Soo...becuase I am bored and Id rather not study (I have a math exam tomorrow on trigonometry, a lengua test on spanish grammar...which i am gunna fail, and a french test. in spain.) since today is 12 days until christmas (i think...I hope I can count..but who knows) I am going to do a small post each day about my twelve days of christmas as an AFS student. I will also try my best to correlate to the song...so by the end I will have a twelve days of christmas song, AFS version!
Alright, so on the first day of christmas my teachers gave to me a trimestral and books to study.
A trimestral is basically like a final, except here they have trimesters, and instead of a half way point for midterms, they have two third of the way points, i guess thats how it would be explained... and this test is on everything we have learned since september. However...my school doesn´t really have trimestrals, every other school does and all my AFS friends are freaking out about them, cause cmon...who wants to do their finals in a foreign language? I mean, they are hard enough already. I do have a trimestral tomorrow for lengua, along side two normal tests, as I already said. And on monday i have a trimestral in Chemistry, actually my first test ever in chemistry, so this should be interesting. Now...I should study....
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." Buddha
well, so this week I basically had no school, leaving me with a plethora of free time (which I guess I oculd have studied...but my attention span for studying only lasts about a half hour...). With this free time I looked at a lot of old pictures, reminiscing on last summer and things back at home. I have also obtained a new addiction, travel blogs. So, I also spent way to much of my time on travel blogs reading about the adventures of some crazy people in this world who I envy, and vow to be like in the future. Then, I realized that although remembering home is healthy, and planning your future is smart, I need to live in the moment a little more. I need to do less of both those things and start living here an now. I am in Spain! I have remembered that I am here for only a short time and I can worry about the future as it comes, and the past has already happened.
So, that is my philosophy lesson for this week, since I didn´t actually have filosofia in school this week with Carmelo.
I mean, granted I had a lot of free time this week, I did actually do stuff too. On Tuesday, we went golfing again, at the same place as last time. Except this time I was sort exhausted, so I didn´t try to hard, or play that much. But after we went to the same Pizzeria. Oh, increiblee, me encanta la pizza :) and all the pizzas were for only five dollars. I got a hawiian and was in paradaise. I love pizza so muchh. When we got home I took a nap. I was so tired...
On Wednesday I had school, except in the afternoon instead of having french class, well for the whole school, instead of having our last period class, we ate a traditional food of Malaga called "Migas". It is fried bread crumbs with vegetables and meat, or anything else you want with it. It wasn´t delicious, but it wasn´t bad either. All of my friends were obsessed with me trying it and every single person in my school asked me if I liked it or not. My lengua teacher even gave me a small history of it.
Aparently, it is the food for the poor, becuase it can be made with stale bread and you wouldnt even know it becuase the bread is fried. And migas can go with anything, so whatever you happen to have in your house you can mix in, and voila! you have a meal made with stale bread that still tastes good. After eating you could go home, whenever you want, even if school didnt close for another 40 mins.
On Thursday I went to church in the morning with my family and then we went to the port. This part of the port was just recently finished and is gorgeous! This was my first time down there. We went to "Foster Hollywood" an american resteraunt, which I dont know if its just me, but I have never heard of it until now...
We had burgers and cheesecake, yummmm.
On Friday, I technically had school, but because its a Friday and we didn´t have school on Thursday no one went. So, I decided that I didn´t want to go either :) I went downtown with Theresa and went shopping alittle, finishing up those last few christmas gifts, and we talked about christmas and holiday traditions. I would tell you all what i learned from theresa, but I think it will be better to explain the traditions after I actually witness them. Only a few weeks!
So, that is my philosophy lesson for this week, since I didn´t actually have filosofia in school this week with Carmelo.
I mean, granted I had a lot of free time this week, I did actually do stuff too. On Tuesday, we went golfing again, at the same place as last time. Except this time I was sort exhausted, so I didn´t try to hard, or play that much. But after we went to the same Pizzeria. Oh, increiblee, me encanta la pizza :) and all the pizzas were for only five dollars. I got a hawiian and was in paradaise. I love pizza so muchh. When we got home I took a nap. I was so tired...
On Wednesday I had school, except in the afternoon instead of having french class, well for the whole school, instead of having our last period class, we ate a traditional food of Malaga called "Migas". It is fried bread crumbs with vegetables and meat, or anything else you want with it. It wasn´t delicious, but it wasn´t bad either. All of my friends were obsessed with me trying it and every single person in my school asked me if I liked it or not. My lengua teacher even gave me a small history of it.
Aparently, it is the food for the poor, becuase it can be made with stale bread and you wouldnt even know it becuase the bread is fried. And migas can go with anything, so whatever you happen to have in your house you can mix in, and voila! you have a meal made with stale bread that still tastes good. After eating you could go home, whenever you want, even if school didnt close for another 40 mins.
On Thursday I went to church in the morning with my family and then we went to the port. This part of the port was just recently finished and is gorgeous! This was my first time down there. We went to "Foster Hollywood" an american resteraunt, which I dont know if its just me, but I have never heard of it until now...
