Forty-second week

Fortieth Week

Encantada de la vida

Lately I've been caught up in the summer wind, taking in every moment and staying outside as long as possible. Today I woke up at 8.30 to go to a street market ("mercadillo") in the next town over with my host mom, where, even though we didn't end up selling very much, I had a great time and got to know a friend of my mom and I bought a few things for myself (a book for 1€, another book the girl practically forced me to take along with it for free, a 3€ winter hat, little earrings and the suchlike). But, as my host mom said, "El precio es simbólico" (the price is symbolic). The fun part was walking around staring at the ancient typewriters, the old, unwanted clothing, the hand-made earrings and bracelets, the books with little notes in the margins... and wondering what kind of story must all those little, seemingly unimportant objects must have.
Then, upon arriving back in Urnieta, I went to join my friends, who had spent the morning preparing a paella for a competition in the town plaza. I wasn't there to help them out but, despite the 5's and 6's from the judges, it was pretty delicious. Afterwards, we went to the "deposito" where they store the town's water. It's up in the hills in the outskirts of the town and on the top it's covered in grass and an ideal place to go enjoy the sun in the afternoon with friends. We spent the entire afternoon talking, sharing music, relaxing and taking advantage of the good weather.
All in all, I've been out the entire day and sitting on the sofa while listening to one of the CDs I bought at the street market this morning, I don't think I could be happier.
This brings me into more of the "mindset" part of my post today. I've noticed lately that the days have been longer, I've been sleeping significantly better and even though I've got the last few tests ahead of me, I've been completely relaxed. Little by little I've been attempting to speak in Euskera (I actually had a full conversation with a friend's dad yesterday in Euskera, even though he did spend most of the time talking) and I've been trying a little bit every day, even though I find it a little difficult to get started with speaking in another language since I don't know it too well. I finished reading my first book in Spanish outside of school the other day as well and I've been really inspired artistically. I feel like I don't stop moving, I'm constantly entertaining myself and I hardly ever get bored. I'd like for this not to be just because I'm leaving soon because I wake up in the morning with a smile on my face (which, if you lived with me, you'd know its pretty rare) and when I finally go to bed at night I'm still smiling.

That month that always seemed so far away/Expiration date

June. That's tomorrow. What does that mean? No more school in the afternoon, now we only have from 830 - 200 every day. Final tests of the year (not finals, just my last 3 tests), warm weather, summer, schools out, fiestas, birthdays... Oh, and my last month. Its not time to reflect yet, Im still in my anteanteantepenultimate (5th to last) week, and after talking about it with my host dad I realized Id be so much better following his advice- until now I've been doing "vida normal," I settled in here a long time ago and by now I can get through my morning routine with my eyes closed. It feels like I've been living here all my life (most of the time), so why should I act or think any differently now?
I was going through a bit of an end-of-exchange crisis, but slowly I've pushed myself away from those thoughts (as a journalist once said "dont worry, or worry, but know that worrying is about as useful as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum") and I feel like a certain calmness has set over me. But this calmness wasnt something I lost because of the anxiety and the proximity of my flight date, it actually dissapeared a few months ago (between February and April, sometime) and after a week of complete stress (two projects that had to get done, a test to study for about a topic we barely had time to cover in class in spanish that I knew everything about but screwed up on the test, and a latin quiz about pronouns which I only had time to study for the night before) I feel relief but also a bit of the laziness where you get over a really difficult week but still have half of all the work to go and you just want to stay in bed and read all day for a few days. I kind of got off topic there and I know the sentence didnt really make that much sense, but what I was trying to say was, I haven't completely gained this calmness back yet because of the schoolwork and the gloomy weather, but I know its there, and Im glad it is.
To explain myself better, Id like to refer to a past blog post where I talked about how the warmth reminded me of the beginning of my year here and how there was a point this year where my mind had opened up to the world. That period was one of my favorite emotional states to look back upon because I felt more like "myself" (just generally more comfortable with everything I did) than ever and it was a stage where I often spaced out, caught upon a train of thought thatd appear out of nowhere and I felt a lot more inspired to learn, to read and especially to write. Now, a few months later, even though it feels like decades, and a lot of experiences later as well, I feel like I'm returning back to that state of mind, this time with nearly perfect language skills to express myself, and another language on its way (actually, Im writing a poem in my euskera class, which even I didnt know I was capable of). In general, I'm really happy with my experience here, and I think i'll keep doing things that way, expiration date or not.

