Learned English grammar habits & Ivan's visit!!

Ok so I wanted to share with you a sample of the things I've started saying as a result of speaking with so many people of whom English is their second language. It's not at all intentional but I've started to mirror the people I'm with and especially when I speak with them, I find myself using a different syntax, diction, and intonation.

Top 5 words I've started to really abuse:

• "Maybe" - Beginning a sentence with maybe when I used to use any of the following, "Could, should, might, possibly, perhaps" Now, it's just this one word. Every time.
• "Arrive" - Who says this, right? I sound like I'm speaking to a senior citizen but I can't seem to stop using it. 
• "This" - For sure a common word before living here, but the way I use it now is so very foreign sounding, for instance: "Why did she say this?" or "I really like this" Basically, in instances where you probably would say "that, these, or it" I've picked up saying "this."
• "Don't worry" - (Yes- thank you, that's 2 words.) The Spanish are always saying "Don't worry" for the smallest things in the most precious accent, and I surprise myself by saying it for the smallest things too and hearing the precious accent in my head. 
• "Really" - Definitely started using this differently. Where as I used to say, "I'm really excited to go there" I now would say, "I'm excited to go there, really."

All around, my English has become oversimplified most of the time, and it's hard to break out of it sometimes, so don't judge me when we speak. OH, "speak", thats a bonus one, since I've said it like 19 times in here already instead of "talk" and I'm forever saying it in conversations. Anyway, this was a little taste of 2 month's influence on the mother tounge.

Ivan's visit:
Amazing!! We had an incredible time in Madrid together and he really loved the culture and people. He spoke Spanish with a lot of people and could communicate, for instance, with my room mate better than I've ever been able to in English. We spent all of his 10 days in Madrid, except one, which we spent in the mountains, an hour train ride from here. It was beautiful and great to be in a complete change of scenery. But in all seriousness, I have so much pride in Madrid, I could have been born here. I could write a book about things I love about this city and all of Spain. But I'll save that for another blog.

Highlights of Ivan's visit: (We's doing another list, get ready)

• The Rastro (huge outdoor market with hundreds of vendors that literally sell everything imaginable every Sunday.) Ivan was all about it and bargained to get amazing prices =] 
• 100 Montaditos (If you don't know, you need to know. But stay tuned because a future millionaire will bring the franchise to the St. John's Town Center)  http://www.100montaditos.com/ Everything is 1 Euro on Wed. so we lived that up
• Parque de Retiro (Central Park status) Napping in the sun!!
• Botin (World's oldest restaurant) We were surrounded by Americans ha so touristy, but really good.
• Templo de Debod (Egyptian temple and park overlooking the city) Beautiful sunset! 
• Fiesta/ discoteca and him getting to meet and know my friends here
• The ability to just hang out and spend quality time together after 2 months <3

So, that's what it is here in Madrid. There's always tons more but I've gotta end this. At this rate, I'll blog in another month!! (Ha, funny, but really.) Hope you enjoyed =]

Six weeks in =]

Six weeks ago today, I left home for Spain. The six weeks prior to that, I experienced, by far, the most stressful time of my life due to navigating the visa process very last minute (which yes, makes my life incredibly cushy). Life leading up to this semester, and life here couldn't be more different. First, back at  home, I wanted time to stand still during Christmas break, for multiple reasons: Each day meant less time to deal with the visa/ less days for the visa to arrive. Each day meant less days with friends in Jax/ and once Christmas break started, less days with Ivan & family. And possibly most of all, each day represented one day closer to a huge, frightening, 4-month long unknown.

In contrast, I'm at complete peace with each day that comes and goes here. Don't fret, I never wish away time (although Ivan comes in 12 days, so about 3 days before, it's probable,) and I truly enjoy every minute. To be in the "frightening unknown" is, in this case, and I believe in most cases, A LOT easier than anticipating it. But I do think the time leading up to coming to Spain was as much a part of the experience as actually being here, and I'm able to view challenges differently as a result of that season.

