El mundo de los pajaros

This weekend was really jam-packed and super busy. It's no wonder I got sick and haven't been in school the last two days. Whatever, it's been perfect sick weather...stormy and cold, so I've been perfectly content sleeping all day, watching Sex and the City re runs on my laptop, and being cared for by my host parents, who might I add, are the sweetest and have been taking care of me like I'm the queen of England on her deathbed.

Anyways, Friday right after school was the premiere of Amanecer (Breaking Dawn). Yes, it's that popular in Spain, too. I went to my friend Cheyenne's house after school and we ate pasta and talked until we went to meet my other friends.

One thing I might add, a lot of my friends speak at least 3 languages...mainly because they have foreign parents. But you don't know how impressive it is when all your friends are bilingual, and many speak 3-5 languages. I'm so jealous.

Anyways, we went to the bus station and all of our other friends were waiting for us. The movie theatre is at the mall, so we took this huge party bus like 20 mins away to the mall. That's one thing that struck me was that we took the bus to the mall and didn't just drive or meet there..but I guess that's Eurupe for ya. On the bus was only me and about 10 of my other friends from Jalón, and maybe 2 or 3 other people. Needless to say, the whole bus ride we were singing and dancing and having so much fun. I did realize one thing though, I should not sing along to English songs. The radios plays so much American music here and everyone sings along to the chorus, but as soon as the chorus is done, no one really knows the rest of the song. Except me. So after everyone stops singing, I keep going and it's awkwardly silent. Haha, I've gotten pretty used to embarrassing myself here.

When we got to the mall, we waited in line for about half an hour then were able to buy our tickets and oohh and ahhh over the men of Twilight. (Team Edward!) We sat down to watch the movie, which I thought was pretty good. I'm happy to say that I can understand maybe 85% of what the people in the movies say. I'm getting there.

Saturday I got up at about 10:30 which is surprisingly early for anyone that knows me. Why so early? Because I had to catch the train at 11:30. Yes, I took the train. In Spain. By myself. Could I get any cooler? HAHA just kidding, but I was so impressed with myself that I figured everything out. It was just one whole, exciting weekend of public transportation!

The train ride was just half an hour away to Denía where I met up with my other exchange friends. We walked along the port and talked, then went to get tapas. We ordered sangría, octopus, cod croquettes, manchega cheese, and patatas bravas. A very Spanish lunch. Everything was really good though.

Later, we walked around Denía some more, picked up our other exchange friend from the train station, and went to a café to have café con leche and chocolate cake. Everything was delicious as usual, and we stayed in the café for about 3 hours just talking and having a great time. At about 8:30, my two other friends who took the train and I went to the station to catch the last train home. I got home at around 9, where I quickly changed clothes, and met my friends at the ayuntamiento (town hall) because we were going to my friends 18th birthday party.

The party was in Moraira about 15 mins away. It was the first house party I've been to in Spain, which is quite funny, because the only parties in America are house parties. It was fun, there was maybe 25-30 people. We talked, danced, played twister, and had a good time in general. I came home at 2:3o ish and was dead when I got home.

Sunday I woke up late as usual, and ate lunch with my host mom. Then, we went to the electoral college in Benissa, where my host dad was volunteering. It's elections in Spain, so my host mom voted and then we left to go to Calpe.

Calpe is a beach town that has this island/mountain thing called Peñon. Angela and I decided to hike it. The views were honestly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. I could see all of Calpe, the beaches, the mountains, the towns, even my town, Benissa. It was such a clear day and everything was so beautiful. Not to mention the hike itself was so cool.

Peñon is awesome. Hands down. The hike started off nice, even with a paved path with rocks, but quickly became difficult. We had to climb through a cave that was soaking wet with water. Then, after the cave, it was basically all rocks and then a cliff. So, because your shoes were wet form the cave, and you were basically slipping on the rocks. If the rope wasn't there, and you slipped, you would have died, no lie. It was absolutely scary, but so much fun at the same time.

Let me try to explain the top of Peñon. It felt like Jurassic Park or something. Literally, it looked like we had been transported back in time a million years. It was so natural and untouched. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised to see a dinosaur roaming about. But really, it was unbelievably beautiful and lush. The only thing I didn't like were the birds.

