Granadaaa

So,

I got my vacation! Well, not really, it was only three extra days but, I'll take it. Monday and Tuesday were Andalucia celebration days which basically just means that nobody in Andalucia had to go to school or work. The reason I didn't have to go to school today is because my school is one of the only schools which actually takes strikes seriously so I ended up getting three days off instead of two. I'm not sure exactly what the strike is about but I'm sure it's either a bus strike or an unemployment strike. They used to be so exciting but 5.5 months later I've come to realize how common they actually are. I've had at least somewhere from 8-10 days off from school for strikes alone so far this year. In my opinion, it's not very smart on the schools part considering nobody actually goes to the strike but, because I'm just the exchange student, I've decided to just keep my mouth shut and enjoy the extra day off.

To celebrate the long weekend, my two exchange friends and I decided to go do some traveling all the way up to Granada. Well, Granada isn't actually that far from Jerez but with the 2 hour stop in Dos Hermanas, the trip actually ended up being six hours. If anyone who's reading this has ever been to Granada, I'm sure they'll agree with me when I say that it's definitely one of the most beautiful places in Spain, maybe even in all of Europe. Granted, I haven't actually seen most of Europe but, I just can't get over how amazing Granada is. If you need a little more convincing, Bill Clinton even said that the sun setting over the Alhambra is one the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his entire life. The thing that interested me most about Granada is how many different parts there are. For example, the street where I was staying was right in the middle of an Arabic market area. You could definitely see the Arabic lifestyle is still very much alive in Granada. I think some of it is just to attract tourists but I still found it to be pretty interesting. There's also the modern part of the city which looks just like any other Spanish city with big stores and chain restaurants. Between the Arabic markets, historic buildings, modern shopping, and absolutely amazing food, there was just no way we could do it all in three days. So, to solve this problem, my friends and I decided that obviously the only way to get everything done was to do...................a Segway Tour! (Bright green vests and helmets included) Needless to say, I've never felt more like a tourist in my entire life but, even with the embarrassment, I definitely don't regret going. We were able to see most of the important sites in a very short period of time which made the embarrassment worth it.

For me, going to Granada was definitely one of the best experiences I've had since being here, not only because of how beautiful it is but because of how independent and self-reliant I had to be. Even though I'm living in Spain with a family that's not my own, everything that I've needed so far has been taken care of by my local coordinator. I've never traveled overnight without an adult and I have to admit, it was a little scary. I was responsible for booking the hostel, buying the train ticket, taking care of my passport and bank cards, making sure I had all my stuff at all times. The amount of responsibility I had to take on so suddenly was a little scary at first but, after it was over, I felt proud that I'd been able to enjoy Granada without any significant problems. It made this year feel more like an adventure again. Before, this year was starting to feel like the weeks were just blurring together and that eventually it would just end suddenly. The time I spent in Granada felt like a break from thinking about how fast this year was going. I've decided I need to do more of those trips around Spain because I need more of those small breaks from reality.

Anyways,

I've started to make a new countdown! One week until I finally get to see someone from back home. Mom, if you're reading this, (which I know you will like five minutes after I post this) know that next week is going to be absolutely amazing so...get excited..

Just six days days left!

Happy Leap Day/Year/kinda forgot it was leap year until just now

Adioss

-Libby

Why am I not on break!

So,

I was wrong! February 8^h wasn't the last day of dancing! Last Thursday was... You see, February 8^th was the general recital where we performed in the gym only in front of the older grades. This was the performance we were graded on and guess what!?! I passed! That was by far the most exciting news I'd heard in a while. Thursday though, thursday was the actual performance, costumes and everything. My costume consisted of about 10 pounds of makeup, cut up t-shirt, and tights (not leggings)......that's it..... I have no idea how/why this was considered appropriate but I've come to realize that a lot of questionable things are seen as okay here. Anyways, after putting on that horrid costume, I had to dance in front of over 350 people! I've never been so embarrassed in my life but, luckily, my group was third so I got it out of the way early and had plenty of time to recuperate. After today though, I was reassured numerous times that I will never, ever, have to dance in public again.... that is, until Feria, but I'm not going to worry about that now.

