My first full week in Toledo

Monday, January 18^th - Thursday, January 21^st: First week of classes

To be honest, the first week of classes for me was very overwhelming and difficult. I feel as if I am still adjusting and trying to get comfortable here. I found it funny because on Thursday, I attended an optional 30 minute class called “Project Iceberg” taught by one of the program coordinators, and the girls in the class were at stage 2 – or at the low end of the happiness meter, whereas the boys were still at the high end of the happiness meter. The program coordinator said that us “feeling down” is completely normal, and that it will get better soon, it is all part of the experience!

Here is a list of the classes I am taking. They are all in Spanish of course! I think for the most part, I am going to like them all. I have class Monday – Thursday, and I don’t start until 12:55 p.m. every day! In the mornings, I will spend my time catching up on sleep if needed, doing homework, visiting a coffee shop in Toledo, and anything else I need to catch up on! Also on Wednesday mornings starting in February, I will start volunteering at a school and helping in a classroom as part of my service learning class! I am looking forward to getting into a routine soon.

Introduction to the Studies of Hispanic Linguistics

The Cultural Heritage of Spain

Master Painters of Spain

Service-Learning and the Immigrant Experience in Spain

After a tough week, I decided to go to the chocolate store and buy these special cookies in a special box as a little reward to myself. I wanted to share some of my cookies with my host family, so when I got home I explained to them that I bought these as a “gift for myself” to say “good job Sarah you finished your first week of classes!” and they laughed at me when I explained this to them. I shared some with them though and it was a fun evening.

Also, before I returned home on Thursday, I met up with a girl who lives in Toledo and is studying English. Her name is Maria, and she is seventeen years old, so it is her last year of high school and then she is going to study medicine in a university – she is very intelligent for pursuing English and medicine at the same time! Jackie, my buddy from home who went on this program last semester, also met up with Maria while she was here! How this time works is that for half the time, Maria and I talk in Spanish, and for the other half, we talk in English! It is a good way for each of us to practice the language we are learning to a native speaker! So we just walked around the plaza and talked for an hour, and it was really fun! Maria’s English is very impressive (she is definitely better at English than I am at Spanish haha!)

Friday, January 22^nd: Excursion to Madrid

On Friday, our school group took a trip to Madrid! All the students met at the Fundación at 10 a.m. and then left for Madrid on an hour bus ride.

The first thing we did when we arrived to Madrid was drive around in the bus a little while a tour guide talked on the loud speaker about what we were seeing outside of our windows. Then, we went to the Museo Del Prado where we walked around with a tour guide who explained to us various paintings in the museum. We weren’t able to take pictures while we were inside the museum, but I got excited and snapped a selfie of myself with what I called the “heary thingy” that we put up to our ears throughout the time we were walking through the museum so we could hear what the tour guide was saying.

After the museum, we went to the buffet restaurant for lunch. We were all very hungry! Here is a picture of my plate. It was a little bit of everything and filled me up good!

After lunch, we had free time to explore until the bus left for Toledo at 6 p.m. Myself and two other students just walked around and followed signs to the major attractions. Here is what we were able to see during our free time!

Jardines de Sabatini and the Palacio Real! Looking at the Palacio Real was my favorite part!

La Catedral de la Almudena

Plaza Mayor – there was a lot going on in the streets while we were there. There were many people dressed up as characters, it was a little strange – I spotted Pooh Bear!

Plaza de España

Madrid is very different than Toledo with its big city feel and tall buildings. I liked visiting Madrid, and I plan on returning during my time here, but I am glad to call Toledo my home for the next three months. Toledo is a quaint town with a more antique feel. I am glad Madrid is easy to get to so I can have the big city feel when I want it too!

Lastly, I saw at least three Starbucks during my time in Madrid! I got a latte before we left for Toledo, got to love my Starbucks!

Until next time,

Sarah Hess

The City of Toledo (in a very general nutshell)

On Saturday, January 16^th, I learned so much about the history of Toledo (even when I took notes, I couldn’t pick up every detail and then when I looked back at the notes, I knew I was missing a ton) through two ways: (1) A school group tour with professional guides in the morning, and (2) Conversation with Javi at the café and in the car in the afternoon. I wanted to share a little bit what I learned! Bear in mind, I was not able to catch everything because everything was in Spanish, but here is what I remember learning:

First of all, Toledo is not the capital of Spain (Madrid is), but it is a very important city. It was especially important in the centuries past during the wars. The influence of the Roman Empire, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Arabs is what makes the city what it is today. My tour guide explained Toledo as the “religion capital of Spain.”

