Back Home - Part 1

Dear readers,

Good evening :) (Good morning to my friends in Spain!) Aren't time differences tricky sometimes?

(**Note: This post will be split up into two parts -- after writing for a while, I realized there was way too much to say for just one post!**)

Today I was talking to Nuria and I realized that I have been back in the U.S. for over SIX MONTHS. That's over a half a year! That's 60% of the duration of my exchange year. You get it. (For those of you who don't know, Nuria is an inbound exchange student from Burgos, Spain. She lived in my house from August until December, but now she is with a different family. We're pretty tight and I'm currently plotting to kidnap her from her current host family...)

Back to what I was saying though - SIX MONTHS! It's really strange how time goes by. Since I haven't blogged since October, I should probably catch you all up what my life as rebounder as been like. FIRST though, I must fill you all in on my last days in Spain, as promised in my previous post four months ago.

My last day in Spain began with packing. After much work, I finally zipped everything up and went over to Estepona. There, my friends Mark, Nicky and Dexter threw a neighborhood water fight/going away party for me! Have I mentioned how amazing my friends are? After a crazy water fight, my friends gave me some letters and pictures and a t-shirt signed by everyone. I hardly held myself together, surrounded by such an amazing group of people. My friends asked me how I wanted to end my last day in Spain; the answer was easy for me :)

We started walking to the beach. I had to run in the sand and listen to the waves of the sea one more time under the stars, especially with them. (Don't get me wrong, I'm going to return to Spain, but this was going to be last time in a long time I'd be able to do this). I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my last evening in Spain than sitting with my friends on the sea shore. I don't know what I would've done without these amazing people:) Nicky, Mark, Lucas, Dexter, Rania, Rose... I'm so blessed to have these people as friends.

After the water fight

After returning from the beach, it was nearly 11 P.M. My host parents came to pick me up along with Mark and Nicky who would come to the airport with me in the morning. My flight left around 9 or 10, so we had to leave for Malaga around 5 or 6 I think. Naturally, we didn't sleep as I made my final preparations to leave. It was nice to just hang out with Mark and Nicky for a little while longer. As we headed out with Juan and Ana, I said goodbye to Lucy (their dog). The ride to the airport was mostly small talk about how awesome the year had been -- we were with each other and that was enough.  I always loved car rides along the coast because one can see both the sea and the mountains on the highway; this trip, however, was much more solemn. I tried hiding my tears as we approached the airport.

It wasn't long until I had to leave to go through security. This time, it was impossible to hold back the tears. I hugged everyone once, then a second time because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving. I did eventually have to go though. By the time I was in line for security I was full on balling and I felt quite bad for making the other travelers around me feel undeniably awkward.

Nicky, me, and Mark in the Malaga Airport 

From Malaga I would go to Madrid, then to Chicago, and finally to Des Moines. The trip home was tiring and I felt numb. I cried a lot of the way - it was pretty much an on and off sort of deal. I was happy that I'd be seeing my family soon, but I was devastated that I had to leave so many wonderful people in Spain, not knowing when I'd return. My cafe con leche really helped in Madrid though. That and distracting myself by making bracelets with soda tabs like Molly taught me.

I was kind of nervous about going through security/customs in Chicago, but it was surprisingly easy for me. They asked if I had any food, and I told them I had tea. I actually had Spanish ham too but I was afraid that they would take it away from me (raw meat, ya know), and the thought of losing jamon was devastating.  I got through fine, but looking back, that probably wasn't the smartest choice coming back into an American airport. ANYWAYS though, when I arrived in Chicago, I was definitely in shock. I didn't think I would actually go through reverse culture shock, but I'm telling you, it's fo real. As I was waiting for my flight from Chicago to Des Moines, I made the following list on my iPod of things that stood out to me.

I'll briefly expand on this list...

