Medieval Festival and General Strike in Spain

Hello family and friends!



Sorry I have been so bad about keeping up with my blog.  I really am going to try and be better about it, I promise!  This past weekend, there was a Medieval Festival in the Canovas Park.  The park runs all the way through the middle of the city, and there were stands set up everywhere--there were Kabobs, Crepes, Hotdogs, Hamburgers, jewelery, puzzles, soaps, candy, teas from around the world, etc.  It was pretty cool!  There were people parading through the park playing Medieval music, as well as hoops of fire!

Today (Wednesday) there is a general strike in Spain.  When I was walking through La Ciudad Antigua (the Roman part of the city) I saw all of the people getting ready to march through the city.  There were hundreds and hundreds of them--so many that I needed to take a different route down to the Plaza Mayor!

Also going on right now is the hazing for the freshman at the University of Caceres.  The upperclassmen have been parading around with the freshmen, painting all over their faces and arms and chanting.  It's definitely been a cultural experience this week!
My orientation begins tomorrow after siesta.  I met two of the other girls who are in my program, so we are going to catch a taxi together and go together.  I am really looking forward to the orientation because I am anxious to know more information about what I will be doing and when I will start.
I hope you all are doing great.  Keep me posted on how things are going back in the U.S.  I miss you all.
Love,
Kate

Getting Settled

Hello there!
Today is my 5th day in Spain, and I am just now starting to get used to the time change.  For the first few days I couldn't fall asleep until at least 4AM, and I was sleeping in until 12:30PM! My friends, Mari and Kelly, met me at the airport in Madrid, and then Mari and I got on the bus to Caceres.  My host mom from study abroad was waiting at the bus station, which was a lot of fun.  It was wonderful to see her again and it was nice to see how excited she was to have me here again.  She helped me get all of my suitcases to my flat, and the first night there was a welcome party with a mixture of some students I know from last time and some new students.
It's a lot different this time because I don't have all of the other students from Kalamazoo here with me.  I am trying to keep myself busy, but that is hard when you don't know many people.  I had lunch and siesta the other day with Katy (my host mom) and we went to visit her daughter, Rebeca.  I really miss having that "family" here to go home to.  I seem to be spending a lot of time alone so far.  I have 3 roommates, but they all left for the weekend.  I've just got to get used to this new lifestyle, which I am sure will get better once I start teaching.  My orientation isn't until the 30th, though, so until then I am going to need to keep myself pretty busy.
I hope everyone back home is doing great.  I miss you all a lot.  I've been trying not to think about the huge Atlantic ocean that separates us.  Keep in touch and take care of yourselves.
Love always,
Kate

Pre-Departure

Hi everyone!


It's only 6 days before I head back over to Spain, so I have created a Blog so that people can follow what I'm doing.  I get into Madrid on September 15th around noon Spain time, so 6 PM here.  I plan on going straight to Caceres to check out my new flat, unpack, and catch up on sleep (AKA get rid of the jetlag).  I hope everyone is doing well.  I will miss you all dearly, but know that I will be thinking of you often.  The next time I update, it will be from Spain!


Besos,


Kate