Long Time

Okay so I realized today that I haven't updated my blog in months! Well, as most people know by now, I went home from Spain already. There were many reasons, and when I look back on it, it was an interesting and good experience! I am REALLY starting to miss Spain - my friends, school, family, public transportation, castellano! I would say my castellano really isn't too bad! I can still speak it almost fluently and it has actually improved in some areas! My host sister Clara and my other foreign exchange student friends that are in MN are leaving soon and I am pretty sad. I went to Clara and Louise's (from Sweden) party last night and I signed their American flags for them. I talk about half the time to Clara in castellano and the other times in English. Everything has been going well at home and time has flew by! Going home was so interesting! I am sure people who stay in Spain longer will have even more of a culture shock when they get home than I did. For starters, I couldn't speak English for like 2 weeks! Everything came out in castellano. I went home with a guy from Sicily and he spoke italian to me - I was able to understand everything he told me! That was cool :) But I remember the first time on the airplane when an American woman talked to me, it was so weird! I was freaking out because I knew she could understand everything I could say - which at the time was muy extraño! When I got back, it's like Spain was just a dream and it never happened. Picture like you had a dream one night, and you wake up, but the people from your dream exist and they talk to you, but not in person anymore, just over the phone or skype etc. You remember every detail about your life once you're back. Sure your English is lacking (horribly) and you talk like a 3 year-old at first...but you get back to normal within a week! I remember I said "my foots" at one point... You also open and close doors harder or softer based on your doors in Spain! I missed American milk so much, it was great to get a glass of that too! You remember how to drive, where everything in your house is... I did try to give my family kisses on the cheek at the airport when I got back... it was funny ! But you live in a funky mood for a little bit. Your friends are exited to see you but they don't seem to care about your experience as much as you thought they would. Only your family and best friends really ask you questions about the experience. Right now in my life, school just got out and I am going to be nannying 4 days a week all day for the whole summer. Then next school year, I am going to go an internship at Regions Hospital for Nursing. I am thinking about going to Bethel University for nursing :) And I think I am going to go on a mission trip to Haiti this November! Everything is looking up! I just started hanging out with a girl name Ali, she is going to Italy with AFS next year and we are in the same grade! I am excited for her. It is so weird to think that about a year ago, this never happened and I didn't know the people I know today.

Reall Tiny Info On What I Am Doing

This weekend I am super busy again! First of all, yesterday we had another strike so I didn't need to go to school. Unfortunately, everything was shut down too - public transport, shops etc. So I couldn't do very much. This weekend I am having a sleepover with my friend Gemma on Friday and I am going to Monsterrat (a mountain) and to a Barça vs. Zeregoza game! Sunday I am singing at church and then going to my tutor's house. I am really excited! It will be fun!

Qué estoy haciendo!

Yesterday I went to the apartment of all the Americans I talked about before. In case you didn't know, there are a bunch of Americans that are here for a gap semester and they came to our school. Now, some people from my class and I skipped the school day and went with our English teacher to their apartment. They gave a presentation in Castellano about the USA and what they have been doing and where they were from etc. It was really fun! Tomorrow we have another "strike" and I don't have to go to school because EVERYTHING is shutting down. The metro, the buses, the funicular and all the stores and shops. I am going to study English with my host brother and mom and then hopfully watch a movie with my friend because we can't go anywhere! This weekend I am probably going to go to Monsterrat (essentially the Mount Zion of Barcelona) and a bunch of Christian monks and nuns live there. I think it will be really cool! I also want to go to another homeless outreach with my church here. Then as normal, on Saturday night I go to the church choir with 2 of my friends and we are finally having our concert on Sunday! I think it wil be a fun weekend! It is starting to get a little colder here and I can't feel my feet most of the time. One thing I am picking up on, is that my style of clothes is changing a ton! I have been wearing things I would have never thought of in the USA. It is really fun! Well that is a quick sum of what I am doing :)

More Stuff!

