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

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.