¡Feliz Navidad!

I'm a few days late, but Merry Christmas everyone! Can you believe that there are only 2 1/2 days left of 2011?! Then it's the big "2012." :D Most of the past week has been Christmas break. Last Thursday I got my report card for the first trimester of school. I failed all my classes except for P.E., English, and "Proyecto Integrado" which I'm not even sure what class that's for. Lengua maybe? I'm not too bummed -- I know I'll do better next trimester. Poco a poco. Check it out.

If you get 5+ it's passing; 0-4 is failing . . . I think. But THERE IS 0, and as you can see, I have no 0's. I did get 10 in English: perfecto!

I know I keep saying this, but I WILL write a blog post about Spanish school soon.

As it turns out, there was school last Friday but no one in Bachillerato goes. Score. Good thing, because on Thursday night I went to a Christmas party for the Rotary Club of Estepona. Aren't we all pretty?

Saturday was Christmas Eve, which is celebrated in basically the same as Christmas day is here: food and drinks, family, gifts, and.... yeah, that's about it! Pretty good, right? On Christmas Eve I went to my Aunt Lola's house with Paola, Abuelo, my "cousin" Rafa (who is staying with us for Christmas break), another family, and a family friend. I think there were nine of us total. It was nice to have lots of family around, and the food was pretty good too. Being Spain though, we started dinner around 9 pm, and left the house aound... 1 am? or was it 2? I'm not sure, but it was late enough for me not to remember.

On Christmas day I went to Malaga with my Rotary counselor, Juan, and had Christmas with his family. There were so many people there, but I loved it! Lately it hasn't felt like Christmastime at all, but being with so much family made it seem a bit more real. I especially loved Juan's little niece and nephew. We played some Mario together and built race tracks and it felt so normal. The food on Christmas day was delicious, and there was so much! I'd tell myself: Okay, that was so good, but I can't do more. Then they'd tell me: oh, there's two more courses! By the end of the day, I didn't think I would ever be able to eat again.

Juan's family taught me how to cut jamon (ham)!

Juan's family at the table

Since Christmas I've mainly been hanging out with my friends, Rafa and his friends, running, and relaxing. Because Spain has the The Day of the Kings on January 6th, school doesn't start again until January 9th!! Talk about a nice break. I'll write more on The Day of the Kings (as well as some other holidays here) when it comes around, but until later, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Lots of love,
Josie

Spain has turned me into a Tweeter!

Hey, it's me again. I'm still sick :(

Perhaps going to school on Monday is what killed me, because that night my throat began to hurt. Then when I woke up yesterday my voice was all but gone, my throat was inflamed,  and my head was still congested/aching from last weekend. There was no way I was going to go to school. Today I feel a little better, but not good enough to go to school. If I was in the US I may have gone to school today, but here, I'm not going to go to school to sit through classes I can hardly participate in if I feel like crud. I don't think I'm missing much, considering many of my classmates are skipping anyway since we're done with finals and Christmas break starts Saturday. Or is it Friday? I'm not really sure. I don't think anyone actually goes to school on Friday, but I don't know if we officially have class. Oh, Spain.

I don't actually have much else to tell you as far as an update on life here, so today I'll share some differences that I've noticed between living in Spain and in the US.


1. In Spain, almost everyone smokes.

Most of the adults smoke. Even friends of mine from school smoke -- it's not like they're bad kids, it's just a culture difference. I think that smoking is looked down on much more in the US. Although I am used to the smoking here, it bothers me that so many people, especially the youth, do it.

2. In Spain, nobody uses Facebook.

Yes, you read that correctly. Everyone at my school uses a social network called Tuenti (pronounced like "twenty"), as well as Twitter. Tuenti is more or less "Spain's Facebook." It has the same basic functions, but it works way worse. Tuenti has so many malfunctions, that I wouldn't even bother with the thing it it weren't for the fact that everyone here uses it. Many people also Tweet here, which is quite a change from my dead Twitter feed I once had in the US. As far as Facebook goes, many people have it but never use it. I have probably 3 or 4 friends here who check their Facebook. This kind of stinks because you guys can't really creep on my Spanish friends.



A snapshot of Tuenti's Newsfeed (Not mine - GoogleImages, anyone?)



3. In Spain, everybody is always making sure you don't get sick.

I can't tell you how many different things I've been told to do/not do in order to prevent colds/sickness. For example: Wear shoes in the house; Wear a scarf, EAT YOUR MANDARINES! It isn't just parents - friends too, and even some teachers. At first I was a little bit annoyed by this, but really it isn't a bad thing - people are just looking out for each other. Except, now I am sick even though I did all those things :( From my friends' and my experiences, I think that colds in Europe are much stronger than they are in the US. Perhaps this is why everyone is trying to prevent them so much. Another thing I've noticed, however, is that people don't wash their hands in the bathroom here. I don't get this, especially since they're so particular about preventing sickness.

4. Everyone curses in Spain.

That's not really an exaggeration - little kids, my classmates, my family - everyone is constantly cursing! The thing is, cursing isn't as bad here as it is in the US. Swear words are more like "strong words" rather than "bad words" here. Also, many things aren't censored on TV here as they are in the US such as curse words and nudity. I'd do without the nudity though if it were up to me. The cursing isn't a big deal to me because it's not bad here.

5. People in Spain like Obama.

Many people here, as well as an English couple I was able to talk with in October, really like President Obama. In the US though, it seems that no matter who is in office Americans are generally displeased with the president. Speaking of politics though, I don't think that many Americans realize how much the world is watching the US - our government, news, economy, and media, among other things.  To give you an idea of what I mean: I see news about the US everyday; Nearly all of the media here (music, movies, shows, etc.) is American; The US is constantly brought up in class, especially during Economy. The world is watching, America. It's something to keep in mind.

6. Most people in Spain live in Apartments

I actually live in a house at the moment, but most people here live in apartments. There are small ones, big ones; it all depends on the needs of whoever lives there. There are apartments in Newton, but most people live in houses.

7. The City Layouts

Okay, so I think that it's safe to say that most cities in the US follow a basic layout: You have the center of the city which is where you'll find most of the shops/restaurants/offices. As you move further from the center, there are less businesses and more residential areas, until you get into the suburbs. (If you're in Iowa and you move farther out than the residential areas you hit a ton of corn.) In Spain however, and much of Europe, this is not the case at all. Here, you have the center of the city -- common sights: plazas, churches, restaurants, shops -- but as you move out from the center, this continues. The "city" isn't in just one place. People live in the center of the city as well as around it. So it's a lot more mixed basically - people are living everywhere, and there are businesses everywhere.

