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

The symbol for Madrid is a bear standing on it's hind legs next to the Madrone tree. No one here can seem to explain to me why this is the symbol of Madrid... and internet searches have proven to be pretty fruitless. The main statue of "El Oso y El Madrono" is in la Puerta de Sol, a famous plaza in Madrid, best known as the place where the entire city gathers for New Years. Everytime I pass the statue on a walk through Madrid or see it intermingled into various parts of the city (such as in the picture, in a hole-in-the-wall tavern, apparently the oldest in all of Madrid, where I ate with some friends on Sunday) I make up a different explination for what I want that bear to be reaching for, what's really in that tree, and what I want it all to mean. I like that my reasons are always changing and I like that my thoughts here are always evoloving and I like that I probably could know but I just don't.

I'd say that encompasses pretty well how this past week has gone for me. There are some things that I still just plain old do not know. Such as various sayings or words in Spanish. Or what happens at the end of a trimester here (coming up on November 24) and why we randomly have days off schools for fiestas that no one seems to acknowledge anyways. Or how my host dad knew the famous Jimi Hendrix rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock but I had never heard of it, which seems more than a little backwards. I'm learning that for a Rotary kid, ignorance isn't necessarily bliss, but it also isn't all that bad.

Saturday night, I babysat for my host mom's best friend, a 3-year-old cutie with flourescent-orange rimmed glasses and a shock of blonde hair named Carlitos. After we got home from my grandpa's house in Las Matas (where we go to eat every Saturday), I had a few minutes of downtime and as I was preparing to walk out the door with my host mom, she looked at me and said "Where's your overnight bag?"... Apparently in Spain it's understood that if you're babysitting, it's gonna be an all night deal. I should've figured this, as the Spanish typically don't even get home until 5 am from parties, and it'd be difficult to catch a bus back home at that time of the morning. So I threw some clothes into a bag and Ana and I departed for the neighboring town of Pozuelo, where I was babysitting. The night was fairly uneventful, Carlitos had the characteristic homesickness that little kids sometimes get, and ended up sort of throwing a fit for his mom, but felt better when I let him scribble all over my hand, and we ended up to be pretty good pals by the end of the night. (As a side note, I'm aware that allowing small children to scribble on me is not the best way to problem-solve, but give me a break, it's hard to comfort a 3-year-old that's at the same level of vocabulary as I, the 18-year-old, am). For the rest of the night, I watched the battle on the soccer field between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, an incredibly famous rivalry, almost as intense of a game as those of el Futbol Club Barcelona vs. Real Madrid; something I can only put into context as the Packers vs. the Vikings times about 200. The game was fantastic, Real Madrid won 3-2, but it was well-played and a nail biter right until the end-- speaking of that, I have started picking my nails again... sorry Mom :)

I woke up Sunday and ran out the door with 30 euros in hand from babysitting to meet up directly with my friends Emma and Devon at El Rastro in Madrid. On the Metro in Madrid, there was a very eccentric, harmless, well-dressed, and tiny old man who walked past me on the Metro to get off at his stop. I'm still so accustomed to Minnesota-nice and smiling at everyone (something that no one does here in Spain) so as he nearly danced off the Metro (he was a weird little guy) and turned around to look back in, I gave him a quick smile. He enthusiastically began blowing kisses and waved goodbye to me, as the woman next to me gave me a nudge and asked if I knew him. When I replied "no" we both just sort of looked at each other and laughed. It's the little things :)

El Rastro was one of the coolest places I have been thus far in my adventures in Spain. It is basically a giant street market that takes over a pretty good part of Madrid. You can find the touristy goodies, such as giant Spanish flags or t-shirts with bull sillouhettes, or you can dig through the back streets and find treasures such as a broken-down antique clock, or leather bracelets, fake designer watches, classy canvas bags, or even, if you so choose, a spiffy pair of suspenders with the Spanish flag imprinted all over them. There is an incredible mix of tourists and natives, you can hear all sorts of languages and it really feels like more of an international market rather than specifically Spanish. It struck me as funny that I found myself saying things like, "annoying tourists" under my breath when they'd suddenly stop, disoriented, the mass of people moving forward through the streets. How quickly I forget :) I got my host sister Bea a birthday present however, because the next day, Monday, November 9, was her birthday.

