En Abril, Aguas Mil

So obviously I've made this a monthly thing. You may have noticed. It helps me so that at least I have some motivation to sit down and write this, because without that little push, I'm really quite lazy. Not that I don't want to write to you guys, it's just difficult to sit down and write anything. Takes time and concentration. But this month I probably could have written a couple different blog posts without a problem, because of all the down time I've had.

It's been a quiet month. (I'm not saying that literally, by any means). I haven't done very many big things like some months. Mostly just school, studying, talking, and hanging with friends. 

I don't want to downplay the month that much, as it's been fun. Plus everyone needs those times of calm and "quietness" to think, collect thoughts, and rest. And after going hard for 7 months I have needed it. 

Oh and about this month's title... well, it translates literally to mean: "In April, a Thousand Waters", but what it really means is: "It rains a LOT in April". And it's true. I can vouch for that. It's been raining all month. Although, we have started spring and so in between the rains the weather is very nice. But it really does rain a lot. The Pisuerga river in Valladolid went up almost 6 feet at one point. Personally, I'm not a big fan of rain, or wetness. I am not sure if that's because I have lived in New Mexico for so long or that I just don't like water that much (except to drink). I have, however, more or less mastered how to hold and umbrella (out of necessity), which I'm proud of as I had no clue how to hold it when I arrived. 

School's going good. If you were still wondering, yes, it is all in Spanish, except my [foreign language] English teacher speaks mostly in English (although I don't pay much attention in that class). Also, yes, I understand everything. By now I know all of the words that they use or by understanding the context, I can easily figure out what they mean. Since when I said "everything" it was an ovious exaggeration, I'll tell you that when I do hear a word that I don't understand, I will either look it up in the little dictionary or will tell my classmates that I don´t know what the word means, and they usually are able to explain it to me. So that's all going fine and dandy. 

I don't actually study much, and when I do it's usually the stuff that I want to study: Spanish, math, history. Mostly Spanish because there's a lot you don't hear or understand unless you go over it. Plus since I mostly just learned Spanish by speaking and learning vocabulary, I have to learn all the rules of speaking and writing, also. Something that they've already stopped teaching in Spain at my age, so I have to do that mostly seperate from school. 

Well as for talking, all I can say is that they seem to understand me, and there haven't been too many misunderstandings. I'm pretty sure I can count myself as fluent because I've kind of stopped speaking English all together unless some asks me to speak for class or to help them. I also speak to my parents and grandparents in English, although sometime I go to start in Spanish and then realize that I should't.

To be honest speaking English nowadays is a real pain and slightly difficult. I can read, write, and think in English but when it comes time to speak, the Spanish tries to come out. I count that as a good thing, because I've at a point where I don't have to think to speak in Spanish anymore. (Well I still do but it helps the confidence). It's weird for me to think that I couldn't even speak Spanish (like almost at all). 

As for big things I've done this month, like I said, they are few. 

This month I have met more American people (kids) than in the whole trip combined. A lot of American East Coast schools send about a class of kids to Spain for one week, and these kids like know nothing of Spanish and are very "wide-eyed" about everything (exactly how I was when I arrived). Mostly I've just said "hi, how are you" to a them and then they go off one way and I stay here. 

Also, I a volunteering thing at a hospital in Valladolid, just giving a presentation to the kids that live there on the United States of America. It was a good experience. 

Went to see a rugby game, the final of the Copa del Rey, a very big tournament in Spain. My first live rugby game and probably the only one I've ever seen in full. I helped make a record for Spain, being one of the people to attend. The record was: the most attended rugby game in Spanish history. In case I said that wrong, I'm trying to say that more people attended that game than any other game, ever, in Spanish rugby. The king of Spain attended the game. They tell me it wasn't a great game and it also rained, but overall I had a good time. 

Well I think that is about it for April. Made this post a lot longer than usual because I'm not sure why.

I´m 8 months down in this trip and only one and a half left. It's hard to believe that at the same time it has gone by so fast and so slow. 

Well now I'm going to go play paintball with my friends (April has a few birthdays). 

Un saludo, Miguel Sabol

October/Octubre Adventures

I realize I have not blogged in a month and sorry. Life (being a lazy 16 year old) hit me in the face and I've been busy having fun (hahaha yeah you can be jealous). 

But really my list of reasons is: I'm lazy, learning Spanish full time, going to school, studying Spanish and for school, playing soccer, and balancing it all with the Spanish version of a social life.

«Part 1»

So like I said the Spanish social life which involves two main food groups: partying and hanging out in the city. The above picture is me and a few of my friends at a disco-bar in Valladolid. We usually go to the disco once or at max twice a weekend and then hang out in the city center. During the week everyone in Spain pretty much studies, school is difficult, for everyone. 

I went to a couple of pro futbol (soccer) matches featuring the city futbol (soccer) team, Real Valladold CF. The team is not doing great (or good) this year but whatever, I though it was cool. 

Also my school had an excursion (field trip) to Avila. Yeah, so my school in Spain does quite a few field trips throughout the year, and usually at the end of the course there is a really big one, sometimes to another country (which are not that far away). We made this excursion because this year is our schools 100th year open. And also it is Saint Teresa (of Avila)'s 500th anniversary of her birth, but we were celebrating her feast day. (In case anyone goes and looks that up). 

The city of Avila was beautiful, but I really liked the [old] city wall of which I have never seen the likes. We had a guided tour set up of the museum of Saint Teresa and needless to say it was all in Spanish. And after 3 hours of listening to different men speak in fast Spanish about the life of St. Teresa… well, I had a headache. But then we got free time. Yeah I know releasing 100+ kids into a city doesn't seem like a good idea, but that's just how they do it. But the way I see it is that this: none of them can driv well, technically I can. But I'm the only one. And Avila is like 1 hour and 30 minutes from Valladolid which is "literally forever" for a kid that lives in the center of the city. And maybe there parents don't have a car so they have to go back on the bus. And they don't go out of the city that much so a lot of them had never been there before, so we were all basically trapped in the center of Avila for 3 hours. And all the while the adults got to do whatever that wanted. But whatever, I'm cool with it. 

So they told me that they don't have school dances here in Spain.

But then we had one. But apparently it wasn't supposed to be good. 

But then it was. I'm going to give that credit to me because I was there. But we ahould also give a lot of credit to my friends, who are the craziest kids I know. And they are all really good dancers. Well I mean I am too, but they've been dancing a lot longer. Anyways, it was called the "verbena" which is an "open-air dance." I tell you they have words for everything here. 

Part 2 is also up. So go check that one out too. 

Un saludo, Miguel