8. Transportation

In Spain there is a lot more public transportation, so it's common to take the bus to whatever city you need to. Also, because of what I explained in #7, it's normal just to walk everywhere you need to go in a city. On the chance that you do ride in a car, it is usually filled to its max. It kind of reminds me of Shelby's car last year, but that's the norm here. All in all, transportation seems to be much more efficient here.

9. My classmates in Spain dress very casual - at school.

When at school, my classmates dress much more casual than we do in the US. Girls wear little/no makeup, and everyone is generally dressed way down. This is kind of a relief to me, because sometimes I just don't have any energy to put together a coordinating outfit, do my hair, all that good stuff. However, when they go out at night or on the weekends, they dress way up. The girls have on their make-up, and usually dresses or skirts or just nice clothes. So basically we have the two extremes here between casual school and dressy weekends. With the wardrobe that I brought from the US, I think that I generally dress between these two extremes. In the US, we definitely put more effort into our school appearance, but only dress up a little more, if any at all, to go out. I'm still not sure which system I like more.

10. Meals

In Spain, we start the day by having a light breakfast like a bowl of cereal. At 10:30 am, my school has a 20 minute reccess where most kids have a sandwich and a juice box (I'm not kidding about the juice boxes - everyone is walking around with them. It's awesome). Then at 1:50 pm there is another break where some people eat more, but I usually don't. After I get home from school, my family has a big lunch around 3:30 or 4:00 pm. This is the biggest meal of the day. Around 7:00 pm, or whenever one feels like it really, is snack time ("merienda"). This usually consists of something like Nutella toast and coffee for me. At 9:00 pm (sometimes later) we have a light dinner like a ham sandwich or maybe some lunch leftovers if there are any.

Well there are probably more differences that I meant to explain, but I can't think of them at the moment. If I think of more later, I'll try to write them down and blog 'em later. That's all I've got for now. Thanks to everyone who has sent me Christmas cards this past week - you have no idea how much a simple card has been able to make my day. Love you guys!

Only four days til Christmas!
Josie

Hello from my bed surrounded by Kleenex.

Ugh. Yes, I am sick. I don't know if it's just me, or the general bad luck of exchange students with getting sick; either way my head feels like it's about to explode and I can't breathe through my nose. It started last night and when I got up this morning I thought I was about to fall over. Just my luck to feel icky on a perfectly good Saturday. I was going to go see the Christmas play at Evelyn's church tonight too! Urg.

When I left you last, Barcelona and Madrid were about to go head-to-head in the ultimate game of futbol. Apparently, almost everyone thought that Madrid was going to take it all, but it was Barcelona who came out strong in the end, 3-1. My family was so happy, being Barcelona fans. I have officially decided that I am going to support Barcelona for futbol for two main reasons, aside from the fact that they won the match:

1. My host family is for Barcelona, so I'd rather not be rivals with the people who feed me.

2. (Molly's reasoning) Madrid has the most ridiculous uniforms that are almost completely white, and inevitably, have grass stains all over them. For this reason, I simply cannot support Madrid - a smart team would have colored uniforms, like Barcelona, to help with stain control.

Also when I left you last, I was about to head out to a Christmas party at Evelyn's church! Well it turned out to be pretty good. We played games including "Upset the Fruit Basket" (Spanish style), ate a ton of delicious food, and had a gift exchange. At first I got a bunch of Kinder chocolate, but I later traded it for a Spanish Bible! I accidentally forgot it in a friend's (Lydia's) car, but once I get it back I am going to check it out for sure! I can't wait. After the party we watched the futbol game and later went to Plaza de Libertad. I felt so at home that night. It was the kind of night I would have in the US. I loved it, but at the same time it made me miss home so much.

The past week at school was fine. It was basically "finals week" so everyone was either studying or stressing out about studying. I took almost all of the exams but I think I failed all of them. I don't study for them because I usually just study for my Spanish class. Speaking of, my teacher loved me and Matthew's poster. Whooo. Also, I got a 10 (perfect) on my latest English exam. Other than that and PE, my grades are going stink.

Also this week, I met a group of friends from Matthew's class who I really like. I could definitely see them becoming some good friends. Making friends is turning out to be more difficult than I imagined, but it'll come. I know it will. Right now I just miss having those close friends from home who I can always go to about anything and who I can talk for hours with about nothing. Sure I have friends here, but not close ones -- yet. It'll come.

I have school all next week -- I'm not really sure why. All the finals are done, and Christmas Eve is Saturday. I can already see half my class not showing up next week, which is completely understandable. But ohmygoodness - Christmas is in a week!! It doesn't feel like Christmastime :( I'm still excited for Christmas here, but I really do miss home. All last week was good with homesickness - they wasn't any, I was feeling good, and I felt like I was beginning to make a home in Spain. Then last night it began to hit me hard that I don't have my family from Iowa here and how much I really do miss them, especially now at Christmastime. Everything is so strange and different than what I'm used to - it's not bad, it's just unfamiliar. Sometimes I miss the familiar, but I know I am going to gain so many experiences in the times to come.

Until later,
Josie

Viva la Vida

Dear Devoted Readers,

I have an hour to kill before heading out for a Christmas Party, so I'll give you a little update on life in Spain.

Tonight is the Barcelona vs. Madrid futbol game, which is kind of a huge deal. Futbol is life in Spain, and nearly everyone has a say about it. Personally, I don't know who to root for. I don't live in or close to either city, and even though I really enjoy futbol, it's not very important who wins to me (sorry to all the Spaniards out there reading this who told me to root for their team!).




Who is going to win?!

The situation kind of reminds me of the ever going Cylones vs. Hawkeyes battle in Iowa. Especially in Newton, we live right between the teams, and it's pretty much a toss-up on who to cheer for (except that we know that the Hawkeyes are most likely going to win. Sorry Cyclones fans, it's just true). I think Madrid has a slight lead in favoritism, but Barcelona has the money, and pretty good skills. I'll let you guys know the results of the game in my next post, if you haven't heard already.

So I only had to go to school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday last week because of national holidays, so that was definitely a plus. On Wednesday I went to the library with a few friends from class and attempted to help them study for English. It ended up being a fail because of my poor Spanish, but I enjoyed myself because I like my classmates and spending time with them - even if it's studying! While they studied for exams, I translated a few paragraphs of History notes into English.

