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!

"Is this real life?"

The last time I wrote, I had just finished packing and was getting ready to say my last goodbyes. I am currently in Ponferrada, unpacked and ready for my last week of summer with my new family! Before I post about my host family, I will tell you a little bit about how I got to this point.

My last meal in Alexandria was at my favorite bagel place with my best friends. After, I dropped them off at school and said my final goodbye. Hands down one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Saying bye to my sister, and family was just as hard, if not harder. My parents dropped me off at the JFK Hilton in New York, and after all of the emotional goodbyes I was finally ready to get excited! The orientation was great because all of the kids from Spain were already so close from the Facebook page! 

By the end of Thursday, when everyone would get loud all the leader would have to say was "Spain, be quiet", and the room would be silent. Keep in mind there were seven other countries traveling with us, probably over two hundred kids and the Spain group consists of about 30 kids. The official orientation ended around 2 on Thursday, as groups started leaving for the airport. Our group didn't leave until 5, so we all just hung out in the lobby calling each others parents (hahaha) and taking pictures on photobooth. I can definitely say that I have made 33 new best friends in these past two days. 

We got to the airport for our 9pm flight around 5, and I was first in line to check my bag. My bags weighed exactly 50 pounds, what a relief! Then the flight started to board, and it hit me. I called my best friend and started sobbing, then everyone else joined in (by everyone I mean Paige, Lani, Ryan, and I, while we played "Here Comes Goodbye" by the Rascal Flatts on repeat.) I'm not sure if it has completely hit me yet, but walking on to the plane was so surreal. The moment I had been unofficially counting down since I was 12. The moment I had officially been counting down for 200 days. It was happening.

I was so lucky that I got to sit next to Erinn, (who I've mentioned in previous posts) who was also planning to get in as much sleep as possible. We were knocked out for the first four hours, which is better than most of the others can say, and then talked and enjoyed the heated croissants for the rest of the time. After we arrived in Zurich for an hour, and everyone had stocked up on their Swiss chocolate, we boarded the flight to Madrid. I was wide awake the entire time, all of us were. Watching the screen just above my seat as we entered Spain, thinking about our new homes, families, and lives. 

After getting our luggage, we walked to the exit to find 3 AFS volunteers in neon green shirts. One of my good friends, Aitor, who was an exchange student in Alexandria and went to my school last year is also a liaison and one of the AFS volunteers meeting us at the airport. I immediately dropped all of my stuff, and hugged him. In such a foreign place, surrounded by a foreign language, and foreign people, it's so great to see a familiar face. Especially someone that had greatly influenced my decision to study abroad in Spain. 

Then we took a bus to the outskirts of Madrid, where we stayed at a youth hostile. This is when I really started to realize how different the American and Spanish cultures really are. First of all, we were rooming with 3 other people, boys and girls. It was cool because i was in a room with 3 other people going to Ponferrada. After we had settled in, we met for a few icebreaker games. One of the games is kind of hard to explain, it involved kissing? It was a little awkward in the beginning, especially for the Americans. This is how you play: everyone gets a number, then someone starts off in the center of the circle. The person in the center calls out two numbers, the two people that are called are trying to kiss the person who called their numbers (the one in the center). They both sprint to the person, but that person in the middle is resisting, to make it harder and more hilarious. People were practically tackling each other! Ultimately, out of the two people, the one that gets to kiss the person in the center last, has to sit in the middle and it starts over. I guess another obvious difference is that a game like this would never have been played in America. After that  we had dinner, and then we all hung out in our rooms.  The next morning (Saturday), we all got up around 8:00, and met at 8:30 to depart for our busses to our different cities. We said goodbye to all of our new friends, and were on our way!

This was pretty long, and I am so exhausted from the past four days of constant travel. I will definitely blog soon, and all about the eventful bus ride to Ponferrada, meeting my family, and my first few days here!

Hasta pronto!

Coming Home

My last twenty four hours in Alexandria, Virginia for ten months... how do you prepare for such a day? How do you know what to do, what to have as your last meals, what to stock up on, how do you know what to feel?  Leaving is something I've never thought about, something I have always just accepted. Up to this point, every vacation, or adventure has been round trip. Coming home is inevitable, because this is where your life is, where you work, go to school, live.

Before I begin to process the future though, I should reminisce on the past. Thank you all for the greatest summer, better yet thank you for the best year of my life. Thank you for all the well wishes, the surprise party, and everyone who has been there for me through this crazy process. This is a year I will never forget, and leaving it behind will just be that much harder, but knowing It will be here when I come home is more than I could ever ask for. Stay in touch!

In one day, I will be on my way to New York meeting tons of kids just like me, leaving everything behind to seek for the adventure and unknown in life. Willing to risk it all, to do something remarkable for themselves. In three days I will be on a long flight to Switzerland, and then finally Madrid, Spain. In Madrid we have another one night orientation, then on Saturday I bus to Ponferrada where I will finally get to meet the Mendez family.

I guess my adventure is once again round trip, but more figuratively than literally. I am leaving home, and coming home. In less than four days, I will be waking up in a new bed, to new people, but this "new life" is mine, and one that will soon just become life. Regular life.

My next post will be from Spain, about my regular life. I think I'm ready.

Twenty four hours and counting.

"Sin prisa, pero sin pausa."

