Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Bon Nadal...

So I have some time to give what will probably be my last update of 2013. Today is also my last full day in Spain until 2014! That's right, tomorrow I'll be going to Morocco with my host family for about 9 days. From the 27th of December til the 5th of January. Morocco will become the fourth (well does Switzerland really count?) country that I've been to, and Africa will become the third continent I've been to as this is still my first time out of the USA (crazy right?). So on the 27th we are all waking up at like 5 in the morning and piling 7 people into my host mom's car and driving to Almeria, where we will catch the 5 hour ferry to Nador where we will stay the night, the next day we will go to a city in between the Sahara and Nador for one night and later arrive in the Sahara where we will essentially camp with a group of more than 20 friends and family of my host family, on the 2nd of January we'll begin to make our way back to Elche through the same path that we went there. Anyways when I get back I'll write a nice long post with everything when I get back that'll also include Christmas here in Spain, until then, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

December 1st Half & Photos

Well. Long time no write. Sorry. I've been way too busy. I'll go right into it.
I turned 16! So on my 16th birthday I woke up early and gathered all the papers I thought I would need to collect my visa in Pamplona and headed to the Cercanias station by my house went to Atocha and caught the morning train up to the north of Spain back to where my journey started.  

Picture 1: Atocha

Picture 2: Pamplona random pic

Picture 3: News on my birthday

Picture 4: Train station in Pamplona. Funny story about this one. So my train home the day after my birthday was Pamplona to Zaragoza, and then about 30 minutes later Zaragoza to Madrid on the AVE (which is Spain's super fast train system that went well over 300 km/h... for the Americas about 190 m/h.) Well my train from Pamplona was supposed to leave at 9:13 a.m. but it didn't get there til about 9:30 and left around 9:35. I had no idea what to do once I got to Zaragoza so I was kinda worried I'd totally miss my train or get on the one I was told that will be right next to it that would take me to Barcelona. Thankfully I arrived with a good amount of time to transfer (actually the train from Zaragoza to Madrid was delayed like 15 minutes too so there was no rush at all) 

Zaragoza train station pictures. 

To avoid having to dwell on things I'd prefer not to, I'll just cut to the chase and move on. I had to switch families and now I live in Elche, a city in the Valencian Community really close to both the beach and the city of Alicante. Valencian is an official language but Spanish is still used a lot here. My family speaks both in home and my school is all in Spanish (except for the one hour a week of class I take that's in Valencian.) Valencian is from what I've been told the exact same as Catalan (what's spoken in Catalonia, another region in Spain, where Barcelona is) but just has a few different words. My new school has a program for Spanish for foreigners so I get 15 hours of this class a week at school. There's another girl from AFS in it as well as kids from Sweden, Belgium, and China. 

Random pictures from Alicante and Elche which are super cool.

Well I know this was pretty short, but I'll try and update it more soon. Happy holidays to everyone if I don't get around it to it until after it!

5 Cool Things I've Done & Life Update

Today I'll write about five things I've had the chance to do that I probably would never have been able to do if I didn't come to Spain:

1. Saw an actual bull fight in Spain's most famous bull fighting region. Disclaimer: they didn't kill the bulls after.

So one day while we were in our home in the village my host family woke me up and where like "do you want to go see a bullfight today?" Me, wanting to see what they're all about, decided to go. We got there at around 8 in the morning and it was freezing. From our seats in the ring we were able to also see the running part that was going on beforehand. Then after that all the bulls ran in and were put into a corral to await their turn to go out. Once out a bunch of guys would run out and the bulls would chase them leading the guys to jump over the wall and then the bull would proceed to his next "victim"

2. Learn Spanish. No I'm not fluent, there's a long path ahead of me for that one. But I've come such a long way! I remember my first days here where I understood practically nothing. I couldn't respond, nor understand. Now I feel like I can speak a good bit of Spanish without effort. And not understanding something is usually due to lack of vocab, not verb conjugations or accent. We'll give this one time to fully develop for sure... 

Spanish notes I took. Yes people I still do homework and study. But at least it's over the topic I understand the best. 

3. Make friends from all over the world. No doubt I've made so many Spanish friends, I've also made a lot of friends from the US and other countries which probably wouldn't have happened if I didn't come to Spain.

4. Got the chance to see one of my brother's friends who lives in Spain but was an exchange student to Austin a few years ago.

Hopefully you don't mind this Rodrigo.

