Saturday August 31st I borded a plane with almost 20 students (2 from Condordia and the rest from Bethel) and left for Spain. We had a lay over in Philadelphia and from there we flew straight over the Atlantic Ocean and into Spain! This is a view of the sunrise over the Atlantic just after we saw land. It was 12 midnight US time and about 7am Spain time. We literally flew through time and only had about 5 hours of darkness. Now Sunday, we enjoyed an airplane breakfast of flat muffins and apple juice and soon arrived in Madrid!!!
When we landed, we got our bags and met Ricardo (our professor/guide/guy who knows everything for Spain term and tells us what to do and when and where to go) who got us on a bus to head to Segovia. We were excited, nervous, exhausted, and a plethora of other emotions and feelings...
This was my first view of Segovia out of the bus window. We stopped right where this picture is taken, got out, scrambled to collect all our luggage, and were kind of "auctioned off" to the perspective people waiting for us there. There I met my host mom and dad who promptly took me to their home. I found out that I have 3 sisters. One is 24 and was finishing up her final project for becoming an architect (how exciting to be almost done with school!), my middle sister is 31 and just got a job in Madrid but still lives at home (she works in one of the only skyscrapers in Madrid at the very top!), and my oldest sister lives in Madrid with her husband and one year old daughter Miranda (she comes over all the time and is sooo adorable!!!) My two sisters that still live in the house both speak a little English so it was nice to at least have some small crutch when first arriving. Their English is about like my Spanish so between both of us, they were able to understand me "mas o menos"
This is my room I got upon arriving! I live in an apartment "like everyone else in Segovia" on the third floor (very top)
All about differences in food in Spain:
This was my first meal in Spain when I arrived and it's still my favorite. The food in Spain is delicious! Meals and food in general are a lot like in the states, but there are a few differences. In Spain there is "primer plato", "segundo plato", and "postre" and ALWAYS with bread. (or "pan") They eat in courses. The primer or "first" plate is usually something like this picture. Normal main course. - lots of fried meat and usually ham. Second is a salad or vegetable -interestingly, most vegetables are fried and I admit tastier (cause of the grease and fat) Salads have olive oil in them which I thought different and salt of all things! and tomatoes and vinegar. The "postre" is usually fruit like "melón" (like honey dew accept with more flavor and it's whiter) or peaches or nectarines. If it's a special occasion, then a desserty dessert. They always eat with both knife and fork! Like pros! They use their knife like I would use my finger when I nudge the food onto the fork sometimes. It makes me feel a little uneducated... ah well. They use the bread (that goes to the top and side of the plate) to mop up all of the left over sauce, cleaning the plate nicely :) hmm what else? oh! The water is disgusting. Sorry Spain, but it is... (I've gotten pretty used to it now) and they almost always drink from a HUGE liter sized water bottle. Oh! also, just like in the states, eggs are solely a breakfast food, here they're solely a dinner food. I don't mind one bit! Breakfast (for me) is toast with nutella or peanut butter, yogurt or a fruit, margdellenas (yummy packaged muffin things) and café con leche. Ok- so here, you have a cup of milk and put the coffee in THAT. If you're making choffee (coco/coffee) you don't use water, you use milk, heat it up, and add both powders to it. For mediodía (mid day snack) I'm given a packaged crescent roll thing to eat at about 12 when we would normally eat lunch, accept for that here, lunch is called "la comida" (not almuerza like I thought) and eaten at 2 or 3 right before "siesta" a rest time where the entire city shuts down to go home for "la comida" and take a nap or relax until about 4 when the city recharges again. Because there's a while till "cenar" (dinner) you have another mediodía at around 6 when we'd eat dinner to tide you over. Its usually grabbing a quick peach or another crescent roll. Well, that's a lot about food.... (all that I've noticed the entire time so far)
This was my first meal in Spain when I arrived and it's still my favorite. The food in Spain is delicious! Meals and food in general are a lot like in the states, but there are a few differences. In Spain there is "primer plato", "segundo plato", and "postre" and ALWAYS with bread. (or "pan") They eat in courses. The primer or "first" plate is usually something like this picture. Normal main course. - lots of fried meat and usually ham. Second is a salad or vegetable -interestingly, most vegetables are fried and I admit tastier (cause of the grease and fat) Salads have olive oil in them which I thought different and salt of all things! and tomatoes and vinegar. The "postre" is usually fruit like "melón" (like honey dew accept with more flavor and it's whiter) or peaches or nectarines. If it's a special occasion, then a desserty dessert. They always eat with both knife and fork! Like pros! They use their knife like I would use my finger when I nudge the food onto the fork sometimes. It makes me feel a little uneducated... ah well. They use the bread (that goes to the top and side of the plate) to mop up all of the left over sauce, cleaning the plate