A month in Spain

The other day we decided to find the temple in Madrid. We have been learning about the history of the Mormons in Spain in our religion class and it was interesting to see how far the church has come from the first mission that was set up in 1853. It was a smaller temple, it was right on the road but the grounds were pretty and it was right next to the Missionary Training Center. It was really nice just to be on the grounds and look at the temple, every day we are around so much that doesn't always make you feel so great. We literally inhale smoke every time we walk outside, the street gets a little scarier at night time and you worry about creepy guys who drive by and slow down the car to stare. Honestly to just be by the temple made me feel so much more peaceful than I do on a daily basis. Thats not to say that Spain is a bad place, its amazing. But they definitely have a culture of their own. While I am embracing a lot about the culture and accepting certain things as standard, I appreciate the life that I normally live back home a little bit more now that I have experienced something so opposite. Today I saw a rainbow walking to the bus stop. It was only a little one, barely a sliver of all the colors, but I thought of Hawaii and how much I love it. I got a little homesick thinking about it, but then I went through a list of all the things I love about Spain so I could remember why I am having such a good time. Here are a few of my favorite things:

1. The old people, they are some of the most fashionable people on the streets with their vests and ties, fur coats and hats, they walk around the plaza in big groups, freezing or not, and just go around in circles all day. 

2. Siesta, I love that the entire country takes a few hours everyday to just relax and enjoy the day. They eat, walk around, spend time with family. Everything doesn't have to be so fast paced all the time

3. Bus drivers, they can maneuver through the tiniest streets filled with cars and just when you think a disaster is about to happen they manage to not hit anything

4. Being able to understand what the person next to me on the train says when trying to make small talk

5. The fact that no one even thinks about going to bed before 12

6. There is a pastry shop on every corner, not exactly good for someone who can't eat wheat but for anyone else, they are delicious

7. The chocolate bars with almonds that I have fallen in love with

8. Seeing castles and cathedrals that have so much history

9. The buildings themselves, nothing is boring

10. Everyone always looks good, no one leaves the house in sweats and a t-shirt, its all about the boots and the tights and the jacket and everything to make an outfit perfect

11. Being brave about eating, I have eaten ham off a pig leg, fish that still look like fish, shrimp eyes, cauliflower with oil and vinegar, some kind of fat that they like to put on bread and many more things I never would have thought about eating.

12. At restaurants you can stay for hours, no one pressures you to leave or pay the check, everyone just eats and talks and stays as long as you want

13. How concerned everyone is about appearance, we watch a tv show about celebrity news with our family and they critique everyone so harshly, they will also critique you very bluntly..."Oh kiley your wearing make-up today, you look much prettier" (First time our host mom saw me when I first got ready)

The list will only get longer....

Alicante

                                                       View from our rooms
                                                       Walking around the city
                                                        Lobby of our hostel
                                                       Me and Kimball at a bullfighting museum
                                                    Outside our hostel
                                              View of bullfighting ring from castle
                                              Ben and Kimball testing out the water


                                               The Harbor at sunset
                                               View from the castle
                                                        The castle
                                                 Me and Lauren dipping our feet in the water

In our program there are trips to different parts of the country planned throughout the four months we are here. Sometimes we will be gone for a weekend and sometimes we leave for a whole week. But we do have a couple free weekends that we can plan on our own. So this past weekend we got to go to Alicante. A city right on the coast next to the beach down in southern Spain. It was about 20 degrees warmer and sunnier than it has been in Alcala. Once we stepped off the four hour train ride, I was immediately happy to be there, of course the coat that I have been living in 7 days a week had to go. I have never appreciated walking outside as much as I did this past weekend. After getting a cab we went to our hostel. I was a little nervous to see what my first hostel in Europe would be like but it was actually really nice, it was right in the center of the city, and about a block away from the beach. The water was so blue, not exactly warm, but walking on the beach with no shoes was exactly what I needed. There was only four of us and so we could just relax without eighteen people all putting their opinion in about what we should do. We got some gelato and went to the harbor and just sat on a bench for over an hour and watched the sunset. There is a castle in Alicante built right into a mountain, we walked up to the top and it was amazing. You could see everything, and the water with the mountains was so beautiful. It was really crazy to think that the castle was built in the 700's and its still standing. The history here is incredible, it dates back so far. That night we went out for tapas. Its like going out to dinner but much later and its more family style where everyone shares. We had paella, a Spanish dish with rice and a lot of different seafood. They bring it out to you in a huge frying pan and we ate the entire thing. There was also a lot of other food, ham and cheese and tomatoes on bread is a common appetizer, papas fritas, basically french fries, and different kinds of meat. I don't think I have ever eaten so much. When you are done you get a round of shots for everyone, don't worry Mom we did not drink it. We finished dinner at 11:30 and the streets were just starting to get busy. Back in our hostel at 4:30 in the morning we could still hear people outside. There is no way they could do this without the siesta in the middle of the day. The next day we found a bullfighting arena, unfortunately there was a match the day after we went home so we didn't get to watch one but we did go to a museum there and saw a lot of bull heads mounted on the walls with descriptions about the match when they died. Its actually pretty sad, but I still would love to see a match before I leave. The trip over all was just a nice relaxing weekend. I can't believe I have the opportunity to go all of these places and see all the things I have seen. Getting back to Alcala was a little disappointing watching the temperature go all the way back down to 1 C. But it's good to be back to our little town. 

