Wait....it's already week 3?

My gosh how time flies here! It's like one minute you're dreading waking up for class on Monday and the next minute it's already the weekend all over again. The time flying is both a good and a bad thing for several reasons.

Good because I know that when August 15th rolls around I'll probably be ready to get back to the promised land of Oklahoma. And good because everyone loves the weekend, especially the weekend in Europe.

Bad because I'm really growing to love both the country of Spain and the people I'm here with. I love the fact that all of us have become so incredibly close over these last two weeks and I'm really honestly to the point where I can't imagine life without everyone. These other Oklahomans aren't just other exchange students. They're not just friends. They're family.

So since time flies so fast I find myself slacking on updating this blog, which is irritating because I really want this to be an accurate journal of my life in Spain. I want to be able to look back later on and know what I was feeling throughout this entire process. So for the sake of keeping things up to date, let me try and tell about my amazing weekend.

First of all, Thursday night ended up being a wild and crazy night for the majority of us. In true Spanish form we all went out to some local discotecas and bars and stayed out until the sun came up. Which was one of the more fun nights I've had since I've been here, but it wasn't the wisest decision considering the fact that I was supposed to go to Toledo the next morning at 8:30.

Note the phrase "was supposed to go."

I finally opened up my eyes and looked over at my clock around 11:00. A good two and a half hours after my bus for Toledo had left. So then I did what anyone else would do in my situation. I rolled over and went back to sleep until 2:30. The Spanish life is rough on the body. haha

So when I finally got up I was awfully upset with myself because I missed out on a free trip with all of my friends. And I had heard from several people that Toledo was a cool place. But I guess I'll never know now. Anyway, I tried to salvage the day by taking a walk through Alcala to try and learn a little more about the city, which made it a bit better. I made the hour long walk out to the mall again (all by myself) and felt like I had accomplished something amazing. At first I thought I would never be able to learn this city, but little by little I'm figuring it out. By the end of the summer I'll be able to walk these streets blindfolded.

So anyway, I stretched the walk out into a 6 hour excursion throughout the city and really actually enjoyed it. It was nice to just get away from everyone and just take everything in. No cell phone, no iPod, no distractions. Just me and Alcala. And believe me, there is a lot that can be learned from this city. Mostly things that can't really be put into words, as much as I would like to share it with everyone. But it's just something that has to be experienced rather than told about.

So I ended up going to bed early that night because I figured one night out until 7 am was enough for me. And plus, a huge group of us had decided to go into Madrid the next day to do some museum-hopping and to see the sights at a leisurely pace as compared to our crazy fast tour on our first weekend.

I took a few pictures that I figure I can post for greater description:

First of all, here is the famous Museo del Prado that is supposed to be one of the greatest art collections in Europe and the world. This little entrance actually doesn't do the museum justice, because it is much more grand than it looks here. It really was an amazing museum. I feel so cultured. :)

This was actually just a random building that we passed in the city that I thought was cool. It was one of the ministry buildings, for agriculture or something I think. The point that can be made here is that every single building in Spain is photo-worthy. The main difference between the US and Spain is that in the states the buildings are built for functionality, with very standard skyscrapers built to house as much business as possible. However, in Spain the buildings are built as an art. Beauty is the key here and if the building isn't beautiful, then it wasn't built right.

I like this picture just because it shows how artsy the city of Madrid is. It's a very green city with these canopies basically covering the entire city. There are also these really ornate fountains all over the city. It's a pretty beautiful place.

This is in Retiro Park, which is Madrid's version of NYC's Central Park. Which I think Retiro is much prettier than Central Park. It's so green and absolutely beautifully landscaped. It's easily possible to pass several hours just going for a walk through this park. (I'm finding that I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of taking walks after being here)

This is the big lake in the middle of Retiro. It's really cool because they have all kinds of kayak/canoe races here that you can just sit and watch for hours. And right by this lake is all kinds of street performers and activities. Such a cool place just to go relax and spend an hour or two.

This is my friend Lindsey playing an accordion that she took from a street performer. (she asked if she could borrow it, even though stealing it would have been much more spanish) Needless to say, she wasn't all that great. :)

So as you can see, we just leisurely passed the day going throughout the city, taking stops here and there and wherever we felt like it. It was an amazing day and the weather was as beautiful as it has been the entire time I've been here.

