¡Viva España!: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Another week has come and gone and we are getting even closer to my return to the states, if you can believe it!! I have mixed emotions about coming home, that's for sure. Obviously I am ecstatic to see all my family and friends again, but I am not ready to leave the Spanish culture or the friends that I have made here (and my host Mom!) I've got to say though it will be nice training with the team again...running alone gets old in a very quick hurry! With that being said, there are obvious reasons for why I am excited to come home, but there's also A LOT I am going to miss here. I better start saving my money now for a return trip back to Spain because I WILL BE BACK :) Someday.

Last Sunday night after getting back from Portugal my host Mom was soooo excited to bake the funfetti cake with me!! I think she had been looking forward to it all weekend long. Well, let me tell you what, that is easier said than done. First off, I had to translate the entire recipe into Spanish and then convert everything, from the temperature of the oven to cups into liters. Also, I don't think my host Mom really does a lot of baking because she had no baking supplies or utensils whatsoever which also complicated the process a bit. Eventually we got everything figured out (after guessing and "eyeballing" the amount of cooking time as well) and were able to enjoy very good cookies and a very good cake. I brought some to the hospital on Monday to share with the doctors, and they all loved them. One of the doctors asked me for the recipe, and I told her I could translate it into Spanish from the box!! haha They were all very CURIOUS (I used it just for you, Jen!) to try an American dessert.

Tuesday was a sad day because we signed a lot of papers and started to think about our departure plans at the fundacion. We, also, began evaluating our professors. I stayed longer to teach English this Tuesday since I didn't have class later than night. It was kind of nice because then Nuria worked one-on-one with one of the students and I helped out the rest. I am definitely going to miss Nuria and the kids when I leave...it is going to be hard to say goodbye in two weeks. One of the little girls, Carlotta, made me a little something...there is a name for it but I forget! I think they are typical for kids to make here. Best souvenir I'll come back with :) Nuria and Carlotta LOVED my cookies as well. Even though Nuria told me she is on a diet, she still took two because after eating one she couldn't resist. Good work Betty Crocker!!

I am, also, all done with the study I was participating in. I did my last tasks on Tuesday, and I actually feel like I maybe improved a bit with some things. We will have to see when the girl in charge of the study sends me the tapes of me speaking Spanish, once at the beginning, the middle and then now at the end.

On Wednesday Elizabeth and I went to a museum very near our school and checked out a temporary exhibit there about Leonardo Da Vinci. It was really interesting, and I learned a lot, actually. It was indeed confirmed that he was an amazing man, such a genious! Literally. The building was really cool too where the exposition was because, like many of the buildings in Toledo, it used to be something else back in the day and now they have restored it. We were able to go down into the basement and see some pretty cool history.

On Thursday I did some shopping...I just love their fashion here and cannot resist!! only 10 euro!! I, also, started to do my shopping for other people. I am still trying to figure out what I am going to bring everyone back so if you have any requests of what you want just let me know, please :) That would help me out a lot!

On Friday I woke up early with every intent of going to the track, but when I woke up it was pouring rain outside and very cold so I decided to just push my workout back until Saturday since I am just getting over a cold. Luckily I just decided not to run because once again there was no hot water in our house so my host Mom told me not to shower and that on Friday night when she got home from work that she would heat water up for me again and I would shower with that. I went to the theatre on Friday night in Madrid so luckily I didn't run otherwise I would have had to go to the theatre all gross and smelly! Elizabeth and I went and saw El Rey Leon (Lion King). I absolutely loved it!! The costumes were incredibly detailed and the actors were phenomenal. Although it was all in Spanish, it was very easy to understand because they spoke clearly and slowly! And obviously it helped to know the story line of Lion King! The songs were even in Spanish, but had the same beat and rhythm which was kind of cool. Before the show we were able to walk around Madrid a bit and look at all their Christmas lights and Christmas decorations. We spotted an "ice rink" with fake ice! haha kind of sad. It was for little kids to practice ice skating..we stood and watch the little kids for a bit and it was super cute. We, also, had some time to just relax in Starbucks, people watch, and sip on some hot chocolate which was nice and cozy. It was legit cold in Toledo and Madrid on Friday!! I wore my winter coat and gloves!