The river. A very important part of Toledo. First, it is huge, and second, it supplies water to much of Spain.

An angel figure on top of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. This was the first university in Toledo, and it is a very important part of the city – and the building is beautiful!

Plaza de Zocodover…notice the arches. This is the main plaza in Toledo and it is where I get on and off the bus to go to school and return home!

Cathedral de San Juan – the largest Catholic church in Toledo. Toledo with their many churches and convents were thriving during the times when King Ferdinand and his wife Isabella lived here in Toledo, but when they moved to Madrid, so did everyone else. I believe Toledo used to be bigger than Madrid until this happened. After this occurred and leading up to today, churches and convents of Toledo started turning into museums and universities.

There are sooooo many old convents in Toledo. Many of them have been turned into museums now. Here is one of many famous convents in Toledo called Santo Domingo el Antiguo.

This is the coffee shop Javi and I sat at, and across the way, you can see houses on the hill. Javi called them “cigarrales.” They are where rich people moved to and bought lots of land to use for gardens. I didn’t know exactly what those houses across the river were when I first got here, so now I know a little bit more about them!

You can’t see it really well from this picture, but Toledo has the largest hospital in all of Spain and Europe!

Toledo during the day (took this picture with my school group), and Toledo during the night (took this picture with Carmen and Javi). The highest point on the left is the Cathedral de San Juan. And the highest building on the right is the Alcazar Public Library. There is a café on the top floor where you can see the entire city, and I plan on visiting this very soon!

I’m sure I will keep learning more about this beautiful city as I continue my stay here!

Until next time,

Sarah Hess

My first couple days in Toledo!

I have only been here a few days, and I feel like I have done a total of a few weeks’ worth of learning! Even though it has been pretty hard at times, I feel like after these three days, I am finally starting to adjust. Everyone keeps saying just wait 10-20 days, and you will see how much you feel adjusted and how well your Spanish improves even in that short of time. So every day, I wake up and say to myself “I can do this – for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Do not be discouraged, because He will be with me wherever I go,” and then I start the day with a “just try your best” attitude. Thank you to everyone at home who is encouraging me, and I am praying for and thinking about you guys every day in all honesty, no matter how busy or crazy each day might be. Here are the important highlights of my first three days in Toledo:

First Day – Thursday, January 14^th

Our plane landed in Madrid at 9 a.m. (it was supposed to land at 8 a.m. but we had about an hour delay in Philadelphia). The plane ride was shorter than I thought it would be - 6 hours and 18 mins. I slept a little on the plane, but definitely not a full night’s sleep! Then we hopped on a bus to Toledo and then we were expected to function as though we slept in a bed that night, but I was so tired! The program coordinators who met us at the airport and took us on the bus told us not to sleep because we had to adjust to Spain schedule, but I accidentally fell asleep for like 30 mins on the bus - I couldn't keep my eyes open!

It didn’t hit me until we were actually driving into Toledo, I am actually in Spain! The bus stopped on the edge of the city because it couldn't make it up the narrow streets and the hills with all our luggage in the bus. So we had to get off and load our luggage onto two trucks (since there is so many of us). The truck was really sketchy and I didn't think it would make it up to the school, but it did! So we hopped back on the bus and went to the school, which is on top of a hill (there are a lot of hills). Then we got off the bus, waited for the truck to bring our luggage, unloaded our luggage from the truck and went into the school. Our school is called the Fundación José Ortega y Gasset, it used to be a monastery. 