5. Got to see three Spanish cities that have made me realize how big the world is, and how much more I have to see. 

Burgos, Castilla y Leon, Spain. Talked about this one before. Only there for maybe twenty minutes but hey I saw this so...

Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. Actually if I believe correctly I will be going back on December 9th to get my visa... which also happens to be my 16th birthday...I guess it'll make for a birthday I'd never forget! Besides I want to go back!

Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain. Write about this one too much, I know. 

Life Update

Well I've been making new friends at my new school so that's good. And exam week is starting. Pretty much everyday we have one. Tomorrow's I think is English so I think I should be okay with that one. Today I had a Physics test and while there were things I didn't understand at all, I was shocked I was able to do some of them with as much confidence as I did, well maybe I shouldn't say that until we get our grade backs. 

The past Friday I had one in Biology (yes everyone in 7th period Deere's last year, I'm taking it again.) And it was over a concept they really drilled into our heads in my school the year before that the kid's in Spain were just learning. So I really think I did well. I studied and reread my notes a heck of a lot of times and really think I aced it. 

Swimming. I finally started swimming here. I am right now swimming with a group of maybe 40 kids (estimating a group of people is so hard.) They do things much different than I'm used to in the USA. They sometimes swim with dummies (back to lifegurading this summer) and sometimes we do these drills where you have to stop in the middle of the pool go under a net/obstacle and then continue without touching neither the obstacle nor the ground. Also these kids are really fast. Maybe it's cause I haven't swam in 4 months or just because they're really fast. I'm thinking it's a mix. 

Also I really am learning I still dress like an American. At my old school I could dress like an American and blend in, but at my new one I stick out like a sore thumb. I have started getting more Spanish-Fashion-Forward clothes but to be honest it's so expensive and sometimes I lose my appetite to dress like a Spaniard when I look at the price tag on a new jacket from Pull and Bear/Jack and Jones/El Corte Ingles which are way overpriced. 

That's it for today, til next time when I'll probably be 16.

Reflections/More

The title should maybe suggesting this will be a deeper post... well for me. Usually I like to post things to make people laugh, or brighten their day. I'm not going to do the opposite with this I promise. Don't tune out though, it's just going to be a more reflective post, because I feel it's necessary... at the end is just more of a mix of ideas and things.

• It's now been 82 days since the day I left, going into this program having no idea what my future in Spain would hold. 
• I came knowing how to conjugate maybe 3 forms of a verb... can now do double that. 
• I'd never spend more than 15 days away for home until I came here... and for people that now me, leaving home for 10 months wouldn't be something you'd expect from me
• The first time I left the country was to come here. Never have I ever (wait... we aren't playing that) been to Mexico nor Canada.
• I never thought a city itself can be pretty before I came here. Yea Cedar Park is a true beaut. I mean no hate to anyone from good ol' CP cause I miss it a lot. 
• Not understanding every word that people say is normal now. I've learned so much Spanish but the thought that I'd understand everything someone says already is pretty crazy to me. I usually can understand the general gist though without much effort.
• Accepting things that are so wild and crazy to you as normal. Obviously I can't think things would be the same here, so when I see something that's different I observe it and say "okay, that is now normal." Of course it takes a few occurrences for it to not affect you anymore.
• Not seeing my families face since saying goodbye in the airport. Yes, that's right. I haven't skyped with them, why? I have no idea. I talk to them on the phone and even while I'm typing this thinking we need to skype. So to my fam: Soon.
• In two weeks from today I'll be celebrating my 16th birthday. What my plans are? not sure yet. I definitely want to make it something I'll never forget.
• It's been over two months since I left Pamplona and feels like a lifetime. 
• Over one year ago (year and a day) I started this blog. No doubt I've changed so much. Reading that post just makes me cringe a little. I don't know why. My writing was so awkward and I wasn't witty, kind of flat and boring. I apologize. 
• The past 82 days have been so fast and crazy. Who knows how long it'll take for time to slow down, or maybe it won't ever. 
• I've never been a Patriot for the USA til I came here. No I don't think one country is better than the next but I really have come to love my country more than I thought I did before I left.

Misc.:

Okay, I've tried lots of new food here. Maybe this shouldn't really count, since it's a pastryish thing. But it's like my new favorite thing. These Chocolate & Churros was bought in Plaza Mayor at one of Spain's oldest Churro places. Even seeing this is making me consider making a quick after school trip to grab some. Actually there is a churro vender right outside my metro stop on my way home from school... Idea planted. 

