Perseverance & Prayer

I realize that my blogs have slowed down quite a bit and I still haven´t blogged about Italy yet & honestly I probably won´t but something really cool just happened that I thought was worth sharing.

I don´t think that it´s a secret to anyone that I´m ready to come home. This semester I´ve been a part of a small group and have shared my struggle with wanting to be home with them. Last night I was asking God for some much needed help because I knew that I couldn´t do this on my own but I just wished that I had someone to pray with me to help me finish strong.

So this morning I got up and headed to school to take my test. Close to the same test I failed at the beginning of my time here. I made it through the test and while I know that I missed some points, I know I didn´t come close to failing.
 
After my test I came to the computer lab area where some of my friends were studying for tests that they had when a couple girls from my small group called me over to them. They handed me a huge bar of chocolate and a stack of little papers stapled together. Kelly explained to me that there was a square of chocolate for each day I had left here as well as a bible verse for each day. And not only that each day one of the girls was going to be praying for me.

And I bet you can guess what happened next. The tears began to flow. Not only did I get to see how my perseverance with school paid off but to have my prayer answered so quickly and so directly is a feeling that I just can´t explain yet. 

 I am so loved & so thankful for it.

Half-way Point

February 22nd was the last time I blogged & I feel like so much has happened between then and now!

After I got back from Toledo I'm assuming that I just spent the time around the city anxiously awaiting the arrival of my family... which thanks to the lovely Midwestern weather happened a day later than it was supposed to. Finding out that they were coming a day late, & potentially that they might not make it at all was a tough pill for me to swallow  But, after a small bit of freaking out on my part they arrived a day late and all was well. 

They arrived on Thursday. I was able to use public transportation for the first time and meet my family at the airport. I was so excited to see them!! And yes, of course I cried. We took a taxi back to the hotel, got some lunch, and then they took a nap because they were exhausted from all of their traveling. After their nap we headed to the city to shop a little bit but little did I know it was some sort of holiday so most of the shops were closed. So we went to Starbucks and then we headed to a restaurant where we could eat dinner and watch flamenco. They really enjoyed it so I'm glad I got to take them. We didn't get home until about 11 and then headed to bed. 

Friday morning we slept in, and by slept in I mean that grandma slept until 1 PM, safe to say traveling got the best of her and the rest of the family. I treated them to a local restaurant for lunch and then we did some shopping, I think, my days are starting to run together. We shopped for a bit, and then headed to the Setas (the waffle buildings) to look at the city. We then headed to dinner and then got some ice cream on the way home. 

Saturday we got out of bed and had some dunkin dounuts and then took a bus tour around the city. I really liked the tour because it was a nice way for the fam to see the city without having to walk everywhere. After that we got a little snack and then I'm not sure what we did. We ended up going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner just because I knew where is was and what to order. 

Sunday we toured the city some more and then went to look at the cathedral. (The largest GOTHIC cathedral in the world, 3rd largest cathedral in the world). I had already been through once but it was fun to go through again with my family. For supper I had the pleasure of taking my family to eat at Isabel's. And boy did she roll out the red carpet for us. She cooked, and baked, and had everything laid out all nicely. She is always so gracious and kind and I'm thankful that most of my family got to meet her. If I end up half as compassionate as Isabel, I'd say I'd be just fine.

Monday I got up and went to school & then the family met me after. We went to lunch and then rested after, we were all starting to feel our busy weekend. We then headed back into the city to do some last minute shopping & then they got to watch my flamenco class. After that we went for some pizza and then headed back to the hotel to pack up. 

To this point in my blog I feel like it was boring and just the details of what we had done. Here's where it gets a little more heart felt. After we got the packing done, I was going to head to bed and my mom sister & I just chatted it up. I missed them ALL so much it was so nice to just spend time with them. It didn't matter what we were doing I was just so happy to have them here. 

Tuesday morning we got up EARLY and headed to the airport. Poor sissy woke up sick to her stomach and I was really worried about it & also there was a huge snow storm coming. But thankfully they all made it home safe & mostly healthy & on time. 

I think the main reasons I was so happy to see them, besides the fact that they are my family, it was just SO nice to see people I knew who spoke my language who I could just be myself around.  A lot of the time I have these really deep thoughts that I'm like oh I'm so gonna blog about that but then I never do, but I'll leave it at this... It's a lot harder being so far away from my friends and family. I feel like it's taken a toll on my relationships, and by toll I mean that it has stretched them & added another level of difficulty to them. My mom shared with me this thought this past weekend... People's lives at home are still going on just the same where mine is drastically different. I'm the one who is treading water just as fast as I can, where as life is going on completely normal. It's been hard to figure out the balance and relax and just accept life as it comes to me.

