So here are a few things that happened this month. February was a wonderful month and with it ending it marks me now having been in Spain for half a year. Something that´s truly difficult to believe for me in that when I look back it´s hard to believe that I´ve managed to fit all that I´ve done in only six months but then all those memorizes are so vivid that it seems weird that they weren´t all just yesterday. A conflicting feeling to say the least as I try to figure out if I believe time has flown by or if I´ve been here forever. Yet the fact remains that it will be March tomorrow, and no matter which feeling comes out on top, it is still wild to know I have had six amazing months in Spain.
Like I said the month began with our similar traditions about predicting unchangeable seasons, but also the 2nd was a day off from school only in my town of Palencia so as to celebrate their patron saint. It was ´Virgen de la Calle´ day, which if you remember is also the name of my school, and that literally translated means ´Virgin of the Street´. Don´t ask me what she did to get that name because I have no idea and no one except for me seems to find it a little out of the ordinary.
My father took me with him to Soria, another province of Castilla y Leon, where we met up with a couple of his old friends and planned out a day long hike that we would all do together. The hike was a lot of fun and we were actually able to go up high enough to see some snow. It was great to be able to hang out with only my dad and his old school buddies for a weekend and see to the Spanish version of ´Man time.´ We all had a great hike and weekend.
The big holiday in February is Carnaval which gives you a four day weekend. I spent the first two days in Aranda de Duero with my extended family and friends there then returned for the second half in Palencia. Although being the coldest weekend of the year here, Carnaval was a lot of fun and could remind one of Halloween. Some big differences are the lack of candy and each town has a big parade, but the general idea of everyone dressing up in crazy costumes and enjoying themselves are the same. Although they don´t go as crazy as people do in Rio de Jenero, a lot of people in Spain dress up in all different kinds of crazy things and like to go out and show off their costumes. It was a great time and definitely a new expierence for me.
I did two different presentations this month with one being for my sister´s class and the other being for my host Rotary Club. In both I spoke about myself and life in Montana and the differences between both countries. Being it was for my sister´s English class, I was told to talk in English and they all seemed to relatively understand and enjoy the presentation. Here is a link to a letter my sister wrote about my visit and is now on the school´s home page, http://www.blancadecastilla.es/MARCOS.HTM. I oddly can´t get you right to the document with just a link so your going to want to click on ¨Secundaria´ located at the top of the page then ´(2 ESO) Cody visits us´ under the heading of ´Inglés´. That should bring it up. They may not of understood me as well as I thought because me sister says Bozeman is very very big and then her teacher writes that David, my family´s real son, is now staying with my family in the USA. Both things that aren´t true but everything else is good and the photos nice. I also did a presentation for my Rotary Club but this time in Spanish. They probably understood me just as well in Spanish as it seems Lara´s class understood me in English. With all things concerned both went really smoothly and with extremely nice and supportive audiences .
A wild opportunity I was able to do this month was a four hour tour of my father´s factory. My father is an economist who works for a Renault car factor in Palencia and we were able to walk along the entire assembly line from the very first piece of metal to the last test drive. I had no idea how much work goes into each car and how fun it is to watch the car building robots whirl around in a sort of wild spark dance. The factor has over 3000 employees and produces about a car per minute. It takes about 26 hours from the first piece of metal to the last screw on very car with about 12 of labor going into each. It was actually a really entertaining and wild expierence to watch cars being thrown together in what could only be described as rapid puzzle display. I really enjoyed it and they dressed us all up in our own set of lab coats, reflective vests, and protective goggles for the tour. At the end they gave me a free book light which seriously sealed the deal.
One fun little thing I found out this month is that no one really eats peanut butter in Spain and my family had never even tried it before. David had recently just had some for the first time in the US and so my family was curious about what it is exactly. I tried my best to explain the theory of peanut butter and the glory of that is the PB&J. My mother then surprised me the next day with a little jar of peanut butter that she searched for all day and was just able to find in some little shop. We then had a grand time with my family´s first peanut butter tasting and the results were rather positive with everyone becoming peanut butter fans. The texture confused them and they didn´t think it was sweet enough but in the end everyone have a positive expierence. Which reminds me, Q-Tips don´t exist in Spain. No where. Don´t ask me what they use in place of them because I can´t figure it out. Helpful hint, bring your own Q-Tips.
And as always I´ll finish with my new food for the month. February is the month of fried cow snout. Fatty with little hairs that tickle you but with surprisingly tender chunks of meat as well.
Hope your well everybody and I´ll see you in March!
Cody
I just thought it was interesting that there are beer vending machines. Europes funny.
And for my friends of the Snuggie, you know who you are, this is for you. The Slanket has come to Spain
Six months! Way to go. Sounds like you've got everything well in hand and are having a good time. Not sure about the dried cow snout though,... stick with the peanut butter!
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