Birthdays are kind of downplayed in Spain-- or maybe we just do it up big in the United States. Monday was a holiday for Madrid, but since I technically live in Majadahonda, I still had school. Bea made herself a cake... it consisted of a generic "cookie" which you soak in hot milk and stack in rows and columns, with melted chocolate in between the layers and melted chocolate spread over the entire thing, with M&M's spelling out "19", which you then put in the fridge to cool. Jacobo and I each gave her our little gifts, I bought her some bracelets the day before and I made her a giant sign which I left taped to her bathroom mirror with the bracelets. She was entirely thrilled when I got home :) Jacobo he had made her some presents as well, and we culminated the day with a very Spanish dinner of octopus soaked in olive oil, among other delicacies.

The rest of the week proved to be pretty uneventful. My mom sent me the new Season 5 of House, so that occupied the majority of my week nights. I also started running again, setting out a specific route that takes me about half an hour. It's pretty thrilling to me that I can still run in a t-shirt and shorts in the middle of November and I've missed the exercise, the whole body-and-mind well being is really important to me. It also helps to combat the scrumptious food that I'd consider a sin not to eat and the famous 15 pounds every exchangey is expected to gain... No way, Jose :)

I'm running out the door right now to go to a concert with some friends from school in Las Rozas. Pozuelo, Majadahonda, and Las Rozas are all right next to each other, a sort of famous trio of suburbs to the Northeast of Madrid. Last night I crashed at about 12... I had plans with friends that fell through because of illnesses and the need to study. It's that time of year, folks. Bea told me yesterday that she'll need to stop going out both Friday and Saturday nights-- she can't afford it anymore, she just has to study. We'll see if that holds up or not :)

Besitos Amigos, Sami

learning

I must've done something right in a past life, because this one is proving to be incredibly rewarding. I'm going to apologize in advance for my deteriorating English (especially in terms of grammar and spelling), I'm finding myself rewording things the way that they're spoken in Spanish. For example, in Spanish, the adjective comes after the noun. So if you want to say "yellow house" you say "casa amarilla" ... I'm finding myself saying things like, I want a bite of that sandwhich tasty. Uh oh :)

I suppose in some ways the language business is a good sign, I'm starting to be able to really joke around with my classmates, and since there's no personal space in Spain, my best friend Alicia basically pounced on me at school the other day and told me that I was never allowed to leave, that she'd miss me too much when I was gone. Of course, that didn't hurt my ego one little bit :) I'm getting to a point of reflection on my trip. I've been here long enough now where I'm starting to be able to actually look back on what's already happened. I have moments that I know I'll remember for a long time- turning around to look at my parents one last time before I passed through security, walking in the airport and first seeing my host mom and Bea waiting. I remember I really liked Bea's blue strappy sandals and Ana was taller than I had expected her to be; Bea was holding a sign that I still have set up in my room. The airport smelled like B.O. and exhaustion, but maybe that was just me, as I'd recently gotten off a 10 hour flight. I reread the first few emails that I sent my mom recently, realizing how much I've already grown, and how much room there is for further growth.

There are some things that I just plain old don't like doing in Spain. But there are things like that in America too. I'm guessing there are things like that in Japan and the Czech Republic and South Africa as well. When I start to think of how much better this situation would be "if only", I remind myself of where I am, what I have the privilege of doing, and how I'm not going to spend more than 2 seconds whining about anything, and even those 2 seconds are two too many. I have about one billion things to look forward too still on my adventure. I have family coming and I think I'm going to England to visit my friend John Linford in February. I have art museums and street markets and discotecas and walks through the park and my bread with olive oil in the morning. I have a family that considers me one of their own children, my host mom started tearing up at a Rotary meeting the other day when she talked about me having to go home. Speaking of Rotary meetings, I had my first this past Thursday.

It was held in a restaurant, where they meet every Thursday at 930 pm. for dinner. There were about 16 people there, a decent mix of men and women, talking over one another and chowing down on the delicious steak in mushroom sauce and fried apples, scalloped potatoes and crunchy, warm bread (my aunt Marisa here in Spain calls this bread "musical bread" which makes Jacobo laugh everytime). Of course, mostly everyone was smoking so by the end of the two hour meeting my eyes were tiny slits and red-rimmed. I'm really thankful that no one in my family smokes, I don't know if I could handle it all the time in the house... It's overwhelming enough at school and in the streets. I gave a little speech at the meeting, everyone laughed and asked me questions and it was very casual and easygoing. I got a lot of compliments on my language and I presented the President with the Rotary flag from Northfield and he gave me the flag from Majadahonda. I thought it was hilarious how the members of the club would snap at one another for talking over other people and would freely tell each other to shut up; there was even one woman who was the official "monitor" of the meeting and would tell people who got to talk next- sort of like in grade school when there was an object and you had to have it in your hands to speak. I giggled to myself at one point imagining all these older, distinguished members of the community passing around a tennis ball for the rights to talk aloud.