I'm half way done with my time here is Sevilla. Two months from RIGHT now I'll be on my way home. On one hand I think it will fly by, but then on the other, heavier hand, it feels like it's going to take 6 more years. I have some pretty exciting trips coming up so I think that those will help the time pass. Two weeks from today I'll be in Italy for a week and then in a little over 4 weeks I head to Paris for a few days. Hopefully after that I'll be able to make a trip or two to the beach as well. My skin is just a little tooo pasty for my liking haha.

One of the students in my group has asked me a few times why I'm here. At first it kinda bothered me, I mean I'm here learning Spanish just like every one else was my initial thought.. but in all honesty I'm still trying to figure out why the heck I'm here. I think my best answer at this point is this: I've felt a tug on my heart for a while to get out of Huntington, and I don't think it was by mistake that everything fell into place for me to be here: how the class schedule fell where I only needed one class for my major this semester, losing my passport- not once but twice, a last minute loan scare. I really didn't put much thought into leaving as the days leading up to me leading got closer. I just knew it was all going to be taken care of and that I was in more than good hands. Obviously I'm alluding to God in all of this, but what's funny is that I didn't even realize it until about a week into being here that this was all part of His plan. Silly, silly me. So on days when I'm really resisting being here, wondering why the heck I'm here, and missing everyone and everything at home, I can and continue to rest assured that it's all part of a plan much greater and more magnificent than I could every imagine. Some days it's easier to convince myself of that than others, but I'm getting there.

I think it was my sophomore year of high school, the ever famous Kent Yost MADE ME memorize this verse (I mean the nerve of some people really... hehe :) "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6. Maybe this isn't the right context for this verse, I'm not a bible major after all, but how comforting to know God's got it. Now it's time to just sit back, try my hardest to let go of the control (thanks Cathy haha), and enjoy the ride.

I have a test this week followed by a trip to a neighboring city. Thanks again for your continued support and kind words! They mean more than you know!

Miss you all!

Audrey

ONE WHOLE MONTH!

Yesterday marked the official one month of being in Spain! Looking back it feels like I've been here forever, but at the same time it's flyin' by! 

When I left off last week I was fighting a nasty cold so last weekend didn't consist of too much. Friday night I walked around the city with some friends & got yogurt and then just came home and went to bed. Saturday   I went and toured the palace in town with some friends and then later that night went to a bar to watch some Flamenco but the place was packed so a big group of people from our group sat outside in what is kind of the town center and bonded for a few hours which was really nice. Sunday I woke up to go to church but had no voice and didn't feel so hot so I slept in for a little bit and then met up with some friends to finish planning our Italy trip!!! I finished out the weekend by catching up with some Pastor Kieth aka Batman sermons, working on some homework, and looking into planning a trip to either Paris or London. Prettyyyy relaxing!

Monday it was back to the daily grind of class, nap time, planning trips, flamenco class, and planning a trip some more. Tuesday followed about that same pattern except for instead of flamenco class, we made hand painted Spanish fans... I'm SURE mine will be selling for 209834958349850 Euros by the end of the week! (haha). OH YA! AND!!!! I booked a flight to Paris for a long weekend with two of my friends! Wednesday I went to class, had some lunch, went to a cafe with some friends, watched a movie at one of our apartments together, went to our chapel-like service and then I met with my intercombio. My intercombio took me to this little restaurant that had a GREAT deal she said. When it came to our table it was two plates. One that looked like bacon that hadn't been cooked and the other was a plate of shrimp. The whole shrimp. Eyes and everything. For those of you who don't know, I am my father's daughter when it comes to food. I eat the same thing over and over and over again and rarely try something knew. My intercombio, Carmen, suddenly felt bad because she didn't even ask me if I liked these things. I told her, "No pasa nada," (its not a big deal). And copied how she ate the food. It was surprisingly not so bad, shrimp and all. I didn't get home until about 11:30 PM, which normally wouldn't be a big deal expect for I had to still shower and be up at 5 AM to leave to an overnight class trip. I took the shower, which ran completely out of hot water with half a bottle of conditioner in my hair, and then laid in bed WIDE AWAKE until about 4:30... so that was fun.

My roommate and I then got up at 5, managed to get ourselves together and headed to meet the rest of out group to board the bus and head 6 hours north-ish to Toledo. Even though I took Dramamine I still struggled with motion sickness but thankfully I slept most of the way and it wasn't too much of an issue. First we stopped at wind meals that had something to do with Don Quixote. Then, we arrived at our hotel, checked into our rooms, and headed out into the city. Thursday we saw a church, and a monastery and just wondered around the city. Today (Friday) we toured the cathedral and headed home. Something that I failed to mention is that this city is like at a top of a mountain, with curvy cobblestone streets. It was VERY pretty however, by the time the bus had wound its way out of the city, my wonderful  new found  car-sickness took over and I was miserable. Thankfully my Dramamine kicked in and I was out for a good long while and feeling mas mejor. (much better). 