Also on Wednesday, the new episode of Glee (Tuesday for you guys, Wednesday for me, since I have to wait for it to be uploaded online and time differences...grr) was very good. It was called "Hold on to Sixteen" or something like that and it really made me think. It's like this: we're only young for so long, so for goodness sakes, enjoy it! We'll be "grown-ups" soon enough, but right now we're young, and we're exactly where we should be in the scheme of life. On Thursday, Matt and I worked on a "Christmas in the USA" project for our Spanish class, and that went well. I think we'll get a good grade (wow, haven't said that for a while!). Paola bought me a coat and some boots as Christmas presents this afternoon and I think that I look like a total (blonde) Spaniard with them on. I'm going to a Christmas party at church with Evelyn tonight and I think we may be watching the big game afterwards too. So yeah, life is pretty good. :)

Ai Se Eu Te Pego

Sorry if you tried translating that from Spanish - it's actually Portuguese! Even so, this song is super popular in Spain so I thought I'd share it with you. Spain makes a goal in futbol? The players are singing and doing this dance on the field. Spain wins tennis? Everyone's doing Ai Se Eu Te Pego. I don't think most people actually know the lyrics/meaning, but that's no reason to question a song with a good dance, right?

Some things will just have to come in time.

Happy two months to me, wooo! Well, I guess technically today is two months since leaving Iowa and tomorrow is two months in Spain, but still. The past week hasn't been very eventful. I finally went to McDonald's here on Friday. I got the usual - a chicken nuggets Happy Meal. It tasted almost the same as in the US! On Saturday I went shopping with Molly at La Cañada, a HUGE mall in Marbella. I found two cardigans and two scarves (along with some sweats for P.E.), so I'd say it was a successful day. This week, I don't have school tomorrow or Thursday because of holidays, which I find kind of strange. Why not just take the whole week off instead of going every other day? Ah, oh well. I'm happy to have the two days off.

Anyways, remember when I wrote about the openness of Spain? If not, well the people here are pretty close to each other emotionally and physically. This is still true, but I feel like there's more to it. You see, I've been here for two months now, and I can't help but notice that my classmates are still kind of distant to me. I understand that I'm the new girl and that friendships only come in time, but it's difficult nevertheless.

I'm hoping that this is just one of those things that will work out in time. I've heard it said time after time by previous exchangers that the second half of exchange is usually better than the first, not only because you have a much better grasp on the language, but because you also have closer friends. I want to make close friends here. I have too much of an opportunity to make lifetime friends here to not try. I'll continue to be friendly to my classmates, I'll try to get to know them better; hopefully they will do the same in return. :)

The past month has been pretty hard for me with stress and homesickness and just general frustration. I think a big part of that has been the "distant" feeling I just explained. It's so easy to say to myself Ugh, I have this problem here in Spain, but if I were in the U.S. I'd be just fine. I never have these problems at home. And those thoughts of frustration lead to homesickness. That is why it is so important for me to stay positive mentally, and stay busy/distracted. When I'm busy, I'm immersed in Spain, and that's exactly how it should be.

On a good side note, Paola and I just put up the Christmas tree!

Getting Ron into the Christmas Spirit.



It sure doesn't feel like Christmas is in three weeks. No snow, no mittens (except for the ones that Molly bought! haha that's another story), and a strange lack of Christmas music. I have been listening to some Christmas music online lately, but often it makes me miss home and I end up listening to something else. Some have said that Christmas is the lowest point in an exchanger's year, but I'm determined to make it one of the best times! I have the opportunity to have Christmas in another country with different traditions and different people, and I'm going to make the most of it!  I know that I will probably be very homesick at times, but I will be gaining new experiences and celebrating Christ's birth in a whole new way. If that's not cool, than what is? :D

Well, that's about all I've got for now! I'm going to try to write a post about school here soon, so be sure to check back every now and then. Love you guys!

Muchos besos,
Josie

Setting Goals

Hello Blogger World. To know why the above plank is so awesome, you will need to read on.

On Thursday I got a care package and it made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside! There were letters and jam and cake balls involved - enough said? Thank you Mommy! Also on Thursday, I made smores with Paula and Abuelo! Although we had to use cookies instead of graham crackers and the chocolate wasn't Hershey's, the smores were still VERY GOOD! They were almost the same as in the U.S. Since we didn't do a Thanksging meal, the smores definitely made up for it!

I think it's safe to say that Abuelo likes smores - he had three of them, plus one plain marshmallow!

I went to Malaga (again) on Friday. With a bit more luck than Tuesday, I was able to everything squared off with my visa. Now the police station is working on my ID and I can pick it up in January. Yay for not being a tourist anymore! I feel lucky to have such a good Rotary Counselor - he took me Malaga both times last week and is so nice!

I went to Tarifa last weekend, and it was just as charming as before. This time I went with Paola, her two friends that own the house in Tarifa, and Molly! We went to some great restaurants, explored a Roman city, and got to wander the lovely Tarifa streets. The plank you saw at the opening of this post is on original Roman Roads, built in the 2nd Century (around 200 AD). OHMYGOODNESS, HISTORYNEVERREALLYAMAZEDMEUNTILICAMETOEUROPE. Oh and we had churros for breakfast two days in a row, so it was obviously a good weekend.
 

Us at one of the best Pizzarias EVER.

  

Me and Molly at the Roman Ruins (Baelo Claudia) with some Coca-Cola.





Me and Paola at the Roman Ruins.



I truly love Tarifa, and I can't wait to go back.

Last night I Skyped my Mom and siblings for a while!  It was only the second time I have used Skype with my family while on exchange, so it was definitely nice to talk to them! The only thing is that Skype really does bring everything to life. You see, in Spain it is very easy to forget that a whole other world is going without me in Iowa. I live my life here, and I know that everything is going in Iowa, but it just sits in the back of my mind. With Skype -- the voices, faces, conversations -- I am reminded that I really am away from my home in Iowa. (It's strange because when I first got here, I had reverse feelings, such as Wow, a whole other world [Spain] has been going and I've been in my own little bubble in Newton. It was very eye-opening at the moment.) Hence, today was a little rough. I miss you guys, and sometimes I just wish I could just hug ya'll back in Iowa. That's one thing Spain sure needs to work on - hugs. Yes, they have the two kisses when greeting/departing, but they don't hug enough, and when they do hug, it's never quite long or tight enough. So when I get back next summer, please don't be surprised when I hug you ALL OF THE TIME.

Today I decided that to keep myself busy I am going to set goals for myself, little and big, throughout my exchange. I want to have goals to work on throughout the coming months, but I also want to have little goals for myself each day. Tomorrow my goal can be to find an awesome song in Spanish. If you have an idea for a daily goal for me, let me know!