Thirty-ninth week

Thirty-eighth week

This is how I spend my Sunday nights.

Me faltan horas en el día

I was just talking to a friend online and realized an important lesson I've learned. Sorry for the gramatical errors.


Thats what this year is about, losing yourself and finding yourself again. Itd be nice if we coud go back to the beginning and knowing everything we know now, do it a whole lot better (learn euskera, get rid of that accent, read in spanish more, personally, write more, get better grades, be more interactive with friends, not be on the computer so long, watch more movies...) but the whole point is that we didnt do all that because we didnt know what itd be like and thats exactly what this whole things about.one of the most important lessons ive learnt here is to truly value my time. Ive learnt to forget about stupid tv programs and take an interest in movies, ive learnt that writing poetry in another language thats not yours is not imposible, ive learnt to understand euskera and hold a basic conversation or talk about what i did yesterday and what im doing tomorrow, ive made a ton of new friends who ill never forget and miss dearly (not only from here, but from aroud the world), ive learned what its like to plan your own trips and deal with everyone thinking youre just too young, ive seen the three autonomous communities of spain, ive walked 112km in 5 days, i have read books in spanish even if they havent been at a very high level, ive even learnt a basis of latin. But the most important thing ive learnt is that there arent enough hours in the day everything i want to do, and thats the greatest feeling in the world.

The exchange experience

For those wondering what its like, as a general description, to go through a year of exchange, here's a link to a friends blog (living in the south of spain) who wrote about it. I'd try to describe it myself, but I don't think I could put it any better than she did. I'm in complete agreement with everything she says here: http://marybeth-afs.blogspot.com/2011/05/illusion-of-exchange.html

Relax, take it easy

The last two months of my experience here have been and will serve to basically enjoy every moment, now that I can communicate extremely well with the people around me and just knowing and having made a lot of good friends. My life here has turned into a more or less "normal" routine type of thing, and so I'm presented with the opportunity to now do 'more' than just the routine, because the routine used to be difficult and filled up all my time and kept me entertained (also studying was something to take up the time and a large responsibility, but keeping up with my grades now is easier as well). Monday, right after school, my friends and I rushed to the train station and 15 minutes later we were at the beach. I even jumped into the ocean with two of my friends. It was pretty cold but I really felt like jumping in and it was quite a great experience. We spent the afternoon doing homework in the sand, playing volleyball which later turned into soccer because the majority of us were soccer players and enjoying the sun and hot temperature. I plan on learning to surf with a friend who knows how soon enough and I hope to be able to go to the city for the day this weekend. Also, I went to the highest mountain in the area, which was only 800km hiigh, so not much of a mountain, and we hiked up to the top. It was a nice way to start the Sunday and really relaxing. I feel like the end of this experience is just a great way to take it easy.