Egyptian Temple

Royal Palace

Monastery

Monastery... but close

Prado

Royal Palace... But further also La Almudena.

I've seen so much since I've been here. So many things I never thought I'd get to see. Who gets the chance to see Spain and how great it is at the age of 15. I feel so lucky to have this chance and am extremely thankful to anyone who has had the part in getting me here. I could never have done this without y'all!

Okay also this is from my going away party from a while ago & I want each and everyone in this picture know how incredibly jealous I am y'all have the week off.  Enjoy it. Miss y'all!

McDonald's & Englsh

Two things have happened that I think are pretty interesting and I want to share. Ill start with McDonald's cause I like it the best.
The other day me and two friends were in a McDonald's in the center of Madrid. Sitting right next to me (we were at a long bench where multiple parties share a seat) was another exchange student and to the other side a random 20 year old girl eating a cheeseburger by herself. Next to her was a drunk homeless man, should make for an interesting dinner, right? Right. The girl next to me quickly noticed the drunken man and made faces at us as he shouted words that I couldn't make out. This later takes a turn as he begins screaming in English, pretty well English actually. Then a McDonald's staff member tries to tell him to leave since he's not a paying customer and is disrupting the peace. He refuses and the McDonald's employee says he's going to call the police. Then he begins touching the girl next to us. Playing with her hair, tapping on her phone and asking for her name. She just kinda looked at us like I know y'all aren't speaking in Spanish but do you see what is happening. I asked her if she wanted to come sit with us (In Spanish, I'm not afraid to use it to random people anymore, yay) she said that it was fine. Then things take a turn for the wild. Another McDonald's employee begins yelling at the man about leaving the girl next to me alone and stop touching her cause the police are almost here. Now he shouts explicit things in English and puts his two middle fingers to the air and screams some more explicit English. Then about a minute later he stands up, grabs the hamburger from the girl next to me, takes a huge bite, and throws it back on the tray, then the girl next to me screams at him and smacks him. Then the second McDonald's employee runs over and yells at him some more. Now he's standing and does what must've been the most logical thing he could think of doing. Drop his pants to his bare butt, smack it and yelled... well we know what he yelled. Then the cops came and took him...we saw him in the cop car as we were leaving. Needless to say that I'll never go to McDonald's again without thinking about that one time when a drunk man smacked his butt and got arrested.
Now a more interesting topic for people that like thinking. Here I use Spanish to communicate with pretty much everyone. In school, at home, out and about. But today I was thinking about Spanish pronunciation versus English. And I figured English's is pretty messed up. Yes verbs are easier in English, for the most part (even kids in school will tell me that), but why are English spelling and pronunciation so hard? Why does adding an "e" to the end of the word effect how a letter in the beginning of the word sounds? For example the word "Rip" sounds like its spelt, but an "e" to the end and we get "Ripe" which makes a "rye-p" sound. "Hid" and "Hide", "Hop" and "Hope" or "Pop" and "Pope." I'm sure the list is pretty long. Also why is English spelling so weird? Night, Knight, Phone, Phantom, Though, Thought, Through, Tough. Like really why is it so random. By no means am I saying Spanish is an easy language... let me tell you.

***On a side note yesterday we said a "see-ya-later" to our friend Elly who is switching families to Valencia. We can't wait to hear the stories of how it's going for you! Hope you enjoyed the donuts.

Me, Elizabeth, Elly & Marissa at Atocha (Spain's "Grand Central Station") right before Elly boards her train to Valencia. As I'm reppin' South Texas Swimming.

This one's for you my family. I saw someone wearing an Encinitas jacket. Googled it, and it is from Encinitas, California... Thought it was a weird coincidence considering how close we used to live to it and how close my grandparents live to it now. Love and miss y'all. 

Never Mess with Spain

Okay one of my favorite things about Spain is public transportation. Either Americans just don't know how to do it right or the Spaniards have perfected it is beyond me but I quite enjoy it. But with all good comes a little bit of bad, but in the end I can laugh about these (okay mom you probably won't laugh...)

1. Chasing the bus in Pamplona and getting denied entry- Their fault
Okay back when I was in Pamplona I would the bus (two buses actually) to get to school, which started at 8:30. I would take Bus line #6 to the center of the city where I would catch the 12 which would basically take me to the front door of my school, the whole trip would take me about 30 minutes. Usually when I switched buses in the center I'd have to walk over to a stop very close and I would have a good ten minutes to do so, but one fateful day as I stepped off the bus, already running late, I saw at my stop the bus I needed to take. The 12 only ran every 15 minutes so I knew missing this one would mean being late to school. So i did the only logical thing I could think to do, sprint. I ran as fast as I could and thankfully the bus was only five feet away from the station cause it got stuck at the light. I run to the doors and knock on them to be let in, why would he say no, right? He aggressively waved his finger in the air and then pointed back at the bus station as if telling me I will wait. Guess who got to school two minutes late that day and the office had to call home?