Tonight we got back at about 9:30 and came home and had dinner with Isabel and now I'm blogging and heading to bed. I'm still feeling a little woosy from the Dramamine haha. 

It really is crazy to think that I have been here for a month. Looking back I don't think I prepared myself well enough before coming here. Up until about last week I just had this almost overwhelming feeling of unhappy heaviness because I wanted to be home so bad. Don't get me wrong, I was and still am enjoying my time here but it just felt like I was always carrying around this unwanted anchor that bring me down. However, like I said, something has changed and I feel a lot less overwhelmed, and way more confident that I can not only manage to get through this experience but thrive in it as well. Today one of my friends was saying how when she wanted to go she wanted her close friends and family to be able to tell a difference in her: spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Simply put, those have been and are my goals as well for the semester. 

Something that I had learned this past semester in one of my classes and thought, "Oh, this won't happen to me!" comes from my Intercultural Learning and Adjustment class: People (close family and friends) are going to ask and want to know about what all you're doing and how its going... but only to a certain extent. Don't get my wrong, this is not a bad thing, but again something I could have done a better job of preparing myself for. I know that it is impossssssiiiiible for anyone who isn't going through this experience with me to understand what it's like and what I am going through. On the other hand, I want so badly to maintain and grow the relationships that I have at home, but it's a pretty difficult task considering we're on two different playing fields now. All the while I'm in a completely foreign country, with people a barely know, learning a language I thought I already knew. Change of some sort is inevitable. 

I'm REALLY REALLY REALLLY REALLLLLLLLLY looking forward to this coming week! Grandma Joyce, my mom, and Allyson will all be here! I'm so excited to get to see part of my family & I have 2 days off from school so I get to spend even more time with them. Hopefully I won't get us lost and they will like it here as much as I do! 

I'm just going to stop keeping track of the amount of time I haven't worn sweatpants in public and will be sure to alert everyone the second I do haha. 

Be Kind, 

Audrey 

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind & compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

There's no place I'd rather be.

So for this week (3 weeks in, 1/5th of the way done) I'm going to go backwards because that's just what makes the most sense to me!

Tonight I'm writing to you all from my bed, while listening/watching the HU women's game. Senior night shout out to Allison, Sarah, & Lauren! Wish I could be there!!

Tonight I also had my second awkward moment with Isabel... today at lunch she asked me what I wanted for supper and I was so proud when she understood. However, I forgot that I was meeting with my intercombio (Spanish person learning English) at 9:30 and didn't really think about not being home in time for supper.

I met my intercombio, Carmen, after she got done with Pilates. To my surprise  Carmen is 40...which intimidated me even more because of how awful my Spanish is. But she took my to Mexican dinner in her fiat and we had a great time! She is also the sister of my teacher..Salva. However I didn't get home until about 11 and Isabel told me, "I wasn't worried about the food I cooked, I was worried about you!" Which was so sweet. I then shoveled down what she cooked me because I didn't have the heart to tell her I had already eaten.

For those of you keeping score at home...Salva hasn't always been my teacher. I made the decision Monday after class that I needed to be moved into the Beginner classes. After talking with the school's director (who is extremely nice, caring and understanding) we decided it would be best if I changed classes. AND WHAT A RELIEF! The class is waaay more laid back and I'm reviewing what I need to be learning and reviewing what needs to be reviewed. As some of you know, some aspects of school have always been challenging for me, and I've always had to persevere and get through and make the best out of the situations that I've been in. Without those experiences I don't think I would have been able to put away my pride and move "down" to the other class. This week whenever I felt stressed, overwhelmed, or like I just wasn't good enough, a song would always come in my head about God's strength. And honestly without His strength, I think I would be miserable because during class all I could think about was going home or being home or how much I hated it here. After class though I would enjoy myself. This class change thought as really made a difference in my attitude.

On Wednesday night we normally have a chapel-like service but tonight our student ministries coordinator was sick so it looked as if we weren't going to have it. Some students decided that they would just have a small worship time instead and I'm so thankful they did. We sang a few songs that I knew and then a new one that was AWESOME. All it says is this:

"There's no place I'd rather be, There's no place I'd rather be, There's no place I'd rather be, than here in your love, here in your love. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you God, I wan't more...."

While much more has happened over this week, I'm starting to settle in to a routine and find some normalcy, but there's still a constant nagging of missing home. After singing that song tonight though it kind of made me realize that no matter where I am, what I'm doing, I always have God's love, it's always there. Which is extremely comforting. I'm growing my relationships, somewhat learning Spanish, and just taking in the culture. I don't want you to get the wrong impression  and think that I'm hating my time here because that's not true at all. I really am enjoying myself.

I'm officially going to Italy for Spring Break:) Grandma, Mom, and Allyson will be here in two weeks :) And I start a new class on Friday! Again I want to thank everyone for their continual thoughts and prayers! Hopefully I will blog about something a little more interesting next time haha

I have yet to wear sweatpants in public,

Audrey

Lookin' back at week 2!

