RYE Inbound Orientation: Madrid 2011.

Finally! Inbound orientation! I'm leaving the house in about half an hour to go stay the night at another exchange student's house, because we're travelling together tomorrow. Six hour bus ride from Alicante to Madrid, here we go!

*Note in picture above was drawn during History of Art, while my professor brambled on in an unfamiliar tounge.....I like to think of it more has History of Siesta ;)

Me llamo Carrrrrie.

10:30 in the night, and I'm watching "Carrie" in Spanish with my host bro-bro and dad.

This is a big, dark, scary house.

I have school tomorrow.

No me gustan peliculas de horror.



#Alwayssayyestoanopportunity,saywahhhhht?

Caught Red Handed.

Alright, you've caught me in a lie.

I didn't go to the beach yesterday morning either.

Oops.

HOWEVER, I do have a perfectly more than acceptable reason, and I had a spectacular time so you'll just have to deal with that.

On the way home from bowling on Saturday night, my host mom asked me if I wanted to call one of the girls that I was just with, and see if she wanted to go with us to the beach the next morning. Unfortunately, she couldn't because she had a soccer game, SO SHE INVITED ME TO THAT INSTEAD.

Two spectacular facts appear out of that last little paragraph. Let's take a gander, shall we?

1. Yo.Tengo.Amigos.
2. I MADE A PHONE CONVERSTATION ALL BY MY SELF IN SPANISH AND BOTH PARTIES UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS SAID.

It really is the greatest feeling, speaking in a language not your own (....yet), and knowing that people can comprehend what you're saying. A bit bizzare, but it's a feeling of success like no other. Anyway, the soccer game was really great as well, and Marta's team ended up winning 10-0!  ¡Buen trabajo!

Quieres ir a BOWLING?!

I promised more updates, and while they certainly won't be daily, I'll try and make sure all of the interesting stuff makes it on to here :)

Today was a pretty swell day for me! It started at 7:30am, when my host mom woke me up to ask if I truly wanted to go to the beach at this hour, or sleep for a bit longer. Being an exchange student, I always say yes to every opportunity.........so I kept sleeping. I know, shame on me. But until you've lived in a completely foreign land for 17 days, and e v e r y   s i n g l e   h o u r during those 17 days you had to try and explain yourself, and attempt to understand those around you, in an unfamiliar tounge.......tell me you wouldn't have chosen to sleep as well.

Right. So. Slept in until 9. Woot, I know, late stuff for a Saturday. I had breakfast with my host dad and bro-bro, and then they left to take my brother to the gym, and my host dad to run some errands for his work. I actually was home alone, for the first time! I was terrified that the phone was going to ring and be my host parents, because I'm certainly not ready to answer the house phone yet, and they don't have caller ID, so I couldn't tell if it was them to answer it anyway! Everything ended up fine though. I did some laundry, sent in my RYE blog (soon, you should be able to read it here... http://www.ryeflorida.org/Students/OB/2011-12/Nicole-Spain.htm), and worked on my Spanish grammar book! I know, responsible student at your service! Afterwords, when my host family arrived back at the house where we had lunch, and played yet another round of Parchis. Marvelous game. Siesta time after that, and then I WENT SOMEWHERE WITH MY FRIENDS.

YEAH. WITH. MY. FRIENDS. What a wonderful thing to say. It sounds silly, I know, but I was terribly insecure that I would go the first couple of months without anyone wanting to talk to me, because I couldn't say much back..stupid Nicole.
Anyway. I met up with a group of people that I hang out with at school, and I had a super time! We met up at about 7:30, at this wonderful......complex of gaming type things, connected to a bowling alley! We went bowling first....AND I WON. Beginner's luck? I think no. After bowling, some of the group played Billiards, and the others watched. I was one of those others, and after to a much awaited dinner! We ended up going to Burger King, because the only other choices that we could get to were MacDonalds, or a Kebap place, that supposedly isn't very great. It was a really fun night, and for as much as I think I don't speak very well, no one can believe that I've only been here 17 days! I'm learning so much more around people my age than I am around my house, only because when I'm with completely new people, I get to start with the basics. My host family already knew my name, age, where I'm from, what my family's like, what Florida's like, etc. But I really enjoy meeting new people here (probably a great thing, since it happens just about every hour!) because I can practice my basic speaking skills.