Here are some bigger goals that I've set for my self so far:

-Read The Chronicles of Narnia in Spanish by the end of my exchange.

-Walk or run around my community every day.

-Read at least half an hour of Spanish every day.

-Learn how to cook paella and Spanish omelets.

Well I have many random things I've been meaning to post, but I'm going to sleep now. Hopefully I'll get them up soon.

Here's a big virtual hug!

Josie

No Regrets

One year ago today, the night of the Annual Christmas Parade in Newton, I began to fill out an application for Rotary Youth Exchange 2011-2012. The chance of a lifetime layed before me, and I knew that if I didn't pursue such an oppurtunity, I would regret it forever. I had nothing to lose! Now, friends, I am in Spain. I'm learning about myself, experiencing the amazing culture of Spain, and seeing the world in new ways. They weren't lying when they said exchange is a roller coaster - there have already been some downs - but in the end, I am going to come out stronger and maybe even a little smarter. I am so glad that I took the oppurtunity I did one year ago. I can't imagine myself anywhere else than Spain right now.

Drink some apple cider at the parade for me tonight! I love you guys :)

Besos,
Josie

Español

Hola! Que tal? (What's up?)

So I have been in Spain for a little over a month and half now (ish?), and my Spanish has already improved immensly. I know that I have a long ways to go until I'm fluent, but I am content because I know that my Spanish is improving each day. The more I speak, read, and hear in Spanish, the better. Right now I'm taking four hours of Spanish class a week at my school, and it's going well. Matthew and this other boy who moved here from Hungary (he's 12) are also in the class, so we help each other out. My current Spanish status is something like this: When I concentrate I can usually understand the topic people are talking about and maybe even some details. When talking in Spanish, I can usually get my point across but my grammar/sentence structure sucks. People understand what I want to say, even though it's not grammatically correct. Learning Spanish isn't the number one reason I came to Spain, but I wouldn't consider my exchange a success if I came back not fluent. I have made some observations about learning Spanish over the past few weeks, so here they are.

1. More English isn't going to make your Spanish better.

What I mean by this is that when people talk to me in English, or when I talk in English, it doesn't help my Spanish at all. I am trying very hard to only speak Spanish, which is gradually becoming pretty easy. The more I use new Spanish words and phrases, the quicker they stick. When I speak English, it's difficult to get my mind back into the "Spanish groove." As far as other people, I am at the point where I usually become frustrated when people speak to me in English. I NEED TO LEARN SPANISH! If I don't know what a word is, then yes, it's helpful for someone to give me the translation. However, sometimes it's more helpful for people to simply explain themselves with different (more simple), Spanish words. I understand that sometimes it can be a hassle for someone to get their point across to me, but it helps me so much more than just conversing in English. To everyone in Spain who is patient enough with me to chat in Spanish: muchas gracias! :)

2. Some things get lost in translation.

For example, phrases like "I'm just pulling your leg" or "I'm hot on your heels" or "Por la cara" don't make sense when they're translated. For this reason, I either have to be spoken to in a very literal way, or be taught these figurative sayings.

3. One must learn how to learn another language.

After one studies a second language, it is much easier to learn other languages. For example, I have many exchange student friends who studied Spanish in high school and now they are learning a different language in their host country. I have heard many of them say that studying Spanish has helped them immensly. They know about conjugating verbs and the structures of language (other than English). They know how to learn a language.

In America though, we don't begin to study a second language until high school. Here, my classmates have been studying English since they were 9 or 10. Now, they all just began learning French, and some of them also just began learning Greek and Latin as well. However they know how to learn a language, so these other languages aren't as difficult. For Matt and me, we've only studied Spanish so we are 1. still learning new aspects of language and 2. simultaneoulsy using  that information to actually learn the language, in our case, Spanish.

I think that the U.S. needs to start teaching foreign language MUCH EARLIER. Spanish especially is becoming more and more commonly spoken in America. If we began learning Spanish in 3rd or 4th grade, we could easily learn other languages later on. Many may argue that we don't need to learn other languages because we know English, a valuable language everywhere in the world. However another language is something that no one can take away from someone else - another language is always valuable, especially as other languages are becoming more and more important to the US such as Chinese and, again, Spanish.

Back on topic though.

4. Even with steroids, you still have to work.

One has to make an effort to learn a language. I have to concentrate while listening to Spanish - it doesn't just come. While watching movies, or even having conversations, I have to make sure I pay close attention, and don't let my mind go off in la-la-land. I see being immersed into Spain as steroids for learning Spanish - I get a huge advantage because I am surrounded by Spanish everywhere, but I can only learn if I put in work.

5. Andalucia isn't the best place to learn Spanish.

Andalucia (the region in Spain that I live in), has some very distinct differences in their Spanish than many other places in the world. Many -- most -- of the 's's are usually dropped when talking, and replaced with a "th" sound. Example: Hasta luego may sound like "Hatha luego." Sometimes 'z's and 'c's are dropped too, and at times I think people decide to drop random consanants when they feel like it. I think that it's common for 'r's to be replaced with 'l's, but honestly I'm not even sure. The accent here is really thick and sometimes it is very difficult to understand people. Chances are that I'm eventually going to pick up on the accent and come back with an Andaluz accent and you all are going to make fun of it, but I'm cool with that.

6. You have to think in Spanish.

I have become pretty accustomed to speaking in Spanish, but thinking in Spanish is the real challenge. It's a day-long battle and I have to continually remind myself not to think in English. If I think in English, it's that much more difficult to improve on my Spanish. When I think in Spanish, speaking and understanding Spanish is much easier afterwards. It's about "living" in Spanish - completely immersing myself.

7. Spanglish is an English word.

Spanish is an English word. English is an English word.

8. My Spanish will improve, only at the expense of my English.

As I learn more Spanish, my English is slowly falling away. Sometimes I can't think of English words. Sometimes I don't know how to phrase something in English. It's such a strange feeling - the language you've known all your life, becoming more and more unfamiliar. I'm determined to learn Spanish though, so if it means having bad English for a while, I'll deal with it.

Well, there you have it. A peak into my mind that is attempting to think in Spanish. I'll continue to let you all know how my Spanish is going throughout future posts. Until later, I hope all is going well wherever you may  be reading this.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!
Josie

Maybe I should just live at the zoo. Hmm. . . .

Hi everyone :)

I would like to begin by saying "thanks" to everyone who left encouraging comments on my blog post from last week. I feel so blessed to have family and friends who speak life into me! I love you all so much.