WooooW!!!!

I've been here just a little over 2 weeks... it doesn't even seem like it!

Thursday was Noche de Chicas! or ladies night. We all went to eat Churros con chocolate and then went to the Cetas to watch the sunset. (Pictures on my facebook) From the cetas you can really see the whole city. It was really cool to bond some more with the group as well as just reflect on the past week and take in all of the beauty.

Friday the whole group went to Cordaba, a city about a two hour bus ride away. During that bus ride I found out something new about myself... I am now a victim of motion sickness haha... so again, I slept the whole drive and didn't get to see the countryside, but at least I didn't throw up ha. In Cordaba there is a mosque, that is now turned into a cathedral (also pictures on facebook). SOOOOoooooo pretty. We then went to a Jewish synagog. By this time my brain was very tired of trying to translate that I didn't really pay attention but it was really interesting to look at everything. We then had some free time so a group of girls and I navigated to a plaza and ate our packed lunches and took in the beauty of the city. We got back on the bus and I slept my way home.

After we got back from the trip, Alyssa and I came home and relaxed for a bit and then ate dinner with Isabel. Afterwards we went and hung out with a couple of girls from Michigan. As weird as it sounds its nice to hang out with them because it somewhat feels like home haha. Gotta love the mid-west! Then it was sleepy time after we got done hanging out with them. It's been really nice to build some new relationships. It was something that I had been pretty anxious about before coming here.

Saturday we slept in a little bit and then met some friends and toured the cathedral in Sevilla. There is a really tall bell tower that you can go to the top of and see the city so we walked up the 34 ramps and 15 stairs. Wheeeeew! It was a pretty good workout haha but well worth the hike. Saturday was a nice relaxing day. We hung out in the city for a bit, hung out at home, and then went out with a group of friends for some yummy Spanish desert! Again, it was great to strengthen some relationships within the group.

Sunday we got up and went to church. It was of course in Spanish and 2 hours long which made it hard to pay attention the whole time. We then walked home. Currently the garbage men are on strike so there is literally trash everywhere and myyyy goodness does it smell! No one knows when the strike will be over buut hopefully it will be soon. I'm not 100% sure what we did the rest of the day Sunday.... I know we did some homework...maybe walked around but nothing too out of the ordinary.

Monday we got up for class and then I started planning a trip for spring break with my friends. Monday was also my first Flamenco class. It was really fun and I enjoyed it. Our teacher is so so so nice and encouraging. I miss dancing so it's nice to somewhat get back into the swing of things. I'm excited to see the end result of this class. After class we continued with our Spring Break plans. The original plan was to go to Rome and then Greece, but that just didn't work out. I cam home and then studied for my first test.

Tuesday (today) I went to school and took my test. Yiiiiikes. I didn't do so well at all. If you were wondering how you could pray for me it would definitely be with my classes. When I'm at school all I want to do is go home. Not like home to Isabel's apartment but home home to that house on Cherry St. that I used to hate but can't wait get back to. After I get out of class and vent to Alyssa and hang out with friends I'm back to enjoying my time here in Spain, but gosh... during class its a big struggle. After class we came home and ate with Isabel & took a siesta! We woke up and met some friends for a snack and then shopped a little. We then met the rest of the group at school and went out for tappas. Tappas are like appetizers  We went in groups of 7 with local Spaniards. It was fun to continue to build relationships with people in the group as well as local Spaniards. Walking around the city tonight I just kept thinking how beautiful it was. I don't think that its ever going to get old or set in that I actually live here.

In the last week I found out that grandma trout will be accompanying my mom and sister to Spain at the end of February! GAH! I'm so excited for them to come!

Also I took a nap today, had 2 cokes and coffee sooo going to bed at a decent time was kinda out of the question. Also a BIG shout out to the HU men's basketball team on the win tonight! As well as the game day crew putting out a great show and keeping the leak under control!

I miss home so much but I know God's got a plan for me here. Thank you so much for your continued prays and encouraging words! I think I'm going to make it haha!

Week 2 without sweatpants in public....,

Audrey

Week One: Part 2

After I posted my last blog I left the house because I was late to meet some friends and I thought ohh.... maybe I should have waited to post that or add on to it or something because I probably freaked someone out but I didn't so here is part two!

While I was having my "meeting" with Katie yesterday she shared something with me that I hadn't really thought of while I was here. I thought that I was pretty well prepared for a cross-culture experience... I mean I literally talked about culture in almost every single one of my classes every single day. But when Katie shared her little piece of wisdom with me I was dumbfounded...why had I never thought of this before?! (Side note: my teachers did a great job of teaching me, I think this is just one of those things you just have to experience to know.)

I almost just said the WHOLE time I've been here...but it's barely been a week... SOOOOOO.....

