A Spanish Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone,

On Sunday, November 27th, we had Thanksgiving here in Spain! There is no Thanksgiving here in Spain being that it is an American holiday. But, my host mom knew what a special holiday it us for us so we put together a Thanksgiving dinner/party that we celebrated with my host dad, sister, aunt, uncle, 2 cousins, and grandmother. We celebrated on the Sunday after Thanksgiving because we had school and work during the week. I made place cards and Marta and I put together a fall themed center piece.

We had vegetables, mashed potatoes, soup, stuffing, and chicken. We looked for weeks for a turkey but we couldn't find one. We even looked into special ordering one but they don't have full turkeys here like we do in the US. I even made stuffed celery, I don't think it is very typical of Thanksgiving but we always have it at my house in the US. We also made chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. My mom sent us a package with a pie pan, a pie recipe book, Thanksgiving recipes, decorations, special Thanksgiving chocolates, and apple cider mix. Thanks Mom! All was thoroughly enjoyed!

It was a special day for all of us, I was able to enjoy one of our most important holidays and my host family was able to experience something different that is part of American culture. Although I was missing my family on Thanksgiving, I did have a very special and enjoyable day with my host family. I'm very grateful that my host mom brought up the idea and put it all together with me. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Until next time, Brian

'Turkey'

Stuffing

From left to right: My host cousin Laura, Aunt Ana, Marta, Me, Jose,

Grandma 'Yaya', cousin Maria, and Ana (my uncle Lorenzo was taking the picture)

My host dad Jose, host grandma 'Yaya', and I

Pumpkin Pie

Cathedral and Winery Tour

Hi Everyone,

On Sunday, November 20th, I went with the Zaragoza Rotary Club on a day trip to a village about an hour and a half outside of Zaragoza. When we arrived in the village, we went on an interesting tour of a beautiful cathedral that was being restored. It had such amazing detail! After the tour, we all walked around the village for a little bit which was very enjoyable. It was a very quaint little town.

We then got back on the bus and went to a "bodega" (winery) that is owned by one of the Rotary members. We took a tour and learned about the wine-making process. Finally, we had a great catered lunch at the winery. Being as it was a winery, there was a TON of wine during the meal that ended with Rotary members singing and dancing with napkins on their heads. Let's just say it was good that we took a bus!

After the meal, we loaded up the bus one last time and headed back to Zaragoza. It was a very interesting, enjoyable, and fun day!

Until next time, Brian

City Art

Hello Everyone,

A while ago in November, I went exploring a bit and took some cool pictures of graffiti and paintings in the city close to where I live. I hope you like the pictures!

Until next time, Brian

Gym

Hello Everyone,

I joined a gym here a while ago. I first joined "Virgin Active Health Club", it's the same company as Virgin Airlines, Mobile, etc. It is a really nice gym and I really enjoyed going. I went just about everyday. But, it was pretty expensive. It cost 65 Euros a months which is about $85 a month. I've since switched to "Metropolitan Health Club and Spa", it is just as good as the other gym, even a bit more comfortable. It is closer to my school, bus stop, over looks the big park in Zaragoza, and you get towels to use everyday which is nice because I don't have to bring one with me. Also, it costs 52 Euros a month which is about $67 a month. So far the new gym is going well although I'm still getting adjusted to it. If you're interested, you can check out the gym's websites below.

Until next time, Brian

Metropolitan Health Club and Spa

Virgin Active Health Club

Alicia's Car

Hello Everyone,

I don't remember the exact but I have a funny story that I want to share. One day after school, I went to meet my host mom Marta at her car in the parking lot after school and my drawing teacher was there in her car in which the battery had died. I'm not exactly sure how it works but with stick-shift cars if you get it moving and pop the clutch the right way, it'll jump start the car. So, my host mom Marta and I kept pushing Alicia's car in the parking lot while she was inside trying to start it. When we ran out of room, we pushed the car back in the other direction and started over. We repeated this about 10 times but we were unsuccessful. Alicia eventually called for help but I though it was a funny story. It reminded me of the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" when the family would always have to pushed their Volkswagen Microbus to get it started and then would run to jump in the side door.

Until next time, Brian

Gallocanta

Hello Everyone,

Now that I'm on break from school I hope that I will finally get my blog up to date! On November 12th, 2011, I went with the other exchange students Maggie and Joe and Joe's host dad who is the director of the park service of our province of Aragon to Gallocanta. It's a huge lagoon about an hour and a half away from Zaragoza. It's part of the national park service. It's famous because everyday at sunset you can see 30,000 cranes migrating and landing in the lagoon! It was quite a sight (and sound!) to hear! It was a very interesting and enjoyable day! I hope you enjoy the pictures below!

Until next time, Brian

Photo Credit: Maggie (I didn't have my camera)