Hey guys! ❤❤❤ SO sorry for not writing in forever because first my laptop cable would not charge and I had to wait until we went to Madrid for my Genius Bar appointment with Apple and secondly I have been fairly busy since I've come back from Madrid and now being in Santander again. I have tons to tell!!! I doubt it will all fit into one blog :) I'll start with before leaving for Madrid because I don't think I went into much detail about my surf class.
So I joined a Surf class for a week and it was absolutely AWESOME! There was a group of girls in my class, all younger than me, but I didn't mind because they were all nice to me. The instructor knew English in case I needed it and he was very funny. This was really my first time being by myself in Spain without my mom and speaking Spanish by myself! I was super nervous my first day, but the girls were very friendly and talked to me in Spanish. However, later on in the week they stopped talking to me as much because I think they thought I didn't understand much of what they were saying because most of my replies would be si or no. There were times I couldn't understand what they were saying but I just needed it a little slower, instead I would hear them saying "she doesn't understand" and I'm like in my head: I understand when you say I don't understand I just don't get other stuff :(. On the last day, one of the girls asked me a question and I said si and they started giggling, so I finished the sentence by adding detail and they were shocked. I could see it in how their smiles faltered. And just like that, they started asking me more questions again, like the first day. But overall awesome time, I even got up on my surfboard the first day! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos because you know water and phones don't mix.
So soon after the class ended my mom and I headed to Madrid to meet up with my step-dad who was coming in from Texas. Now Madrid is a much more of a different city than Santander, for one they smoke SO much more!! I mean I was getting second-hand smoking from just being in that city lol. Also, I got to see and hear a lot more tourists, for example on one tour I got to hear the funniest conversation between these Australians- btw I LOVE Australian accents- and it was hilarious. Now I don't want to write every single thing we did down(because I would bore you to death), but I will say where I went and tell a detail or two. OHH I forgot to mention that it was pride week the week we went to Madrid and it was super touching to see how open the people of the city and the city itself was toward gays.
First, we went to La Palacio Real, which is absolutely beautiful. This is where I heard the funny story by the Australians. Honestly, this place was just breathtaking and made me wish that I had a Palace my family could go to anytime if we wanted :). Next, we went to El Mercado de San Miguel. Let me tell you this place was super overwhelming because one) there were lots of homeless people circling the building asking for money and I get very uncomfortable being around homeless people, not sure why exactly and two) there were so many people at sooo many different stalls of food! They had dessert places, sushi stalls, meat stalls, there was even a fish stall with a whole head of a fish! I tried this raspberry macaroon thing, it was pretty good. Next, was my favorite place we visited on our trip, the Prado. It was absolutely breathtaking to be around that art, I especially enjoyed marking the paintings I wanted to see on the guide, then listening to what they stood for, who made them, etc. We went to another art museum- Reina Sofia- but it was nothing compared to the Prado. We really only went to see Guernica and let me tell you that piece was dark and HUGE. OMG, it was like almost a full wall- very impressive. The next day, we went to Toledo for a day trip. Let me tell you that that city is beautiful, old and VERY hilly. Man, my feet hurt so much after that trip, but I did get lots of pictures! Finally, we went to a big open-air street market in the morning called El Rastro. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would because I'm not very comfortable with open air shops and people trying to persuade you to buy something. That about covers it for Madrid! Overall very cool and felt kinda nice to be a tourist.
Now back to being in Santander. So my mom had been in contact with some conversation partners and one just happened to have a neighbor who is my age! What are the odds right?! Anyway, she invited me to dinner with some friends of hers two nights ago and when I heard that my heart started racing!! I said yes, of course, and had so much fun! She and her friends were super nice and I learned a lot about the teenage life of a Spanish teenager. For one, my friend was explaining to me parties here. I told her that parties in the U.S. mean birthday parties at someones house while here it means going out on a Friday night to the club and going dancing! Holy crap! The next day she invited me to the mall with her sister and her sister's friend and their mall was actually pretty similar to ones back home. I even found the equivalent of Forever 21 here. And now we are back to the present where I was invited to go to a "fiesta" tonight with them! Just writing that and I get excited and nervous all at the same time. My friend was like what time do you need to be home, 3? And I'm like 3 in the MORNING?! It was really funny that the teens here have so much more freedom and stay out so much later and have an actual social life ;)).