Adventures in April cont

After the end of course trip, I went to Galicia with some of my fellow AFSers from all around Spain to do the last five steps of the Camino de Santiago. In total, we walked 112km, about 20 km a day, excluding the second day where we walked almost 30. The routine was wake up, eat breakfast, walk, collapse from the happiness of finally arriving at the hostel, eat lunch (some days we ate during the walk), take a siesta, do a few activities with the volunteers for an hour or so, relax, eat dinner, sleep and repeat. The experience overall was amazing. We walked from 5 to 8 hours a day, talking amongst our group, getting to know eachother, walking in silence and observing our beautiful surroundings. My favorite day in terms of scenery was the first, where we really walked through Galician countryside and everything was so green and the air was so fresh (although it wasnt too much of a change, living in the basque country, but coming from new jersey, I always appreciate it). I had a lot of time to think and reflect as well as look ahead, and I actually got so used to walking that two days after we finished it felt weird not getting up and starting the day off with a long walk. I would definitely consider doing it again, possibly alone and a longer distance.
After arriving at Santiago (seeing the front of the cathedral was such a relief, we all starting hugging and actually tried to get everyone to dance the macarena) we all went out to lunch, and I actually got into quite an interesting philosophical conversation with some of my fellow AFSers. I felt like the group dynamic between all of us was really good, and that if you wanted to join a conversation with people you didnt know from before (most people did know at least one person from their region from beforehand) everyone would welcome you to join. Even the volunteers felt like a part of the group, like friends. There was just an overall understanding between all of us, a certain similarity that even though some of us were very different in terms of personality, we all shared.
Returning back to the host family , we actually went to Catalunya to spend the rest of break there. I got to walk around Barcelona, see the Mediterranean, and I got to know what its like to have the car break down in the middle of the highway on your birthday. Overall, it was a great experience.

Thirty-sixth week

Aventuras en abril

The month started off with the Matt and Kim concert, which feels like decades ago by now. Then, after a week of tests and projects, we had an AFS orientation with those staying here as exchange students in the Basque Country as well as those from the Basque country going abroad this summer and next school year. Then, the Monday after, my grade and I went on the viaje de fin de curso (end of course trip) from Monday to Friday. We went to Jaca, a town next to the Pyrenees, to do rafting, paintball and other sports of the sort. We spent two days there and then went to Barcelona to spend the day there Wednesday. We spent most of the day in the bus, and when we went through Barcelona we had a guide come on the bus and talk to us as we drove through the city. We got off for about 45 minutes to see the park of Gaudi and about 5 minutes to take pictures of the Sagrada Familia, but we really didnt get to get a good look of all tourist attractions except for a glance from the bus windows. Then, we went to Calafell, a town in Catalunya, because the hotel was there. Thursday, we went to Port Aventura, an amusement park in another city in Catalunya, and spent the day there. In the hotels at night we all gathered in eachothers rooms, whcih was probably my favorite part. Later i'll tell the rest of the story.

Thirty-fifth week

Thirty-fourth week

Thirty-third week

More pictures...

The writing will come when I get home (I'm still in Barcelona, so the vacation and the stories are still piling up)

My friends and I eating lunch on the first day of viaje de fin de curso...


We made some friends on the beach the third night (for those of you who haven't seen pictures of my class before, the majority of these kids are from other schools)...


The AFS orientation in Hondarribia the weekend before (where hosting meets sending)...

Camino de Santiago (third day, 29km)

We were so tired we actually fell asleep on the sidewalk. This is not a joke.

A quick update, more later

Hey all, I know I've been pretty out of contact lately, i'm currently in Barcelona with the host family and I'd rather not spend too much time on the computer. I'd just like to say i'm doing great, everything went well and as soon as I get back to Urnieta I'll write a very long post explaining my journeys in April, and it'll be accompanied by a good amount of photos and possibly a video if I encounter one. Sorry for the lack of updates and thanks for the patience.

Sun? What does this remind me of?