I think they were seagulls, but I can't be sure because these birds didn't look like seagulls. They looked like mutant seagulls, if anything. They were HUGE. And there were a million of these birds. So literally, it was el mundo de los pajaros.

I was freaking out. I'm not going to lie, I was. Every step you took there was a bird like right next to you. And they definitely weren't afraid of you, either. It was like they knew this was their territory and if they really wanted, they could eat you. I had this thought running through my head the entire time, and so every time I saw a bird next to me, I would whimper in fear. Angela probably thought I was ridiculous ( actually I'm almost positive she thought I was mentally ill). But really, could you blame me? Especially when one bird flew, the whole million of them flew, and the whole island felt like it was shaking. Cut me some slack.

The whole hike took about 3 and a half hrs. When we got home, we showered, then relaxed with a nice cup of hot chocolate, which might I add, is the most amazing thing you'll ever taste. It's literally melted chocolate, none of that watered down crap we have in America.

Anyway, this weekend was seriously amazing and so much fun and I've come to the conclusion that.....

I'm never coming home.

The rain in Spain.

It's raining here and I absolutely love it. There's nothing better than coming home from a hard day at school, eating lunch, then going up to my room curling up under my comforter, watching Sex and the City on my laptop, and listening to the rain.

Anyways, sorry I haven't been posting as much lately but I suppose it's a good thing because that means I'm getting more settled in here. Things have settled into a normal routine. I've been here for a little over two months and I know my Spanish has improved so much. I can more or less understand almost everything someone says to me in Spanish (Castelleno, at least. Valenciano is another story...). So, everything's been going pretty well. I love my family and my friends, and my language is improving. The only thing I hate is.....SCHOOL.

I've honestly never hated school in my entire life, I've actually always quite liked it, so this is a new feeling for me. The reasons? First of all, I don't understand any of my classes, besides Castelleno, because all of my classes are in Valenciano. Second of all, I don't exactly like my teachers. Some of them are nice, but I've noticed they don't have the same passion for their jobs as American teachers do. It's just what it sounds like...a job. After class ends, they're out of there, so there's no staying after and getting extra help or anything.

Also, everything's really casual here. We call the teachers by their first names, which is so weird to me, and every day is casual Friday here for teachers. My teachers always wear jeans and are really relaxed, but I feel that it takes away from the respect that students are supposed to have for their professors. I don't know, I just am not crazy about the way they teach here.

Also, when you enter high school here, you pick a route, Math, Science, or Letters. I am in Science, (Even though I hate science!), for the sole reason of needing science classes to be a senior when I come back to the U.S. Anyways, when you pick a route, that's what your in for your entire high school career. You have the exact same classmates and teachers every year, and after summer break you pick back off where you left off. So, everyone here knows formulas and equations from the year before that I've never learned before. My teachers don't explain them, because everybody already knows them. Not to mention the science and math courses are so much more advanced than in the U.S.

Science and math are my worst subjects anyway, and it just makes it so much worse when they are harder, and in Valenciano. I get so frustrated in school because I don't understand anything, and sometimes my teachers don't understand, and are unsympathetic (mainly my math teacher, who I dislike more than anyone else I've ever met). Sometimes I'll come home from school and just want to sleep, because of how tired I was from trying so hard to understand, and also because I just want to cry because of how terrible it is sometimes.

My notes that I take in school are actually pretty comical. They're all in Valenciano, and since I don't understand the words (and most likely, the handwriting of my teacher as well), they come out looking like really weird words in English. It's kind of funny. For example, my math notes say something like "sun 35, cat 35, tan 35". I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be sin, cos, and tan, but I can't be sure because this is literally what it looks like to me every time.

Anyways, I now have a math/ chemistry tutor. I've only had one lesson so far, but he was really nice and taught me a lot better than my actual math teacher. Hopefully I will be able to understand a bit better now, and school won't be so hard. Sorry for the rant. I needed to get that out.

Things I miss about America.....

My family and friends (obviously).

My high school.

My tennis team.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

Chinese food.

American movies/ T.V. shows.

Peanut butter....

PEANUT BUTTER CUPS.

Country music.

American Vogue.

My teachers. (I hate my teachers here!)

Real hamburgers.

Just some things I miss about good ol' America.