In exactly two months from today, on June 29th I will be boarding a plane from Madrid, Spain to New York. By nightfall, exactly two months from now, I will be reunited with my family in America. I cannot lie and say I am not excited. I cannot wait to see everyone again, and do things like I did before I came to spain, and eat pancakes and waffles and french toast. But, there are a lot of things here that have now become second nature and the foods that have now become normal, and the people I am used to seeing everyday, that I will have to say goodbye to in two short months.
Last night I had a dream about going home. In my dream I boarded the plane and I got home and my family picked me up at the airport and I hugged all of them and was so happy to see them. In the dream we drove home, and at my house all my friends were waiting. I hugged all of them and everything seemed so normal. Until I came to the realization that the friends I was hugging were my friends from spain, and the house we were in was actually my house here in Spain. Needless to say, I woke up really confused.
As you can see I am torn. I now have two completely separate lives, with a different family, a different language, different values, etc. When Annika was in Spain, she often talked about how she only came to spain for three months mostly becuase her school wouldnt allow her come for the year, but also becuase she already has two lives and she couldnt bear to be split into a third. She already cannot decide which place is better, America or Switzerland. Some days she swears she will live in Switzerland, and others she is convinced she will go live in America. At first, I didn´t fully understand how the choice could be so hard. Shouldn´t it be where your family is? But now I realize, your family doesn´t just consist of your direct mom and dad, it consists of all the people who have made you who you are, and all the people that have influenced you. It isn´t jsut family that matters, although that plays a huge role, it´s all of the aspects in your life that matter.
I know for certain I will come back to visit the Romeros. They will forever be my second family and I cannot imagine leaving them. Pablo has become my little brother, just as Maria and Theresa have become friends, and the older sisters I never had in America.
I know for sure that the Romeros and my family will always have a deeper connection than most other families with exchanges because the Romeros took me for the year, and my family took their son, Fede for the year. I am sure that Fede is having an incredible time in my town and with my family, just as I am with his. This connection garuntees that our families will always be interconnected by not just one link, but by two.
My goal from now until June 29th is to flat out enjoy myself. After this blog post I am going to do my best to not think about going home, and enjoy just living in the now, and living in SPAIN. I have not done everything I had hoped to do before I came, but I have seen and been to places I never expected I would have gone while here (namely, Switzerland). This year has been an epic journey that has changed me only for the better.
As Kate had said in her blog post, when I get home and everyone asks me how my year was, I am not sure how easy my answer will be. I will probably just respond with "amazing". But this year has been so much more than that. It has been a true adventure, with highs and lows to the extremes. I had days where all I wanted was to just go home. I had days where I couldn´t even imagine going home. Life is crazy. And my life is still just beginning.
On a random side note, awhile back I had been looking at colleges and programs. After going to Switzerland and taking with Annika a bit, and talking with Kate A LOT since she got here, my path has sort of changed. I still want to get an international major of some sort, maybe focus on public affairs, and politcal science. Last time I posted I wanted to learn more european languages, but since going to Switzerland I realized, most of the people in europe speak english. So if I really wanted to learn a language that would benefit me, I should learn a language that is spoken in a lot of places yet, places that don´t widely speak english, or places that the culture is engrained into the language, so even if they spoke english, it wouldnt be the same experience. After a lot of research. I have decided, since I already know spanish, and I absolutly love South America, I want to learn Portuguese. it will be easy, and Brazil has a very intense but beautiful culture, and they are also rising in the business world, becoming an important world power. I also, next to portuguese I want to learn Arabic. Although Arabic is challenging, I think it will be a well worth it language. In this era the Middle East is growing as an important area of the world (they always have been, but now more than ever), and history began in the middle east. The culture goes back to the beginning of all civilizations, and the countries are absolutly gorgeous (albeit dangerous, but I am sure I will manage). I have a lot of other ideas rolling around in my head, but nothing too definite. Here is my new list of top colleges I ahve considered (I am not limited myself to the east cost any more...and I have decided to maybe try a little harder, and aim for colleges more at my level of academic ability, instead of aiming low) loosely ranked from favorite to least favorite:
1. Ohio University
2. Temple University (PA)
3. Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec Province, Canada)
4. Evergreen State College (WA)
5. University of Utah
6. Michigan State University
7. University of Alberta (Alberta Province, Canada)
8. Syracuse University (NY)
9. Fordham University (NY)
10. University of British Colombia (British Colombia, Canada)
11. Smith College (MA)
12. New York University
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Wow. What a crazy last two weeks. I actually have beem dreading writing this blog post, because I really don´t know how to some up my life up to this point. I went to switzerland, and then came home and saw some Semana Santa processions, then Lyla came and we went to Granada together. I caught a cold, I think from doing things non stop and not sleeping much. But I am getting better.