Lately the temperature's spiked up and it seems like it came out of nowhere. I've had some trouble figuring out why it's been so weird for me going to school in shorts and a t-shirt, and today I realized why. When looking back on this entire experience, obviously, what I remember least is the beginning. This probably doesnt sound very odd at first, but taking into account that from December on I remember things down to their littlest details, I just couldnt make any sense of it. But then while sitting in the sun today I wondered why lately everything's been reminding me of the beginning, and then it all tied together.
The first three months for me was a sort of "reboot" stage for me, like a knowing baby opening her eyes to the world for the first time. Everything was so exciting and new and beautiful and just different that my head felt like a baloon inflated to its maximum capacity. The only way I could stop my thoughts from bouncing around in my head at night, which actually wouldn't let me sleep, no matter how tired I was, was blocking them out by listening to music. Then, at some point in the beginning of winter, my mind suddenly opened up, like a jar of jam when you first take the top off, realeasing many of the cultural "instincts" I had locked into my system in America and letting a large flow of thoughts, ideas, images, everything run smoothly, yet at a high velocity, through my mind. I remember studying for a History test in that period, and I simply absorbed it all without really having to put any effort into it. I found myself really inspired and interested in my surroundings, and I guess that was the point where everything started coming to me easily language-wise, and from that point on I remember everything pretty clearly. So the first question was, why dont I remember the beginning that well? Wasn't that the most exciting part? But that's just it. A closed mind filled with so much activity can only take in so much, and I'm not surprised that the first months went by so quickly, because I was so occupied trying to figure out how it all worked again, that the time just passed in front of my eyes. Finding out where the weird tupperware went that I had never seen before and just taken out of the dishwasher was much more important at that point than discovering a small bookstore in San Sebastian that happened to be the same one that my host dad goes to, coincidentially. I suppose being a bit of a perfeccionist didnt help me too much with taking it easy, because later I realized that speaking a new language isn't a book of grammer and vocabulary, that's writing, but I already knew how to do that well enough. Speaking is trial and error, having people correct you and figuring out the little tricks that help you tie it all together, even though later those tricks later are impossible to explain. And then I noticed that that wasn't just a language thing, but socially it's practically the same. Taking a loose, calm attitude toward things, watching and reading the actions and interactions of my peers, and just throwing myself in there without really knowing what I was doing, in the end turned out working pretty well for me.

Now, going back to the original questions, the other one was, as stated in the title, why does the nice weather remind me so much of my experiences 7 months ago? Well, it's pretty simple taking everything into account. After the first three months, or my "eye-opening" stage, I had slowly begun to feel more of a "belonging" to my surroundings and less of an object that "stood out" so much. Of course, it had at that point started to get pretty cold outside, so what I was getting used to being a part of, subconciously, included the cold. It doesnt seem like that big of a detail, but the heat and the sun and walking to school when it's actually light out again, well, it all gives me a "familiar" feeling, as if it were something I used to always love a long time ago, as a young child, when in reality it wasnt that long ago at all. And so in this manner I discovered that that moment when my mind opened up, it wasnt just some part of the experience thing. Something actually changed at that point, within, that affected me a lot beyond just a clearer head, and reached the memories I have associated with some of the best sensations, such as waking up to feel warmth seeping in through the window, even before the sun's up, or the feeling of walking to school in shorts and still starting to sweat, or even just how great it feels to walk into a cool apartment entrance after spend the past few hours under the beating sun and smelling that musty air as I slowly walk up the reddish stairs, a walk i've done so many times, and yet every time, it feels a tiny bit different.

Thirty-second week

Us in the metro station in Barcelona
Photo credits go to Jacob Spetzler

"No time for cameras, we'll use our eyes instead"

