Just a little recap:
I guess I left off last week??? Maybe...
Last Week:
I do not remember what day exactly I got my test back, but I am pretty sure it was last Monday. Lets just go with that :) But... I made an 84%! Not exactly my best work but after a year and a half of not saying, hearing, nor thinking a Spanish word I am a little bit proud!
As for the rest of the day... it was pretty relaxed. Class, Study, Eat, and Sleep. We took Monday as a recuperation day for all the traveling that everyone did on their off weekend. I pretty sure I spent most of Tuesday preparing for our oral portion of our test (which I was terrified for). I was (and still am) very frustrated with speaking and understanding this language. Basically our teachers have been preaching that America has screwed us over in the language department, that they only teach a portion of all the information, but all the information is necessary for full comprehension. Of course, I am also the worst at speaking and would most of the time rather remain silent. I never can say the right thing in the right order! But I am truly trying to understand more and more each day! I spend basically spend 80% of my time studying. It is actually pretty pathetic to say the least :(
Also... last week we got the opportunity to enjoy two more museums. The first museum we went to a ceramic museum and the other a Roman Ruins Museum. Both were very interesting! I enjoyed the Roman Ruins much more though because I found a skeleton inside. I didn't literally find it but it was cool to see. We also visited the Catholic Church in Plaza de La Rina. Absolutely Gorgeous!!!!!
Last Friday:
We got up wayyyy early to catch our train to Madrid. Anddd ummm holy MADRID! I AM IN LOVE! After arriving to our hotel, we went straight to catch a bus to Toledo. Um ok I understand a lot of people like Toledo, but I personally do not understand what all the hype was about. It was pretty in all, but nothing compared to everything else we have seen. All the buildings were the same color and well... it was just boring. The one thing that did excite me in that city was the Military museum we went to. It was cool to see the evolution of the military and its weaponry used throughout the years.
Last Saturday:
Saturday was the day for our Segovia trip. Segovia was much more promising than Toledo. Segovia had more of a Helen Georgia look. It basically looked like I was in Disney World, which I was totally cool with :) In Segovia we got to tour Queen Isabel and Fernando's castle (named "The Alcazar").
It is actually the castle where Christopher Columbus came to ask for a voyage to the Americas. It was one of the most exciting tours we had been on yet! Later in the evening, a group of us decided to go watch the Spain v. Italy game. Of course in the stadium ( I wish)! We actually found a big group of fans in the parking lot of the stadium with a large screen to watch the game on! These people are hard core fans. I have never seen so many people so engrossed in any sport.
Last Sunday:
On Sunday, we had two tours to go on in the city of Madrid. First we went to an Egyptian Temple. Apparently Egypt sent Spain a temple as a gift for all their kind deeds (ya know the deeds that involve money). But although it was unbelievably hot in the temple it was so cool to see. After the temple, we moved on to the King of Spain's summer palace. Now that's a palace. Each room had a completely different decor and ambiance. It was so gaudy! I loved every second of it. Although I enjoyed the first two activities of the day, I did not enjoy the last... the bull fight! I was completely disgusted. Here's how the whole thing goes. The bull comes out and there is one bull-fighter out in the arena. He teases the bull for a while until another man comes out to puncture the bull with adrenaline shot to make the bull more angry all in the name of entertainment. Then after the bull puts up more of a fight horses enter the arena. The horses are dressed in a coat of armour and blind folded. The guys riding the horses were blind-folded and dressed in what seemed to be basically armour also but were holding javelins. The bull would then approach the horse and come at it with full force. The man atop the horse would then stab the bull until it went back in the middle to be further teased by the bull-fighter. After more punctures and teasing a horn was blown. After the sound, the bull-fighter ( who now has a sword) stabs the bull in the back. Some of the bulls had to be stabbed multiple times until it was accurate. After the stabbing, the bull was further teased by multiple bull fighters until he finally collapsed (that's when I began to cry). After the bull collapsed, a different man stabbed him again in the middle of his head... that's when the bulls legs began to shake then became stiff. This happened 6 times. I lost it. That was the most awful thing I have ever seen. I will never do that again.
The Arena-
Poor bull is about to be dead!
Monday:
Monday was a much HAPPIER day! I got to go see my precious RONALDO....#7 Madrid. We got to tour the Soccer (Futbol) Stadium. I was definitely not dressed to impress that day. Due to some severe eye itching on Sunday I was left with my glasses and a STYE! I was very upset that I had to see Ronaldo in such a bad way. But I don't think his picture judged me too badly (since that's all I got)! Haha. But we got to walk through the trophy room, locker room, and walked on the actual field. I was too excited to see the place where Ronaldo showered but was rather upset when I was told that it was the visitors locker room we got to see. BUMERRRRRR. Our next activity was the Prado Museum. Art on three floors. Whoa! I was a little overwhelmed. It was cool to see the different styles of art but I began to get annoying when everything started looking the same. I was actually pretty excited when I discovered "Saturn" by Goya and the "Birth of the Milky Way" by Rubens.
The Birth of the Milky Way
Saturn
Both were very different from the other pieces of art in their own ways. Saturn was very dark and gory while the Birth of the Milky way made me laugh because in earlier times people actually believed that the Milky Way was created from breast milk, which I of course still do. Haha. This art seriously reminded me of all the weird things I came up with when I was little. Later that evening we got on a train to return to good ole Valencia.
Jason came and visited Jake on his free weekend.
Jason could not reach the door handle so I cracked it for the poor guy.
Told you these people love ham!
The prettiest view in Toledo!
Jake and I in Segovia.
The palace in Segovia.
Too bad Jason did not make it!
The Egyptian Temple.
The King's Summer Palace
No caption needed :)
REAL MADRID Futbol Field
Trophy Room!
Today (Tuesday):
Today has been another study-ish kind of day. Boring, but very necessary.
Adios!
