Seventeen

I would've updated sooner, but I thought it'd be cool to wait until today to do this week's post. You see, if you go all the way back to my first blog post, you'll find that it was written exactly one year ago on February 13, 2011. It's interesting to look back on. Here's a snip:


"Wow, has it been a crazy week! Last Saturday - February 5th - I found out that Spain had accepted me as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student! Talk about a good birthday present!! Monday was my birthday - Sweet 16! ...On Friday I applied for my passport! It should come in the mail in about six weeks . . ." 


That actually doesn't seem so long ago. I can remember this time last year pretty well: I was addicted to reading blogs like this, hoping to find something new about foreign exchange. I was checking my email daily, multiple times, in hopes of finding out my city or my host family or SOMETHING! Spain was always on my mind -- I mean ALWAYS on my mind. I couldn't believe that I was actually going to do this; everything seemed so unreal. In many ways, I didn't know what to expect! Now, I've been in Spain for almost four and a half months! I look back on older posts and see that I've changed, but probably for the better. Now I wonder what things will be like, one year from this time.


Back to life in Spain though. Tuesday was my 17th birthday, and it was lovely. I was hugged and kissed and sang to all day long, and I don't think I could've asked for a better day! Here in Spain, you're basically attacked with love on your birthday and it's pretty amazing. My class sang Happy Birthday to me in Spanish, and then proceeded to sing to me in English, which was actually quite humerous. I love those guys. My host family gave me a new camera since my other one broke, and it's awesome! I got to choose what we had for dinner, so we went out for Chinese. Let me tell you, it was delicious. 


Four other of my friends had birthdays last week as well, so for two weeks or so we had a big party planned for Friday. Buuuut it didn't work out and I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty disappointed. Overall though, my birthday was an amazing day. I received mountains of cards and letters from home, as well as a mini Pillow Pet from my mom! It means so much to me when I receive stuff from home!! I feel so incredibly blessed.


I've kind of been on what you could call an exchange "high" for a while, until Saturday. I don't know why exactly, but I was sort of depressed this weekend, as well today. I'm a bit sick, I miss home, and Spanish is... well Spanish. I Skyped with my family last night, and it was so so so so nice talking to them. I'm missing out on a year with them, and that part of exchange really makes me sad. When I get back home, I know I'll have a new appreciation for being able to live with my family. 


I started the running club last week, and I think it's going to work out pretty nice. I'm not in shape yet, but I look forward to being able to do races when I am! Also last week, I started Spanish lessons (two times a week for an hour) outside of school. I really like my tutor; she's fun and enjoys learning languages with music. So, right now we're translating/studying one of my favorite Spanish songs, "La Niña Que Llora En Tus Fiestas" by La Oreja De Van Gogh. 


Other than that, not too much is going on. I'm going to Ireland in a week and a half!! I can't wait! Also, Carnaval is soon! Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Here in Spain, if you wear a red article of clothing on Valentine's Day, that means you're in love with someone. However, I haven't found my "Fransisco" here, so I don't think I'll have any red tomorrow. 


I think that's all for now.


Talk to you soon!
Josie
xoxo


P.S. I successfully got my haircut last week (only a trim) and I'm really proud of myself for doing so because hairdressers plus miscommunication due to language barriers could be deadly. But I lived. 

"La Niña Que Llora En Tus Fiestas" by La Oreja De Van Gogh

Lists

Wow, has it been a crazy week! Last Saturday - February 5th - I found out that Spain had accepted me as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student! Talk about a good birthday present!! Monday was my birthday - Sweet 16! I got my license that day and since, have been driving around with Carolyn (sister) to random places around town, mostly because --why?-- we can!! On Wednesday I got to go to youth group for the first time since my jaw surgery on January 11th. They were all pretty ecstatic about my Spain news. So far, everyone's been pretty supportive of it all, which really helps :) On Friday I applied for my passport! It should come in the mail in about six weeks, according to the lady at the courthouse. Once I have my passport, I need to apply for my visa ASAP because apparently they can take a long time to attain. Yesterday I had my official interviewing for RYE since I couldn't make the original date in January due to my surgery. The interview went well, and I even made a few friends! Two other girls were also there -  Melissa and Brooke - that couldn't make it to the January event either, for various reasons. It sounds like Melissa is going to Italy and Brooke could be headed to Belgium?? It's cool to already be making friends on this journey :)

My RYE will probably begin in about six months (I'm guessing mid-August?), so I almost feel silly blogging already, but there's so much preparation that's going to be done in that time! I'm hoping that when all my blogs are finished and through, people can look back on them and learn what all the preparation entails, as well as what being an exchange student is like, and how to deal with coming home and adjusting back into things. So that's one of the purposes of this blog. Another it to inform people of what I'm up to, without having to spend a terrible amount of time communicating with everyone individually. This will be a bigger deal when I'm in Spain, with a probably busier schedule.

Right now, I am making many, many lists. To-do lists, shopping lists, date lists, contact lists . . . they never seem to end. But I guess that's the kind of person I am. I'm a writer. I love writing, and apparently, I also love lists. It seems that forgetfulness runs in my family, and so lists are, at times, a necessity.

Some top priorities on my lists right now include: apply for job at Quizzno's tomorrow, fill out Visa application, figure out a date to apply for Visa in Chicago, somehow find navy blue blazer that FITS, attend more local Rotary meetings, pay hard-core attention in Spanish class . . .

I think it'd be cool to have some kind of community event to raise money for my exchange. So far, I don't really have any ideas. I thought maybe a 5k fundraiser or something would be cool. A bake sale seems somewhat impractical... If you have any ideas, let me know!

There's a lot to do between now and departure time, and I'm sure that that time is going to fly by before I realize it. My mom and I decided that we'll have to do everything in preparation a little bit at a time throughout these next few months, because if we wait until the end for everything, it's not going to be possible.

It looks like this has turned into a pretty long post, but it doesn't really surprise me. (Warning: there may very well be many long posts in the future :).) Even so, I'm sure I've forgotten something I wanted to say, and I'll probably remember it right after I publish this. It still hasn't soaked in that next year at this time, I will be in Spain! Everything seems so unreal at this point. Feel free to comment and fun things!

Hasta luego,
Josie