Life is about exploring and learning

6:30 AM and Aliza and I are sitting in the airport ready to board the plane.

Looking out at the pitch-black sky, it has finally hit me.

A feeling of sadness has swept through me.

We have been in Madrid for 6 weeks; it is a place that I have begun to call my home and now I’m leaving it… I’m returning back to my real home, where life will continue but the memories of this past summer will never be forgotten.

Bryce once posted on her Facebook wall: “It's sad when people don't broaden their horizons and experience new things. You can't live in your own comfort zone forever. Life is about exploring and learning. What will you ever learn when you are doing the exact same thing over and over again and surrounding yourself by the same things? If everything you've done, everything you've seen, and everyone you've met has completely the same value… what's it all worth?”

I know many people were against Aliza and I going to Madrid for the summer… “you’re crazy,” “what will you eat,” “why Spain?!” “what were you thinking!?” while others were so excited for us to go through such an experience and could not wait to live vicariously through us.

There still are times when I just ask myself, what the heck was I thinking and why did I do this? There are times when I wonder if it was worth lowering my GPA just for an experience like this. There are times when I question if I have learned anything from the new friends I’ve made…

All I can say is that this experience has changed my life.

It has made me see the world in a different way. Between spending 6 weeks in a country that I can hardly speak the language, having teachers that I cannot fully communicate with, making friends with people that are totally and completely out of my ‘bubble,’ I can say that I have learned a lot, matured a lot, and have become more aware of my surroundings.

This experience has been amazing and I cannot thank all of you enough for being with me every step of the way.

For those who weren’t so happy with me going, I hope that you see how amazing this trip was for me, how much I’ve grown, and how much I learned from this.

For those who continuously encouraged me to go and have a great time, thank you! You guys pushed me to keep going even when I was crashing at the beginning (and a little bit in the end).

To the friends I’ve made here, thank you for giving Aliza and I the chance to be normal… to be interested in our religion and helping us the way you did. I don’t know what I would do if you didn’t want to turn on the bathroom light on Shabbos because ‘you felt like it.’  Or going out of your way to go to the farther store because you knew there was ben & jerry’s.

To Aliza, there just are no words. I’m still shocked neither of us have killed each other throughout all of this. Being able to spend literally 24 hours a day with you, 7 days a week, I have learned so much from you and had so much fun too… YA KNOW!? I still don’t know how we decided to do this trip, but I am so happy we did. It was amazing going through all of this with you and I don’t think there would have been a better person to go with then you… Italy next summer?

And of course, to my parents… who have made a HUGE investment out of this trip. I know it was a pretty penny, but I hope you guys know how amazing this trip was and how grateful I am for having you as my parents….

THANK YOU!

Thank you all for living vicariously through me the last 6 weeks… I hope you all laughed, cried, and enjoyed reading this…. Thank you for letting me share my stories with you and for letting me vent and complain when I needed to; you all know how I love to talk, and what a good way when the time difference is 6 hours away….

Like Bryce said, it’s important to experience different things in life and learn from  different people. Real life is a tough place. You can’t stay in your comfort zone forever… the sooner you learn and the more willing you are to understand, the easier the real world will be.

The Last Shabbos… Is it REALLY over?

It still hasn’t hit me that I’m leaving.

By Friday morning, Aliza and I just had such an eventful week, that all we wanted to do was sleep. But as our last day, how could we!?

We woke up early to go shopping in El Corte Ingles, but as always, I found nothing. We went for Starbucks (my new best friend) and then went on our way to the Chabad House to FINALLY help cook for Shabbos!

We have been so excited to help that we basically RAN there. The problem was that it is brutally hot outside that even though I was wearing one layer (yes mom, ONE layer!), I was soaked through by the time we got there!

Cooking with them was just as fun as we had hoped. When we got to them, they started taking pictures of us to send to their kids (they have so many kids and they are all over the world, that they send weekly updates and pictures…. WE MADE IT IN!!!). Then the cooking began. We helped them make A LOT of different salads, cholent, and chicken soup.

When it normally takes them 4 hours to do, it took an hour and half!

They were so grateful and so excited that for the first Friday in what they said was years, they could actually relax on a Friday and not have to cook so hard.

When we got back to the dorms, it started to drizzle… something weird for Spain.

Our afternoon plan of going to the pool was canceled and instead we ate lunch with Brenna (obviously) and then Jenna and I had a mani party, in which I polish her nails and my own nails.

At 4 o’clock, when we were bored and Shabbos was not for another few hours, we decided to go to Lavapies (a few metro stops away) for coffee.