Anway, now I'm off to learn a card game, that my host family has been putting off teaching me, because it's difficult to explain! They think I'm ready though. Also a cool feeling. Tomorrow (I suppose now it's later today), I am going to the beach in the morning, and in the afternoon I'll be venturing to the soccer fields to watch my friend Marta's practice!

Besos, Nícole

 The group! Alina, Marta, Yo, Sergio, Isaac, Natalia, Vanesa, Alberto.

 That's me, winning. ALWAYS.

The group again! Fabio, Marta, María, Yo, Vanesa, Davíd, Natalia, Isaac, and Sergio :)

Fotografias!

 Paella!

 Arcoiris

 Quick stop at a really beautiful beachfront for pictures. #THELIFEOFANEXCHANGESTUDENT.

 BERENJENA

 Playa de Mata con mi hermano y SiSi

 Monopoly Europa!

 Rotary Meeting: Exchanging flags!

Amigas de escuela!

Finally, an update!

First things first, I'd like to say I'm sorry. I haven't been updating as much as I should be, and I definitely want to keep this journaling thing going! Not only for my lovely flock of avid readers, but for myself as well. A very wise man once said to me (about 20 minutes ago, via Skype, coincidentally has the same name and face as my very own DAD) that five years from now, I'll absolutely want to go back and read through every single one of these moments, just as you all want to hear about them. I can't promise that these journals will be daily, but school started this Wednesday and once I have a more set schedule here, you all should be hearing (reading..) from me somewhat more regularly. I hope to give at least a weekly update, so don't fret!

Alright, now for a smidge of information covering the last week or so. I honestly cannot believe that I've only been here in Torrevieja for 15 days! The days literally feel expanded by an extra 5 hours or so, but that could just be because I'm doing so many different things every day. The last time I published a journal (I've been writing a ton, but I haven't posted anything, for which I'm truly sorry. Perhaps at a later date you all will see the inner emotions and thoughts of this particular 17 chica abroad.) it was only at the end of my first full day here! A brief update for now, until I am on more of a schedule.

Friday the 2nd was my first entire day in Spain :) You all have read (and probably re-read since I haven't written anything else) the previous journal, so I'll move right on ahead to Saturday. Early that morning we woke up and got packed for a short trip to a beach town about 45 minutes away called La Manga. My host mom's mom lives there during the summer, so we stayed with her Saturday night, and were back in Torrevieja by the next late afternoon. As I said before, the days here possess an extra five hours, so it felt like we were there much longer, but that could have just been my still intact jet lag still speaking. La Manga is a really beautiful beach town, and I could NOT get over the fantastic breeze that was there. Of course, the water was a bit chilly, but it is the Mediterranean, so it's acceptable ;)

The next day, Monday, I was absolutely exhausted. Having not slept for literally more than five minutes in the entire 28 hours of travelling across the pond, and then not for another six-ish hours after that, and then a beach weekend with family, I had every right to sleep in until TWO the next day.....but I didn't. I actually woke up relatively early, and got started on really unpacking. Upon doing so, I found myself holding a card from my mom, a whole notebook page from Holly, a paragraph from Jenna, and four short pieces of paper from my dad. I won't lie that I cried a TON when reading those, but that was only momentarily, before I picked myself up and put the letters in the bottom drawer of my bedside table. There for me when I need them, but not in my mind constantly enough that they're all I can think about.  Later that day, my family and I had lunch together, and I tried eggplant for the first time! It's a funny story that really won't make much sense to just about everyone except my host family and I, but I have difficulty pronouncing Spanish words with J's in them, as it's more of a ghhhh, from the back of the throat. Rolling my R's? No problema. Lisping certain words to give it that real Spain Spanish accent? I'm a beasstthhht. But these J's are quite frustrating! Anyway, the word for eggplant in Spanish is berenjena (behr-ehn-ghhayyy-nuh) and it never fails to make my host family laugh when I recognize one in the market, or somewhere around the kitchen.

(Wow. I had no idea I was going into so much detail with all of this! I'll summarize more so that no one gets and ulcer from sitting where ever you please from reading this novel of mine.)