Another huge difference, the ability to be present here is so much greater. Most of us have go-phones, so every use costs money, which has a few implications. One, we make tight plans of meeting places instead of "Oh I'll text you and let you know." Two, everyone's present with the people we're with at the time and not texting with preferred company (and I'm super guilty of this back home, but am inspired to change now.) Three, even when I'm alone, I people watch and think about what's happening around me, rather than jump on my phone.

Ok, so for those of you who want something more tangible about my time here, this paragraph is for you-

I went to Barcelona with Erasmus, the foreign exchange student club at my university, and it was beautiful. I loved the architecture and the view from Park Guell (picture). After being land locked in Madrid, seeing the ocean was nothing short of magical. Kelsey and I woke up in time to make our own trip there before leaving the last day. I think I will always need to live near a coast. Despite having la playa, when having to choose a preference, Madrid or Barcelona (and everyone has to choose, really) I would for sure choose Madrid every time. Last weekend, Rebecca visited from Germany, which was an amazing time. We were roommates again for the 4 days she was here, and she got to experience many of the joys of Madrid. She really liked Retiro park and the Rastro (outdoor market that's here every Sunday.) It was awesome to have a guest here to show the city to, and I'm really glad she was able to visit. K time to go on my Sunday run (only the 2nd Sunday it's happened...)

Living vs. Vacationing

I've now been here for 3 weeks, which qualifies as real life and no longer can be confused with vacation because a vacay would be over by now. It's a different feeling than in the first week or two when everything was a kind of blur, and didn't seem permanent. I have now been to Carrefour to grocery shop, which is like the Sam's Club on steroids of Europe, so I now have an abundance of comida (food), making it feel more like home =] I've cooked quite a few meals, and done a lot of laundry (which over here does not involve a dryer... love/hate relationship with that fact.) On February 1st I'll be able to use my unlimited metro pass, real resident-status right there.

The best part of having a life here is that Kelsey and I have joined a community group through http://oasismadrid.org/ and we meet every Monday night at a flat. We have a pot luck style dinner and then have a book study on Tim Keller's "Gospel in Life." The people are wonderful, a mix of American, British, Irish and Spanish, and everything is done in English. I've been on this church's website/ getting the newsletter/ communicating with one of the members for the past 4 or 5 months, so it's really exciting to finally be here and be a part of a body of Christ.

Life here is good, I'm incredibly blessed and I'm glad I've begun feeling I really live here =]

XAKE Japanese Buffet Video =]

This was delicious and like nothing I've ever seen before. Fun night, and the 5 of us had food babies after =]

La Universidad

Loving school. Or lack of school =] For instance, both my classes today were canceled, tomorrow is a school holiday, and last Thursday all classes were canceled because an old, loved professor passed away. The 3 of my 5 classes that have begun haven't picked up at all but I trust they will soon enough, so I'm enjoying relaxing and exploring in the mean time. Mi horario (schedule) is amazing. I have class Monday- Thursday (my Friday night one is getting changed to Wed. starting next week.) Also, next week, I begin my Spanish class for extranjeros, (foriegners.) Universidad Rey Juan Carlos has 4 campuses, and I'm at the Vicalvaro one, which is smaller than lot 18 and comparable to Titusville High School in size. If you don't relate to either of those 2 references, you just need to come visit and see for yourself. So, super small campus, but I like it because it's something different. I live 5 minutes walking from campus, which is wonderful because I also joined the University's gym and have been going almost every day.

The music at el gimasio is 90% english, so that's basically awesome. I was in Bodypump today, a cardio class, and the hilarious Wierd Al parody (below) on TI, was playing and I was laughing to myself but also wondering if I was the only one that could understand the extent of the humor. Which, then made me feel boss, for possibly the first time since arriving. Usually I feel quite the opposite about my language knowledge since everyone I meet knows at least two, if not three or four languages.

