March - the Best Month So Far

As most of you probably realize, it's been a good while since I last updated, and honestly I don't even know where to start! March has been the best month of my exchange so far, filled with accomplishments, friends and amazing trips. It was also quite shocking to find my return flight information in an email from AFS one day; on June 29th I have a morning flight back to Zurich, then back to New York, arriving back in the States at around 4 in the afternoon. By now you've done the calculations: I have three months left in Spain. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, part of me misses my friends and family but the other part has completely fallen in love with this country and their culture. For now though, I am trying to focus on the moment and make the most out of every day.

     EXAMS
Back to March, though! The first week of March I had three solid days of tests in schools for second trimester, and that was a pretty stressful experience. Tests here are harder than in the States because they are usually between 5 and 10 questions and determine the majority of your grade. Often, instead of a question the teacher will just put (for example) "Literatura de siglo XV" (Literature of the 15th century) and as an answer you write EVERYTHING that you know about 15th century Spanish Literature. In all honesty, I really do not like the school system here, but I feel so thankful that all my teachers are kind and that I have art classes. Also, somehow I passed all my classes for second trimester! I was absolutely sure I was a gonner in Lengua, but my teacher told me that I had really, really improved.

"Congratulations Autumn for your attitude and strength"

      SEGOVIA
The weekEND after exams, I went to Segovia with a bunch of AFSers. It was beautiful, we visited the giant aqueduct built by the Romans, as well as the Cathedral and a Castle. In this case, I think pictures speak better than words.

in the train - spaghetti candy!

to try and give you guys a scale of how huge this cathedral is, that wardrobe back there was easily twice my height, and I couldn't even get the beginning of the ceiling in this picture!

organ

the cathedral from afar

      LONDON
After we got back to Madrid that night my host dad picked me up and took me to a friend's house in Alcorcon, because the next morning my class was leaving early for London! Her and her family have been really sweet to me ever since I met her on my first day of school, and she actually lives in the same building that my old host family lives in. The next morning we got up and headed to school so we could all take a bus to the airport. Around midday, we arrived in London to snow and a fierce, chilly wind, but pretty much immediately headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and extensive collection of art, including fashion and furniture, from around the whole and different time periods. That evening, we met our "host families". Me and two other girls in my class were staying with a woman named Mrs. Walmsley and her son. She was very kind, and cooked a whole bunch of food that I really enjoyed (Shepard's Pie one night, another time she made an Indian curry).

The next day we visited Buckingham Palace and got to see Big Ben and the Thames. We also got to go up in the London Eyes, a contraption similar to a ferris wheel and powered completely by the Thames. Afterwards we headed to Camden Town, famous for it's open markets and having a lot of peculiar fashions. I bought a huge burrito straight off, haha, a lot of you have probably heard me complain that there isn't Mexican food in Spain. I also bought some clothes, it was quite the experience bartering and trying to come to an agreement on a price.

Wednesday, we went to the British National Museum, which contains artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone and the mummy of Cleopatra. Then we were off to Convent Gardens, which isn't a garden or park but a large, semi-indoor market. After lunch, we went to Chinatown and then Regent and Oxford streets which have a lot of higher-end shops.

Thursday we headed to the Natural History Museum and saw the dinosaurs. The thing about London's museums is that you could easily spend every day for a month in ONE of them and there would still be things you hadn't seen, and we never got more than two hours or so (I definitely plan on returning to London one day). After lunch we went to London Tower and Tower Bridge, then walked down along the river to the Tate Modern Art Museum, then went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which was so, so beautiful. We were able to listen to evening choir there, and it is definitely one of my strongest memories of the trip.

Friday morning was our last time in London, but we managed to squeeze in going to the British National Gallery, my favorite experience of the trip. Under one roof, we saw paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Claude, and countless others. I adore going to art museums (The Prado in Madrid is one of my favorite places to be) and I am so happy I got to see so much beautiful art while I was in London. Our flight to Madrid landed that evening, and it was a bit of a relief to be home. However, that thursday Semana Santa (Spring Break) would begin, and I'd be off on even more adventures.

classmates

leaving Madrid

explaining to British Security why one American was traveling with a bunch of Spanish kids was fun. I got a two stamps in my passport though

The Underground

Victoria and Albert Hall

so very London

outside the Palace

Big Ben

on the London Eye

view from the top

Rosetta Stone

coffee with soy milk, scones with jam and cream

first edition of Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'

The Shard, currently the tallest building in Western Europe

Tower Bridge

class photo

St. Paul's

     MUMFORD&SONS
Thursday night (the 21st) I went to a Mumford and Sons concert in Madrid, and it was a fantastic concert. The crowd was so into it, singing along to every song, and the band tried to speak Spanish which was really funny. I uploaded part of one of their songs to Youtube, which you can check out if you want: I Will Wait

     CAMINO DE SANTIAGO
As if this post wasn't long enough already, AFTER the concert Erik, Lani and I took the metro to the airport and spent a few hours sleeping on the floor there before going through security and getting our flight to Santiago with Benjamin and Sofia. We met up with two guys from Catalonia there and went off to explore Santiago a bit before our bus to Sarria later that day. Us and about 40 other AFSers would be walking 111 kilometers (about 70 miles) from Sarria to Santiago over the next five days, completing the last part of the extremely old Camino de Santiago, traditionally a religious pilgrimage that many people start on the border of France and Spain, although it stretches up through a good deal of Northern Europe. Some people walk, other bike or ride horses. It was an amazing experience.

The only day it didn't rain much was the first day, but every single day after that we were subject to rain and wind. Everything we owned became wet and muddy, but (for me at least) I couldn't have cared less. We walked between 20 and 30 kilometers (12 and 18 miles) every day, starting around 9:30 and ending around 5 or 6, taking an hour or so break for lunch. After reaching the Hostel in the evening we all would take very hot showers and attempt to dry out our clothes and all squish together in two or three beds, talking and laughing. Throughout the week we all came to know each other very well, and I can honestly say that I adore and admire every single person who was there. AFSers are such an amazing group of kids who are resilient and kind beyond words.

On the 27th we got up and left before the sun had even risen so we could make it to Santiago in time for midday Mass in the Cathedral. I arrived around 11, through down my backpack and began running around the plaza, so incredibly happy to be there, although a little sad to know that the next day we would all be going home and the experience would be over. That night, some of us stayed up until 3 AM (well, we stayed up late pretty much every night but usually were all asleep around 1 or so...) talking, dancing and reminiscing about the amazing time we had had, showing each other the crazy blisters we had gotten (actually I didn't get any, haha, I think I was the only one). The next day, Sofia, Benjamin and I got our flight back to Madrid, and then headed home to rest up for the last few days of Semana Santa.

Santiago

nice cafe we found

first morning - we all look so dry!

benefit of lots of rain: it's crazy green

end of the first day, also the last time I saw the sun till I got back to Madrid

in the pouring rain. The conch is traditionally worn by peregrinos (pilgrams) durante el camino

a more accurate sign

dancing in front of the cathedral

If you've actually read this entire post, way to go! Sorry it's so long, but that has been the amazing month of March. I hope April, May and June are just as great, and I apologize for being out of touch with a lot of people. Miss you all a bunch, and see you in three months!