I have a door at least!

Well, progress is being made, I now have a door that will lead me to the place I will call home for the next 4 months. I will be living with a women named Marisol and her husband I believe, though I am unsure since my program is still extremely vague as to what my actual living situation will be. I have a roommate who is in the same program as I, I can't wait to meet her! Only 19 days until I leave, I'm still frantically searching for the perfect backpacking backpack, and maybe a lightweight jacket to wear under my perpetual rain jacket. Spain seems to be the only thing that my parents are able to talk about when they mention me to friends and family, right behind my big interview coming up with Florsheim Shoes! It seems that as time passes, we all get older, and as I get older I seem to be able to do cooler and cooler things. I'm quickly scribbling this all down during my 45minutes of internet at Starbucks while visiting my grandparents in Kentucky, so I will leave off here, until next time!

Snowballs and sleighbells and warm woolen mittens...These are NOT a few of my favorite things

According to the weather channel last week in good old St. Paul we received about 18inches of wet, icy, cold snow. One would think that after the countless blizzards and an infinite amount of snowflakes that have fallen upon the Twin Cities St. Paul would have learned what a snow plow was, and how to use it...but I digress. Amidst the "winter wonderland" I was facing last week, I was dreaming about the new wonderland I would like to refer to as "Spain." Now "Spain" is experiencing the weather that frequents the cities during the fall, and I will be able to avoid too many layers of clothing while abroad.

Obviously I have been writing this blog for a little while now, dedicated solely for my adventures, stories and ridiculousness that I will encounter, but this blog has also earned me one more thing: a job. I was chosen to be the official blogger for the IES Madrid program. Not only was I chosen as a written blogger BUT also a photo blogger. Yes, a couple hundred dollars doesn't seem like much, but i figure I'm doing this one for free, and it was money i didn't have before, so I'd like to say I came out ahead. It's a pretty big deal, there were lots of applicants, and for some unknown reason I was chosen out of the crowd; maybe it was my witty banter, that I'm not even sure how many people read, but I can prove my former English teachers that I amounted to something somewhere along the way!

Quick Blurb, Then Back to Finals

My Visa came, according to my sister, which means I no longer run the risk of being an illegal immigrant in Spain, and means that I have to come home after 6months for sure...double edged sword I must say. I have yet to see it so I'll let you know what the cool shiny sticker looks like! Sorry I can't update anything else, too many things to memorize and study. So I'll leave you with some cool unique facts about Spain:

• Spaniards stand close and frequently touch one another on the arm while conversing...guess my personal bubble will be popped
• Accepting a second serving is one of the best ways to show appreciation to the cook...this may be a problem...for my jeans
• Teenagers usually begin dating in groups around age 14 and as couples at age 18...for my high school readers, some motivation...
• Rather than call on a girl at her home, a boy often meets a girl at a prearranged site...avoid the parents? another pointer for the youngsters ;)
  
• It is slightly more than twice the size of Oregon...this one I had to put up for Bex, and her odd obsession with Oregon
• Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in order to find the New World...that's when he came and found us (pun intended)
• Madrid is Spain’s capital city and it is located directly in the center of the country...bullseye!
• The tooth fairy is not recognized in Spain. Instead, they have a tooth mouse named Ratoncito Perez!...the idea of a mouse scurrying under my pillow at night is very disturbing