I went to a play on Wednesday night with my classmates and tonight I'm baking cookies with Jacobo and then babysitting for a friend of the family who is paying me 30 euros for a few hours. Yesterday was Jesse's birthday and we celebrated with dinner, brownies, and friends, both Spanish and American. Tomorrow I'm going to El Rastro, a giant street market in Madrid that's very famous, I'll be sure to take pictures :) and tomorrow night I might be going to El Prado, the biggest and best art museum in Madrid. Monday is Bea's birthday and I have four tests next week... I have a feeling time might just start flying :) Things continue on back in the United States, I had sort of a slap in the face with this when I discovered a friend of the family had recently fallen ill. I guess things didn't just get put on hold when I left, the world does not, in fact, revolve around me :) I'm continuing to talk with the ones I love, this experience teaches you who you're real friends are, as they're the ones you miss, the ones you still seek out and don't feel guilty about halfway around the world... They're the ones that I appreciate an incredible amount for their support and encouragement. Thank you to all of you who read this and continue to ask for more. In some ways I'm glad that I don't update the blog every day because I truly can't-- I don't have the time. And that's pretty exciting :) November is the month to get through my friends, I'm lovin it.

Besos Amores Mios, Samantha Roma

November

Today is November 1, my little sister Lila's birthday, and the day after Halloween. I spent last night in Madrid at a place called Ciudad Universitaria, which is a big open area where a lot of the Universities in Madrid meet up. It was jam packed with people, and the tradition of dressing up in Spain is slightly different than in the USA. Here, people genuinely try to be scary. If you go dressed up as a nurse (for example) you have red streaks smeared all over your costume and everyone has face makeup of bruises and cuts. We even saw several massacred SpongeBob's. The other boy on exchange in Majadahonda, named Jesse, and I went as Hippies because we didn't want to spend the money for costumes and we both own tye dye and Birkenstocks. It was not my normal night of carousing around neighborhoods asking for candy with the knowledge that we're far too old to do so, but I met a lot of new people, speaking both English and Spanish... a few people didn't believe me when I said I was American... they said I spoke so well they would've had no idea... I'd have to say that was the absolute highlight of my night.

Life has been routine and easygoing in Majadahonda... This past Wednesday I went into Madrid and met up with some of my exchange student friends. I still feel a little bit of guilt about doing this because it's a whole night of speaking English... I think when everyone gets more comfortable with their Spanish it will be incredible to meet up with them, because I have to say that I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. We enjoyed one Euro bocadillos at 100 Montaditos, a sort of tapa bar chain. I even translated for a few tourists that couldn't speak Spanish that were trying to order. The building on the left is the image I always see coming out of the metro stop at Puerta de Sol in Madrid, it captures a lot of the traditional architecture around the city, plus it shows behind it the gorgeous blue sky that allows the sun to shine down every day. In the nearly two months that I've been here I've only had 4 or 5 days of rain, and "cold" to the Spainards is still tropical for me, with every day in the 60s or 70s, hardly a need for a jacket.

It feels a little strange to be going into November without celebrating Lila's birthday. I've been Skyping with my family fairly regularly, once a week or so, which has worked beautifully thus far, even resulting in one session where my mom and I sort of forgot the other was on the line as she watched Judge Judy and I held up a conversation with my host sister in the background. I guess that's a real testament to being comfortable in your surroundings, when home feels like it could really be in two completely different places across the world from each other. I'm still enjoying the nights of dancing my life away at the discotecas in Madrid, though it's a pricey pastime and Spain is proving to be a bit of an expensive place to live... who knew? :) Sometimes little bouts of homesickness still hit, during the daytime yesterday it was a little rough, thinking on how this was the first holiday without the fam, but I perked myself up throughout the night... This adventure is all about self-help for me, all about learning how to be your own mediator, that some things about being an exchange kid are just plain hard, but that the incredible rewards that await at the end (and throughout each day) are testament enough to why I chose to go. I also got two packages in the mail, one was a letter from my Grandma Colleen, her familiar handwriting and kind words absolutely overwhelmed me with happiness, as if the package from the Estenson Family filled with Halloween decorations (to Jacobo's delight, as he had a little Halloween party yesterday), Reese's candies, and Kris' homemade cookies, which were not smushed but perfectly intact and absolutely delicious, wasn't enough. I played my violin a little this week, helping Jacobo along with his classical guitar as well. Bea is in her first year of University and completely consumed by studying, a little reminder of what I know I'm going to be heading into next year. She is in the Architecture course, however, so a lot of her projects are absolutely incredible, miniature models and sculptures that are meant to show perspective... Our house looks like a modern art museum :) This week I have my first official Rotary meeting on Thursday and on Wednesday I'm going to a play with my class from school. Another week ahead, I'm filled only with anticipation and excitement. Bring it on, November :)

Besitos, Sami

joy joy joy

I'd say it's about time for another update, wouldn't you? This week brought some new challenges and an abundance of new lessons and joys, all of which I'll culminate for you on a stomach full of ribs, olive oil, fresh bread, roasted almonds, peaches, and coffee with milk.





