And as the four wise men once said, "I get by with a little help from my friends"

It's been just about two months since I have last updated my post. And yet again I begin the question of "Where do I begin?". A good question , I might add, that is difficult to answer.
Just like any two months in a whole other life, these months have been filled with many changes, expierences, adverntures, friendships, and so much more.

I look back at the past eight months and realize how much has changed and how far I've come. It only takes a minute of reflexion to get back to that state of shock.



I will attempt to break this blog into various sections because that seems to be the easiest way to in an orderly way, explain a little of what's going on here.

SCHOOL:



 "Welcome to Alameda de Osuna"





Well, it has now gotten to that point where I am taking every test and doing all the homework. I am in school here just like any of the other kids, and therefore have no excise to slack off, I actually like it better that way for many reasons. I've gotten to know just about every kid in my class by now, there is an extremely  wide variety of interests and personalities. The truth is the majority of my friends are outside of my school, but there definaltye are some people that i feel I will keep in touch with in the years to come.
Everyday in class, its sad to think that in a matter of weeks, I will no longer be in this classroom with this group of kids. Its quite overwhelming at time, to be honest. Who knows when I will be able to come back this far again?
I have grown sentimental feelings with the four walls of my classroom, being that it has been a constant place that I have been since the very beginning of my time here. 4D.

on shot of 4D, my very raditional classroom



some of the kids from my class, during "informatica"

 I've grown close to the atmosphereof my school life here in madrid and in my class, and leaving will definaltley be difficult at first, without a doubt.








HOUSE LIFE:

Host dad- Jose Luis
Host mom- Elena
Host brother- Alvaro
Host sister- Maria

Well, I really love the house I a living with. I am staying with a stupendous family, that have grown to become my real family here in Spain. I will miss them an Incredible amount when i return. However, luckily my host sister/ one of my best friends will be returnng with me to the Texas during the month of July.

maria and I in Gran Via

I only hope I can give here the same expeiernce I have had here, although Madrid is very hard to compete with.
We have been to numerous old towns and villages, and about three weeks ago, we went up North to Cantabria which was absolutley beautiful. Everything is green and there a hudreds of small village homes, cows- sheep ad horses, and beach coasts that could easily be the most beautiful in the world. Its a place that I see myself returning to. Luckily, we are retutning in two weeks for a wedding.

SOCIAL LIFE:

I think of everything I've gained on this experience, the most valuale of them all are the friendships I have developed. It's something thats a bit to difficult to explain on a blogpost. For anyone who is reading this has ever considered during a year abroad- i seriously encourage it. The people that go along with you, at least i my case, are some of the world's greatest, without a doubt. Whether its all AFSers, or the just the ones who came to Madrid, all i know is i have been surrounded with people that i will have friendships with for the rest of life- amazing amazing people.

I am sure that's getting old by now because I tend to repeat it in just about every post.  I guess I just cannot stress it enough, because of it weern't for them, I probably would not be here in Spain right now.



hilali y nikolai












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ville





i think that just about raps it up for the day, I'd say this is a decent yet small summary of the past few weeks of my time here in Spain.

Hasta luego

Danielle

p.s. Happy Mothers day to the world's most fantastic mother!

p.p.s. I will see all of you that I love there in houston very soon!



seven months

Hello!
Well, I think I have waiting TWO months, if not more to write on here. For those of you who are reading, I am really sorry, truley.
I actually wrote a nice, long, post with pictures and everything and it disappeares :(
I am going to give a really really breif update and things that are going on around here becuase to much time has past to give all the details.
FIRST CHRISTMAS: i had my first christmas, it was a lovely family gathering and a ton of food and desserts and later followed by dancing video games until 2 in the morning.
NOCHEVIEJA: this means, new years eve in Spanish. Here the New Years is a really big deal and has many nice traditioins. For example, wearing red under-clothes is good luck and everyone eats 12 grapes in the last 12 seconds of the year, making chipmunk cheeks.Well, first off, the Spanish definatley know how to celebrate their new years. Here, everyone was with there familes at midnight, at the turn of the year, and afterwards at 1-1:30 all the guest started coming. I did not get sleep until two in the afternoon! The whole night was full of laughter, fireworks, and Churros!
LOS REYES MAGOS: I found this holiday to be even bigger than christmas. This is celebrated on January 6 and is the day to give and recieve presents, more than christmas. The traditional Spanish icon for the holidays is not Santa Clause, but three kings. These 3 kings are the ones the supposidly delivers the gifts.

