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!