That night our plans were to get ready and go back into Madrid to take in the big city nightlife, which would have meant that we wouldn't get in until sometime around 8 am again. However, even though all the guys were ready to go, the girls felt the need to spend WAY too long getting ready and we missed the last train into the city. But we're a resilient group. And we make the best of every situation. So we went out in Alcala again. haha

There are some really REALLY fun places to go in Alcala, such as a discoteca called Can-Can, a pub called Mediapinta, and a bar called Gabana (which is owned by my host dad, which explains a lot). So we decided to hit up all Alcala had to offer once again and tons of fun was had.

Interesting/really incredibly awkward story time:

So Spanish guys are pretty much known for coming on pretty strong towards women here especially when they've had a few drinks. A girl rarely has to buy herself a drink when out at the bars because the Spanish guys always buy the drinks for them. Sometimes the spaniards can get vulgar and pretty often we guys have to play bodyguard and make sure that the crazy Spanish guys back off.

However, the tables turned on me this time around. Not really sure why, but this random Spanish guy decided he wanted him a little Jordan Carlton. Which was okay at first because he kept supplying me with free drinks (don't judge, drinks are crazy expensive here). However, the cool-ness ended when he came up to me and started stroking my face. I definitely learned exactly the creepiness that the girls go through here. So needless to say, that is when we all decided to switch bars. Which everyone else thought it was really incredibly hilarious that this was happening to me, and its a story I've heard re-told about 100 times now.

So we continued on to Can-Can, but nothing too note-worthy happened there. Just tons of dancing until the wee hours. But here are some pictures from my night out:

Here are my friends Cherrie and Brian. It's not too easy to tell, but they're dancing here. I know Brian kinda looks constipated, which I think makes the picture hilarious. But these are two of the coolest, most laid-back people I have ever met and I love hanging out with both of them.

Here are a lot of the girls from the group. Which girls vastly outnumber the guys in our group. I think overall there are like 25 or so girls and about 6 or 7 guys. But everyone is cool and I truly honestly could not imagine a cooler group of people to be here with. But anyway, the girls are dancing here, too. From left to right it's Lauren M., Lauren S., Lindsey, Cherrie, and Kristin.

And here I am with all the girls. Personally I think this makes my cool factor go up by about a hundred. :) This picture is of all the same girls with the addition of Hannah, who is the blonde girl standing next to me.

Here I am with Hannah and Cherrie, both of whom are amazing. They're roommates here in Alcala and both of them are here for the entire summer, which is something I'm incredibly thankful for.

And last but not least, here I am with Kristin and Lauren. These girls were a huge help to me when the crazy Spanish gay guy was trying to get all over me. Thank the lord for these two.

So then we ended the night once again right around sunrise, which was okay because we all had all Sunday to sleep if we needed to. A big group of us met that night to go study together because a lot of us had tests on Monday. We found this amazing little cafe called Vaca Flaca (which means "the skinny cow" in spanish. typical weird spanish stuff) and hung out there for the majority of the evening.

And then started the week. Nothing too spectacular to mention there. A test here, an assignment there. Just the usual routine stuff. (which actually amazes me that life here is becoming routine)

I realize this post is getting really ridiculous long for basically rambling the entire time. But I just have a few more things I want to say.

First of all, I can't say enough how much I have grown to love the other American students here. A big group of us talked today about how we really do feel like family. Because we basically are all going through the exact same emotions and feelings, and we've basically functioned as each others' support group. It's been great to get to know these people and I really hope we all stay this close after this is all said and done with.

And finally (and I promise this will be the ending), John and I have finally come to the realization that Spanish people are just weird. Plain and simple. They dress funny, the kinda act funny, the are just a quirky bunch. So even as we grow closer to our host family, we still have those moments where we just feel awkward and out of place. I feel like nothing really explains this better than a story about Mario, our 7 year old brother, and his random comments in English.

Now, I'm pretty sure I've previously stated that Mario thinks he knows english a lot better than he really does. Which means that a lot of times he says things that he doesn't really know what they mean. Like the other day when he called me a sock and John a starfish. However, I feel like he topped that and more with a question he asked John and I today.

So John, Mario, Tony, and I are all sitting at the dining room table eating our lunch (which was paella again, one of my favorites) and Mario starts trying to use his english on us. So he looks up at us with his big brown eyes and asks us in all seriousness "Do you like your penis?" Now imagine a little 7 year old thick spanish accent saying that.

At first John and I just stared at him. Then we started laughing so hard we couldn't talk. So Tony, who doesn't speak a word of english, started asking us what he said translated into spanish, but we were laughing so hard we couldn't talk. And poor little Mario just kept asking us the question over and over because we couldn't answer him.

What a perfect representation of the crazy things that happen here.