As you can see, the vacations were full of a ton of festive holidays and celebrations. And even more to come,
the weekend after the break, we went skiing in the beautiful Pyranneas Mountains on the border between Spain and France.
As for my Spanish: Well, to be honest, many words and phrases I wrote in this entry, I had to revise because I wrote them in Spanish accidently and not in English.. My mind is completely absorbed in this lanuage. I think in Spanish and dream in Spanish and understand pretty much everything thats being said. Of course theres a lot more that I have to learn but I am confident that I will be leaving here with fluency. Although sometimes, I have good days and bad days in Spanish or even for weeks at a time. Fortunatley, this week is a good one, bu for example, about three weeks ago, I had horrible spanish for a couple of days, almost as if I had forgotten half of it. Luckily, it was only a couple of days and I have been told that it is normal.  Considering, that in my first entry my Spanish vocabulary consisted of "hola, adios, y siesta" I'd say its come along way.

Also, for some big news:
Do to some changes, I now live in a different house-hold. I live with my class mate, Maria, who is also my best friend here. The family is incredibly loving and I get along tremendously with them.

Off to studying!
pictures are coming soon
Besos a todos (kisses to all)

Danielle

Happy Birthday Nina Whyte!

Well, today is January 6th and I went to Barcelona on December 1st. So yes, I have waited way too long yet again to make a post, I do apologize. My last post was about the hike in the snow which took place on November 27th, only four days later I left to Barcelona.
Barcelona is incredibly beautiful and arsty city. It has the Gaudi house, Parc Guell, and most importantly the amazing blue coast.
Fortunatley, I got y camera charger in Barcelona and managed to get some nice pictures.
Because of that, this post is going to be mostly of pictures rather than text:



Beautiful Coast

 

Lamb heads at a Barcelona food market



While in Barcelona, I also saw a wide variety of people, mostly playing music.

During our five day vacation to Barcelona, we also traveled to two surroundiing villages, stiges and gerona (I'm not sure how to spell the second one)

Stiges was the most beautiful little village on the coast with traditional looking homes and such a warm feel, even in December.

And some pictures from Stiges:

Gerona was just as amazing as Stiges. It is not on the coast but it still had so much characteristic. Over there, I actually got the chance to go to a synogouge hundreds if not a thosands years old.
And some more pictures:

I did do more in Barcelona, but this post is getting long as it is. Barcelona is fantastic and I recommend the city to anyone.
I STILL have so much to catch up on! My first Christmas, the day of Los Reyes Magos (today), and just life in general. I promise I will update very soon and not wait a month like I usually do.

Happy birthday to Nina Whyte! now sixteen and on the roads, your my best friend forever 'shake 'n bake'!

A Day in the Mountains

   First, I'll start off by saying that it has been WAY too long since my last post and so much has happened. I've decided it makes more sence to break my post into a few smaller ones. So I guess I'll back track to what happened first since my last post. Well, on November 27th (almost a month ago) the AFS Madrid group, including myself, went on a beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL hike through Sierra Madrid. I felt like we were in the middle of a small village miles and miles away from city life when in fact we were only about a 30 minute bus ride from the center of Madrid.
After a bus ride consisting of tons of little kids singing 'Waka Waka' we finally arrived to a small, yet spectacular little town. This place is not famous, or well-known, just another small Spanish Pueblo, and they are all full of character and beauty.

Right away we headed off to the mountain and starting hiking on up. Not even ten minutes into the walk, we met some friends along the way. Not human friends, but Cows, Longhorns, and mini horses just trotting along incredibly close to us. I actually stopped and pet the small lost horse.

        In the E-mail about the hike, we were told that there would be about fifteen centimeters of snow, so as you could imagine we were all dressed quite warmly. However, we did not see one snowflake.....at first.

After a while of snowless, but still beautiful walking, we sat for a lunch in the woods and then continued up for a nice surprise.



Lunch in the Woods



Once we reached higher and higher, we saw snow. Not only a little here and there but lots and lots of amazing, white, un-touched, fresh-fallen snow.



Kevin and I



Nene (Japan) Me (USA) Hilali/Ozen (Turkey)
speaking Spanish together here in Spain

After the hike, as we were making our way down, which is very dangerous and just as excited because of the slippery ice , the group unintentionally went in slightly different directions.