We had burgers and cheesecake, yummmm.
 |
| The view of the cathedral and the mountains from one side of the port |
 |
| The boats :) |
 |
| the port. |
On Friday night I didn´t do anything...I just studied all afternoon...and night.
On Saturday we were supposed to go to Antequerra and Rhonda, two old towns in Malaga, except it was forecasted to be cloudy which wouldnt be any fun...i guess...so we didnt go. I dont know, in Malaga city, on saturday it was perfectly sunny. We went out to lunch at the beach with the family (I dont think I have been out to eat more times in one week...)
And saturday night I went out again with my two friends from school, Anca and Mariely. We went to the movies (we walked the whole way.... I met Anca near my house at the bus stop, we then walked to Mariely´s house...and then walked to the center, where we would normally get a bus, but kept walking all the way to the theater...guess that makes up for not running...)
After the movies (we saw "In Time" by the way...it was really good, sorta confusing, but i understood it even though it was in spanish!!) we met up with Anca´s sister and her boyfriend. I may have mentioned this, but Anca is from Romania. Her sister is too (obviously...) and so is her sister´s boyfriend. So, occasionally in the middle of conversation in Spanish (already hard enough to understand) they would start talking in romanian. Awesome. At least Mariely doesn´t speak romanian so she didn´t understand either. By the time we finished eating dinner it was 11 and we walked to the center where, Mariely realized it was 11:23 and she had to be home by 11:30. Her house isnt too far from the center to walk there, but its too far to walk there in 7 minutes, so we went to wait for the bus, but after 11, only the N1 bus runs, and it runs the whole city, instead of it being broken into three different busses, so by the time the bus got to us it was 11:28. We sprinted onto the bus, and at Mariely´s stop she ran off the bus and sprinted down the street, it was pretty hilarious. I think she ended up being 4 minutes late, but it was okay because her mom was on the phone with her brothers at college, so her mom was in a good mood!
So, when my stop came along, I got up and pressed the stop button. The bus stopped at my stop but the doors in the back of the bus where I was didnt open...I freaked out. the bus continued on so i pressed the stop button again for the next stop and ran to the front of the bus to get off there. I only had to walk an extra block, but it was still a pretty frightening experience when you miss your stop...
Today I went to church and to my grandmas house, like usual. And now I am going to go play wii with Pablo, becaues he was just playing mariokart by himself, and he looked at me and goes "ally its no fun without you!" so...i guess i will finish writing this blog and play wii with him, instead of studying.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The shortest distance between new friends is a smile.
To be completely honest, I think that last week was my first week that I actually went to school every single day, and for the whole day every single day. Quite the quality education, huh? I think I have missed more days of school here in the last three months than I ever did in the 11 years in Old Lyme.
So, on Friday I was informed that by Monday (today) I had to write an eight page essay on the psychoanalysis of the book "Frankenstein". Plus, I also had to answer eight long answer questions AND write two OTHER essays one about the immortal soul and another about the mind vs. the brain. Oh, and on top of having to do that work I actually had things planned this weekend.
On Friday I went to the movies with two of my friends from my school, Mariely and Anka. We went to see "Breaking Dawn", well here it is called, "Amenacer". I walked to a nearby bus stop to meet Anka, because she lives close to me and because Mariely was still at crew practice. I was alittle early for meeting Anka so I decided to loop around and see where a certain road goes making me go past this one spot twice. Both times, this kid in my class was there and he gave me the wierdest look when I came around the second time. I think he thought I was lost...
After the movie we went out to dinner and Mariely walked home. Anka and I took the bus, however, the bus that I normally take doesn´t run after 10pm, so, I had to take the night bus that stops 20 mins from my house. So, in short, I had to walk 20 minutes to my house, at midnight, alone.
On Saturday, my AFS friend, Noelle, came to Malaga for the day. She is currently living in Sevilla and she is originally from Arizona. My AFS friend Julian also came. I do not know exactly where he is living in Spain, but it is a really small town and the closest city to him is Malaga, so, he comes here quite often. He is from California. We spent the day basically just walking around...I showed them my beautiful city.
After they left I went home and wrote. and wrote. and wrote. and wrote. Those darn essays...and I didnt even finish them all...
On Sunday I went to mass, then to lunch and then to the movies again to see "Jane Eyre" with my aunt and my two sisters. I guess that could be considered a bad decision considering I still had a lot of work to do, but the movie was really good! and...it was in spanish...so i was learning...
So, this week I don´t have that much school. I had school today. I don´t have school tomorrow for a holiday and then on Wednesday I have school again. Thursday I don´t have school for another holiday and then on Friday, no one goes to school, which means I don´t need to either. So basically...4 day weekend here I come!
However...my four day weekend will be spent studying becuase this coming week I have at least one test every single day....