Last Saturday, I made the somewhat stupid decision of deciding to go down to Cadiz for Carnaval. I've heard many horror stories about Carnaval but I decided that I had to see for myself. Basically, Carnaval is just an excuse for everyone to dress up and drink all night. It's kind of like Halloween but the costumes were way cooler and the parties were way more intense. I left for Cadiz at 9:30 dressed as a Hippie (the costume was pretty mild compared to everyone else but, it was free thanks to my hippie friend). Once I arrived, I was instantly surprised at 1. How many people were there, so many I could barely walk and 2. How detailed these costumes were. You could tell that people had been planning them for a while. The trains stopped running pretty soon after we got there and they didn't start back up until 7:00 that morning getting me home at around 8:00 that morning. When planning this trip, I kinda forgot how long almost 12 hours is for a party and needless to say, by the time I got home, I felt like I was never going to leave my bed. Overall, I did have fun in Cadiz but with all the waiting in line, the extreme over-tiredness, and the insane amount of drunk people, Carnaval didn't quite live up to my expectations. I am glad I went but I don't think it's something I'll ever do again....ever.. It was definitely worth experiencing though.

A new exchange student arrived in my house today from Germany. She's only staying for the week and I can already tell this is going to be a long week. She seems really nice but she's also insanely energetic. She speaks both Spanish and English which is nice even though she refuses to speak English to me. I really would like to get to know her but between studying, swimming, and my new dance classes (yep) I just don't think I have time. Even though we probably won't end up becoming the best of friends, it's still nice to have her here.

It has been really hard to go to school when everyone else back home is on break. It has taken all the motivation right out of me. For instance, today, I got home, skipped swimming, took a nap, cleaned my room (or well...started....it was taking too much energy), painted my nails (I don't do that!) and now I'm sitting here writing this while watching television in English because I'm too lazy to try and understand it in Spanish. I've decided to blame it on the fact that I'm either still recuperating from Saturday, or the fact that all day I've been reading status's about people's nice relaxing vacations and I feel as though I should be on vacation too. Either way, tomorrow I'm making myself be more productive.

Anyways,

This post has actually taken me like three hours to write because at the moment my procrastination is at its peak right now. I promise I'll try and post more but honestly, there really isn't that much to say. After five months, my life seems so normal I sometimes forget what it was like living in the U.S. It's weird but it's true. 

I love dancing...

I'm getting extremely lazy and writing posts without actually posting them because that requires me to actually go downstairs for internet... sorry.....

So,

Halfway.

The first semester kids have all gone home and the second semester kids have arrived and are settled in. A new exchange student came here to Jerez from Australia and she's actually going to be staying with my host aunt. I have yet to meet her but I'm sure I will sooner or later. She apparently speaks zero Spanish so it's my job to show her around and help her with her Spanish. When my host mom first asked me about helping her out, I felt so proud of myself that she thought I was far along enough with my Spanish and with my knowledge of the city that I could actually help someone else out. It's the first time I felt like finally I'm not some American tourist who's only here for a short period of time. I've been here 4.5 months! I consider myself at home here which is something I honestly never expected to happen. I've already started to plan my travel plans for returning home which is definitely not something I've enjoyed doing.

A couple of days ago, a man from my program came to check up on us American exchange students. When he came to my house with my local coordinator to talk to my host mom, my host mom told him that she's very frustrated with how I eat. She couldn't stop going on about how I don't eat and her frustrations with me. I didn't know she felt so strongly which has made these past 48 hours a little awkward. The problem with my situation is that my host mom hates to cook so we literally have the same things every week. Granted, the food she makes is amazing but it's a lot of the same thing so I've just kind of resorted to eating less and less which I guess has made her frustrated. She's also concerned that I don't talk enough and when she said that I had so many arguments and things to say back to her but I kept quiet. Not because of the language barrier, (I was actually thinking of all the things to say to her in Spanish) but because since being here I've learned to pick and choose my battles which is something that for people who know me back home know isn't one of my strong suits. I'll admit I love to argue and I can hold a grudge longer than anyone. Here though, there are so many things that annoy me or make me angry that I can't argue or be annoyed at everything or I would almost never be happy. I think one way I've grown since being here is by learning to forgive people and not let little things get to me like they used to.

Obviously, my host mom isn't actually angry at me I just seem to frustrate her a lot whether it be me forgetting to clean my room, not eating everything she gives me, or never giving her clothes to wash because I feel awkward not having to do anything. I love my host family and I'm pretty sure they love me too it's just hard to create relationships with people when you don't speak the same language. Most of the friends I have here speak some English and we gradually just switched over to speaking in Spanish. I can see though that as my Spanish grows stronger so does the relationship between me and my host family.

