Futbol!!! (Soccer)

This week I experienced a lot of new adventures, and I had fun with most of them too! School is fine of course, I just bought a Sudoku booklet so when I’m not in Spanish class or practicing vocabulary, I just can do puzzles all day ha ha. But on Monday after school, I went to the gym and did some swimming, and I had my English lessons. The English lessons that I give are actually very fun, and the girls that I teach say they like me a lot. So I enjoy it. Then on Tuesday, it was really exciting. My neighbor Sara, who is 15 and lives like 2 houses away from me, has season tickets to the Reaal Madrid Soccer Team, and as you know soccer is very big in Spain, the love it and get very into it! So last week she invited me to go to a game with her! I was so excited to go. So we left from our neighborhood to the train station at about 7:30 pm. The stadium is in Madrid, but its easier to just take the train instead of the bus and metro. The train ride to the stadium is about 30 minutes away from Las Rozas. So we arrived and got out seats at about 8:30, just in time to see both the teams warm up. The team that Reaal Madrid was playing was a team from the northern part of Spain, and they didnt have many experienced players.. So Sara and I both assumed that we would crush them! When we arrived at the stadium, it was huge! I had taken a tour there like the first week I arrived in Spain, but that was when it was completely empty and in the middle of the day. When I went to an actual game, there were thousands of people and the stadium had huge bright lights. It was so cool! The seats that we had were actually close to the field, so I could see every player perfectly. When the game started, ALL the people were cheering and screaming for the team. It was so crazy. I was seating next to a group of boys that looked like they were all on the same soccer team, and they knew I was American, so they were trying to speak to me in English ha ha, but none of them really knew how. It was half time when the score was tied up at 2-2. During the half time, Sara and I just chewed on some sun flowered seeds, and it was actually quiet enough to have a normal conversation, we just talked about school and stuff. But as soon as the game resumed, it jumped right back into being super noisy!! The game was so much fun, and it was my first professional game I have seen since I have been here. We ended up winning 4-3, Reaal Madrid. Sara said that she will be taking me to another game very soon! From the pictures, the white team is Reaal Madrid, and the red is the opposing team. I can’t wait to go back for another game!

For the rest of the week, it was pretty casual. School, English lessons, tennis class, then Madrid or Heron City for a cup of coffee and a pastry. We had no school on Thursday though, well we technically did but none of the students went, really none. The school was empty. The students here strick against the school system when they change something like exams or test days. I don’t know really, all I know is that it was an extra day to sleep in! On Friday though, after my tennis class, Segundo and Marina invited me to go to Segundo’s sisters house for a family dinner. She lived in Madrid and was having a birthday celebration dinner. I went of course, and ended up having a really good time. I had already met everyone that was there, Marina’s nephews and nieces, Segundo’s older and younger sister, and their husbands, and some other people. We just ate Spanish cuisine and drank some wine. I didn’t really know what they were talking about most of the time, but it was fun listening to them. We ended up staying until super late, so I couldn’t hang out with some of the kids from my class, I was too tired! Besides the next morning, I had to get up really early, for Marina, Segundo, Claudia, and me were going to Torrela to visit Marina’s parents.

Torella is about a 3 1/2 hour drive north from Las Rozas, and it is a very small town. Its so Spanish, with the white, old houses, and the dirt streets. The people there were all very nice, and it was a beautiful area. It was considered in the “countryside” of Spain. We arrived to Marina’s parents house at around 12, and I was so exhausted from the car ride. But we didn’t stay at the house for very long, because Marina’s parents wanted to take me to a bull fight! Of course I said I would go, I haven’t been to one yet! When we got to the stadium, there weren’t a lot of people, because the people doing the bull fights were not very popular. I didn’t care though. There were 3 boys, and one girl! I thought that they had to get all dressed up in ridiculous outfits, but they were just wearing black. After some warming up, they let the each bull out one by one and then the fight started! After an hour of Olle! and screaming, it was over. I was happy too, I didn’t like the bull fight, I felt so sorry for the bull, and I had to watch them hurt it while everyone was cheering and yelling for it. Though I got some great pictures, I don’t know if i want to go to another one for awhile. I mean I’m sure I will go again, but maybe not for another month ha. After the bull fight, Marina took me to a castle that they have in Torella, Castillo de Torella. It was so pretty, and it was on a hill so I could climb to the top and see all of the town and past beyound it. I took some pictures of it, and I plan on going back to see it again. After the castle, we met up with some of Marinas long time friends in a tapas bar. Tapas are little appetizers of  different Spanish foods, its a very typical Spanish cuisine. Marina ordered me a Vino con Falda, its red wine with a lemon soda, it was very good. The tapas we had were a variety of fish, chips, lamb, and potatoes. It was quite interesting, and some of it didn’t look very appealing, but I tried them anyway. So I met some of Marina’s very good friends, and none of them spoke English so I had to use the Spanish that I knew. I wasn’t that bad either! That night we all just at dinner and talked. I was very exhausted from my day, so I went to bed early. The next day we got up super early again, and drove back to Las Rozas, because Segundo had a soccer game he wanted to go to with his friends. It was a very pretty little town, and the castle was so cool! Sunday is always a lazy day for my host family, they like to just relax after a long week of working. So we just hung out around the house and we went to lunch at a little cafe near by. I met up with a girl from my class later in the night and we went and got coffee at Heron City. I also got a chance to read some Spanish magazines, and she quizzed me on some of the words ha ha. Its nice talking with her because she speaks English really well, so she can help me when I need help understanding some Spanish words.

Now I am just about to watch a movie Julia gave me, and I am going to sleep. One more week of school, and then my mom and Caroline come and visit me! I can’t wait for that. I probably will be to busy to write my blog next week, so I will write a big one about my mom and Caroline’s visit once they leave. So I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, of course we are not celebrating it here, sense it is clearly just an American Holiday ha. Though on Thursday night there is another Rotary meeting, and we will probably have a sort-of Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t know, it won’t  be the same, and I will definitely miss the great food I always have at my house on Thanksgiving this year! But anyways, hope everything is going good in the states, and Happy Thanksgiving again!!

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