As you can see by the title, I once again don't have a picture for this week's update. (My friends brought cameras, so I guess when they upload them I'll put one on my blog). I also haven't sorted through my Lanzarote (Canary Islands) pictures which I promised a few weeks ago, but looks like its going to have to wait until May.
So, getting right into the theme of today's post, the quote in the title is by the song "Cameras" by Matt and Kim, whose concert I went to in Barcelona Saturday night. I got on the 16:15 train in San Sebastián Friday afternoon and arrived that night at 22:00. A few of my AFS USA friends (one from Madrid, one from Mallorca, and another from Catalunya) met up with me at the main train station in the center of the city (Barcelona Sants) and from there we went to a small restaurant where a few of us that had spent the entire afternoon travelling went and got dinner. Then another girl from AFS USA who also lives in a small town next to Barcelona met up with us along with a Canadian and a Danish girl, and finally an American friend who actually turned 17 that day. We celebrated his birthday a bit and went to the hostel to check in and get some rest. The next morning, after eating breakfast in the hostel, we met up with those that live near Barcelona and went for a walk through La Rambla, the main avenue in Barcelona, and we hung out for a bit in the Plaça Catalunya, which Las Ramblas runs through and is also a main plaza in the city. Las Ramblas is filled with shops, so we didn't stay there for long, just to meet up. Then, we explored the Barrio Gótico (Gothic Quarter) a bit, where I saw the "Catedral". I did get a sight of the Sagrada Familia, a famous church here, but didn't enter or get close.
Later, we bought bread and cheese in a fresh food market and headed off to eat lunch in a Wok next to the Arc de Triomf (the Barcelona copy). After eating there, we layed down in a patch of grass next to the enormous structure and relaxed for a bit there. Then, in preparation for the concert we went back to the hostel to drop our stuff off and hung out for an hour in that area because the concert area was really close by. At 20:30 we got to the theatre where they performed and ended up being early, but it was worth it because we were in the second row, right in front of the stage. The opening band was alright, but when Matt and Kim finally got on stage everyone couldn't help cheering for them. Kim, as always, had a smile on her face the entire show, and Matt cracked a few jokes every now and then. I think Kim was pretty into it, as she actually snapped the drum pedal in half, but as they said, "When you start breakin stuff, you know it's gonna be a great night." Also, later on in the show, Kim actually got us in the front rows to hold her up and, supported only by our arms, she danced for about 20 seconds to the beat of some rap song which I don't remember right now. It was pretty awesome, if I may say so myself.
Over all, it wasn't the longest concert I've been to, but I really enjoyed it and every second was worth it.

Organizetravelsdohomeworkgotoschoolleavethehousesoccergamebusybusybusy

As the title states, I've been pretty busy lately, and I apologize for the lack of contact and blog posts. I've been trying to balance all the trips I'm doing in April and on top of that trying to keep all my school work organized (of course, they had to pile up all the tests and projects before we go on our end of course trip). And, as also mentioned in the title, I've been trying to leave the house and I've had soccer. So, overall, my to-do list is piling up and, believe me, it's not getting any shorter.
But, I found a moment to relax, so I decided to update the blog. I don't have any pictures to upload, I know I promised the ones from the Canary Islands, but I just haven't gotten around to it...
So anyway, overall I'd say I'm doing well, as usual. In school we've been doing a lot of cool projects and watching movies and the suchlike, so I've been pretty interested in what I'm doing, which always makes things better. In soccer our team isn't doing so well, and I've been having a sort of "down" period, but I think I've finally gotten out of that and we'll see how things go in the next few weeks.
Other than that, the time's been going by really quickly, but nothing's waiting up for me, so I'm sad to say I'm going to have to cut this post pretty short, and if I encounter a little time in the next few weeks I'll be sure to keep things updated.

