3 Months?!

I will have been here for 3 months on Tuesday, I can't believe it. That will mean my trip is 1/3 of the way over... time is flying by now!

This week was easy for me as I only had 3 classes. It was a holiday week here. Tuesday was their Constitution Day and Thursday was the Immaculate Conception. Tuesday there was a fair in the street with people dressed up in old time costumes and all that jazz. Thursday was a big day for my host mom. Her son, his wife, and their two kids came over that day for lunch. It reminded my a little like Thanksgiving back home. It was so wonderful to see everyone. We all sat, ate, and talked for hours. I was actually able to participate in the conversations!! It was a very happy day for me. I loved being surrounded by people. The kids were crazy and a lot of fun too! Then on Friday Inma decorated the house for Christmas!! It doesn't feel much different from home now, other than the fact that there will be no snow this winter for me. It is still in the 60's and 70's here, but I have adapted to their thinking and now consider this cold.. Inma even has the heat on!!

I only have one more week of classes. I have a paper due in Old English and my Spanish final on Friday. Then next week I have to present two papers to my Linguistics Professor. Then it's already Christmas!! My other two finals aren't until January 9th and 13th so I will be studying little by little over break.

Dan will be visiting December 28th through January 12th! And we will be going to Barcelona for a few days. Then the 16th through the 25th I will be going to London and Ireland with a friend from America who I have meet here. I have a lot going on in the next Month and a half but I am very excited.

I will probably not update again for a couple weeks (around Christmas). I hope you are all staying warm and cozy, staying safe, and enjoying the holiday season. I love you all and you are in my thoughts!

Happy Holidays!

What I am Thankful for

As we all know today is Thanksgiving (El dia del accion de gracias) in the United States. I was going to make a normal Thanksgiving dinner for Inma (my host mom for those of you who have not read before this blog), but I decided that I would not. There are three reasons; One, for those of you who know me, I do not cook often and when I do it doesn't usually turn out good (chocolate chip cookies). Two, I think it would have made me more upset. and Three, they do not have the same stuff that we have back home. So instead, I decided to make Inma Chili, one of my favorite foods, and an added bonus, that is easy to cook.

Also, as this is a day that we usually spend time with our family I am homesick. This would have probably been the first time I went home for the semester, I would have had a week long break, and this year a lot of people I know who moved or go to school far away are home for the holiday. These all combined together and have made me super-Paige for the last two days. I have made an extensive to-do list to complete and have stayed on task and today I have more to do as well as I am trying not to dwell on what I am missing (as you can see I am doing so well in this blog).

Anyways, the point of this blog was for me to tell everyone (and to remind myself) what I am thankful for this year.

1. I am thankful for all of the support of my family and friends. Without them I would not be here today and would not be staying in Spain for 9 months.

2. I am thankful for a wonderful host mom who has helped me so much these first two months in Spain. She truly is a lifesaver.

3. I am thankful that I have the oppurtunity to be here and that it is an option for me to leave my home for 9 months and imerse myself in a new culture.

4. I am thankful for my Fiance, who has supported me, listened to me cry, laugh, and complain for these past two months and who has encouraged me the entire time.

5. I am thankful for my American friends, Anna and Vanessa, who are here in Spain as well. They are there when I need to talk and be completely understood.

6. I am thankful that I finally have my residence card for Spain (it was actually today that I got it). I no longer have any paperwork or legal stuff to do in Spain.

7. I am thankful that I am attending college to get an education and that nothing less was expected of me. So many people are put down and do not go to college because it is not expected of them and they don't think they are worthy.

Lastly 8. I am thankful that I have family and friends that are worth missing back home. It is my motivation to make everyone back home, and myself, proud that keeps me going even on days like this. It may be hard and I may miss everyone everyday but I atleast I have you all to miss.

Alright now everyone, enjoy your Turkey, Pie, Stuffing, Football, Family and all that Jazz today. And Tomorrow enjoy Shopping, Christmas Music, Christmas decorations, Christmas movies, and all the joys of the Holidays. Please be safe and be thankful that you are with your families this holiday season!

Hugs and kisses filled with love,

Paige

La razón número 2 por qué me encanta España

Reason number 2: I have become a stronger person.