So, SWITZERLAND. It was absolutely amazing. I got to the Malaga airport really early, so I just sat around. My flight also got a little delayed, so I had to wait even longer. I walked around, bought a book to read, then just waited. After reading nearly half the book I was finally able to board the plane.
When I got to Zurich I just followed the signs through the airport to the baggage claim to get my bag. The baggage claim area has this wall made of glass, so you can see the people who are waiting to pick up the other people on your plane. I look through it, and there was ANNIKA! I waved at her across the room like a big fool, but I didn´t even care, and then my bag took forever to come, of course. I stood there waiting for a good 10 mins, being tortured by the fact that I could see annika, but I couldnt actually go to her yet.
We stayed in Zurich for the afternoon and Annika showed me around the city. It was absolutly beautiful, and very european.
Later, we took the train to her house in Dudingen. here are some pictures I took in Zurich:
On Saturday, we took the train into Bern. Little did I know, but Bern is actually the capital of Switzerland. First we saw the Hunger Games, that new movie based on the books. I have been dying to see it, but it hasnt even come out yet in Spain, and when it does, itll be with lame spanish voiceovers. (which is not as good...). After, Annika showed me around Bern. I saw the swiss equivalent of the White House and I saw an incredible view of the mountains. It was beautiful. Later that night, we went home and made pizza with her brothers. Well, it was more like pizza soup...becuase for some reason the sauce overflowed..but it still tasted good in my opinion.
Pictures of Bern:
On Sunday morning Annika´s parents made me pancakes :) Although they are all swiss, they were all born in switzerland, they lived in america for 8 years, so they all act American. They also love to eat american food (which made me happy...). Later we all got into their van and drove out to do a hike and see some more mountains. Then we came home and Annika, her brother (Lukas) and I played a game of cards.
On Monday Annika had to go to school. So I slept in. I ate lunch with her mom and Lukas, then took the train (by myself!) to the city where Annika goes to school, Fribourg. I met her at the train station and we took a walk around her city. It was so cute and had a great view. Fribourg is actually really interesting because half the city speaks german, and half the city speaks french.
more pictures:
On Tuesday Annika had school until 6, so I went with her mom to a chocolate factory. I went to the Guiller Chocolate factory, learned all about the history of chocolate and ate wayyy too many free samples. Then we went to a cute little city near Dudingen, and after we drove up to a high point so I could see the mountains, again.
On Wednesday I went to school with annika to see what swiss school was like. It was a wierd combination of american school and spanish school. Like spanish school, the kids hardly listened to their teachers, however somehown manage to get good grades and do their homework, like in America. I got to meet her friends and do hip hop in her PE class. They also have a really long lunch break ( i think an hour and a half) so we went out and got chinese food. I didnt take any pictures at her school, or for the rest of the day, but thats okay. For dinner I went with Annika´s whole family to an italian resteraunt where we all got pizza.
On thursday I got up, and went to the train station. I got on the train and took the trains all the way to Zurich (by myself) and go off at the airport. I now feel confident traveling by myself by train, by bus, by airplane, etc. I made it there, got myself checked in, got my bag checked, found my way to the terminal, boarded the plan, got off the plane, found my way to my baggage claim, got my bag, found my host dad. And I did that all by myself. First time doing it completely solo. I am proud. And I didnt have to ask any questions (if i had a question, id not hesitate to ask, but I was able to do everything fine).
