A great Sunday!

Last night I babysat my cousins and slept over at their house. They are always perfect and the older one pretty much tells me what to do so I always feel bad getting paid :/ Had a great breakfast of churros and hot milk then went home and did some homework. Went to Las Rozas (a town) with my brothers and dad and came to this go-kart racing facility, Silvia met us there. It was super cool, the track actually bridged over itself in one part and all of the workers had working headphone radios (like the ones the pit crew/boss/guy has). After that I came home and rushed to get ready to catch my bus only to realize I hand't been looking at the hour hand of my watch and actually had another hour. I sat down and ate some lentils and rice, then the boys let me know if I wanted to be in Madrid at 2:30 I had to leave at 2. Waited for my bus for about 10 minutes, it took about 30 or so to get to Mocloa (where I can catch the metro), and Emily met me there. We then went to another station by metro, then to another by "train," its basically the same as the metro, then we came to daylight at El Sol. We walked around watching street performers, went to a bakery, shopped a bit, went to McDonalds and had Mcflurries, then went back to the same bakery so I could buy my family some croissants. Emily took me all the way to my metro and told me to "Facebook me when you get home!" From there I took the metro back to Moncloa and hopped on my bus. Traveling around Madrid is so easy! I plan on doing it at least once every two weeks now! I was home around 6:45, and it was already super dark. No one was at the house when I got there so I changed into my PJs and watched some TV. Silvia, Manu, and Guzman came home and they ate some of the croissants and I had lentils and rice for dinner. Now I'm watching Spongebob with Manu and plan to go to bed soon even though it's only 8:40.

Just want to say I appreciate all the support I am receiving from home and I wouldn't be able to do this without all of my letters, postcards, prayers, emails, and comments on my blog. You guys make me feel so loved and I am sending love and prayers right back your way!

 The boys did some go-kart racing! I wouldn't be in the same race as them so I decided to pass.

 Took the bus then metro into Madrid to meet a friend, a fellow exchange student from Oregon! This guy was one of many street performers in Puerto del Sol.

 Went to a seemingly normal show store and found this in the men's section? No judging! LOL

 The symbol of Madrid! 

 I always take pictures of stores I want to go back to and this gorgeous lady just happened to be in the way!

My scores of the day: pink thing= croissants from an amazing bakery, in the souvenirs bag= key chains,  in front of the souvenirs bag= postcards!

An update

Things in general:
Still not sure about my host family situation. Pretty sure I will get a new host family in a little. It's just hard not knowing when, who, or where. I really don't care WHO, but I do care WHERE. I really want to stay at my same school so I want to be placed with a close family or someone who lives in another town, but has kids who go to the school. I am in contact with a few Rotary officials asking about my new family and I will write more when I know more.

How my Friday went:
Went to school as usual. Came straight home and changed my clothes, went out with a trash bag and gloves to pick up trash. It was a little sad to me that I only made it 10 minutes and around one corner before my bag was full. Stepped in some dog poop because no one picks it up here:/ Came back to the house and changed my clothes again and headed for the gym, did a 45 minute spinning class, came home and showered. Got one postcard from Mom and a card from my cousin. It's about 7:15 pm and now I am going to start my mounds of homework I have for the weekend.

A Halloween in Madrid

Te start of my Halloween! Wearing my silly glasses, an orange headband, bat earrings, and a pumpkin pin!

 I wasn't able to be in English class on Halloween because I was going to have a meeting with some other Rotary exchange students. After everyone left for lunch I taped these on the window and wrote on the board. I will see on Monday what they thought of it- NO MORE SCHOOL THIS WEEK!

 My bat earrings, can you see 'em?

 Me in front of Congress, freezing.

The end of my wonderful Halloween, makin' friends at the local bar!

Pickle

Hola everyone,
   I'm sorry for not posting in a while, been quite busy. I am in a bit of a pickle right about now, and only I can solve it. I have not been doing so well the last few weeks so I asked my Rotary counselor if I still feel unhappy in December if I can change families. He took that as I definitely want to change families so is looking for one for me. I am weighing the pros and cons of both options. I would have to change schools if I change families, which I really don't want to do because the teachers are amazing and already have like a special schedule for me at the school I attend now. I absolutely adore my little brothers and my host parents are great to me, trying to make me happy in any way. Making decisions for yourself, growing up in a sense, really sucks. I will write in about a week what is happening with this situation.
    In the meantime if you have a spare moment, I LOVE getting letters, postcards, etc. Please e-mail my Mom for my address if you are able to send me some words of love and encouragement- greatly appreciated!
-Joslyn

Madrid

Had a great Sunday going to Madrid! The whole group was Silvia, Manu, Guzman, Tanner (another exchange student), and I. We saw the royal palace, the very center of Madrid, some beautiful churches, and lots of tourists. 

YES, I ate one of these!

First Rotary Meeting!

Left at 8:30 with Silvia to be at Rotary at 9. It was at a restaurant Silvia said was "very old."That was true, but I liked it very much. The dinner was as follows: The little meat things (below) as an appetizer, delicious soup, then duck and potatoes for the main course, dessert of a chocolate mouse and ice cream, after that was coffee, tea, and some shots of whiskey! I think that was in honor of a guest they had from Brazil. I didn't understand most of the talking, but I understood when we (the 5 of us exchange students) had to get up one by one and present ourselves. Silvia said I did a wonderful job. In Spanish, I explained where I was from, where I am living now, that I have two little brothers instead of older ones now, and that I love Spanish food. After plenty of goodbyes, Silvia and I finally made it home around 11:30. Whew were we tired!

Keepin' it cute!

 Appetizer MMMmmmMMM

 My first real cup of tea.....No me gusta.

Great Sunday!

My first horse races!

                                                This poor guy hurt his leg during the race :(

                                                     At the toy store! Can't help myself...

So I started off my Sunday with the horse races at 1:00, then lunch at La Mocha, then did a project and some homework with a classmate at 5:30. Right when I got back to the house, Silvia, Manu and I left for Gran Plaza- a huge shopping center only 5-10 minutes away. There I bought a birthday card for great grandpa, but could find no tights that I need for school. I ran into the house when we got back because it was exactly my time to Skype Savvvvvy. We skyped for about 35 minutes, I miss that girl so much! We had to say goodbye because I was going to church then. Because the horse races were when  I was supposed to go to church, I had to wait until all my other things were done to go. That means church at 9PM! I am not understanding anything in church which makes me sad :( Came home and had dinner, then went straight to bed. Didn't cry at all the whole day!