Reflecting...

Yes, I know, I still have to finish my posts about Andrew's visit and going to France and I PROMISE to do that soon.  However, I just wanted to take a moment and share my recent thoughts.

As I reach the half-way mark of my time here in Spain, I've been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting, not only on my time here, but on my life in general, and the trajectory that has lead me to this amazing experience.

Every once in awhile, something will happen that will spark a random memory, a song, smell, anything.  It's funny thinking back on random moments of my life.  I can't believe how much I've experienced.  I am EXTREMELY thankful for these moments, because they constantly remind me of all the love, support, and opportunities that have been afforded me.  I have done more in my short life than most hope to do ever, and I can't wait to see what the next chapters of my life bring.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude!

There have been many moments in my life that I wished I could change.  Changing schools in 9th grade, dating certain people, being friends with others, etc.  However, looking back on these moments I realize that if it weren't for those things, I wouldn't be who or where I am today.  EVERY single experience, good or bad, every person, whether or not they hated me or I hated them, all spurred me forward to bring me to this point in my life.  So, I am thankful for each and every moment/ experience/ person who has come into my life.  And of course, those who are still in my life and constantly sharing their love and support with me play a HUGE role.  Combined, they made me who I am, and you know what? I'm pretty happy with who I am.  Ya, I know, there are a few areas in my life I could improve, but that's true for everyone.  At the end of the day, I know who I am, and I know what made me who I am, and I'm eternally grateful for that.

So, this is just to say thank you to the small world of people who have touched my life.  If it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't be sitting here, in my little closet-sized room, in Spain, living my dream.

Quick Reflections

As of yesterday, I have officially been in Spain for 4 months!! This is a little mind blowing for me, and this blog is to explain why.

While I can't believe how fast time is going, and that I have less than 6 months left here, I'm also conflicted with the feeling that I've been here forever but in a good way (of course).  I have a life, like a real life here in Salamanca.  I have friends, I pay bills, I have certain stores I prefer to shop in, cafes that I'm a "regular" in... I really can't believe how much I completely feel like I have created a nice little life for myself here.

Now, this is completely different from the last time I was in Spain, for a couple of reasons.  1) I was living with a "family"- that really means one older lady.  She was really sweet, and absolutely adorable, but, it's not the same as now, where I have my own place, a roommate (who's awesome), pay bills, cook my own meals, do my own cleaning, etc.  You know that feeling when you move out of your parents house and get an apartment of your own?  Well, I feel like in my "Spanish life" I've "moved out" of my "parents' (Carmen's)" home, and into my own place... does that make sense?
Reason 2) I'm older.  I know, I'm only 3 years older than the last time I was here, but it's amazing how different that can make my experience. Last time I was in Spain, I'm not going to lie, I was all about boys, clubs, and cafes... I didn't care about school, nor did I really have to.  I just wanted to go out, flirt with all the cute Spanish boys, and stay awake until the sun came up.  This time, however, I still enjoy going out for a drink or two with some friends, but mainly, we just stay in, talk, watch movies, make tortilla, and maybe open a bottle of wine.  It's nice, and I feel like the friendships I'm making are much stronger than the ones from Santiago because of it.  Not to mention I have a WONDERFUL boyfriend, so going out to look for cute Spanish boys no longer seems appealing to me.  Needless to say, my entire experience is completely different.  It's more like "real life" and not so much like that crazy semester abroad that so many people associate with living in Europe for school.
Another thing that has made me feel more like I LIVE here, and am not just visiting... is that a friend and I have decided to try to run a 1/2 marathon! I'm extremely excited about this! Training has been hard, but I'm really enjoying it!! AND I might even join a gym and do pilates... See?! Things I would only do if I LIVED somewhere.

Well, that's all for now.  I promise to post about Christmas and New Years within the next 48 hours.

Nochevieja Universitaria- 13/12/12

Last night, December 13th, was the "University New Years".  It's something that only happens in Salamanca, and is very well known.  People come from EVERYWHERE for this.  Everyone gathers in the Plaza Mayor, and when the clock hits 12, they eat the 12 grapes (a Spanish New Year tradition- one grape for each bell toll).  Then, the night continues for hours, in bars, clubs, and up and down the streets.

