Hello spring!

Hola!

Que tal? All is well here. Now that things have somewhat wound down I thought I would finally write a bit.

After such a lovely spring break I was absolutely dreading my return to work. However, when I showed up at the high school the Tuesday morning after Semana Santa I was greeted by the group of American students who arrived during break and believe it or not they (as well as their teachers) made for the most pleasant return ever. They were juniors and seniors (and one really sweet sophomore who told me I've lost my Wisconsin accent! yikes!) from Enfield, CT participating in an exchange program that my school and theirs started about 8 years ago. The truth is that having them around was great.

While they were here they stayed with their Spanish partners (who were in Connecticut in September) and went to class like Spanish students, which includes going to English class, of course. They came to my classes in groups of 2-3 and were absolute gems, letting my students ask them questions and encouraging the Spaniards to speak in English. I also participated in two big group activities with them. The first one was a kind of scavenger hunt through downtown Valladolid where the Americans had to carry a map and photos of famous monuments and ask people in the street what is was and how to get there. Of course we had to send a Spanish-speaker with each group; that's where I came in. I went with a group of 4 junior girls and they were so sweet, bravely testing out their novice Spanish on unsuspicious passersby.

The second week the foreign exchange students were here they took a field trip to Salamanca and the English teachers asked me to help chaperone!

It was a really good time but kind of odd-- the 16 and 17 year old students, the 50-something teachers, and then me haha. But, I had a lot of fun. Salamanca is truly something else. The Old City glows with golden stones of ancient Spanish architecture and the tradition of royals, saints, scholars, prostitutes and parties alike makes for quite the atmosphere. Imagine a place like Madison, in terms of its cultural/intellectual/party-school energy, with medieval buildings as its backdrop!

When the Americans left I was actually kind of sad. I hated saying goodbye to my "compatriotas"... who else was going to understand exactly where I was coming from all the time? On the last day they were here we had an after school pizza party and I was luckily able to make an appearance and say goodbye to the kids and teachers. As I told the students good luck and to stick with foreign language they thanked me and hugged me and one of the girls told me I was her hero. "I even wrote about you in exchange journal!" she said.

And that, ladies in gentleman, was my turning point. Thanks to the Enfield group I realized that my language skills really are a gift and that I've actually inspired kids during my time here. It's pretty amazing. As for the rest, I finally feel "a gusto" with my life in Valladolid. Ya era hora. Now that I only have a few months left I'm finally comfortable with everything. But I suppose that's the way it goes.

Since my marathon month of travel the last few weeks have been pretty "tranquilos." I went to Pamplona twice, which included a sweet day trip to the beautiful coastal city of San Sebastian (in the neighboring state of País Vasco) during one of the weekends.

Last weekend I went with Joanne, my roommate, and two Spanish friends, Yovana and Elena, to see the castle I went to with Josh. And this time it was open! It was worth the second trip for sure.

I also did some traveling on Sunday with a solo trip to Ávila to see the famous "murallas" (city walls). The city was breathtaking. I can't think of any other word to describe it. Even after all the places I've seen this year it was the first time I thought to myself, "yeah this is Europe."

It's the bustle of a modern city, silenced by an overwhelming wave of Roman and Gothic antiquity. And, by the way, with Ávila "tachada" from my list, there are only three provinces I have yet to visit to complete my goal of visiting all the provinces of Castilla y León.

Now for the next couple of weeks I’m just going to take it easy (finally lol), hang out in Castilla y León and try to save up some money for future trips, like the one to Italy and France that David and I have had planned and for my trip HOME in August, etc. I'm so looking forward to it.

Bueno, queridos, now I leave you for a good night's sleep. Dulces sueños!

Lots of love,

Katie