I am SUPER excited for tomorrow because for English class we have a bunch of Americans coming and they want a tour of the school! I am just excited to speak English with them and all that jazz. They are going to be a little older than me I believe (doing some sort of gap year here). I am hanging out with all the people in my grade who speak fluent or very good English before and we will give a presentation about the school. It is in English so I am not worried about anything at all! It is really fun actually! I have been going to Plaça Catalunya almost every day recently because I go with friends or I meet up with friends with AFS that live in other parts of Catalunya etc. My favorite thing that I ALWAYS buy when I am there: Nutella Crêpes. They are AMAZING. I seriously think I could eat one every single day. Today I went shopping with my friend Julia and it was really nice to her! I bought some clothes that I am excited to wear tomorrow! I can completely understand Castellano (for all you out there that is Spanish) and I think I can speak it pretty decently! Catalan...well that is another story. I still can't understand ANYTHING! Like, I fail all my exams and I can't do the homework or even understand math. The only thing I am not failing is English. I am becoming very concerned for my grades actually. But I just can't understand, I wish I could. There is so much more going on everyday that I just can't remember! I will keep you all updated!!!

English Class

My favorite thing to do at school is hangout with other people in English class! It is so much fun because I don't have to work or do anything the whole time and people are asking me questions about English, America (and today about Halloween). I have had to read out-loud a few times in the past and it was kind of fun. I miss home. And English and it is fun to have something you know better than everyone else! We watched the song "This is Halloween" on YouTube today and we had to write down the lyrics to the song. Everyone sang it together the third time we watched it and now it is almost an inside joke with everyone in the class. The teacher asked me about Halloween at home and I told him what I normally do for Halloween. He asked me what the coolest outfit I ever wore was and about pumpkins etc. The best part is that what was normal to me, high school, halloween and people dressing up etc. it super cool here! A LOT of people ask me about high school and I realize my school in the USA is so much like high school musical. Compared to here, they don't have school pride, colors, a mascot, teams, dress up days or anything. It is just school. That is it. I personally find it a little boring because high school in the USA is so cool!

Halloween - Castañada

This week is only a 3 day week in school and I am so happy! Halloween is tomorrow but they call it Castañada here and I think people just go around and handout castañas or something. Can't quite remember the description someone gave me... Anyhoo, I might go to France again this weekend or just stay with a family friend. Normally, every Thursday night I go to church. It is actually a cute little Evangelical church with some of the most lovely people you would ever meet there! The pastor speaks English so we talk a lot! It is really fun to go there because I walk past one of the best smelling bakery's in the world on the way! You can smell the amazingness from a block and a half away. I do admit, I always buy a sweet little pastry on my way and it is just precious. I think I might go to a party on Friday if I can stay here for the weekend. Then, Saturday I am planning on going to a HOMELESS OUTREACH thing with a different church I started attending. I have to go to Plaça Catalunya during the day and we are handing out clothes and food to those homeless and in need. My friend's Nuria and Mo are probably the people I am closest with here and I hangout with them almost everyday. They speak English so I have a bad habit of switching to English when I get tired of speaking Castellano. But, we are probably going to watch a movie (like The Lion King or something) for Halloween because we all get scared really easily. But we are going on Saturday night to the church choir together and they came with me to the youth group! They said they liked it a lot which is really good! I actually felt like I was in America for a while during the youth group. When I went to the International Church of Barcelona last Sunday (SO similar to American church) I ran into an Asian girl about my age who started freaking out because I was from Minnesota. She said she knew a guy who was going to go study in Minnesota soon and that he wanted to learn the accent. She then proceeded to run off screaming and looking for him. It was awesome :) I have realized lately that my Castellano is definately not as good as I want it to be, so I am starting to actually study it. Kind of. When you hear a different language all day the last thing you want to do is go home and study it. I still don't understand ANYTHING in class. Nothing. It is really boring and now I am just writing letters or staring blankly at my desk. Yesterday after school, I didn't want to just go home and sit alone for a while so I asked my friend Emma and Gemma if they wanted to go get some crêpes with me in Plaça Catalunya. We ended up going to Burger King and ordering like everything off the menu. They have different options here and different foods. The chicken was was WORSE. It was so much...healthier. Then we went shopping and I bought a cute shirt, some earrings and leggings. I told them I wanted to look really pretty on Halloween so while we were shopping we called it OPERACIÓN GUAPÍSIMA. I still laugh whenever I hear Emma saying that in my head... Today I am going to Plaça Catalunya again to meet up with my liaison! I think we are going to eat somewhere but I am not sure! Time flies here, it is already November. I really hoped my Castellano would be a lot better by now, but maybe it is and I don't realize. So many people like to here me say "Minnesota" with the accent (which I can't help by the way) and they laugh. I think it is pretty funny too. It is turning into winter now and I have to say it is actually legit cold sometimes. It makes things a little easier when it comes to missing home though. I don't need to be reminded of the freezing weather even though I like it sometimes. Quick note for those people who are reading this who want or are planning to be a foreign exchange student: actually listen to AFS. They know what they are doing, when it comes to sleep and contact with the family. If you need to talk to your mom, talk to her but don't if it isn't necessary. It makes you more homesick. Here are some random photos: Mo, me, Nuria. Castanas, and a sign I took a picture of!