This is what the Pamplona buses/stops look like. Not my picture, but felt any visual could help.

2. Almost getting kicked off a Madrid bus- My fault

So a few weeks ago I was going to take the bus into Madrid to meet up with some friends and do obligatory touristy things. The bus was going to cost 5.10 (sorry don't have the "Euro" symbol on my computer) so being what I thought was smart and prepared I went to the ATM the day before to get some money for the day, maybe I'll want to buy something or what not. So I pull out about 200 euros (I get an international charge ever time I swipe my card so I pull out money on the ATM in large sums to avoid having to pay a fine everytime I buy something) It gives me 2 50's and 5 20's. Now here comes the stupid part. I wake up and go to the bus station and wait for the bus and finally it shows up. There are three of us getting on so I let them go first since I'm going to pay with the 20. Yep what was I thinking. I get up to the bus driver, tell him where I want to go and hand him the 20. He nearly dies. Then he starts yelling at me and asks if I have smaller bills or coins.... um nope... He yells some more. Tells me he can't break a 20 and that I need to get off the bus. Then I just look at him like he's crazy while he lets out a sigh of anger while he slaps down my 14.90 in change... Muchas gracias I say with a smile. As scary as it sounds to get yelled out by some crazy spanish bus driver I was really happy it happened cause I understand everything he said... so I think that was my first breakthrough moment...

Okay Bus Enthusiasts must be loving this post.

3. Run in with Madrid's Metro security/ Maybe almost being arrested or something- my fault...?

Last one, definitely the most exciting one to read. So I'm going to preface this photo with a picture (NOT A BUS I SWEAR) it's of the entrance of some of Madrid's Metro stations.

This is what they look like. You insert you ticket in a slot on that black bar, once you do that the clear "gates" open and you walk through, while walking through you grab your ticket which went through some sort of scanning system and go on your way.

One day on my host dad's way to work he dropped me off at the end of the line of MetroNorte (Hospital Infanta Sofia) which is kinda the same as Madrid's Metro but a little different. My first mess up in this station came on my way to the city. I used my "frequent flyer" Metro pass to try and enter here, it didn't work cause my pass apparently was only good for ten rides on the normal metro. So I go to the machine and buy a MetroNorte ticket and am on my way. Mess up two when riding MetroNorte line 10 know that when you get to Tres Olivos (another station) you'll have to switch trains, don't worry it's not hard to figure it out... follow the crowd. So before you can switch trains you have to go through these entrance things again, since I was entering the normal Madrid Metro I figured my pass that didn't work earlier that day would work here. So I go up and put my ticket in and walk through and look back to get my ticket and it was back at the entrance spot, it got spit out!! But I couldn't go back through because the gates were closed. I left it there and thanked my lucky stars it only had one ride left so I was wasn't wasting any money at all really. Okay the next mistake is going to happen in the same station on my way back to the Hospital where my host mom was picking me up. So I get of my train at Tres Olivos and again follow the crowd as we switch trains, knowing I'll need to buy a MetroNorte ticket I go to the machine and it says "out of service" and another sign says "go on for free" (in spanish). That's perfect right? I get to go or free! Yipee! I get on the train and ride it to the Hospital where I arrive at about 5:30 which is when I was to meet my host mom. So I make my way to the exit and it looks exactly like the entrance, you need to put your ticket in to get out. I had never seen that before. I didn't have my ticket and there are security guards on the exit side, so I can't sneak my way out. What do I do...? Oh I got it! Use my ticket from MetroNorte from this morning and it'll open for me just fine BEEP BEEP BEEP, the machine screams and the little red lights flash and security is walking over, oh no what do I do. The guard is like let me see your ticket. The idea hits me, lost foreigner who speaks no spanish and brings no harm. "ummmmm no hablo espanol" the guard gives me some crazy look and continues to explain in spanish... I understood what he wanted but I just said I didn't speak spanish in a complete panic so I have to stick with it. I just give him wide eyes as if I understood nothing. "French?" he says and before I can say no he explains yells the same thing to me in French, which let me just tell you was even more awkward. Then I gulped out the word "Ingles" and he said "ohhhhhhh one moment" and made his way to the guard room where he spend a good five minutes cause other metros arrived and the other guard out there was starring at me to make sure I didn't make a mad dash for it. Finally after a good ten minutes of dealing with this debacle a guy who speaks English comes out and I explained my problem and he was like "ohhhh don't worry come on through" and opened the gate for me and I went on my way, needless to say that was a scary ten minutes of my life.