Ozen, Kevin, Nene, and I (all pictured above) got completely lost from the group during our descend. We ended up going in the wrong direction and we spent a good fifteen minutes just staring at a group of about thirty or fourty cows right in front of us. The scene looked just like something from a horror film. There was a small cottage or storage room made of wood and a old fence. The cows were not moving at all and it seemed as if they were statues, although their bells around there neck were ringing from the wind. On top of that, a few of the, appeared to be staring RIGHT at us, at our eyes. Well, after we let our imagination go wild with the haunted cows we continued on only to find out that we caused the the whole group to miss the bus until the next bus which came the hour after...oops.

P.S. more to come very very soon!

P.P.S Tonight is Christmas Eve, first ever!

P.P.P.S If any of you from Houston are reading this I love and miss you guys so much and think about you constanslty! 

Hey there

So, I just happen to be in a great mood and what's a better way of sharing that happiness than updating my blog, right? Well, reading my previous posts I realize a sounded a bit too negative and I want to change things up. It seems that lately, while walking around (to school, to the metro, etc..) I stop in my tracks look around and utter "whoa...". This actually happens quite often. I suddenly realize how absolutely different yet great this new life is and how my daily rutine here is something I just couldn't imagine about 3 months ago, and how I am in MADRID about to go to school with SPANISH people, and how I am actually beginning to speak the language, so on and so fourth.
Speaking of which, something amazing happend to me today. No, I did not see a UFO, and no I did not win the loterry. However, I did help not one but two people with directions today, in Spanish. To me, that is a new step and quite an accomplishment.
But I can't jump ahead of myself I have some things to catch up on. Well, now that us AFS kids are such great friends, we have been meeting pretty much every weekend. Two weeks ago was Pinja's, a friend from Finland, birthday and us AFSers all met at her house and enjoyed some dancing and over all hours and hours of bonding time. Because she lives outside of Madrid,  we were on a 40 minute bus ride and also got egged by some kids. (apparently on halloween, the kids here egg the busses).


Pinja



After that great gathering of AFS kids, I had a long bus ride back with Jake, a friend from the states where we spoke of our experiences here in Spain- another great way to spend as little as 30 minutes.



Jake and Mary Beth



As soon as I got home, I was welcomed to my host sister and her amazing halloween costume, which included crazy contacts. That day was halloween, and unlike the States, the kids here go all out in costume, but scary costumes. Getting ready was super fun: I was a cross between a skeleton, a zombie, and a pirate.

In the morning, I was pleasently surprised when I saw churros and hot chocolate, a classic and delicious  Spanish dish, waiting on the kitchen table which was incredible. Well, after a weekend of fun you still need to go to school, unfortunately. Never underestimate how difficult it is to do homework and tests in another language, it's near impossible. Well, the following weekend was just as busy as the last, if not more. That friday I went to lunch in the house of a Spanish friend, which was especially exciting. And that Saturday, I enjoyed a nice lunch with extended family of my host family and then went to hang out with none other than the AFS kids.

While with them on Saturday and Sunday, I realized yet again how much these kids mean to me. We tend to sing 'Lean on Me'  by Bill Withers and that song describes these teens perfectly, someone to lean on.

Caroline and I

 The next day at one o'clock, Clara, a million other kids, and I were off the the center to enjoy the free MTV concert. The MTV music awards happend to be in Madrid this year so there was a free concert in the center of town including; Katy Perry, 30 Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park, and Kanye West. It was as crowded as you could imagine. Madrid, a city of millions, hosting a FREE concert? There was no room to move; yet that only added to the fun.

That night at the concert was definatley hectic, to say the least. People pushing and shoving from all sides but everyone was there to have a good time, so it was indeed a good night.

That next week at school wasn't as bad because on Wednsday, my music class went to a recording/ DJ studio instead of having class the entire day, which was super cool. Also, the day before was a holiday for Madrid only and we had no school. Because there was no school, Marybeth, Caroline, and I all went for a stroll through Madrid- from Moncloa to Sol.



