How I'm feeling

This post has no real content besides if you are curious as to how I'm feeling about being in Madrid, Spain for the next 3 months. So if your curious read on, if not see ya soon friend! 

(The photos below are from the cafe where I wrote this)

School: My professors are inspiring, exciting and want us to learn/speak spanish well. They actually care. These are the type professors I love, passionate. I only have two classes, Literature from 12:45-2:00 and Culture from 2:15-4:00, so overall its pretty short day that sometimes feels long due to the overload of spanish. But I feel like my spanish is improving. So hooray but I do have a long way to go before I feel confident! (Side note: I honestly cannot spell in english or spanish right now...its a problem!)

Friends: This has been very tough for me. I have been spoiled in the last years with friends being there for me and overall amazing. Here I didn't realize how alone I would really be. I have my roommate here and she's great, really really great! But she's no Nugget (a good college friend) or Janana (a good high school friend) or Riley or etc. I've come to accept that I need to be bold and get out to meet new people otherwise I will go crazy! It has gotten better because I've met some people from school but no one I've really connected with. I just need to remember it has only been a week. 

Riley: I miss him, obviously, but he is very supportive and so happy for me. What makes it so hard is that our sleeping/awake hours are so different. I wake up when he's going to bed (that night owl!) and we only communicate when I'm at home after like 12pm my time. But he's amazingly supportive. Gosh, I love that boy! 

Family: I miss them. I cannot wait for them to come here and see what I've been doing and where I've been living and going to school! SO excited! They too are so supportive and helpful. They made this possible for me which I am so grateful. I feel bad when I text or Skype them and complain that I'm sad or lonely or whatever because this is an amazing experience I wouldn't get to do it without them.

Physically: Tired, even though I average 8 hours of sleep. I didn't feel any real jet lag but I think I'm just overwhelmed with all the spanish...it takes a lot out of me. Otherwise I've felt good. I do think I got some mild shinsplints from all my walking which is very embarrassing..haha! But we do walk a TON! I went on a run which is a great anxiety fighter for me so I plan to do more of that. I found a little park close to home that I can run to and around. 

Food: Delicious! Though I am not picky by any means. I've only eaten one 'bad' meal and there will be a post about that later. Elena (the host mama) is a good cook and makes us three meals a day and we've tried many different typical spanish dishes. Overall we eat so much bread, cheese and ham which I didn't expect! 

Spanish: Picking up on some of the local slang and such. I understand and comprehend more but speaking is so hard! I have a feeling it will get easier with practice (duh). Also, coming up with words is hard, there are just so many things I cannot say and talk about because I lack the vocabulary. 

Anxiety: Oh anxious Sara! There have been major moments of panic but I've learn to cope. I breath, do some yoga poses, read a book, go on a walk around the neighborhood, etc. When I stay busy I'm fine but when I sit in our tiny apartment I go crazy and just start thinking and I don't stop! It's awful. Though my panic attacks have become more infrequent with each passing day, which is happy. 

So there it is folks a little recap on how I'm doing/feeling!

Much love,

Sara