The rest of the week was really great! I tried a few different foods (SQUID. S Q U I D.), I met a couple of different people my age: (Oscar, my next host bro-bro, who was an exchange student to Michigan last year) (And Ana, a girl who will be in the first Bacc--I'm in the 2nd, at my school.) I also met quite a few of Oscar's friends at his house on Wednesday when they held a barbacoa (BBQ!), though most of them are in univeristy, so I won't see them too often. I also met the daughter of my principal of my school, and some of her friends. They're all really good friends with my host sister Marina, who is on her own exchange in Vancouver, Canada this year. We'll talk more about school in a moment. Later on in the week, I went with my next host parents to Alicante. (the second capital of the Valencian Province...Clermont=Torrevieja...Orlando=Alicante...Valencia is to Lake/Orange County...to give you an idea.) We left around 7 in the morning on Thursday (Sept. 8th, One week in Spain!) and drove about 45 minutes to wait in line for another 45 minutes for the Police Station to open. There ended up being a minor mistake on my Visa, but we got everything cleared up, and I should be getting my National Identity Number, and long term student visa within the next few weeks! The rest of that day I hung out with my second host family, and it was really nice being able to use basic Spanish to tell them a bit about me. My first host family already knew most of the basics, through emails and Skype and such, but it was really great practicing my speech! Lord knows I could always use more of that!

After that, I only had six days until school started! I did quite a bit in those six days, but in taking a glance at the essay I've written for you all to enjoy, and for myself to remember, I'll just give you a list.

·         Torrevieja's Market! Largest and best market in Europe, literally. Enough said.

·         Playa de Mata! BEACH TRIP! We went early in the morning to a beach about 6 minutes away from my house. Beautiful, and cold.

·         Learned how to play Monopoly Europe! Same thing as regular Monopoly, but instead of streets, you buy countries. It was awesome.

·         First Rotary Meeting! I thought I had to give  powerpoint presentation, or a somewhat detailed one, but nope. I'll do that later in the next few weeks. I only had to stand up and say my name and a few sentences about me! One more thing: Torrevieja Rotary Club meets at 9pm....South Lake Rotary Club meets at 7am. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A WINNER.

·         Got really sick! Pretty positive everyone experiences it, but I had a nasty "Climate Change Cold" starting about three days before school started, and lasted until today. I've been sick before (uhhh, duh) but the methods of healing were a bit different than usual. ---Ibuprofen for a cold. ----Scarf to wear at night around my neck. -----Shoes in the house.       Hmmm. Not weird, just different.

And that's all! Pretty busy life, huh? I honestly can't believe that it has really only been 16 days since I've left Florida, and 15 days since arriving in Spain. It literally feels like it's been about 3 months to me, but when talking with another student here from Florida, she said it only felt like four days to her! I suppose it just depends on your unique experiences. Another unique experience? SCHOOL.

To start, we'll begin with another one of those fancy lists, to show ya'll the differences between my institute here, and my high school in Clermont.

·         Teachers and students change classes.  This isn't  very common in European schools, generally the students stay in one class the whole day, and only the teachers move, but at my school, everyone switches.

·         I have eight classes here, fifty five minutes each.

·         Mondays and Tuesdays, school here ends at 3pm, while on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, I get out at 2:10. I'm not really sure why this is, but so far, I enjoy it.

·         Mondays and Tuesdays, I have seven classes, and the other three days of the week, I have six.

·         We have two twenty minute breaks during the school day. The first is after our first three classes, and during this one, my friends and I eat a small snack in the cafeteria then hang outside in the "courtyard." During the second break, we spend most of the time in the shade outside in the courtyard, but this week was a bit different than the rest of the weeks will be, because we had to get our textbooks, lockers, and other "first week of school" stuff, out of the way.

There are actually a lot of other differences, but I'm sure you'll hear more about them as the year progresses. For now, I really need to hit the bed. Tomorrow, my host mom and I are going with her friend to La Playa de Mata again! It's a really beautiful, quiet little beach, but perfect for sprawling out on my "Toro de España" towel, and soaking up the Spanish sun! Some things never change... ;)

Hasta Luego!


Nícole

First Blog in Spain!