Hope y'all enjoyed!!

Being Sick in a Foreign Country... Check

As the title suggests I'm sick, which is actually quite unfortunate/fortunate in a way. Well today's a Tuesday and I stayed home from school. Yesterday I went for half the day then went to the doctor (as weird as it sounds I kinda wanted to go to the doctor at least once while I was here...just to see what it was like) and she gave me two prescriptions for my sore throat and congestion.

This week in Spain a lot of schools are participating in what's called a "hulega" (strike in spanish). Basically there is some sort of bill being passed in Spain's government that's gonna change the school system in Spain (I think) and apparently the teachers and students don't like it (hey teachers and students can agree on things) so they said we are gonna go on strike and not go to school. So for some schools they're off Tuesday-Thursday this week others Wednesday-Thursday (my school, but since I'm sick today I get all three days) and others just Thursday. Have you got the point the big day is Thursday? Apparently on Thursday there is going to be a huge protest in the center of Madrid with everyone who wants to protest. So the fortunate part, if I'm still sick tomorrow I won't have to worry about too much make-up work. The unfortunate part, if I'm still sick tomorrow I can't do anything when everyone has of school. Fingers crossed (someone pointed out I say this a lot... If you know me, it's true) that tomorrow I wake up and feel fine!

But more has happened than just being sick of course! This past weekend AFS-Madrid had our second orientation... this one in El Escorial. Basically at these orientations we gather in a hostel (to the Americans I know there's an "s" in there, google it) do some activities about what we are going through, talk about feelings, and hang out. I enjoy them. Here are some miscellaneous pictures of this weekend:

El Escorial coooool building.

^AFS-Madrid minus some people x2

funny sign because humor is the same everywhere.

Well this is actually a pretty short post I think, but I think it's effective. Have a good week y'all.

3 Stories... My titles are riveting eh?

I try to post about once a week, so it's be a week and here I am. As the title suggests I have three things to share this week!

1. Madrid- It's bolded and underlined because I don't know how to describe how amazing it is! Anyways the past two Saturdays I've gotten to go into the city via bus. It takes about 50ish minutes from my neighborhood to Madrid and about 5 euros but it is so worth it. Usually I take it to a station in Northern Madrid then use the Metro to meet up in Gran Via with my friends. Now if you've never been on a Metro before, (Americans we know this as a subway, British people know it as the tube(?)) or maybe the ones in NY and London are less crazy, but you will see some of the most interesting people ever on the Metro. From people performing live music for tips to people begging you for money (this is always really sad cause I want to give them money) or, my favorite, the occasional group that is speaking English and you just can't help but eavesdrop on their conversation... The other day on the Metro I decided I'd take a picture really discreetly. I wanted to show my friends and family back home what it looked like. So I'm on the Metro and its pretty empty, now was my perfect time! I get my phone out position it so no one will even notice and click the button *FLASH* *CHICK* the flash and volume go off. Everyone around me looked at me... thankfully I was getting off at the next station. But nevertheless here's the picture.
   
   And a picture of a typical metro station here. Sorry its a bit blurry.
   
   Anyways I've enjoyed getting to see Madrid a lot. It's such a cool city! Here are some random pics from the city.
   
   Plaza de Castilla.... My bus station is right between those two buildings
   
   
   
   Europe is cool
   
   
   
   Me in Retiro Park
   
   
   
   Near Gran Via
   
   
   
   
   2. Look at this picture.
   
   Just a big group of proud Spaniards you think? Nope nope nope nope nope. I'm 99% sure that the Princess of Spain is in that car. And the Prince is right next to her. And I took this photo and saw her with my own eyes. 
   So the day I took this photo October 12th, which happened to be a huge festival and fiesta in Spain, I was going into Madrid to meet up with another AFS kid for lunch. We met in the normal Metro station, Gran Via. So we walked out of the station and the road is almost deserted. Only a few cop cars blocking of the street. Stores were closed, Streets were empty, Gran Via was practically empty. (Which if you've seen Gran Via you know seeing it empty is like seeing a ghost, doesn't happen)
   
   What that area normally looks like. I took this during my first excursion to the city.
   
