4ish months!

So sorry about not being so consistent with these posts! I get pretty busy, life of an exchange student and all that :)
So I've absolutely fallen head-over-heels in love with this country. It was a little difficult to enjoy myself at first, but now that I'm getting the hang of it I can really appreciate it. I've learned so much about myself and the world in only a few months, and a lot about the kind of person that I want to be. I love this culture, this history, the people...I just can't believe how lucky I am to be here.

I came to the conclusion a couple days ago that I am overworking myself, and I think that that's part of the reason why it was a little hard to enjoy myself. I just hate feeling so disappointed in myself, so I work ridiculously hard in school and still feel so ashamed when I can't answer a question in class or when I get a bad grade. I've been letting people's expectations get the better of me. It's improving, but not at the rate that I want.

So I'm just not doing that anymore. I haven't given up, I'm just letting it go. I have more important things to worry about than school, especially 'cause I don't have to get good grades here.

So now that I've told you about my recent school diet, I'll let you know what I've been up to for the past few weeks.

I had my first holiday season away from home, which wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I think my host parents tried to keep me busy so I wouldn't miss the states too much :) It was interesting to experience the holidays in a country that's so religion-based. I liked all the weird little traditions too :)
FUN FACT: On New Year's Eve, everytime that the bell chimes at midnight everyone eats a grape. I don't know why I liked that so much.

I visited Segovia and Toledo and they are both AMAZING. They've both lived through the medieval period, so the houses are old and quaint, and I visited my first castles, which was pretty awesome. Including the Alcazar, where King Fernando and Queen Isabel sent Columbus on his journey. I visited El Greco's house and the old Cathedral in Segovia, which is absolutely stunning. I walked along the old Roman acueduct in Segovia and ate authentic (and by far the best in Spain) Marzipan in Toledo. All together a very successful experience :)

I joined a music group that meets after school and I'm really liking it so far. It's another part of my plan, I've been focusing so much on what I can't do lately, but music is something that I can do. It feels so good to play music with friends, so I'm loving that.

So all in all I'm doing very well. I'm understanding now how incredible the country is, and how lucky I am to be here. I'm excited to see my friends and family again, but they can wait for a few months ;)