Well time to get back to those essays that I never finished....that were due today....thank god my teacher is understanding and is letting me hand them in late with out points being taken off :)
So, on Friday I was informed that by Monday (today) I had to write an eight page essay on the psychoanalysis of the book "Frankenstein". Plus, I also had to answer eight long answer questions AND write two OTHER essays one about the immortal soul and another about the mind vs. the brain. Oh, and on top of having to do that work I actually had things planned this weekend.
On Friday I went to the movies with two of my friends from my school, Mariely and Anka. We went to see "Breaking Dawn", well here it is called, "Amenacer". I walked to a nearby bus stop to meet Anka, because she lives close to me and because Mariely was still at crew practice. I was alittle early for meeting Anka so I decided to loop around and see where a certain road goes making me go past this one spot twice. Both times, this kid in my class was there and he gave me the wierdest look when I came around the second time. I think he thought I was lost...
After the movie we went out to dinner and Mariely walked home. Anka and I took the bus, however, the bus that I normally take doesn´t run after 10pm, so, I had to take the night bus that stops 20 mins from my house. So, in short, I had to walk 20 minutes to my house, at midnight, alone.
On Saturday, my AFS friend, Noelle, came to Malaga for the day. She is currently living in Sevilla and she is originally from Arizona. My AFS friend Julian also came. I do not know exactly where he is living in Spain, but it is a really small town and the closest city to him is Malaga, so, he comes here quite often. He is from California. We spent the day basically just walking around...I showed them my beautiful city.
After they left I went home and wrote. and wrote. and wrote. and wrote. Those darn essays...and I didnt even finish them all...
On Sunday I went to mass, then to lunch and then to the movies again to see "Jane Eyre" with my aunt and my two sisters. I guess that could be considered a bad decision considering I still had a lot of work to do, but the movie was really good! and...it was in spanish...so i was learning...
So, this week I don´t have that much school. I had school today. I don´t have school tomorrow for a holiday and then on Wednesday I have school again. Thursday I don´t have school for another holiday and then on Friday, no one goes to school, which means I don´t need to either. So basically...4 day weekend here I come!
However...my four day weekend will be spent studying becuase this coming week I have at least one test every single day....
Well time to get back to those essays that I never finished....that were due today....thank god my teacher is understanding and is letting me hand them in late with out points being taken off :)
Monday, November 28, 2011
“Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.” ~Johnny Carson
I apologize, it has been quite a while since I have written on my blog. A lot has happened in these last two weeks...and now I am trying to remember exactly what that has been...
Well for starters, Annika has gone back home. :( She left on my birthday (just my luck) So I had spent a lot the last two weeks with her.
Last Saturday we went downtown to go tourist stuff shopping, so I could buy christmas presents and Annika could buy souvenoirs. I walked to the bus stop near Annika´s house and met her there, where we proceeded to take the bus into the center of the city. We spent the day shopping and I took Annika to a tapas restaraunt (she had not had tapas until then...). Afterwards, we shopped a little bit more and then we went to wait for the busses. This time, so I wouldn´t have to walk as much, I took a different bus than Annika. My first time taking the bus all by myself. Which, turned out to be a lot easier than I had previously imagined...
and..unfortunatly when I got off the bus it decided to become a terrential downpour. By the time I got to my house (only like a 5 minute walk) I was soaked, I even had an umbrella, but it did me no good.
That Sunday it rained as well. Okay, that is an understatement. All the water let loose from the sky and it just dumped itself on Malaga all during the day on sunday. Parts of Malaga lost power, the streets were all flooded, where there is supposed to be rivers (but they are normally all dried up) actually had rapids flowing through them. It was crazy! Annika and I have decided that Malaga is the most unprepared city for rain...
On Thanksgiving I did not go to school. I just didn´t want to. So, Annika and I skipped school and went to the beach. When we returned to my house from the beach, a make-shift Thanksgiving meal was ready for us. It definitly made my day. My host family is amazing :) After lunch Annika and I returned to downtown and went back to all the same tourist shops for our 6th time....the people who owned the shops kept making jokes about us, always saying, "not those americans again..." And again, I took the bus home all by myself and then Skyped with my whole family. I will admit that Thanksgiving and Friday were tough for me (becuase that was Annika´s last day), and I was sort of an emotional wreck. I would like to let you all know that my weekend was amazing and I am okay now. Although, I am not too excited for christmas without my family either :(
On Friday I went to a party for one of my other friend´s birthday, however at midnight it basically got converted to my party for my birthday. My friends literally counted down the minutes until my birthday at midnight. And at midnight they all circled around me and started singing happy birthday, first in english, then in spanish, and then some other spanish birthday song. It was absolutly wonderful. I then proceeded to recieve kisses (on the cheek) from every single person at the party.