   
    So me and my friend were so confused, what was going on. Then we walk towards where we see a HUGE crowd. Thousands and thousands of people were there tons carrying the Spain flag or some sort of red and yellow outfit. We quickly joined the crowd to see what all the hoopla was about. Turns out it was a National Festival, thanks to the Australian and Irish tourists who were standing next to us and heard us speaking English and struck up a conversation. Anyways to make us feel Spanish we of course had to buy a Spain flag from one the vendors walk around selling them. So we waited about 30 minutes before the parade actually began, the parade probably went on for about an hour which is pretty long for a parade I'd say. Then it ended and the Police on horses (Pictures below) started screaming something in Spanish (of course, I expect them to speak in Spanish) but I was able to understand! They wanted us to move because the parade was about to end and we were standing at the exit and cars in the parade were going to exit this way. So everyone is trying to run to get a good view, this was confusing because I thought the Policeman just said it was over. Then out of no where a black car came and everyone starting screaming and waving and all I saw was a girl and a man sitting in a car waving back. At first I had no idea who it was, and still may not 100% but with my investigation skills I found a picture of the Princess of Spain and they look dashingly similar to the one I took... So I'm going to say that was the Prince and Princess of Spain in the car, cool right?
   
   Okay those may or may no be police horses but they look like police horses to me.
   
   
   3. School/English- Okay this is not meant to be mean in anyway, I actually really like my Lengua teacher, this is just funny, she laughs about it too. So in Lengua class (In the US we call this English, so this is like their proper Spanish writing class) my teacher will stop every once in awhile and ask if I'm following. Sometimes it's a yes and I can understand what she's teaching, other times I'm really lost and tell her I don't know what's going on. One time she asked the class if any of us had ever seen this movie. I had never heard of it. Here's our dialogue (when i'm confused she tries to explain it in English):
   Today's lesson was Flashbacks in literature (They use the English word... if you were curious)
   Teacher: Trevor have you ever seen the movie "Danic"
   Me: Danic?
   T: Yes...
   M: I don't think so...
   T: It's very famous. It starts with an old lady on a sheep. And there is water all around it and on a screen there is another sheep, under the water... You know it?
   M: No...
   T: And then Flashback she is entering it and then Jack is betting for a ticket-
   M: Wait? The Titanic?...
   T:...
   M:...
   T: That's is what I said
   M: I thought you said Danic. 
   Me, my teacher(who I think found it the funniest), and some of the kids in my class who understand/speak English started dying laughing. I misheard Titanic as Danic, and ship as sheep.
   
   
   Well I'll leave it at that, til the next week y'all. Speaking of y'all here in English class they teach that you just use "you are" instead of "y'all are; you guys are; or yous guys' are (as GinaMarie from Big Brother would say it... yes I made a BB reference)" I think that's British English which is what they teach here.
   
   
   Hasta Luego
   
   
   UPDATE- I found the horse picture I was looking for
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

10 Things Spaniards Will Want to Know

Some of the funniest/most memorable times I've had here are when people ask you questions about your life in the United States. So here's a list of Q&A's to expect when you come to Spain as a foreign exchange student.