"not hurrying, but not pausing." The last few weeks have been exactly what they have needed to be. I have had days where I am so worked up about everything and anything. Days where I have spent hours separating piles of clothes, then deciding it was all wrong and starting over. On the other hand I have had times where I throw myself into a few gossip girl episodes, and all the worries and excitements of Spain just slip away. But throughout the last few weeks A LOT has happened. I went to the consulate to submit all of my papers for my Visa, which I expected to be the most painful three hours of my life. Turns out it was the easiest ten minutes of my application process thus far. the woman behind the glass window was really great, she asked for a bunch of paperwork, then it was over. Erinn also came to DC to get her Visa, so my mom and I met her and her mom for dinner. We spent almost 3 hours just going over every detail of our trip. I think by the end of it, our moms were not only really sick of hearing about Spain, but in addition I think they found comfort in knowing that they weren't alone as their crazy sixteen year old daughters begin their adventure abroad.

I have also been babysitting non-stop this entire summer. Other than working and doing lots of paperwork, I have just been trying to maintain my average American life. I went to a field hockey game and supported my team, and I hope I'll be able to make a few football games to watch my cheer sisters, and cheer them on! I have sixteen days left in America, and the reality is that almost everyday I have another goodbye to say. Last night I had a small fundraiser, where a local shop in my neighborhood, A Show of Hands, has generously agreed to give twenty percent of all earnings for this entire week to my trip abroad. We had a great party, I loved how interested everyone was, and how genuinely happy they were for me. I had great conversations with multiple people, either about my future in Spain, or their past in foreign countries. My parents did such a great job getting it all organized, and the decorations were flawless. We even had Spain colored cake pops (my favorite!). Over all, it was a great party and by the end I was exhausted.

 After the party, my parents convinced me to get ice cream, and somehow I ended up in a room that my parents had rented for the night in one of my favorite restaurants, with 40 of my closest friends. It was such a surprise, and the fact that my friends and family had taken the time and extra effort to make it a surprise means the world. I love surprises! It was so fun, and It was perfect being able to see all of my friends in one place, hopefully I see them all before I leave, but if I don't... It was a great night. Thank you everyone for coming.

Then, to top the weekend off, my mom arranged for my sister and I to have a photo shoot before I left. My mom's "new thing" is documenting our entire lives, and with me leaving she wanted to make sure she got some good photos of the two of us!

I have sixteen days left in America, and while it seems like the time is going slower than ever, its only about two weeks away! Sixteen days and I will be apart from everything that has defined my life this far, I will be in New York ready for my first orientation. For now, It is just me vs. the duffel bag. 

FAQ

I guess I always grew up knowing I would spend a year abroad, I don't know if it was because my mom spoke so highly of her Peace Corps experiences, the fact that I watched my older sister live an amazing four years abroad in Congo, or truthfully just the availability of the information. Either way, It was always an easy topic with my parents, and I had a lot of time to study and understand what I would be getting myself into. I often assume that anyone could do it, if they just took the time to walk down the hallway to their counselor's office. I never stop to think about how much time and effort the people around me have put into this experience.  My friends have put so much emotional support into this, and without them it would be so difficult for me to even think about pursuing further. Not to mention my family for not just supporting me emotionally, but also financially. It is such a blessing to come from a family that understands how important this experience can and will be for me. The way they have put my dreams first, is something that i will be forever grateful for. But for the point of this post: Their are a ton of people who don't understand how, when, where, and most importantly why I have decided to take this route for the next ten months of my life, I would like to answer a few frequently asked questions.

1. You're parent's are letting you go abroad... for a whole year?
-My parent's have never thought twice about my decision. I can't even remember me asking them, they have always just been really supportive, and that's more than I could ever ask for.

2. You're going to a private school, or an american school right?
-Nope, I will be attending a local public school with my (host) sister Mirian. I will be taking a lot of classes that probably won't transfer over when I get back to America, but that just means I  will have to work extra hard senior year. I think I'd take that for a year in Spain, any day.

3. So... you know the family you are staying with?
-I have never met the family I will be living with, but I think that is one of the greatest part's of this huge adventure! I have talked to my parent's once or twice, but I talk to my sister at least once a day.

4. Do you even speak spanish?
-This will be my twelfth year in spanish. I have been taking spanish since Kindergarten. I took math and science in spanish all the way through fifth grade, and from then on I have just been taking it as an elective. It is such a privilege to already be proficient in the language, and understand a lot of what is going on. But I will say that my grammar is horrific, and I am still a little shy when it comes to my speaking skills. I have also been taking german since sixth grade, but spanish is definitely my passion.

5. How did you choose AFS?
-I have a close family friend that went on an exchange to Argentina with AFS, It was also in the right price range, they have a great and interesting history, and i love the fact that almost everyone their is a volunteer. It tells a lot about an organization, especially if most of the volunteers are returnees. I definitely plan on getting involved when I return.

6. You're still coming home for Christmas, right?
-Sadly, I will not be returning home for Christmas. Neither will my parents be making the trip out to Spain. AFS greatly discourages the natural family to visit during the year, because it will break the immersion. It would be great to see my family, but it will also be rewarding to know that I completed the year on my own.

7. You'll still text me everyday, right?
-It is also frowned upon to make constant contact with your family and friends at home. It creates homesickness, and it also makes it very hard for you to connect with your family and friends abroad. I am also planning on deactivating my Facebook and Twitter.

8. Why are you spending a year abroad?
-I almost deleted this question after typing it, because it is so difficult to even think about. There are so many reasons why I want to spend my year abroad. I want to experience new things, open my mind to thing's I've never thought about, understand people that I've never given a chance to, learn a language that has never been anything more than words out of a maroon colored textbook. I want to experience a culture that I can only understand by living in. I want to be able to say I wanted this, and I did it. To be able to say it was awkward and amazing, uncomfortable and unforgettable. To know that I lived, and not just went through life day by day, I truly lived. That's why I want to spend my year abroad.