On Saturday I went out to lunch with my host family at the beach, it was a beautiful day. Then in the afternoon I was supposed to go to the movies with Maria and Marta, but the line was too long so we passed and just went downtown instead. Saturday night was the night they had a huge concert downtown and they turned on all the christmas lights in Malaga. (unfortunatly this year they arent as good, and I have yet to get any good pictures, but I will by the end of the season...). There is one stretch of lights, however, that is gorgeous...but i didnt go there with my camera, ughh.
I also spoke with my first non-AFS american on saturday. And, go figure I met him in McDonalds...he is from Atlanta, Georgia, and his father is from Spain so he has lived here for the past year and he doesn´t know when he is returning. I was so surprised to be talking with an american who lives in Spain (who by the way, looked spanish) that I just didn´t really quite register that he´s american. I kinda had a conversation with him as though he were a spanish kid who spoke really good english. Then after I was so mad at myself for not getting his number or anything...but whatever. I don´t need anymore people to speak english with....I guess.
On Sunday I went to an AFS lunch thing, where all the AFS students in Andalucia (and some of their families, not mine) went to a little town near Sevilla and we ate foods from our countries. I made a killer potato salad. Sunday was tons of fun and it was great to see all my fellow AFSers again. I have made plans to visit and be visited by a lot of my AFS friends:) cant wait!
And now for the next couple weeks until christmas...I have no current plans, but I will keep you posted. I think I am supposed to be going to the movies this weekend with some of my friends from school and in the next couple of weeks I will probably be visited by a few AFSers.
Bye for now! I hope you all had great Thanksgivings!
Well for starters, Annika has gone back home. :( She left on my birthday (just my luck) So I had spent a lot the last two weeks with her.
Last Saturday we went downtown to go tourist stuff shopping, so I could buy christmas presents and Annika could buy souvenoirs. I walked to the bus stop near Annika´s house and met her there, where we proceeded to take the bus into the center of the city. We spent the day shopping and I took Annika to a tapas restaraunt (she had not had tapas until then...). Afterwards, we shopped a little bit more and then we went to wait for the busses. This time, so I wouldn´t have to walk as much, I took a different bus than Annika. My first time taking the bus all by myself. Which, turned out to be a lot easier than I had previously imagined...
and..unfortunatly when I got off the bus it decided to become a terrential downpour. By the time I got to my house (only like a 5 minute walk) I was soaked, I even had an umbrella, but it did me no good.
That Sunday it rained as well. Okay, that is an understatement. All the water let loose from the sky and it just dumped itself on Malaga all during the day on sunday. Parts of Malaga lost power, the streets were all flooded, where there is supposed to be rivers (but they are normally all dried up) actually had rapids flowing through them. It was crazy! Annika and I have decided that Malaga is the most unprepared city for rain...
 |
| the rain outside my house... |
 |
| My spanish Thanksgiving |
On Saturday I went out to lunch with my host family at the beach, it was a beautiful day. Then in the afternoon I was supposed to go to the movies with Maria and Marta, but the line was too long so we passed and just went downtown instead. Saturday night was the night they had a huge concert downtown and they turned on all the christmas lights in Malaga. (unfortunatly this year they arent as good, and I have yet to get any good pictures, but I will by the end of the season...). There is one stretch of lights, however, that is gorgeous...but i didnt go there with my camera, ughh.
I also spoke with my first non-AFS american on saturday. And, go figure I met him in McDonalds...he is from Atlanta, Georgia, and his father is from Spain so he has lived here for the past year and he doesn´t know when he is returning. I was so surprised to be talking with an american who lives in Spain (who by the way, looked spanish) that I just didn´t really quite register that he´s american. I kinda had a conversation with him as though he were a spanish kid who spoke really good english. Then after I was so mad at myself for not getting his number or anything...but whatever. I don´t need anymore people to speak english with....I guess.
 |
| here are some of the less nice lights... |
 |
| me and my friends, Miri and EU |
 |
| lights on the Cathedral |
 |
| Miri and I, standing in front of the Cathedral. The words say "Paz en la Tierra" or " Peace on Earth" |
 |
| My friends and I outside the city hall |
On Sunday I went to an AFS lunch thing, where all the AFS students in Andalucia (and some of their families, not mine) went to a little town near Sevilla and we ate foods from our countries. I made a killer potato salad. Sunday was tons of fun and it was great to see all my fellow AFSers again. I have made plans to visit and be visited by a lot of my AFS friends:) cant wait!
And now for the next couple weeks until christmas...I have no current plans, but I will keep you posted. I think I am supposed to be going to the movies this weekend with some of my friends from school and in the next couple of weeks I will probably be visited by a few AFSers.
Bye for now! I hope you all had great Thanksgivings!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
"You can observe a lot by just watching." Yogi Berra
I would like to start this post with an apology for last weeks random and rushed post. Sorry if it was at all confusing! I am doing my best. Blogging about my new life in Spain is tough, especially since I am also emailing a lot of people on the side. I forget what I have said here, and what I have said to them, and it gets all muddled. If you have any questions, suggestions, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to email me! I check my email as often as I can.
