The Day(s) of Giving Thanks

The dashing gentlemen shown are a few of my greatest friends here in Spain. Daniel, Javier, Adrian, and I went to a local concert on a Saturday night and spoke in intermittent English, Spanish, and a universal language that can't be given a name other than laughter and understanding. It's almost too much to ask for better friends than those that I have here in Spain... I've never been welcomed with such open arms. That is one of the main distinctions between the United States and Spain that I have noticed in terms of schooling; I can honestly tell you that I haven't encountered bullying here and I've been asking around with the other exchange kids and they all report similar experiences. A kid that would probably suffer some real torture in the U.S. because of a manner of dress or an unfortunate haircut or a lifestyle choice just is another member of the class here. I'd never realized how "cliquey" America was until I ran into a much more authentic form of acceptance halfway across the world.

This week was filled with yet more realizations, ups and downs, delicious food, and impossible happiness. One of the greatest things I've encountered in the Spanish schooling system is that when a teacher is sick or absent from school, there's no replacement or substitute. That class is considered a free period and the students can do with it whatever they like. I've found that in general kids here seem to take more responsibility for their own actions; studying is considered much more crucial than in the U.S. and if you do poorly on a test, you determine whether or not you get to go out that night-- my best friend Alicia has kept herself from going out several weekends because of a bad grade or if she just thinks that she could've done better. I never saw that sort of iniative back home, kids took advantage of whatever opportunities they were given to go out; that's not the case here. Because grades don't count for me, however, I'm finding plenty of opportunities to go out and enjoy myself in this beautiful country.

This past week proved to be fairly uneventful, a walk down to my Gran Via to get photos taken for my Residency papers or a trip to pick up postcards (to be mailed soon, by the way) were nice little breaks in the everyday, but considering the everyday is pretty ideal here, I don't really need any breaks from it :) I acknowledge that the "Rotary RollerCoaster" is a real concept, based on a whole lot of experiences. It's a curve that most exchange students follow and predicts what will be the toughest times and where you'll flourish. But the lows that every exchange student is supposed to hit don't wham me all that hard because I have a lot of support and a lot of fantastic things surrounding me to where I can usually pick myself up out of any slump pretty easily. Some of that is luck and some of that is personal initiative and growth, and for that I'm truly proud.

Friday night was spent at Adrian's house watching "The Grudge 2" (a horror film) in Spanish, which proved to be more hilarious than frightening. Alicia and I were falling all over ourselves with laughter, the whole night proved to be one that anyone would have a hard time forgetting. Sunday was my host father's birthday, so my family went to his pueblo (side note: everyone here has a "pueblo" or a small village from where their grandparents or great grandparents came or even where they themselves were raised. People that live in big cities or even more residential areas usually find their way back to their pueblos for important family gatherings as that is where a grandparent or a large majority of the family is situated). My host father's pueblo is in Albeceite which is directly to the East of Madrid about two hours. That left Bea and I home alone for the weekend. It was a little thrilling and a little scary that we each just completely did our own thing over our two days. At this point we have our own friends, just like any siblings, but we're still comfortable hanging out with each other as well. It's turning out to be a really nice balance.

During the day on Saturday I went into the city and met up with some exchange students for what turned out to be a lovely outing. We started our day by picking up Chinese food in what appeared to be a parking garage but ended up being THE place to get authentic Chinese in Madrid. We took it to go and sat by a fountain (the one I'm sitting in front of in the picture above) and ate more than should ever be allowed. My Spanish has developed more quickly than a lot of the other exchange students, so I'm often asked to go with to shops or to order things because I got lucky with that extra edge of proficiency. I went with my friend Emma to pick up her ticket for the concert we later went and saw; Andrew Bird who is an American artist, but has a really interesting and eclectic sound, building his entire concerts alone based off of playing different instruments, like the guitar, violin, or chimes, and recording the different beats and sounds and compiling them, all the while singing along. The music itself was fantastic and the crowd was great. Unfortunately, sitting behind Emma and I were two girls that epitomized the reason that some foreigners hate America. These two college-aged girls in their entirely inappropriate miniskirts and heels and drank and talked incredibly loudly through the entire concert (in English, nonetheless), completely distrupting the alternative, relaxed atmosphere. Just to top it off, their boyfriends cheered and warwhooped stupidly, wearing striped polos with their collars popped and hair entirely too gelled. By the time the show was over, that half of the club was completely empty and I was about ready to revoke my American passport and officially join the Spanish revolution. For goodness sake.

Sunday I woke up incredibly early and sprinted to the train station with my exchange friend Jesse that lives in Majadahonda to join Rotary on an excursion to Soria, a small, ancient town about 2 hours from Madrid. The bus trip proved to be a bit of a pain as some of the older Rotarians told "jokes" the entire way there and cackled into the microphone. Still I'm since in hyper-translation mode, it's difficult for me to tune any of them out and so the sleep that I'd been hoping to catch up on during the bus ride proved to be pretty fruitless. I am developing some incredible friends here in Spain, however, and the company that I kept all day long was enough to make up for just about anything. We went to an exhibition first, which was pretty interesting, though not at all what we were expecting. It encompassed Christianity and the perceptions of the religion in four "seasons" and featured a lot of really cool old statues, tapestries, and paintings. We had, however, just gotten off what proved to be a 3 hour bus ride, we were all running a little low on blood sugar, and the tour guide talked insanely quickly. Regardless, I'm thankful for the opportunity to see anything and everything. We had a delicious 3 course meal later and wandered around some small towns, concluding the night with a stop in an ancient old village (I forget the name) where we danced through the streets and could just feel the memories being made. The pictures of the sunset and at nighttime are in that small town.

We'll just have to see about Thanksgiving, or el Dia de Accion de Gracias (the day of the action of giving thanks, literally translated :). Obviously, they don't celebrate it here but I'm hopeful and thankful, as Rotary has organized a dinner and a lot of these people are really starting to feel like family to me. It's all about keepin on keepin on and when you're situated in Spain, I can't say it's all that difficult. Slip into a turkey coma for me though, will you? :)

Besitos, Sami