A little more kultura

This weekend was rather relaxed. I didn't have a soccer game, so friday night after going to soccer practice I was free to do what I pleased. Then, Saturday morning a friend and I went to San Sebastian to go for a walk and we took our cameras along. It was a really nice day out and there was some pretty good lighting, so I guess I'll upload those pictures to facebook along with my pictures from the Canary Islands (which I'll get to next weekend, I promise, I know it's been over 3 months...).
Then, for lunch we went to a Sagardotegia. It's a restaurant-type place where they have giant barrels of sidra (alcoholic apple cider) lined up and, while eating typical Basque food, a guy will call "Txotx!" and everyone lines up in front of the sidra barrels. There's a little hole in the barrel that they open up and a small line of sidra pours out, and everyone lined up catches the sidra in their cups, trying not to let any of it spill on the floor. Once the last person is done, the guy closes the tap and everyone returns to their tables to eat. This, in reality, is how I guess I percieved it to be the way its supposed to work. When I went, everyone basically just went whenever they wanted sidra (usually the groups of people eating together would go together for sidra) and open the tap themselves.
Aside from the sidra, the food is a pretty important part of the sagardotegia (sagarra, by the way, means apple in Euskera). And, if I may say so myself, the food is delicious. For appetizers they gave us txorizo (basque sausage) and bread. For the first course there was tortilla de bacalao con pimientos (a tortilla with a certain fish and green peppers). For second there was bacalao con pimientos (this seemed a little repetitive to me, but equally delicious and didn't bore me, even after eating the tortilla). Then came the best part: the txuleta. It's basically a giant steak, the basque pride lies in this simple plate. Whenever someone asks me if I've eaten/if I like the food here, they'll always be sure to mention the txuleta and how good it is, and they're right. Then, after having eaten all that and watching the adults get sidra and seeing how it worked, of course, there had to be dessert. Another very typical Basque plate, cheese, walnuts and membrillo, a gelatin-type food made out of apple (dulce de manzana, basically) or the quince fruit which is kind of like a pear. It was a pretty memorable meal and if I ever go back to a sidrería, I'll be sure to bring a camera.
After this large, long lunch (another very typical thing here, along with the mentality that eating lunch before 1:30 is practically like eating breakfast), I met up with my friends around 5 o'clock, and spent the rest of the afternoon with them in Urnieta looking for places where there would still be sun as it was slowly setting, but eventually giving up when we found a comfortable place to sit.
It was quite a nice day, and today I've spent most of my day studying history or getting distracted, but tomorrow is my last test this trimester, so I'm pretty happy about that.
On another note, I've been hearing on the news and everywhere about what's been going on in Japan and, of course, I've been following the movements in the Arabic world. I consider myself very lucky to be where I am and live where I do (and have lived where I have), always feeling extremely safe and hardly facing more than a large storm or blizzard. I think we should all keep the Japanese in mind and hope for the best in such a terrible situation.

Twenty-Ninth Week

Iñauteriak!

This weekend (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday) marks the annual celebration of Carnival, in spanish Carnavales and in euskera Iñauteriak. It's basically like an extended version of halloween in that everyone gets dressed up and there are parades in the streets, but there's no asking for candy involved. On Saturday my friends and I went to Hernani, a neighbouring town, where everyone basically gathered in the streets and in bars dancing, socializing, and, well, drinking. I have been to Hernani before and it seemed to me like there were less people than there ordinarily are when there are "fiestas". I figured out why yesterday. There's a huge celebration in another large town called Tolosa about half an hour away in train, and you'd probably have to look pretty closely to find someone not dressed up. People of all ages, babies, toddlers, teenagers, adults, I even saw a few grandparents dressed up in full-on clown costumes. I got a few good pictures on my phone but I'm not sure how to download them so as soon as I find out I'll add them on to this post. Today's supposed to be the biggest night so I'm sure I'll get some more pictures.
Other than the celebrations, rides (they had bumper cars and your typical amusment park rides, except for roller coasters, of course), and all the people gathered in the street, I really enjoyed Tolosa and I think I'm going to go back one day when there aren't any celebrations going on just to see what it's like. I found it to be a really beautiful town and I really liked the atmosphere.
The next few weeks will be rather calm after Carnavales finishes and once April comes around I'll have a lot of stories to tell.

Twenty-Eighth Week

Carnavales. My friends and I dressed up as football players. And we weren't the only ones. I guess the sport is so weird here they've turned it into a costume.

Just another day...