Such is my life in Spain. :)

The Small Things

So I'm realizing more and more how it is the small things here that have really started to add up and make a difference on me.

Small things that make me feel more acclimated to Spain, like how accomplished I felt when I found my way to the mall all by myself. And let me just mention that it is about an hour walk from my house to the mall. I was riding pretty high when I found it. :)

And small things that I'm really starting to love about the country, like how adorable every single spanish kid is or how freaky and outlandish the fashion is. Or how everything is so incredibly spanish from the buildings to the streets to the parks to the people. Everything fits in perfectly with my preconceived ideas of what Spain would look like and I love it. Or how there is such a mix of ancient and modern, like my school that was built over 600 years ago or discotecas that play both traditional spanish music and the latest hits from the US.

And then there are the small things that never fail to make me smile, like walking with friends to get helado on the Calle Mayor or sitting with a huge group of people and drinking a glass of wine on the Plaza. Or getting called "cheekymonkey."

And of course there are those small things that make me appreciate what I have back home. Like not having to wait three days to wait for your laundry to dry so you can get it back. And like having a big bedroom that I actually relax in. And like driving a car.

All these small things wrapped up are making my experience what it is. And in one word, I can only describe it all as amazing. Spanish culture is still so different to me but every day I get used to it a little more and a little more. I'm so glad I've chosen to do this and I know this is really the summer of a lifetime.

Instead of ending with a story, I'm going to end with a mini-rant this time around. Spanish lunches are usually really big, delicious ordeals because spaniards see lunch as the most important meal of the day. Fine, whatever. Dinners always provide enough food to fill my stomach, but are typically much smaller affairs. Also fine. However, one thing that the spaniards have not figured out is the art of dessert. So far my desserts have only consisted of melon, apples, and peaches. Now don't get me wrong, I love fruit and all. But would it kill them to give me some chocolate every once in awhile?! I'm a guy that can readily admit he's got a killer sweet tooth, and not having REAL dessert is killing me! For everyone back home, be ready to take me out for lots of dessert when I get back to the states! :)

So for now, I'm going to sit here in my room with my window open listening to someone strumming their guitarra somewhere close by and just be content with life.

Every Day Something New

Well here I am approaching the end of my second week and wondering how that is even possible. It seems like I just got here, how have I already been here this long? I knew that this summer was going to fly by, but at the rate I'm going, I'll be back in Oklahoma tomorrow. :)

The concept of time here is actually an interesting topic, both from the view of the spaniards and from the view of myself. First of all, I don't think the spanish really have any actual concept of time. Otherwise they would have meals at normal hours. I've actually sat down for dinner at 11:30 at night. Weird. Also, they don't really seem to have any sense of urgency at all. Every walk is leisurely and slow and there is absolutely never any reason to walk quickly. Which is annoying coming from the US where slow walkers are considered annoying. By me. Their inability to use time is also apparent in their night life. It is very typical for young Spaniards to stay out until dawn.

As to the concept of time from my perspective, well thats a whole other story. Sometimes, like today for example, it seems like my time here is so incredibly short, like I hardly have any time at all. As I plan out my weekends and try to make time with different people here, it almost seems like I'll never be able to fit it all in.

However, there are those other times where it feels like getting back to Oklahoma is years away. Not that I ever really get too homesick, but there are those few bouts of wanting to see family, or friends, or just to live back in your comfort zone. The good thing is that every single one of us goes through it, so we can all empathize with each other. In fact, the first few nights (in the adjusting phase) were the absolute worst. I felt so out of place and clueless and uncomfortable and I started to actually regret coming for so long. Yet that passed oh so soon, and come to find out that every single other student felt the same way during their first few nights. I guess it's all just a part of studying abroad.

But Spain is an exciting place. It's a country of bullfights. Of flamenco. Of a relatively new government. Of exotic food. Of beautiful music. And every single day I learn something new. Here are my most recent additions to my knowledge of Spain:

1. I think every single person in Spain must own a dog, because I've seen more dogs around Alcala and Madrid than I have ever seen anywhere else. Which I don't have a problem with that at all, and it actually makes me miss my dog a little bit. The bad thing is that people take their dogs for walks everyday and when the dogs do their business on the sidewalk, the owners just keep on going like nothing happened. So I have to be careful on my walk everyday so as not to end up with dog poo on my shoes.

2. Spanish fashion is borderline insanity. Mullets and mohawks are all the rage here, and sometimes they're mixed together (a mohullet as we have dubbed them). The girls wear pants that look very similar to the parachute pants of the early '90s, and can also be compared to the pants that Aladdin wears. I know that European fashion is supposed to be edgy and trendy, but this is ridiculous.