We had our first few tests this week at school. Since I'm enrolled in the "Science" program, I have classes such as Biology, Chemistry, and Earth Sciences. The words and concepts are very similar to those in English... So it's fairly easy for me to follow along. For example, in Biology we're learning about Bioelements (bioelementos), including glucids (glucidos), lipids (lipidos), nucleic acids (acidos nucleicos), and proteins (proteinas). I worked my butt off in high school to understand these concepts and this year is proving to be a test as to how much I really retained. Since I've already graduated, my main priority for this year isn't studying and school, but rather learning Spanish. Turns out one of the greatest ways to learn a language is to work through it in textbooks and by taking all the notes the teacher puts up on the blackboard... So I'm studying while acheiving my goal of learning Spanish. It must be paying off, I'm recieving better grades than many of my classmates, which makes us all a little confused and leaves us laughing. Grading systems are a little confusing in Spain, I'm just starting to grasp them. In high school, the year is divided into trimesters. At the end of each trimester, there is an evaluation (literally, la evaluacion). That evaluation counts for 60% of your grade and is a summary of what you've learned the entire trimester. Within the trimester, you take two tests which account for 40%. Everything is graded out of 10 here and a 5 is considered a passing grade. The two tests are averaged at the end of the trimester. So, if you get a 4 on your first test, you need to get at least a 6 on the next test in order to pass that trimester, taking into account the evaluation. I got a 6.5 on my Biology test (the third best in my class), a 5.4 on my Chemistry test, and similar scores on my Philosophy and History tests. My teachers are very understanding about my grammar, because if they had been taking into account gramatical errors, I think I would have scored much lower :)



I'm still flourishing at school in terms of friends and conversation. My only frustration is that sometimes my friends want to improve their English, so they insist on speaking to me in English the whole day... But I don't worry too much about this because I can already see how much my Spanish has improved since I got here. All I can say is that I'm incredibly thankful for the people that reached out to me in school. They absolutely didn't have to, my language restrictions would have made it easy for them to just dismiss me, but they were kind anyways and now we can all laugh and speak conversationally throughout the day because of their patience and good hearts. I talk to new people each day and butt heads with my English teacher on a new concept every day. I never ever correct her, even though she's often incorrect but as soon as I falter in one area (such as the "formal" method of speech which we NEVER use) she's all over my case. I kindly told her the other day that she's a native Spanish speaker, just like I would never correct her on her Spanish I'd appreciate if she wouldn't correct me (the native English speaker) on my English. She's been leaving me alone a little more as of late. My friend Jesus always requests a Smackdown between us and tells me how much Laura (that's my English teacher) has "owned" me. Unfortunately, Jesus can't really pronounce owned so he says "own-head", which in itself makes me laugh. What a kooky crew we all are :)

Yesterday (Saturday, October 24) I went on an expedition to the mountains in Madrid. There are about 20 of us living in the Madrid area and the large marjority of us met and treked up to the highest peak in Madrid. I'm a little disoriented without the distinct changing of seasons, the trees are barely changing colors, and it's still a gorgeous 70 degrees most days. The mountain hike was difficult to say the least, I'm feeling it today but it was entirely satisfying to reach the top above the clouds laughing and completely content with the other exchange kids, all of us looking at the others realizing "We're in Spain. On top of a mountain. What more is there?" The well-being of exchange students is very much dependent on the weather. On days where it is sunny and decent outside, you can always find something to do, the skies are clear-- go take a walk, sit in the park and draw, meet up with a friend for a McFlurry. Earlier this week we had our first bout of nasty weather, overcast skies and drizzling rain, capitalized by cold. Those days were hard for me, I tasted boredom and felt the guilt of being on my computer just a little too much. But I got through those days and appreicate them all the more now. Talking to former exchange students is incredibly helpful, I love hearing stories and encouraging words never get old. We all go for different reasons and we all end up coming away with different lessons learned, but we share a bond of adventure and uncertainty. We all identify with the other in some special way. It doesn't matter how many preparation meetings you attend, how many "tips" you recieve, or any amount of past experience is shared, there are some things about being an exchange student that are just plain hard. But it's weekends and days like mine on the mountain that make you put every bit of the difficulties in perspective and love what you have and love the time you have left and the time that has passed. There are too many things to count that I'm looking forward to, if these months are supposed to be the "hard" ones, I can't wait to see how high I'm going to get the chance to fly. I love Spain and everything it's teaching me. A part of me never wants to leave and I love that, but a part of me is excited to go home, which I also love, because it's an affirmation of how much I appreciate what I have to go home to. But not yet, folks... I have a whole lot of living yet to do in this gorgeous country, and I intend to embrace if fully.