I went for a short time, but didn't make it until midnight.  Right now I am working on studying and preparing things for finals, so I wanted to get home early enough to be productive the next day.
However, when I was there, this is what I saw:

The plaza wasn't anywhere near full by the time I left... but the festivities had definitely already started. Singing, drinking, dancing, and laughter all mixed together in a huge celebration.

Normally, music and such really give me a lot of energy, but last night I just couldn't bring myself to get into the "holiday" spirit.  It didn't help that my stomach was killing me.
Either way, since I didn't get to stay for all the excitement, I'm attaching a photo I got off the internet of the "nochevieja" 2011.  It's from last year, of course, but still does a great job of showing how huge the event gets!!

Unfortunately, it wasn't all fun and games for everyone.  This unfortunate event brings about the reality of alcohol, and the dangers that it brings with it:

http://www.salamanca24horas.com/sucesos/78960-muere-una-joven-arrollada-en-el-paseo-de-san-vicente-por-un-conductor-borracho

A girl, 20 years old, was hit by a drunk driver, and passed away four hours later.  It's so sad that a night that's supposed to be filled with fun and joy had to end this way.

Please remember, who ever or wherever you are... be smart and be safe.  Even nights filled with happiness and celebrations can end with a shock of reality.  DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!! EVER!!

Thanksgiving in Spain

So, as everyone knows, this last week was Thanksgiving.  This is my first Thanksgiving not being with my family.  It was really sad not being able to spend one of my favorite holidays with my favorite people in the whole world... but, there were still good times and celebrations over here!

At first, on actually Thanksgiving, I was a little sad to be missing out on everything, but then, life just conitnued. haha  Here in Spain (obviously) they don't celebrate Thanksgiving, and really, no one even knows completely what it is.  So, it actually made it easier on me to not have to be around people celebrating with their families and such.  I thought I would miss the atmosphere of the holiday, but in all honesty, it was nice to not have to be reminded of what I was missing.

On actual Thanksgiving day I went to a friends house, and we made pumpkin stew! It was a lot of fun, and turned out really well!! We didn't get to eat a lot of it, as it was for a get-together we were having the next day, but still being in the kitchen and cooking pumpkin type things really started to get the Thanksgiving feeling going.

The next day, however, we had our International "Thanksgiving".  It was SO MUCH FUN!! My friend had a lot of people over, and we did a potluck-style dinner.  There were people from all over the world, and they all brought something to eat! It was amazing.

 We couldn't get a turkey, but we did get some roasted chickens, and a few Americans brought mashed potatoes, so it was basically the same thing. =) I ate more food than I should have, and it was amazing.  I was so full, but the food was so good, I couldn't stop eating! We all had a lot of good times, laughs, and made wonderful memories.

 More food... =)

 A good friend here in Spain, and another American! =)

 It was Pat's (my friend's husband) birthday!! We had a cake!! Super cute!

Learning how to line dance!! Not necessarily a Thanksgiving activity... But still something that reminds me of home, and added to the fun of the night! 

Needless to say, my first Thanksgiving, not only without my family, but out of the country was a success!! I'm very thankful for my friends who all made it so wonderful!!
=)

Culture Shock!

So, lots has been going on here in Spain the last few days.  I'm going to post about the Huelga General that happened yesterday soon, I just want to do a little more research about it first.

For now, I just wanted to share something that happened today that literally shook me.

I was sitting in my Siglo de Oro (Golden Age) class, waiting for it to start, and all of the sudden, someone busts into the room and starts yelling.  I turn to see what's going on, and there's a student-aged guy standing in the doorway waving a TOY gun.  Of course, I didn't know if it was fake or not at first, and literally felt my heart start pounding out of my chest.  The boy proceeds to stand on the table-type desks that we have and starting walking down the middle of the class on top of the tables, yelling in Spanish.  He is followed by a group of about 12 other students, all half-drunk I'm assuming, yelling and chanting.  Once I realized it was just a toy gun, I felt a lot better.

What was happening was, these students were from the Science department at the University.  Well, here, each department has it's own "fiesta"meaning weekend off, in which the students dress up, go out, and do what college kids do.  These students were just having fun, although extremely rude and inappropriate.

Needless to say, this was a CRAZY experience for me.  1st of all, having a "gun" anywhere near a college campus is NOT something we joke about, even a fake gun would be cause for alarm.  However, here, the boy was waving it around, completely like it was nothing.  Talk about culture shock!! I wasn't sure how to respond or what to even think!! Not to mention the running up and down desks, yelling, and complete craziness that they brought with them.