Since I've been here I've been taking in the culture around me, watching people, seeing how they interact with each other, their families, children, me when I don't understand and most importantly how they dress...but what I really hadn't been focusing on was the affect that being in a completely different culture had on ME.   

What Katie shared with me is that when you come into a new culture you basically lose your identity (more or less, I mean I still have my passport so that's good). Nothing is familiar around you, you can't understand what people are saying, you don't know how to express yourself in anyway (mostly), people dress differently and listen to different music and watch different TV shows (Oh, how i miss reality TV). It's just all different. That was kind of my Oprah "Ah-ha" moment, which fittingly took place after my Ah-hahhahahahahahah moment. I even said to Katie, "I don't know how to be funny in Spanish." I miss being able to make people laugh. Now locals just laugh at me when I stumble over my Spanish and then don't understand what they say back to me. I have to find my identity. 

I'm going to go off on a scholarly, Kevin Miller, tangent here real fast so you can skip this paragraph and I won't be upset! This past semester I learned from my new buddy Dr. Miller that the language we use effects every part of our life, our CULTURE, it shapes our culture. Or the words that we use shapes our culture. So, without my native language I have been having a hard time saying what I mean. I don't know HOW people talk here or what they talk about, or that I sound stupid when I use a Latin American word that's not used in Spain. I want to fit in, I don't want to look American, I want to look Spanish (which if anyone did think I looked Spanish, once they heard me talk the hoax would be up). I simply don't know the language, which makes me an outsider, and minority. Last weekend a Spaniard came up to me and a group of my friends on the street and said (in Spanish), "You're in Spain, talk in Spanish." Ewwwwww I felt so gross & mad & mostly stupid. While my appearance suggests that I almost fit in, my language clearly says otherwise. I am a minority here. Here, English doesn't make me "better." When I had traveled to the D.R. before I was looked up to in a way because I was white and knew English. That doesn't matter so much at all here, I'm not in a near 3rd world country or poverty stricken area...While I have never said it so many people in the states have said, "You're in America, speak English..." or something along those lines. YUCK! STOP IT! DON'T EVER SAY IT AGAIN!!! I didn't agree with that saying before anyways but now its real personal. I can now personally identify with people who have had that said to them, it is by no means a good feeling.

BUT anyways back to what I was saying....  

In a way I feel like having my break down so early makes me look weak. I barely lasted a week with all my familiar things and I completely lost it. Which also makes me thing that I really don't know what my identity is, and probably haven't for a long time. But at the same time I'm happy it happened  and that it happened when it did.

Tonight we had a little student chapel at school. It started out with worship songs that are sung at HU chapels & I instantly began to think how awesome of an experience I was witnessing. All 30 of us in one room at the same time. All with different pasts, problems,and all struggling to find our identities in a new culture. Some stripped down or away from their cultures more than others. But the really really really really REALLLLLLY cool part was, we all had one thing in common, we all have Jesus. We were all praising the same God who knows our true identity, regardless of culture, language or whatever else. We all have this awesome opportunity to grow AND to grow with HIM. I'm beyond excited to see where this road leads me.  

Side note: Also we talked about Flamenco classes & the teacher of those classes was there and she somewhat taught us how to salsa. It was awesome & I loved it.  

I came on this trip thinking I was going to learn and language & culture but after the past couple days I think there is more in store for me here.

I haven't worn sweatpants in public for over a week now, 

Audrey

Week One: Part One

So for today I'm going to do 2 blogs.The first part (this one) just as a reflection of what all has happened and then the second part kind of applying it to what I have learned in school and being sort of scholarly because Kevin Miller has more or less turned me into a nerd.

I think I left off on Sunday afternoon.... so i'll start there.

Alyssa and I went to a little pastry shop and had a little snack and talked with some friends. We came back and ate dinner. After dinner I started showing her pictures on my phone of my family and friends and that's all it took. Alyssa, Isabel and I talked for about 3 hours. It was nice to hear about her life and I'm sure she enjoyed hearing about ours. It also made me feel a little less homesick.

Monday we got up and went to class and then came home. After class I just wasn't feeling like myself. We ate lunch and I went and laid down. I don't even really remember what I did the rest of the day it was just kind of a blah-ish day.

Tuesday I went to class and the whole time all I could think of was being able to Skype with my mom as soon as class was over. When class was finally over I could barely keep my tears in because I had been feeling so down and I knew that crying it out with my mom would make it all better. And surprisingly here is where the funny story starts...


I found an empty classroom and began Skyping with both of my parents. My mom was asking my questions about life here and all I wanted to do was cry and tell her that I wanted to come home. I was also trying to hold my tears in because I didn't want to make her cry either. After answering a few questions my dad said he had to go and get ready for work. He told me that he loved me and that he would talk to me soon and I told him the same choking back my tears. My mom, seeing this began to cry too & that's when the flood gates opened and the tears began to freely flow heavily.

