To Madrid and Beyond

Let's see, where did I leave off... I guess it has been another week, hasn't it? Oh how time flies! Seriously though. It feels like I have been here much longer than a week and a half. I should probably mention that I started school. What an adventure that is... I take 9 classes: Spanish, Gallego, English, Religion, History of Art, History of Music, History of Philosophy, History of Spain, and Geography. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have school from 8:20AM-2:00PM and Tuesdays and Thursdays I have it from 8:20AM-2:50PM. Not one day during the week is the same class-wise. Lots to remember and I will for sure be like that awkward freshman who still looks at their schedule until the sixth week of school. On the bright side, I am making friends! When I showed up late today (story later) one of the girls ran up and hugged me because she thought I wasn't coming! My first day of school had a little bit of a rough start since I got home the night before at 2:00AM from Madrid.

Old "gateway" into Madrid

My host aunt (my host mom's sister) in the Central Park of Madrid

One of the banks

Kilometer 0: the place where all kilometers in the Iberian Peninsula are measured from

(And my super tourist-y picture)

Palacio Real

The Cathedral

La Plaza Mayor

My first cup of café con leche! Now I drink coffee everyday...

Hands down the BEST restaurant I have ever been to.

To say the least, Madrid was amazing. My host uncle gave me the tour with historical facts about everywhere we went. You know it has been a good day when you have to take off your shoes because your feet hurt from walking so much. I also got to meet my host sister and host dad when I went as well as a majority of his family. They are all so kind and I was told on a few occasions that I look more Spanish than my host mom's son in California! Sorry Jesús. Eloisa told me we will go back to Madrid at Christmas time so I can go to the museums and see more of it. El Prado, here I come! Due to this lovely weekend, I arrived at home quite late and got minimal sleep for the first day of school (but it was worth it.) Everyone stared at me and they didn't know I understood or could speak Spanish for the first two hours of the day. When they found out I could, both them and I were more social. 

Second late night of the week: I went to my first Rotary meeting in A Coruña last night. It started at 9:30PM and ended at, drum roll please... 1:00AM. I was super nervous because I was having dinner with some of the most prestigious people in this area of Spain. The fact that Eloisa kept telling them that I speak perfect Spanish made me too self conscious to ask someone to repeat themselves or to say that I don't understand. This came back later to bite me in the butt. When the secretary, which sat across the table from me I should add, asked me if the meeting was boring me, I didn't hear him, nor did my mind process the Spanish enough to understand, so I answered, "Sí, sí, sí." The man next to me, Carlos, started to laugh as well as the secretary and Carlos looked at me and asked, "¿Entiendes que te dijo?" To which I replied, "No." He repeated the secretary's question and, oh man... The embarrassment... Things like this happened on multiple occasions last night. After a certain point in the night, I don't understand Spanish anymore. I can speak it poorly, but there is no chance for me when listening to it. Now I understand when exchange students say that their minds are exhausted at the end of the day from translating. A Coruña is a 1 hour drive away from my home so Eloisa and I arrived home at 2:00AM. But wait, there's more! Yago had the keys to the apartment. He was asleep. He wouldn't answer his phone. He didn't hear our calls to the apartment. We tried calling him until 3:30AM. Finally, we called the police, woke up our next door neighbors to let us in and pounded on our apartment door for 5 minutes until Yago FINALLY woke up and let us in. Eloisa was just happy he was alive since it was quite odd that he didn't answer out 75 calls (that number was confirmed by Yago himself) or hear the doorbell. By the time I got to bed it was 4:00AM. ROUGH NIGHT, RIGHT?! However, Eloisa let me sleep in until 11:30 so I only had to go to school for 3 hours, but when I arrived, I found out that my last hour was cancelled. Only 2 hours of school for me today! To make things better, my Gallego teacher lived in the US for 4 months and pretty make told me I don't have to do any homework for her class.

In total, I'd say it has been a pretty good start to my second week in Spain. I am so incredibly thankful for all of those who helped make this happen. I know it might be hard sometimes, but it will be SO worth it when I return home.

"For God did not give us a Spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power." ~2 Timothy 1:7. When I am down or feeling inadequate, I remember this verse and that God gives me strength when I call upon Him. For He makes all things possible.

~Ashlyn