The Last of my Firsts

The last day of September, the last day of my first month on exchange. The most emotional, rewarding, awkward, and memorable twenty five days of my life. As September comes to an end, and October begins I should start my reflection process.

A few lessons learned over the weeks:

1. Don't get frustrated with your language skills. Since I had eleven years of Spanish, I thought for sure I would be able to understand most of what is going on. First of all, the Spanish people talk a lot faster than your Spanish teacher, no matter how fast you thought she talked. Also, speaking in front of a table of native Spanish speakers is a lot more pressure than speaking in front of a class of twenty tenth graders.

2. Be happy - Fake it till you make it. Absolutely. That was my mistake in the beginning, school was hard and I let it be known. And it is great to talk with your family about it after school, but during school hours you should be trying your best to stay positive. Smile uncontrollably. No one wants to befriend a grump, no matter what country you're from.

3. Don't compare your experience. I spent a lot of time on Facebook either talking to my friends at home or from AFS. I found myself comparing everything I did to one or the other. At one point my liaison Naty said, "Your experience will be different, that doesn't mean it will be any better or worse. Some kids end up in New York, and some kids in the middle of Kentucky. Some ride the subway, and some can say they learned how to churn butter. It is not better or worse, just different."

4. Go Shopping. This seems like a stupid lesson, but I spent the first two weeks of school wearing rainbows and shorts. Even if you go shopping before you leave, and buy "european things", it is still from America. With my red hear, I stick out like a sore thumb. I put off shopping for a few weeks, and I completely regret it. Oh and I totally tried to start the Ugg trend.... never again.

5. Try everything, no matter what it is. Yesterday, I ate Octopus. It wasn't my favorite, but it is a staple food in my province. I couldn't turn it down without at least trying it. Octopus is on the extreme side of things, but everything that is put in front of you, you should at least try. Believe me, there are a lot of things that just aren't as fresh in America. All of the fruits and vegetables that we eat, we grow in the back yard. Spanish cooking is the best their is, so don't be afraid to test a few new things!

6. Say "No". My host mom is very pushy when it comes to what I eat, most Spanish moms are. She expects me to eat as much as the other people at the table eat. In the beginning, I made the mistake of saying "yes", even when I wasn't hungry. Make sure your family knows your regular food intake level, because they are basing your first few weeks on the rest of the year.

I have definitely learned more than that, but those are the first ones that come to mind. In relation to number one, "don't get frustrated with your language skills", I am proud to announce that last night I went to the movie theatre with my friends, and watched an entire movie in Spanish. It took a lot of concentration but I understood about 90 percent. Of course the movie ended up being a chick flick with absolutely no point, but I walked out of that theatre with renewed confidence.

And since we are in the reflecting mood, look at how far I've come in just twenty five days. I went from the overly confident American, to the unsure-of-everything, friendless American, to the competent, friend having American who wears scarves to disguise herself as an European.

The Up's and Down's

On Friday my English teacher asked the class, "what is your greatest dream in life?" Of course she called on me, as I was the only native speaker in the classroom. The answer rolled off my tongue, "I'm living it."

I know I left things a little negatively with my last post, and If you are considering studying abroad, or currently applying, I want to set things straight. First of all, we have so much in common. I am sure that you are beyond excited about everything right now, as you should be. I hope if you're reading my blog that you're able to relate. A lot of other AFS blogs try to stay pretty positive, and while I want to tell you about all the great things, I hope you also understand that the not so great things are just as vital as I continue to grow throughout my exchange year. I live by the fact that with the up's there will be down's, and with every down there will be an up.

Honestly, I came into this year thinking I was going to be a special case, I was never going to experience the roller coaster of emotions, never be homesick, and never be sad. I have officially been away from home for three weeks, the longest I have ever been away. Just these three weeks have been hectic. School is hard. period. After the first day though, everything get's better. Everything always gets better. I know that as I was beginning to apply I read everyones blogs, and everything that was said I took into consideration, knowing that eventually it would be me. I want you to know that no matter how negative one blog post is, I will never regret my decision. And never have I regretted this decision, not for one second.

