Mar 15, 2017
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I’ve been in Denmark for over 100 days now!
http://www.afsusa.org/study-abroad/blog/article?article_id=5350
Prom in Paraguay
¡Madrid!
¡Hola amigos!
As I said last time, I spent the past weekend in Madrid with some other AFS friends! After some struggle of finding a place to stay, AFS found me a family outside of the city that was willing to have me with them for the weekend. Though it was a bit inconvenient to be so far outside of Madrid, the family was really sweet and accommodating and I'm glad to say it all worked out great with them.
My train left right after school so I rushed home and ate lunch as quick as I could just to make sure I caught my train. It ended up being a very short ride there. With a quick change of trains in the middle, I was there in less than three hours! I spent the afternoon wandering around the area around Puerta de Sol with another friend from the states studying in Madrid.
Saturday morning I woke up slightly earlier than normal and caught a train into the city. Once I met up with my friends, we started to explore more of the city. First a stop for churros, then to Kilometer Zero, the center of all Spanish highways! After a little more walking around (and lots of picture taking), it was time to stop for lunch. Each of us lovers of ethnic foods that have had mostly Spanish food for the past six months, we were craving something different. Mexican food. I have to say, it was pretty darn good. (Side note: anyone that saw Sophie's snapchat story, that was my food not hers).
Hunger satisfied, we went to the Museo del Prado. We walked around a bit lost without a guide and snuck photos in front of paintings that probably didn't turn out as good as we thought. Having already visited the Prado, I knew some of the paintings being kept there; however, last time I didn't pay as much attention to the paintings. This time around, after having learned a little more about a few paintings in class, we decided to track them down to "appreciate" them even more.
Trying to hit the museums in one day, we headed afterwards to the Thyssen. Unfortunately, tickets were "sold out" (we found out the next day that it was just for the special exhibition and odds are we could've gotten admission). In an attempt to kill time - and probably just desperation for "bad" cup of coffee - we went to Starbucks. In case you were wondering, we achieved both.
And now (the part I'm semi-ashamed about), our second stop for churros in one day. I would be fully embarrassed, but these churros were from San Ginés, the famous chocolateria in Madrid. We got lost a few times on the way and attempted to meet up with another AFSer which ended up a lot being more difficult than planned since all of our phones were either dead or without data. I'll just say it was an adventure and leave it at that.
If you know any of us, you can probably guess that the next thing we did was eat (in our defense it was already dinner time). First, we stopped quickly at El Corte Inglés, the biggest departement store chain in Spain. At the top of the main building, you can see Madrid's skyline and it was pretty impressive. Wanting to make it home at a decent hour, I made a quick stop at KFC before leaving my friends to catch my train. Only problem was I checked the wrong station on the schedule. A bit inconvenient considering I'd have to wait an hour in the train station and I wouldn't get back until late, but thankfully it all seemed to work out alright. Finally home at almost one o'clock, I was exhausted from the busy day.
Another morning with another busy day ahead of me. We all got up early again to make it to El Rastro, the open air market every Sunday. The whole point of waking up early was to be able to spend the morning there and let's just say that didn't work out. I stopped for breakfast while waiting for my friend. Once we met up, we needed to hunt down a bank. Now you would assume a bank would be pretty easy to find considering we were in the biggest city in Spain. Only problem was we needed a specific bank. One that didn't seem to exist in the center of Madrid. In the end, we didn't find one and just stopped at a random ATM on the way to El Rastro. Unfortunately, it just so happened that we walked the opposite to direction from Sol to look for the bank so we were pretty far away from the market. So about an hour and a half later, we finally made it to the market. There we saw a bunch of tents with people selling everything from hairdryers to Harry Potter merch (guilty to say I bought a Hogwarts sweatshirt).
We met up with the rest of the group after a nice walk through the market. And guess what time it was... food time. Time for some more ethnicity! Indian food it was.
