Bautizo

With less than a week left here in Spain, the "goodbyes" have officially begun. Though I had my going away party last week, that isn't officially a "goodbye" cause I will be seeing my friends again before I leave. On the other hand, I will not see my extended host family again before I leave, which made for a hugfest Sunday afternoon. But first lets backtrack to Saturday.

Saturday my host dad, sister, brother and I headed to Villarcayo (town where my host dad's from) for the Baptism of my host cousin. I usually fun there because there are so many of them, my host dad has 7 sisters, so they have a really big family. All of us gathered together in a tiny church for a private service, conducted by another family member, as music was played by one of the host aunts. After it was time for eating and singing. The casual lunch was in someone's backyard, and it was the perfect day to be outside. The sun shone as we ate delicious jamón and cheese, then paella, then fish, then cake...then I was completely stuffed. The guitar was played all afternoon by my host aunt as everybody sang Spanish and English songs. Honestly, there is not one person from their family who does not have an amazing voice.

Then came Sunday, and having to say goodbye. Of course they all sang as I hugged each and every one of them with tears streaming down my face. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with them this year, and I am so thankful for having gotten to meet all of them.

Rotary and Goodbyes

As a Rotary exchange student, it would seem pretty logical that you might be just a little involved with Rotary, right? Wrong. I have never been to a Rotary meeting in my host town, nor met my counselor or a single other member besides my host dad. Though I know exchange students in Spain who reguarely attend meeting, I also know some who don't. I would say in general, Rotary of Spain is a lot less involved than in the United States. I did however last week go to a Rotary dinner in Burgos, a town an hour a way from my town. Just felt like sharing that, not really any interesting story. I didn't have to give a presentation or anything like that, just a little small talk.

I am so lucky for the friends I have here. They are so amazing and I don't know what I would have done without them. Last week they threw me a suprise going away party. As far as I knew they were getting back late from a school trip to London and would be too tired to go out. but they showed up at my house and with a big, signed flag of Spain (which I then had to wear the rest of the night as a dress). They also gave me a fan and beautiful bracelet that has the Spanish flag on it. We had an amazing night, like we always do, but of course I got a little sad thinking of how I'd been leaving these amazing people, but I am so thankful that I got the chance to meet them and I know it won't be goodbye just "hasta luego"(until later).

14 beats 24

I have been told by numerous people here in Spain that school is "so much easier" in the United States. I never have an argument with them about it, but I would just like to set the record straight Thee U.S ranks around 14th in the World Math/Science/Reading levels while Spain comes in a whopping...26th! Now I am not proud that we are 14th, but it is certainly better than 26th. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading)

I would love to write a very long blogpost on my opinions of the Spanish education system, but I'm sure you wouldn't all love to read it. I'll try to sum it up shorty, with something I was told by someone who is doing her masters degree in Madrid. In her class, made up of Americans, Spaniards, and other Europeans, she said one thing is evident. Spanish people can take notes faster than we can. Why is that? Because they write down what they are told without stopping and questioning it. They seem more concerned with the "How" instead of the "Why". For example on a Literature test we had a question that asked "From which part of the book does this passage come" as apposed to "Explain how the author reflects his childhood through the main character in the novel." It is very uncreative as far as I am concerned.

On a positive note, I really love going to school. My classmates (some of whom are in the pictures) are all so amazing and friendly, and I always feel like if I need something they will help me. Let's put it this way...I love the social part of school. However I don't like how there is no school pride. We don't have school sweatshirts and t-shirts that people wear to class, nor are there sports games that everyone attends dressed in school colors (I guess that's an American thing). That part doesn't bother me so much, it is more that there are also no clubs( like Key Club, Film Club, French Club etc) which I think is a vital part of being involved in your school.

**This blog does not reflect the views of Rotary.

Semana Santa with my favorite person in the world.

Last Friday, after 7 months and 10 days I was finally reunited with my mom. Our moth/daughter Spanish adventure began in Bilbao, were my mom flew into and I took a train to meet her with a lot of "ganas" (if you remember that Spanish word from my previous blog post). I can't explain how surreal it was to see her walk out of the elevator and greet me in the lobby. We didn't stay very long in Bilbao, just overnight, but we were able to fit in a visit to the Guggenheim, a modern art museum. It was, well lets just say...interesting. I think it's safe to say neither of us really understand modern art.

Saturday we headed back to my town where I introduced my mom to all my friends in my town. The next day we went to a Palm Sunday proccesion at the church I got to(pictured above), and after had lunch with my host family. They also took us to visit some pueblos (which are small village type towns) close to where I live. We ended the day exhausted, but eager to for the next leg of our trip.

Our next stop-Barcelona. Monday morning we caught the train there, where we stayed until Thursday. Barcelona is a beautiful town, but not as spectacular as I had expected. It wasn't like how they always show it in movies, but nonetheless a great city. We had a really good time, walking around, eating tapas, relaxing on the roof top deck at our hotel. I even got to meet up with one of the other exchange students who I had been missing since the rotary trip in March. One thing, because in Barcelona they speak both Spanish and Catalan are spoken. I actually heard more Catalan and English than Spanish.

Madrid was our final (and I like to think best) stop. One of the most breathtaking cities I have been to, and by far my favorite in Spain(closely rivaled by Sevilla and Salamanca). We saw all the monuments and important things(as we did in Barcelona), but in our typical fashion we didn't enter one of them. We however experienced the Cafe life of Spain! We would joke around about the fact that instead of entering the musuems, we would instead sit in a cafe across the street and admire them. The reason was because the lines were so long everywhere it was impossible to go in.