I think that my "November Blues" have lightened up a bit. I'm trying to stay positive and stay busy, whether it's by exploring the community or just throwing myself into a hardcore Spanish study session (alliteraton - aw yeah!). Molly and I were going to take Flamenco classes together, but they're all either full or too late at night. Boo. So now I'm looking into some art classes. I want to really immerse myself into the culture here, but it has been so difficult to find things to do! I wish that activities were just done through the school like in the US - all the sports, clubs, theater, etc. Actually, I think that my school might be doing a Christmas play, but I'm not really sure. Either way I signed up to act so I guess we'll see where that goes!

This past week hasn't been too terribly busy, but it sure feels like it's been. Here are the highlights...

On Wednesday evening, a friend of Paola's came over and brought her 10-year-old daughter, Clara. Clara was so sweet, and she is sort of like a little sister to me now. I wish I had host siblings so bad! Anyways, we ended up making a video together. Check it out! (It's mostly in Spanish, but that's the fun part!) --->

Good times! xD

On Thursday I read aloud in class from my Economia book, in Spanish of course, and my class clapped for me! Little things like this make me want to dance! It was about three paragraphs and I'm not exactly sure what I read, but I still feel good. The only downer on this incident was afterwards when my class asked me, "Que pasa?" (what's up/what's wrong) because apparently my face and neck got really red as I was reading! Urgh! I explained to them that sometimes I get flushed when I get nervous, and they found this very funny. Oh well. I've been getting compliments on my Spanish improvements lately, and again, it gives me that dancy feeling inside!

On Saturday I explored Marbella and San Pedro with Molly and Gabriel, an exchange student from Canada that currently lives in Fuengirola (a city not too far from Marbella). Yay exchange students! It rained basically the entire day, but we tried to make the most of it. Later in the day Matthew joined us and we all headed over to Nina's (a Rotarian) house for the night. Nina and her husband were so nice! I felt so at home with them. We had an amazing dinner, watched a movie, and went to sleep exaughsted from the chilly, wet day. On Sunday we went to the zoo in  Fuengirola! Yes, I know, my second zoo in one month. It was rainy again, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Molly and I saw a white tiger poop! Okay, maybe you didn't want to know that, but we did. Last weekend sort of reminded me of Rotary weekends back in Iowa, but in a smaller, Spain version.

Matthew, Gabriel, Molly, and me at the zoo!

Today I went to Malaga City with my Rotary Counselor to get my student visa. Well, as it turns out, the police station -- or wherever we were at -- was having problems with the computer today, becuase for some reason or another they couldn't access such and such file and now I have to go back on Friday, hoping that we'll simply have better luck. Okay. I did get to see a little bit of Malaga today though! I saw the cathedral, The Roman theater of Málaga, and I even went to Picasso's house! Well sort of - you see Picasso was born in Malaga and lived there until he was about 10. Now, the home where he grew up in is open to the public and you can see his house, as well as some art pieces by him. It was very cool!

Malaga has so much interesting history, being one of the oldest cities in the world. It is about 2,800 years old! I have touched on this briefely before, but I need to tell you again - I love the history here [in Europe]. Much of what I saw today is older than the U.S. all together. It is one thing to read about history in books, but to see it, to walk in it, to feel it as you pass by is completely different. The kids in Malaga go on field trips to Picasso's house for goodness sakes! Don't get me wrong, I like the pumpkin patch and all, but it can't really compare with Picasso and 400-year-old cathedrals.

Roman theater of Málaga

"Still life with spoon" by Pablo Ruiz Picasso. As soon as I saw a spoon, I knew I had to take a picture for Shelby. Love you, Shelbaby *Hose B!

Part of the Málaga Cathedral. I have found that it is difficult to photograph cathedrals because they're so big!

I was planning on making a Thanksgiving meal for my host family and the other exchange students next weekend, but instead I'm just going to help with Christmas dinner and throw some American food in there. I absolutely love Thanksgiving, and  it makes me sad when I think about not spending it like normal with my family and a big meal and the parade and afternoon napping. Okay well I guess I'll have a siesta, but you get the point.

I think that's all for now. I love and miss you all! If I don't post before Thursday, have a fun and safe Thanksgiving - eat some extra food for me, okay? :)

Love,
Josie

xoxo

Learning Spanish

PSYCH! Okay, so I was about to write a blog post about how my Spanish is coming along, but I've been trying to watch an episode of Glee for a week now, so you will just have to wait. I'm going to try to get a post up soon about the past week and stuff either tonight or tomorrow.

I'm still alive,
Josie

P.S. I went to Picasso's house today.

Sometimes, I don't know what I think.

Hello. The following message is brought to you by a siesta.

Really though. I had a great siesta today and it continues to energize me! Even though it's 10:30 at night -- later than my usual time to blog it up -- I HAVE THE POWER!

As usual, my sense of time is nearly non-exsistent. Some hours feel like days, but some days only feel like hours. Then there's the "I've almost been here for six weeks" fact. Say what? My friend Hannah (Oregon -->Spain) wrote something in her blog the other day about how when your mind is full of other things, you lose your sense of time perception. I don't know if that's scientifically proven, but if not, exchange students would be living proof. We're surrounded by new culture, language, people, everything - it's kind of a lot to take in. So while we're processing all those things, time somehow gets thrown out of the mix. I still have about eight and a half more months of exchange, but I don't quite know what to think of that. One one hand, I'm thinking: Only eight and half more months?!?! I've only been here for, like, a month and week, so that's like repeating what I've done . . . sevenish more times? However on the other hand, I'm thinking, I'm here for HOW LONG? I could almost have a baby in that time! I miss you so, Iowa!! I hope you're getting what I'm trying to say here. If you don't, that's fine, because I don't think I do!

Remember what I was saying about avoiding the "November Blues" last blog post? Well, they hit me. Sometimes it's homesickness, sometime it's a "there's no hope for me at school" feeling, and sometimes it's just wanting to bite everyone's head off. I have found that the root of these "blues" (sadness, frustration, irritability) is usually somehow linked to Spanish. For example, I might be at school one day and I want to tell my friends a cool story. I start to tell the story in Spanish, but I don't know an essential word.  I improvise with charades and Spanglish, and move on with the story. I end up stopping half-way through because there are too many words I can't think of and trying to share my story has turned out to be far too much work than it's worth, and my class must be thinking how random and strange Americans are. From there, my thought process usually goes something like this: I wish I knew more Spanish. If only my Spanish was as good as my English. I miss just casually talking in English with friends in the U.S. and not have to rethink every word I say. I miss my friends. I miss high school. I miss my family and Iowa and corn and why does my life stink?!?!