1. "Do you watch Jersey Shore?" Hands down this is the most asked question. Which I find hilarious. The truth is a lot of people watched Jersey Shore and they got there 15 minutes of fame... for a long time. Spaniards seem to love this show, I'm pretty sure there's an equivalent show here that takes place in Valencia. I can't recall the name though. 
2. "Have you visited New York City? I want to go so bad!" This is a very close second. They love the fact I've visited NYC before, I'm pretty sure 90% of people I say this too die inside of jealousy. I mean I think that's like Americans with European cities, we want to go so bad we don't even realize that people there want so badly to come to the US.
3. "Where are you from?" Okay this is the most asked question, I lied, but this one doesn't really count. Austin, Texas. People here know Austin... which surprises me. But it makes me happy when people know and get excited that I'm actually from a city they know. Then I say I lived in San Diego, California. This one kills 'em. "WHAAAAT?!?!?" they exclaim. I explain I go back pretty much every summer (summer vacation = extremely common here) "I'M COMING WITH YOU NEXT SUMMER." is their usual response. So apparently a 100 people are coming with me next summer, surprise Grandma.
4. "Do you miss your family?" Wow people care! Yes of course I do. I mean they are my family. 
5. "Is English class easy for you?" Well I would hope so! Kidding it's legit question I suppose. And it isn't as easy as the average English speaker would think. For example today in class we read about some famous garden gnome (yes a garden gnome) that has visited like 50 countries. You had to read an article about him and say which word fit best when there was a blank. The sentence was "Harry the garden gnome _____ in Mary's yard." Easy right? Wrong. The two choices were a) is standing or b) stands. Well they both sound right... maybe it's a trick question and everyone in the class will get it right and we'll move on? Think again. The answer was "a) is standing" I asked why you couldn't say "stands". Improper grammar. Who knew?
6. "Do you like Spain?" This one may be the funniest. Of course I say yes! Because one- this country is really pretty and I like it, and two how rude would it be if I said no? I even get a little offended when people diss on american food in front of me. Like excuse me, I love me some Boxed Hamburger helper. Taste of America (an American food store here in Madrid) DIDN'T carry it, I almost cried. But I did get Resses and Root Beer. Wait for a post about my trip to Madrid, coming soon!
7. "Why Spain?!" This shocks me when it comes from a Spaniard! I tell them I really wanted to see Europe and brush up on my Spanish. "Why Spanish?..." Spaniards don't understand that there language is really helpful to know in the US, especially in Texas! A lot of them also don't understand why anyone in their right mind would leave the US for a year. I mean I love the United States don't get me wrong, but seeing other parts of the world has been a great experience!
8. "Do you smoke?" Nope, but SMOKING IN SCHOOL= NORMAL/CASUAL/SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE. Yea this shocked me my first day too. Recreo (break time) is like a huge smoke break in which you can leave campus cause smoking on campus is illegal, step outside the gates and it's still illegal but hey who's going to say anything. One day a girl no older than 13 was smoking and the cop car that watches my school before it starts was sitting right there, windows rolled down, cops inside, and the girl literally blew the smoke right into the cop car and all the cops turned there heads and I was like "ohhhhhhhh busted" and then they waved and were like "buen dia Maria!" and she smiled and waved back. I was baffled the rest of the day. Spains "smoking age" = 18.
9. "Are American High Schools like the movies?" Yea we have football teams, cheerleaders, pep rallys, homecoming, prom, lockers (that's there favorite one really) and almost every wild American High School stereotype. Except I'm sorry to ruin your imagination Spaniards but we do not all break out into song right before Summer Vacation like High School Musical depicts.
10. "Do you speak Spanish?" I'll leave y'all with a question I answer pretty much only to teachers, cause the kids will start saying some really long sentence about something I can only understand half of (I understand a lot more spanish now, yay, hopefully the whole speaking part comes next) before realizing he speaks only english really. I usually just say "poco" or "estoy aprendiendo castellano" Castellano= What most (50%?) of Spaniards call what we in the US would call "Spanish or Espanol"

Well I hope you had a good laugh or two. Check back soon! If anyone has any questions feel free to email me or leave them in the comments!

How Things Change so Quickly

Well last time I wrote I was sitting in Austin, Texas. Lots of things have happened changed/happened so lets go:

• Getting my visa which came in exactly three weeks, to every future exchange student reading this trying to gauge gage or is it gauge how long it will take. Anyways me and my mom drove to Houston and went to the consulate which is an extremely quick errand and since Houston's consulate doesn't require an appointment I would'nt wouldn't recommend arriving really early like me and my mom did in fear that it would be packed and we'd have to make the three hour drive to Houston again. In actuality it was an easy affair. The consulate didn't require many of the documents we had...FBI BACKGROUND CHECK... which was a nightmare to deal with because when it got apostilled by someone in DC the paper came back smeared so naturally I was worried that my visa would get it denied cause papers couldn't be read. Of course I worried for nothing... Mom your'e you're reading this now nodding your head about me be worried. I just know it. 
  