After another good meal, we went to the Tyssen museum to see if we could get in. We realized our mistake from the day before and got to see a couple hours worth of art. I have to say I loved the style of the museum so much more than Prado. Prado was classics and Thyssen was a bit more modern. They had some really nice impressionist paintings along with some pretty cool modern art. Halfway through the second floor, it was time to say goodbye to Sophie. Her train was leaving in an hour even though Sedona and I still had another day. After some bittersweet goodbyes, we attempted to go back to the art, but just weren't in the mood. Deciding we needed the energy, we went to the museum cafe for some caffeine. We got to talking and after a little while decided we wouldn't be heading back to the art and went in search of another cafe. We got a bit carried away and walked farther than expected. Almost dinner time, I decided to head back to have dinner with the family I was staying with. Another nice end to yet another busy day.
Sadly, but surely, it was Monday morning. Still exhausted from the long weekend (and maybe the added fact that my host mom and I stayed up until two watching the red carpet show for the Oscars), I was in no rush to get out of the house. When I finally did decide to leave, it was already noon. The house I was staying at was about an hour outside of the city, the bus ride in was pretty long and I was nervous I wouldn't get to say goodbye to Sedona. Luckily, I arrived with time to spare at the Atocha station and was able say goodbye and hang out with her a little bit before she had to get on the train.
My train, however, didn't leave until 6:30 and I had time to kill. Wanting to finally accomplish reading a book in Spanish (my other tries didn't really work out, because I kept running out of patience), I ended up buying a book I'd already read to make it a bit easier to understand. I had a nice plan of going back up to the top of El Corte Inglés with some good food and my book just to relax. My plan was impeded by some obnoxious Australians, but we don't need to talk about that. Forgetting I had one more thing to do in the center, I took the metro out to El Retiro park to hopefully get some peace to read. Of course as soon as I got out of the metro station I remember I had to go back. About an hour later, semi-accomplished (I didn't end up getting it done, because the El Corte Inglés employees aren't very attentive) and I was back at the station waiting for my train.
After a short train ride back (short being two and a half hours), I was finally back home. Absolutely exhausted from the long weekend, I'm pretty sure I passed out after dinner. Though the exhaustion was worth it. I had a great time with all of my friends and seeing the city. It was definitely a trip to remember. ¡Hasta la próxima, Madrid!
Adiós
-Sam
Another month down!
Hey everyone!
Another month another update! We’re over halfway through the year and I can’t believe it’s gone by this fast. It feels like just yesterday when we all left from New York to start this crazy adventure. At the same time, it feels like forever ago. So much has changed and so much has stayed the same it’s hard to believe only 6 months have passed (and only 4 months are left)! (We’re exactly 6 months with host families today!)
I have to say February was a pretty good month. The first weekend of February were Carnavales. Basically an excuse to dress up and hang out with friends. I’ve heard so many different reasons as to why it’s celebrated that I’m not even really sure anymore. I suppose it doesn’t really matter; it’s an excuse to have fun! My friends and I all went as super heroes and I, of course, went as Captain America! My host mom and I handmade my costume with hours of, more or less, unexpected work. Despite that fact the we didn’t think I’d get the whole costume back in one piece, we’ve still got the whole thing and with luck it’ll make it back to the states.
Another part of Carnavales is the Culeca. The Culeca itself is a mass of bread with chorizo (Spanish sausage) and a hard boiled egg inside. At first... Well I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t what it was. I really don’t know what I was imagining, but it was literally a mass of bread with and entire sausage and a whole hard boiled egg inside. Originally made to be easy to carry, the Thursday before the weekend of Carnavales, the younger kids up to the highest point of the town with their culeca and eat together in the afternoon. Then Saturday you’d see all the kids dressed up in various costumes a bit like our Halloween. It really was a great thing to experience especially considering we got a day off of school!