3. The cars in Spain are all tiny, of course, but what amazes me is how they fit their cars into the tiniest places I've ever seen. Somehow they manage to parallel park within inches of both the car in front of and behind them. I have actually seen a few cars hit others in the process but with no real concern from the driver.

4. Malls in Spain are very similar to malls in America, but with a lot trendier and more hip stores in them. I would say the mall in Alcala is basically the same size as Quail Springs Mall in OKC, but it has a lot higher end stores like Zara, H&M, etc.

5. I can't really verify this one, but it seems to me that whenever you meet eyes with someone there is an unwritten rule that you are required to say "Hola" or "Buenos Dias" or something else along those lines. The first few times I met eyes with people and just nodded, and I got a few almost rude looks back from the person. Now I know to say a word or two just to keep the peace.

Well, in the interest of no longer rambling, I'm going to go ahead and cut this one short. I don't really have any new pictures of anything, and nothing super exciting has happened since I got home from Barcelona. But the great thing about daily life here is that even the routine is new and exciting.

However, one more interesting story to end on. My first teacher, Mar, supposedly is known to play favorites, according to one of the year-round students from Alcala. Which is good for me, because I'm pretty sure I've become her favorite. And the way that I know this is because she's taken to calling me "cheekymonkey," which I'm not sure exactly what she means by it but she always smiles when she says it, so it must be good, right?

And thats all for now! Ciao!

Me Encanta Barcelona!

Well, I guess you're probably all wondering how the trip to Barcelona went, right? And you're just dying to hear every story? Of course you are. :)

Well, to put it very simply and straight-forward, I have fallen in love with the city of Barcelona. It is one of the most amazing and beautiful places I've ever been. The beaches were amazing, every building was photo-worthy, the plazas were always packed with people, and the night life was extremely lively.

I feel so incredibly lucky and privelaged to have the ability to, you know, just take a quick trip to Barcelona. No big deal. haha For real though, Barcelona = coolest city ever.

And of course, I took over 200 pictures while I was there. So I warn you, there are a LOT of pictures on this post. Sorry for those of you with slower Internet connections, but it was almost impossible to narrow the selection down to the 20 or so pictures I used.

So, without further ado, here is my trip to Barcelona in pictures:

We took the overnight train to get there from Madrid, which basically meant that we stepped on the train at 10:30 at night and we didn't step off again until 7 the next morning. So it was a looooooooong train ride. But we got a sleeper car on the way there, and as you can see, even though it was a bit crowded, it was still comfortable. It was nice to able to sleep and to not worry quite as much about our stuff getting stolen.

The top picture is of Kami (dark hair in the top bunk) and Hannah (blonde hair on the bottom). Both girls are extremely cool and awesome travel buddies. The girl in the picture with me is Elizabeth. She rode there with us and got to spend a little time with us, but she met up with some other friends who were studying abroad in France, so we didn't get to see much of her while we were there.

And, of course, what would travelling be if you didn't get lost right from the start? We took the metro from the train station into the center of the city, where we thought our hostals were. But naturally, we were pretty far off mark. So the top picture is of Hannah and Kami trying to figure out where the hell we were and where we needed to be. The bottom picture is of Elizabeth being honest and showing that we had no clue.

This was one of my first views of Barcelona at the train station. Not too much to talk about here, except that we argued our way into a free train ticket. Long story short, the train station printed the wrong date on one of our return tickets and we were going to have to buy a whole new one, which would have been around 50 euro. But we used our superior Spanish skills, and our American ability to nag until something gets done, and talked our way into a new one. We were pretty proud of ourselves. :)

Finally we found our hostals. I stayed in a separate hostal from the girls because I had some friends coming down from France also and I stayed with them. We all hung out together, though, so I didn't ditch Hannah and Kami. This picture is from the inside of my hostal. It was actually surprising about how clean and even kind of hip the hostals were.

One of the first items on our agenda was to locate the beach. However, we made sure to take every opportunity to take pictures with everything cool looking along the way. For example, I have absolutely no clue what this statue is of. But it looked cool. Therefore it was a photo op. And here are the girls in front of it.

Eventually we found the beach. And what a beach it was. The Mediterranean is such an amazing place that once we got there, we didn't want to leave. You can kind of tell from this picture that the weather was perfect, sunny, and warm. We couldn't have asked for better. The water was still a little cold, but that didn't stop me from swimming in it. And now I can say that I've been in the Mediterranean Sea. And I think that's pretty dang cool.

