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

the world is shrinking

My best friend Sam Estenson who's also on exchange to Japan this year through Rotary posted in his blog today a very short, sweet, and simple statement (a rare feat from my darling Samuel) that essentially says that if there's one thing that having all this free time has taught him, it's that he doesn't want all this free time. I love being able to come home and not have to really stress over anything at all. Being able to just lay around and read a book or watch tv with the intention of meeting up with some friends or hanging out with my family is a much appreciated change for this girl with so much to do that it seemed as if it was too much to do.

I don't know how long I could do this for, however. Certainly not every day for the rest of my life. I took this year to slow down and evaluate, I'm finding that the most learning happens when you're not seeking knowledge.

My friend from my hometown of Northfield, Minnesota (her name is Grayce Forsythe) is here in Madrid through a program where she teaches a family's children English in exchange for room and board in the city. She's here until December 20, so we made a date today to meet up in Madrid. As we were sitting there talking, I mentioned that I'm not actually in Madrid, I'm in the town of Majadahonda right outisde of Madrid. She looked at me in amazement, telling me that's where she was living too. It turns out she's right across the street from me. In all of the world, in all of Spain, this is where our paths crossed. We promised each other not to see the other one too much though-- it would be so easy to become dependent on that familiarity. But hold your hats folks, the world is shrinking.

Life here in Spain is, thrillingly, routine at this point. On Friday night, I actually had to choose between what I wanted to do, I got invited several places, which was an utterly exciting concept. I ended up going out with Bea Friday night into Madrid and with my friend Robi into Madrid Saturday night. Sunday was a very relaxed day, I hung out with the family, and Monday was a national holiday-- a double header because of Colombus Day and El Dia de Pilar (basically celebrating the saint Pilar-- it's sort of like a second birthday for anyone named Pilar).

People ask me, "what are the people like in Spain?" or "what is the school like in Spain?" and I'm finding it harder and harder to answer. People are people, school is school, family is family, no matter where you are in the world. It's hard to put into words what distinguishes European life from American life because the lines are sort of blurring-- the only really obvious difference at this point is the language, but that's getting more managable by the hour.

It's the birthday of several of my friends this weekend so there are parties to go to and memories to be made. I had my first Chemistry test today, it didn't go great, but it went alright, I have a history test on Thursday. Walking to school this morning, I was freezing, fall has officially arrived in Spain. The pictures are of a little outing my family took on Sunday, I wasn't feeling all that well so I couldn't go, but the pictures are beautiful regardless.

Hasta Luego, Sami

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Don't really know if you can ask for a lot more than this...

The Spanish flag

A staple on the Gran Via of Majadahonda (the main drag of my hometown)... You better believe that this bench belongs to these ladies too, you wouldn't see a different group occupying it... They all have their respective places and groups, elderly men and women alike. Absolutely unforgettable

Jacobo snapped this shot at La Escorial in an entryway... The thought of the construction behind this magnificent place is overwhelming within itself, needless to say the history within it... How many thousands of people have walked through that door?

The outside of La Escorial, it stretches far far far in both directions (to the left and the right) as well.

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At La Escorial with Jacobo... If you look closely you can see the statues of the saints on the white pillars above us...

Yet another breathtaking view with Javi and Jacobo

Ana is a big fan of taking pictures when you're not really looking, but I ended up liking this one because of the background

The seat of King Felipe II with Javi and Jacobo

Marta is on the left, Mateo is on the right holding his newly christened baby sister Lola

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Yet another set of photos.... I agree with Sam Estenson (www.estenson.blogspot.com) in that oftentimes pictures can express a culture better than words; you just have to feel it.

Above is my grandfather and one of my little cousins named Marta. We gather at my grandfather's every week at 2 pm and eat paella and play cardgames and enjoy each other's company.

My host sister Bea and I

At Las Fiestas de Las Rozas with friends

More Fiestas de Las Rozas (I like this picture because it has Bea in it and one of my best friends here named Rocio, the other girl to my left)

This is where everyone buys their books and school supplies in Majadahonda. This tiny shop supplies everything for the entire town, you have to wait about an hour or more to get anything.
Kids here don't rent school textbooks, it's similar to college in that they're all purchased and all pretty expensive (about 30 euros per book).