So once we got into the school we went into the cafeteria and waited for lunch to be served. The program coordinators welcomed us, they are all so nice, and then we ate lunch. Lunch was really good and hit the spot -  they serve one main dish and then have a separate table for vegetables and salad, plenty of food. After lunch, we did a tour of the school. After the tour, we had a host family meeting for the students living in host families. Bear in mind the tour and this meeting were all in Spanish now and I am exhausted, it was a little rough! And then they gave each of us our bus pass and info about our host family and then I got super nervous because we all filed downstairs to meet them. All the students stood on the stairs and the families were standing on the first floor. They called our names one by one to greet our host families while everyone was watching you. We did the "dos besos", kisses on each cheek, greeting. I was one of the last ones to be called, but I knew what my host family looked like because I remembered the picture from my friend Jennifer's blog. Only the mom and the little girl Carmen were there waiting for me. So my name was called and I greeted both the mom and Carmen and then we went into the cafeteria for a snack and coffee and to chat. The mom waited at the table while Carmen and I got coffee and water. I was so nervous. I told Carmen I liked her shoes (they were the sparkly kind that light up when you walk), and I asked her what her favorite color was and how old she was (she is 9). So the mom, Carmen and I sat in the cafeteria for a while, they did most of the talking and I just answered basic questions about myself. Carmen is so sassy to her mom, it was kind of funny to watch. They talked to each other really fast, but when they talked to me they slowed things down and made it simpler which is good. After that, we walked to go drop off Carmen at her violin lessons which was right next to the school. Then my host mom and I went for a walk around Toledo, and she showed me how to get to the bus stop from the school and we even took the bus to the house. My host mom and I went to the house and she showed me everything. She kept telling me, “our house is your house”, and told me to grab food whenever I am hungry. I have my own bathroom and my own bedroom - the bedroom is pink and has a lot of Carmen's books and toys in it.

After that, we took the bus back to the school, picked up Carmen, and then drove home. It was probably about 8:00 now at that time. Carmen played the piano for me and had me pick out songs she should play. Then Javi (the dad) came home and so I got to meet him. After that we ate dinner (so around 8:30). We ate an egg bake thing, but it had vegetables in it. And then they brought out some chicken and I had one piece of that. They kept telling me to eat more, but I told them I was full. For "dessert" in Spain they have fruit, so I had a piece of fruit. I was getting really tired at this point and kind of wanted to be done speaking Spanish. And then Carmen was watching Disney Channel (same shows as in the U.S. but Spanish voice overs) and she offered me ice cream so I couldn't say no!

After I was done with that, I went to my room and was coming to realize how tired I was again. Carmen came in and was playing with my Pooh Bear and talking to me and showed me her collection of lip gloss. Then I went to shower and back to my room and I fell asleep right away.

Second Day – Friday, January 15^th

Today we had to be back at the Fundación at 9. My host mom drove me there today after she dropped off Carmen at school. We had a test right when we got there - just writing and grammar so the professors know that we at least have some experience in Spanish. I bombed the grammar though (literally), it was kind of hard and I had trouble remembering stuff. After that we had time to kill so my two friends and I went for a walk and tried to remember how we get to the bus stop from school. We got lost, but it seems as if you can always find your way back, we did find our way back so no worries! The streets are so windy here and super narrow. I don't understand how people drive their cars but they do - not slow either so you got to watch out for cars while you are walking. The buildings are really old and cool. There are little shops EVERYWHERE. 

Once we got back to the school I had a meeting with my professor to set up my classes. I am taking four classes and I don't start classes until 12:55 everyday...but I end at 6:10 almost every day. So I will probably eat lunch at school and spend most of my time in the afternoons at school getting homework done.

After the meeting with the professor, I had more free time. So we hung out and chatted and then had lunch at 1:30. After lunch we went for a walk again and got lost again, haha. We walked up so many hills!!! It was a tiring walk - getting my workouts in that is for sure!

I stayed the whole day at the school because we had a meeting at 7 p.m. where the program coordinators told us more information about the program, and then we had a special “welcome dinner” with lots of appetizers. 

I returned home very late because the welcome dinner went on for a while, around 10:30 p.m., and only Javi was home because María Jesús (host mom) and Carmen were at the “pueblo” of María Jesús’ mother. María Jesús goes there every other weekend to take care of her mom, and sometimes Carmen accompanies her. Javi and I talked for a little bit and then I was off to bed. Completed day two!

Here are some pictures:

This is my two friends, Emily and Chalena, and I on our walk. My friend had a selfie stick so we used it to take a selfie!

Carmen likes my stuffed animals I brought (yes, I brought stuffed animals, you are never too old for stuffed animals even though it is a little embarrassing that I brought them). This picture makes me smile :) 

A quick note: Why do I feel the need to blog my experience?

This one will probably be my longest and my most boring blog (the other ones will be more themed and not just a list of activities of what I did), but I thought it was important to go through my first few days here.