This week was hard, but then again with every down though there are too many ups to count. 

First, I had a great weekend. On Friday I went out with some of my new friends from school. (yes, I made friends.) It was a group of about ten of us, and we went to a bar and hung out for a few hours. On Saturday I went shopping with two other AFSers in Ponfe (thats our nickname for Ponferrada), Lani and Shannon, and then their sisters. After trying half of Zara on, we went to a Pizza place in the center of town, and met Derin and Emils (other AFS Ponfe kids). I love my Ponfe chapter, when we are together it is so much fun! AFS discourages a lot of contact with the other kids in the program, but because we all weren't from the US, and Shannon and Lani's sisters were there, we ended up speaking a lot of Spanish. 

Then on Monday I started rugby. My team practices about ten minutes away from where I live, and... it is a men's team. The women that practice with them don't have their own team, so they just join for practices. It is full tackle, even though the men don't tackle as hard as the women do on other women. I thought the co-ed thing would freak me out, and the fact that almost everyone is above the age of 25. It is so fun, and of course I have only been to one practice, but I know I'll love my team. At one point I heard "does anyone speak english? Can anyone explain the drill?", and I replied "I know rugby." The conjugation was probably horrible, and I sounded like a fool, but for the first time in three weeks I could say something confidently. Living in a different country, while living with a new family, making new friends, and speaking a new language is difficult, and 99% of the time you are unsure of yourself. It was great to say that for two hours I knew what I was doing. 

This week I also found out that my youngest sister, Mattie, had a serious concussion in a soccer game and is now suffering from amnesia. She can't remember friends, family, school, and other major aspects of her life. Getting news like that, while being four thousand miles away, makes you want to just jump on a plane and go home. Not because I want to be home, but because I want to be with my sister. I want to be there for her, and at a time when she needs me most. My parents are showing her pictures, and taking her around my city during the day to see what she can put together. It has been about five days, and slowly but surely she is improving. That's all I can hope for from here! 

Like I said, things get better and then worse, and then the best they've ever been. It is a constant uproar of emotions, and it's hard. Though when someone asks me what my greatest dream is, my answer will always be the same. I am so lucky to be living mine. 

"When life gets that much harder, it makes you that much stronger." -Carrie Underwood

So you know how I explained all about my first day in that other post? That was a complete joke compared to what I actually had to endure. Friday was by far the most difficult day of this exchange, and my life so far. Being the new kid is hard, whether you are in a different city, state, or country. And up to this point, I've never had to start over in a new place.

I walked up to my school at around 8:15, and the doors don't open until 8:20. There were hundreds of kids surrounding the doors, all in their different groups. I literally walked up, found a space to stand... And stood there. I walked in to my class a little late because here they don't actually have room numbers, they just expect you to know where you are going. Also, you don't get printed schedules, your tutora, which is pretty much a homeroom teacher, writes it on the board and you copy it. You have five different schedules, one for each day. On Friday, I got my schedule for Monday. On Monday, I got my schedule for Tuesday, and most of the time the schedules have mistakes, and again... They never have the room numbers. And if you are an estudiante de intercambio, exchange student, you will not have any idea where to go. I just kept asking different teachers, and finally after a few periods the kids in my class started to help me.

First I had lengua, which is Spanish class. I am learning the same curriculum as heritage speakers, now that is overwhelming. I tried to keep up, but even my eleven years of Spanish had nothing on a teacher speaking for fifty minutes at the speed of light. It is beyond frustrating to not even be able to fill out a simple contact information worksheet about my family. The teacher had to pull up a chair and explain everything in very slow detail, everyone else just kind of stared. Then I had English, and I thought "YES! Now everything will be reversed, I will understand everything." it is no overstatement to say that there was not one word of English spoken the entire period. After that class, we had twenty minutes of recreo, which is just like a recess where you can leave campus and eat and hang out with friends.