These are mine and Hannah's feet. In the Mediterranean. Crystal clear water. Kinda chilly, but nothing we couldn't handle. How cool is that?

This was a little restaurant by the sea where we had bocadillos and people-watched.

And this, of course, is me in front of the Mediterranean. Such a once in a lifetime experience.

One thing that was a big difference between Madrid and Barcelona is that Barcelona seemed to be much more of a tourist destination from all over the world, whereas Madrid, while it is a tourist spot, is more just a giant city full of spaniards. Since Barcelona was so tourist-oriented, there were tents and shops and outside stores everywhere with all kinds of souveniers and trinkets to buy. Of course we stopped at a few to see what we could bargain for. Which wasn't much. Barcelona is an expensive place.

This is Hannah and I on top of the Cathedral of Barcelona. It was such a huge amazing church that had been built several centuries ago. The view from the top was amazing. I have a lot more pictures, but in the interest of not putting 100 pictures up here, I cut it down to this one.

One of the things we did was to go on a tapas and flamenco tour. For only 18 euros we got a ton of tapas, an amazing flamenco show, and entrance into several bars and discotecas. It was definitely money well spent for the flamenco show alone. I never would have imagined that dancing flamenco was such a difficult skill. I have never seen feet move that fast. I took a video of it, and I love looking back at it and still being amazed. This picture is of the three of us at some point throughout that night, I think at the flamenco show.

Once again, we took the opportunity to pose in front of everything. Absolutely no clue what this statue is. But I've got a picture in front of it. :)

We finally met up with my friends who were studying abroad in France and they joined us for the flamenco and tapas tour. The other guy is Kely, a guy in my fraternity, and the new blonde girl is Danielle and the new brunette is Erin. It was so great to see some more familiar faces in this foreign country. And even though none of the girls knew each other beforehand, we all had a great time together.

The next day we woke up and decided to take in all that Barcelona had to offer, which is a lot. We all really wanted to see el Parque de Guel, which was designed by Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi has stuff all over Barcelona and his architecture is really famous all over the world. The Guel is situated really really high up on a mountain, so this picture is of the hill we had to hike to get to the top. You can take an escalator almost the entire way, but I am proud to say that I walked stairs the entire way. If I don't come back from Spain at least a little bit skinnier, I'm going to be pissed.

The Guel has so many different things to see in it, including one of the best vistas of Barcelona in the entire city. Since it's situated at the very top of the mountain, you're able to see everything, far and wide. It was really breathtaking. Another amazing thing in the park is the longest bench in the entire world, which circles a huge open plaza that is about as big as a football field. The amazing thing is that the entire bench was sculpted by hand and the tiles for the mosaic were all laid by hand, all by Gaudi. It had to have taken so much time for such intricate work, and it shows. This is a close up shot of one section of the bench, but the mosaic is different all over the bench. It is truly something everyone should see.

This is just another section of the park underneath the area where the bench is. Gaudi had a very unique and unusual style of architecture, so every structure in the park looked similar to this.

This is La Sagrada Familia, the cathedral designed by Gaudi. It is separate from the park, but not too far away. This is also well worth the trip to Barcelona to see, because it is absolutely amazing. It is so huge that it is easily distinguishable in any photo of Barcelona. And so much detail and intricacy went into the design, for both inside and out, that the church is still being built and worked on even all these years after Gaudi's death. This is another thing I have tons and tons of pictures of, but couldn't put them all on here.

One of my favorite things about Spain that I feel is represented well in this picture is the fact that Spanish culture is very people-oriented. Every evening Spanish families go to the plazas of their city just to hang out and be around other people. In this particular picture, a live band was playing in the plaza and huge groups of people, none of which knew each other, just grouped together and started dancing together. The dance was an easy one, one in which everyone got in a circle, grabbed hands, and did some foot moves while moving in the circle. Everyone was invited to join, young and old. It was a very cool sight to see.

That night we decided to spring for a nice meal because all we had eaten thus far were sandwiches made with materials we had bought at a supermercado in the interest of saving money (again, Barcelona is an expensive place). So we went to a really great restaurant in one of the main plazas of the city and sat down for good food, good sangria, and good wine. However, two of the girls, Hannah and Erin, decided to be adventurous and try a native Spanish dish. As you can see from this picture, it looked very similar to a big bowl full of tar. What it was was cuttlefish (a kind of squid) in rice cooked in it's own ink, which is what gave it the black color. Despite it's disgusting appearance, it really wasn't bad. We all gave it a try just to experience it. But I stuck with something safer, and I'm sure any family of mine reading this will know exactly what I ordered. I ate chicken. :)

On our last day we just lazily walked around and enjoyed the city for a little while longer. This picture is me with one of the most famous places in the city, the monument of Columbus. It is a GIANT statue in the middle of the street (you can tell how big it is by comparing its size to the people standing at it's base). I had always seen pictures of this and I was so excited when I saw it that I took several pictures of it for myself.

