¡He acabado!

So I have a lot to catch up on! As you read from Andrea's post, I have been on two different trips so far. Segovia was gorgeous, and we got to see the famous aqueducts that were built by the Romans in the city as well as the Segovia Castle that was the inspiration for Mickey's castle in Fantasia. The next weekend, Andrea and I went to Zaragoza, which was originally a Roman city and is filled with ruins. As well as Fluvi, the mascot of the Water Expo next year. Please, go to google images and search Fluvi...he is fantastic!

Since then I've been concentrating on seeing more of Toledo, being that this is where I live right now and all. In the last two weeks I went to a bunch of museums in town. I got to see one of the Greco's most famous paintings, "El entierro del Conde de Orgaz,” which is in the Iglesia de Santo Tomé. I also have gone to the Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca, which was beautiful and really showed the mixture of the three cultures that is so visible in Toledo. It is completely built in with Arabic architecture, but is a Jewish Synagogue, and now has a Catholic altar in the front. It's gorgeous. Another amazing place was the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, which has a beautiful church and one of the most wonderful claustros, or inner patio areas, that I have ever seen.

I've also done a lot of walking around the city, have had the chance to see all of the walls and Roman bridges, as well as ruins of the old Roman baths. It is amazing at how much there is to see in Toledo, and the best part is you can get to it all by foot!

Things are really starting to get in the Christmas swing. The mall is completely decked out with lights, as are most of the streets in the city. In Zocodover they are currently constructing the Belén, or nativity scene, for the Christmas. According to our coordinator Yuki, they also do a live Nativity with real animals and everything soon!

It is fun to try a lot of the Christmas foods as well. There are three specific Christmas foods in Spain: Mazapan, Turrón, and Polvorones. Toledo is famous for its Mazapan, which is a candy made of Almond Paste and sometimes egg york and a sweet glaze. They are a bit squishy and an interesting texture to eat. Turrón literally translates to nougat, but isn't like what you find in 3 Musketeers bars. The traditional Turrón is made of Almonds and honey, and you can get is soft (Blando) or hard (Duro). Nowadays, however, there are many varieties, including chocolate, cinnamon, fruit flavored, and vanilla turrón. Polvorones are interesting. They are like little cakes, but are very dry and crumbly, but very sweet. They are very soft to eat, and the proper way to eat them in Spain is to first crush them in your hand and then eat all the powder at once. One of our professors told us the joke that a "true Spaniard" can put an entire polvorón in their mouth and then say the word Zaragoza. It is impossible!

In other news, my name is now Jeac, like in French. I went to get my hair cut, and when I made the appointment, they wrote my name down as Jeac. Funny, but not as good as Jazz.

Also...Classes are done! On Monday I finished my last exam. I am feeling pretty good and feel no matter my grades I have learn "un montón" about the language and culture, and feel a lot more comfortable with my Spanish. On Thursday we get our grades. We actually go to our professors one last time and talk to them all, get certain things handed back, and then have a closing ceremony. It's pretty cool, but I know a lot of kids find it weird to go see their professor again to get their grades. The fun part is my host mother is coming to the ceremony!

Last night, my host mother and I went to Cine Club, which is where the show a movie every Tuesday night in the Teatro de Rojas. The main reasons I went were to spend time with my mom while I can and to see the theatre. It is absolutely gorgeous! It is all old architecture and everything is beautiful. The movie wasn't that good, and I was afraid to say anything, but then my host mom whispered over to me that this was one of the worst movies she ever saw. That made me feel good.

Well, now I am off to go see a few more museums and the Catedral in Toledo, and then who knows what!