Tonight I went to a very French party at a friend of a friend's flat. It was a costume party, for no specific reason, which btw is awesome, and 4 people had on nearly identical chicken costumes? So great. We didn't know it was going to be a costume party, but I really want to know next time and dress accordingly. The Americans (Kelsey and I) stood by the food table the whole night (surprise) and raved about how delicious the crepes were while almost everyone around us spoke French together. It was a good time, but an even better time when we met and spoke with a few people in Spanish and got to practice.

K, that's all I got. There's always so much more but I really will update again soon!

Photos of my Apartment!!

I realize some of you are probably only here for the pictures... in which case shame on you, but that's something I would totally do too so no worries =] But nonetheless I'll keep this short so you don't have to scroll down a bunch (which is how I judge the length of blogs and therefore whether or not I'm going to read them.) 

I've absolutely loved my first week here. Madrid is a gorgeous city and I'm in constant awe of the buildings, statues, fountains, parks, and people everywhere I go. This weekend I went to the weekly market in La Latina, where hundreds of vendors line the street and sell ridiculously cheap things, for instance, bufandas (scarves) for 1 Euro. It was like no other market I'd experienced before. From there, a group of us went to this tiny shop that specializes in "chocolate con churros." Each person orders 6 churros and has a saucer of melted chocolate for dipping/drinking like hot chocolate. Delicious. I don't even know what would happen if America had something like this, but they're very popular here. 

So I think one of my favorite parts about being here is, as of Friday night's sushi adventure (documented on FB), I completely understand the metro. I've never paid attention to how subways work because I've always been led by someone else, unitl now =] Such a good feeling. K so check out mi apartamento! I just decorated my room yesterday, so depending on who you are, if you look closely at my wall maybe you can find yourself! Thanks for reading and I'll blog again soon <3

First days here =]

Incredible first 2 days in Madrid. I feel so blessed to have had Carlos and Aranxa pick us up at the air port. Learning the University campus and Vicalvaro area has been far easier because of our native Madrid friends =]

En este momento (At the moment, PS I use to abuse this phrase when I first learned spanish and said it unnecessarily and am glad to actually need it now) I'm jet lagged and its 1:36 AM but I'm wide awake. Theres a 6 hours difference here. So far I've had hardly any time to relax because there's been so many little things to get done. Haven't even unpacked, (which yes, Mom and Dad is driving me insane) but I have no class tomorrow so I will then.

I adore mi apartamento. It's very quaint and dear. I'll post pictures after I decorate!!!! My roommates are both Russian, and the one I've met so far is really nice and we get along swimmingly already =]

K so city center, or downtown, is AMAZING. We went last night and it's basically like New York City but with European style buildings and cobblestone streets with no cars in many areas. Being here doesn't quite feel like real life yet, but I'll let you know when that hits. The novelty is overwhelming but in a good way and I've been too sleep deprived to worry about anything despite the crazy confusion that is Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Also, after not getting my visa until 3 days before I flew here, nothing seems like a it's a big problem in comparison. Just very thankful to be here when I am because this time last week I was preparing for the real possibility of missing days here. God has been telling me to trust him throughout this whole process but I like to take control back of course after 3.5 seconds, like we all do. Here I am though, perfect timing arriving here, and only by the grace of God.

In Madrid everything is exciting and different.

Por ejemplo (For example) there are tiny jam packed stores everywhere full of the most random things and run by Chinese people. I equate them to our dollar stores sort of because everyone knows you should go there to buy certain items for way cheaper.

So, en la universidad, the biggest difference in my first class today compared to classes in the US was students literally talked through the whole class. Nonstop, shameless conversations were happening all around the whole time. And in my night class, the professor didn't show up so native students in the class used that time to start a petition to change the course schedule so we don't have class Fridays. The schedule for English taught classes is very basic so the same students are in many classes together.