What I drew for all my followers...

Feliz Navidad

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I am headed off to Avila/Madrid. I will inform you guys about it when I get back.
Until then have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Buenas Fiestas.

Reunion

This past weekend I attended a reunion of all the students participating in the exchange program that live in the Barcelona area. When I arrived my peers began to talk to me in English and, for a moment, I struggled to speak. I found that when I spoke in English i would sometimes say "si" or "vale." However, I soon remembered how to speak my native language, and the words soon began to flow from my mouth.

There wer about 12 students in total who attended. We met at the house of the coordinator of the Barcelona area in Cerdanyola. All the students took the train to get there. Feli dropped me off because we were coming from the birthday of one of their relatives. The coordinator who asked about our relationship with our family and how we were doing interviewed each student. Meanwhile, the other students visited with each other and got caught up with each other's news. it seemed that everybody was learning a lot and having a great experience.

After the interview sessions we all sat down to enjoy some tasty traditional pastries. We continued to talk and shared stories about our host families. We also compared the customs of Spain with our own and talked about what we did on a regular basis. One custom very common here is that the older children in our families still live at home (while working or going to college.)

Unfortunately, all good things have to end and the time soon came for us to part ways and levae for our casas. I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to my house in Sabadell by train. It was a great reunion, seeing some old faces and speaking in my native tongue. However, I have to say that it felt so wierd speaking English. I suppose that's a good thing.

El Delta

El Puente

We enjoyed a four-day weekend this past week starting December fourth. This holiday was called El Puente (the bridge). I didn't really understand why we had this holiday. One of my friends said it was the "Spanish Thanksgiving." During our holiday Oscar, Feli and I went to Comaruga and the Delta of the Ebro. Angel's mother is ill so he has gone to take care of her for a while in Avila.

Well we walked around Comaruga and relished the peace of the Mediterranean Sea. The family I live with owns an apartment in Comaruga. We have gone there three times now, and we usually spend a weekend there. After spending some time in Comaruga we went to meet some of Feli's family in the Delta of the Ebro. A delta is a landform of silt deposits at the mouth of a river. In this case the Ebro River goes into the Mediterranean Sea.

We met Feli's family, ate lunch and visited. Feli's family is very nice and is always happy to see me. I also enjoy visiting their family members although I do miss my own. There were a lot of marshlands in the Delta. These marshlands reminded me of the fields of Ohio. I enjoyed the scenery of the marshlands and the Mediterranean Sea: they were both relaxing.

This weekend I also saw two movies "Paranormal Activity" and "2012." Both movies were in Spanish and I understood pretty much everything! They were both entertaining movies, but I liked "Paranormal Activity" because it was more suspenseful. The other film, "2012", was also fun to watch.

The long weekend was a nice break. Christmas is coming soon. What an experience that will be...

Game Day

This past Sunday was an epic day in futbol (soccer for the US) in Spain. The teams of two of the largest cities in Spain played against each other. FC (futbol club) Barcelona played against Real Madrid, also known as El Clasico. Back at home in Michigan, the two biggest rivals are Michigan and OSU. Barcelona and Madrid share a similar rivalry.

The game was played in the stadium of Barcelona, Camp Nou. The next time they play in the Spring, the will play in Madrid. Anyway, there was a lot of hype for this game. All the news channels were talking about it and giving their predictions of what the outcome would be. There were commercials promoting the game and kids at school were talking about the it. I personally was rooting for Barcelona. I mean I am living really close to Barcelona so I have to represent my city.

When Sunday came I was excited and ready to watch some of the greatest players play futbol. However, horrror struck as I was dismayed to find out the game could only be shown on special networks, which we had to pay for. So instead of the game we watched Shrek... SHREK!!!

Thankfully, Oscar and I had to go out to buy some bread. While we were out we saw the score in a near by bar. It was a little past halftime and the score was Barcelona 0, Real Madrid 0 (referees win ;). What a boring first half I thought. A few seconds later Barcelona scored and we heard noises from all the restaurants and bars that were near. We later went back home to have dinner. We then learned that the final score of the game was 1 to 0 Barcelona.

I was happy that Barcelona won and thought Oscar and I were really lucky to see the goal. Let's Go BARCELONA!!

Tour In Barcelona

Field Trip

On Monday I went on a field trip to Barcelona with 1st Bachillerato. I have an extra Spanish Class that is in 1st Bachillerato. So I get to meet students from two different grades. It is fun and interesting to observe their different behaviors.
In our Spanish class the students had just finished reading a book called Nada. It was about a girl named Andrea who moved to Barcelona to study, after the Spanish Civil War. She lived with her extended family and struggled to adapt and grow. The book’s setting takes place in Barcelona. So to better understand and appreciate the novel our teacher took us on a field trip to Barcelona. The majority of 1st Bachillerato went.
My Spanish is now much better, therefore I was able to understand a lot of the presentation the tour guide gave us. We visited the University of Barcelona and some other places that are mentioned in the novel. However, word unfortunately spread that I was an exchange student and the kids that didn’t know me began to fire questions at me to test their English. I mean it was a lot of fun talking to the students, but at some points I was not able to concentrate on the presentation the tour guide was giving. When we took a 20-minute break to eat a bocadillo (sandwich) I was able to talk more calmly to the students. Next thing I knew we were headed back on the train to Sabadell.
It was a great trip. I made a lot of new friends while discovering Barcelona. All I can say is Barcelona is an amazing city and I really want to return.