We are unsure why, by many people told Bryce to go visit Lavapies. When Aliza and I looked it up on the Internet, we were told that it was the ghetto- area of Madrid. Trusting Bryce’s opinion, we decided to go along… but once we got off the metro and saw where we were, we RAN – literally, RAN back onto the train.

With mine and Aliza’s get up outfits, and the bright blue eyes and clothing we were wearing, we KNEW that in a matter of minutes we would get mugged, raped, or who knows what!

Instead, we went to Puerta del Sol – aka our HOME, and went to Dunkin Donuts.

Shabbos came around at 8:00 PM as always.

Because it was so hot, Aliza and I decided to take the metro to get to shul. We were so excited to spot the tourists in shul and immediately found all 20 people that would be going to Chabad with us for dinner.

When dinner started, thunder and lightening began… followed by RAIN. Not drizzle like in the early afternoon, but real RAIN.

Dinner was definitely an adventure:

6 Argentinian’s

2 Israelis

2 Storch’s (Rabbi Storch from DRS’s parents)

1 boy from Toronto

2 girls who live in the Heights

1 girl who made aliyah and was traveling alone.

Once you know that someone is traveling alone, you know it’s BAD NEWS. Not only was she a health freak and critiqued everything that the Rebbitzen (and us) made, but she was just annoying and with the lack of sleep Aliza and I have had, all we wanted to do was KILL HER!

The two girls who lived in the heights were no different! They were the epitome of the “Blue Fringe” song about girls who meet in Me’ah Shearim on Fridays (yes, you know what I’m talking about!). With their squeaky voices and dumb questions, you wanted to zip their mouths shut… but we had to be nice because of course one of them knew Aliza’s sister in law!

The Argentian’s were great! 3 kids and 3 adults, they only spoke Spanish. The kids were adorable and while cleaning up their table, I actually practiced some of my Spanish J.

The Storch’s were super. They were just really fun.

Normally, when Aliza and I would be in public and would want to talk about someone, we would speak in Hebrew, but this time, in order to avoid people hearing what we had to say, we spoke in Spanish! It was really too funny, because as we would speak, we would constantly be correcting each other… (just goes to show how much we learned!)

Saturday morning was really sad for us.

The time really came to say good-byes… Starting at 6:30 AM, we got knocks on our door for goodbye hugs.

Everyone was on the same flight together, so Aliza and I got up to say goodbye to everyone at the same time.

We stood by the door, helped everyone into taxis and waved goodbye, yet - it still wasn’t hitting us that we were leaving.

Yes, we had packed and yes, our rooms were empty – but the summer has gone by so quickly, it still feels like it’s just beginning!

We had our usual Shabbos morning of shul and lunch, but then sad our good-byes to the Chabad family, which was sad.

We had become close with them in the last 6 weeks that spending Shabbos without them next week may be really sad!

We spent the rest of our afternoon sleeping because we hadn’t slept all night… when Shabbos was over, we spent our last night walking through Puerta del Sol (again) and then went to sleep because our flight to LONDON is at 7 AM!

It still hasn’t hit me that this trip is over… the time really could not have passed faster…

The Last Hurrah....

It's crazy that this trip has come to an end.
We knew that once T'sha Ba'av would pass, that would be it. It would be all over... and the time has come.

We took our finals on Thursday, said good bye to the non-A.C.ed building that we have spent a long time in. There are mixed feelings going through my head... I am SO happy to be finished with school but if school is over, the summer is over, too.
We have been preparing for the summer for so long, what now!?

Thursday afternoon, after finals were finished, we sat in our rooms in question of what to do with ALL the free time we had! We were going to go to dinner and Choeuka at night, but it was only 2:00 an we had the entire day.
So, as our last trip we went to a museum...as if we hadn't been to enough in the last 6 weeks!

We went back to the Reina Sofia to see the Kusama exhibit, which was really fun!
Although we didn't fully get what her point was, each of the rooms were set up in different ways, so it was more hands on then just staring at "Mary and the Milk."
There was one room filled with polka-dots that I was in such awe by, that I got lost from the 'group' for a half hour. I had no idea where they had gone and looked everywhere, but then decided to give up. I figured I would find them eventually and returned back to the polka-dot room, where I stood and STARED until the room began to spin... When I finally walked out, I found Brenna + Aliza who brought me into the room that THEY had been standing in.
It's as if these rooms put you into a trance, you get sucked in!

Once we got bored, we went to Starbuck's (obviously)... I have a horrible cold, so a hot coffee would be the perfect trick, right!?
But, NO.
Only after having the coffee, did I get even more sick... between not having slept for 6 weeks and everyone else being sick, my body had fallen apart.

