Missing Diary ... Have you seen it?

So I will probably be using my blog a lot more ...

Okay. I know where it is... it is in Bilbao, with my watch, school books, my international student card (super important), Aunt Kathy's package, and most of my friends. Reason behind me leaving so much up there, was that I didn't exactly know that I was going to Madrid, until the day before. Which is awesome and rad. -.-*

So! I will hopefully be going up there some weekend soon to meet with my peeps again, get my stuff, and go to the Guggenheim. Just as soon as I talk to my Tutor lady, and February rolls around.

Why February you ask?

AFS students are not allowed to have independent travel (within Spain) until February.

Why do you need to talk to your Tutor?

All trips, travels, and journeys need to be approved by AFS and by my parents.

Why hasn't you Tutor talked to you?

This, I do not know. Most likely because I am to clever and cause problems.

Tuenti!!

I now have a Tuenti! Tuenti is like the "Facebook" of Spain. More similar to a Video/Picture hosting site. People have profiles and put pictures or videos on them, like how "Facebook" was before it had games and nifty things. I encourage you to apply for one if you would like to practice Spanish the way teenagers use it, also see how teenagers act, look, and so forth. It does have a "English" option, where all of the instructions are in English, and also an "Euskera", "Catalan", and that "other funky "G" one that I don't remember" options, If you would like to see the three other languages of Spain.

Yep.

Madrid, Christmas, and New Year

Well, I am now living in Torrejon de Adroz, just east of Madrid, with my permanent family. They are great! Mom= Carmen, Dad= Jose Luis, Sister= Ana Belen, Brother= Alvaro.

entonces....

Christmas... is celebrated, as the birth of Christ. Santa does bring gifts.... but most of the gift giving is saved for when the 3 kings come. Actually instead of going to see Santa (Papa Noel) you go and tell one of the 3 kings what you want for Christmas. The Kings will come this week.

Christmas dinner consisted of a lot of sea food and pork roast.

New years. some fun traditions here. Red unders, you wear red panties for luck in the new year. Also as the clock strikes, you eat a green grape for every toll. So, you end up with a mouth full of seeded grapes... chunchy. Then you have the champagne. Later you go out to party ... if you weren't already... I went to a party in the city and tried to learn how they were dancing ... ie: traditional Spanish dance.

The stop signs say "stop"

Well, about two months later than I should have, I now have my permanent visa. Due partly to changing families and bad communications. Everybody say yay! YAY!

About the stop signs, yes they actually say "STOP." Surpresa! Not "ALTO" like in MEXICO.

Meals?

Something Nifty for all of you.
Breakfast: fruit, coffee, toast, yogurt, and cookies
-cookies, as in actual cookies, are normally a breakfast food simply because you dip them in your coffee.
Lunch: two corses, a starter, like soup, rice, beans, or salad, then a protien, like seafood, beef, or pork. Then you might have a desert, but not always.
Dinner: anything, from left overs to pizza to fried eggs, normally followed by a yogurt.

New Home!

OKAY! I am with my new family, living in Mungia. (right next to Bilbao, but not cool enough to have a train) I have two sisters (Imaya and Sara) and a brother (Alex).
Going and coming from school is a little different now, me Ama (mom in Basque) drives me to school in the morning, and I take the bus from Duesto in the afternoon.
School is getting better, as my Spanish improves. yay!

So I just had a cup of Chocolat ... heaven ...
Think of a mug full of marshmallows, then pour hot coco on top and let it sit for a bit, add more coco and drink. That is what it tasted like. ... ~///~ ah~

Bilbao

Well I don't know if I am repeating myself or not. BUT!!

I am currently living in Bilbao, Vizcaya Spain. A couple of things about Bilbao and surrounding area are as follows:
-> Spanish is not the only prominate language here. Most people in the Vizcaya region also speak Basque, Euskera to the people here. Reportedly, Euskera is like no other language! ^-^'
->The soccer team is "Athletic Club," and they have a red and white striped jerseys.
->The basketball team is "Bilbao Basket," and they have black jerseys. Also their mascot is a spider.
-> Fish is one of the main foods, due partly to this being a port city.

I have gone to both soccer and basket ball games her, and, well, basketball is still the same but the soccer game was pretty deep. Everyone was cheering and clapping, and storming around mad when the other team one. (Soccer mind you, Bilbao Basket won their game.) A big thing at sporting events are "pipas" or sunflower seeds still with the shell. Now, the avid pipa eater can shove a handfull in thier mouth and spit out carefully halved and salt free shells. I on the other hand am begining to grasp the concept and still manage to eat the shells ... yeah.

Also, I just went on a class feild trip to the mountains. We went from Metro to Bus to Train! It was crazy! The place we went was really pretty, as long as you didn't step in the cow patties! It was pretty funny, I was the only one to bring a camera ... so the teachers were borrowing mine! Towards the end these two cows ran down the street, icing on the cake. it was an awsome day.

School, is crazy. Not only is everything in spanish but the standard are also different. Teachers are called by first name (don't try this in american schools) and change classrooms every period.
The Schedual is kinda funky, classes are all an hour long, and you will only have a class 3-4 times a week. Depending on the day you can have differnet classes. It all seems really random.

Yep that is about it.
besos!

In Spain

I have now spent a couple days in Spain. Spain is HOT, think Texas, right down to the red dirt. Let's see, I live with a family of four -Dad (David), Mom (Amaia), Sister (Naia), and Brother (Paul)- and their dog (Uffy). My host family is a combination of French and Basque, and all speak Spanish. We live in Bilbao, in Vizcaya, Spain just next to the Metro. The Metro is the subway system theat runs through out Bilbao, it is really nice and much better than the passenger trains we have in Indaina.

Some things that are different in Bilbao than in Indianapolis are many. First, most of the population lives in appartments. Most apartments have a blacony that they use to dry their clothes, or hang out plants for decoration. Second, sodas, such as Coke, are served at a bar with a slice of lime or lemon in the glass. "Bars" are like our resturantes, just without waiters, you go up to the counter and order what you want and pay there and then you take what you ordered to a table inside or outside, and eat! Third, when shopping for food, you shop for the food for one or two days, and not much more.

Well, I am doing fine here and adjusting well. I think I have the Metro thing down! I will tell more, once I learn it myself!