Street in Vic

No Halloween in Spain :(

Angel, Oscar and me at a volcano in Olot.

Weekend...wooo

This past weekend I had quite an adventure. My host family decided to take advantage of good weather for the weekend and go to the Pre-Pyrenees in Catalunya. We drove in my family’s “autocaravana” so that we could spend the night in it and continue visiting places. It was the first time I had traveled in an RV so I was curious to see what it would be like. There was room for four people to sleep. The autocaravana also had a toilet, sink, refrigerator, stove and lots of storage. It was a little uncomfortable at first but I got used to it. Angel drove all the time. No comment on drivers in Spain. While he drove I played cards with Oscar or just enjoyed the scenery. We were heading to the towns of Vic, Rupit and Olot in the Pre-Pyrenees.

Vic was the first city we visited and it was quite an odoriferous experience. The distinct smell of pig permeated throughout the city. Vic is a city that produces and is famous for its sausage and it was quite evident with the aroma. Despite the strong fragrance I still enjoyed visiting the town. I also enjoyed eating some meat from Vic. There were a lot of neat little restaurants and bars in the center of town. Also, there was a large square where special events take place and it was lit up at night and looked cool. In this town I met and talked to some people from England. There seemed to be a lot of tourists around.

Rupit was a pueblo in the mountains. To get to it we had to go up through curve after curve in the mountains. It made me very dizzy as my head and stomach can attest. Once we got to the town, I took a look down and knew it was worth it to come up all this way. It was like a town stuck in the medieval ages, surrounded by forests. We walked through the long, narrow streets and saw the whole town by foot.

The last place we visited was Olot. We were there on the evening of October 31st. Walking around the city at night, I was surprised to see some people dressed up in costumes. I don’t know what it was for, because Halloween is not celebrated in Spain. I was a little sad that night, thinking about the candy and Halloween fun I was missing. However, the next day came and we headed to a place called La Fageda. La Fageda is a famous dairy farm where glorious dairy products are produced. We bought some very tasty cream to eat.

The last place we visited outside of Olot was a volcano. There seem to be a lot of dormant volcanoes that are covered by trees now. In one part of it the sides were cut out like terraces that looked like a wedding cake. We were actually able to see the inside of the volcano. Now the volcano is covered with trees so it didn’t look like much. But as we got to the part that was cut like a cake we could see how smooth the rocks were.

Afterwards, we headed back home in the “autocaravana.” It was a fun and exhausting trip where we did a lot in such a short time. Still, I’m happy and thankful my family is taking me to new and different places. I feel I’m getting to know Spain a little at a time.

Tests

This past week I had a lot of tests. I didn’t know exactly what to expect. All I knew was that it was going to be very difficult taking most of my tests in Catalan. That’s right Catalan, not Castellano (Spanish).

Sabadell is in Catalunya where the majority of people speak Catalan. It is a very unique language; but if I had to say what it is similar to I would say it’s a combination of Spanish and French.

The government of Catalunya wants the official language to be Catalan; so, schools are enforced to teach more Catalan than Castellano. In my grade (Segundo Bachillerato) we have more hours of English class than Castellano.

Thankfully, most of the teachers did not expect me to grasp the language of Catalan. Most teachers walked me through the tests to show me what they would be like. No multiple choices here. In my other classes such as Math and Dibujo Tecnico (technical drawing) where not many words are needed to understand the concepts, I took the tests feeling pretty good.

This past Friday I had two tests: Spanish and English classes. The English test was IMPOSSIBLE and the Spanish was so easy. Just kidding, it was more like vice versa. While the Spanish test was on some crazy Spanish grammar I struggled with, I finished the English one in five minutes… everyone was in awe.

Struggling to get by the Catalan barrier, I am learning more and more Castellano.

One thing I haven’t gotten used to yet is that here in Spain most people are on a first name basis. I call my host mother, Feli, and my host father, Angel instead of Sr. and Sra. Nieves. I also observe that students call teachers by their first names. It’s strange to me but that is the custom here.
I have been with my host family for three weekends now and we have done many fun activities. On the first weekend we went to my host family’s apartment in Comaruga by the Mediterranean Sea. It was really nice to be by the beach when I knew that back at home it was probably getting cold and summer was officially over.

During my second weekend my host family took me to Barcelona to see a plane show and competition. It was a great show with lots of plane formations in the air. I also got to meet some of the family members on Feli’s, side. During that day we went to a Chinese restaurant, which had a fabulous buffet. We came home exhausted after a fun-filled day.