Friends!

Okay, so I am finally making friends and hanging out with them! I have been going on walks with them or studying or watching movies. This weekend I am staying with a friend at her house and I am really excited! Not much else has been happening other than school and home. My parent's have noticed that I have been skyping a little too much with friends from the States so now I am laying off talking to them so much. AFS was right when they said it makes you homesick. Some other things about the culture I have noticed: everyone likes everything to be clean here but they were shoes in the house and sit in the middle of the streets during manifestations. Everyone is so nice and friendly and very sincere. Everyone will be your friend, you just have to start the talking. When Spanish girls start yelling all you can do is laugh because it is so dang funny, you can't understand a thing but their faces tell it all. Everyone does their homework and they study a lot here. I don't know about you, but the teacher doesn't even check the homework and I don't think I would it then. Everyone is always studying and I just don't understand why. You either smoke and love it or you are opposed to it. Parties don't really start until early in the morning and don't end until the morning transport comes. All the same steriotypes are here too. Like the loner, the popular one, the cute one, the smart one...etc. But the classes are so small that everyone is friends and no one really has a group. Everyone hangs out with everyone.  People kiss people. Like, girls will just go kiss guys on the cheeks for no reason. I guess in America we have huge space bubbles. They take pills for everything. I think they feel like a pill will solve the problem but all I do is pray :) They always make the table before eating (whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner) and it is very strict. People just generally grow up later in Spain. Like, the parent's do a lot more for the kids than in America. The parent's will bring you food, make your food, cut your meat for you or even do some of your homework. They always make your food! I always had to make my own food in America. There are more but I am at a blank! Adios!

What's Up

This week has been quite an odd one. So Monday was fairly normal but that night I got really sick and stayed home for the next 2 days. So I missed half the week of school. I can honestly say that I can understand a lot more of Català now and I am starting to pick up on little spanish sayings. I took a History test today and the whole thing was in Català and we had a new teacher today and I don't know if she knew I was a foreign exchange student or not. But, a guy behind me who speaks English told me not to worry about the test and just draw or something. So I drew some shoes, dress, trees, trucks, ties... yup. Also, it is SO humid here right now. Like if I take a piece of paper and crush it in my hand it sticks together and just walking up the stairs makes me sweet. My hair is always a little wet too. I have been receiving letters in the mail from friends and family and it just makes my day! I love getting pictures too! The language is getting a little frustrating and I can't understand as much as I hoped I would by now but I know it will come eventually! Last night when I was coming home from church I started talking to an older lady and she thought I was Italian! Score! Someone didn't think I was American the first time I talked to them! She then proceeded to rant about her opinion on politics and taught me a few French words. Quite interesting. For first hour this morning, in my English class I had to write an essay. It was super funny because the teacher kind of told me that he couldn't really correct me because I was the better one at English. I also found out I am going to London with my school in May! Super excited! :) My friend Mo and I go walking sometimes and she wanted to go to the USA for 1 month so I invited her to stay with me in my house next summer for a month! My mom said yes and now it is just up to her family! I pray that it works out! Hasta luego! God bless!