For the past month I've been desperately awaiting February 9^th. Not only because it's the birthday of a friend of mine but also because it's the day after our schools dance recital. Apparently, all of our dance tests over the past few months are actually leading up to something. Next Wednesday, the entire school is putting on some kind of dance recital where every group who has a dance has to perform it in front of the entire school. When I first heard this, I just started laughing until I realized that they were completely serious. Since then, I've come to learn that this is actually one of the most important days of the year. I've even had to practice with my group on the weekends and we've been planning costumes since after winter break. At first, I was extremely nervous because I basically never dance let alone in front of people but now for some reason my nerves have gone away. I'm pretty sure it's because I know that everyone knows I hate to/can't dance so they don't take me too seriously.

Today I talked to my host mom about possibly signing me up for Spanish cooking/flamenco classes because despite what I just ranted about with my hatred for dancing, I would actually like to learn some flamenco dance. The reason for this is that in May, there's this huge week long fair that's basically based around this dance. I figure, actually learning some of the dance might be a good idea for me to do. I also want to take a cooking class, mostly to learn how to make Paella because there's no way I'm going home without some lessons on how to make this wonderful Spanish dish.

Anyways,

Today is obviously Friday but I felt the need to update on what's been going on here recently. Now I have to clean my room because one of my American friends is coming to stay the night with me.

Ew...cleaning...

Adiossss

-Libby

You know you're living in Jerez when

So,

Almost every blog I've read has written this type of post at one point or another so I figure since I've been here four months, (four months!! my god) I should probably write one too.

1. Wearing shoes inside at all times is completely normal.

2. Dinner before 10 only happens on special occasions.
3. Friday nights are typically for homework. Sundays are for sleeping and more homework (if you're crazy enough not to finish it on Friday)
4. You consume Olive Oil like water
5. You arrange to meet up with people at a certain time and they come half an hour later claiming they're on time
6. You get stared at for wearing sweatpants in public (outside of school)
7. Cheating in school is so easy it almost seems expected
8. Kids drive motorcycles instead of cars
9. In school you write on graph paper instead of line paper
10. It doesn't matter how cold it is, when going out with friends, 90% of the kids, (usually if they're going to a club after), look like they're dressed for summer. (shorts, skirts, short dresses.. no coats!)
11. Not taking a nap after school is seen as strange.
12. Homework isn't checked by the teachers making it basically pointless.
13. No teacher, no class
14. People will skip going out just to watch soccer .
15. Real Madrid or Barcelona? Pick one and stick to it.
16. Taking selfies in random bathroom mirrors is normal/cool
17. Making that selfie the background on your phone is also normal/cool
18. What's Facebook? Everyone knows Tuenti is way cooler (well I still haven't come to this conclusion but, since I'm pretending I'm Spanish I try to convince people I do.
19. Everyone tweets every single thing they do at every waking moment of every day, because obviously everyone cares about the exact moment you wake up, eat breakfast, etc.
20. Fighting the urge to throw all your trash on the ground is slowing getting harder and harder to do.
21. Sometimes it feels like you breathe more second hand smoke than actual clean air.
22. Gym class is basically dance class
23. Everyone has a blackberry, not an
24. EVERYONE has a nickname, I've acquired about 10 since being here.
25. Wait.. there are speed limits?
26. Family is extremely important.
27. All photos must be approved immediately after being taken. One photo could have to be taken five or six times until everyone's happy.
28. The majority or the music people own (okay all the music) was illegally downloaded.
29. Staying after school is some kind of weird joke.
30. The majority of people aren't drinking coffee in mugs but in glass cups
31. You know what a “cani” is and you can spot one from a mile away
32. You're used to the surprised faces of the workers of Telepizza when you order a cheese pizza instead of one with five different kinds of meet.
33. Global Warming isn't at all important to most teenagers and even some adults
34. Everyone yells...all the time..
35. Kids driving in cars blasting their music for the entire world to hear are considered cool.
36. White-out is used for every mistake, even for personal notes.
37. You know the street performers better than your neighbors
38. Strangers are for the most part extremely nice and helpful.
39. No matter how hard you try to hide, you can't get out of the two kiss greeting.
40. Nobody pronounces Nike correctly.
41. Texting in class is surprisingly easy. I swear the desks are designed just for texting.. not that I take advantage of that or anything.
42. Teachers are often called by their first name.
43. You live for the weekends.
44. You speak Andalusian Spanish, which is obviously completely different from regular Spanish

I've been working on this post for about a week now and I know there are so many other things I could put on this list so, if I think of them, maybe I'll write a follow up post. 

Abrazos y Besos,

-Libby

Por Fin!

So,

I know it's been a while since I've updated. I don't really have a good excuse except for the fact that last week was still vacation and writing a new post just sort of slipped my mind. Today is my first day back at school and it was definitely one of the hardest days I've had since I've been here. All vacation I was going to bed at 3 or 4 and waking up at 12 which made today's 7:00 wake up extremely difficult. Having economy first period only added to the difficulty of the day and by the end I could barely keep my eyes open.

