Today was our first full day in our home stay families. When I first arrived, I was nervous beause the Spanish dialect was somewhat different than the Spanish that I am used to in school.
Regardless, from the moment I met my host family at the train station, they were incredibly welcoming! As the day has passed, I have begun to understand them with greater ease, and it seems like they can understand me better as well.
I had written in my host family letter that history was one of my favorite classes, and luckily for me my host family lives very close to a famous historical site. Where most of the Harpeth Hall students have host families in Valladolid, my host family lives in Tordesillas, a city slightly southwest of Valladolid. This is the same town where the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed 525 years ago, "dividing" the world between Spain and Portugal. Though the clauses of the treaty are not upheld today, it is a very important history, especially for Spain, who ended getting much more territory from the treaty than Portugal because much of South America had yet to be discovered at the time of the treaty. It was such a cool experience to see a document that I have studied in history classes in person! During the same outing, I saw the place where the tower where Juana la Loca, the mother of the first king in the Hapsburg dynasty) was, which was also very exciting, despite the fact that the original building is no longer standing and there is currently a street through that site. Finally, we toured an ancient convent. It was beautiful, and I was very surprised to find that the nuns still live there today!
After our history visit, my host sister, Julia, took me to her friend's house in a pueblo called Berceruelo to teach me how to play a Spanish game called Jugger (pronounced yog-gher). The general premise is that you either have two foam swords, one foam sword and a shield, or one long sword. The other people playing will have one of the combinations you do not have. The goal is to hit everyone else without getting hit. It reminds me a bit of fencing but with more running and action! Afterwards, Julia's friend's mom made us all a tortilla, which is like an omelette made to serve multiple people. It is a very traditional Spanish food, and I am glad I tried it!
Overall, I fell like I'm getting into the groove of homestay! Tomorrow, I am going to school with one of my host sister's friends because my host sister is a few years younger than me. I can't wait to see what other new experiences are just around the corner!
No comments:
Post a Comment