Update/Orienation

Last weekend we have the midway orientation. On Friday we took a bus from Madrid to some small town an hour away that I really don't know the name of. I honestly don't know why they had to take us to a hostel so far away considering we didn't leave it that much. So, Friday I just met other AFSers in Madrid because this was my first orientation since moving here, we had dinner, and then we went to a bar for a couple hours to hang out. I'm pretty sure none of us slept very well that night considering the hostel itself wasn't heated very well and we only had a fairly thin blanket... Nonetheless, we were up bright and early the next morning to begin a day filled with the infamous AFS activities. Laster in the day two representatives from Amnesty International came to talk to us which was actually pretty interesting. That night we weren't allowed to leave so me and a few other girls clustered around one of the heaters and went to bed around 12. Sunday was more of the same until our bus at 4:30.
Basically, it was really nice to meet the other students living in Madrid but the orientations aren't always as fun as how they described them in the blogs last year haha.
Last weekend my family and I spent a day in Chinchon. This is this old Spanish town that is about half an hour away from Arganda del Rey. We ate lunch in this cute restaurant with a really nice view of the plaza. Then we went to this bread shop with this insane lady who told me the longest story that I didn't follow at all. I believe I did a very convincing job of nodding my head and laughing at the right parts though. After, we went to quickly look at some ruins that were unfortunately closed. It was so windy and cold though, we couldn't stay for long.
Two weekends ago my family and I spent a full day of sightseeing with my Spanish grandparents. First we went and took a beautiful telly ride trip over Madrid. I know there is something like this in New York but I have never been and I don't understand why because it is so much fun. It's like a wonder wheel but not as sickening. After that we visited the Temple of Debod which is an ancient Egyption temple that was transported over to Madrid piece by piece and then reconstructed. It's also located in this really pretty park with a great view of Madrid. We saw some people practicing a really cute marriage proposal type flash dance thing that I wanted to be a part of but it was family only. Then we had a quick cafe outside of the palacio real and visited the church of Madrid. We continued to walk around Madrid for a little bit and saw so many places that I had never been to before. It was just one of those days where you realize where you are and how lucky you are to be there. Sometimes it just comes in little moments in school and you realize that you are studying abroad in Spain and you feel a little giddy. Sometimes I realize I am just not appreciative of the opportunity I have. I'll waste time on my computer or thinking about New York and it just brings me down. Considering I have less than four months left here I need to make sure they are memorable.