This was not the originally reason I was going to write about, but as I was trying to type a different, very boring and unorganized blog I thought of this reason. My trip did not start out easy, there was the emergency room visit 5 days before I left which almost delayed my trip even before I stepped on a plan. Then, once I arrived in Spain I had to find my way to where I was living all alone with a very large language barrier. I then became very homesick, was unable to sleep or eat, and grew very impatient, this is what I call the worst two weeks of my life. I got through those weeks though with the help of friends and family back home who I am very grateful for. Then I began embracing my life, the culture, and the language of Spain, and in result I fell in love with Spain. I will have to say that those two weeks made me very strong. I was a strong person before I can to Spain, although I did not believe I was, but I have become even stronger. I do have days where I miss people and little things from home, but for the most part now I am completely in love with Spain. Everyday there is something new that I discover about Spain that I love and that makes me a stronger and better person. I enjoy eating, shopping, getting coffee, really doing anything alone now a days. I do not feel weird going and doing things alone, in fact, I really enjoy it. I am looking forward to traveling to unknown places alone and not relying on anyone else but myself. I am also more of a risk taker since I have come here. I am not afraid to ask a complete stranger for directions or anything in my still somewhat bad Spanish. I am not afraid to make mistakes when I talk. I am not afraid of what people think of me or say about me because I love me for the way I am and I am proud that I am trying.

There are many more lessons that I will learn and experiences I will have here that will make me even stronger and I look forward to embracing each and every one of them. Until I write again!

Reason number 1 why I love Spain

Everyday I am going to try to post one reason why I love Spain! This is entry number one.

Reason 1: I love my host mom!/ ¡me encanta mi madre de anfitriona!

I say this and mean it with every fiber in my being. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life. Let me tell you all a bit about her. Her name is Inma (short for Inmaculada). She is divorced and has one son. Her son is in his 30's, married, and has two children (a boy and a girl) named Angel and Claudia. Inma watches her grandchildren on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (the other grandmother watches them on Tuesdays and Thursdays). This works out perfectly for our schedules because I have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and am off Tuesday and Thursday. Every night when I come home she asks me how my day was and if I want anything to eat right away, I always say no, then we discuss what she will make for dinner. Around 8 or 9 she begins making dinner and go into the kitchen and help in whatever way I can (although she always tells me she doesn't need help). We usually eat in the living room because a game show called "pasapalabra" (pass a word) is on at that time, so I set up my little table and take the water bottle out to the living room. She usually always tries to grab whatever she is cooking out of the over without a ovenmit and I always say her name to warn her. Then as she is sitting down and we are about to eat she or I remember that she doesn't have her pills that she always takes and she or I say "las pastillas!" (the pills) and laugh. Then we watch the show and talk about plans for the next day, things that happened during the day, or anything really. She is always pacient with me when I don't know what I am supposed to say and always speaks slowly for me. Then when we are done I try to take my tray into the kitchen (she usually tries to stop me) but I insist. I put the bottle of water away and grab my little table and put it back and then ask her if she wants any help and she again won't let me. Sometimes I stand there and talk to her and sometimes I go and watch the news and wait for her. Then she comes back in and we talk about world events and what is going on in the news until one of us goes to our bed where she will say "Buenos noches cariño" (good night dear) with the sweetest little smile on her face. She also does my laundry for me, makes my bed (she yells at me if I make it myself), and always listens when I need to talk, even if it takes me a while. She reminds me to take an umbrella when it's raining, put on my socks or slippers around the house, and takes care of me when I am sick. Tomorrow I am going running with a friend and she gave me a poncho since it might rain. She always tells me where the good stores are to buy things, remembers what foods I do and don't like (even though I tell her I like everything, somehow she knows), and always makes me feel good.

I have no idea what I would do with her in my life here. She is like another grandma to me and she has a very special place in my heart already. There are no words to really describe what am impact she has made on my stay here and in my life!

Hello Again!!

I know it's been a while since I updated but there have been a few reasons. Number one, I was sick all last weekend :( and was not able to go on the trip to Salamanca that I had signed up for. Number 2, since I did not go on the trip nothing exciting has really happened. I have been going to class, doing my homework, and talking with Inma, same old stuff. This past Friday we did throw a U.S.A themed birthday party for one of the girls from America. We decorated in red, white, and blue, had beer pong, played American music and all that jazz. It was a lot of fun, and then we went out to a new club and danced for a while.