By far my biggest culture shock so far.

It's the simple things...

So, I've been feeling really homesick the last few weeks.  However, the last few days have been really great!! Today was exceptionally wonderful!!  I realized that even though I may not feel like I want to go run errands, that forcing myself to get out and around really helps me a lot!! So, today I've been super productive!! On top of that, I finally got paid!! I've been waiting for a little over a month, running really low on money.  So, when I realized I had money in my account, I had to go shopping!!  Except, what I bought wasn't clothes or jewelry or any of that.

When my parents were here, like a month and a half ago, they found a store that sold Cheerios.  I've walked past the store like 3 times, but never had money to go in and pay like 4 euro for a box of cereal, when I could get some other kind for one euro at the Carrefour.

So, what do you think I did as soon as I pulled out money?! That's right! I went and got Cheerios!!

SOOO HAPPY!!! Also, since it was my first time in this particular store, I decided to look around a little.  In order to understand my excitement, you may need to know a few things first.  1) I LOVE SPICY FOOD!!! I literally live on it! and 2) Since I've been here, I haven't been able to find anything really spicy!! I've searched everywhere.  I've tried food at restaurants, and I've looked EVERYWHERE at Carrefour (the grocery store close to my apt).  BUT today, at this new store, I found:

SOOO HAPPY!!
Also, along with my new food purchases, I decided to keep my productive/ taking advantage of my money streak going.  I went to a Bazar type store close to where I live to buy just a few Christmas decorations!!

It's not much, but it makes me happy.
ONE LAST THING that has been able to help me out of my rut of homesickness... a WONDERFUL friend (who also happens to be my best friend EVER!!) sent me this:

It's a card!! =)  Literally made me SOO HAPPY!
Either way, this post isn't anything earth-shattering or informational, but, just something to show that the little things really can make the difference.  I feel like I'm really settling into my life here, and like I'm finally back in the Spain that I've missed for more than 3 years.
Oh! AND I got my resident card today!! I'm officially a temporary Spanish resident!! yay! I'd post a pic of that, but it has some personal information on it, and you can imagine that an online blog isn't the place to be sharing that.

Elections in the US, Questions in Spain

So, this post isn't going to have anything to do with my political opinions or any of that.  If you know me at all, you know where I stand.

However, I find it interesting how many people have been asking me about the elections the last few days.  At first it was, "Did you vote today?".  Of course, I had to explain that because I'm in Spain, I couldn't vote on Tuesday Nov 6th with everyone else.  haha Others want to know my opinions about the winner, others just want to talk about it.  

I was excited to be in Spain for this election, to get away from all the hype and such that surrounds it, but instead, I find myself being the "American voice".  Simply because I'm from the US, everyone either assumes A) I'm happy with the victor, or B) I'm going to have some huge speech or argument to make against him.  I'm probably the WORST person for this, since I don't really like talking about politics, and I try to keep my opinions to myself, especially in a country where people aren't always completely informed about our politicians, ect.  

For the last election in 2008, I was home.  However, in January when Obama took office, I was in Spain, and I found myself in the exact same position.  Everyone and their mother asking me questions, and if I didn't say something they liked, they would begin arguing with me.  Now, I get it, our country is huge and powerful, ect, and I don't mind that people here are preoccupied with the president of the US.  I just don't want to get into a political debate with people who are looking at the elections from an outside view.  (I don't like getting into political debates with people from the States either, but for me, its different.  It's easier to understand their view-point at least... idk how to explain it haha) 

So, that being said, this year I have been really careful not to post on facebook, blogspot, ect about my political views.  Not at all because I'm ashamed of them, or don't want to stand up for what I believe in, just because I'm so sick of people thinking that just because I may not agree with them, I'm saying that they are wrong in what they believe, and they feel the need to attack me, or feel that I am attacking them.  I have my views because of what affects me, my family, and my friends.  And that's where everyone gets their views from.  No one just decides to believe something just to upset someone else, or to offend someone else.  

Either way, if you're wondering, my answer to the question, "What do you think of the election?"  is "I just hope that whoever is President takes our country in the direction it needs to go to make things better." No matter who wins (won), it's done.  Now, we just look to the future.  Whether or not you like the President, the only thing to do now is to pray for him, the country, and the future.  Its the same thing I would do no matter who won, and its exactly what I'm going to continue doing.