For lunch we decided to go for native Spanish food again, except this time it was something we all knew we liked: paella. For those of you who have never seen paella, this is what it generally looks like. Cooked rice, vegetables, some kind of meat (usually seafood, but also can be chicken, pork, or whatever). It is definitely a delicious dish, and I actually find myself kind of craving it from time to time.

And then, sadly, we had to make the loooooong train ride home. We weren't so lucky this time to get a sleeper car and had to ride overnight sitting straight up in these seats. Not exactly the most comfortable ride ever, but I suppose it could have been worse. This picture was from around three in the morning when I couldn't sleep and I was bored. I'm pretty sure Hannah still doesn't know I took this.

And, of course, what would a trip be without some souveniers? I got several things for people back home that I'm pretty sure they will all like, and I splurged on something for myself. There was an artist on Las Ramblas (about a two mile long stretch of a huge sidewalk with tons and tons of street vendors, performers, etc.) that had these amazing paintings. I automatically knew I wanted some, and was almost scared to ask how much. However, you should all be proud to know that I haggled the price down from 30 euros to 20. All in Spanish. Hooray for me. :) They're small paintings, but I think they make an awesome memento of my trip to Barcelona.

So thats all I have for now. This took me an incredibly long time to write, so I'm going to get off now and go take a siesta. I'm telling you, life is rough in Spain. :)

However, I want to end with a quick story that happened at dinner yesterday that cracked me up to no end. Tony, John's and my host dad, was cooking us chicken and vegetables for dinner and was asking us if we had dinners like that in the US. John started saying (in spanish) that yes, we do eat chicken but not necessarily like we were having that night (it was kind of like sausage links, except chicken). And John was telling what parts we eat and how we eat it and all of the sudden our host dad started cracking up and we had no idea why. Apparently John, when describing that the breast meat of the chicken was his favorite part, had told our host dad that we like to eat "chicken titties." Which made me laugh until I cried. And I'm laughing again now just thinking about it.

Sorry for the long post and I hope it wasn't boring, but there was SO much to talk about, I couldn't have shortened it a bit.

I hope all is well in the states!

Time Flies...

So I just finished my first week of classes on a good note. I'm pretty sure both teachers like me, and I can fully understand the second one (the one that talks really fast) now. Things are going well.

In just a few hours I'm leaving for Barcelona and I'm really really looking forward to it. We're taking the overnight train there (very cheap) but the only problem is that the train won't bring us back until Monday morning at 6 am! That is definitely going to be a rough day of classes.

Oh well. How many times do you get to travel around Europe for a summer? We've got to live it up, right?

Anyway, next time I write on here I should have tons of new pictures and interesting things to talk about. Just to give you a little something to look forward to. :)

Lessons Learned

OK. Time for an update on this thing.

First of all, let me just say that in the past few days I have perfected the use of the phrases "¿Qué?", "No sé", and "No entiendo."

For those of you not completely fluent in Spanish, here is a quick lesson in la lengua.

¿Qué? = What?

No sé = I don't know

No entiendo = I don't understand

And oh man, I think I have already worn all three out! But I'm trying, and that's all these people care about. As long as I'm not the arrogant American who refuses to speak the language, they like me.

So anyway, classes have officially started. I switched from what I was supposed to be taking originally, so now I'm in Imagenes de España and España actual a traves de los medios. So far neither one of them seems too incredibly hard. The teacher for the first one is named Mar, and she is really cool. She has all these ridiculous projects she has us do in class to help us learn the language, and it's usually hilarious. The teacher for the second class is named Olvido, and she is WAY harder to understand than most people around here. She says she's from southern Spain, and they speak much faster down there. I say she needs to slow here rear-end down before I slow it down for her. :)

The best part about class is that I get to hang out with my fellow Americanos. There are SO many really awesome people studying abroad here, and a majority of them that I've hung out with so far are staying for the whole summer like I am. I've had such a blast getting to know everyone, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to have all these people around me. It's such a good feeling to know that all of us are going through the same thing right now: the culture shock, the excitement, the adrenaline, the struggles, the fun. It's just a great group of people, and I couldn't be more happy. I don't really have many pictures of everyone just yet, but here is a good one that I took at one of the discotecas here in Alcala the other night.