Dinner was really nice; the group had come together for the last time...
We met Shana's boyfriend which was super cute (he brought me and Aliza peanut m&m's because we've been craving them!)
For the first time, everyone liked dinner... although the food was Mexican and not Spanish, everyone was really happy. Oh how Aliza loved her Diet Coke.

There were no emotional goodbye speeches, no teary eyes, and no reminiscing... it still doesn't feel like we're leaving this country.
We've been here for so long, but it feels like it's just the beginning and our friendship with these people have just begun.... It's sad to think that we will never be with them again, but we will hopefully be brought together again one day, in New York, around our Friday night shabbos table!

T'sha Ba'av, 2011

T'sha Ba'av:
- The First Beit HaMikdash was destroyed
- The Second Beit HaMikdash was destroyed
- 1492, the Jews were exiled from Spain
It's hundreds (even thousands of years later) and sadly, we feel nothing towards it.

Going to shul for Eicha was weird because we had no idea what to expect. Aliza and I only remember Eicha in camp and we knew that being in shul would not be the same.
For the first time, there was no security to question why we were here and what synagogue we were apart of at home. There was no one asking Aliza and I how we were friends and how long we were in Spain for.
We were relieved from the moment we walked through the door, but were then saddened to see that shul light were dimmed and it was very quiet.
It was an eerie feeling but thought we would be relieved when we saw people in shul but there was no one and  we were heartbroken.
Where are all the people?
Not only are we commemorating both Beit HaMikdashes but we're in Spain where we were kicked out 600 years ago. Now, we're back. We have proved to Spain that we can still survive and thrive without living in Spain; we have proved to them that we are stronger then they think... yet, there was no one in shul.
So in the end, they have really won the 'war'.
Maybe everyone is on vacation at the beach just like last shabbos... that is our only hope.

Being that the shul is Sefardi, Eicha was not how we are used to.
They start of with kinnot and go straight into Eicha... there is no fancy "Eicha yashva ba-dad..."just like we are used to...
In the 5 perakim read, four men took turns reading a perek. It was nice because there were no microphones like we're used to in camp... just men using the strength they had to belt out the words of Eicha.
The last perk was then read in unison by the four men who had read the previous perakim. It was beautiful hearing their voices together and together, their voices gave hope for a better future.

With the ending of Eicha, the lights were turned off and a yizkor candle was lit.
At that moment, they said (in Spanish) how many years it has been since the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash.
It was VERY powerful and very intense.

With the handful of people in the room, the moments spent together was of both sadness and hope.
It was more meaningful then expected and all we can hope is that next year, our T'sha Ba'av will be one of happiness and not sadness.

It's almost over... our 2nd to last shabbos and LAST SUNDAY (In Madrid, that is)

I'm unsure whether it's because of the 9 days or it's been five weeks already that there's nothing to do here!

Shabbos was nice. It's vacation time, so everyone goes to the beach. That means shul is empty and town itself is desolate.
The Chabad house was empty, too.
Normally, there are a few couples but this week there was no one. It was nice because there was more food to go around :) but sad because there were no weird people to talk to! It was nice spending time with the Goldstein's though; they consider us part of the 'furniture' now...
When we first got to their house, they wouldn't let us help out with anything. We needed to sit through the entire meal and weren't allowed in the kitchen - but this time, Mrs. Rebbitzen (Shifra) finally let us do something!
Not only that, but they told us that next week there would be 20 guests (yes, 20!) and when we offered to help with the cooking this week, they actually accepted!

Just like last shabbos, we spent most of the afternoon in bed - sleeping, reading, and of course...eating! (We are so sick of the food we have, that as we plan our trip to London, all we talk about is what restaurants we're going to go to!)
Bryce and Jenna were hilarious, yet again.
They would constantly make comments about how they turned on the bathroom light because they felt like it, and questioned aloud what THEY needed to do.
They're really funny about it and make shabbos here so much easier... what will we do when we go home and we don't have a shabbos goy!?

This Sunday was our only Sunday in Madrid.
On Sundays in the summer, there is a HUGE street fair called El Rastro.
The place is jammed pack with not only tourists but natives also... and the B.O. is just awful!
We spent 2 hours walking around, looking for something that's worth buying... everybody bought something but, I obviously left with the same amount of money in my pocket!
We walked back, stopping in Starbucks (where I had a fabulous coffee!) and then McDonald's, where Bryce and Jenna ate happy meals.... not that i've ever been into a McDonald's at home, but the one(s) in Spain are quite nice! ... too bad we can only rave about how comfy the chairs are and not how good the food is!

With nothing left to do in this huge city, I spent the rest of the day walking up and down the streets, hoping to find something worth buying to remember my study abroad in Madrid - not that i'll ever forget this...

