Two months!

So....

It's been a while.

Remember when I said that things were supposed to calm down after last week? I was wrong. Teachers just keep giving me more and more tests to study for. Last week I had two tests in Philosophy and History. This week I have a Science test, two French tests and apparently I have another Economy test coming up. Perfect. I'm not intending for all my blog posts to be about school that just seems to be taking up most of my time lately.

First thing that's changed since last time I wrote, it's been surprisingly cold here recently. I can no longer wear t-shirts and shorts which has been a nice change. Last weekend it was so cold I had to call a taxi and leave my friends hours before I was planning because I actually couldn't handle it. Of course, then the next day it was hot and I woke up sweating. I swear, sometimes the weather here is more temperamental than Maine, and that's saying something.

I actually can't believe that it's already mid-November. Tomorrow is the two-month mark of me being here and that means I'm 1/5 of the way through my trip. I don't know why but it feels like I've been here so much longer. Stuff I did in September and even October feels like forever ago. A distant memory, yet on the other hand, it also feels like time is going by extremely fast. It's hard to explain. I read about this before I came here on other blogs, but nothing really makes complete until experience you experience it for yourself. I can write about how amazing this trip is or how hard it is to be away from home, but it's not like anybody can really understand what I'm going through unless they're going through it too. That's what makes exchange friends so much fun. For the most part, we all miss the same things and are going through the same challenges.

This past week I've been experiencing my first real case of homesickness since my first week of being here. I'm pretty sure this is mostly due to the fact that my internet hasn't been working and I haven't been able to Skype with anyone without the fear of my internet turning off. I don't know what the problem with it is, it just keeps randomly shutting off and when it does work it's really slow. Basically every time I try to Skype all we're able to talk about is how terrible my internet is, and then it shuts off again. After a few days of this I've just given up which has made me sort of homesick. I wouldn't say this is culture shock because according to my program directors, the most common sign of culture shock is when you start spending all your time talking to family, which of course, I can't, so that's not it. I'm embarrassed to admit, the hardest part about having internet problems is the fact that I can't watch last weeks Psych, Grey's Anatomy, or Glee. That's been hard. Spanish television just isn't the same. Hopefully this problem will fix itself, because I don't think I can go much longer without talking to people. Luckily, this problem didn't occur during my first weeks of being here. Now at least I have friends, swimming, parties, and other things to keep me busy. It's just days like today where I'm stuck inside doing homework where I really need internet. I'm proud that I've gone this long without being really homesick. Thankfully, I still have candy left which is always helpful.

Moving on from that, I have a new addiction. Shopping. This weekend I was luckily able to restrain myself and not buy anything, but these past couple of weekends, my German friend and I have gone a little crazy. Don't worry, I haven't spent that much money, it's just the act of shopping which I'm now addicted to. I love the stores here! Oh and the bracelets. I've bought a few more than I'm willing to admit. I just love bracelets! I'm still wearing all the bracelets people gave me before I left. People are always asking me why on one hand I wear the same bracelets every day, while on the other hand I wear different ones every day. I just tell them they remind me of home :). All this talk about clothing has given me the idea for my next blog post. Style in Spain. The clothing choices here are surprisingly different. Everyone's always telling me how they model themselves after American fashion but it just isn't true. Now obviously I don't know much about fashion, but I do know enough to know that whatever the kids are wearing here, isn't American.

Now I know I'm always saying this, but, wow these blog posts are hard to write. Everything is so routine now. Most of the stuff I know would be interesting to everyone back home just isn't interesting to me anymore. I'm still experiencing many new things every day, they're just not as shocking or memorable. I need to start my journal back up so I can remember everything to write down in my blog. Throughout the week, I'm constantly saying, wow I should write about this in my blog, but then when it actually comes down to writing it, I forget. For example, yesterday there was this huge Spanish music festival where these groups of musicians were all dressed up and parading down the central. Now, I would've forgotten that if I hadn't wrote this section on forgetting important things that I should be remembering. Hopefully my internet is strong enough for me to post some of the pictures I took. I would post the video but I don't want to risk my internet shutting off.. again.. It's happened four times since I've started writing this.

Anways,

I have two French tests to study for,

and a science test,

and an art project to do...

If you're reading this Teagan, know that sadly I won't be able to start my bush drawings for a couple of weeks because apparently I have to do a project on the tree I've been working so hard on.

Not...

I swear,

This art class has been the single most pointless class I've ever taken.

First trimester=Trees Second Trimester=Bushes Third Trimester=Flowers.

If only my Spanish was good enough for me to drop out.

But sadly,

it's not.

Adioss

-Libby

They worked!