Chloe en España

New family

I'm at my third and final house. I cannot believe that we're already in the third trimester, it's gone by so fast. When I think about the end of the year and leaving my head starts to hurt because there's so much to do before then, and I don't want to have to say goodbye to everyone, and it will just be hard. But anyways, my family is really nice. I already knew them and had spent the night here many times because Abby lived here before me, so that helped. But it's always a bit hard at the beginning because you don't really know each other or the rules of the house, and it just takes a while to get used to the house and the way the family works. But the getting settled in phase only lasts about one week or so, so it's not too bad. I felt so bad when the family came to get me because I had an incredible amount of suitcases and bags full of just stuff. I had my two huge suitcases that I came here with, my little carry on, three backpacks, my purse (which is pretty big), a big box full of stuff waiting to be sent when I have enough money, and another bag of shampoo and that stuff. It was quite embarrassing. And to top it all off this apartment building doesn't have stairs, so the whole family had to lug my things up three flights of stairs. I felt so bad. But all my stuff is unpacked and the suitcases are in my host uncle's basement, so it's okay now. Today the family showed me around Zizur (the town I'm in now, just outside of Pamplona), and now I'm a member of the athletic club so I can go to the pool whenever I want. I wanted to go to the gym, but you have to be 18, or if you have a note from a doctor saying that you need to go to the gym you can go. So my host dad is going to talk to his friend who is a doctor, because I have a medical condition where I'll burst into flames if I don't go to the gym...

Anyways, I hope things all go well here. Now I have two other families that have offered me their houses if things don't go well here. But hopefully I won't have to take up their offers, I like it here so far.

Doggy bag??

Today we at lunch at a Chinese restaurant because we didn't have any food at home because it's a holiday. We ordered a menu for five people, which includes an incredible amount of food. Gorka, my host brother, mentioned that we could take it home with us, but the grandma was like no, they won't let you do that. Then he was like yeah, they do it in America all the time, don't they? And I told them how we take food home if we don't eat it all. That brought my host dad into a story of when he lived and worked in a restaurant in Ireland. He said that one time a lady asked him for a doggy bag for the rest of her steak that she didn't finish. So he took it back to the kitchen and made up her bag. When she was about to leave, he said "Oh, by the way, I put a few extra bones in there." The lady just laughed and left, thinking he was joking. My host dad, being a foreigner, thought that doggy bags actually were for dogs, so for three years he would put bones and scraps of food in the bags for the people who asked for them. What a nice surprise for the people when they got home and wanted to finish their juicy steak, and instead they got a sack full of bones.

Lidia and me.

Me, Raquel, Nakhari (it's a Basque name), and Sergio.

Lidia, me and Laura.

Me and my host brother, Gorka (sorry it's kinda blurry).

Me with some kids in Morenilla, learning how to play an impossible Spanish card game.

Happy Pascua

Happy Easter to everyone out there who celebrates Easter. Apparently here in Spain they don't. Or maybe just my family doesn't. I haven't heard one word about Easter today, it's just like any normal day. My host mom went to mass, but she goes every Sunday. I'm a little confused, I thought Easter was a big deal for Catholics? So no Easter baskets here either, Ma (by the way your new name is Ama, Basque for Mom).

Morenilla

I got back today from Morenilla, a very very very small town in Guadalajara. My host mom grew up there, and her mom lives there sometimes. Her mom has been in a nursing home for the last few months, so she hadn't been there for a while. Because nobody had been there for so long, the hot water heater broke, and we were without hot water. It wasn't too bad though, it surprisingly didn't bother me all too much. To give you an idea, the town is about a mile long, has three or four families living there, and the only commercial store there is a bar. A truck comes every day with meat, bread, eggs and fruit so they people don't have to drive 15 kilometers to the nearest town with stores. Most of the houses are all deteriorating because there aren't enough people to take care of them. It's very peaceful though, and surrounded by hill and crops. Because it's Spring Break everyone's family member were there, so there were some other kids that I got to hang out with. They were so nice to me. I've noticed a big difference in the people from the south of Spain and the people from the north. The people from the south are so friendly and warm and open, and the people here in the north keep more to themselves and aren't as friendly. I'm not saying that the people up here are mean, they're just not as warm and inviting. Anyways, all the kids there were from the south, so it was fun. All they have to do there is go to the bar and play cards, sit and talk out in the street, go out to the highway and wave at cars, seeing how many will wave or honk back, or go to the town 15 kilometers away and go to the bars there. We did all of that. Some of the kids were old enough to drive, so we went to the bigger town. I hadn't been in a car with just kids in so long, it was really nice for me. That's one thing that I really miss, driving in cars with my friends. Last night we all made a huge bon fire and danced and talked until 5:30 in the morning. Then we left at 12 today. One thing that wasn't so fun was that everyone smoked. And I mean every single kid there. One of the girls that I talked to the most is going to Italy for their end of the year trip, and to raise money for it her class is selling lighters. That says something about this country. Instead of chocolate or wrapping paper, they sell lighters. I thought that was kind of funny.

Por fin

This past week has been pretty intense for us exchange students and the families. We were supposed to change families the 27th of March, during Spring break. But, not thinking about having to switch houses, some of the families made plans during that week. Well, some of the plans clashed, and nobody could agree on anything. There was lots of arguments, and I'm not going to name names, but I'm amazed at how some people can be so incredibly selfish and childish without being embarrassed of themselves. Anyways, my host dad just told me that they worked everything out, so I guess it's all over. We'll just wait and see what happens when we get back from my host mom's town. (Everyone has their own town, where they grew up as a kid.)

Today Abby and I saw a movie with some friends from school. The girls are so nice, and even though it took about 45 minutes to decide on which movie, we had fun. Two girls went and saw Million Dollar Baby, but then me and three other girls went and saw a movie called El Penalti Mas Largo del Mundo (The longest penalty in the world), because the other girls didn't want to cry because there's a Gala tonight (the discotheque). It was about this soccer team, and getting into the championships depended on this one goalie who wasn't actually a goalie, but the real one broke his arm, and the replacement is a goofy Spanish hick. I laughed a lot, I liked it. It was also the first real Spanish theater movie that I've seen here. I'm pretty sure the people were from the south, because they talked to differently, but I understood almost all of it, which was exciting. Just so you all know, they make it to the championships, and the hick goalie finally gets the girl he likes to go to Paris with him.

Yesterday I pierced my nose! This was a pretty big thing for me to do. I was so scared, but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would. Now I have a little teal stud on my nose! I love it. Although it's quite unfortunate that I get a cold the next day, the kind where your nose is all stuffed up and tingly too, and then attacks your eyes making them water. And I can't blow my nose very efficiently, so we'll see how this goes.