A Week in Review...

What a let down... school started again!
But it's okay for 2 reasons:
a) We got free t-shirts
b) It's only 6 days

Tuesday was our second placement test.
When we walked into the room to take the test, we were shocked to see so few people! We realized that the program is really a month program and college starts before this program ends, so there are only a handful of people here for it.
The problem we had is that because there are so few people, there are few classes... so while taking the test, we had the choice between failing - so that we go down and level and be bored, or doing well  - and have them push us up 4 levels.
What to do....
After having struggled with the HARDEST teachers last semester, I decided that in order to keep myself sane, I would go down a level and be the top of my class...
So now, not only am I bored - but I have become the class translator, so it's fun.... sometimes!

There are very few people in my class:
Me (obv), Tawanda (on my program), 3 guys - one from Syria, one from Turkey, and one from Bulgaria, and a couple from Vietnam.
The most common language is english, which is great... but the guy from Bulgaria knows no spanish and no english, so it's really hard to communicate - considering that he spends more time texting then anything else!!

Tuesday afternoon, Aliza, Brenna (Bryce + Jenna), and I went to Plaza Ciebles. We decided that it's important to see every statue on the Madrid post cards, and this was one of them!
Right across from the major Post Office in Madrid is a little round-about with a huge statue of a women with lions. At night, it's beautiful because there are blue lights and water coming from the women's hands, as if she is whipping the lions
We were so excited to go and see it, but when we got there we saw that the statue was on a round-about island, and there is no way to get to it without being killed by ongoing cars and traffic.
Instead, one must stand FAR across the street to see it and take pictures with it... what a let down!
We were quite distraught, so we walked back to school, picking up Ben and Jerry's on the way.

At night, Aliza and I went to the Chabad Rebbitzen's shuir. It was about the building of the 3rd Beit HaMikdash. The best part: it was in Spanish... we're not sure if her spanish was easy or we just learned the information so we knew what she was saying... but let's just say, we felt pretty smart after the shuir!
It was really exciting to actually know what's going on when someone speaks in a third language! ... maybe we're on our way to trilingualcy! (...yes, I know that's a made up word!)
When the shuir was over, the Chabad Rebbitzen (who is now Shifra to us) told us to take a spanish book from the Chabad library to learn! We took a Chicken soup for the soul-type book (it's Jewish of course) but now Aliza and I need to actually learn from it because she might ask us questions on shabbos...AHH!

Wednesday, after our first real day of school, we went to see the Royal Spanish Palace.
It was an hour and a half wait and while normally, we would give up and come back another day, we decided to stay and wait.
It was actually one of the longest waits in the world but the palace was AMAZING. It is by far one of the greatest beauties of Spain... nicer then the palace in Seville; it was just stunning. If I had the choice to live there - I would.
The tapestry, the carpeting, the ceilings... the amount of gold and chandeliers... it was really so gorgeous.
The entire time walking through it, all I could think was: "Wow, would mommy LOVE the flowered carpeting..."
When we got back to our dorms, Aliza and I quickly kashered the microwave to make our dinner. Normally, we 'cook' in the afternoon in order not to bother people who wanted to use the microwave - but since we were running a little late, the process went through dinner.
A guy was waiting for the microwave and we were taking too long, so he got one of the head cooks to make us take our food out of the microwave... don't ask Aliza how her dinner was that night, because uncooked potatoes are not satisfying!
While we were quite pissed about dinner, a good thing happened.... the looney's from shul who took our number on the train called us to offer us their left-overs... 'cuz every day we're hustling... we don't really need anything, but you know - if they're offering we'll take it!

Thursday was spent at the Thyssen Museum...we used our tickets that the people from the first shabbos gave us, saving us 5.50euros!!
Though the art happened to be great and it was one of my favorite museums, I promise you, if we go to one more art museum - i'm going to pull off Van Gogh's other ear!
On the way back, we stopped at a Starbucks and I found out that the milk they use is Kosher, so I could have!!!!! After having gone into many Starbucks' with Brenna, this was one of the best days... I finally had a good coffee!
We concluded our great day with pizza dinner and baked potatoes as our makeshift french fries... but don't worry -- this time the potatoes were cooked through!

Segovia, Segovia... what a tiny town!

For the first time, Aliza and I went on a trip with other people... BRYCE AND JENNA!
As it's our last touring day, because school starts tomorrow, we decided that we would go to Segovia, a little city, an hour away from 'home.'
We slept a little later today and went on our way... it's interesting how the price for a there&back is cheaper then getting into a bar in this country (just saying).

