a lot has happened since my last blog....i am starting to get in the routine of school. i get up every morning at 8am, have lunch at 2:30, get home around 5:30, do my homework and get ready for the next day. my classes are fine, i am taking economics, european history, modern history, lengua, english (def the best!!), math (we are learning how to do absolute value), sport twice a week (literally all we do is take two laps around the field - the two laps are probably the distance of half a football field, maybe a little bigger then we stand around, and if its too hot then we sit in the shade). then i have philosophy, french, and ONG (which is once a week and we work with save the children). french sucks, because i don't understand anything in french, and all my peers have taken it for at least 3 years and the teacher speaks the entire time in french. i want to die. but i can mostly understand all my other teachers, they speak quickly, but i can follow. but speaking is still a challenge. oh, and last friday we had a history test and i def had to write some words in english....haha we'll see what grade i get.

my birthday was on thursday and it was really fun!! i got to school and kinda expected no one to remember it was my birthday, but everyone did! they all congratulated me and gave me kisses. then, at break, all the girls in my class got in a circle, and i had no idea what was going on. all of a sudden, Nicole handed me a bag, a present!! they had all pitched in and got me a movie and some delicious chocolates. i have friends!!!! then in philosophy class everyone sang happy birthday (its not feliz cumpleanos, its different, a completely different tune) and my teacher jose gave me some very random presents including a pencil box filled with chocolates, a mini fundamental rights book, a key chain, and some pens, he also gave me a european agenda, a notepad and a box of chocolates. it was very nice of him, but def very random gifts. after school, i went to a snack with cliff, alicia, and paloma (my program directors) and they gave me a cute blouse and a scarf. and a spanish card, i am very excited about the card!!! at the restaurant, paloma remarked how my spanish had improved!! yes, i have only been here two weeks and already my spanish is getting better!! at home, my family remembered it was my birthday!! they gave me an adorable dress!! (you open presents first, then eat) and then we ate spanish tortilla and a delicious chocolate cookie cake!! after dinner, my sister leti asked if i wanted to go out, so we went to a bar nearby with some of her friends. it was very fun, her friends are really nice. i didn't end up getting home until around 1:30, so the next day at school i just slept through all my classes. but the best part of it is that i have friends!!!!!!!!

i locked myself in the bathroom stall and couldn't get out. the first day at a new school i get stuck in the bathroom stall. it was horrible. i panicked for a good 3 minutes before i could get out.

the pencils don't have erasers. i have a locker, with a lock attached so that my stuff isn't stolen. my teachers come to my class instead of me walking to their room. i am the only blonde in my class of 35 people. there weren't enough chairs and desks for all the students so they had to get more. the toilets didn't have toilet paper. there are no water fountains, when you are thirsty you stick your head under the bathroom sink. there are no doors to the outside. although the classrooms have doors, the wall is open, but with blue bars, above the door and on the wall facing the hallway, so shutting the door does nothing to eliminate the noise from the hallway. there are no options for lunch; i have no idea what i ate for lunch today. absolutely no idea. there was a rice dish, a brown thing that looked like an elephant ear but i think was meat, but maybe it was something else, and then a sweet yogurt thing. i think. everything is so different here. the people are nice. (it literally took 5 different people to help me figure out how to open my locker.) i can mostly understand what my professors are saying.

i take the bus to school, and today alicia (one of my program directors) took me to the stop, so i am hoping tomorrow when i go i will be able to find the bus stop by myself and get on the right one. the corner where my "stop" is collects a lot of kids going to lots of different schools, so i need to get on the right bus. oh, and my bus is insane! it is like a greyhound, you have to go up 4 stairs i think to get to the seats, and then you have nice seats with windows, but if the sun is bothering your eyes then you just close your curtain. its amazing.