Even though it has been 10 days since New Years, I still feel like I should explain at least a brief summary of what went down.

Of course, we didn't leave for the party until around 2:00 a.m. Before that though, we went over to my host grandparent's for yet another big family dinner. I planned ahead for this one though and didn't eat anything all day which allowed me to make it all the way to course . At 5 minutes to midnight, my parents got out the champagne and divided grapes onto separate napkins. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a tradition in Spain to eat 12 grapes on the last 12 seconds of the year. One for every second. I unfortunately only made it to six because I kept laughing at how focused everyone looked. The idea is that if you successfully eat all 12, you'll have good luck throughout the year. After that, my host sister and I headed over to Oxi where I once again somehow had no problem getting in, even though it's one of the hardest clubs to get into if you're underage. You'd figure they would want to be more careful with foreigners, but I guess not. We stayed in Oxi until about 6:00 in the morning and by that time I was basically a zombie I was so tired. My host sister was still full of energy though so we ended up walking about a mile (in heels) to find churros. I didn't end up getting home and going to sleep until around 8:30 in the morning, right as the sun was coming up. I don't know why my host mom thought this was okay, but at 12:30 that afternoon she woke me up so we could go back over to my grandparents. I was only allowed four hours of sleep after being awake a full 24 hours. That was definitely not one of my better days. It didn't even hit me it was 2012 until the a couple days later, after I'd recuperated. Even though it was extremely exhausting, New Years in Spain was definitely one of the best New Years I've ever had.

As I've mentioned a few times, the 6^th , was also an important day here in Spain. It was the day of the Three Kings which if you're religious, is more important than Christmas because it's the day of the Epiphany. For most Spanish families, Santa Claus doesn't exist. Instead, the kids have to go to bed early so the three kings can bring them their presents. I ended up getting three scarves, a bracelet, and slippers, which was a lot more than I was expecting. After opening presents, we went to four different houses to drop off gifts for relatives. Of course, my host family made me eat at every single house so by the end of the day I was feeling extremely sick. Overall, I enjoyed the 6^th a lot more than Christmas itself because it actually felt like a holiday. Although, at the end of the day, I was glad for it to be over because 12 days is a long time to be constantly celebrating. I ate more food in those 12 days than I usually do in a month. Thankfully, I finally renewed my gym membership, which I will definitely be putting to good use.

I've been thinking a lot about what my New Years Resolutions should be, and I've decided on the following few things.

1. Stop worrying about how much time I have left
2. Speak more Spanish (obviously)
3. Travel to some other country outside of Spain
4. Navigate more than one train by myself
5. Learn how to cook paella
6. Learn one Spanish on guitar
7. Learn how to flamenco dance (haha....jokes)

And many more that have nothing to do with being in Spain.

A couple of days ago I made a breakthrough with my Spanish. I've been able to have pretty basic conversations in Spanish for a while now but, the other day I had my first successful argument. Well, it was more of a friendly debate but, I was really proud of myself after because I've never really been able to explain my opinions before in Spanish. It felt good to know that I was saying full sentences without having to think, and having people actually understand me.

Anyways,

I somehow already have a history test that I really should go study for.

Adios

-Libby

Christmas and a few other things

So..

Christmas abroad..

It's the one thing that everyone asked me about when I told them I was leaving for a year abroad.

“But what about Christmas? Do you get to come home? It's also the thing everyone warned me about. While I admit I was a little homesick in the weeks leading up to Christmas, it was actually not as bad as I expected.

Christmas in Spain is really just the start of a 12 day long holiday. January 6^th is the real holiday and as I've said before, that's the day everyone gives presents. Christmas eve is also an important day here. My host mom bought me a special dress just for the occasion. There was a huge dinner over at my host grandmothers house which while it was pretty fun it was also exhausting. Every time there's a family gathering I always get a bit “overwhelmed “ I guess for lack of a better word. It's weird, I know the word in Spanish but I can't remember it in English. Anyways, whenever there's a huge family gathering I just sit there silently and eat all the delicious food until someone talks to me because it's extremely hard to join in when everybody's yelling at the same time. My goal is to be able to join in on these family discussions by the end of the year. The other thing that's difficult about family dinners is the food! Don't get me wrong, the food is absolutely amazing. Well, I guess that's why it's so difficult. There is so much delicious food and I'm never able to eat it all because I get too full too fast. It's quite frustrating. Spanish meals are broken into multiple courses and in my family there are about about 6-7 courses. I usually get through the first three or four until I have to stop. (Partially because I need to save room for dessert.....obviously..) After dinner it's typical for the kids to go out and party but I was wayyyy too tired for that. I decided to go home and enjoy having the house to myself until about four in the morning when my family finally came home.