  Horrible quality but Spanish Houston Consulate
• Departure this is obviously the biggest change. I'm sitting in Madrid writing this. Madrid you say? What happened to Pamplona? That's why the title of this post is about how quickly things change. Anyways on September 4th I flew from ATX (Austin, Texas to non-Texans) to NYC for an overnight orientation with all the kids going to Italy, France, Portugal, Ghana, oh yea Spain and some other countries. It was a lot of fun getting to me people from what I am going to bet was every state (minus Hawaii...?) about to go abroad for a whole year like you. Shockingly I was the only Texan I could find which is shocking cause Texas is huge. Then on the 5th we had the red eye to Zurich, Switzerland. This was my longest flight I had ever been on, making Zurich, Switzerland two things: 1. My first time outside of the US. Cool right? Didn't feel too different, but was cool to say. 2. The furthest I've ever been from home. At the time I hadn't realized that but now that I think about it, it is. Because Spain is closer than Switzerland. Here's some pics:

View from Airport... nothing too exciting but hey Switzerland

AFS kids literally taking up Kloten airport. Alllllll the people you see in the pic had the same flight from NYC to Zurich (Most of which are students...felt bad for the others on that flight), which departed at 6:05 pm NYC time. This picture was taken at around 8 am Zurich time... So if you didn't sleep on the plane or in the airport, no sleep for you cause you have orientation when you land in your host country. You didn't think you were going to get sleep for these 30 hours did you? 

After we landed in Madrid finally after like a 4 hour layover in Zurich we got back to some really large hotel in Madrid and were told orientation was going to start at midnight... most of the kids from the US hadn't gotten any sleep so staying up til midnight did not sound like something I wanted to do... It ended up being changed til 10:30 and it wasn't that bad having to stay up cause it was a lot of fun to meet people from tons of countries, since everyone who was going to be studying abroad in Spain this year was there. During the orientation we found out what time we would leave the hotel the next morning for our host cities. I was in the second group, we were to meet our host families in Vitoria, Basque Country. So in the morning I got on the bus thinking it would be maybe my last time in Madrid til departing again. On the bus ride to Vitoria we had a twenty minute break in Burgos. Luckfully the volunteer travelling with us lived in Burgos so he quickly showed us one of the coolest things I had ever seen... the Burgos Cathedral ( Is that it's name?) 

Cool right? Only got to see it for about 10 minutes cause the other ten we spent walking from the bus station to here. Also I'm continuously impressed that my phone is what I used to take these photos.

After that quick excursion it was back on the bus to Vitoria to meet our host families. I'm pretty sure everyone on the bus was extremely nervous... or maybe that was just my nerves. Anyways once we got to the bus station only one person's host mom was standing there waiting. So we went in the station to wait, I guess they all went out for lunch together, separate ( is that individual?) , in groups (?) I'm not sure. But the room we sat in was like a glass box, so we could see the host families walking up but I'm not sure they were able to see us. Anyways I was extremely nervous and they took like 30 minutes to come but finally I met my host family! Quickly after we got into the car to head to Pamplona...

• New life in Pamplona Madrid- So initally I thought I'd live all 10 months in the city that on day one I feel in love with. Pamplona is really cool and I think I'll go back one day. Pictures of course: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The city was really pretty. Definitely felt like I was living in Europe... really really old Europe. Was great.
  
  
  Anyways I may be going back to Pamplona in a few weeks cause I applied for my visa extension in Navarra and AFS thinks I will need to pick it up personally. So I wouldn't cry if I had to go back to pick it up! Anyways on day 9 here comes the part you've been warned was coming I found out that I had to change host families. I'm not going to lie and say I had a beautiful first nine days, homesickness was TERRIBLE for me and adjusting to the way the spaniards lived was hard not what I expected (see kids, having expectations isn't always the way to go.) Anyways to be fair to all involved I'll leave it at this... If anyone needs to talk to someone about switching host families or any questions in general feel free to ask me! trevormoore1209@gmail.com or trevormoore79@yahoo.com I prefer the second one. Anyways the day after the whole host family change thing AFS had a volunteer pick me up and I stayed with her and her family (husband and 4 kids) until Saturday. And if you're reading this thanks so much for letting me come into your home I had a lot of fun there!! I didn't find out til Thursday AFS had found me a family in the Madrid Suburbs, but I had been told by someone they thought I was going to Madrid... They were right!
  On Saturday morning I boarded the train from Pamplona to Madrid where I was greeted by two AFS Madrid volunteers who took me on the Metro SO COOL to AFS Madrid's post arrival orientation where I had so much fun and reconnected with all the kids I got to meet in NYC and Madrid the first time around that thought we wouldn't see each other until the very end. Needless to say we've already began to plan meetups with each other. The next orientation is in a few weekends, so that'll be fun!
  
  
  Well this is long and I should probably wrap it up. BTW all the lines through words are places that I made really simple mistakes. Like mispelling misspelling "you're" probably a result of the very little English I've written in the past month without the help of spell check on my phone. Anyway I plan to write much more often so stay tuned! If any one has any questions feel free to email me! It's bolded up above!