-lazuba1226@gmail.com
Today I went out shopping with Maria and two of her friends, Isa and Miriam. I had an awesome day. I really should have studied for philosophy, or done my math homework (and I should probably be doing that now....), but it was worth it. Plus, as my uncle (here in spain) told me, "you need to study less, and party more!".
I admit, I do work very hard, especially on the weekends, and sometimes that gets in the way of me being social with the kids here in Spain. AFS does want us to succeed in school, but they also want us to form friendships that will ultimatly make or break our experience here. So, in summary, in need to work on my school and friends balancing skills.
For a bit of an explanation about last week´s post, what Annika and I have decided is that IES Mayorazgo (my school) is for those kids who cannot go anywhere else. Mayorazgo is the "last resort" school in Malaga. The kids here are thrown together from all different areas of Malaga, all different social standings and economic backrounds, and many different levels of intelligence and motivation. These seemingly random compilation of students is because either 1. they cannot afford any other school in the area, or 2. they went to another school and flunked out, and Mayorazgo is the only school they have got a shot in.
I feel harsh making this extremely judgemental statement, but I swear to God its true.
Also, because these kids come from all walks of life, they identify together into two groups (only two groups because my school is just that small...). One group is the kids that don´t care about school and are here just barely getting by, or not...a lot of them are just flat out failing. They identify together by the fact that they all like to smoke and drink. They other group of kids are the ones that do care about school. This is tough for me, becuase I would like a middle ground. I would like to be able to be respected for doing well in school, but also have friends to hang out with out of school. The kids in the second group don´t do much after school becuase they are studying, all. the. time. The other kids I don´t want to hang out with afterschool because, literally, all they do is drink and smoke.
Despite that, I have a collective group of kids that I talk with during "recreo" (break for snack) and during any other downtimes. Their names are Franco (he is from argentina and I absolutly adore him. He is by far the most supportive kid I have met here, and he is extremely understanding), Anca (she is from Romania), Marieley (she is spanish, she is a runner, and I really like talking with her. She spent a couple weeks in England over the summer). These three are in some of my classes, not all, so it makes it tough to really form a good bond with them. With Franco, however, I have definitly become good friends, but he falls into that catergory of studying a lot and doesn´t do much on the weekends.
Franco has also introduced me to other kids in the class below me. Two girls, but I cannot remember their names at this moment. They are both super nice, but again, not in my classes, so I only see them during the 30 minutes we have for break. So, as you can see, bit by bit, the pieces are falling together.
So enough about my social life in school. In extension to last week´s blog about things to do in Malaga, I have been looking. I have been looking real hard, but I have yet to really make big steps in finding something to do. I now know how to use the bus system to and from the center of Malaga. This is one step, becuase now I can go anywhere I please, for the most part. This has opened a lot of oppurtunities previously impossible due to implications of how I would get there. I love public transportation.
I also went with my host mom to a photography school. I am now officially signed up for classes, the only problem is that those classes do not begin until January....
One more thing...I believe that I will be having a piano lesson tomorrow. I am excited and worried for this at the same time. I am excited to finally be able to play piano again after two months, but I worry that I will not meet their expectations. I think that they expect me to be a magnificent piano player. I am not bad, but I am certainly not magnificent. But, I will take what I can get, especially with my passions.
After visiting that photography school I have been thinking about what types of things would make good photos. Literally for everything I have looked at recently, all I think is, "oh! from this angle that´d be an excellent shot" or "that person would be a perfect subject" or "this would tell an intriguing story in a photograph" and then I kick myself in the back for not having my camera with me.
To explain the quote:
Today, while I was out with my friends we sat on a bench for a good half an hour, waiting. Even now I am still unsure exactly why we waited there...because after a half an hour nothing changed. But, I didnt mind. I people watched.
People watching in the center of Malaga is incredible. Becuase Malaga is a tourist city you can see all different types of people. Being in Spain I have gotten very good at stereotyping (unfortunatly). You can tell what part of the world people are from by what they are wearing. I now can pick out of a crowd someone who is american, someone who is german, someone who is french, and the people who are native spainards. Yes, the whole outfit tells the story, but quite often all you need to see are the shoes. The shoes, especially telling apart the Spanairds, give it all away.
I have pledged to return to the center of Malaga with my camera, and I am prepared to lay on the ground and get shots of the people´s feet. I can´t wait.
One last thing: Christmas stuff is already up in Malaga. My birthday is in two weeks. Annika leaves in two weeks. All these facts have led me to be filled with homesickness. But this homesickness is different from the homesickness I had back when I first arrived here. That was a longing for being able to speak my mind, to be able to communicate, and for things to be easier again. I wanted to go home back in September becuase I was homesick for normalcy. That has all passed and these past two months have been incredible. But now, with the holidays coming and Thanksgiving just around the corner, my homesickness is back, and more confusing than ever. One minute I would give anything to be home with my family to celebrate turkey day and my birthday with everyone that I love in the US, and the next minute I am dreading ever having to leave Spain and everything that I have here. Most of the time, I find myself wishing that my family and friends could all be here with me, but then I remind myself that the whole point of this trip is to try new things and meet new people and start a new life here in Spain. I have to remind myself that we have Thanksgiving every year, and that next year I can celebrate thanksgiving with the family.
