got off haha It's weird how my name is hard to pronounce with the Spain accent! Something I never thought about until Julia had a hard time saying it when I first met her.
Also, the toilets are so different! It's hard to explain.. Here is a picture of one that is similar. It is like the one on the right and it has a little pull lever on the top to flush. It's so weird! But somehow easier than the ones back at home.

The fruit here is so fresh and so delicious. I have had at least two pieces of fruit each day, so far. And the peach I had at lunch today was amazing. It was SO juicy and so amazing! I could definitely get used to this!

It really feels like I am only here for a week and not nine months.. I'm sure it'll hit me soon, especially once I start school and get to know the city better. But it still feels a bit weird and new of course. I'm not nearly as homesick as I was on Friday. I do miss Noodles a lot, though.

Right now, Julia is taking a siesta and I am trying to stay awake so I'll be able to sleep tonight! So I bought Alice in Wonderland on iTunes and am listening to it while updating you all about mi vida y mis aventuras. 

Arroz con vegetales

Ooh what a treat, two posts in one day!
Here are some random things that have popped into my mind in the past hour that I wanted to share for all of you who are just dying to know everything (:
The yogurt over here, still in little packages, is ten times creamier than anything I've ever had in the US. It's amazinggggg. I had one package last night and one today! Ahhhh!
The meal we had today (lunch) was an amazing rice dish with vegetables and tomatoes with cubes of mozzarella. Julia's brother has his own garden so the tomatoes were unbelievable. Who knew that vegetables without chemicals could taste so good?!
We went to the store today to get un mobíl for me to use while I'm here and somehow, my credit card made the computer freeze for a good 15-20 minutes. The lady was not happy and she was especially annoyed with the fact that I was American and couldn't communicate with her or understand her. Good thing I had Euros! (Thanks, Brooks Brothers crew! You bought my Spanish cell phone!)
One thing I realized today was that I definitely did NOT miss precalc at all this summer. I was studying for my math placement exam that I have on Monday, along with a Spanish placement exam. I can't believe I have two exams on the first day!
I have been messaging on facebook the student who stayed here last year and she's been so helpful as to what's going to happen and advice on many topics that only an SYA student can answer! There's a diary in my room from past SYA students that have stayed with Julia and almost all of them left emails to contact them on with questions!
Everyone has been really helpful so far, despite the fact that I'm American and can barely carry a conversation that doesn't involve sí, claro, vale, que malo, or está bien.

Day 3?

Must. Stay. Awake!
Jet lag is finally catching up to me.. No siesta for me! Today we just walked around where we live again. Yesterday we went to some really pretty fountains (photos to follow on facebook later) and today we went to get a mobil phone for me and an ice back for my back/neck. Tomorrow we will walk to school so I can start to get an idea of where is it in terms of where I'm living. She said its about a 20 minute walk or a 7 minute bus ride. I have been messaging the girl who stayed with Julia (my host mom) last year and she said she always took the bus because it was fast and convenient. I guess it's kind of like practice for NYC (if that's where I end up next year). The homesickness is easier to deal with than it was yesterday. Partly because I'm less tired and partly because I'm starting to slowly get used to things here. Except for the fact that Netflix is a US thing and doesn't work in Spain. And neither does Hulu..Oh well! It's still really weird to think about the fact that it's not even 11 am in CT yet.. Tata for now!

Hallucinations caused by jet lag?

it feels like it's still a continuation of Thursday.. but it's actually Friday night!
after we arrived in Madrid around 830 am local time, we took a four hour bus ride to Zaragoza, which ended around 230 when we were finally paired in person with our host families! my host mother is amazing. she doesn't speak english, but she's so sweet and caring. the language barrier is definitely a challenge but we've already had a couple of laughs! everyone tells me the first night is the hardest and it gets better afterwards, so let's hope thats true! the good thing, is that the fruit is so fresh and i dont feel incredibly jet lagged! ok maybe a little bit. goodnight world! tomorrow begins day 3! i wonder how long it'll take before i forget how many days it's been..

Day 1..