Also in February, another AFS orientation!!! It was a bit different from our first orientation (being in a small town called Gorliz outside of Bilbao); this one being in Vitoria, a small city also in Basque Country. Though our chapter is called “País Vasco”, I’m pretty sure the majority of us don’t live in Basque Country. We’re all dispersed throughout northern Spain. I, for example, am the only one in La Rioja!
Anyways, we all got together again and spent the weekend playing weird name games and even weird icebreakers. Unlike the last orientation, I live close enough that I didn’t have to travel there the night before. Instead, we got up early (by we I mean me and the girl from Hungary staying the semester in Andosilla, about 20 minutes from me). Saturday was spent mainly catching up between planned activities and aimlessly wandering through the city. Then Sunday, now done with all of the activities, we got to visit the cathedral in Vitoria. Every city in Europe has a cathedral. Fact. However, this one was under construction. Not so much that it was closed to the public. but enough for a need to wear helmets. Though architecturally interesting, it didn’t seem like anything special to me (this could have been because the tour was in Spanish and I was struggling to pay attention or maybe I’m cathedral-ed out - either way, don’t tell the Vitorians). After getting to visit the cathedral, it was back to the hostel for lunch. After lunch was the unofficial end to the orientation; we were all stuck there a few more hours while waiting for our trains, but there wasn’t really much for us to do. After a few rounds of some serious hide-and-seek and saying goodbye to a few of the students, us stragglers went to kill time around the city. Considering mine and Lili’s train didn’t leave until 7, we had the most time to waste. A stop for desserts, a little waiting, a little walking, a little more waiting, another stop for coffee, a little more waiting and we were finally off. We got home right around dinner time: a nice end to a good weekend.
And now the final weekend in February... Madrid!!! A trip with some exchange student friends that had been in the works for awhile. We hit a few bumps on the road, but it ended up all working out and I got to see my friends for the first time in 6 months! We did a lot that weekend. So much that I’m going to end this post here just to get it out and will update later telling everything from my weekend in Madrid!
Hasta luego!
-Sam
So, we got a new host family?
So! Lots of stuff has been happening, so this might be a long update.
As many of you know, (out of the like one person who reads this) I have been living in Ängelholm. I haven’t been getting along with my host family due to personality conflicts, which seems weird but both of us have talked with the contact person and after a meeting couldn’t fix it, he (along with AFS) has decided to switch me. It was no one’s fault, it just wasn’t a good fit. It’s weird, cause beforehand I watched a video about a girl who did the same thing, she ended up living with her contact family. Well, the same thing is happening to me. I will be living with my contact person, Fredrik. He has a wife, named Anna-Karin, who he told me to call Ako, a little sister who is 14 named Augusta, and an older sister who is 18 or 19, i can’t recall, but she’s travelling norway currently. When I went to dinner at their house beforehand (everyone meets their contact person, and I hadn’t yet, so we had dinner at their house about two weeks prior) I thought to myself how this would be my goal host family. They were telling me about swedish culture, showing me all these things, and everyone was so wonderful. I love it. I feel like I fit in, and I haven’t even moved in yet. Fredrik, the dad, came to my current families house to meet my current host mom for the meeting, and when he did, he gave me a Nikon D1, cause I had mentioned I like photography. It’s this really nice camera from 1999, and he thought I’d enjoy it. He is so generous, and i’m just so happy he actually remembered what I am interested in. His daughter is so kind and the mom and me get along well. This is so cool. Plus, i get to stay in the same school. The only issue is packing. I leave in two days, (well, one and a few hours). Short notice. I gotta pack a whole room of stuff, plus the stuff i’ve bought while moving into sweden. I really hope it fits. But overall, i am just so grateful that this worked out. Everyone who knew the situation saw that I wasn’t happy and told me to switch, but i was just so scared of it not working out that I didn’t until now. I will be staying with Fredrik till January, after that we have to find a new host family (as the family wasn’t planning on hosting anyone, but they made an exception thankfully). I don’t mind though, i am glad i have somewhere to be currently.
Wow, super long message. So, how about an update on life.