I know my life doesn't stink, but do you see how my thoughts led to that? I know I'm in Spain, living up the chance of a lifetime. But sometimes, it's difficult. And sometimes, all I feel like doing is curling up in a ball and drinking hot coco.

Fortunately the hot coco here, Cola Cao, is delicious.

I'm not depressed, but sometimes I have bad days. Even in beautiful Spain, people have bad days. Not all bad though :) As I told you guys last week, Evelyn invited me to her church last weekend! Apparently there is church every day, but I think most people only go on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I went on Friday night, and it turned out pretty cool! We sung some praise and worship songs (in Spanish of course), then everyone introduced themselves with their name and nationality. There were about 30 people, and almost everyone was from Paraguay! After that, a message was given and then we had a meal of pizza and coke and goodness. I really enjoyed myself and I'm hoping to go back this weekend. Apparently they're doing a Christmas play, and I think it'd be really cool to get in on that! Note: Christmas is less than a month and half away! That sounds so crazy!!

Well I'm going to try and catch some Z's now. I love and miss you all!

P.S. It was great chatting with you tonight, Mom! :)

Surprise!

Hey, Devoted Readers!

I hope November is treating everyone well. Apparently many exchange students go though "November Blues", a period of blah-ness in November marking the 2 or 3 month mark of being in one's host country. I haven't quite been hit by them, but I'm thinking that I may get some December Blues, being a month late and all. It has been getting chilly though, here in the Costa Del Sol. *tear. However, I can't really complain when I compare the weather here to other places - it was about 64* F this afternoon, but it sure felt colder! Spain has taught me the art of the scarf though - it keeps you warm and, come'on, completes any outfit.

This past week has been pretty fun! Last Monday was Halloween and I ended up chilling with Jaime and some friends from his school, as a pirate! Most of us were dressed up, so we went trick-or-treating for a little while! Later that night we watched a half-hour long scary movie and then a Christmas movie, and the whole thing was quite strange. Nevertheless, I had a good time! I miss just chilling with friends, watching movies, playing with plastic machetes . . .

 November 1st was All Saints' Day, so no school! This is week five of Spanish school for me, and out of those five weeks, three have had holidays where there's no school. I like how Spain thinks.

On Thursday I had my Iowa Presentation for the Estepona Rotary Club. It went fine - I gave it in bad Spanish/Spanglish, but I think everyone appreciated my efforts. Also, I found out that I was going to Granada on Saturday with the other RYE students in Andalucia! I love good surprises.

Saturday ended up being a lot of meetings, but the RYE kiddies got to explore the city during most of them. We were only able to walk around for an hour and a half or so by the end of the day, but Granada was still beautiful. I do want to go back sometime though and really get to see the city. The group of exchange students that I spent the day with was so different than my exchange group in Iowa last year. In Granada, there were about 11 of us, all American girls except for Molly (being from Australia) and Matthew. I think it's pretty cool that I live in Marbella with the two different people in the group. Apparently there were supposed to be a couple more people in Granada on Saturday, but I don't know where they were . . .

Most of the group in Granada! I blinked :(

Molly and me at the Granada Cathedral!



As we walked around, I felt -- and definitely saw -- Granada's unique history.



Granada was great except for when I had a "stupid-exchange-student" moment and walked into the men's restroom at the hotel - oops. But honestly, I think the "man" on the door was a little misleading . . .

Don't tell me that at a glance, you wouldn't mistake Him for a woman.

Not much else has been going on. My Spanish is slowly progressing, school is fine, and I continue to make friends. The other day, I was going through a one of my classmate's music on her iPod, and I found "Hosanna" by Hillsong! I excitedly told her that I love Hillsong, and after chatting (err, passing notes) for a while, I found out she's Evangelical too! She invited me to her church this weekend, so that should be cool. I can't wait to see how church is here!

Well if anything blog-worthy happens in the next week or two, you'll know about it!

Hasta luego,

Josie

"Closed"

Hello Blogosphere. Good evening, or whatever time of the day it may be that this post finds you in. Spain has opened my eyes to so many new things during the past few weeks -- nearly month! -- and I'd like to share a little bit with you.

Before I came to Spain, I had read and been told many times that Spain has a very different sense of closeness than the U.S. does. However, I still didn't quite know what to expect! When I arrived in Malaga and met Paola and Abuelo for the first time, I was immediately presented with Spain's closeness in a physical sense, with kisses (as everyone in Spain greets each other with kisses). On my first day of school, I couldn't help but notice everyone hugging, leaning, and just generally being really close to one another. At first I thought that some people were merely being flirty with each other, but within a few days I began to realize that the way my classmates were acting was the norm. So this must have been what they meant by having a different sense of closeness, I thought to myself. Well, not completely.

Yes, I have found the people of Spain to be much closer to each other physically, but it wasn't until a week or two ago that I realized how emotionally close to each other they are. Everyone has everyone's back, and it's awesome. During my first few days of school, I couldn't identify "groups" or cliques of students like one can in the U.S.  I thought to myself after a while I'll figure out the groups here. Except, it never happened -- not really. Everyone is friends with everyone more or less. Sure, people break off into different loose groups of friends during the two recesses and outside of school, but that's expected (can you imagine an entire school , k-12, just chillin' together in a gigantic group?). The entire atmosphere here, both inside and outside of school, is so much more open than it is in the U.S.

When I show people my NHS yearbook here, they usually 1. Are in awe that cheerleaders (and yearbooks for that matter) are real and not just something in movies and 2. Ask if there really are "jocks" and "nerds" (cliques) etc. At first, I answered them with something like, "Kind of. There are definitely 'groups' of students, but my class is pretty tight with each other." Now, I would tell them, "Absolutely, and it's ridiculous." Maybe I need to back up a little. I had an epiphany last week as I was talking with a friend, Adri, at school. He was telling me about a friend of his that is living/has lived (?) in Miami for two years (the conversation was in Spanglish). I was shocked when he told me that his friend didn't like Miami! The beach, the sun . . . MIAMI! I asked him why and he told me, "My friend says that the people are . . . 'closed,'" making a closing gesture with his hands.

The more I thought about what Adri said, the more I realized how true it was. The atmosphere at home (meaning Iowa; America), especially at school, is so "closed" -- I don't know how to explain it much better than that! But I would have never thought so before coming to Spain. Before coming here, I would've said that I'm an extremely open person; open to new things, people, places. Now I realize how untrue that statement would've been, compared to the openness of Spain! Even being a teenage girl that is: thousands of miles away from home, living in a foreign land called Spain, learning a mysterious language called Spanish, I have a box. All too often, I live in my own little world, my box, and am ignorant of the wondrous world around me and those in it.