These are some pretty cool chicas if I do say so myself. From left to right it's Kami, Ashley, Kyla, and Molly. Kyla isn't in our program and she's only here for about another week and a half. But she's from OU, so she can be part of our group. :)

However, I have taken a few more pictures of my city. We went on a walking tour of the entire ciudad yesterday, so I got to see some amazing things. Alcala has so much history it's ridiculous. It has the building where Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabel first met. It has a giant cathedral that serves as the resting place for Saint Diego (the namesake for San Diego, California). It has buildings built in the 1400s, including my University. It's really incredible. I don't have pictures of everything just yet, but here is what I have so far.

This is kind of a side view of my University. I need to take a front shot, because the side view almost doesn't do it justice. It is a huge ancient building that has been used as the Universidad de Alcala since it was built. It's in amazing shape for being around 600 years old.

This is one of the most amazing chapels I have ever seen. It's a part of the University and it's where all of the doctoral candidates are tested and, if they pass, are sworn in. The ceiling is incredibly ornate with tons of gold decoration, the border all around the tops of the walls are carved by hand, and the floors are hand-laid tile. The chapel has been in use since the 1400s and every year the tradition keeps things exactly the same. One word: Amazing.

Here is a full shot of the ceiling (which really doesn't do it justice either).

And here you can kind of see a little bit more of the carvings at the tops of the walls.

And here you can see one of the most important things in the church: me. :) I really haven't had the chance to take many touristy pictures, so when I had the chance to stand by a "Universidad de Alcala" sign in a massive ornate chapel, I jumped on it.

But things are still running smoothly I guess. All of the students are really starting to bond and get close and now that we all have Spanish cell phones, it makes it a lot nicer and easier to get in touch with each other. It makes us feel more connected as opposed to feeling entirely cut off from the world like we had so far.

Anyway, my computer is about to run out of battery power, so I'm going to end with a few more things that I have learned since being here. Spain is a country full of peculiarities and every day brings new surprises.

First of all, the timing here for everything is completely and entirely different from the US. Lunch is at two or three and dinner is at ten or eleven. Everything basically shuts down for siesta time and you better not even try to get anything around two to four. Basically, the Spanish people live a lifestyle that lets them get as much leisure time in as possible, and it's not uncommon or weird at all to see entire families, old couples, kids alone, etc. walking around the plaza at midnight.

Second of all, the level of PDA in Spain is slightly ridiculous. People skip right past the occasional kiss here and there to groping each other right in front of everyone. According to one of my teachers, "es porque los espanoles tiene mucho amor fuerte." Which basically means they have a fiery type of love that, I guess, can only be quenched by doing dirty things in public.

Third, and this is both good and bad, the food is so incredibly different here. Sometimes it's amazing. Today, for example, we had lentajes, a kind of stew made with lentils and meat. It didn't look great, but it was delicious. Which is really the story of every dish here. Paella is amazing, but I've already mentioned that. Tapas, which are basically appetizers but in really big portions, are really good. And bocadillos, the Spanish version of the sub sandwich, are always really good. Occasionally though, you get a few bad things. For example, the Spanish don't really care too much about the quality of the meat. Which means that meat here, whether it's chicken, beef, or whatever else, usually has a lot of fat on it. And that is something I don't think I'll ever get used to.

Apparently electricity is really really expensive here, so Spanish people are anal about always turning off the lights after leaving the room, the hallway, the stairs, etc. In fact, my entire house is usually dark except for my room, John's room, the living room, and maybe the kitchen. And John and I both got a lecture when we first moved in about turning the lights off. It's a huge deal to them.

Spanish people are very very spanish. Meaning they are proud that they are European and they are proud of their history. Yet they are so into American culture it's hilarious. There are American movie posters everywhere, just translated into Spanish. And American music is always on the radio. For example, right now I am sitting with my bedroom window open and I can hear the song "I Need A Hero" floating into the room from who knows where. haha

And last for now, the Spanish aren't exactly a short bunch, but they're just not extremely tall. Which means that those of us who are tall get stared at quite a bit. (the spanish are kind of fond of staring) Which means the me and Hannah (who is on the women's volleyball team at OU) get stared at a lot. And while that was kinda weird at first, it really helped me find my element. At first I was really worried about sticking out and fitting into the Spanish lifestyle. But now I've basically embraced that I'm a tourist, and that I'm a tall American, and there is really no way in hell I'm going to look like a Spaniard. :)

So now I'm going to end with a picture that shows one of the most delicious things I have yet tried in España:

Gelatto! It's not just for Italians! And it is muy delicioso!