Yesterday we went to Cuenca, a historic city almost two and a half hours from Madrid. It was a journey to get there, first we get on the bus outside of our house and ride twenty minutes to the train station. Then we ride the train to Madrid which takes almost 25 minutes. Finally we get on a train going to Cuenca that lasts a little over two hours. I was tired by the time we got there! But this city was so worth it. It has these amazing hanging houses that are built on the side of cliffs and literally just drop down into a valley. It looked like Greece or Italy. There is a bridge that is really high and you can walk across it and go up into the neighborhoods of the houses. There are big churches everywhere and some of the old houses have been turned into art museums. The streets are almost completely vertical in some places and there are so many stairs you get tired from walking so much. At the very top the view is not like anything I have ever seen before. Pictures don't do it justice. Everyone was seriously taken back by how beautiful it was.  Every once in a while you would have to just stop and enjoy  what you were looking at. A few of us saw this path that led down into the valley and there was this old ruined church that we wanted to see up close. So we tried to hike down this steep path, we made it down ok and then suddenly we realized we were not on a path anymore. We had gotten completely lost and had no idea how to get back up to the top. We laughed so hard but then started to get a little nervous. We saw crazy views from where we were but we really needed to get back to the path!  After a good amount of time and climbing through bushes and over barbed wire fences we finally got back and climbed up to the top. I have never slept as good as I did last night. All the walking and hiking was exhausting! But it was for sure my favorite place I have been so far.

This week I was walking through Madrid and I just realized that Im actually in Spain. It really is crazy that I get to be here for the amount of time that I do. There is no way you could come here for a week and get the full experience of Spain. As much as I have gone to Madrid, almost everyday, I still haven't even seen close to everything. And thats just one city. Every part of Spain is so different, this weekend we are going to explore the country outside of what we have been to everyday. We are all pretty comfortable with the bus and train system now that we feel like we can go outside of our comfort zone and see new things. I can't wait....

Daily Life

So I feel like I have pretty much adjusted to life here pretty well, I am used to waiting for the buses, changing buses, walking a lot, planning on everything being closed from 1 to 6. But the one thing I am still not used to is the food. Everyday its a complete mystery as to what we will be eating for our meals. On Sunday we got our first normal meal of green beans, spinach and chicken. It was so good to know what I was eating. Normally, we have to just guess. The worst thing we have eaten is what we can only describe as fish pudding. Basically its shredded up fish, with tomatoes that almost looks like a casserole but its cold and makes you want to throw up a little in your mouth. We eat with our family mostly every meal and so we just try as hard as we can to smile and swallow fast. The boys keep telling us now we know what its like to be on a mission! The biggest problem I have with eating here, is that you usually see your meal in its original form before its on your plate. A full fish, the whole lamb or an octopus. Pork is huge here, and in every restaurant they display their food in the window, as we walked in Madrid we came across this little window with a full pig just staring at us. The pig had on sunglasses and a phone was attached to his ear. Not very appetizing. Last night we came home and saw the biggest pig leg ever just sitting on our counter and our parents asked if we like ham. Well I have never had ham cut right in front of me off the pig, but it basically tastes like dried bacon, not terrible but not like the lunch meat ham we get at the store in the states. Every meal we have had since then we look at this huge leg on our counter next to us and lose our appetite. Maybe by the end of my stay here I will be excited to eat but for now, we enjoy a good piece of fruit!

Loving Spain

I have been in Spain for one week now, but it feels like much much longer. I live in Alcala de Hernares, a smaller city about 30 minutes away from Madrid. Life is so different here and it took some getting used to, but I am adjusting. I am rarely in a car, in the morning we take the bus to school, and walk from the Plaza de Cervantes to class, then take the bus everywhere else we need to go. If we want to go into Madrid we take the train and then get on the metro that is usually packed full and people are always looking for an opportunity to stick their hand in your pocket to steal anything. We have noticed that it is better to speak as little English as possible in public because then we blend in more and less people try to take advantage of you. Around one in the afternoon everything closes for siesta and everyone comes home for a big lunch. Nothing opens back up until 5:30 or 6 usually. The city of Madrid is amazing, I am so happy to be here for four months so I can experience everything, a couple weeks would not be enough. The family I live with is so sweet and they love spending time with us. They speak really really fast but we are getting better at understanding them and everyone around us. Its amazing how much better you are at a language when your are immersed in it. I miss the warmth of home, it has been snowing like crazy here which is very unusual but I am starting to get used to being cold all the time. I look forward to many adventures this semester.