Author: Lauren Brown

So a lot has happened here in Spain since I wrote my last blog entry. I have since been moved to a new host family, city, and school. My new host family has three children, Raquel- 13, Sarah- 11, and Sergio- 5! They live in a smaller town named Quintana de La Serena.

I attend I.E.S. Quintana De La Serena for school. It is much smaller than my old school, but I enjoy it a lot more. The kids are very excited to have me and love trying out their English on me! The school day is the same here except we have three, hour-long classes, a thirty-minute break, and then three more classes.

The school is farther away from my house than my old school was, so I get dropped off. I haven’t decided if I like that or how my old school was better! Regardless, I am a lot happier here in my new house. I have started a Zumba class three days a week, Flamenco class once a week, and Spanish tutoring three times a week. My schedule here is very busy!

The first day that I got here, we went to a birthday party for my host mom’s sister. The whole family from all around Spain was there! The dinner started at 10 and ended around 2 in the morning. I was absolutely exhausted.

The second day, we got up early and went to an international fair. People from all different countries around Europe were there. It was mainly an animal fair, but there were a few rides also! It was fun, but exhausting! Especially after my late night at the birthday party.

Yay! My first week of school is over in Spain! That was possibly the longest week of my entire life. A high school exchange program is a time to learn and adapt to other cultures. Sometimes things won’t go your way and there will be things that you won’t like. Well, that thing for me is school.

I do not hate school by any means, but I also do not look forward to it. I would describe my feelings for school as numb. It could just be a version of culture shock- school shock! I wouldn’t even be able to begin to compare school in the USA to school here.

Here are a few points about school so far:

1. You are allowed to smoke anywhere here- yes, even at school. The students and teachers smoke together and it is completely casual. Here, the age to buy cigarettes is 18, but they say that 10 year olds can get away with buying them. It is something I never imagined. Smoking outside of the school is what is allowed, but students often push their limits. They play with lighters in class and cigarettes just lay on desks. It is astonishing because it is so foreign! Unfortunately, the smell of smoke is almost impossible to escape.
2. I am in a group on Facebook for exchange students and I read through the post often just to see how other exchange students like their experiences. One day there was a post from a girl who said she had a disaster at school because she went to the bathroom and there was no toilet paper. In my head I was thinking, “Dang what country did this girl go to!” Then I just forgot about it. Well then the first day of school I go to the bathroom and in the stall there was no toilet paper, so I went to the next one to get some, and the next, and the next… and.. apparently I have to bring my own toilet paper to school! So, be thankful for your toilet paper at your school. I am dreading the awful day when I forgot toilet paper- but hopefully that will never happen!
3. School is for exactly six hours a day. All classes are 55 minutes long and there are two fifteen minute breaks after every two classes. My classes rotate everyday but I take Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Mathematics applies to sciences, Literature, and Geography. You would think that my favorite class would be English, but it is Geography and History because the teacher of those classes is very nice to me. He is an older man and is very laid back. During my other classes, I copy words out of the dictionary or write in my journal. I have begun to pick up on a few phrases in school, but not much. It can be very boring, but I have made it through everyday so far!
4. Everywhere I look in school, I see English. Not in the classroom, or on the walls, but on the clothes of the students. Boys and girls wear clothes with English on them. Many have asked me what their shirts say, and each time I am left wondering why they would buy a shirt and then wear in when they have no idea what it says. A lot of the time the shirts have poor grammar. Por ejemplo: “Don’t take it personal”, “Taking the world by the storm”, and the worst so far: “I am the DUFF”. Which as you know from the movie means, “Designated Ugly Fat Friend.” I am sure that he had no idea what his shirt said.
5. As you can see, schools are pretty laid back about the rules. Well, some. There is one thing that you absolutely cannot have in school. Can you guess? Cell phones. So you can smoke and leave class when you want but don’t you dare bring out a cell phone. It is polar opposite in the United States!

So, that is school. I haven’t been super busy lately, but I am definitely exhausted at the end of the day from speaking Spanish and always being on guard. Living in other families’ houses comes with challenges of its own. You constantly have to be on guard and don’t get too comfy when sitting down because chances are you are going to have to move or they are going to call you to do something.

My street in Spain where I live.

 

I have done a lot of watching of the other children to make sure that I am doing something right. One thing here that I did wrong at first was I ate pizza, chicken nuggets, and other finger foods with my hands. Here, you eat nothing with your hands! Yes, I sit at dinner and cut my chicken nuggets!

