Thursday, September 13, 2012

fall resolutions

via

It's that time of year. The temperature is dropping (well, supposed to be dropping, I'm still waiting...) and the days are getting shorter. All I can think about is wearing jeans and boots and I'm getting some crazy cravings for pumpkin anything. Football season is in full swing and the leaves should start changing any day. I struggled over the summer with my plans for the next few months. I went through a few weeks where I was pretty sure I'd be coming home in late fall, but after reassessing everything I still want to accomplish in Spain, I've committed to expat life until at least January. To come home before January would almost feel like giving up, and I just can't do that. And also I'm not done living the life of a madrileña :) There's so much more I want to do and so much more I want to see. In no particular order, here are some of my fall resolutions!

learn how to cook tortilla (Spanish omelet)
travel to the north of Spain
walk the Camino de Santiago
see more of Europe
start flossing every day again
do more yoga
work every single day to improve my Spanish (fluency... maybe possible, maybe not)
keep in touch with friends from home better
live in the present and stop worrying

Learning, or should I say re-learning/improving, Spanish is one of the biggest reasons I chose Spain as my home overseas. And if I'm being honest, I didn't focus enough on that in the spring and now it's crunch time. So, in order to reach my goal of Spanish competency I'm focusing on watching more Spanish films and tv shows (with Spanish subtitles), reading at least one book a month in Spanish, and finding a good intercambio partner. An intercambio is a language exchange, so essentially I get Spanish lessons for the price of giving an English lesson. Usually people meet for two hours and speak in English for one hour and Spanish for one hour. It's also a really great way to meet new Spanish friends! I'm meeting up with a few people this week and hopefully I'll be able to find someone that I feel comfortable speaking with and who has an English level that is similar to my Spanish level. Wish me luck! 


2 comments:

Cara said...

you should have added "meet nicole from la mia vita" and "go on more hot dates/intercambino" or whatever they are called :)

Nicole Marie said...

let me know if you know any good intercambio groups. i had feeling like the guys are just trying to pick you up like you're the easy american.