Then we went back to class, and I swear to god it was the answer to all of my prayers. Apparently, two times a week we have fifty minutes of study hall! It was great, and because we didn't have anything to study we just talked. At first, it was a little awkward because I had no idea what was going on as everyone pulled their chairs and desks into groups, while the teacher sat down and read a newspaper. Then my friend from the previous post, Diego, invited me to sit with his friends. It was so fun, and I really like his friends. We talked about the US, the differences in school, what classes we are all taking, and they answered all of my questions. Apparently Diego, Claudia, and I all have the same classes. Next, I had technical drawing. Finally, an easy class. I thought wrong. My Spanish vocabulary is not that extensive... So I understood absolutely nothing. But after class, Diego told the teacher that I was an exchange student and he was very understanding. I think I am really going to enjoy that class, and my teacher Javier (It is the most uncomfortable thing ever to call your teachers by their first names) seems like a great teacher. Then we had another recreo and I got to eat the sandwich that my mom made me. During that time, Diego translated everything that Javier had just said during technical drawing.

After recreo, I had math. I have always been good at math, but it doesn't come easy unless I am willing to work at it and if I have a teacher who is willing to work with me. Well, we were doing basic review, and I couldn't do it because the language was so difficult. The language is such a barrier, and any faith that I ever had in my language skills has completely disappeared. When I thought things couldn't get any worse, I walked into french class. When I first selected my classes, I thought I was selecting French 1, somehow I ended up in French 2. It is one thing to be asked a question in Spanish in front of the whole class, but to be yelled at in French.....? I wanted to just die. Then she started speaking Spanish just as fast, and my brain didn't register anything. She was speaking Spanish, in a French accent. I just nodded my head. Everyone kind of yelled at her, explaining I was from the US. Then, I had to explain that not only did I not know very much Spanish, I knew NO FRENCH, and i said it all in my broken version of Spanish. My friend Diego said he would help me switch out of that class ASAP. The teacher finished talking early... So she just let us leave. Like 10 minutes before school ended? It was great. Then I walked outside, met Emils, and we talked about our first day. He said he fell asleep four times, and got yelled at... Four times (haha, glad to know I'm not alone when I say the day was not very successful.)

On days like this, I lose sight of the reason why I chose to be four thousand miles away from my best friends and family in the first place. It is hard to accept that in the beginning I won't have any friends or at least no one to hang out with, but it is all just a part of the transition. Hopefully the friends will come as the language does. And even though right now school is the hardest thing in the world, it will get better, and easier. The more I work at it, the easier it will get. Again, same with the language. It is difficult and embarrassing, but I will improve. It has been two weeks since I left Alexandria, and It is so hard watching others sitting with their best friends at lunch, or eating dinner with their families. I definitely miss that, and while I am beyond content here, I miss everyone so much. It would have been so much easier to just be an eleventh grader at the school where I know everyone, the school where I know the language that the classes are being taught in, the school with printed schedules and room numbers, but I signed up for the good times, along with the bad. The beginning will be a constant struggle, but I don't regret my decision in moving for a second.

And on a more positive note, there is NO WAY it could get any worse from here!

And actually, my day got a lot better, almost instantly. When I got home from school, there was a package and a letter waiting for me. The letter was from one of my best friends, and the package was from my family. It was full of photos and things that my friends had given me before I left that I wasn't able to pack, flavor blasted goldfish (the jumbo size), arnold palmer mix, my straightener, blow dryer, curling iron, and then some school supplies. It was exactly what I needed after a rough day. Then that night my new family took me to their apartment on the beach. It was a beach on the northern coast, and It was beautiful. I can't even describe how relaxing it was, and the perfect end to my not so perfect first week of school.

