School/Colegio/Instituto/Escuela

Sooo... as much as everyone thinks this is just some big vacation for me, and that I´m cool, and just get to tour Spain and Europe for a year,... well... I´m in school. Or whatever the heck it´s called.

Thankfully, school is still school: interesting, filled with other people´s children, alternating boring and not boring, (at times) fun, and as always... educational. But this time there´s a catch... [(you may have guessed it) (if not, then guess) (or read on)]
It´s all in Spanish!
Wow! Amazing! Incredibly unexpected!
Well, to be fair, that´s not all true because I have an English class! Yay! Oh wait... it´s for Spanish speakers. So, yeah, I have a class that is exactly like a Spanish (or French) class is to us English speakers. Except, hahaha, they actually try to learn English! (not sorry for that one kids)

But for real, school has been pretty good so far (for the first 5 days). The day starts at 8:15 and ends at 2:35 or something like that. There are 6 periods in a day on a block-ish schedule. There's a 30 minute break in between 3rd and 4th period, which is called recreo (yes, recess). Okay, so quiz time, for those of you paying attention, what is this regular school day missing? (Just guess).

Yes, LUNCH. We don't have lunch at the school. No lunch is served, but it is open campus for the 30 minute recess. And, we do live in the city center, so, yes, it is lunch. Most people bring a bocadillo (a sandwich/snack) or buy something to eat. During this time, you can do whatever: play sports, take a walk, eat, and finally use your phone (strict no phone rules inside school). And for those of you wondering, the more realer (thanks Ms. Easterday [English teacher] lunch is at 3pm when you get home from school. This meal is often as big as dinner or bigger. 

(Above) This picture is my schedule for each week. School lets out at 2:35 (I think). F.Q. is physics and chemistry. I.E. is well… I'm not even sure yet, but people tell me it is like a business class. Who knows. E.F. is physical education. 

Since some people still may not be convinced that I am NOT on an awesome vacation in Spain, I give you my schedule (pictured above). A full 12 classes. (Yes, you read that right [TWELVE CLASSES]). Granted, 3 I only have one time per week, but still, that's a lot of classes. But going to your next class is a little different here in Spain. Because the thing is… you don't go anywhere. Really. The teachers are the ones circulating through the classes, not the students. So I am in the same classroom almost all day for the rest of the course, which is kind of cool because this system makes it easy to store books that you don't need, you can just put them in the desk (which, by the way, are the old-school-ish ones with a "cubby" underneath the table). And also, guess what,… my classroom is on the 5th floor of the school. (They tell me the 4th but that's because they start with the 0th floor [it's still five flights of stair, I counted]). 

Anyways, that was all just to tell you a bit about how school looks like it's gonna be for me. Pretty good. I hope. 

Also, I AM on an awesome vacation, so, yes, you can still be jealous. 

Un saludo, Miguel

Picturesque Porto Portugal

This weekend my family took a trip to Portugal. My host sister, Pilar, is doing a semester at the university in Porto. So most of the family went with her to Porto and on Saturday, we played the tourist (which there were lots of) and walked around the city looking at everything and taking pictures and eating. Pêrsonally.. I liked the eatiung. 

Porto has a river running through it, a very wide river that I have no clue what it is called. Oops haha. But anyways, there are about a million bridges (maybe closer to "a lot") across the river and we crossed one and it was pretty spectacular. It is a two story bridge and no I don't know it's name.

And so yeah, that was pretty cool. There were a few big churches also (as there seem to be everywhere in Europe).

And in case you're wondering about the title, yes, it is an example of alliteration, and yes you can tell Mr. Loun that Miguel is very good at English… obviously. And I put "picturesque" in there because "pretty" doesn't sound sophisticated (like me) and "beautiful" was not getting me bonus points for alliteration. Plus, it's a good word to describe the city. Picturesque.

Un saludo, Miguel

I could almost see you guys in the USA from our apartment balcony. 

Me with the symbol of Portugal. 

(Yours truly and Fernando)

Bull Fight

Today I went to a bull fight show. It´s was a very good show. The bull fighters and bulls were both very good and very brave.

 Quick Spanish lesson: bull fighters are "toreros" and bulls are "toros"
You're welcome.

I liked the show very much. And if you are against animal cruelty and think I am a disgusting person for liking this show well I am against animal cruelty too. The bulls were very brave and I thank them for the good show. The bull fighters are good but without the bulls they are nada. Gracias a los toros.

Here are some pictures of the bull fight that I took in the sombra.

Un saludo, Miguel

The First Days

¡Hola a todos! I have arrived in Spain. And I have made my way to Valladolid.

As of now I've been here for about 39 hours. And what a time it has been so far. Well… it's been different and vaguely Spanish. (I don't know why that is). But it has definelty been fun and interesting at all times.

I took a 2 hour and 30 minute bus ride with a cool Floridan (shoutout to Bianca Cancio) who is staying in the same city as me (Valladolid) and also is attending the same school (wow). When we got off the bus I was picked up and have been living the Spanish life since then.

That night I played futból and padel. I accidentally kicked the ball over a very large wall and we have yet to get it back. Oops. Padel was really fun, and for those of you who don't know what padel is but understand what racquetball and tennis are… combine the two in your mind. Then, go look it up. It's awesome. I am pretty okay at padel if I do say so myself. No applause necessary. Thank you.

Tonight I went and hung out with some friends of my friend Miguel Morales. It was a very good time. And then we all went to watch a modern dance show. I think. There was a lot of hip hop dancing. I think. I'm not too sure. Everything but the music was in Spanish.

Also,  just know this America. You obviously make the best movies and music because so far, everything except the commercials have been American made. Like seriously if we sold this stuff, we could have way more things labeled "Made in America".

So far I cannot complain about the food at all. It has been very delicious. I have tried and liked pretty much everything. (Yes, it's true Mom). I ate some very good vegetables (also true). So far so good on Spanish food.

Well, everything is all good here. I am digitally sending hug and kisses (in word form) to everybody in the EEUU…sorry…USA.

XOXO
Un saludo, Miguel