Some Photos

Here are just a few random photos I have taken I thought I would put out there! Some of them are from the orientation last weekend! :)

França

So this past weekend I went to France. I got last Thursday and Friday off of school. Thursday because of the student strike and Friday because of holiday. Everything is very pretty! Their second home is really close to the border and you can see Spain and Andorra from their balcony. Yesterday I went on an excursion with my host dad and we biked to a nearby town. There is the location of the oldest pharmacy in the world. Started up in 1640 or 1670. Can't remember which one. Then for dinner, my host mom made some typical French cuisine. We would melt cheese and drip it on bread. We picked some blackberries too and ate those with Oreos for dessert. Right now I am sitting in a cute little café that has free wifi. Everyone thinks it is freezing outside and wearing all their winter coats and I am walking around in my shorts. I can proudly say I am not cold at all. Not much else is happening! Here are some photos of just France!

AFS Orientation

This past weekend I went to an overnight orientation with AFS. It was a ton of fun! I was so happy to see everyone and just talk. I can't fully remember everything we did, but on Saturday night we went out in the city. The volunteers wanted us to take them to La Casa de Gaudi. We had to take them there and they pretended to be drunk the whole time. It was actually a little funny, and they would try running away whenever they could. They were screaming and dancing and falling over - people from apartments we walked by tried throwing water balloons at us. One of the volunteers said people fill them up and wait for drunk people to walk by. I thought they were eggs at first actually. But then I saw one of the volunteers walking on a fence on the side of the road. It was a tilted fence and that had a sharp metal edge. For some reason I thought it would be fun to try walking on it and I totally lost my balance and fell off hitting my collar bone, knee and side on various medal parts, the fence and ground. It hurt so much and I can't talk like normal, carry my backpack on my back and I have a long line bruise along the side of my stomach. It is pretty bad, and my knees are swollen and red. But I am fine :) We eventually got to La Pedra (I forgot how it is spelled) but we lost two Americans on the way. Everyone was thinking "of course it was the Americans that got lost..." Before we went our adventure then guys from the volunteer group with AFS gave a quite serious presentation on sex. It was one of the most awkward things I have ever been through, they asked us if we knew how to put condoms on and all that jazz. Super awkward, I don't think I can put anymore on here about it. The next day we went to Park Neguell (I can't remember how to spell that either) and we had to do a list of things AFS assigned us. We had to go around and ask people to write the word smile in their native language. I think the languages we ended up with were Russian, Korean, Catalan, German, Czech, English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and French. Another assignment was to find a girl with brown hair wearing a red shirt and take a picture with her by the dragon. We did that, and she asked if she could take a picture with us after too. It was fun. We had to find out a bunch of information on the place too. We did a flash mob in the middlbe of the park and EVERYONE could see and we had to come up with it in 2O minutes. We had to dance the Macarena with 3 random strangers and get it on tape. We had to dance around someone who was singing or playing an instrument. That was fun because the guy playing the guitar was really cool and he pretended to not know English at first but ended up being fluent in it. Going back to last Friday night, I went to a party. It was a huge fiesta in Sarria. Most of the kids in Barcelona that are teenagers were there and they had live music and I danced with my friends and it was so much fun! Last night was the Barça vs. Real Madrid game and they tied. My host dad were getting into a pretty intense game of chess too. And that was how my weekend went. This week, I will get Thursday and Friday off of school and I am going to go shopping! I skyped with my friend yesterday and we were talking in Castellano and I realized how much better mine was That was fun. :) I will update again soon! I really like it here.

