Hasta luego, Diego!

Once again I find myself in a state of transition as summer is ending and I prepare myself for college. Last summer I was preparing for the drastic change of returning home from Spain, and the summer before for my exchange year that lay ahead. It's crazy to think that I am no longer an outbound nor an inbound or even a rebound anymore! I don't even know what to call myself now...

Hi, I am Josie Thurmond - Spain '11-'12; I know it seems like forever ago but it was very real and I miss it so much and you may think I'm an oldie now but... you get the idea.

Many of you may be wondering why I continue to write then. Well, the purpose of this post is to actually wrap this blog up (*tear). I think it'd be nice to finish this nice'n'tidy so here we go.

Rebound year: I never thought coming back home would be so difficult! The reverse-culture shock and adjusting back into your family and finally understanding what "it's all the same, yet all different" means. They weren't lying when they said exchange is more than just your year abroad! It follows you and changes you - I think about Spain everyday. Whether it's a person or a place or maybe a food, I'm reminded of it constantly. However, I no longer feel such a heavy sadness that I am so far from my second home. Instead, I look forward to when I can return someday and be reunited with my friends and family that await me there.

Rebound year can be tough, but it's also a new beginning. Whatever you're facing, think about it like this: whether you're returning to high school, or entering college, it will be in your own language! You just spent a year in a foreign land and now you're on your own turf - nothing should be stopping you from making the most of whatever situation you find yourself in!

Just because you're home doesn't mean your exchange is all over. I have officially been back home for more than a year (August 8th) but I still talk to my friends and family in Spain all the time on Facebook, Skype, Twitter, etc. Just a couple of weeks ago my friend Jon who went to Taiwan in '10-'11 had his host grandparents visit him here! I have friends who have already gone over to their host countries to visit again. It's so encouraging to see because I know the connections we made on exchange will last for life.

As a Rotex member this year, it was almost sad at times to see the outbounds preparing to leave for their host countries - I wanted it to be me going again! I'm starting to realize that the cycle is actually pretty cool to see, even though I get jealous every now and then ;) I did get to watch two of my friends from my outbound class prepare to go on a SECOND exchange this year! Some of you who have read through my posts may remember Nohema who went to France 11-12? Well now she is in Brazil for the 13-14 year for a gap year before college!

As for me, exactly one week from tomorrow, I will be going to North Central University in Minneapolis to study Psychology and Intercultural Studies/Global Missions. I cannot wait for what the next 4 years have in store (hopefully a semester or two abroad, eh?). Unfortunately I will not be a member of Rotex anymore, as I will be too far from District 6000 to be able to fully participate in Rotex sponsored events. Being a part of Rotex this past year has been amazing though and I would definitely recommend it to any outbound/rebounds who are considering joining. It's a great group that will never get tired of hearing about your crazy exchange stories, and it's a prefect outlet for your fresh exchange knowledge as current outbounds are preparing for their year abroad.

It's weird to consider that I would have never expected my senior year to turn out like it did when I left for exchange. I hadn't met my best friends, Ben and Nuria, until this August. I didn't expect to attend the college I'm going to until I visited last winter. I didn't know my current boyfriend until January. I didn't know any of the inbounds/outbounds (from this year) until the first Rotex event that took place in October, yet I consider many of these crazy foreign people my close friends. Exchange is bizarre, and I don't know where I'd be right now had I not gone to Spain my junior year. I am so glad I was crazy enough to go though. The experiences and memories that I made there will last forever, and for that I am so grateful.

I hope that you all have enjoyed this journey with me and that I was able to help you out in some way over the past two and a half years. Still feel free to email me for whatever reason - I love hearing from other exchange students (it's a special bond we have I'm pretty sure!). I am thinking about starting a personal blog, so if I do I will make sure to inform y'all. Until then, make sure to check out these other exchange blogs from some fellow District 6000 outbounds!

Jonah Marks (Spain) - http://jonahmarks.blogspot.com
Ben Ellis (Austria) - http://bentravel-reisen.blogspot.com/

Thank you devoted readers, that will be all for now.
Hasta la proxima vez!

Besos,
Josie

¡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

Newton Daily News - Rotary Club celebrates 90 years of missions, giving

My mom emailed me this article today and I thought it was interesting. It was just published today, and I thought you would all enjoy it :) My Rotary Club is celebrating 90 years! Check it out at the following link:

http://www.newtondailynews.com/articles/2011/02/16/r_xooi96zsmcnicmb47uba/index.xml

Enjoy!