Besos, Sami

ADDRESS

attention, attention, attention

all letters/postcards/packages/anything at all should be addressed to:



Samantha Weaver
Ecuador 12, Bajo B
Majadahonda 28220
Spain

Thank you :)

madrid--- take one

Having lived in the country for the larger portion of my life, and in a small town before that, the shift to a city could have been disastrous. Suddenly nothing is calm, everything is always moving, peace has redefined itself as the presence of only a few crazies on the metro, and quiet assumes that you're taking into account the cars, the honking and murmuring of voices past your window, the din of your upstairs neighbors, and the ever so occasional bird that dares to fly among the smog. I never would've placed myself in a city, I'd have chosen the more piteresque, "postcard" location-- I guess that's why they don't let you choose.

Turns out Rotary actually knows what they're doing :) Despite some of my fellow exchange friends experiences that contrast this impression, I've had nothing but luck and good fortune during my time here. I feel well cared for, but I'm also proud, feeling like I took a lot of initiative towards my own success. I ventured into Madrid two days ago with the other exchange student Jesse who lives in Majadahonda, and we met up with two other exchange girls who are living in various parts of Madrid. They walked us around the city, it was remarkable how well they already know their way in such a giant place. We saw the Royal Palace and the Cathedral that is right next to it. We walked along Gran Via and went to Plaza Mayor and Puerta de Sol. We stopped at a famous bakery and had Spanish pastries (you could almost feel your teeth disintegrating, they were so sweet). We walked through Parks and around street vendors and wacky performers; two of the highlights being a man who played whole compilations using crystal glasses of various shapes and filled with water to various levels and a man who was dressed entirely in sequins besides a goat mask that adorned his head and banged on pots. We sipped Coca-Cola Lights (there's no such thing as Diet Coke here) as we walked past the aritificial lake in the park. The wonder of the buildings here dwarves anything that I've ever seen in the United States, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. The carvings on the buildings are perfected down the the last feature on every angel, saint, rose, horse, and fountain. The city is clean and beautiful, and history radiates from every streetlamp and cobblestone. It's amazing to me how this doesn't seem to affect the people that live and walk among it every day. Then I flipped perspectives and realized that I do the same with the gorgeous, natural beauty that I'm surrounded by in Minnesota.

I'm suffering from a slight cold, my lungs are a little crackly and I'm finding myself blowing my nose into floral scented Kleenex quite often, but I'm sure with the gorgeous (admittedly chilly) weather and being out and about all the time, that will clear up very soon. I've been to two discotecas at this point, both were great adventures. Guys and girls don't dance with each other here, we all sort of just dance together. It's not dirty in any way, everyone is there to just have a good time. On the other hand, the amount of PDA (Public Display of Affection) is totally overwhelming-- it's not unusual to look over and see one of your friends locking lips with someone else for a few minutes, only to return to the group totally unphased. I refrained (and plan to continue refraining) from this particular aspect of Madrid nightlife-- I just don't think I'm Spanish enough for that one, folks.

I'm learning ways to deal with the "overwhelmed" feeling that I sometimes get after coming home from an entire day of Spanish in school, where, if I have both Philosophy and History in one day, my brain can get a little frazzled. More and more, however, I'm finding myself not literally translating everything in my head, I just hear and process, there's not a lot of hoops that the words have to jump through in my head anymore (such as, what tense is this in, what does the verb mean, in the context of the sentence what are they saying, does this person have a lisp?-- oh wait, no, everyone talks like that, etc.) When I do get run down with it all, I watch one of the DVDs that I brought with me in English or I read a book in English-- and I try not to feel guilty about it. I'm submersed in this language, there's no doubt about that... The occasional episode of House isn't going to reverse all of that learning, right? It's strange to think that just by being here, the language is soaking into me. I'm unconciously "learning", without sitting down and studying for hours. It makes me feel constantly productive and thoroughly international :)

Besos y Abrazos, Sami