I want to let you all know a little bit about some of the other things I’ve been doing and seeing lately, specifically my most recent trip!

Last Friday my group took a trip to Segovia, a city in Spain that is about 2 or 3 hours away from Burgos.

We visited three main places:

1) The Alcázar of Segovia

This is a castle that was actually one of the inspirations for Disney’s Cinderella castle, which I thought was pretty neat.

Isabel and Fernando, the king and queen who united Spain in the 15th century (also the same people that backed Columbus’ trips to America), spent a lot of time in the Alcázar de Segovia. After recently studying Spain’s castles and palaces in class, it was very cool to see the details of what we had learned in person.

2) The Aqueduct in Segovia

Built in the first or second century by the Romans, this aqueduct is both huge and beautiful. Even more impressive is the fact that there isn’t any mortar or cement or glue holding it together! The rocks fit so closely together that it hasn’t been affected by the centuries that have passed, which is absolutely amazing.

3) Palacio Real de la Granja

This was a royal palace located in between Segovia and Madrid, where the kings and queens of Spain would come to hunt or relax, to get away from the stress and responsibilities of life in Madrid. It’s a beautiful palace with tons of gardens and a great view of the mountains in the distance. I really enjoyed my time there, too.

I think this was the best out of any of the class trips we’ve had so far!

I never in my life thought I would enjoy teaching English. Now I do it five days a week, and I love it. For several weeks I have been giving English lessons to two kids on Saturday mornings in their home. In addition to that, I now am volunteering in a local high school, teaching three English classes per day, Monday through Thursday.

Today was my first official day at the high school. I taught two classes of older students in a vocational training program, and then one class of very energetic fourteen year olds. We talked about their perception of American culture, and I also explained American holidays to them. The kids were great, and all of the teachers I’ve met are wonderful, too. It looks like this is going to be such a FUN and REWARDING experience.

As I walked out of the school this morning, I had the biggest smile on my face. Have you ever had the feeling that you couldn’t be enjoying life more, that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be and that you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing? I don’t know if that’s a common thing for people to feel, but that’s what I felt today. Actually, that’s the feeling I’ve had very frequently throughout my time in Spain. I’m super, super thankful that I’m here.

You might be wondering how my language skills are coming along after over two months in Spain. Sometimes I wonder the same thing. It’s hard to see significant growth on a daily basis, but over time I’m definitely seeing progress. Here are seven signs my Spanish is improving:

1. My host mom doesn’t correct me nearly as much as she used to.

2. I can follow almost every single conversation I overhear.

3. I can understand what’s on the radio.

4. I don’t have to think as much anymore about conjugating verbs correctly – I just say what SOUNDS right.

5. Unfortunately, I’m now able to understand dirty humor as well as Spanish rap music. (I’m not sure I’m proud of this one…)

6. I used to HATE talking on the phone in Spanish – it felt awful and awkward, especially because I couldn’t see the other person’s face or body language. However, yesterday I had a phone conversation with a Spanish friend that lasted FOUR MINUTES (that’s a long time for me!). And I only had to ask, “What??” once.

7. My host mom’s daughter was visiting us from out of town this week, and when I went to tell her goodbye before she left, she told me something along the lines of, ” I hope you have a great rest of your time in Burgos. And I was going to tell you that I hope your Spanish keeps improving and that you keep learning a lot, but I’m not going to say that because you speak it so well already!”

It’s little things like these seven reasons that show me I’m actually making progress and that this study abroad experience, if only for my language skills, has already been SO worth it.

On Saturday I was able to be part of a pretty special trip.

There’s a group of Spanish students here in Burgos that meets at one of the local restaurants every Friday night to work on their English. Spanish young people and English-speakers from all around the world come together, order drinks, and sit around having conversations in English together. The group’s name is Drink in English, and many of my American friends here regularly participate – it’s really rewarding to be able to help others, and sometimes we’re able to work on our Spanish, too!

Anyway, Drink in English organized a day trip to visit a bunch of different pueblos around the province of Burgos. It seemed like a great opportunity, especially since I didn’t have any plans on Saturday, so I signed up to go! There were ten of us that went: seven Spanish students, two Americans (including myself), and a Dutch girl.

The goal was to speak in English as much as possible during the day, but that didn’t happen.
(Apparently it’s very normal for a group of Spaniards talking together to lapse into Spanish and stay in that language for almost the whole time. ) I was completely okay with that, though, because it meant that I was speaking and listening to Spanish about 90 percent of the day.

We had such a fun time together talking in the car on the way and visiting six different pueblos. I loved seeing the different architecture styles, the way the towns are set up, and beautiful views of nature. I’m really, really grateful to have made several new friends and to be able to explore this area of Spain a little bit, too.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

One of the things I was most encouraged about from the day was how my language abilities are coming along. I could follow every conversation really well, and I was also told that my speaking skills were really good. I also really, really appreciated being corrected when I messed up a word or a sentence – some people won’t do that, and if I don’t get corrected, I’m not going to improve!

