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! :)

First Impressions/Spain Trivia/One Week, Whaaa?

Hey yo! Do you know what today is? My "one week" in Spain! Wow! In some ways, it feels like I just got here, but then again, I feel like I've done so much to have been here for just one week. So, now that I have been in Spain for a few days, I thought that I would share some of my first impressions with you through a game of Spain Trivia. (A lack of homework = cooler blog posts) I'll list the questions, and then at the bottom of the post are the answers. (Just match the numbers up.) Good luck!

Questions:

1. True or false: In Spain, it is okay to wear shoes in the house.

2. What is this, and how does it work? (See photo below.)

3. Does Spain have a king or a president?

4. Choose the best answer to fill in the blank: At Spanish school, __________.

a.)The students stay in the same classroom while teachers move around.

b.)The teachers stay in the same classroom and students move around.

c.)There are cotton candy vendors.

5. What are these and where are they located? (See photos below.)

6. True or false: There is an excessive amount of toilet paper in the school bathrooms.

7. True or false: Water bottles are cooler in Spain.

8. Who typically eats dinner at an earlier time: The USA or Spain?

9. What is a siesta?

10. When greeting someone in Spain, what cheek do you kiss first: left or right?

Answers:
1. True. It is actually expected that you always wear shoes or socks in the house. My host mom said this is to avoid catching a cold.

2. That is what one flushes the toilet with. It works by pulling up (see photo).

3. Okay, this is kind of a trick question. Spain has a king and a president.

*Note: the President has a strange resemblence to Mr. Bean. (See below.)



José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero



4. If you chose 'C', that's awesome, but incorrect. If you chose 'A' you are right! Unlike American high school, you have one class of students that you're with all day for the school year. Teachers come to the classroom throughout the day. In my class, there are about 30 students.

5. Those are light switches, and they seem to be randomly placed throughout the house. For example, the light switches for the kitchen and bathroom are located outside of the rooms, whereas the light switches for the bedrooms are located inside the rooms. 

6. This is about as false as false can get. At my school, there is no toilet paper in bathrooms! Instead, there is a roll of toilet paper on the teacher's desk that you can take with you on your venture to the restroom. Me? I carry a roll of toilet paper with me in my backpack - no joke.

7. This is . . . true! Bigger does not always necessarily mean better, but in this case, I think it does. See what I mean in the photo below.

These are everywere in Spain, and they were on my Chicago/Madrid flight. The city water isn't very good quality, so it's better to drink from the bottle.

8. If you said the USA, then you are correct! Here in Spain, meals are eaten much later in the day compared to the US. Lunch is usually around 2 or 3, and dinner can be anywhere from 8 pm - 11pm (at least at my casa). Also, there is no school lunch! My school has a 20 minute breakfast break around 10 am, and then a snack break around 1 pm, but no lunch! When I get home from school is when my family has lunch. I'm actually adjusting to this fine. Lately, I'm hardly ever hungry.  

9. A siesta is only the greatest thing in the world that the US needs to adopt: a daily afternoon nap. I've only took one siesta so far (sadly), but I plan to get more in. Also, I'm pretty sure shops in town close for lunch/siesta time. As in, the shops are open in the morning, but then close for an hour or two (or three?) in the afternoon, then open back up after that until closing time later in the day/night. I'm not quite sure about how that all works, but I bet I can figure out the system before I return to the US.

10. In Spain, you kiss the left cheek, and then the right cheek (I'm pretty sure). I'm still getting used to the whole kiss and greet thing!

Well I hope you learned something new! Next week I will probably have a normal post about what I did, and probably fill you in on the happenings of this week too. I hope all is well back home!

Hasta luego,

Josie