So that's it I think, all that has happened to me since the last time I worite, minus some details of course. Well, I will surely right after the party tonight and make sure to upload picutres about what I just talked about. Wish me luck tonight!
Chauuu
So I joined a Surf class for a week and it was absolutely AWESOME! There was a group of girls in my class, all younger than me, but I didn't mind because they were all nice to me. The instructor knew English in case I needed it and he was very funny. This was really my first time being by myself in Spain without my mom and speaking Spanish by myself! I was super nervous my first day, but the girls were very friendly and talked to me in Spanish. However, later on in the week they stopped talking to me as much because I think they thought I didn't understand much of what they were saying because most of my replies would be si or no. There were times I couldn't understand what they were saying but I just needed it a little slower, instead I would hear them saying "she doesn't understand" and I'm like in my head: I understand when you say I don't understand I just don't get other stuff :(. On the last day, one of the girls asked me a question and I said si and they started giggling, so I finished the sentence by adding detail and they were shocked. I could see it in how their smiles faltered. And just like that, they started asking me more questions again, like the first day. But overall awesome time, I even got up on my surfboard the first day! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos because you know water and phones don't mix.
So soon after the class ended my mom and I headed to Madrid to meet up with my step-dad who was coming in from Texas. Now Madrid is a much more of a different city than Santander, for one they smoke SO much more!! I mean I was getting second-hand smoking from just being in that city lol. Also, I got to see and hear a lot more tourists, for example on one tour I got to hear the funniest conversation between these Australians- btw I LOVE Australian accents- and it was hilarious. Now I don't want to write every single thing we did down(because I would bore you to death), but I will say where I went and tell a detail or two. OHH I forgot to mention that it was pride week the week we went to Madrid and it was super touching to see how open the people of the city and the city itself was toward gays.
First, we went to La Palacio Real, which is absolutely beautiful. This is where I heard the funny story by the Australians. Honestly, this place was just breathtaking and made me wish that I had a Palace my family could go to anytime if we wanted :). Next, we went to El Mercado de San Miguel. Let me tell you this place was super overwhelming because one) there were lots of homeless people circling the building asking for money and I get very uncomfortable being around homeless people, not sure why exactly and two) there were so many people at sooo many different stalls of food! They had dessert places, sushi stalls, meat stalls, there was even a fish stall with a whole head of a fish! I tried this raspberry macaroon thing, it was pretty good. Next, was my favorite place we visited on our trip, the Prado. It was absolutely breathtaking to be around that art, I especially enjoyed marking the paintings I wanted to see on the guide, then listening to what they stood for, who made them, etc. We went to another art museum- Reina Sofia- but it was nothing compared to the Prado. We really only went to see Guernica and let me tell you that piece was dark and HUGE. OMG, it was like almost a full wall- very impressive. The next day, we went to Toledo for a day trip. Let me tell you that that city is beautiful, old and VERY hilly. Man, my feet hurt so much after that trip, but I did get lots of pictures! Finally, we went to a big open-air street market in the morning called El Rastro. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would because I'm not very comfortable with open air shops and people trying to persuade you to buy something. That about covers it for Madrid! Overall very cool and felt kinda nice to be a tourist.
Now back to being in Santander. So my mom had been in contact with some conversation partners and one just happened to have a neighbor who is my age! What are the odds right?! Anyway, she invited me to dinner with some friends of hers two nights ago and when I heard that my heart started racing!! I said yes, of course, and had so much fun! She and her friends were super nice and I learned a lot about the teenage life of a Spanish teenager. For one, my friend was explaining to me parties here. I told her that parties in the U.S. mean birthday parties at someones house while here it means going out on a Friday night to the club and going dancing! Holy crap! The next day she invited me to the mall with her sister and her sister's friend and their mall was actually pretty similar to ones back home. I even found the equivalent of Forever 21 here. And now we are back to the present where I was invited to go to a "fiesta" tonight with them! Just writing that and I get excited and nervous all at the same time. My friend was like what time do you need to be home, 3? And I'm like 3 in the MORNING?! It was really funny that the teens here have so much more freedom and stay out so much later and have an actual social life ;)).
So that's it I think, all that has happened to me since the last time I worite, minus some details of course. Well, I will surely right after the party tonight and make sure to upload picutres about what I just talked about. Wish me luck tonight!
Chauuu
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