My blog is a way to condense all that happened into the more important and interesting things. I may not always be able to update the blog right away. I might write something, but then not post it for a couple days or a week later, but my blog will still serve as a way to keep friends and family back home updated, and a way to keep track of my memories!

All packed and ready!

Today I officially embark on my study abroad trip as I hop on my flight to Madrid, Spain. Well actually I have a layover in Philadelphia and then head to Madrid. From there we will take a bus to Toledo where I will be spending my next three months!

My emotions have been scattered throughout this final week before my departure. I have been anywhere from very nervous and anxious, to ready to go and excited, but it has overall been good. I have had quality time with family and friends (it is going to be sooooo hard to say final goodbyes), and God has really worked this week as well throughout my thoughts and emotions upon departure. Now, I feel ready and I feel strong in Him.

Although today marks the day of my departure, this journey has already started and been a long time coming. Throughout this pre-departure season, I have learned to accept that there will be many challenges to face coming up, but they will be the good kind of challenges – ones where I will grow so much that I wouldn’t want the situation to be any other way. I have learned to dive in head first, fully trust in God, and to not be scared. Most of all, I have come to further understand what it means to be excited in a “I know this is going to be a once in a lifetime experience” kind of way.

Next time I will be writing from Spain!

Until then,

Sarah Hess 

Packing.

T-minus 5 days to departure, and as you can see, my suitcase is not yet packed. But not to worry, I have everything that I need laid out it my room, it just hasn’t made it into the suitcase yet!

Although it is a large suitcase, I only have so much room to fit my belongings, so I need to be strategic on what to bring and what to leave behind. There is no room for something useless or something I will use only once. Also when you are traveling, it is more enjoyable to pack light – why carry extra baggage if you don’t need to?

MY PACKING LIST:

First I will put in a sweater of confidence to keep me warm on those chilly days when I feel like I just can’t do it. 

Second, a pair of pants with one pocket filled with excitement, and the other, joy.

Third, adrenaline socks to wear with my shoes because I know the first day I get there I will be very weary from traveling, but will still need energy to get through orientation. 

A dress of adventure.  A necklace of a “I’ll try it” attitude.  And most importantly, a purse with zippers to fill with the many lessons I will learn along the way.

A Spanish dictionary to equip myself for a semester filled with hearing and speaking Spanish. A host gift for my Spanish family to show my appreciation of allowing me to stay in their home.

A scarf of excitement to wrap around me on my travels. Journals to write down my thoughts and experiences, and pictures of the people I love to remember that back home they are praying for me and already proud of me.

Anxiety, fear, loneliness, homesickness…I know these belongings may find their way into the small pockets of my carry-on, but they are not to be intentionally put into my main load.  I do not want these dragging me down in an already full suitcase!

Last but not least, God will be the steady and unfailing handle of my suitcase, carrying all my weight along throughout my journey.

That is all for now as I prepare for departure, stay tuned!

Leave a comment and help me out! What should I make sure to pack? What should I make sure to leave out?

God bless,

Sarah 

A new adventure

I am moving into my spring semester of my sophomore year at the U of M, and embarking on my study abroad experience to Toledo, Spain. I leave on the thirteenth of January and return at the end of April. I will be taking all Spanish classes to fulfill my Spanish Studies minor. My goals are to improve my Spanish speaking skills as well as be immersed in a new culture by living with a host family, taking Spanish classes, traveling throughout Spain and interacting with the people of Toledo. As I prepare for my trip, I am filled with excitement, but also very nervous. Being away from Minnesota, from familiarity, from family and friends for this long will be very challenging for me, but I know that all the challenges I may experience with being away from home will be worth it. My prayer is that this experience allows me to grow as a person and grow closer to Christ as I trust in Him like never before.

I appropriately named this blog One Chance because this is my one chance to study abroad for an entire semester, and to live in Spain as a student abroad for nearly four months. Following the theme of my already established One Strength blog, I also have a theme Bible verse from Joshua 1:9:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to study abroad for an entire semester, and I know that God will be with me during all my adventures, in the good and the bad, from beginning to end.

Here’s to a new adventure, Spain here I come. Join me by keeping up and reading my posts about my adventures. I will try and update this blog as much as possible, as well as continue to write to my One Strength blog. Your prayers for my preparation and safe travels are much appreciated.

God bless,

Sarah