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the track and got my workout in. There was another lady doing a workout as well so we suffered through ours together! She was very nice and we chatted in between our reps. My Mom and I ate lunch together, I "worked" on some homework, and then I headed to Poligono because we were going to see "El Gato con Botas" at the movie theatre. Well, come to find out, after waiting in line for like 20 minutes that the movie was full. There was another showing later, but we all wanted to be home to eat with our families and going to a later show wouldn't make that possible so we just decided to chill in the mall for a bit. A good study break...even though I really didn't get much studying done prior.

Now today, Sunday, is just a day of homework. Boring!! We have final exams starting this week and Elizabeth and I have a presentation about Navidad tomorrow for our conversation class. Things are starting to wind down here...as crazy as that is to think about. Where did the semester go??

Just a few side notes:

-My Mom has started to buy typical Spanish Christmas candy and oh my goodness I cannot stop eating it!! It is soooo delicious! Hopefully all my clothes still fit once I get back ;)

-It is actually starting to get cold here....FINALLY! I could have used some of these temps when I first arrived! It is a little weird too because the heat doesn't come on in our house until 1 o'clock and then it stays on all day and night.

-Spaniards always have to have some sort of noise on in the background. If the TV isn't on then the radio or a CD has to be playing music. I've noticed this with my host Mom and we learned about it in one of my classes last week. Also, they don't like spicy foods! Random fact, but interesting.

-All of the Christmas lights are up here in Toledo, but no one really knows for sure as to when they are going to be turned on. I asked my host Mom and she said usually they get turned on on December 6th (one of their holidays) but she doesn't know exactly this year with the crisis that they are in.

-This week there are two holidays, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday so I don't get to see my little English students this week :(

-I had to write a paper about the image of Spain for one of my classes and my host Mom and I got to talking about stereotypes of Spain that I had before coming here and her stereotypes of the U.S. She said that when she thinks of the U.S. she thinks of blonde, blue-eyed people who are strong..not fat, but not skinny either...strong. And she thinks everyone is tall. I guess I broke that stereotype for her!! Also, she said that all Americans are obsessed with torros (the bulls) and that Americans never wear the proper shoes...we always wear flats or shoes that are open in the winter.

-My host Mom is ALWAYS on my case about wearing socks around the house. This is different for me because in the states I never wear socks. She always says I'm going to catch another cold if I do not wear them.

-I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music. Always puts me in a good mood :) Not that I'm ever really in a bad mood while I AM IN SPAIN, for goodness sake!

-We had salmon for lunch yesterday and I actually really liked it. When I tried it in the states I didn't seem to like it! I might have to try it again. Mom, you'd be so proud :) I know how much you like salmon.

-I don't remember if I've shared this with you all or not, but instead of saying "cheese" when Spaniards get their picture taken they say "patatas."

-Also, they have different sounds for animals. When I was teaching my English class a few weeks ago about animals they weren't understanding what a dog was so rather than saying the Spanish word for dog I decided to bark like a dog and they all looked at me like I was an alien. And then Nuria, the teacher, informed me that they have different sounds. So, they taught me the sounds they make and I taught them the sounds I make!

-Once I return to the states I am really going to miss all the fresh fruit we eat here. I usually eat at least 3 pieces of fruit each day. And I am coming back to the states at a bad time...when all the fruits are dead and/or expensive.

I will try and maybe get one more blog post in between now and when I leave. For anyone that doesn't know I will be flying into Minneapolis late on Thursday, December 15th (around 10 at night) and then will be getting back to De Pere sometime (probably later) on Friday night. Looking forward to seeing everyone :) Until then, take care and stay warm!! Happy St. Nick's!

Peace and Blessings.