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I am writing this on the plane, but obviously posting this after all of the craziness of traveling to Zaragoza is over. The first movie choice of the airline is Mirror, Mirror. Not necessarily my first choice. But luckily I have my iPod with the newly downloaded Wonderland Broadway soundtrack and my college essay to finish! Yay! There are so many emotions running through me right now.. I don’t know which ones to write about! So of course, just for a procrastination excuse for you, I will write about as many as I can without completely crashing from exhaustion! Here we go..

I’m very sad. I said goodbye to my parents at JFK around 5 and I thought I would be ok. Turns out, it wasn’t horribly depressing. I went through security after saying goodbye and of course I filled with tears a couple of times but that’s normal! Right? I mean it’s the stereotype that teenagers hate their parents and will do anything to get away from them but I just want to experience something outside of the normal suburbs of Connecticut. And Massachusetts.

I’m so incredibly excited to begin this journey. After all of the anticipation leading up to this day, I just absolutely cannot wait until I can meet with my host mother and begin my residency in Spain!

I’m nervous about making friends and getting along with people, especially with it being such a small school of only 71 kids total, but so far so good. There are supposedly 10 seniors and I have met two others, including myself so far. Everyone seems really excited to get started!

So far, I’m not regretting my decision to study abroad for my senior year of high school. And they tell us that we will probably begin that denial and confusion period about why we decided in our right minds to do this around October. But I’m prepared! Every good and life-changing journey will have its lows at one point or another. So I’m expecting it. Besides, if I wasn’t expecting it I wouldn’t be very normal. Then again what theatre kid IS normal? Maybe next to normal will do (:

An SYAer sitting to my right is a senior, from NH, with blonde hair, who loves acting and singing, who was also in Godspell, who also sang By My Side, who lived in Hong Kong for 2 years, and also loves Wicked to death. Yay, first friend past the usual “Hi, I’m Heather, what’s your name? Where are you from? Oh, really? I go to Westminster. No, I’m not really into sports but I love to swim and I love to act. Yeah, I guess I was gutsy to come as a senior but I’m happy with my choice. Yeah, college apps suck haha sorry, I don’t want to sugarcoat it.” I made friends with one of the stewards; he was talking to me while I waited for the bathroom. He was very surprised at the fact that we were all high school students because we look like college students and we had a lovely chat about airline food. Which really wasn’t all that bad! The food, I mean. But I guess the conversation wasn’t, either! I also made friends with the girl sitting to my left after I offered her my uneaten snicker doodle cookie. Not really my favorite, so why bother with the extra calories? She just finished high school last year and was visiting her dad in San Diego because she lives in Israel. Next month she will joining the Israel army for two years, so as she put it, “No studying for me for two years!”

So that’s it for the plane ride. Next, we will arrive in Madrid around 8:30 am Madrid time and we will load onto a bus and drive for about 4 hours to Zaragoza where we will finally meet our host families! Loooooong day. And it’s only just begun!

On a final note for now, I mean how great is Ingrid Michaelson?! Combined on shuffle with Wonderland is an incredibly motivational playlist for writing this post and a college essay! Highly recommended.

I am now updating you about an hour from Madrid, even though this is all one big post. I am now more excited than sad, which I find to be helpful considering its 1:38 AM CT time and 7:38 AM Spain time. Eek. Luckily, I was able to sleep for roughly threeish hours while some random NBC clips and a movie about a baseball team played. (Clearly I wasn’t paying enough attention to them because my eyes were closed and I was dreaming about when this plane ride would be over! Not nearly the longest flight there is, but it’s the longest flight I’ve been on. Luckily, all of the children in the seat behind me slept the entire time! So no screaming babies, sorry dad. I know you had your hopes up that there would be one screaming for 7 hours straight (:

Before I say adios for now, is it really a thing now where people take the complementary blanket and sleep with it over their heads like one big snuggie that goes over your face? I don’t understand the motivation to do so..

Aaaaaand we're off!

¡Vamos!

On my way to JFK to meet the other students before we take off for Spain!! The flight departs around 7 pm our time we we should arrive *fingers crossed* around 830 am Spain time. Jet lag.. BRING IT!