I can already tell I will be quite the delayed blogger.

Tuesday was the day! Consulate Appointment Day! Horribly nerve-wracking, slightly terrifying five minute appointment day. Ferreal though, it was the shortest, easiest "meeting" I've ever had in my life. And possibly, the most important, thus far anyway.


It started at 7:30. A shrill, incredibly annoying wake up call from the parentals, to get my sister and I out of the heaven that is a Marriott Bed, and ready to go. By 8:10, we were on the road, (along with the other six trillion people of Miami), and heading to the translation center to pick up my birth certificate. A quick stop by Einstein Bro's for everything bagels and apple juice (YES), and another 10 minute traffic session, and we arrived! Contrary to my belief of the Spanish Consulate being some 108 story building, with stalwart Spanish guards, and angry Spanish dogs, we ended up on the second floor of a banking building, in a hallway that led to three or four different consultation rooms, and a waiting area smaller than my very own bed chamber. Huh. 


After waiting in line anxiously, we were in! I fed my ever-so-important documents through a three inch plastic window to a kindly looking Spanish fellow, and took the time to silently thank my awesome Padre for insisting I put all of those documents in order, copied, and paper-clipped together. After 3 minutes of transition of the documents, and another 5 of suspension in the mini-waiting room, we entered a larger consulation office. The woman there told me it would be about two to three weeks until I received my visa in the mail, along with my other seriously crucial paperwork, and then I would be able to pick a departure date, and be on my way!


And that was it. Two months of document collecting, copying, signing, and Apostilling, two months of emails, and phone calls, and faxes, and (of course), Facebooking, three days of intense Miami heat, traffic, and other vacationers, and
we
were
done!


So now we wait. It's been a full three days since my rendezvous (That's French, I need Spanish!) reunión with the Consulate, and the days are slowly creeping by. Another Florida-Spain student received her visa and itinerary today, with her appointment being just three weeks ago, so I'm getting pretty excited! The fact that at least one of us now has a real count-down, after eight months of only knowing that it would be at the beginning of the school year, makes it SO much more real. It's all happening exceedingly quickly, yet exaggeratedly slowly, at the same time. Hard to describe. Hard to comprehend. Mind blowing to think about, and I'm still a month away. It'll be August in just two days, but I know those thirty-one days will fly by, just like these past 225 days have. That's how long it's been since I was told Spain was going to be my destination. It's been hectic, and chaotic, and lovely, and boring at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Torrevieja, here I come!


Besos y Abrazos,
Nicole

Miami!

We decided against starting our 3 hour voyage to Miami at 5 o'clock Tuesday morning, and instead, we're making a mini-vacation out of it! Today will be Family Chill Day (shopping, South Beach-ing, Resort Relaxing.......sighhhhhh), tomorrow is official beach day for Mom, Holly, and I, while dad golfs (surprise, surprise), and Tuesday morning is my Consulate appointment! I'll go into more details a bit later, as we really must be leaving soon. The plan was to leave at 8 this morning, but as it's now 8:50, and mom is now relentlessly vacuuming for whatever reason, I'd say it'll be another 10 minutes, at least. 


Besos y abrazos,
Nicole

Mi casa...NEW Casa!

I know that that was a completely tacky title, but I'm going to stay completely real with whoever is following this makeshift memoir of mine.


I took the liberty of taking a break from FLVS for a little while today (shhhh!), and decided to create the all-so-familiar pictures of my host country, with a specific indicator of where I'll be living! Just to give you guys an idea of where I'll be for my year abroad :)

 As it says in the description area at the top of the page, Torrevieja is in the Southeastern Coast of Valencia, in the southernmost part of the capital, Alicante. As far as the other RYE Florida Outbounds, I'm the farthest south, but I'm proud to say I'll be a part of this small tourist town in Valencia :) 

 As noted in the yellow circle, this is a picture of Torrevieja that includes my soon-to-be neighborhood! You probably noticed the rather large pink body of water, but don't be alarmed! It's safe to swim in; in fact, the World Health Organization declared Torrevieja one of the healthiest places to live, because of the Mediterranean Climate! Torrevieja is famous for it's salt production, brought on by the two salt lakes in the center of the town. The water in the fore-front of the picture is the second lake, which is smaller, but still very salty. 

Most students, including myself, dread going to school. HOWEVER, knowing that I only technically have to pass one class during my last year of high school definitely helps ease the stress. This is it! My school without a name that I'll attend during senior year. Even if school usually is a place of long lectures, and rather arid classes, I'm genuinely excited for this next year of education. 

As my schedule is currently set up to be *Greek *Latin *Spanish *Spanish History *TWO HOUR LUNCH BREAK (Siesta<3) *Valencian Language *English *Philosophy, and *Algebra II, it should be obvious that the school year will be a good one :)