Holy cow, I've already been here for over a month!

Only eight months left - already?!! I can't believe the last month has gone by so quickly. It's definitely had its ups and downs, but I'm continually reminded that this is where I'm supposed to be. Halloween has come and gone and the kids at school (as well as myself and the other assistants) had a blast. I don't think American schools do as many Halloween activities as we did. One of the other girls I work with, who is actually from North Carolina as well, took pictures and is sending them to me so I can share them with you. We had so many decorations that the kids made and we taught our fifth and sixth graders how to make mosaics, which was tons of fun. Lots of the younger kids in my school along with a few of the teachers dressed up on Friday. It was kind of funny because they all dressed up as witches, devils or zombies with few variations. Halloween is a much newer holiday here, but I have been told it continues to become more and more popular every year. Kids in more residential areas, like the one my school is in, go trick or treating, but in Madrid we just saw kids walking around in costumes with their parents and young adults dressed up on their way to clubs.

The day after Halloween was a little challenging. I was feeling extremely homesick, so my roommate and I decided to go to an American used bookstore/coffee shop for the afternoon that I had found online. It was exactly what I needed. Honestly, just hearing people speak English in a public place was very comforting. I also found a couple of new books and had the best cup of coffee (with Splenda!) that I've had since I've been here. They also have what is called an "intercambio" two nights a week where I can go to speak in Spanish for a while with a native Spaniard and then in turn, speak in English for a little bit with he or she so we can both practice our speaking skills. I cannot tell you how many times I've told people here that I understand a lot more Spanish than I can speak, so this would be a really good opportunity for me to improve and to meet some new people.

I finally made a trip outside of Madrid yesterday to a small town called Segovia, located to the north-northwest of Madrid. It was beautiful! It took about a two hour scenic train ride to get there, although we took the speed train back, which only took around 25 minutes. Here are some pictures:

I had to take a picture of the view from our train on the way out there. My roommate and I both brought books and our iPods for the train ride, but didn't need them because we were so enthralled by the view.

Here's another picture from the train. I was so excited to finally see some leaves changing colors! Not as pretty as North Carolina, but I was so happy to see that not every tree in Spain goes straight from green to brown.

This is a Roman aqueduct that was built around the 1st or 2nd century and is still in use today.

Next we visited a gothic cathedral (Catedral de Segovia) built during the 1500s. I wish I could have taken pictures inside - Mom definitely would have appreciated the massive pipe organs!

Then we made our way over to the Alcazar Castle. I've never seen a castle, much less been inside one, so it was quite the experience, and the views from the top were beautiful.

My knight in shining armor!  :-)

We climbed 150+ stairs to the top of a tower in the castle, but the view was definitely worth it. The stairs were a bit of a challenge though!

View from the top of the tower.

So, that's it for now. There's a good chance we will take another day trip this coming weekend, but I will keep you posted!