so this weekend i went to "cubillas" which is the family "finca" (estate or farm or ranch type of thing) which was incridble!! my mom's dad and all his 10 siblings (11 kids in total) got land and from their parents, and so each kid built a home on a hill. but i don't quite understand, because the houses are from the 1st and 2nd century, so they must have bought the houses and then put toilets and running water and modern stuff. now on the hill there is a community of 11 houses pretty big, a little chapel and a pool. then they have at least a hundred acres of uncultivated land. so you just spend your time doing whatever outdoors. my family arrived on friday and we had a little dinner there with the grandparents and some cousins and some aunts and uncles. then on saturday, we had a big paella and celebrated saint maria. (everyone in spain is catholic, so they are all named after a saint. and on the day of your saint you eat well and celebrate and people give you money. one cousin and one aunt were both named after the saint maria). then, i learned how to shoot a gun!!! i got 11 tries and on the final one i hit the cans placed 20 paces ahead. (i have pics, but i forgot to pack the cable connecting my camera to my computer, so i will upload them later.) that was exciting!! then, we ate and played trivia. thanks to my catlin education i was able to answer more questions about the bible then cousin maria who i was playing with who is a devote catholic. our days were really lazy waking up around 11am having a light breakfast then around 2:30pm eating a big lunch, and around 10pm eating a light-ish dinner. there is a lot of meat! i was a vegetarian before i left, and now i eat meat more than once every day, usually i have no idea what i am eating. but i had chorizo, and all sorts of things. on sunday tio asked me if i wanted to do something and i really had no idea what he said but i was like 'sure!' it turned out that he had shot some pigeons and wanted to eat them. so he took me and maria (my sister) and she started showing me how to take off the feathers and i was like 'no thank you' and left. that was a little too gross for me. but anyways i start school tomorrow and i am very nervous.

i just got a phone yesterday, so i am now connected to the spanish world!! even though i only have 4 contacts.....anyways, also, my address is

sophia roman

calle jazmín 34, 6C

28033

Madrid, Spain

also, i have been learning all the different ways to say goodbye. 'hasta ahora' means see you in a minute. 'hasta luego' means see you in a couple days. 'hasta pronto' means see you in a couple of months. and hasta nunca means i hope i never see you again. anyways, it is kinda confusing.

hey! i am in madrid!! none of my bags were stolen and i have everything that i brought, so i am really happy! it has been a very long day though. i got into madrid an hour early, so the flight landed around 6 30am local time. i went through customs quickly and then my bags were one of the firsts to come out of the checked luggage thing, and then i met clifton (the program director). we went to coffee at vips which is a very cool place, it is a chain and inside it is half restaurant and half american store. so everything is very expensive, but i can buy newman's own caesar salad dressing. he gave me a lot of touristy info and it made me realize how little i know about spain, so eventually i am going to need to research the geography. then, i came and met my host family. the mom was the only one home, and so clifton, alicia (cliff's coworker) my host mom and i talked for a while. my host mom is so sweet, she just told me that whatever i need just tell her and she will get it. then my youngest host sister woke up. maria is 12 and cute, and about to go to an italian school. later, maria and my host mom and i went on a walk around the neighborhood seeing the metro, the bus stop, the "paneria" and such. when we got home i started unpacking and arranging my room. then we had a nice lunch of gazpacho and pasta. the family used to live in italy so they know how to make really good pasta and italian dishes. then the dad came home and he is really nice too. he helped me figure out how to get onto the wifi, which took literally an hour. then, i took a little siesta (not really common in madrid). i finished setting up my room, and then i met elisia (my oldest sister). she is really stressed because she has big exams coming up on monday, so she was at the library all day. she promised to take me out after her exams are done and she is on vacation. then we all went to dinner around 8pm. on our way to the cafe, we ran into my host mom's cousin. so we decided to sit down and talk and have a drink with the cousin and his wife. at the table they started speaking english and i was really surprised because everyone says they can't speak, but in reality they are very good. then around 9 we went to dinner. and now i am home and about to fall asleep. today has been a long but very good day, and i am sure the next couple of days will be just as hectic.