On Thursday night I went out with Katie and my host sister and her friends to see some semana santa processions, I did the same on friday night. Pictures:
On Saturday afternoon Lyla arrived, and then on Sunday, Kate, Lyla, her mom, and I all went to granada until Tuesday. Ill download those pictures later. We went to the Alhambra, and then walked around the little shops. kate and I then took the busses home.
So, SWITZERLAND. It was absolutely amazing. I got to the Malaga airport really early, so I just sat around. My flight also got a little delayed, so I had to wait even longer. I walked around, bought a book to read, then just waited. After reading nearly half the book I was finally able to board the plane.
When I got to Zurich I just followed the signs through the airport to the baggage claim to get my bag. The baggage claim area has this wall made of glass, so you can see the people who are waiting to pick up the other people on your plane. I look through it, and there was ANNIKA! I waved at her across the room like a big fool, but I didn´t even care, and then my bag took forever to come, of course. I stood there waiting for a good 10 mins, being tortured by the fact that I could see annika, but I couldnt actually go to her yet.
We stayed in Zurich for the afternoon and Annika showed me around the city. It was absolutly beautiful, and very european.
Later, we took the train to her house in Dudingen. here are some pictures I took in Zurich:
On Saturday, we took the train into Bern. Little did I know, but Bern is actually the capital of Switzerland. First we saw the Hunger Games, that new movie based on the books. I have been dying to see it, but it hasnt even come out yet in Spain, and when it does, itll be with lame spanish voiceovers. (which is not as good...). After, Annika showed me around Bern. I saw the swiss equivalent of the White House and I saw an incredible view of the mountains. It was beautiful. Later that night, we went home and made pizza with her brothers. Well, it was more like pizza soup...becuase for some reason the sauce overflowed..but it still tasted good in my opinion.
Pictures of Bern:
 |
| the swiss equivalent of the white house |
 |
| just some kids playing in the fountain |
On Sunday morning Annika´s parents made me pancakes :) Although they are all swiss, they were all born in switzerland, they lived in america for 8 years, so they all act American. They also love to eat american food (which made me happy...). Later we all got into their van and drove out to do a hike and see some more mountains. Then we came home and Annika, her brother (Lukas) and I played a game of cards.
On Monday Annika had to go to school. So I slept in. I ate lunch with her mom and Lukas, then took the train (by myself!) to the city where Annika goes to school, Fribourg. I met her at the train station and we took a walk around her city. It was so cute and had a great view. Fribourg is actually really interesting because half the city speaks german, and half the city speaks french.
more pictures:
On Tuesday Annika had school until 6, so I went with her mom to a chocolate factory. I went to the Guiller Chocolate factory, learned all about the history of chocolate and ate wayyy too many free samples. Then we went to a cute little city near Dudingen, and after we drove up to a high point so I could see the mountains, again.
On Wednesday I went to school with annika to see what swiss school was like. It was a wierd combination of american school and spanish school. Like spanish school, the kids hardly listened to their teachers, however somehown manage to get good grades and do their homework, like in America. I got to meet her friends and do hip hop in her PE class. They also have a really long lunch break ( i think an hour and a half) so we went out and got chinese food. I didnt take any pictures at her school, or for the rest of the day, but thats okay. For dinner I went with Annika´s whole family to an italian resteraunt where we all got pizza.
On thursday I got up, and went to the train station. I got on the train and took the trains all the way to Zurich (by myself) and go off at the airport. I now feel confident traveling by myself by train, by bus, by airplane, etc. I made it there, got myself checked in, got my bag checked, found my way to the terminal, boarded the plan, got off the plane, found my way to my baggage claim, got my bag, found my host dad. And I did that all by myself. First time doing it completely solo. I am proud. And I didnt have to ask any questions (if i had a question, id not hesitate to ask, but I was able to do everything fine).
On Thursday night I went out with Katie and my host sister and her friends to see some semana santa processions, I did the same on friday night. Pictures:
On Saturday afternoon Lyla arrived, and then on Sunday, Kate, Lyla, her mom, and I all went to granada until Tuesday. Ill download those pictures later. We went to the Alhambra, and then walked around the little shops. kate and I then took the busses home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)