In conclusion, everything is going great. Don´t worry I have not forgotten any of you and I miss you all everyday. My life here in Spain is getting better each day despite the "holiday nostalgia". Now...I really must go study for philosophy. I have slacked off a lot this week and I need to catch up!
-lazuba1226@gmail.com
Today I went out shopping with Maria and two of her friends, Isa and Miriam. I had an awesome day. I really should have studied for philosophy, or done my math homework (and I should probably be doing that now....), but it was worth it. Plus, as my uncle (here in spain) told me, "you need to study less, and party more!".
I admit, I do work very hard, especially on the weekends, and sometimes that gets in the way of me being social with the kids here in Spain. AFS does want us to succeed in school, but they also want us to form friendships that will ultimatly make or break our experience here. So, in summary, in need to work on my school and friends balancing skills.
For a bit of an explanation about last week´s post, what Annika and I have decided is that IES Mayorazgo (my school) is for those kids who cannot go anywhere else. Mayorazgo is the "last resort" school in Malaga. The kids here are thrown together from all different areas of Malaga, all different social standings and economic backrounds, and many different levels of intelligence and motivation. These seemingly random compilation of students is because either 1. they cannot afford any other school in the area, or 2. they went to another school and flunked out, and Mayorazgo is the only school they have got a shot in.
I feel harsh making this extremely judgemental statement, but I swear to God its true.
Also, because these kids come from all walks of life, they identify together into two groups (only two groups because my school is just that small...). One group is the kids that don´t care about school and are here just barely getting by, or not...a lot of them are just flat out failing. They identify together by the fact that they all like to smoke and drink. They other group of kids are the ones that do care about school. This is tough for me, becuase I would like a middle ground. I would like to be able to be respected for doing well in school, but also have friends to hang out with out of school. The kids in the second group don´t do much after school becuase they are studying, all. the. time. The other kids I don´t want to hang out with afterschool because, literally, all they do is drink and smoke.
Despite that, I have a collective group of kids that I talk with during "recreo" (break for snack) and during any other downtimes. Their names are Franco (he is from argentina and I absolutly adore him. He is by far the most supportive kid I have met here, and he is extremely understanding), Anca (she is from Romania), Marieley (she is spanish, she is a runner, and I really like talking with her. She spent a couple weeks in England over the summer). These three are in some of my classes, not all, so it makes it tough to really form a good bond with them. With Franco, however, I have definitly become good friends, but he falls into that catergory of studying a lot and doesn´t do much on the weekends.
Franco has also introduced me to other kids in the class below me. Two girls, but I cannot remember their names at this moment. They are both super nice, but again, not in my classes, so I only see them during the 30 minutes we have for break. So, as you can see, bit by bit, the pieces are falling together.
So enough about my social life in school. In extension to last week´s blog about things to do in Malaga, I have been looking. I have been looking real hard, but I have yet to really make big steps in finding something to do. I now know how to use the bus system to and from the center of Malaga. This is one step, becuase now I can go anywhere I please, for the most part. This has opened a lot of oppurtunities previously impossible due to implications of how I would get there. I love public transportation.
I also went with my host mom to a photography school. I am now officially signed up for classes, the only problem is that those classes do not begin until January....
One more thing...I believe that I will be having a piano lesson tomorrow. I am excited and worried for this at the same time. I am excited to finally be able to play piano again after two months, but I worry that I will not meet their expectations. I think that they expect me to be a magnificent piano player. I am not bad, but I am certainly not magnificent. But, I will take what I can get, especially with my passions.
After visiting that photography school I have been thinking about what types of things would make good photos. Literally for everything I have looked at recently, all I think is, "oh! from this angle that´d be an excellent shot" or "that person would be a perfect subject" or "this would tell an intriguing story in a photograph" and then I kick myself in the back for not having my camera with me.
To explain the quote:
Today, while I was out with my friends we sat on a bench for a good half an hour, waiting. Even now I am still unsure exactly why we waited there...because after a half an hour nothing changed. But, I didnt mind. I people watched.
People watching in the center of Malaga is incredible. Becuase Malaga is a tourist city you can see all different types of people. Being in Spain I have gotten very good at stereotyping (unfortunatly). You can tell what part of the world people are from by what they are wearing. I now can pick out of a crowd someone who is american, someone who is german, someone who is french, and the people who are native spainards. Yes, the whole outfit tells the story, but quite often all you need to see are the shoes. The shoes, especially telling apart the Spanairds, give it all away.
I have pledged to return to the center of Malaga with my camera, and I am prepared to lay on the ground and get shots of the people´s feet. I can´t wait.