I have definitely hit a rough patch with school, but it has only been two weeks. i have about forty two weeks to turn things around, and if you look at it that way than I'm sure I'll be back on my feet in no time!

"When life gets that much harder, it makes you that much stronger."

Words that I'm currently living by, thank you Carrie Underwood.

Primer dia de Instituto

How the first day of school begins, no matter what country
 you live in.

this selfie is for you, Mom. I promised you first day
 of school pictures!

Today was my first day of school, even though it started at 1:15 and was only an hour long. Today was "el dia de presentación", the day when I meet my homeroom teacher and I get my schedule. My homeroom teacher es mi profesora de inglés, my english teacher. That made everything a lot easier! I am also really lucky that my friend Emils, from Latvia, goes to my school as well. We are the first ever exchange students at IES Gil y Carrasco (my school). We walked in to the auditorium, and we were sitting there for a while, when a teacher came up to us and said "¿sois estudiantes extranjeros?", "are you all the exchange students?". Even though it was 1:15, this was the wrong grade, and our grade was next. We had to walk out of the auditorium in front of more than a hundred kids while they all stared at us.

Also, did I mention that today I brought a huge backpack with all of my books, and everyone else literally brought one piece of paper in their pocket to write down their schedule's. I looked ridiculous. Emils and I are also in different classes, so I am not sure how often we will see each other, but we have decided to meet before school, at least for the first few days. I like hanging out with him, because his first language isn't english, which makes Spanish the easiest language to speak when we are together. When we finally got to go into the auditorium, and with our grade (primero de bachillerato), someone introduced himself as the director of our school. After that, I didn't understand anything.

This will definitely be my
favorite class...English. 

Then we split up based on our different classes. the English teachers were very helpful, and I ended up in the right class. She called attendance, and I knew she was about to call my name because after she rolled off about twenty Lucia's and Pablo's... she paused. Then said Mar-gar-it Reech. I didn't know how to correct her and tell her it was Megg, so I thought I can deal with Mar-gar-it for a year. After that, my teacher explained that there was going to be exchange students for the first time, and that one of them was in our class (duh... like my red hair didn't give it away already???). She then asked me in front of the whole class if I had any friends at the school... I replied "uno", one. Everyone started to laugh.... embarrrasssing.

All of my books?!!

all of the languages that I am taking!
 (Spanish, French, and English)

This year I am going to take about 10 classes, I will explain all of them later after my actual first day of school but let's just say I am taking French 2, even though I know less than three words in French. I am also taking technical drawing, another thing I cannot do... After talking to my teacher after class, and going over everything she said in english, I met some new people. Apparently, they had been waiting for me outside of the class! How nice? One was a chico, Diego, who had lived in Harrisonburg, VA for about a month this summer! The other three were chicas, but I don't remember their names. They walked me outside, and they told me how cool it was that I was there, and that they would help me with anything I needed. I thought today was going to be the worst day of my life, turns out I am actually really excited to go back tomorrow. Definitely really nervous, but  everyone has been really understanding and nice so far!

After both of our first days! Mirian goes to a different school
 because she is in the grade below me.

My first days in Ponferrada

Our bus ticket from Madrid to Ponferrada

Lani getting on the bus

My family welcoming me at the bus station

The AFS students in Ponferrada
(Emils, Derin, Caroline, Me, Eda, Lani, and Shannon) 

The AFS students and our new families
in Ponferrada

The bus ride to Ponferrada was crazy, hectic, and quite emotional. First of all, we didn't have an AFS volunteer with us, so we were all a little bit nervous. We were also trying to come up with a few phrases that we could use when we first meet our host families. We finally pulled into the city after the five hour trip from Madrid, and our adrenaline started pumping. We all got really excited, and started taking pictures of everything. We kept saying how much we loved our city, and how excited we were, and that it was almost time to meet our families! It was the most excited any of us had been the entire trip, then a woman in front of us turned around and said "Esto no es Ponferrada", This is not Ponferrada. We all laughed for a while, but actually it was pretty embarrassing. I am sure the rest of the bus was laughing too, but we were too busy trying to convert kilometers to miles.