The town was tiny and we decided that instead of making a plan like we always did, we would just walk around.
When walking through town, you cannot miss the HUGE Roman Aqueduct.
It takes up the ENTIRE town.
It was really amazing to walk through it and hear about how they made it.
...too bad there's no more water flowing!

We went to the Plaza Mayor and ate lunch in a gazebo.
Romantic much? I think so.
Too bad we didn't have champagne and flowers... but PB sandwiches (ham and cheese for Bryce and Jenna) are just as good!

We then continued on in Walt Disney's footsteps to the Alcazar's Palace.
Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's palace after this palace.
Dating back to the 1700s, we saw everything! From the beds they slept in...to the knights armor... to the guillotines that people were killed in....
From there, for an extra 2€, we climbed 152 stairs (at our own risk!) to the top of Juan II's tower. 
Being afraid of heights, it was a MAJOR task but the excitement of what was at the top kept all of us going... until we got to the top and... THERE WAS NOTHING!
What a waste!
All we saw was the same view of the tiny city as we had seen when we were at the top of the aqueduct... 
but who would've thought that going down would be worse then going up! Certainly not I!


The way back 'home' was great!
Jenna and I sat in the front row of the bus and jammed with the bus driver...
Forget the 9 days when Christina Aguilera's "I'm a Genie in a bottle" comes on the radio!






P.S. - It's SEGOVIA and not GENOVIA for all those who think I may have seen Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries!

A day in Seville.

Waking up early on a Sunday morning is the worst feeling in the world... 7:15AM is just NOT okay! 

Walking out on the streets in Madrid that early on a weekend, is unheard of. The streets are desolate because Sunday is their shabbos in which nothing is open.

So why were we up, you ask? Aliza and I were taking our very last Renfe trip to Seville. 

A two hour train ride was much needed after we woke up so early; we slept the entire time.

When we got to the train, we didn't expect to see anyone... but low and behold, when we got onto the train, sitting infront of us were the loonybins from Shul! Again, they asked us how Chabad was and again, we told them how great it was!

They were going to Cordoba - the stop before Seville.

On their way off the train, they took our number that way when they return to Madrid and have left over food, they will call us so we can pick it up.

...Because every day we're hustlin'...

In Seville, we met our tour guide, Moises, who was one of the few Jews left in Seville.

Born and bred in Seville, Spain, he was married to a convert but one of the 8 men in the shabbat minyan. He was great - even gave us a 'student' discount (again,...Because every day we're hustlin'...) and took us on a tour of all the hot spots of Seville.

We started off at the Plaza de Espana which happens to be in every city. Seville's was the nicest one we saw.

The architecture was amazing and the sight was really spectacular. There were gondolas in the water like in Venice, quadricycles, and horse and buggies all around. There were fountains all over and of course... the sun was out!

The coolest part: A few minutes of the Star Wars movie was filmed in the Plaza de Espana in Seville. (don't ask me where / who / which but that's what they say!!)

From there, we went into the old Jewish Quarter.

In the late 1800's when Jews were allowed back into Spain, this was the first city that they came back to. Before 1492, Seville was a thriving city. Jews lived near the King because the King protected them. Although they were not forced to live there, most Jews lived in an enclosed area to ensure their safety. Parts of the wall are still standing, which makes it easy to find the Jewish Quarter. Sadly, there isn't much left because of a tornado in the 1700's. Most of the shuls were transformed into Churches, but there is hebrew writing all over the place and many streets have Jewish names, like "Calle de Levies."

There are also Jewish legends and myths about a girl named Susana and there is a street called "Calle de Susana" after her.

Although we did not go in to see Christopher Columbus' grave, he pointed out to us that he (or part of him- the other half is in Santo Domingo) is buried in a church near Charles V. Let's just hope that Columbus really isn't Jewish, or else it could get awkward when Mashiach comes!

We went to the Alcazar, the home of King Peter I.

It was cool seeing all the artifacts from the beginning of the 15th century. 

Of course the walls and ceilings were redone, but there is A LOT of gold painted on the ceilings... what a waste of money!

Moises also pointed out that the Spanish royal family still stays there today when they go to Seville!

At the end of our tour, we stopped at the saddest part.

Moises brought us down to a parking lot and brought us to a corner, where he showed us the remainders of a cemetery that was from the 1400's. 

He explained to us that while plowing in the ground to make the parking lot, they came upon a Jewish grave sight.

Most of the graves were dug up and brought to the Museum of Seville, but this ONE was left to show that this was once a cemetery.

It's sad what the world has come to... but it definitely gave Aliza and me a good mindset while going into the 9 days... (even though when we got back we had meat!)