At almost the exact time that I let all my tears finally fall the door to the classroom that I was in flies open & my teacher and other classmates come in and Ana (the teacher) tells me that she has class now and I'll have to go Skype somewhere else. What she didn't see (at first) was me crying. I quickly mumbled to my mom that I had to go & then Ana saw that I was really crying. Being Spanish, Ana was talking very loudly at me because she was concerned and me being me hates when people yell at me, which caused me to freak out more. At the time I had no idea what she was saying (because it was all in Spanish).

Meanwhile, my classmates are watching this all happen and I have been holding my breath trying not to cry. I don't know if any of you have ever held your breath while crying, but I wouldn't suggest doing it. Because when doing so, your body makes this really weird snorting like noise because you are not breathing.

So my classmates are watching, a lady I barely know is shouting at my in Spanish, I'm snorting, and crying. All I remember hearing is her say something about Katie and me saying Si. Katie is our American student ministries coordinator  So Ana takes me to Katie's office and I slowly start getting myself calmed down. (At this point I'm borderline hyperventilating). I finally get myself calmed down to tell Katie what happen, half way laughing, half way crying.

She did an extremely awesome job of calming me down and talking about feelings and all that fun stuff. Now I can laugh about this story and believe it or not I feel 8797789475893795 times better about being here & don't want to go home anymore. I know I will have hard days again but I'm extremely happy to be here and want to take advantage of every opportunity while I can. Part two will be coming later today but I just thought I would share this story with you!

Hasta Luego!

Audrey

Weekend Adventures

Hiiiiiiiiiii

Friday night we all went over to Katie's apartment (she works at the school). It might be the cutest apartment I've ever seen! It was tiny but just so cute. All of the students in program hung out there for a bit. After that Alyssa, Dani, Karleigh and I started to head for home but I got us lost and we ended up by a store that was like a Best Buy and Barnes and Noble combined. So we wandered through there a bit & then headed home for supper with Isabel- at 10:00 PM. After dinner we were exhausted and headed for our rooms for the night. I chatted with some friends from home, took NyQuil, and slept 9 beautiful hours. 

Saturday we had a photo scavenger hunt through are school. So after breakfast Alyssa and I headed there to meet up with the rest of our group and find out what we had to do. We were split up into about 5 or 6 groups and headed on our way thought the city. I was with Karli, Kelsey and Kelly. We are all somewhat mid-westerners so it was kinda cool to talk about places we all knew and where we liked to visit and things like that. Surprisingly I knew exactly where 2 of the spots were that we had to find so we headed there first. From there we went to the tourism office and they marked on a map where all the other spots were located. Four hours later... we found about 11 places out of 22 I think. It was a lot of walking but it helped that it was about 70 degrees outside. We got to see a lot of the city which was nice as well. The native Spaniards all had their winter coats and hats on and my group was walking around shedding layers and sweating haha. 

I then walked home BY MY SELF and made it with no problems at all... a major milestone for me... and ate lunch with Isabel and Alyssa. We then siesta-ed and headed back into the city to meet up with the rest of the group to find out the winners of the scavenger hunt. My team came in 3rd by 2 points! After that we headed to dinner at a place in the city. I couldn't tell you what it was called but we had tappas-which i dont know what that is either but it was soooooo good. It was grilled chicken on top of little round french fries with some sort of sauce but it was sooo yummmy. After dinner we went and had churros con chocolate. It was good but not as good as i thought it would be. A few of us then went and met up with some of the other group and headed to the Flameco Bar again and hung out for a little bit and got to know each other better. 

Saturday I also got to FaceTime with my Dad for a bit! It was so nice to be able to see him. I had honestly kinda forgot that we moved so I was surprised when he answered and the new house was behind him, not our old one.   

The plan was to get up and go to church today but Alyssa and I both decided we should sleep in after we woke up for the first time this morning. What we didn't plan on was sleeping all day... which we mostly did. Pretty safe to say we were a little tired. We had lunch with Isabel and then I worked on homework and this blog as well as FaceTimed with my mom. It was kinda hard to hear her since she was at Allyson's volleyball tournament but it was so great to see her face. Even though it was nice to see her face it still made me sad because I knew she was so far away & I miss her (I miss all my family but in case you didn't know I'm sort of a mamma's girl). It makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it now. 

Today it really set in that I'm going to be doing this for 4 months..not just a little week long adventure. Which makes me happy and sad at the same time. I learned in one of my classes last semester that adjusting to a new culture is a process & that it really depends on you to work yourself through the process and enjoy the good times and pull yourself out of the bad ones as well. 

Alyssa and I are about to go meet up with some of the group to walk around the city and maybe get some ice cream or something. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

Love and Miss You All!!

Audrey

siestas, showers, & spain

Holaaaaa

I have really been enjoying my time so far in Spain. Last night I didn't really feel like blogging so clearly I didn't haha. 