We were about 15 minutes outside of the city, but we soon arrived to the warmest welcome I have ever had. My sister made me a sign, and when I arrived all of my family gave me big hugs and kisses. Even though I had gone over the things that I wanted to say to them, the second I stepped off the bus I forgot it all. I wanted to say so many things, but nothing would come out. It was one of the only moments in my entire life where I can say I was completely speechless. I can tell that my spanish will come very fast because I can at least get my point across, and I have only been here two days. On rare occasions I can even crack a joke, and hearing them laugh is the most rewarding experience ever. Not only did I make them laugh, but I did it in a foreign language.

After I arrived, I unpacked and then had dinner. I had heard a lot of things about the meals, like that they are later than the meals we have in America, and they last a lot longer. We ate lunch from 3:30 to 5:30 one time, and then we had dinner at ten. They also showed me around the house, I literally live above a bar that my family owns. It is a four story house and the bottom floor is the bar. We also have a pool, chickens, a dog, and a place where my dad makes wine!



Also, there is a huge festival in Ponferrada right now. We went to the main part of the city today, where I got to visit my school. My school is amazing, it is the biggest in Ponferrada and it is in the main town square which is cool because it means that I will be in the city a lot. After that we watched people ride on small bikes, cars, and skateboards as fast as they can down a hill. And It sounds crazy, because it is! There are certain obstacles set up, and to make it even funnier... they don't have brakes. This is all part of the huge festival going on in Ponferrada right now, it ends tomorrow. Then, I went to a bar with my sister Mirian, my friend Alba, Lani, Shannon and Emils who are all AFS students, and Lani's sister Maria. We drank something along the lines of wine without alcohol, and had tapas.

Las Americanas

My school IES Gil y Carrasco

My sister Mirian and I

Afterwards we all went home around 9:30 to eat dinner. At dinner we had Tortilla Española, which is kind of like a thick omelet with potatoes, eggs, and onions. It was so delicous, but we also had ham, which is definitely my favorite because in Spain it is absolutely amazing! Also, for lunch I had my first fish, I have tried tiny peices of fish in the past like maybe once, but never an entire fish. We had sardines, and if you compared the plates of me and the rest of the family there was a huge difference. Everyone else knew how to eat it, but by the time I was finished it looked as if my fish had exploded. Also, In Spain they keep the head on the fish, but they cut it off for me! I love mealtimes here because it means that we get to sit and talk for hours, also the whole family is there! After dinner we met the same people we went to the festival with, and we went to a carnival and then watched the fireworks.

There were american flags hanging in several places but they were all turned upside down. All of the americans chuckled, I guess that is what they think it looks like?...But overall the night was amazing, we went on so many rides, and had so much fun. I got to meet some people who go to my school, and they all seem really nice. I got home from the carnival around 1am. It is funny because there were still five year olds at the carnival when I left! Tomorrow the same people from the carnival and the festival, are coming over and we are having a pool party. On Tuesday, when all of the shops reopen (they are closed because of the festival) I am going to go get a cell phone and go shopping. The next day we are going to all of the museums and castles in Ponferrada because it is a day when everything will be free. I will definitely be taking a lot of pictures! Then my school starts on Thursday!

Oh and sorry if my English sounds a little broken or my sentences don't really flow, I am starting to confuse my languages. It is definitely a good problem that the entire time that I have been writing this blog post I have been thinking about my sentences in Spanish. I am sure that in a month or two, I will understand and speak almost fluently. Also, I feel like I have been on the computer a lot lately, and I am really trying to stay off of it, especially with school starting. If you would like to reply or have a question, comment on my blog because it will be easier for me to check one place rather than getting on all of my social networks.

Chao!