5-month mark! And other stuff.

Very soon (Feb. 6) we SYA students will officially have been in Spain for five whole months! Can you believe it? I can't. It feels so much shorter than five months. But at the same time it feels longer, too. How strange. September is sort of a blur to me. I remember feeling nervous and a bit scared and disoriented because I had just arrived in Spain. I remember getting off the bus and stepping on Zaragoza ground and seeing my host father for the first time. I also remember the awkwardness that followed because I couldn't speak or understand Spanish very well, and I didn't know what to say. Since then my Spanish communication skills have improved tremendously. Immersion is really the best way to go if you want to thoroughly become fluent in another language. SYA has taught me that. 

Right now, everything pretty much passes day by day without any big differences. I've become used to the rhythm of my classes in school and the Spanish meal times. I don't find it so strange anymore. 

As for extracurriculars, I am doing cooking classes once a week on Tuesday for about two hours with five other SYA students. So far we've learned how to make the traditional Spanish tortilla con patatas (with potatoes), arroz con leche (rice with milk), and huevos rellenos (deviled eggs). At the end of the class we eat what we make, and all the food has been delicious. I can't wait until our next class because we'll be making paella! 

Other extracurriculars I have in mind are Ultimate Frisbee and the Camino de Santiago. Two weeks ago several of the SYA students found a group of people who play Ultimate Frisbee and tried it out. Then one of them, who knows that I love the sport, told me about it and invited me along the next time that she goes. We will probably go next week on Wednesday if nothing else comes up. If you don't know what the Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James) is, it's a very long pilgrimage route in northern Spain that starts in the east and ends in the west in the capital of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, where the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is located. If I were to do this, I would be going with a group called Los Amigos del Camino de Santiago (The Friends of the Way of Saint James). The group goes during a weekend and does only a portion of the route. It would be a great opportunity because I'd be travelling with other Spaniards while seeing this wonder of the world. I hope I have the chance to do it. 

In the school, all the students have two major trips to look forward to: the first in February and the second in March. The one in February is called "Cinco días en..." which means "Five days in..." During those five days we'll all be travelling to different cities in Spain and staying with a different Spanish family and going to school there. The point is to learn about another city in Spain, hopefully one that you haven't visited yet. We will know where we're going and whom we'll be staying with next week on Wednesday. Everyone's very excited for it. And since there are so many students, several we'll be going to each city together to make it easier to do and plan. The second big trip in March will be to the south of Spain: Andalucía. This autonomous community is known for the flamenco dance and music associated with Spain. We'll be staying there for five days and be visiting four different cities: Granada, Córdoba, Sevilla, and Cádiz because they are the most important in Andalucía. I think everyone is more excited for this trip than the one in February. To me it sort of seems like a dream. We've all heard about it for so long that it feels as if it might not actually happen. As if it were a promise that someone kept putting off until later. 

On another note, I've been keeping track of the audience my blog receives. In other words, from which countries people view this blog. I am surprised by many of them because I don't know people who live in those countries or I didn't expect to see the name of that country on the list. It could be that someone was searching for Spain and happened to run across my blog. I don't know. But I have to admit that I like seeing such a wide variety of countries. It's pretty amazing to think that someone from a foreign country has read what I wrote. Here's the list: United States, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Portugal, Romania, Dominican Republic, Poland, Australia, Brazil, and Colombia. So international! I love it. Thank you to all who have taken the time (either on purpose or by accident) to look at my blog!