One last thing: Christmas stuff is already up in Malaga. My birthday is in two weeks. Annika leaves in two weeks. All these facts have led me to be filled with homesickness. But this homesickness is different from the homesickness I had back when I first arrived here. That was a longing for being able to speak my mind, to be able to communicate, and for things to be easier again. I wanted to go home back in September becuase I was homesick for normalcy. That has all passed and these past two months have been incredible. But now, with the holidays coming and Thanksgiving just around the corner, my homesickness is back, and more confusing than ever. One minute I would give anything to be home with my family to celebrate turkey day and my birthday with everyone that I love in the US, and the next minute I am dreading ever having to leave Spain and everything that I have here. Most of the time, I find myself wishing that my family and friends could all be here with me, but then I remind myself that the whole point of this trip is to try new things and meet new people and start a new life here in Spain. I have to remind myself that we have Thanksgiving every year, and that next year I can celebrate thanksgiving with the family.
In conclusion, everything is going great. Don´t worry I have not forgotten any of you and I miss you all everyday. My life here in Spain is getting better each day despite the "holiday nostalgia". Now...I really must go study for philosophy. I have slacked off a lot this week and I need to catch up!
Monday, November 7, 2011
“To my mind, the only possible pet is a cow. Cows love you. . . . They will listen to your problems and never ask a thing in return. They will be your friends forever. And when you get tired of them, you can kill and eat them. Perfect.” - Bill Bryson
So, to explain the quote.....
Well....I was looking for a "friends forever" quote to describe all the kids at my AFS orientation, because we share a common bond of living in a foreign country and that is a bond that really pulls people together and we have become friends that I know none of us will forget. So, in looking for a good quote I found this one. It made me laugh so hard, its terrible, but hilarious. I thought I would share it.
So this past weekend I went to Cordoba with AFS for an orientation. The whole weekend was basically activities and talking about how things are going. During most of the orientation I almost felt bad, because everyone had some sort of problem or issue with their family, but I don´t. I love the Romero´s and I wouldn´t trade them for any other family. I am doing well in school (however my school may be changed due to terrible public school systems and well, just kids that I cannot connect with, but that is last resort).
During this weekend I have realized that I need to find more to do with my time to be more social. I have looked up photography classes, horseback riding lessons, art classes, scouts, and volunteer things I could do. But a lot of things cost a lot of money. If you have any suggestions please, please, please, email me!
Also in Cordoba we saw La Mezquita. It was built by muslims to be a mosque, however once the romans took over and the king demanded a Catholic church be built, the city began to tear down the mosque. On a trip through the south of Spain, the king saw them tearing down the Mosque and ordered them to stop. He realized that the building is beautiful and that is does not diserve to be torn down, so, he built the Cathedral smack dab in the middle of the mosque. Now, la Mezquita is one of only 2 places (the other being in Turkey) where both the muslim religion and the Catholic religion are represented in one place.
So, now I have two pretty mellow weeks. I have another strike at school next thursday. Tomorrow I am going to the police station to get my extended visa.
Oh, and my best friend here, Annika, the girl from Switzerland, goes home in three weeks :(
we are both very upset. But I will do my best to manage once she leaves, and I really need to step up on my friends making skills before she leaves so I am not left here with nobody to spend my weekends with. I mean I will always have maria´s friends, but I want some people to call my own.
Un abrazo! I miss everyone!
Well....I was looking for a "friends forever" quote to describe all the kids at my AFS orientation, because we share a common bond of living in a foreign country and that is a bond that really pulls people together and we have become friends that I know none of us will forget. So, in looking for a good quote I found this one. It made me laugh so hard, its terrible, but hilarious. I thought I would share it.
So this past weekend I went to Cordoba with AFS for an orientation. The whole weekend was basically activities and talking about how things are going. During most of the orientation I almost felt bad, because everyone had some sort of problem or issue with their family, but I don´t. I love the Romero´s and I wouldn´t trade them for any other family. I am doing well in school (however my school may be changed due to terrible public school systems and well, just kids that I cannot connect with, but that is last resort).
During this weekend I have realized that I need to find more to do with my time to be more social. I have looked up photography classes, horseback riding lessons, art classes, scouts, and volunteer things I could do. But a lot of things cost a lot of money. If you have any suggestions please, please, please, email me!
Also in Cordoba we saw La Mezquita. It was built by muslims to be a mosque, however once the romans took over and the king demanded a Catholic church be built, the city began to tear down the mosque. On a trip through the south of Spain, the king saw them tearing down the Mosque and ordered them to stop. He realized that the building is beautiful and that is does not diserve to be torn down, so, he built the Cathedral smack dab in the middle of the mosque. Now, la Mezquita is one of only 2 places (the other being in Turkey) where both the muslim religion and the Catholic religion are represented in one place.
So, now I have two pretty mellow weeks. I have another strike at school next thursday. Tomorrow I am going to the police station to get my extended visa.