At school here, my class works together all day, helping each other figure out the work. If somebody doesn't understand something, there is always someone that will help them get it -- no big deal. All my classmates chat with all my classmates, about anything and everything - school, family, friends, ladadada. Last week, I had a classmate confide in me about a really personal topic, and I was quite surprised that they would share something like they did with me, being the new, foreign girl. I feel like I've almost become a part of a big family at school, and with Spain in general. When I come back to The States, I definitely want to bring this openness that Spain has about it. I feel like my classmates here have something figured out that for some reason, American High Schoolers can't get because of barriers put up with another such as cliques, and pride, and self-consciousness. I can't really put my finger on it, but it's like they know that we're all supposed to be here for each other, and that we should all be able to depend on one another. They make the way high schoolers in America treat one another seem so immature.

I wish I could put my thoughts into better words. I am finding this concept difficult to explain. All I know is that it's there, and when I come back to America, I am going to be such a different person than the one who left just one month ago. Being here, in Spain, is giving me a chance to "see" what kind of person I was in America, and what kind of person I want to be.


"Now I’m thinking freely.
I’m going to open my mind to all these
New found exciting possibilities."

-"And Run" by He is We

Tarifa

The calendar must be lying, because I refuse to believe that today is Halloween. And tomorrow is . . . the first of November? Time is flying. My one month anniversary in Spain is coming up - November 5th! I can hardly believe that. Yeah, I'm a month behind most exchange students because of all my visa poblems, but all the trouble that I had before coming seems so distant; like once I arrived in Spain, all of the visa/government/consulate problems faded away, because I had made it.

This past week has been good. My neighbors from England left to go back home though, which was sad. However,  they're coming back in July so I'll see them then. I got my first care package this week! Marshmallows, letters . . . marshmallows :)

Spain doesn't have real marshmallows, and Molly has never had smores! So hopefully we can get some smores going soon now! Jaime and I will show her how it's done.

On Friday, Paola took me to the cinema and I saw my first Spanish movie in a theater: Sin Salida (No Way Out), better known as Abduction. Although I didn't understand most of what was said, I got the idea of the movie. And I guess if you have to watch a movie where you don't understand anything, see a movie with Taylor Lautner. Catch my drift?

Last weekend (Saturday and Sunday), Paola took me to Tarifa, quite possibly the most charming city ever. We stayed with her friends in the most gorgeous house that they had compleltely re-modeled (re-built I should say!). It was built into a castle . . . a castle! Technically, the Castillo de Guzmán. Tarifa has so much amazing history, but I'd like to share other things with you at the moment. The house had a terrace on the roof, overlooking the city and mountains, as well a balcony that made me feel like I was Juliet. Paco and Lola also came for the weekend, so we all had fun together. I saw the ocean for the first time, and it was breathtaking. Walking on the beach felt like walking on flour. The waves were bigger than the ones I'm used to in Marbella. Apparently Tarifa is known worldwide for surfing. Wind surfing is especially popular there because it is windy almost all of the time - no joke! I didn't go surfing, but walking along the shore was good enough for me. Atlantic Ocean? Check. Besides the ocean, we explored the city and went to some good restaurants, including "Casa Juan Luis" which is apparently very well-known in Spain. Paola's friend also bought me scarf, so now I have something to always remember Tarifa!

See the kite-surfers in the background?

Me in charming Tarifa

America will never has history like Europe does - it's been here forever. As Lola said, "Then, America was just an empty island!"

A buelletin board in Tarifa

Tarifa was "real Spain", or at least more real than Marbella is. By real, I mean less Westernized, more traditional . . . Tarifa made me want to grow up all over again, but there. It made me want to bring my family to Europe and live there forever. I love Marbella, but really, it could be California, or any other part of the world. Tarifa was like a different planet to Marbella, except it's only an hour away. Sidenote: In one hour, I went from Mediterranean Sea in Marbella, to Atlantic Ocean and the coast of Morroco. It was so cool. A 35-minute ferry ride was all that lied between Tarifa and Africa. Another continent sat before my eyes for two days . . . Paola says that we'll go for a day-trip to Morroco sometime. I cannot wait.

Well I'm about to head out for Halloween festivities. I don't know what exactly I'm doing, but I'll probably blog about it later. I have many more things I want to write about that I just haven't had time to yet. Hopefully I can get some more stuff on here soon, because I have been learning so much about myself and the world around me, and it's just incredible.

¡Ayúdame!

Hello there! I'm about to share something that's been on my mind a lot lately. In fact, I don't think there's been a day within the past week that I haven't thought about this . . .

¡Ayúdame! Please see video:

I can assure you, this song will probably be in your head for at least a good week. But look at the bright side, you can brush up on some Spanish vocab! Seriously though, "¡Ayúdame!" (the song ^^) taught me some vocab and offered some free entertainment simultaneously. It is very popular in Spain, so please, feel in the loop, my friend!

Lions and Tigers and Fairs, Oh My!

Okay, I'd like to begin by apologizing for the cliché post title. I couldn't resist, and you will see why later.

I have now been in Spain for almost three weeks. When I think about it, I don't feel like I've been here for that long. However, when I begin to think of everything I've done and all the people I've met, there's no way I could've been here for less than that time. I hope that makes sense! A lot has gone on, so I'll give you the highlights of my time here since my previous post.

On Saturday, October 8th (my third day here), was a special Rotary dog show event. Even though I didn't really care about the dog show, it was a good time because all of us RYE kiddies were there together. I came with Molly and Jaime (her host brother who went to the US last year), and later on Matt came with his host brother Eugenio (only one year younger than Matt and I), I think. Sidenote: I am having a terrible time with remembering names. I think it will become easier, but right now it's bad! Anyways, it was cool all being together, and seeing Matt again since the outbound picnic back in July. Also that day, Jaime, Molly, and I went to a special open-air market in San Pedro, which was pretty cool. Here are some pictures of the market:

On Sunday, October 9th, Paola took me up to the mountains! Technically speaking, we went to Sierra Bermeja. You can click on that for more info if you want. All I can say really, is that the moutains are so beautiful. I can hardly take it in. I see the mountains everyday, and I keep on thinking that somehow I will become accustomed to the beauty here, but it just hasn't happened. At Sierra Bermeja, Paola and I saw some incredible views of Estepona/Marbella (?) and the sea, and of course, more mountains. Sometime, I want to go hiking in the mountains, and maybe go camping up there too. 



Reina and I - just chillin'.



