Back in America

Now that I'm home and starting to get back into my normal routine, my trip to Spain almost feels like a dream. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I still can't believe so many of the things that I saw and got to do. I miss it so much. I miss all the amazing people that I met, walking through the beautiful city every day, coming home and eating lunch with my host mom, and laying on the beach and just relaxing. I love my home and my life here, but every day that we woke up in Spain there was always something new to see or do and something exciting to experience. Since I’ve been home I’ve had to start worrying about summer assignments and applying to colleges and typical teenage drama. In Spain, I didn’t even think about those things. We lived for three weeks without any stress or any worries. One huge part of the program that really helped to eliminate our stress was the staff. They were all so approachable and helpful that we all felt comfortable going to them with any problem. I had an ear infection the last few days and Javier, one of the staff, took me to pharmacy to help me explain the problem to them and find a way to fix it. They also make the classes fun and effective. We spent a fair amount of time learning grammar and rhetoric, but we also did a lot of applicable lessons that we could take out into the city, which made our classes so much better than traditional ones at home. Other than classes, we had a lot of really great group activities. I really liked going out to dinner as a group, because it encouraged us all to talk and get to know each other while enjoying really good Spanish food. By the last dinner on the last night, sitting around a table with 27 other kids felt completely normal and comfortable. I also really enjoyed going to the National Spanish Ballet, a flamenco show, Torre Tavira (a tower where you could see the whole city), and the Museum of Cadiz. The ballet was a little bit of a culture shock just because it was so much different from American ballets that I’ve seen. The costumes were very vivid and dramatic, and there were many different stories that were told. My favorite weekend trip was to the gorgeous city of Ronda, which was a completely different climate than Cadiz. One of the best parts of my trip was my homestay and host mom. Although our apartment wasn’t what I was used to at home, it was cozy and cute. Our mom, Noelia, worked so hard to keep us comfortable and happy. She was so generous with her home, always telling us to go wherever we like or use whatever we like. She was truly one of the sweetest women I have ever met and I hope I can go back and visit her someday. All in all, my trip to Spain and my experience with Abbey Road was phenomenal. I loved every minute of it and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Ever since I’ve been home, all I’ve wanted was to go back to Cadiz, and hopefully someday I will.

Playa Caleta

Last night the whole group met after dinner and went to the beach that's in the old part of the city. It was around ten so the sun was just starting to set and the view was beautiful. The beaches here are all gorgeous and at night the tide goes out so you can walk out a lot further on the beach. We spent about an hour walking around on the beach and watching the sunset. Since it was one of our last nights in Cádiz it was fun for everyone to get together and do something kind of cheesy. I'm gonna miss Spain so much!!!

Ronda

Last Saturday we went on a trip to Ronda, a little city two hours inland from cádiz. The city was beautiful and a lot different from cádiz so it was really interesting to see. It's in the mountains so we got to see a lot of the area surrounding it. Ronda is also the site of the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain, so we got to go and see that too. We had free time to walk around and explore the city so went to a little cafe and got fresh squeezed orange juice. The view from the cafe was amazing.

Los partidos de fútbol

Saturday night was the quarterfinal game of the Eurocup. Spain played.against France and won 2-0. The whole group of students went out to eat dinner and watch the game at a restaurant in Plaza de Mina. From the picture you can tell that soccer games in Spain are a huge deal. Everyone goes to plazas and cafes and bars to watch the games and celebrate together. And when Spain wins, everyone goes crazy. People stayed out in the street watching replays of the game and dancing for more than half an hour after the game ended. Someone working at a restaurant started spraying all the kids who were dancing with water. It was really fun to see something that the whole country can share and that so many people are so excited about. Although we have national sports in the U.S., the don't bring people together the way that fútbol does here. It was a really fun and interesting thing to experience.

El mercado central

Yesterday during Spanish class we talked about food that is typical in Cádiz. After some discussion and introduction of some new vocab, we walked to the central market where people go to buy fruit, vegetables, meat, and seafood. Compared to the typical American grocery store, the market is super exciting. Everything is fresh and is brought in at the beginning of every day. We tried some peaches and nectarines and they were very good, much better than anything I've had at home. In the seafood section, they had shellfish that were still alive and moving and fish that still had their bodies completely intact. As strange as all of this was, the concept of buying meat and fruit fresh every day seems very appealing. We talked to our host mom about how buying food is so different in the United States and we agreed that this system is much better. Instead of buying frozen meat that you don't eat for days, you go to the market every day to get what you are going to cook that day. Going the market definitely had some shock value because a lot of the meat and fish were pretty gross looking but the system of food here is a lot cooler than at home.

¡Primera dia de clases!

Yesterday was our first day of school. Our Spanish classes start at ten and last for about three hours. The school is a really cool and old building and it's about fifteen minutes away from our apartment. So far in class we've learned a lot about Cádiz. Today we went out in the streets and asked people about their favorite shops, the best parts of town, problems with the Spanish economy, and other things like that. It's really interesting to talk to people here and actually use Spanish that you've learned. Most people are pretty friendly and don't mind talking to Americans. Three times a week we also have our elective classes, which are either Spanish culture and conversation or Digital photography. In culture class, we went out and asked people about the difference in dialects in Càdiz and in Madrid. It's really cool to see the different accents thst are here just like in the United States. We also learned a lot of vocabulary that is specific to cádiz which was really interesting, too. Today, instead of electives, we had art and flamenco dancing classes. We painted fans for our families at home and had a introduction to flamenco dancing. The dancing was kind of embarrassing but still fun. The classes here are very specific to cádiz and we get to go out and use all the things we learn during class. This picture is the view from the second floor of the school.

Conil

Today we went on a trip to one of the smaller towns in Càdiz. This was the spectacular view of the city from the beach