Mary Beth and Caroline with the 'Squirrel'





Ozen

Then on Friday, Marybeth, Caroline, Ozen, Kevin, and I enjoyed a night walk through the beautiful area of Gran via. Of course, the group spit in two and we both got lost but after seeking directions from about 100 different people, in the end we found eachother. Afterwards we sat and talked over some of the most amazing churros I have ever eaten along with the greatest hot chocolate that you need a spoon to eat because it's so thick. And right next to the churro place was none other than an indie record shop full of classic rock records and posters, I was definatley in the right place.



goofing around

Well, unfortunatley the time has come and I must [attempt] do homework, but I will right again shortley.
Thanks for reading :)
adios

Ch Ch Ch Changes

So, it has been over a month since a last posted, and I'm not quite sure where to begin. I can't lie and say that I have been way too busy to put aside one hour and write. I have in fact been very busy but those hours without plans, i always try and catch up on sleep, not that i don't sleep much at nights but exhaustion has reached a whole new definition when you spend 24/7 translating every word and put forth great amounts of effort to put together a sentence that will make sense.
I guess you could say its been one wild ride these past two months. Roller coasters aren't only in the theme parks when emotions become this twisted. Some moments I'm sulking and wondering to myself, "What was I thinking leaving everything behind and starting this new life, totally alone" or "I have no friends here, and I don't even speak the language, how is it possible to be positive?" and other moments I'm jumping around with adrenaline fascinated by the fact that I'm learning a whole new language and that I am actually here in Spain right now, just stunned by the whole situation.
Well, school is definitely a challenge- of course during the first few days people were fascinated by the fact that I'm a foreigner and wanted to talk to me and use their little English. Yet, now it's up to me to go out and make a friend or two, although sometimes it's just so hard considering the language and cultural barrier. That being said, my host sister goes to a different school and has a great group of friends, I see them about once a week and I guess i could consider them my friends by now. I sometimes which I went to that school, but hey, I can't have this experience handed to me on a silver platter right?

How could I almost forget to mention the other AFS kids? I have always heard that the other kids you meet while on your exchange become your best friends, but you never really know until you get to know those other kids. I don't think I could survive this transition without them; they are all in the same exact position as me, experiencing the same ups and downs. These are kids from all over the world that came to Spain for the same reason. After days and days of casual Spanish talk (because I'm only conversational) a real deep talk with some other kids is all I need and they are always more than understanding. I feel like I have known them for all my life. These other AFSers are really brave and really smart and like I said earlier, they are the reason I still have my sanity.



Overnight orientation

 

After an overnight orientation two weeks ago, we all became much closer  and decided to meet more often. I slept over at Caroline's house in a town called Torreleones where I could see the stars and nature for the first time in a while and it was beautiful. For the next day, all the AFS kids decided to meet at the theme park. At the park, we enjoyed a melted icecream cake while using our hands (which was quite a task for me and Caroline to not to devour when bringing itfrom Torreledones, on a thirty minute bus and metro), dangerously attempting and succeeding in making a ten man pyramid, and going on all the rides numerous of times because there were no lines that day. The amount of fun I had that day is undescribable and I know it's only the beginning of amazing frienships.



Dangerous ten man pyramid






Well, instead of boring you with an infinite list of details of my last two months, I will instead describe some major differences between the USA and Spain.

1st:

SCHOOL
School here is very traditional, a place to learn and nothing more. There are no school colors, mascots, and most of all no school spirit what so ever. There are no sports teams and definitely no school gathering, basically there is no school community. The teachers do not know all the names of the students and i definitely don't know the names of the teachers, first names that it, (here they call the teachers by the first name). Also, there is a lack of discussion in class; the teachers teach you for an hour and then it is the next class, that's it. I am not saying that this is wrong, yet it is very different. In Emery, there is a thriving community and everyone knows everyone's name, including the teachers. Also, we are taught to ask questions; I can't remember one day of Judaics, English, History, and even math and science were creative lessons were presented to us and we had really intense yet wonderful discussions. We would often end many classes with debates and arguments about topics ranging anything from the conflict of Hernan Cortez and the Mayans, to defining poetry and art. Also, at school here, if a teacher does not show up, then there is no class (which is a favorable characteristic :) ), For example, about a week ago I went to school to be greeted by 3 out of the 30 kids in my class. Why? It turned out that the two teachers that teach our first three classes hadn't shown up, so everyone in my class went home. The few of us that remained sat and listened music until the recreo (thirty minute break). It is not un-common to go home an hour early at the end of the day if your last period teacher is not there.
MEALS:
Here in Spain at 12 o' clock lunch or a 7 o'clock dinner are unheard of. This is something i actually favor about Spain. In my school, we get out at 2:30 and I eat lunch once I arrive home, about 3 o'clock. The dinner is usually served around 10:30 and afterwards we watch television and then go to sleep at about midnight. That’s another difference. In the States, a 'normal' teenager is only up at midnight if they are finishing homework, not every night. The time table here is great because I go to bed not too long after I eat dinner. In the States, when dinner is around 7, I would eat it and then four or five hours later as i was going to sleep I would take a snack on the way, ending up eating way more than i should.