Randomness

This weekend is the first orientation I have in Barcelona with AFS. It was supposed to be two weekends ago...but it's Spain... So I have it this weekend! I get to see a lot of the people I met on the way here and I am excited! I have been sick lately - not fun. I realized that I need more sleep here than at home because of the change and language. I have been studying Català a lot with other people my age and a teacher and it is so tiring! I want to sleep all the time, but I can't! All the food is so healthy here, I don't have to watch what I eat as much and I normally run, some people say I already look a little thinner. Yesterday, I skyped with my friend Benjamin and he is near Madrid on exchange too and we just talked about all the things we missed and like about here! Things I miss about home: American milk, carpet, peanut butter, water fountains, grass, rain, snow, the colors of autumn etc. But the things I like: watching the sun rise everyday over the Meditterranean (probably spelled wrong), public transport, bread, bocadillos, and much more! I just can't think of right now! I have been talking with other people on exchanges and everyone is going through different things. By now, the end of the vacation phase has happened and the reality set in. There are definately people who I don't think will leave the vacation phase, but I know I already left it. I am pretty used to it here now, but now the reality of being here hits and you don't know how to count. You think "already one month!" then you think "oh, nine more!" It is a little strange. But everyone I know who has been an exchange says when you get back you think everything was just a long dream. My friend told me after a few days when you get back, everything is normal again. I like it here a lot and my family is so nice, so I want to remember as much as I can! And enjoy it!

Daily Schedule

So here is just a quick peek at my daily schedule! I wake up at 6:30 en la mañana. It is horrible. I need to leave my house by 7:15 where I meet up with my friend Laura and we take this thing called Funicular (it is like a weird bus on rails that goes down the hill) and we sometimes take the subway and bus after to school, but some days we walk for 30 minutes down and uphill to the school. I then remain in school from 8-2:30 and we have a half-an-hour break at 11 to 11:30. I eat a bocadillo and hang out with some of my friends. A bocadillo is a sandwhich with normally ham or cheese in it. After school, I go home with Laura normally, but we take the bus and subway and then funicular again. I am home alone after school for a few hours and I normally go on facebook, run, read my Bible, go to the library etc. and then my host brother Marc gets home. He does homework and I just keep hanging out until we eat dinner and go to bed! But it isn't as boring as it sounds. I normally skype with someone throughout the day. And that is the quick version of how a normal day for me goes. Of course everyday is a little different, but in general.

1 Month Already

I can't believe I have been away from home for already more than a month! Time has flown! I can't even remember very much! So I am finally used to being here. When I don't think, I respond in Castellano now - which is good, except for my English is started to fail quite miserably. I said the word "foots" referring to the word "feet" yesterday. Native English speaker here! This isn't supposed to happen! Anyhoo, I still don't understand much at school, more than before for sure, but not much. I don't have to do the homework, and I sit there staring at my desk for most of the day. I honestly think my brain has an "on" and "off" switch. 2 days ago, I decided I wanted to tour Barcelona by myself after school. I took the subway to Provença and just started walking. I bought a cute little ice cream and bun from a fresh bakery. It was fun. Until I couldn't figure out where I was. Every street looks the same, they are all super gorgeous and you feel the urge to walk down every single one! So, I started asking around "¿Donde está Provença?" I got several different answers from strangers. They would point in a direction and tell me it was 4 blocks up. It never was what they said. So I was lost and ended up near La Sagrada Família. I called my host dad (Ferran) to ask if he could pick me up. He did and dropped me off back at Provença because he had to go back to work. Where I was, was a 1O minute drive by car. I walked 3 plus miles. But it was fun. I love the subway system here. Very clean and organized. Then, yesterday, I got lost going home...kind of. Peu de Funicular is where I get off, but the station is too tiny for all the coches to fit. I was in the front and couldn't get off. So, I headed to the next station. It was very cool, I went from being in the city to being completely in the country. It was a huge station with no one there. Next to a park that made me feel like I was in Africa. But it was fun. This weekend I have an AFS retreat thingy. Not quite sure about it all, but I was invited to hangout with some friends Friday night and go to a concert with my friend Laura. I hope I can go to everything! Some other things I have noticed: people never fart or burp here. I have done it a few times in my house and the look I got from my host brother said it all. Clocks on the wall never work. Ever. Everyone smokes, and I actually don't cough anymore. About once a week, the bus drivers just don't drive their buses for some reason. So I have to walk to and from school. I need to go to a riot with my school for Spain to highten their teacher wages. Yes, this is required for credit I believe. Welcome to Spain. Last night I went to an observatory and we looked at some stars in the distance. I just thought "wow, God." It looked like the sky was covered with a black blanket, with holes in it that poured God's light into the world. I have never looked through a telescope that big before. The stars had red and purle and blue colors in them too. It was pretty cool! I will update about more later! Adios.