• So green - What I first though as I was arriving in the plane. Where I lived in Spain was much drier than the green fields I saw in the Midwest.
• Water towers - I saw water towers as we approached Chicago and realized that I hadn't seen them in Spain (or at least I don't think I did). This is still something that confuses me. 
• Black people/diversity - This is a bit blunt, but it's what I wrote down that day. The airport was very diverse ethnically and I wasn't used to so much diversity. I was used to Spanish people and South Americans, along with the occasional Morrocan or British person.
• People are cheerier/like to have fun with job - I felt like people were especially friendly arriving in Chicago. However, I think this may have just been a Chiago thing. I'm not sure, really.
• Overweight people - I feel like you all probably knew this was coming. I immediately noticed that people in the U.S. are bigger. Yes, there were overweight people in Spain, but not nearly to the extent  here. "Overweight" doesn't even mean in the same in the two countries!
• McDonald's/Starbucks love - I forgot how much we as Americans love Starbucks and McDonalds -- everyone had it in the airport! (Everyone has it outside the airport as well...)
• Baseball caps/basketball shorts/hats in general - Here in the United States, we dress pretty athletically. I was surprised by all the people wearing baseball caps and hats in general  as well as all the guys wearing basketball shorts.
• So much friggin English - This statement proves how poor my English had become, to say the least. I was overwhelmed by everyone speaking in English! It was  no longer a "Oh! An English-speaker; I must gravitate toward them!" kind of deal like in Spain.
• I keep replying in Spanish - This kind of goes along with the above -- I was used to speaking in Spanish! I was replying to people in security with words like "okay" and "thank you" in Spanish!
• Paying in U.S. $, what?? - This first food I bought in the U.S. was a fruit smoothie. I don't know why I bought that first. I honestly think that it just sounded good and it had the no line to wait. However, paying in dollars felt surreal. I still had a lot of Euro money in my wallet! After paying in Euros for a year, paying with dollars seemed like I was paying with fake money. 
• Fancy bathrooms - American bathrooms are much nicer than Spanish ones, simply put. Most toilets here flush automatically, there is always toilet paper in the stalls (or at least a few of the stalls), and there is soap to wash your hands. This was nice to come back to.
• I can't believe I'm in the US. I want more time in Spain. Reverse cultura shock blehhh - This was me throwing up my emotions. (Cultura = culture, by the way.) I felt like I could have stayed in Spain much longer and I was overwhelmed by all the American-ness being thrown at me all at once.
• Everyones con extra - Ipod, phones, laptops. More extreme then back in Spain... I think - For starters, "con" means with. (Yay Spanglish and poor English.) I saw so many people with their technology at hand, but I did realize that people in an airport may be much more likely to being using such technology. Now that I think about it, I do think that teens use their phones the same amount in Spain and in the US, but adults use their phones MUCH more in the U.S. than in Spain. 
• Soldiers/military - In the airport, I saw quite a few soldiers in uniform. This was very touching to me, and I'm pretty sure I teared up a little because I felt so proud to be an American, which leads us to my final point....
• Patriotism - Compared to Spain, there is much more patriotism in the U.S. and I saw that in Chicago. There were many American flags and tributes to our military. After being back for half a year, I still recognize this through the American flags hung in the town square, in classrooms, in streets, and in stores. I like this patriotism, and like I've said before: Going to Spain not only made me like Spain more, but it made me like the U.S. more.

The O'Hare was an emotional time, but I'm glad that I had some time to think to myself before reuniting with my family in Des Moines. My flight from Chicago to Des Moines was delayed, but in that time I met a guy from France who had been an exchange student to Iowa a year or two before, and was returning to visit. This was very encouraging. I also got to see Paula again, a Spanish Rotary exchange student that I met by chance in the Madrid Airport. She told me she was going to live in Burlington  Iowa, which was very exciting. It proved again just how small the world is. (Paula and I have since hung out and we have become pretty great friends through our Rotary district's exchange student events. Shout-out to Paula, one of the funniest Spaniards I've met! )

Eventually I boarded the plane after an hour delay or so. In some ways, my nerves were cooling down -- I had made it back to the U.S. alive and my trip home was almost finished! On the other hand, I couldn't wait to see my family. When I arrived in Des Moines, however, the first thing I did was NOT run to see my family. I actually had to run to the bathroom because I have this issue about going to the bathroom in planes, but it's gotten better. AFTER THAT, I went down an escalator to find my family and a few friends waiting for me. I had to awkwardly stand and stare at them as I was going down the escalator though because I had my carry-on with me and it weighed too much for me to walk down any quicker! I find this humorous. When I finally reached the bottom of the escalator I was able to embrace my family and friends again. In some ways, it felt normal to see them and be walking with them in the airport. At the same time, I couldn't believe that I was really back home.

We left the airport and then went to Famous Dave's for some good BBQ which I had dearly missed. It was so nice to be with everyone again, but again, it felt somewhat normal (definitely not what I was expecting!). We went home and my room was neatly set up for my sister and I to share since we would be hosting Nuria (she was to arrive the very next day!). I was sad because my sister was actually in Kentucky/Missouri at the time with National Fine Arts! I had to wait a few days to see her!! Jenn was with me though and we had a fun night hanging out like nothing had really changed. I was extremely tired -- I hadn't slept for some 30 hours, maybe 40 -- and I don't remember much from that day or the next. I do know that everyone truly tried to make me feel back at home, and for that I'm very grateful.

Awkwardly looking at my family as I go down the escalator.

Luke, Mom, Dad, Reece, and Jenn welcoming me home :)
I was such a tan goddess -- it's depressing how pale I've gotten.

Shelby surprised me around the corner!

Reece had grown so much!! And he cut off his Justin Bieber hair!

Home at last :) Reece, Jenn, Me, Katelyn, Natalie(Natalie grew even more than Reece!)

That's all for part one of this post. Hopefully I can get part two up soon and talk about integrating back into my family and school in the U.S. I've also had quite a few adventures with my lovely Spaniard, Nuria, so maybe I could let you all in on those.

Until then,
Josie