On Monday the 10th, I had my first day of Spanish school. Although I couldn't understand any of my classes (aside from English Class), I met so many nice people and somehow made it out of there alive. When I got home, I was so exhausted that I took a two hour nap. That first day of school has by far been my most tiring so far. Now, school is definitely tiring (and easily gets boring), but I think that my mind has become accustomed to 6 hours of Spanish with out completely crashing. Because of holidays/feria (which I will tell you about soon), I've actually only been to six school days, so I still haven't quite got into a routine yet. Once I do, I will write more about my life in Spanish school.

Wednesday the 12th was a national holiday in Spain, so nobody had school or work! I was fine with this because my mind was melting after the first two days of school - Spanish OVERLOAD. So, Paola and Tutsi (Jaime's mom) took Molly, Jaime, and I to Gibraltar (<---click on that for more info), a British Territory in south Spain known for the Rock of Gibraltar (<---yep, you can click that too). So basically, the Rock of Gibraltar is a HUGE rock (mountain island?) with a lot of monkeys and British people. It was really fun because we went up the rock where there were caves and tunnel like things in the rock with rooms. Also, we got to see some amazing views from the rock.



We have now been to England! We even got the stamp in our passports!



On Saturday the 15th, Jaime, Molly and I went to the zoo in Estepona! It was called Selwo Aventura, and themed like an African safari! Although the animals weren't that different than those that I've seen at zoos in America, the setting was completely different. There were hills, valleys, plants from around the world, and of course, the mountains. The animals were cool, don't get me wrong, but the scenery here is breathtaking. The zoo kind of made me feel like I was in Scout's Safari. Does anybody remember that show? Because that's what it seemed like at times. At one point, the three of us rode on this safari bus and went all over the zoo, seeing all sorts of cool animals such as lions, tigers, and bears. The only downer of the day was when this crazy, huge bird bit Molly's leg. It just walked over to us and chomped down! Good thing Molly is used to loco animals, being from Australia!



See the zebras?

 Last week, I only went to school on Monday and Tuesday because of the San Pedro Feria (Fair)! I'm not sure how it all works, but I'll tell you what I think I heard: Feria is an anual, week-long celebration that happens in towns at different times of the summer/early fall, depending on when they celebrate . . . something, the town Saint, I think (?). Either way, on Wednesday the 19th, nobody in San Pedro had school or work! Yay! So, Paola and Tutsi took Molly, Jaime, and I to Teleferico Cablecar Benalmadena, located between Marbella and Malaga. There, we went on a cable car and saw beautiful views of city, sea, and mountains. Check out below to see what I saw!

And finally, what I'm you've all been waiting for: FERIA! Where to start? Technically, Feria was kicked off on Monday (the 17th) night, with a fireworks show. I however, being the exchange student that knows next to nothing around here, did not go to the fireworks. I didn't kick myself too hard though because we have fireworks in the US - we even have them in Iowa! Tuesday night was the first night of feria festivities. (There was all kinds of stuff - music, dancers, etc. during the daytime throughout the week that I never went to . . .) Anyways, on Tuesday I went to the fair with some friends from school. When we first got there, I couldn't believe how cool everything was! It was much bigger, brighter, and louder than I'd imagined, but I liked it that way! My first thought was, "Wow, this kind of smells like the Iowa State Fair, but Spanishy!". There were amusement park rides, tons of food, tons of venders selling anything from scarves to paintings, a discoteca, a concert hall, fair games, and sweet music (some Spanish, some English) with the base cranked way up. I loved it. . . . How it worked, was there there were a few streets that were lined with all these things, and you could walk wherever you wanted. The street that I probably spent the most time on was the one with all of the rides. Here's a viedo that might give you an idea of what Feria is like:

Back to Tuesday though. That night, I went on bumper cars with my friend Miriam (she's in the video above), and it was so much fun! That may have been the best two euros I have ever spent. On Wednesday, Molly, Jaime, and I went to the cable car thing I talked about before. Apparently on Thursday and Friday there actually was school, but nobody goes because of Feria. I've been told by a few people that this is normal, that when there's a holiday in the middle of the week, students just take the rest of the week off too! Personally, I don't have a problem with this.

On Thursday night, I went to Feria again with a different group of friends from school. This time I went on two different rides with some friends, and both were awesome. On Friday night I went to Feria with Molly, and some friends she introduced me to the weekend before. Molly, Victor, and I went on "La Barca" aka the huge pirate ship ride. It swung back and forth, and we stood in one of the two cages at the ends of the boat, and it was simply amazing. Also on Friday night, we went to the discoteca at the Feria! I have to say, my first discoteca was pretty awesome. Imagine Homecoming, but 10X better, then put that on steroids - BAM, it's a discoteca. We left around 2 or 3 am, and I spent the night at Molly's house. On Saturday I went to La Canada, a shopping mall in Marbella, with Molly and her host family. Generally, it seemed the same as any other mall I've been to, except for some different stores, and the flat, ramp-like escalators (imagine an escalator, but flat, and slanted).

Just when you think that there couldn't be more feria, there is definitely more feria. After a good siesta Saturday afternoon, Molly and I went to la feria again! We went on some rides, had cotton candy, and had these AMAZING Spanish waffles called Gofres. Basically, they're fried waffles with chocolate syrup and whip cream, and when you eat them you feel like you're eating a piece of heaven, and all in the world is right. . . Also, I learned that in Australia, they call cotton cady "fairy floss"! This didn't really make sense to me, but "cotton candy" didn't really make sense to Molly, so I guess it's okay!



Tuesday night at the Feria!



So many games! Molly ended up bringing a snake home!



A piece of heaven



By Sunday afternoon (yesterday), I was wiped out. It was the last day of feria, but there was no way I was going. I did however have an interesting day though, because I met my next-door neighbors who only live there on holiday (it's their vacation home, as they are from England). It turns out that the family had four 15/16 year old girls with them (daughter, cousin, two friends), so I made some more friends! We went to a beach bar/restaurant and had a really good meal, then we went back to their house and played some cards. Around 9 or so, I had to come back home because after a 5-day break, this girl had school Monday (today).

That's about all for now! Until later, please enjoy these random photos that mostly fill in the gaps of this post :)

Spanish Jamon - I could eat it all day

Having fun in an elevator



Me and some ice cream



Piratas del Caribe?

Sardines!

Things people have made me at school! They're so nice.

Me at a grocery store with the two-in-one basket/cart

The sea! I had never seen it before arriving here.

Another fine piece of art by my classmates. Feria ^^

Hasta luego,

Josie,
Josephine,
Pepa,
Josefina,
Rubia