And that's all I have for now! Ciao everyone!

A Whirlwind Weekend

So life in Spain is still going well. I'm getting to know my host family more and more and I'm realizing just how cool my host dad is. He's so incredibly helpful with the language and he really cares that we have a good time and get used to the lifestyle here. And my host brothers are two of the cutest little Spanish kids you will ever see. Guillermo is very independent and a lot of the time he's out playing futbol with his amigos, so I don't see him much. He just goes by Guille, pronounced GEE-yay. Mario is a 7 year old bundle of energy and the kid is muy loco. He loves to speak English, even though he doesn't know very much. Today at lunch he called me a sock. Which made me laugh a lot.

Anyway, life has been one big whirlwind from the second I got here. I guess I could start from the beginning and go from there.

First of all, let me just tell you that flying from Oklahoma to Madrid was the most uncomfortable experience of my life. I was really lucky because I didn't have any delayed flights and all my connections ran smoothly. But a 7 hour flight across the Atlantic is absolutely no fun.

Once we got to Barajas airport, they shuttled us to the Plaza de Cervantes in the center of Alcala. Right away we met up with our host families and went to our new homes. As soon as I got home, I crashed. I didn't sleep a wink on the flight over and my body was in complete shock. What should have been 4 in the morning for me was noon over here, so it was kinda tough to adjust. Anyway, I took a nap and woke up to go with John, another OU student living here, to get cafe con leche in the plaza. It was nice to sit back and just take it all in.

Yesterday (Saturday) we had orientation all day, so most of the day was spent taking spanish placement exams, picking classes, and listening to lectures on the culture of Spain. It was interesting and helpful, but it started at 8 am, and let me tell you, Jordan did not have an easy time getting up at that hour.

After the orientation we went into the center of Madrid at the Plaza del Sol and took a grand tour of the city, led by Ernesto, our fearless leader/advisor. Madrid is such a beautiful city that it's really tough to describe it all. But I did take pictures this time, so I'll put some up here to show what I mean.

This is at the Palazzio Real, the royal palace of Spain. This fountain stands at the front of the palace. Don't let the picture fool you, this palace is HUGE and ornate and amazing. Here's another shot of it:

Here is just one of the many calles grandes in Madrid. All the streets in the city look ancient with big old buildings, yet everything is so modern. I guess that's pretty much the standard in this country. Tons of history and lots of old things, but with a modern touch.

This is one of the many avenidas in the city. Basically it's a big street with no actual traffic that is lined with stores and shops. You can buy pretty much anything you want here. Including....

You read it right, ladies and gentlemen. You can buy sex in Madrid. Spain has legalized prostitution and the street was lined with prostitutes. Supposedly this street we were on is famous for it. Just another thing to show me just how different this place is from my home.

And last but not least, here is a shot of the living room of my chalet (which, by the way, is basically a 4 story apartment just for our family. there is a bedroom and the garage on the first floor, kitchen, dining room, and living room on the second, bedrooms on the third, and more random rooms on the fourth. it's actually very nice). If you look closely, you can just make out Pepe the parrot in his cage on the table. You can also make out the Wii and the big flat screen tv on the entertainment center. This guy is loaded. Which works out nice for me. :)

So anyway, my weekend has gone well. I'm slowely but surely adjusting to the Spanish lifestyle, including the time zone. It is incredibly different over here, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The only part I don't like is having to watch over your stuff like a hawk so pickpockets don't get into everything. On the metro (the subway), if you have a backpack you have to turn it around and wear it backwards. If you have a purse or messenger back, you have to hold it in front at all times. Other than that, life is good here.

Now I realize this post is getting incredibly long, so I'm going to end here with a few things I have learned in my short time here.

1. Paella is really really good. It looks kind of suspicious with all the shellfish known to man added in, but it tastes pretty amazing.
2. The Spanish love their cervezas and vino, but not in a drunken way. They love to go out and drink socially, but I have yet to see a drunk spaniard.
3. It rains a lot here, but not in the same crashing and booming way of the storms in Oklahoma. The clouds may roll in, rain for about half and hour, and then the sun is shining again.
4. The children here are basically let loose to roam the city from early ages, but it's not a problem because they are (for the most part) incredibly well behaved. There are the few exceptions, but most kids here are great.
5. The old people love to walk around the city dressed in their best. It's like they really are the patriarchs and matriarchs of the city. It's east to see that the Spanish have a lot of respect for their elders.

And that's all for now folks! More to come soon, I'm sure, as classes start tomorrow. Things are bound to get interesting with those.