Two nights ago my body didn't feel the need to sleep so I slept from about 4 AM to 8 AM (10 PM- 2 AM Indiana time). That morning (Thursday) we had registration with our Profe (teacher) and then a culture and safety "class" with a couple other teachers. I miraculously tested into the intermediate level and through my 2 year old Spanish tried to tell the Profe that I guessed on the test and didn't feel confident to be in the intermediate level of classes. She seemed to be more confident in me than I was myself and told me that I would be fine. The culture and safety thing was pretty basic common sense stuff. 

After we left the school, Alyssa and I came home and then had lunch with Isabel. Its so weird eating lunch at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Here is Spain its morning until you eat lunch, then its afternoon until its dark. Something that I noticed today was that the news is on at 3:00 in the afternoon where in the states its on at noon. 

After lunch it was siesta time. I love siesta! At about 5 Alyssa and I headed into town to meet up with some friends from school to go shopping! Annnd my goodness! Right now everything is on sale in the majority of the stores! I bought a book bag and a pair of boots for about 40 euros. I'll post a picture of them sometime. We prolly didn't even go into half of the shops either & I can't wait to go back and just look at everything.

We then went back to the school and the whole group of us hung out and played a getting to know you game and then ate some dominos pizza and drank pop and it was so great. I'm sadly what they call here in Spain "ticky-smikey" or a picky eater. I appreciate Isabel's cooking but I still don't have much of an appetite  I was told that the number of times zones you travel that's how many days it takes you to get over jet lag. So for me, 6 days. 

After the pizza party a big group of us went to a bar and watched a flamenco dancer. I'm sure this sentence just sent a lot of people into a spin but trust me there is nothing to worry about. Bars here are the same as restaurants with bars in them in the states but instead of being called a bar & grill, its just called a bar (from what I have seen). Also, if you get a chance YouTube flamenco dancing. Its seriously one of the coolest things I have ever seen! AND I get to take lessons soon :) I'll prolly become a famous flamenco dancer and marry a good looking soccer player soon so here's your heads up! Also, since I'm talking about boys, there are very few bad looking Spaniards. After we watched her dance we all headed our seperate ways back to our houses. I still can't get over that I walk everywhere. I mean here I don't find it a big deal but at home I dread walking across campus. 

This morning started off with a shower. I may lose my religion due to shower taking while here. Here in Spain the water and electricity and everything are set up much differently than at home. When Alyssa got up to shower first this morning she had to first go out to the kitchen and flip a switch on a gas can (like the ones that are hooked up to grills) so that the water would warm up. Because electricity, water and everything else are so much more expensive you have to turn off the water between shampoo, conditioner... etc. Also another important note to this story is that the apartment is extremely cold. Here homes don't have central heating. So it's really really really cold when the water isn't running in the shower & when you get out. But, it did wake me up this morning! Last night I slept about 5 hours so hopefully I start to get this sleeping thing down better. 

Today was also my first day of class. I'm not 100% sure on this but the class I was in this morning was conversation & grammar broken up with a 20 minute break. It's one thing to listen to the teacher and respond (all in Spanish) but it's another to try and learn. I have to pay attention the ENTIRE time. A few times I found myself day dreaming and when I stopped myself I had no idea what the Profe was talking about. I had class from 9-12:30 and will Monday-Friday almost every week. It's really going to be a challenge getting through my classes I think. 

Alyssa and I then came home and had looked at places that we could travel too over some our breaks and then had lunch with Isabel. We're going to meet up with some friends in a little bit and then we have a little get together at one of the girl's house who works at the school. But right now, it is siesta time! 

hasta luego, 

Audrey

   

day 2!

Last night I mostly slept great! I woke up around 3:00 AM and couldn't go back to sleep but after that I slept until 8:00 and as usual, didn't want to get up.

My senora Isabel made us toast with a choice of jelly or chocolate spread... I tried both but of course the chocolate was my favorite. I wasn't brave enough to try coffee so I just drank milk with my breakfast. Isabel then took my roommate and I to the hotel where our orientation was held at. It was just around the corner but it was fun to get out a see a little bit of the city.

At orientation we went over basic, boring, common knowledge things and then we took a placement test :/. Again, I was reminded that my Spanish is horrible and not at the level that I thought it was. Tomorrow we meet with one of our teachers and go over what classes they think will be best suited for us based on the placement test. I'm 100% okay with being put in the beginners classes... especially after that test haha.

After the test we had a small break where I tried cafe con leche, or coffee with milk and lots of sugar and I liked it! We then went back to orientation and went over a few other things, one of which was Flamenco classes... naturally I signed up for them! I'm real excited for those to start! We also got our Spanish mobile phones to use while we are here. If you'd like to call me or something message me on Facebook and we'll get it figured out. We also talked about the train, tram, and bus options that we had to travel across the city. These things make me very nervous since I've never had an opportunity to use them in the States before.

