Lento.

To this day my favorite song in spanish is a lovely little "canción" by Julieta Venegas.  The overall message is the importance of taking things slow, and allowing yourself to enjoy the moment.  With the schedule we have here in spain, sometimes this can be difficult to do.  I swear somedays I feel like we are trying to see an entire country, learn an entire history, and comprehend an entirely new language in a matter of days.  Sometimes I come on the weekends absolutely exhausted.  Its not an exhausted in agony type of feeling though.  Its a good exhausted.  The type where you have been working your brain all day to try and communicate, you've been walking around all day to try and learn, and you've been laughing all day due to pure happiness.

Spanish, study abroad exhaustion is a type I can handle. :)  Anyways, back to my whole "slowing things down" tangent... I wish this experience would slow down. haha, is it bad that I never really want to leave? Sorry family, i love you..but my life is awesome.

On sunday the Larsens gave us a fireside and asked us to think about what we have learned in Spain so far, and to then make a list of what we want to learn in the last month and how we are going to finish off this experience the best way possible, basically how we are going to reach our goals.

All this chat of only having a month left gave me a little anxiety.  My biggest fear about coming to Spain, was simply that I wouldn't experience enough with the time given me.  That I wouldn't know how to fully take advantage of this opportunity.  I didn't want to come home with regrets about things I wish I would have spent more time or effort doing.  I kind of had this same type of panic attack...when all the sudden I thought about this song.  I don't need to try and rush to fit everything in...I just need to slow it down, enjoy the little moments, and learn to just soak in the small things.  I know that if I worry about trying to fit in all the big museum visits or whatever else, I might forget to just stop and smell the roses.. and i mean literally smell the roses, spring time is upon us here in Spain and the flowers are blooming.  I want to go into Madrid, sit in a cafe overlooking the city, and just read a book.  I want so spend time with my family for hours in the kitchen, just joking and laughing. I want to talk to the old ladies at church about everything and anything. I just want to live while I can.

So, after thinking about what the Larsens talked to us about. I have decided that my biggest goal in Spain is to just slow down.  When I go to class tomorrow, I don't want to sit, look at my clock and anticipate its ending.  I don't want to walk around Spain, only with the objective to arrive at the next destination. I don't want to go through the motions, as easy as it is now that I have been accustomed to living here. I want to make my experiences feel as new and as exciting as they did when I first arrived.  I know I have the power to do this through my attitude, words, actions, and thoughts. So, though my departure here here is rapidly approaching, I'm gonna slow it down. This all makes sense to me anyway. Sorry if you can't keep up. :) haha. ironic.


Quick recap of the week. Here we go.


-I learned how to play paddle.  This is a perfect mix between Tennis and Raquetball.  Santi taught us how on Tuesday, and I am absolutely obessed.  I will never forget the goofy hats he made us wear though.  Me and Aly were laughing so hard at how dumb we looked. Of course Santi beat us, one versus two. But no te preocupes, we are totally gonna beat him soon. We played again on thursday for hours.  Paddle, soccer, and Basketball.  Santi rounded up all the neighborhood boys and made us play with them.  At first I felt dumb, but then I got over myself and had so much fun. I love how Santi is such a dad. He is now making us "paddle appointments" at the park on a regular basis.


-Went to the Royal Palace. SO MUCH MONEY was spent on this place. I can't even comprehend the intricacy of it all. I am pretty sure I am going to build my own royal palace someday.  My favorite moment was when we were all listening to our audioguides at the exact same time, and some british guy was imitating Napolean Bonaparte and for some reason we all found it hilarious. We laughed so hard and a guard SHHHsed us. I was told to shut up in the royal palace of madrid.



-El Escorial
-La Cruz de Valle de los Caídos (where Franco and other veterans from the Spanish War are buried.)
-Manazares. (this castle is fake! big let down, but prime for acting stupid with 30 other girls.

We were dancing to the Irish music playing on speakers outside this caste. I think the builders forgot we were in spain or something? Fair enough...

PROUD TO BE A SOLOMON

Tonight I spent the night in Madrid with my uncle and aunt Mike and Victoria. We walked around their neighborhood and enjoyed some authentic food from Andalusia.  DELICIOUS. My uncle told me all about Madrid, their neighborhood and a lot of the history.  We sat outside in a quiet plaza, enjoyed some drinks, and just chatted. I shared a lot of my experiences and funny stories here in Spain.  They informed me all about the culture and other aspects I didn't know before about the country and Madrid. I learned a lot, and truly spent the night like a Spaniard..just enjoying good company and good conversation. (though we did eat a little earlier than the normal spaniard, but whatever.)  Its crazy to think that no matter where you are in the world, you're family is never very far away. 

Yesterday was Jesús's birthday.  We had a HUGE feast of lamb, stuckling pig, shrimp with heads and eyes, liver of a duck, and some delicious ice cream cake thing.  Jesús just happened to wake up with a giant zit on his nose and the whole conversation throughout dinner consisted of making fun of him. I have never seen spaniards laugh so hard in my life. For this reason, I love my family. Though the language is getting easier, there is still so much I don't understand. But I do understand laughter..the language that truly transcends all.

Next episode: PORTUGAL!