Another change here is that you do not go to your bedroom unless you are going to sleep, you do not sit down on a bed once it is made up, and you do not open your door in the morning until your bed is made. At home, I come home from school and love jumping in my bed and cuddling up under my blankets! Not here! However, beds here are much simpler. There are no big comforters or fancy pillows. You simply have one small/thin comforter and then a pillow you sleep with. So “making the bed” is not as strenuous as it sounds!

I am still adapting to the food here, but it regularly catches me somewhat off guard. Throwing away leftover food is not an option. As a matter of fact, “leftovers” do not exist. You are expected to eat everything on your plate. Nobody here has a problem finishing their food- except me! Portions here are very large, and we eat often. It is definitely something that you have to get used too, but everyday is a step in the right direction! There is no snacking here.

Enjoying some food with my friend, Claire.

Now onto my activities. I have had a pretty difficult time getting involved in various activities. Since I am in a very small town, there is not much offered. My host family plays tennis and I was very excited about that when I came because it was something that we all had in common. I did not fully explain how much experience I have had with tennis and so I think they were very surprised with my abilities. The tennis coach in the town is also the English teacher at school and it all seemed to be falling into place perfectly. Well, it now has turned out that I will not be able to play tennis at all.

The daughter in my host family is in the most advanced class, and that consists of the players with the best tennis ability in the town. Although their abilities do not stretch to the level of players in the United States, I would have definitely considered it worthwhile. My family told me one night that I would be going with their middle son, Pablo, to tennis every night at 7. I was kind of confused why I would be going with him since he is not an avid tennis player, but like majority of things here, I just said okay and waited to see what would happen.

This tennis clinic ended up being players from the ages of 8-14 that had almost no experience. The coach kept telling me to slice the ball and hit is softly so they could try to hit it back. I asked why I was not in the other clinic and he said that I am only temporary and he only put players in that clinic who will be here for the future. So needless to say, I will not be playing tennis. It is quite disappointing because if a student came to anywhere in the United States and had a higher level of tennis ability than anyone in the town, they would not only be welcomed into the clinic, they would probably be begged to join.

Another activity that I was looking forward too is dance. I had asked my host sister before I came if they offered classes such as tap, jazz, hip-hop, or ballet and she said yes! When I got here, we went to about five different dance studios to find one that I liked. Turns out, classes such as the ones I listed above do not exist here! There is ballet for young girls and then 50+. There are, however, Pilates classes that I plan on joining!

I Google mapped and found a park that is a twenty-minute walk from the house. In the afternoons, I go run or walk to get some exercise and to get out of the house. I also brought my Eno (a small easy-to-hang hammock) and can go hang it in the park and read! Although organized activities have not worked out, I am optimistic that I will find other ways to spend my time!

As far as outings with my family go, I have not had any. I am looking forward to writing about the first thing that we go do. Adjusting to life in a new country is never easy, but I am taking it one day at a time!

 

 

 

 

I met my host family on Thursday night and I absolutely love them! They have a daughter, Blanca, who is my age, and two sons, Fran and Pablo, who are thirteen and ten! The mom is a teacher and the dad is a nurse. Their house is so cute. I have my own bedroom, it is nothing big, but it is nice to be able to get away every once in a while. School starts on Tuesday and I am signed up for swim team and tennis lessons. I am excited to get into a routine.

Here in Spain, the way of life is not even comparable to life in the United States. I do not say that in a bad way or a good way, it just simply isn’t. We often go to sleep at two or three in the morning and wake up at one or two the next afternoon. Lunch is not eaten until three or four in the afternoon- even if you eat breakfast at nine. Dinner is around ten depending on what show is on TV that night that the family wants to watch.

Every meal here is the equivalent to a Thanksgiving in America. They go all out, and we stay at the table for at least an hour. There are normally four courses to every meal. The food is generally pasta, fish, paella, or some kind of Spanish food. My favorite is definitely paella.

There are many differences in everyday life. The one I struggle with the most are the showers. From what I have observed, showers here are considered a luxury. There are no showerheads, instead there are hand-held water sprayers (like the ones in your kitchen sinks), and you turn it off and on when you are showering. You do not keep it on the whole time. For example, you get your hair wet, turn it off, shampoo, turn it on, etc. Also, the water is frigid. Every now and then you get lucky and get a few seconds of lukewarm water. I am already looking forward to a nice warm shower in the US!

