Mi año en España; A year Abroad.: February, and March, and April and OH MY WE ARE IN MAY

         Yes! I´m still alive and breathing and enjoying life as an exchange student, especially since summer (for me anyway), is growing closer every day. It's officially beach weather, although I've not yet acustomed myself to the freezing Meditteranean, but all in good time (11 weeks....)The last time I posted, we were in the beginning of May and it was a just a quick journal, as I thought I might get around to actually writing later on that month.....clearly that did not happen. I'll start from then and work my way up to May, the ninth of eleven months that this year will turn out to be.
      February brought me to Tuscany, Italy for six days on a class trip (indubitably beats the Orlando Science Center for the afternoon) and it was gorgeous. Our hotel was in Florence, but we took mini day trips to Pisa and Siena, and we even had the chance to see Bologna for a few hours! Italy is beautiful, and that was magnified times a million with the last snowfalls having just made their appearances, and making our trip a week before "Carnevale", the winter festival celebrated all around the world just before Lent takes place. Traditionally in Italy (as well as Spain), Carnival is a week or three of lively parades, loud music, delectable food, and ornate masquerade masks that might remind one of Mardi Gras with good reason, as Mardi Gras is the New Orleans version of Carnival. Although we didn't get to participate in the Carnival itself, we saw a ton of the beautiful masks in the small outdoor markets around Tuscany. All in all, I'm in love with Italy, although the sneaky two to three euro price tag for the silverware in the restaurants I could do without. ~~Maldita taxes.~~
     By the time we returned from that trip, there was only about a week left of February, but every day was filled with a new activity. Birthday parties, school strikes, and even saw a few exchange friends when they came down to Torrevieja for a marathon. All the sudden we were in March, and things just get better. Before the good however, comes the uncertain and unfortuantely our plans to change host families became all shook up. As there are two of us on exchange here in Torrevieja, we were meant to change families in between the two of us at the end of February, but because of reasons, that still hasn't happened. I'm hoping to change into a friends´ house here, but Rotary isn't as keen on the idea, so we're still waiting to see what happens. I'm not anxious to change by any means, but as I live a good 40 minute bus ride from the center of the pueblo, it'd be nice for a change of scenery. Again, all in good time (11 weeks.....) yeah, anyways, March.
      Beginning on the second day of this spring month my favorite 12 year old sister turned 13, so that was a fun skype. I´d had another Spanish exam that same day, but I was still able to talk with my family for a bit, so it was a good day. The next day I took a kind of suprise weekend up to Alicante to meet up with some exchange friends, and we ended up going to an event with Rotary at a bull fighting ring! It was the most bizzarly Spanish day that I've had up to this point, and I really loved it. Paella, sangria, SUN, and a mild attempt at bull fighting made by all us Americans. It was more like exaggeratedly running for your life from a baby cow in a bull ring the size of an inground pool with a large, heavy skirt in order to shield yourself from the "blow", but all of that is beside the point. It was Spanish and awesome. The next week we had a small excusion to a military base on the outskirts of Murcia, and then we went for lunch in the city. I LOVE the city, so another good day down in the agenda. Then it was time for my birthday! Woo adulthood! My host family completely went behind my back and infront of my face and threw me a surprise party that I had ZERO idea about. They went as far as to ask me for my phone so they could grab the numbers of a few exchange and school friends to invite them over to celebrate, but of course, I straight up believed the weak lie my host mom gave me about needing my phone without any problem. Oh naive is me..or something along those lines. It was a really special birthday, and I'm glad I was able to spend it with my amigos from all around. The rest of March was spent between Albatera, Alicante, and more school strikes. Call it a good month and that brings us to April.
     My eighth month here was most likely my favorite thus far, and they say it only gets better, so I'm pumped. From the first to the eighth was Semana Santa, or Holy week and it was incredible! Semana Santa is obviously a religious holiday, celebrated the last week of Lent, and right before Easter. HERE is where you all can read about the costumes, traditions, and background of Semana Santa <<Thank you, Wikipedia. It was a really different holiday, and I'm so lucky to have seen it directly in Cartagena!
    The day after the Holy Week processions ended, I WAS ON MY WAY TO FRANCE OUI OUI OUI! It's still crazy for me to think that before my 2010 exchange there, I had little to no interest in every visiting. Obviously that quickly changed, and although Spain will always be un país maravilloso, France is where my soul belongs. Not exaggerating. J'adore le France. Cool. A few other exchange students and I had to incredible opportunity to visit the Perpingan region of southwestern France. The small village of Font Romeu, nestled in the Pyrnees Mountains, housed a group of 10 from Spain, four from Andorra, and about 30 from France for a week. It was the RYLA conference, but instead of three days and two nights in a hotel in Orlando, I experienced a week in southern France, with a day included in Andorra! It was another great week, although I think I'll save the French language for next year. Nevertheless, I made some really great friends from those three countries, and we've even been invited back at the end of May, to stay four or five days in Toulouse, where most of the RYLA group resides! I'm not sure if it'll be possible or not, but I know I'll definitely be back one day. Another good friend, Noemí, that I made in the conference is from Alcoy, Spain, and it honestly feels like I've known her my whole life. It just proves that you should always say yes to anything Rotary presents to you, even if you don't speak French.