TRANSPORTATION:
In the States (Or maybe just Houston), until you are 16 and driving, you have no way of getting around town unless someone else drives you around. Going out and meeting your friends is impossible if there is no car around. That's one difference that I love about Madrid. Here, I walk to school every day and can use the metro to get anywhere in the city. If I am alone in the house, it is incredibly easy to hop on the metro or a bus and make my way around Madrid. Also, because of the amazing/ existent system getting lost is only another adventure. The other day I got off at the wrong stop while using a bus, which allowed me to only see more of Madrid and easily make it back to the house by hopping on another bus. As odd as it sounds, getting lost can almost be something to look forward to.

THE TEENAGERS:
I can tell you now, that I really miss the wide variety of personalities in the States, where individuality is so encouraged. There are preppy, sporty, indie, punk, hippy and a million other individualities all around America and I am absolutely sure that it is like that here is Spain as well, just not as obvious. Of course there are exceptions, just the other day a girl spoke to me about the term indie and it turns out her and I like a lot of the same music and hobbies. Yet, for me it seems like I don't have anything in common with most of the kids in my school. I haven’t really found anyone into the things that I like and I feel really 'different' here, like I don't belong. But then again maybe with more time I will find some friends. Yet, what I love here about Spain, is the average person is very open and very friendly. You can almost always find random people that will talk and be nice to you even if they don't know your name.
ENVIRONMENT:
Well, I haven't seen as much litter in my life as I have in the average thirty minute break in school every day. The kids buy their chips and casually through it to the ground. Of course, it's not everyone but its definitely at least half. Also, cigarettes are HUGE here, every day before and after school you see a ton of the kids outside smoking. It is much more accepted here. (By the way, I hate sounding so negative about all that I am writing, but I am only saying what I observe here). On another note, the other day I was at my friend’s house, she lives in a village about 30 minutes from Madrid and her host parents took us for a hike through beautiful mountains and it was amazing. I saw real trees, real natural waters, real nature for the first time in a long time and it was just beautiful. One plus about the environmental movement in Madrid: they have a much much much  better recycling/ organic program than in Houston. Every household has a garbage for organics, a garbage for plastic, and a garbage for paper; and a garbage for glass;  therefore, making much better use of their waste. Not only is it encouraged, but it is mandartory to have this garbage system, I think we should consider started a system like this aswell.

FOOD:
Spain has some great dishes but there is one problem, NO PEANUT BUTTER! There is no peanut butter anywhere here, and it’s just tragic. Well, besides the catastrophe of no peanut butter, the food is actually quite different. Olive oil is cooked with almost every meal and ham is absolutely everywhere, limiting my choices because I'm kosher. My favorite food here, and probably the most traditional Spanish dish, is the tortilla. Before I left, I thought the only kind of tortilla is the thin Mexican kind. But, the Spanish tortilla is an egg omelet with potatoes and it is just delicious. One thing to keep in mind while at a restaurant, 'Don't down your coke in a minute because there are no free refills' and one coke can be about 2.50 Euros, more than 3 dollars. There’s nothing too foreign here and the food is over all pretty good...but it would be loads better with some peanut butter. :-)
Some other typical Spanish dishes are:
Croquettas - these are like fried nuggets, usually with ham but sometimes with vegetables or chicken as well.
Paella- this is a rice dish thats almost always topped with seafood
Bocaloa- I am almost posostive that I am spelling that wronge. Anyways, that is cod
Jamon Serano-I am probably spelling this wrong also, this is thin ham (Clearly, I have never tried it)
Well now that I've spend enough time catching up on lost details, I will go to sleep earlier tonight (11:10). It seems like I'm coming down with the flu, and it's hurting to breath at this point.
I WILL write soon again, i promise!, Maybe next time with more exciting stories and details, as for now I need to go back to sleep.

Buenas noches amigos.