Another difference is one that is not surprising, but you walk everywhere. I am not using that word lightly either. Whether it is a step outside of your house or it is five miles away, you walk. If you have to go to a store the next town over then you take public transportation. There are many drastic differences, but too many too explain them all! Then you have the small, everyday changes such as the language barrier, style, and religion.

And now I have arrived to the most drastic change. The language!! Students traveling with my organization are placed in small towns where nobody speaks English. When they say that nobody speaks English, they are not joking the slightest bit. Not being able to speak the same language makes everyday conversation difficult. It is at times very frustrating and can get very annoying, but my Spanish has already improved.

Religion here is Catholic- 98% to be exact. Church does not start until nine at night and ends at 9:45 give or take. First, the language barrier makes going to church difficult and second, me not being catholic. They have so many rituals that they do and I am a step behind everyone. Thankfully, everyone is very understanding and does not get mad or upset.

Since I have been here, I have been very busy. The town I am staying in is not very big, but it has all the necessities. A shock to me has been the lack of trees and grass. It is all dirt. And, the buildings are orange. In my opinion it is not a good mix, but I am sure I will get used to it.

I have been to play tennis with the family three times and we have gone too the pool, also. Yesterday, we attended a dirt bike race, which was actually very entertaining. I am not sure if I would have enjoyed it in the United States, but it was nice to see something somewhat familiar.

Friday, Blanca took me with her to a color concert. It was similar to a color run in the United States, except it was a band playing and they shot out masses of color into the crowd. Here, the only music they listen too is in English. It is not up to date, it is the top hits anywhere from 5-10 years ago.

For example, on the Top 50 countdown yesterday, Soulja Boy was in the top ten. I forget what number one was, but it would be a major throwback if somebody played it in the United States. Regardless, it is nice to listen to English music. For once I know what someone is saying and they don’t!

I am having a blast and will keep everyone updated!

Hola! My name is Chatham and I am 17 years old and from Auburn, Alabama. I left Monday, September 7 for Madrid, Spain to study abroad. Taking off on that flight was quite overwhelming since I knew I would be gone for four months! After arriving in New York, I had to get off of the plane and find the international terminal. After a few laps around the Delta terminal, I finally found the exit and had to catch the AirTrain to Terminal 7 (Iberia).

The security line was super long and since I way overpacked, my backpack was killing my back! After security I met up with all my new friends who were all traveling with me to Spain. We had about three hours to spare in the airport and got to know each other pretty well! After 8 long hours of flying, we made it to Madrid at 1:30 am central time. We were all exhausted.

As soon as we walked out of baggage claim, a member of our study abroad organization was standing there with a sign with all of our names on it. We rode in a super nice Mercedes to Hotel Miau (pronounced MEOW) and it was such a pretty drive.

After dropping off our bags we toured around Madrid and ate some native Spanish food. None of us were sure what the menu said exactly so we just took turns ordering random things. I ended up with some gross kind of beans but the desert at the end made up for it.

After lunch we took a siesta and we all agreed that it turned around our moods for the rest of the day! Dinner was at the most beautiful outdoor restaurant under the cutest lights ever- definitely my favorite meal so far. We tried different foods and then all ordered ice cream. It was delicious!

This morning we woke up and had breakfast at 9:30. The most exiting moment of my trip thus far happened at breakfast- there were cocoa krispies! So exciting! I was in desperate need of American food. After breakfast we toured the Palace of Madrid and then ate paella for lunch.

Paella is rice cooked in broth with vegetables and chicken. It was amazing. After lunch we took our siesta at a local park- the weather was perfect and all the scenery was beautiful. I can already tell that the way of life here is much more laid back than America. Our leaders told us to remember that if you plan to meet someone at 9, that actually means 9:30! The Spanish do not have a sense of time. Another thing that is different than the United States is that when walking down the street, people push you and say “move!” They are not trying to be rude and they really do not even think they are being rude- that is normal to them. Instead of asking politely for something at a restaurant, you say “I want..” Very different from America!

These two days in Madrid have been very fun but exhausting. Tomorrow we have an orientation and then load up the bus to be taken to our host families. We are all taken to bus stops where our families will be waiting on us. I am very excited and very nervous. I have been in contact with my host family for three months so tomorrow is a big day! Adios!