Other than that, the other week I went shopping with Anna (a girl from America) and bought some more clothes since it is changing seasons here and also some more stuff for my room, it offically feels homey in here now. My Spanish is developing much more and I can not wait for people to visit so I can show off what I have been doing. I can't believe how fast my time here is going. It is more like fall here now, and it rains all the time. I love it though because it is much warmer than back home.

I think I am going to try to go to Valencia this next weekend just to get out and do something but I am not sure yet and we have a long weekend in December that I think I am going to do some traveling :) I am deffinetly getting the travel bug here!!

Well until next week (if anything exciting happens)!! Stay safe everyone!!

1 Month Over Already?!

Okay, so I have been slacking a little bit and I am sorry. I have been busy and by the time I get home I am too tired to type a blog, plus life is a little less exciting here!

I have been going to my classes, Old English and Linguistics, for about a week now. I finished my Intensive Spanish course a week ago and I received an 81% on the exam which is considered very good here so I am very happy. Today I started my new Spanish class with a little bit of complication. I was going to take the class in the afternoon since I have classes in the morning, but there were not enough students to make up the class in the afternoon so the professor and I made an arrangement. I will be going to her class for the first part and then attend my other classes study the rest of the days materials on my own on Monday and Wednesday and then every other Friday I will attend her class and on the Fridays I do not attend her class I will go to my other classes. It works out very nicely with all of my professors so I am a happy girl!

On to more exciting things. This past Saturday I went on another excursion to a Medieval city named Morella. It actually has a wall built up around it that was used to protect it back in the day. It was so beautiful!(Check out my 365 project to see pictures!)

We ate at a nice restaurant and had a typically Spanish meal. First, a salad with veggies and tuna, followed by a soup with rice and beans and what we all think was fish. Third, roast with peas, potatoes, and carrots and finally a mouse. And of course there was wine.

We then went to this high ropes/zip line course, which was a lot of fun. I was hesitant at first but I was really happy I went in the end. I was with the first group of students to go. It was a lot of fun. We would go across and through all of these "obstacles" and then go down a zip line and then repeat. I am waiting for other students to put pictures up since I did not take my camera and as soon as I do I will post them.

I was very sore the next day though, with the walking up to the castle and then the high ropes course there was a lot of exercise!

Other than that I am just getting ready for fall here. I will be going to Salamamca the 29th-31st with about 20 students through the university and it should be a good time! I am looking forward to it.

Any questions you all have please leave them in the comments and I will answer them in my next blog!

Besos (kisses)!

Another Week

Another week has pasted!! I can't believe how fast time is going here. Classes have been keeping me really busy and I haven't even been able to go to 3 of them. I have been taking an Intensive Spanish Course here that is Monday through Friday from 9:00am until 12:30pm which has been helping build my Spanish skills. That however will end Thursday and the next Wednesday I will be taking the next level class at a Semi-Intensive level (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) in the afternoon from 3:30pm-7pm. I will than have an Old English class, a Narrative in English Class, and a Linguistics Class (In English). Depending on how many credits WIU is going to give me for those classes plus my Spanish classes I may or may not take a Intercultural thinking class that is all in Spanish. I have been going this week but it is really hard to understand what they are saying and the final is a 5 page paper in Spanish which I know at this point that I would need to have my notes and a translator to help me and I don't know if we write it in class or bring it in. We will see what happens with that class though.

I have learned a few new phrases in my Spanish class that I want to share. If you say "No tengo pasta" (which translates to I do not have pasta), it is like saying you do not have a lot of money! Also they saw "Vale" a lot which is like us saying okay back in the states. So when I come home and am talking about pasta and saying Vale, you will all know what is going on haha!!

Yesterday we went to Pensicola on an excursion with the university and it was beautiful. We were able to take a tour and hear about all of the history, then we were able to shop, and finally ended up on the beach for a few hours sleeping and playing games to get to know each other. It was a really good time. There is another excursion in 2 weeks to another place and then at the end of October I am going to Salamanca over night with the university! It was such a good deal and it looks so beautiful that I couldn't pass the opportunity up!

Today I have studying and all that fun school stuff to do, but first I am going to try a Chinese Restaurant in Spain with one of my friends! I haven't really walked around town on a Sunday before but I have heard everything is usually closed. I have usually been watching a movie with Inma or with her and the rest of her family so I have been busy and not really noticed.

I hope all of you who read this are well. Sorry life has gotten boring here for me, too much to do for my classes! I love and miss you all!