Some funny things I learned recently about swedish. I was asking my friend martin to speak only swedish to me, as he wants to study abroad in america and so loves to speak english to me. But that’s not helping with language stuff, so I said to him “Kan jag pratat svenska på dig”. I was trying to say “Can I speak swedish with you”, but instead i said “Can I speak swedish ON you.” As in, on top of him. He gave me a weird look and said “Sure, if you’re into that”, and it was only then I realised my mistake. Awkward as hell. We laughed it off, but now all I can think about is all the people i’ve said that to who have been too shy to correct me. Helllppp hahahaha >.<
I have been taking SFI, or “Swedish for Immigrants” classes recently. They have an intermediate class, a beginner class, and an advanced class. Me and my friend from Taiwan are taking the beginner and advanced classes, and while she goes to the intermediate class, i cannot because of my math class and the time schedules. The beginner one is a breeze, which i guess is why it’s beginner, but I showed the work from my swedish homework in the advanced class to martin, and he stared at it and said that that is what they do in their classes, and he is still unsure of the correct stuff. It’s crazy hard grammar and stuff, and weiwei and me feel so offput because we’ve only been there a month and a half (two for weiwei) and everyone else in that class has been there for like 3 years and are immigrants living there permanently, its crazy. but the good thing is that it’s motivation to learn more!
Overall, yeah. I can’t think of what else I wanted to update on, sorry. it’s a long enough post anyway. Talk to you soon! Hej då!
Från,
Naomi
1 Month in Spain!
Hola todos!
I’ve officially been in Spain for a month as of yesterday and I figured I should probably give an update.
So far, I haven’t been good about sharing my exchange. I’ve taken few photos (much to the disappointment of my mother) and only started my blog today. But I’m working on it!
I’ve settled into somewhat of a routine and I’m adjusting okay. There aren’t many big differences (aside from the Spanish of course). Just a lot of small ones. For example, things that used to be easy are now difficult. Simply watching tv makes me tired. My mind is constantly translating and it’s exhausting. On plus side, I can already tell my Spanish has improved a ton in the past 4 weeks. I understand more of what’s going on and I can have conversations with friends (if they speak slowly enough of course).
On the other hand, school is very different. Instead of being able to pick classes like in the US, I pick a course and my classes are pretty much chosen for me. I am the science course this year, so besides the required classes for my grade, everything is science related. The classes are much bigger than I’m used to and taught more as lectures than the discussions I’m familiar with. I’ll probably sound crazy to all the Country Day students back home, but, believe it or not, I miss it. I know how could I possibly miss the hours of homework and endless stress, but I do.
I know in a few months I won’t even want to think about coming home, but at the moment, there’s some homesickness I can’t seem to shake. So I’m keeping busy and having fun. I’ve tried numerous new things and I can’t wait to try even more. And hopefully I’ll have pictures to share.
Hasta luego - Sam
Aug 12th
Lascio tante cose qua, lascio una vita perfetta, lascio delle persone meravigliose, i miei migliori amici, la mia famiglia. Lascio una scuola estenuante che però mi ha insegnato qualcosa che va molto oltre a semplici materie. Lascio una casa in cui sono nata e cresciuta, lascio i rapporti con persone importanti e meno. Li lascio per partire per un viaggio nuovo, per conoscere il mondo, per conoscere me stessa, mi avventuro in una realtà diversa per scappare da un'insostenibile noia che la vita irrimediabilmente porta. Parto per un percorso di emozioni forti, belle e brutte, che scolpiranno il mio carattere e mi faranno finalmente diventare Qualcuno. Lascio una vita perfetta, delle persone meravigliose, ma so che ritornerò. Tornerò diversa, tornerò con un turbine alle spalle, tornerò viva, pronta a godere di nuovo di tutto quello che avevo, che ho adesso e che avrò ottenuto facendo questa pazzia. Arrivederci Italia, benvenuti Stati Uniti d'America.