On Christmas day, my family didn't get up until around 2 so I just sulked in my room for a good five hours watching people update their Facebook status's about what they got for Christmas. When my family finally did get up we went to my other host grandparent's house for Christmas lunch where I again only made it to course four before I had to stop. I did end up going out with friends on Christmas though which was weird for me. I spent more time with friends than family. Another interesting thing was that almost everything was open. It was just like any other typical night in Jerez and it seemed like no one was in the Christmas spirit, which for me, was a little depressing. Aside from all that though, I did enjoy my first Christmas abroad. It was nice to experience how another country celebrates Christmas because there are definitely some differences. I'm excited to see what happens on the 6^th.

Of course the most important day of this holiday season is the day after Christmas. My 17^th birthday! I was actually extremely nervous for my birthday though. As anyone who I talked to on that morning knows, I had no idea whether or not my host family even knew it was my birthday. This was definitely a weird experience for me. I couldn't decide whether to remind them or not. Luckily for me, my host family, being the tricksters they are, did know it was my birthday and had planned a surprise celebration for me with my favorite food (paella) and a homemade cake. They even got me presents! They gave me one stuffed dog/bunny which even though I can't figure out exactly what it is, is still adorable. They also gave me this beautiful bracelet which I haven't stopped wearing since I got it.. I obviously wasn't expecting anything considering hosting me is a present in itself but, they still decided to do something which was extremely nice of them. I'm pretty sure I said “Gracias” about 9,000 times I was so thankful.

The next day, my friends threw me a surprise party consisting of the majority of my friends, cake, and more presents which I wasn't expecting at all. I honestly have the best friends here. I couldn't have asked for a better placement. My friends even convinced me to play guitar for them for the first time since I've been here. After some of my friends went home, the rest of us went to the central to continue the celebration. Overall, this was definitely one of the best birthdays I've had and I'm definitely never going to forget it.

Since then, I've basically just been spending my vacation sleeping during the day and going out at night. Yesterday, some friends and I went to Cadiz and I actually ice-skated which was something I was not planning on doing. It was funny because my Spanish friend and my Californian friend were teaching me, the Mainer how to skate. I won't lie I'm still terrible but it was surprisingly fun. I might actually be interested in learning how to skate now.

Today is New Years Eve which is again both scary and exciting. Yesterday my host sister asked me where I wanted to go for breakfast after the party which I guess means I will literally for the first time be partying all night.

Anyways,
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas :)

Happy New Year!

-Libby

And the grades are in!!

So..

I thought I'd write a short little post about my final grades for the trimester. Before I reveal anything though, you need to know a few things.

1. Grades only go 1-10 so don't be shocked when you see the low numbers. Also it's not like 1 translates to 10 and 10 to 100. I would say anywhere from 8-10 is an A 6-7, B 4-5, C 2-3 D 0-1 F.
2. In my school anyway, instead of getting points taken off from a ten, you have to earn points starting at 0. Obviously this is same thing mathematically but because there is no partial credit my grades tend to be lower than they should.
3. Remember that all my classes are in Spanish so my grades are much lower than they would be in English.
4. 5 is a passing grade. I'll warn you right now I did fail 3 classes.

So starting out at the top of the list is...

Gym: 8!! While I did fail every single one of my dance tests my badmitten skills came through for me.

Literature : 8. I'm actually so proud of this grade because obviously reading books in Spanish is significantly harder than in English.

Science: 4. I have no idea how I failed this class. We've done three things this trimester. There was one project which I got an 8 on and then two tests which I scored a 4 on the first and a 6 on the second. I'm pretty sure those three grades would average to a passing grade but....I guess not.....

Philosophy: 6. This grade doesn't really count considering I didn't take the first test which would give me an automatic 0. I think the teacher decided just to be nice and not count it on the final grade.

English: 10. What a surprise..

History: 6. I love my history teacher. She gave me an extra point on my last test just for being an exchange student.

Economy: 4. So close, so close. Maybe next trimester.

Math: 2..... no comment.....

French: 7. Je peux parler francais!!

Art: 7. After 14 weeks I finally turned in my tree project. Every week I thought I was done but my teacher just kept adding more. I guess he thought my tree was good enough to pass though, which if you saw my tree, you'd understand why I'm a little shocked.

Well that's it.

Hopefully next trimester I can do a little better

Especially in math.....

Dios mio...

Adiosss