Well, today was awesome. Woke up at 11am after 12 hours of sleep, which I thought would compensate for the 30+ hours of no sleep, but NO. I was exhausted once more by three....though I think that was more from the lack of brain power to stay awake, due to the fact that 90% of it is being used to listen and try to translate in my head, 8% is for attempting to speak brokenly back, and two percent is just DEAD. I'm struggling to find English words already, which I realized when it took me six minutes to figure out the word for cantelope, and that was two minutes after I actually saw one. Day one of no English was a difficult success to come by, but here we are, passing into day two, and I'm not jumping to find the nearest plane!
Fernando (bro-bro) and I had breakfast of jamon de york (Ham slices), on tostada con mantequilla (Delicious bread halves, with butter and oil, toasted...YUM YUM YUM, DELICIOSO!). During breakfast, and for a short while afterwords, we watched EspongaBob, Scooby Doo, and (my choice) some priest in a Catholic church, here in Spain, give a message to a grand total of nine people in this enormous church. I only chose it because he spoke SO slowly, and it was quite easy to figure what he was talking about, when he spoke about it for roughly 10 minutes, and repeated a whole bunch'a stuff. SIMPLE. After breakfast, we played cards! Mentiroso (sort of like BS), Go Fish (simple to explain, more fun when there is more than two of you), and Dutch Blitz! My host father arrived when we were just about to begin our third game (he loved it that much), so he played as well! It was hilarious! And much fun was had by all. We had lunch after cards, which consisted of a very different version of Chicken noodle soup, bread, salad, tortilla de patatas, SALMON and much much fruit. In the soup, instead of pieces of chicken, was a single meatball type item, in a broth of some sort (which we squeezed lemon juice into, for MORE flavor), with short spaghetti noodles. Different, but good! The tortillas de paptatas was left-overs from last night, but it was just what it sounds like. More of a pie than a tortilla actually, but it was filled with potatoes and other item sent straight from the cooking heaven, so it was VERY delicious. The salmon was great, because salmon is always great. And the fruit....OH the fruit. There is no comparison between peaches, watermelon, and cantelope from Publix, and the fruit from a fresh Mediterranean market. NO comparison. Heavenly. Fresh. Perfecto.
After lunch, it was time for gifts! I know it was silly to worry so much about if they would like it or not, but I actually felt like I had just won the lottery when they all said they gifts were perfect. Key Lime Liquer is the way to go! Of course, they all loved the Ghiradelli chocolate, and the picture book of Florida (translated in to Spanish, French, German, and English) as well! Next was the lovely Spanish tradition of SIESTAAAA<3 I didn't actually sleep, even though I was absolutely exhausted, but I began unpacking, and making sticky notes for items around my room...I've got to learn some how. Como se dice, and no entiendo, I'm sorry to say, are probably the most commonly used phrases from my miniature Spanish vocabulary at the moment, apart from vale, si, and gracias. Finally, to end the day, we went to a carnival sort of event along the Playa del Meditterraneo! It is always there, but recently it has been especially busy, because tourist season is ending, and everyone is paying their final visits. I got a braided bracelet with the colors of Spain, and then we had Kebap for dinner! I heard from my host family that it's the best in Torrevieja ( which doesn't sound very impressive, but based on the fact that there were three other Kebap restaraunts on the same street, I was impressed). It was great! I didn't very much like the salsa picante like I'd hoped I would once I arrived (silly, I know), but overall it was great. We saw some of Fernando's friends from school who are also studying music, and five of the 8 told me that they would teach me Spanish, if I would teach them English....UHHH YESSSSS! That brings me to a grand total of six tutors, and I've only been here for one day! Home after that, where we played parchese, a board game that was very easy to understand, and finally went to bed....Well, except for me of course. I'm still here, documenting my day for not only my avid readers, but myself as well! It's difficult to remember all that we did, when my memory box is full of assorted Spanish words and phrases to write down for later! Ah well, es la vida de estudiante de intercambio.

Well, buenas noches para ahora. Thanks for reading all that (if you made it this far), and I hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventures abroad. I certainly do enjoy making them, and I don't plan on missing out on a single opportunity to create more!
Besos, Nicole (Cole--my host mom) (Nik 'Neek'--my host brother) or (KNEEcole--my host father).