WOW

I have never been an optimist. And I've never believed in the idea that everything is a matter of perspective. I think at this point in my trip (nearly a month in) I could write a pamphlet on how incredibly valuable each of these is.

Spain is treating me better than ever. I'm not living in the Spain of "Vicky Christina Barcelona", there are no historic buildings in my town, if you were to be set down in the middle of my main street, you could be in any Spanish-speaking town. I'm close to Madrid, I'm not on the Mediterranean. Originally when I found out that I was living in Majadahonda, I was not incredibly thrilled because it didn't have any of the "typical" Spanish characteristics I was looking for. I envisioned myself sipping Sangria in the darkest of night on a Spanish beach with a flamenco guitar serenading me as a lingering smoke drifted through the air and I slipped into a peaceful siesta. I'm not saying that this is completely out of my range of possibility, but at this point, I prefer the grafitti on the walls, the pamphlets scattered on the street with dirty shoeprints over them advertising discotecas; I choose the less historic buildings that are filled with the people I enjoy being around. I never envisioned myself in Majadahonda and now I can't picture myself anywhere else.

School is moving right along, I'm almost to the end of WEEK 2! I'm at a point in my trip where it's very important to stay busy. I'm comfortable enough now to where I could easily get bored and those are the dangerous times, where your mind has too much room to wander. School has been a nice remedy to this. Today I found myself starting to switch off in class and stop listening and I caught it pretty quickly and snapped out of it. I had to read outloud today in my Spanish class and was absolutely terrified and realized two hours later in English that they all probably feel similar when they have to read outloud in this class with me listening. It occurred to me that just like I don't judge them, it was unlikely that they were judging me, and those who were obviously weren't the sort I'd want to be getting to know intimately anyways.

I'm eating well; there is french bread served with every meal, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, best served toasted covered with olive oil, a tomato paste, and just a hint of salt. This, along with a Spanish coffee and apple or peach, is my breakfast. After school at about 2, I eat a lunch which varies greatly each day and I love every time. So far I have eaten fried chicken, paella, a soup-like dish filled with spanish, swordfish, and water chestnuts, a stew-type dish with beans, blood sausage, potatoes, and carrots, and the list goes on. We eat leftovers or a salad for dinner and we always drink water. To some the food would seem bland, it is not filled with spices or flavoring, but that's just what I love to eat. To put it simply, I'm in my own personal, edible heaven.

At this point, time is passing according to what I have upcoming on my schedule. For example, the month of October is split up by what's going to be happening on the weekends. I'm going to Las Fiestas de Las Rozas (the neighboring suburb) this weekend. Next weekend, my family is taking a trip to Segovia and the historic La Escorial. The weekend after that I got invited to go into Madrid to the discotecas and then I have a free weekend and then HALLOWEEN. My friend Adrian told me at school today to not feel bad if I didn't have anything to do during the weeknights, he explained that in Segundo Bachillerato pretty much everyone just stays at home all week because the coursework is so rigorous. Thus far, I've only had one night where I've had nothing to do, and I spent that watching a soccer game with my host father and reading a chapter in my Philosophy book-- quite satisfying.

My host family has a connection to the Real Madrid Soccer Team-- our cousin is married to one of the lesser-known players on the team (I responded with... WHO CARES IF HE'S LESSER KNOWN WOW THAT'S AMAZING) and so we get tickets to some of the games. Bea went to a game last night and I get to go the next time that we get offered tickets. I could not be more excited for that, let me tell you. I've been helping out the other exchange student here in Majadahonda, named Jesse. I realize that a lot of this program is about luck, and I really hit gold with pretty much every single aspect of my exchange; in terms of my location, my friends, my school, and especially my host family I feel incredibly blessed. Tomorrow Jesse is coming home with me after school and we're all going to eat together with Bea and he'll watch our soap operas with us before we all go out at night for Las Fiestas together.

I'm trying (pretty successfully) to look at everything through a positive lense. This trip is teaching me how to appreciate, how to be my own support system, and who those people are that are truly valuable to me. I'm learning to smile when it gets difficult and accept that sometimes that's the only thing I'm going to be able to do... and that's enough. Time is what you make of it. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to be here forever. Sometimes I wonder if there's anyway I can make forever last longer. I'm teaching myself to stop analyzing time and just let it be what it will be; because as much as I love controlling things (I always was bossy :) I cannot control the wild, free spirit of Spain. And I cannot and have no desire to control time.

Did I mention that Spain is treating me better than ever?

Un Beso, Sami