Oh, and my best friend here, Annika, the girl from Switzerland, goes home in three weeks :(
we are both very upset. But I will do my best to manage once she leaves, and I really need to step up on my friends making skills before she leaves so I am not left here with nobody to spend my weekends with. I mean I will always have maria´s friends, but I want some people to call my own.
Un abrazo! I miss everyone!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
“The love of a family is life's greatest blessing”
OFFICIALLY BEEN IN SPAIN FOR TWO MONTHS <3
Unfortunatly, last Thursday my skating trip was cancelled. We did not have enough students in my class who wanted to go. The other grade, however, was able to go, and I didn´t fully understand why the six or so kids in my grade couldn´t tag along with the other grade, but I got over it.
This past weekend has been amazing. Not only have I seen a million gorgeous sites of Spain, but I really feel this weekend has helped me bond with my host family. In Malaga we do not participate in activities as just the family, we are generally with a larger group of people or doing our own thing. This weekend was focused solely on my host parents, Pablo, Maria and me. To relate to my quote, I feel doubly blessed becuase I have recieved the love of a family, not only from my real family in the US, but from my host family here in Spain. This weekend has really helped me to establish a place in this family, a family that I know I never will forget.
Unfortunatly, last Thursday my skating trip was cancelled. We did not have enough students in my class who wanted to go. The other grade, however, was able to go, and I didn´t fully understand why the six or so kids in my grade couldn´t tag along with the other grade, but I got over it.
This past weekend has been amazing. Not only have I seen a million gorgeous sites of Spain, but I really feel this weekend has helped me bond with my host family. In Malaga we do not participate in activities as just the family, we are generally with a larger group of people or doing our own thing. This weekend was focused solely on my host parents, Pablo, Maria and me. To relate to my quote, I feel doubly blessed becuase I have recieved the love of a family, not only from my real family in the US, but from my host family here in Spain. This weekend has really helped me to establish a place in this family, a family that I know I never will forget.
This whole weekend my family learned more about me and I learned more about them. For example, they discovered my obsession with taking pictures, they also realized my love for simple foods. My host dad said I am an inexpensive girl to take out to dinner. Which is true, I don´t care much for seafood or anything crazy, pasta is fine, actually pasta is what I prefer, and by the end of the weekend they would point me to the most simple meals on the menu, which I found quite helpful.
My host family also gave me brief pronounciation lessons during dinners, that resulted in them looking up the most difficult words ever to pronouce, ones that have a lot of "z´s" and rolled "r´s" which are impossible for me. But I am getting better. I think I had to say "caro" about a million times, all the while my face bright red out of embarassment at my horrible pronounciation of such a simple looking word.
On Friday I left school early to head off to Toledo with my host family. We arrived in Toledo after 4 hours of driving. Toledo is beautiful. The next day we also spent in Toledo. We visited countless churches and even a few synagogues. I can now say that I am a pro at visited religious centers respectfully, seeing as I visited these churches with a very religious family. Now to overwhelm with photos, like I do best.
 |
| Iglesia del Salvador (iglesia=church) |
 |
| Outside the Holy Church Cathedral |
 |
| Inside the Holy Church Cathedral (this is literally only one room of about 50...) |
 |
| Holy Church Cathedral...again |
 |
| I absolutly love the little european streets |
 |
| La Casa del Greco; a famous painter; on this trip I visited a lot of museums of art. |
 |
| a synagogue |
Saturday afternoon, we piled in the car and drove one hour to Madrid where we visited a massive Monastery (where we also went to mass on Sunday morning). The monastery was really all I saw of Madrid, but it was gorgeous and full of art, so I wasn´t allowed to take many pictures. But here are some:
 |
| I also got to witness some fall colors that I do not have on the sunny southern coast. |
 |
| fall leaves :) |
On our way out of Madrid on Sunday we stopped at a fascist monument. It was beautiful, but it is also a monument of extreme controversy because it was built by Franco through the slave labor of war prisoners. In the Valle de los Caidos (which signifies "Valley of the Fallen") I saw this:
On Sunday night we arrived in Segovia where we stayed in a quaint rural house like hotel. We visited the University of Segovia (hmm new college option? they offer most of the majors i have considered...) and we visited the Alcazar of Segovia, which resembles Cinderella´s castle and Hogwarts all in one. Now for some more pictures:
 |
| Our hotel |
 |
| A monument built by the ancient romans for transporting water that goes right through the middle of Sevia. |
Now, of course, for some food sampling...
 |
| Peppers stuffed with goat cheese covered in a sweet sauce |
 |
| rice and fish...pretty simple but I like it. |
 |
| Cheesecake with raspberry topping, mmmm |
 |
| chocolates |
 |
| i have no idea... |
 |
| Lamb, we also had baby pig. The pig was delicious, but I felt bad eating it. |
 |
| strawberry ice cream, shocker |
 |
| Classic Segovian Ponche (has cinnamon and a custardy filling. DELICIOUS) |
 |
| Muscles and potato soup |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)