July 5 (day 7)

I'm finding it hard to believe that it has already been more than a week since I have been in Spain. Time has gone by so fast. The days in Madrid definitely flew by.

A lot has occurred in the days I ceased to write. Last friday, the 2nd of July, we visited the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía, a worldly-famous museum with a vast collection of 20th century art. We gave special focus to Spanish artists like Picasso, Dalí, and Miró. We compared the old Spanish masters that we saw in el Prado, like Goya, with the 20th century artisits. We contextualized their work with the Parisian Vanguards (like cubism, surrealism, etc.) and in relation to postwar Europe (such as Tápies, for example).

The main work of the museum was Picasso's "El Guernica". We learned about Picasso's work and its influence by the Spanish Civil War. We learned that those works in protest of Francisism were examples of political art.

That afternoon Esther gave us free time to walk about the city of Madrid. I remember getting the people who were following me with my map lost because I had taken a wrong street. That was when Cesar and Ramon downgraded me from wolf pack leader to wolf pup and told me I must work my way up te regain my wolf pack leadership status, which I most definitely intend to do! :D

The following day we visited Toledo. It was raining and as we left Madrid on bus, I would look outside the window and see how beautiful all the reflections of the buildings and the cars looked on the wet streets. Toledo was a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Madrid. It was a very gothic medieval-looking city with a very vast and complicated history. A guy on the bus was going on and on about its history through a microphone, and its complexity made me space out a little.

What I was able to take notes on, though, was that Toledo grew to be of great importance during the Roman times. After the fall of the Roman empire, Toledo became capital of Spain "visigótica", or visigothic. Toledo then enjoyed a golden age with the coexistence of moors, jews, and christians. Toledo then became the first major city to be conquered by the Christians from the Muslims during the Reconquista in the 11th century. For some time during the 16th century, Toledo became the capital of Castilla, and the city flourished. Its was until the Spanish court was then moved to Madrid that Toledo's importance dwindled but its poorer economy allowed it to conserve its antiquated architecture. Today, Toledo is a country with rich heritage that receives plenty of tourism.

What impacted me the most was its age and how it all looked untouched since the 16th century or so. I found my self just looking at the streets and feeling transported to the time when Toledo was living a golden age.

One of our activities that day included completing yet again another scavenger hunt, only this time the scavenger hunt asked us to talk to locals and ask them questions about their opinion of the city and the way of life in Toledo. This time I was paired with Anna and Roland, who are both wonderful and hilarious which made the hunt all the more fun.

Talking to the locals made me see how absolutely warm and talkative Toledianos really are. One old man, I remember, we spent a good half hour talking to. What started off as an interview ended up as a casual talk and him telling his life story in Toledo, his family, his experiences, and such.

I also remember meeting up with Cesar to watch a part of the World Cup game where Argentina got beat by Germany. The game was being played everywhere and crowds would form to watch it. I remember thinking to myself how cool it was how much Spaniards loved soccer. Even if it isn't their own country playing, they still show great interest to any game.

Yesterday (Sunday, July 4th) the day finally came when we were to get on the train to Valencia and meet with our host families, with whom we will be staying for the next 16 days. It was hard to find the reasons why, but I was slightly nervous, as I always get when faced with the unknown.

The only information I had received prior to my meeting with host family was that my host parents are called Mari-Carmen and Fernando and they are both te achers. The have two fraternal twin sons of 18, Joan and Ferran, and a daughter of 15, Carme.

At the train station, Fernando, Mari-Carmen, Carme, and Joan were waiting to pick me up. While Esther was sorting everyone to their families, my family was telling me how this was their second year they hosted an experimenter. They also told me that where I will be staying is actually their summer home (or as they called it "xalet", pronounced "sha - let"). Where they live throughout the year in La Llosa, which is a small pueblo of about 4,000 inhabitants about over an hour away from the city of Valencia.

When it was time to leave, I quickly said goodbye to my friends and wished them all luck on their homestays.

At my family's xalet, I met Ferran. I was so happy to see that their xalet is conveniently located one block away from the beach in Alboraya, which is on the outskirts and about 10 minutes from the actual city of Valencia. They were telling me how in Alboraya it is the best place in Spain to get Horchata, which is a white, sweet, milky drink very typical to Valencia.

The apartment, since its a summer home, is really small. There is a room for Fernando and Mari-Carmen and a small nursery that they use as a second room, big enough for a bed and a pull-out. This is where me and Carme sleep. Joan and Ferran sleep on the couches in the living room area, which made me feel really bad but they assured me that it was perfectly fine and that they slept there all the time.

To sum it all up, I living with a lot of people in a very small amount of space. Although this is different to what I am accustomed to, I feel like I am easy with adapting. It'll be like my camp in Maine where we would squeeze twenty girls into one cabin.

Today I spent the day with Carme and Joan and a few friends at the beach and the pool.