Joe's Concert

Hello Everyone,

On Friday, October 28^th, after I went to the nursing home to play bingo, I went with my host family to Joe’s concert. Joe is another exchange here in Zaragoza, he’s from Iowa. He joined a concert band here in Zaragoza and plays the trombone. On Friday, his band was putting on a concert at Plaza, which is an enormous shopping mall here. There was about fifty or so people in the band and they ranged in age from 11 to 75 years old. They put on a great show and it was really entertaining. At the concert, I also saw Jose Manuel; the youth exchange officer for the Zaragoza Rotary, and his wife, as well as Joe’s exchange counselor. After the concert was over, we all went to a café, had coke, and talked for a while. It was a very calm, relaxed evening.  There are some pictures and a video below.

Until next time, Brian

Jose Manuel, Joe, Joe's Counselor, and I

Jose Manuel, my host parents, Joe, Joe's Counselor, Joe's host dad, and I

Jose Manuel's wife, Joe, and I (She was taking the other pictures of us)

 

Volunteering

Hello Everyone,

I recently joined two volunteer groups here in order to meet people as well as to stay busy and help. On Tuesday, October 25^th, I went with a group after school to help at an elementary school. The school is in a poorer part of the city with a lot of immigrants and those who are less fortunate. We tutor and help with homework after school. The children that are tutored range from 9 to 12 years old. It was a great group of people and I had a lot of fun. After we finished tutoring, the boys in the volunteer group, who are also in my class, started a soccer game outside with the students. It was a lot of fun to watch and I even played too! I played terribly but I had a lot of fun! Most of the people here that I’ve met so far are great at playing soccer and me, well…not so much. Ha, ha, ha! The group meets every week and I can’t wait to go back!

On Friday, October 28^th, I went with the second volunteer group to a nursing home. Every week at the nursing home, the group runs games of bingo. The people in the nursing home were so nice and grateful that we came to run bingo for them. It was a very fun group of seniors that were playing and I had a better time than I thought I would. I even read off the numbers! It was fun and it helped me practice saying numbers in Spanish. I’m excited to go back to the nursing home too!

Until next time, Brian

Rotary Pyrennes Excursion

Hello Everyone,

On October 22^nd, my host family, members of the Zaragoza Rotary Club, the other exchange students, and I went on a hike in “Ordesa y Monte Perdido” which is a national park in the Pyrennes Mountains in the north of Spain. My host mother, host father, and I left in the afternoon on Friday, October 22^nd to go to the Pyrennes. After about a 2 ½ hour car ride, we arrived at their vacation house in the ski resort town of Panticosa. We stayed the night in Panticosa.

In the morning, we left the vacation house to go to the national park to meet up with everyone else who came that morning. It was about a 45 minute car ride to the park. Once we arrived, we received information about the park and our destination and went off hiking. It was a 6 (3 ½ there, 2 ½ back) hour hike. Our destination was “Cola de Caballo” or “Horse’s Tail.” It was a beautiful waterfall that was long and skinny, like a horse’s tail. We saw a ton of beautiful scenery and vistas along the way, especially since the leaves are changing. When we arrived at “Cola de Caballo”, we stopped and had a picnic lunch in front of the waterfall. It was a very nice, picturesque setting.

After lunch, we began our return trip which was just as nice. When we finally finished the hike, we all said our goodbyes and everyone headed home. It was a great day all around with beautiful scenery, perfect weather, and wonderful people.  I hope you enjoy the pictures below!

Until next time, Brian

My host parents and I

Lo Que de Verdad Importa

Hello Everyone,

Last Friday, October 21st, I went with my school to a presentation/conference at Hotel Aragonia which is apparently the most expensive and fanciest hotel in Zaragoza. The presentation was called "Lo Que de Verdad Importa" which means "What Is Really Important." I went with students from my school who are in Bachillerato 1 which is the same as 11th grade in the US. The presentation really put in perspective how lucky we are. I only saw 2 of the 3 speakers because I had to leave early to go to Panticossa with my host family which you'll read about in my next post.

The first speaker was Jaume Sanllorente who co-founded "Sonrisas de Bombay" or "Sunrises of Bombay." It's an organization that is helping improve living conditions and the future for poor people in Bombay, India. Sunrises of Bombay opened schools, is leading re-development, and helping those living in poverty by offering job placement and education. The second speaker that I saw was Irene Villa. She was an incredible speaker and such an inspiration. When she was 12 years old, her mother's car blew up from a car bomb that was placed by the Spanish terrosrist group ETA. Fortunately, she survived but she lost both of her legs and 4 fingers on her (right?) hand. She spent months recovering in the hospital and years of physical therapy. Irene now has prosthetic legs. She overcame the tragedy and is a psycologist, humanitarian, and a radio personality. Irene is also a gold metalist in various sports. She also got married last year.It was such an amazing story to hear, we all can learn a lot from her about what it truely important and that you really can do anything if you put your mind to it.

Although I wasn't able to see him, the third speaker was Toni Nadal who is a former tennis professional. He is now a trainer for other professional tennis players. I really enjoyed the presentation. WE even got a shout out from Carlos Jean! He is a famous music producer that is really popular here, I'm not sure if he is known in the US. Below is the link for the website with the video of the entire presentation. I hope everyone is doing well!

http://www.lqdvi.fundacion.telefonica.com/congresozaragoza/

Until next time, Brian