This past weekend we climbed up a mountain called Montcau. It took a lot of effort to get up but it was worth it. Once I arrived at the top I wondered if Heaven was something like this. The view was spectacular as you can see from some of the pictures. Once on top, it was so relaxing to just sit and enjoy the view. I am glad I did it.
Another activity we enjoyed this weekend was going to the movies. My host family and I saw a movie called “Agora.” It was a pretty interesting film about early Christianity. However, the strangest thing happened to us while we were at the theater. All four of us were in line for popcorn, Oscar, Feli and Angel and I. Since the film was about to start Feli and I decided to go get our seats in theater 23 while Oscar and Angel would stay to buy the popcorn. The film soon began and we waited for them to come with the popcorn and drinks. Pretty soon we were a half an hour into the film and we are still wondering where the heck they are. I went out of our theater to see if they were outside but they were nowhere to be seen. Feli and I went through the whole film without them or without any popcorn L. It turned out that the theater next to us was also showing Agora at the exact same time. Oscar and Angel were in the other theater. After the film we had a good laugh and headed to a restaurant and had a nice dinner. I am obviously enjoying myself during the week and weekends in Spain. I guess I should talk more about what I’m learning at school next time .

School in Spain

The school system here in Spain is very different from the U.S. In Spain they do not have High School they have a Secondary Education. This Secondary Education begins at age 12, and goes through 18. I feel that I am lucky to experience another culture’s customs, especially the school system.
As I enter my new school for this year I observe all the students and surroundings. It is an interesting sight. Together, students from all different ages and sizes are enjoying themselves, talking to one another. Because of my age and grade in the U.S. I am placed in Segundo Bachillerato, which is the highest level or grade in Secondary Education. After Segundo Bachillerato the students go off to a university or work.
I arrive at my first classroom and notice that there aren’t any decorations such as pictures or books in the room, in contrast to my school’s classrooms back at home. In the classroom there are only desks for the students and the teacher, a chalkboard and a coat rack.
As class begins I immediately take note of the differences. It is more relaxed, students can just yell out questions or comments without raising their hands and the majority of the teachers don’t mind.
Another thing that I think is very unusual is that the subjects we take have different classrooms and are not during the same periods each day. For example, on Monday we will have Biology during period 1 in room 36 and then on Tuesday we will have Biology during period 3 in room 27.
In the middle of the school day all the students are given a 30-minute break. It is sort of like a recess/ lunch. During this period of free time most students will eat a bocadillo (sandwich) or have a small snack. It is not a full lunch or meal; that is reserved for after school.
When school finishes each day I go home with my host brother, Oscar. At home we eat lunch do our homework then go to the club (gym) or just chill. There are no extracurricular activities in school for Segundo Bachillerato, such as sports or academic clubs. It is up to the individual to find things to do after school.
Despite the differences in schooling I am able to make new friends and it has been a great experience so far.

The Beginning

My name is Ryan Sanchez. I am in high school and I will tell you the stories of my adventure as a foreign exchange student. So it begins...

At last I arrived in the land that I would call "home" for 10 months on Thursday, September 18th 2009. It seems very full of life and very different from what I am used to. The name of the country I will reside in for the school year is Spain.

I am part of a group that is participating in a foreign exchange program. So far, I have met many people from Germany, Canada and the US. Everyone has shared stories of where they come from and what has brought them to Spain. I myself am from the States (Michigan) and my goal is to learn Spanish. Imagine confusing thirst with sadness, which is what I did when I was in Mexico last year. I said to my mom and aunt, “estoy triste.” What I actually meant to say was “tengo sed.” Or saying I’m going to sleep in the sky (cielo) when I meant to say floor (suelo). My parents thought it was funny but I knew I was in trouble. I’d like to be able to speak Spanish well enough to communicate without embarrassing myself. So that’s what I’m doing here.

For orientation all the students in the program met at a hostel in Barcelona and from there we would go our separate ways. Staying in a hostel is quite an experience...just imagine staying in a hotel room except with seven other guys, one shower to share, bunk beds and air conditioning that came from the open window when breezes came in. Hostels are popular with college students. We students stayed in this hostel while touring some of Barcelona. One thing that I thought was a magnificent sight was La Sagrada Familia, a Spanish cathedral by Gaudi. Even though I saw the cathedral from the outside I know I must return to explore the inside. We also saw a lot of other architecture by Gaudi. It was a great two days hanging out with kids from around the world and seeing Barcelona at the same time.

On Sunday, September 20th, all the students departed to their host families. Some stayed in Barcelona while others took an overnight train or flew to their destination. My host family picked me up. They live in Sabadell, a city northwest of Barcelona, about 40 minutes away. They were very glad to meet me and are very nice people. My host brother, Oscar, is the same age as me. His brother, Abel, is 22 and is in college. Oscar and I are in the same classes, so that is good. My host mother and father are very nice and helpful. They are both elementary schoolteachers. Well, that is all for today. In my next post, I’ll talk about my classes at school. Until then, hasta luego.