I woke up this morning at 7:05, thinking it was 7:30. When I realized what time it was I took a shower, after which I got dressed and combed my hair, and, thinking it was 7:45 and getting dressed in a half-rush, I heard my 7:30 alarm go off, which I guess calmed me down a little. I got to school at 8:25, as usual, but realized the entire fourth floor was dead silent. I knew we had a trip to a university to learn about renewable energy first and second period, but, being stupid enough not to read the paper, I didn't realize we were supposed to meet at the bus stop. Dropping my backpack off in my locker and asking the secretary where everyone was, I then realized where I was actually supposed to be.
So, at 8:30, I went running to the bus station, which is only about 3 minutes away on foot. Not to mention, it was raining and for some reason I decided to leave my umbrella in school. But, after having run down to the bus station and seeing that the bus was no longer there, I walked back to school, running into another girl that had forgotten we were supposed to go to a different location, too. Luckily, she carried her umbrella.
Then, the secretary called our teacher for us, and after some exchange on the phone I didn't understand too well, we ended up having the secretary drive us to the bus station to get us there quicker. I wondered at that moment how I could have missed a giant bus on a fairly empty street. When the secretary brought us around the corner to another bus stop that I wasn't familiar with, I really started regretting not reading the 5 simple lines they wrote on that paper informing us about what the plan was. I got on the bus and a friend of mine asked me, "What, you don't realize anything that's going on around you?" and, truthfully, I answered, "No."
On top of that, in the cafeteria today they gave me a spoiled apple for dessert.
Oh, and I just realized I left my umbrella in school.

Twenty-Seventh Week

This painting appeared in the chapter I just started learning about in Spanish literature a few days before my brother saw it in person.

Twenty-Sixth Week

Making cile kek on a Thursday afternoon.
You would not believe how much this Turkish pastry I learned from my dad has triumphed here.

Spring...?

While the snow's been melting back home, I've noticed some very early signs of spring here. Today, as I was running down a small road between my town and the next one down I noticed two bushes with bright red flowers sprouting from the tips of their bare branches. We've been having a good amount of sunny days lately (today not included) and more to come. So, I guess that's another new experience for the list: spring in February.
Apart from that I've really began to appreciate the everyday life here. Lately time has been flying by, but I'm pretty sure it's because I've come to a point where everything has just become "normal." And yet, I'm absolutely okay with that. It might seem like a year abroad for an exchange student must be such an adventure, learning and doing new things every day, which, the first 5 months was kind of the case. But I've grown to feel that confidence inside where I'm not afraid to speak up in class, even if they're speaking in Euskera and I only partly understand the topic. I'm not afraid to buy myself a train ticket or walk through Donosti (San Sebastián) trying to calmly avoid the manifestations in the streets in support of officializing the use of Euskera in all facilities across the Basque Country (which actually went on the other day). I'm not afraid to buy myself a book or run down the Zurriola beach heading back for a friend's umbrella which in the end disappeared anyway. Here I am, sitting the same room where, only a few months back, I had to think twice before understanding, 3 times before writing and ten times before speaking. Everything I used to do got a second thought, and just 5 months later it's become second nature.
And the biggest revelation I've had lately was that the lifestyle people have here is beyond anything I could imagine asking for. In 15 minutes you could find yourself at the beach, in the mountain, the small town or the big city. The culture dates so far back historians have yet to discover where the people actually come from, the education system is organized in a way where the focus is working and studying what you like to earn money rather than studying and working just to earn money. Not to mention, no matter how different each of the individuals you'll encounter here is from the next one, each and every one speaks two languages fluently (when I say this, I'm mainly talking about those that go to my school and the many more that attend schools that teach in Euskera as there are schools that only teach in Spanish as well). I could go on with the list for a good amount of time, but the point is that all these luxuries aren't things you need to have money for, they're basics, just background music for the modest lives of my classmates. But the best part about it is that they know they're lucky to have all this, they appreciate it. And that's just another thing I love about this place.