Overall, it was a great experience, and I’m looking forward to more opportunities like this to be able to make new friends and to make my Spanish even better!

I arrived in Spain two months ago today, embarking on the beginning of this grand adventure known as study abroad. All I can say is that it’s been an incredibly rewarding and stretching experience so far, and I’m only halfway through!

Some brief reflections on my time on this side of the Atlantic:

• I really, really like it here. Burgos is a beautiful city and a wonderful place to live.
• I love speaking Spanish, and my speaking skills are definitely improving.
• I love traveling and learning from new experiences. I’m soooo grateful for the amazing opportunities I get every day.
• I miss my family, especially the chance to hang out with my brothers.
• I’m so thankful for friends (both americanos and españoles) and my host mom, who have made this huge transition for me so much easier and more enjoyable.
• Sometimes I miss really random things from home, like certain foods (snack foods like pretzels, as well as peanut butter).
• I’m grateful that some things, like friendship and laughter, are the same no matter what country you’re in.

My daily walk to school, a representation of this beautiful journey I'm on.

I’ve been thinking a little bit about what it will be like to come back to the U.S. in December, and I think some of the readjustments I’ll have to make could be surprising and/or entertaining.

• My classes here, while very helpful and informative, are designed for American/international students, so they are not super difficult and don’t give me a ton of homework. I think  the first few weeks of next semester will be challenging as I try to get used to harder classes and lots of homework again, as well as trying to balance school with working 20 hours a week.
• One thing I love about being here is that I can choose which language I want to speak in with my closest friends! Sometimes my thoughts come in one language or the other, and I’m not going to like having to be restricted to just one language when I get back.
• Here in Spain, the typical way you greet someone is with a kiss on both cheeks. That took me a little while to get used to, but now it’s almost second nature for me. What I’m afraid of is that when I come back to the U.S. and meet someone for the first time, that I’ll accidentally go in for a kiss. That could make some really interesting first impressions and incredibly awkward situations…haha.  : )
• I’m getting very accustomed to my siestas, a nap in the middle of the day almost every day. I don’t know what I’m going to do next semester when there’s not time to rest built into the day’s schedule.
• Traffic laws here are pretty similar to the ones at home, but one difference is that cars here always, always, ALWAYS stop for pedestrians. When I get back I think I’m going to end up running out in the middle of some street in Kalamazoo, expecting the cars to stop for me. But instead of stopping, I’ll just get hit by one of them.
• Sometimes when I’m frustrated with someone or something here in Spain or have something to say to a friend that I don’t want the whole world to hear, I purposely switch to speaking in English (speaking very quickly and quietly), since the average person on the street here won’t be able to catch what I’m saying. However, when I return to the U.S., I’ll have to remember that people can understand what I say under my breath in English…that might be a good thing to keep in mind.

Anyway, I’m still liking it here, and I can only hope the next two months will be as wonderful as the first two have been!

Paris…it’s always been one of those places that I wanted to visit, but I didn’t think it would ever actually happen. After making friends with a French student who came to Kalamazoo for the summer, though, plans for a trip to Paris were in the works.

Since my mom was coming to visit me in Spain and I had a week off from my classes, we decided to travel to Paris together! We had a very special time together – what a beautiful city! Essentially, our time there was spent going to most of the famous places, art museums, and tourist attractions: Versailles, Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, the Louvre, Tuileries Gardens, L’Orangerie, Champs Élysées, L’Arc de Triomphe, Musée d’Orsay, Sacré Coeur at Montmartre, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. We did a lot in one week!

In addition to spending time in the city of Paris, we were also able to visit some special friends of ours, Frank and Karen Mills (no relation to us, actually), who used to go to our church in Kalamazoo and are now living in France. It was great to be able to see them, since they live in a town called Chantilly about an hour north of Paris. Frank and Karen really helped us by picking us up from the airport, letting us stay with them for a couple nights, and telling us which sights in Paris were truly worth seeing!

At the end of the week, I was finally able to connect with my French friend Maïlys, the one who was in Kalamazoo for the summer!! I was SOOOO excited and thankful to see her again, and we had such a great time together, even though it was short.

The main thing I noticed about France was that I MISSED SPANISH! It made me realize how much I love Spain and the Spanish language. It was really, really hard for me to go a week without it. And it really frustrated me to not have the ability to communicate with the people around me or to be able to ask a question (my French skills could use some work!). I’m not trying to say that I didn’t enjoy being in Paris – it was an incredible experience – but I’m very, very happy to be back in Spain. I think I appreciate life here even more than I did before.