After the orientation Alyssa and I came back home, after taking lots of pictures, and ate lunch with Isabel. We had a sort of arroz con pollo, or chicken with rice and veggies.. it wasn't my favorite meal here so far but it wasn't bad. We also ate bread. Since I've been here I really haven't had much of an appetite and Isabel picked up on that. I tried to explain to her through my broken spanish that I really did like her food I just haven't been hungry... I don't think she understood though..

I then participated in my first Spanish siesta (nap) and it was wonderful! Everyday the city basically shuts down from 2-5 for siesta. During this time you don't have to nap... but it is nice :). After siesta Alyssa and I headed to school for the first time to go on a tour of the city.

I learned a few things from the tour:
1. The cathedral in the city is one of the largest types of cathedrals in one category & then largest in another (I'll have to find out exactly what categories those are.)
2. The cathedral was built on top of a mosque & some features of the mosque still exists and are original.
3. There is a royal palace... I don't think I saw the palace but I saw the gate.
4. I started not to pay attention as much at this point but I did see a lot of really cool things that the U.S. just doesn't have to offer.
5. My roommate is real cool and we get along great!
6. We found where the language college students from Seville study. They are cute. I too, will be studying there.
7. I'm horrible at taking pictures.

After the tour my roommate and I started to head back to our apartment. I stopped to get some euros because we had seen a place to buy shampoo and stuff as well as another place to but some minutes on our phones. We were so preoccupied with looking with store fronts that we ended up lost. Thankfully (in typical Cathy fashion) I brought the map along with me and we found our way back home.

We then had dinner with our Senora (at 9:30...typical of Spaniards. It was yummy and I was able to eat a little bit more. Alyssa and I both made more of an effort to try and communicate with Isabel. We watched TV with her as we ate. They had a top 3 dunks from the NBA of the new which I thought was cool and then there so some like talk show on and Taylor Swift was the guest. Isabel said she was ugly & too skinny, God Bless you Isabel! haha

I'm sure tomorrow will bring lots of new adventures as well. I'm not sure if I'm going to blog everyday but I'll just take it day by day and see what happens! I really can't get over how pretty it is here!

Until tomorrow,

Audrey

Pollo or Carne?

Hello from Spain!

 I'm not sure how blogs are supposed to start out or be formatted so I'm just going to kinda do my own thing and hope it works!

On the way to the airport with my parents I was so excited to get to Spain but at the same time i wasn't ready to leave my family and friends either. With a heavy heart I left my parents and headed through security with some other girls who are in the program. As the time got closer and closer to leave I started to feel more sad that i was going to be leaving everything i knew for the next 4 month, but at that point i knew i had no other choice but to go.

We boarded the largest plane I've ever been on and took off. Within a few minutes we had are dinner brought around to us and that was the first time i realized i wasn't going to understand a lot of what was going on around me. The stewardess asked me, "Pollo o Carne?" And i just sat there with a dumb look on my face like what?! Duh Audrey you learned that freshman year of high school... Chicken or steak?! The 8 hour flight went surprisingly fast because I "slept" even though it didn't really feel like it.

We landed in Madrid and went through customs... AKA stamp your passport and go, so that part was nice and then took another train to the bigger train station. I'm real happy that the SIS people traveled with us because i wouldn't have a clue what to do or where to go. At this point in the day i was 10000% exhausted. Thankfully we got on the AVE train (which is like a high speed train that looks more like a monorail than Thomas the Train). I wanted to stay awake and watch as we traveled but after 5 minuets i was out and slept the rest of the 2.5 hour ride. We departed the train and grabbed a taxi with our roommate to head to our host home.

Here's prolly the scariest part of the trip so far... Because of how big my roommate and I's suitcases were we both couldn't ride in the same taxi. So i had to ride in the taxi by myself.... it was a little nerve racking to say the least but Alyssa (my roommate) and I arrived at the same time to the loud barks of Pammy and a smiling Isabel!

Isabel doesn't speak English so that's been interesting trying to communicate with her because I found out today my spanish kinda sucks real bad. She made us lunch and then let us unpack and relax which is what I'm doing now.

One of the things that I can't seem to get over is this whole time change thing. I left my house at 11 AM monday, boarded the plane at 7:30 PM monday. Landed at 3:30 AM Indiana time (9:30 AM Spain time) Made it to Isabel's apartment at 4 PM Spain time and its still 2 in the afternoon at home... that's just weird to me.

I hear its like 1 degree outside at home today so i wont complain about it being "cold" here... but it is kinda cold haha. Isabel is about to make us some dinner soon and then its for sure going to be bed time! SOY MUY CONSADO! I"M REAL TIRED! Hopefully I can keep up on the blog thing and be a little more detailed next time but my brain is struggling to function at this point.

Be kind & live free,

Audrey


PS if your bored after reading this...check out Dribble for Toledo on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. My cool friends are doing something real neat!