nicely :) hmm what else? oh! The water is disgusting. Sorry Spain, but it is... (I've gotten pretty used to it now) and they almost always drink from a HUGE liter sized water bottle. Oh! also, just like in the states, eggs are solely a breakfast food, here they're solely a dinner food. I don't mind one bit! Breakfast (for me) is toast with nutella or peanut butter, yogurt or a fruit, margdellenas (yummy packaged muffin things) and café con leche. Ok- so here, you have a cup of milk and put the coffee in THAT. If you're making choffee (coco/coffee) you don't use water, you use milk, heat it up, and add both powders to it. For mediodía (mid day snack) I'm given a packaged crescent roll thing to eat at about 12 when we would normally eat lunch, accept for that here, lunch is called "la comida" (not almuerza like I thought) and eaten at 2 or 3 right before "siesta" a rest time where the entire city shuts down to go home for "la comida" and take a nap or relax until about 4 when the city recharges again. Because there's a while till "cenar" (dinner) you have another mediodía at around 6 when we'd eat dinner to tide you over. Its usually grabbing a quick peach or another crescent roll. Well, that's a lot about food.... (all that I've noticed the entire time so far)
Monday we walked the "Alameda" which is a path that goes around the majority of Segovia, with most of it directly around the Alcazar (a Castle). While we walked, we were surrounded by gorgeous parks, woods, and the ever present castle the entire time! A fantastic place for walking, running, or thinking. Since then I've journaled along it, walked it with a friend, and ran it too. All the pictures I've taken along it are absolutely gorgeous!
Now this, my friends is the Alcazar. A castle. One of the two used to inspire Disney World. I know. Cool right?! We got to go inside the very next day after passing around it! We climbed tons and tons of tight spiral stairs to reach the top and hung out for a while at the top of that tower! It was gorgeous. The Cathedral was especially impressive from the top! I had the urge to sing "When will my life begin" from Tangled and my heart was bursting with excitement to basically be exactly like my favorite disney princess! It's funny how God lets us live even our little insignificant dreams. :)
Mid week, class started. Not our actual "classes" yet, but Spanish intensive class. I found that I loved it. A place where I actually understood what on earth people were saying and I got to better my Spanish and immediately use what I learned in class the very next hour after I learned it. This is the street I cross to get to school and I'm standing on the street I walk up to get there. A gorgeous view every day to and from. I see God in the beauty here and it's breath taking and refreshing!
On Saturday, we had a "senderismo" which means we hiked up a mountain. Saying it was beautiful sounds so flat, but with the rolling hills and warm sun it felt like a scene out of The Sound of Music. The hills were certainly alive. Something interesting- cows roam the mountain grazing on grass. Sometimes we passed them as we hiked up it! By the time we got down, we were sufficiently worn out and ready for the ever amazing Spanish siesta :) aaaand we were sore for days afterwards
That night after the hike (when we had sufficiently collected ourselves) some of my friends and I met to discuss plans to go to Ireland for October break and there at "El Colonial" (has become the place to go) was my first Spanish Cafecito experience. I got Chocolate Blanco and it was rich, thick, and creamy. hmmmm also, the first night out in Spain ever!!! Spirits were high as we filled ourselves with sugar while talking about traveling the globe.
Sunday was a day I'll remember as one of the best. We went to church and worshiped with a small e-free congregation in which we made up about half the people! The worship was just what I'd been missing and the sermon was about Job and the pastor spoke really clearly! I understood more than normal! Afterwards, a sunday school kid ran up to us as we were leaving and handed us a card that said in perfect english "Welcome to our Church!!!" Soooo sweet! Then we walked to Ricardo's house where him and his wife had us over for brunch. It was FANTASTIC. (and their house was crazy gorgeous! Nice pad, Ricardo. Not bad...)
After brunch we hung out and watched Disney channel for a bit with his two crazy awesome (and I mean "crazy") sons. We didn't really stop laughing. So full of energy, they just fed off the attention and loved messing around and taking pictures! Made me miss the kids from camp a bit.
Afterwards, we all went out to the back yard (along the Alameda) to play fútbol with them. Some of us opted to sit in the grass and watch. We chatted, took lots of pictures, and took the opportunity to relax. It was much needed.
Sunday night got to have a bit of a ladies night out and accomplished my goal of taking a picture of the Cathedral all lit up. Absolutely breath-taking!
Now this is my "niece" Miranda. She came over Monday and this is a story I'll tell in the blog section. It deserves a good long explanation. In short, I accidentally ate her food...
My street. Where cars park on both sides, both ways, sometimes touching, and you have to be a stunt driver to navigate anything here. One thing is for sure, if it's a life or death situation, I still may refuse to drive in Spain...
The gorgeous view from my room. So Spanish! Sometimes I still have to remind myself that I live in Spain. It's so surreal at times.