Twenty-Fifth Week

my friends and I in San Sebastian

Twenty-Fourth Week

Twenty-Third Week

My soccer team after winning the game that would put us in first place in our group in "La Copa"

Giving Directions

Yesterday was the first time I gave directions to someone in my year abroad here. It seems like such a basic little thing, but I felt like it was a pretty monumental moment. As an exchange student, what makes everything so difficult in the beginning is having to start all over again. But it's not just a new school, new friends, new people, not even just a change in culture and language; it's everything. You start over in every sense of the word. New family, new food, different air, different house, different lighting, different bed-sheets, different curtains, down to the way you sharpen your pencil, it all just changes. It feels like in the blink of an eye I've been hurled into an entirely different world - but that's not to say it's a bad thing. As AFS likes to remind us, it's just different.
So, when an older woman asked me, "Ey, txiki, Sarobe... non dago?" meaning "Hey, girl, where is Sarobe (local theatre)?" (txikia in Euskera means small, but txiki is a way older people tend to call kids or teenagers), well, although we were fairly close to the theatre I was pretty proud after having given them directions without any struggle at all explaining it to them or remembering how to get there. I felt as though I had been living in Urnieta all my life and I was just another local teenager passing by in the street.
So, after 4 and a half months of building my world from scratch, I felt as though I had accomplished something big. Not only that, but I was actually on my way to the bus station when the lady stopped me because I had plans to meet with a friend in San Sebastián and I actually took the bus alone for the second time, just like, well, I guess I'd have to say just like any other normal person from here.
Taking the bus and the train alone, for me, has always been a little difficult (especially the bus) because I tend to get nervous about where I need to get off and whether the driver's going to stop or not or whether I pressed the button on time and all of that, but everything went smoothly and so far I've never gotten lost in my experience abroad (I wouldn't say it's easy to get lost around here, but for a 15-year-old exchange student in the first couple of months even just spinning around a few times was all it took to lose my orientation).
So there's my monumental moment for the weekend, it's no trip to the Canary Islands, but, large and small, in the end all the experiences contribute to my 10 months away from home.

Twenty-Second Week

Sporting Tenafly gear at soccer practice

Twenty-First Week

Today, I spent the entire day in pijamas.
I suppose exchange students don't go on crazy adventures every weekend...

Christmas, New Years, and the Canary Islands

Supposedly one of the most difficult periods of an AFSers experience, I found this Christmas-time to be a very pleasurable one. Well intergrated into my host-family, it didn't feel quite so out of the ordinary. Of course, it was a little weird, but I suppose in the very least I could say that's natural. We spent Christmas eve at home eating a quiet but very tasty dinner with my host-uncle and afterwards opened all the presents we had given eachother. I was both surprised and pleased at the thoughtfulness of their gifts, not to mention thankful. Over all I'd like to think the most important part was that we were there together happy and healthy, warm at home with a nice dinner and lots of laughs. We all cut the night a bit short to get to bed on time because the next day we had to get up at 5 in the morning since we had a flight to catch. The 25th of December in the afternoon we arrived in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands belonging to Spain that lie next to Africa.
Spending 14 full days in short sleeves and running shorts was certainly a great way to bring in the new year. We visited the famous sights and spent a lot of time at the beach, forgetting our busy lives for a moment to take in the sun and relax.
On New Year's eve we gathered by the television, tired out from the day's excursions and swimming in the ocean, and waited until the clock ran out, 2010 finishing and starting the next year together. We celebrated a typical tradition from here, where each of us took a cup full of 12 grapes and in the last 12 seconds of the year, swallowed a grape every second until the new year started.
Overall we came back pretty tanned and very content. Although admittedly I wouldn't have stayed a day longer I wasn't dying to go home either. It may sound pretty negative since I put it that way but in reality it was the perfect amount of time to have been there, I wasn't regretting leaving and wasn't desperate to go home, it felt like everything just went so smoothly, I couldn't have spent my winter break any happier. I saw my friends again today, glad to be with them, and we had a good time as always. Tomorrow school starts again, but I'm not too upset about that either. After all, that is what I'm here for, I've learned to make the best of it.

Twentieth Week

Nineteenth Week