     Coincidentally, two weeks after RYLA were the Moors and Christians festivities in Alcoy! They are the oldest and by far the most beautiful processions of Spain, remembering the fighting between the Moroccans and the Christians in the Valencian Community. It's another week of parades, music, "Mentira y la Sonrisa Alcoyana", elaborate costumes, and fiestas EVERYWHERE. I was able to spend the 21st from the 27th with Noemí and her family, as well as two Finnish exchange students that did thier exchanges last year in Alcoy, though they weren't with Rotary. It was an intense fiesta week, and I really hope to come back next year, or the year after to see the processions again! That brings us to this past Saturday where I took a nice long siesta day, and just hung at home with my host mom and cleaned. An uneventful day to make up for such a phenomonal week. Sunday evening Alexandra came over again and we just chilled around Torrevieja until she left on Tuesday morning. About an hour later two more exchange students arrived and I finally got my beach day! It was a deliciously hot day, but we cooled off pretty quickly in the sea. I'm aware of the luck I've had in being placed next to the Mediterranean, but I think I prefer the waves of the Atlantic, or the warmth of the Gulf. I'll be home soon enough, Florida! Two day school week for yours truly, and then I took a quick (39 hours, to be precise) trip up to Altea! I surprised Lindsay and we saw each other for the first time since orientation, all the way back in September! I also got to spend a few hours with a few others from the Altea/Denia area, and it was so nice to see other exchange students that we haven't seen in eight months. One thing Rotary could work on, but we obviously made it work :) Hopefully we'll see each other again this summer!
     PHEW. SO. Today is Sunday, 6 May and I've made it through eight months and five days in Spain. As an overall update, all is well. School is still unbelievably boring, but we're nearing the end of the year and I couldn't be happier. The final year for the students here is the most difficult, and they spend ALL of their time preparing for the Selective Exam in the middle of June for entering college. As I'm not going to be taking the exam, it's hard to find time to hang out with my Spanish friends, but I'll have a full month with them after the exams are through, so I'm content. My host family is good. It's a crazy year because my host brother has so much on his plate with his music, school, and balancing it all, but we all have good relationships, so no worries there. I have no problems with homesickness, though I did go through a small bout of it a few months ago. It was really quick, but a hard time all the same, and I'm just glad it's over. It wasn't that I wanted to go home, I was just really missing my sisters and parents, as well as my normal Florida life, but I've learned to appreciate my time here, and know that I'll be feeling the same way in about three months, only it will be about Spain! Qué tema más triste, de verdad :/
      My Spanish is still rockin' (we're being completely honest here), and I'm really pleased with the progress I've made since arriving. It's a far cry from eagerly responding with "¡SI!" to literally every question in the first few months, whether I'd understood or not.
"Do you want more strawberries?"   Yes please!
"Do you want to go for a walk"        Sure thing!
"Do you want to jump out of the window?"   Of course!
           Clearly I am an excited learner, but it all worked out in the end. Speaking of which, as summer draws closer, evidently so does the return to Florida, but I'm not going to speak on that just yet. Before that fatefull day of 17 July (and no, I "don't" want a surprise party in the O-Town airport upon arrival.....), I've still got a few more plans. This week is "Las Sevillanas de Mayo", which is another fiesta week with the ever so cliché Sevillan dresses! They've already happened in Sevilla itself, but are slowly making their way up to Torrevieja, and will begin on Wednesday until Sunday.
After that, in about two weeks, I'll be taking another week long trip FINALLY somewhere around Spain! The Santiago de Compostela should be marvelous, and I can't wait to see more of my new country. We'll be travelling by bus up to Galicia in the northwest, and staying in Sanxenxo, Villagarcia de Arousa, Tuy, and of course, Santiago de Compostela itself. I'm so excited to see more of Spain! After that I honestly don't have any definite plans, but I plan on taking advantage of living five minutes from the beach, and the fact that school will be over and finally meeting up with school friends. #livin'lavidaloca?

See you all sooner than we think. Rest assured that there will be at least ONE more blog before ymy return to Florida, but I can't promise more than that. Enjoy the abundance of pictures on facebook/tuenti, and one thing I can promise will be my willingness to reminise about this year for approximately the rest of my life, all questions are welcome.

Bona nit a tots (lots of Valencian influence in the last few weeks, it's catching).
-----Nicole