Update!

I haven't posted in a while so here is just a big update! The past weekend I went to La Costa Brava and the weather wasn't too nice so we only went to the beach once. But it was really beautiful. My family and I stayed in a house on the border between France and Spain and everyday you could look out the window and see the God made mountains in the distance that were so breathtaking. Everything was very...French. The house was really big and everything was antique. The little town was beautiful too. The house we stayed in is my host grandfather's. He was in Madrid for a vacation. This week FLEW by. I didn't have school on Monday because of La Mercè. I went to La Sagrada Familia and they portrayed the 7 days of creation from Genesis over the front and it was very pretty! The next night, I went back to Barcelona and saw some fireworks! They lasted for a long time and we different than the one's in the States! I stayed home from school on Wednesday because I was feeling sick, I had a cough, and needed sleep badly. Then yesterday, my friend Caroline (with AFS, she is in Lloret de Mar) called and said she was coming to Barcelona! We met up in Plaça Catalunya and went sight-seeing! We saw La Casa de Gaudi! Some awesome sculptures I can't really name for you, and walked through Gothic Square! Every single street, church, shop, whatever you can think of was beautiful! Every single ally looked photo-worthy. It was so much fun running around Barcelona with my friend and having such a good time! We talked in Castellano the whole time and bought crepes. We also went to this very famous market and ate some fresh fruit. Today is Friday and this night, I am going to France with my family! They have a second home in a place called La Cerdanya. It will be fun! I recieved a letter from one of my bestfriends a few days ago and she asked me a bunch of questions in it. Here are a few I thought I would put on here! 1. Spain smells like... First thought. Smoke. Cigarrettes. It is honestly the only smell I can think of. 2. The food here is... The food is all very good, and normally very healthy or organic. The eggs are amazing and I love how I always eat bread with oil at every meal! 3. The worst food is... My host mom makes something called carbasso. It's like cucumbers meshed or grinded into a soup. It is horrible. Never try it. You might die...I'm pretty sure. It is weird because they eat it like it's...cake or something. I just can't even stand smelling it...I don't understand why you would ever try doing something like that. 4.The shopping here is... Amazing! There is a long strip in Barcelona and area that is all just like super vintage shops that are affordable. I went to an H&M that had 6 floors. Like yeah. Amazing. 5. The people here think I am... American. Everything about me. They ask me about what school is like in the USA and what the guys are like etc. 6. I work out in Spain? Y or N Yes. I normally run, but I have a membership to a gym called Can Caralleu and it is right next to my school and it is super nice. 7. School is difficult because... The only thing is that my hair always gets stuck in the chairs and gets pulled out. I think I already lost quite a bit. They have homework...I think. I don't understand anything all day so I can't do the homework and that is hard. But the social part isn't that bad! I feel like a lot of people are interested in me - being an American. 8. Learning Català and Castellano is...ç Difficult because I hear Català all day and I speak Castellano. I feel like my mind is trying to mix them together. Hard to explain. 9. I really miss my... Bed? No the one here is more comfy Friends? Yes, but not badly American food? No. The only edible thing I miss is milk Family? Yes, especially my dog Christian fellowship? YES. I just want to find one other person who is my age and a Christian here! I talk with a lot of older people from my church here though! Okay, I am at my school right now so I need to get off! I will post pictures soon! If anyone wants to talk to me about something feel free to post a comment or e-mail me or facebook! Whatever you want! God bless!