Unfortunately, it had to come to an end, but fortunately we got to experience it. I was super sad to have to say goodbye all over again, but this time instead of having almost a year ahead of me, I don't even have two months. Let me wrap this up by saying thank you to my wonderful mother who I am so thankful to have! Thank you for the trip and for this whole year...and might as well throw in there for my whole life. xoxoxoxoxo

besos

Cristina

Me da igual

Marina, Patricia, Me, Barbara, Isabel, Andrea

On a beautiful day that felt like summer!

Well here we are...another month, another season. I can’t believe that a month has gone by since the Rotary bus trip with the other exchange students. Pathetically enough I am having exchange student withdrawl syndrom! It really is crazy though how quickly the time goes....I’ve already been here for 7 months and even crazier my mom comes to visit me in less than a week. I’m obviously very excited, but at the same time a little sad because the reality is hitting in that this great experience is coming to an end. Once my mom leaves I’ll have one 1/2 months left in Spain. As much as I miss home (my bed, my backyard, cooking for myself, and everyone there) I know I will miss Spain like crazy once I leave. I guess this is the “emotional roller coaster” they warned us about (I swear an exchange year is enough to make a person think they're schizophrenic)...but like LiL Wayne said “Life is such a roller coaster then it drops, but what should I scream for this is my themepark.” And yes...I do take advice from marijuana smoking rappers.

Nice mix of Canadian, Spaniards...and of course me!

Excitingly enough, there were Canadians in my town! They came for three weeks(left this morning) and were staying with my Spanish friends who went to Canada for three weeks in September. I think they were from Alberta Canada, where (correct me if I’m wrong) they discovered a bunch of dinasours at one point? Anyway they were super nice, I didn’t get to know them to well because they were at a different school, so I only saw them on weekends. But regardless we had a lot of fun and they gave Canada a good name. It’s funny cause some of them were telling me I have a really strong New Jersey accent...which other english speaking people who aren’t from Jersey(or as I like to call them "foreigners") always seem to tell me. A couple of them kept calling me “JOISEY” (which obviously we real new jersyians don’t even pronounce it that way”.

SHOUTOUTS!!!

ISABEL LAZCANO-THE NUMBER 1 LOQUILLA IN MIRANDA DE EBRO!!!

PABLO GOMEZ- who taught me everything I know about Spanish and is the best actor on the face of the plane

South of Spain and Portugal

In Spanish, the word “ganas” would translate more or less to “wants” in English. For example, “no tengo ganas de hacerlo” means I don’t have wants to do it or that I don’t feel like doing it.

I have to admit that during the days leading up to this Rotary trip I did not have a lot of “ganas” to go. First, because It meant a week of speaking English (something that frightened me). Second, I would be missing the Carneval celebrations in my town, with my friends. So on Wednesday, March 2, I boarded a early morning train to

Madrid to meet with a bunch of exchange students for what I believed would be a boring 10 days/

Let me begin by saying, in typical Cristina Judith Bricoli fashion, I boarded the train having no idea what I was supposed to do once I got off in the big, capital city of Madrid. This resulted in a 6 am (United States time) call to my mother asking her to hack into my email and find out for me. I arrived safely...and an hour late and was reunited with all the Americans, Canadians, the two Germans, and the one Tawaineise, who I had not seen since September (plus two new Australians). I think I might actually one of only two or three of us here who hadn’t seen another exchange studen

t since the orientation weekend in September. After chilling in the Estacion de Autobus for a little, we got on our bus to embark on our viaje (trip).

The first day was spent on a bus going to Granada which we got to in time for dinner and spent the night. The second day we were in Granada we saw the Alhambra. This same day we stopped in Cordova where we saw a breathtakingly beautiful Mosque. We ended the day in Sevilla.

Sevilla (or Seville for you Americans). We spent two days in this Southern city. I can honestly say that the second day there was more than likely the best day of my life. We began the morning with a short tour, where we saw all the important and historical aspects of the town. They let us have lunch and the rest of the day as free time. First me and some other girls stopped at Starbucks (yes we are lame, we’re aware). Then we went out for lunch at a place called “Baths of Arabia” which ended up being an Italian restaurant. I had gnocchi, which I’ve missed like crazy since being here in Spain. After, even though we were all stuffed, we split this chocolaty dessert. Next came the touristy shopping,

where I had to resist from buying everything “Flamenco” I saw.

We than split up the group and Paige, Marissa, Maddie, and I decided to go for a horse and buggy ride. This consisted of me prostituting my way into getting the creepy Gitano to give us a discounted ride. It started with me saying I’d give his horse a sugar cube, and ended in him inviting me to sit in the front of the carriage where he groped my leg and invited me come back for a private ride the next day. I told him I couldn’t cause Paige(mi rubia) was my lesbian lover...but than later changed the story to my possessive boyfriend wouldn’t let me leave the hotel alone. Well either way we got the discount and no one was raped. Plus my friends found it hilarious.

Of course then we had to see the beautiful cathedral, and finally in the gift-shop there I bought the cross that I’ve been looking for forever. We continued to wonder around the wonderful city of Sevilla. W

e even tried on Flamenco dresses in El Corte Ingles. Later that night we got to go out and have fun at the fiestas.

Saturday we stopped at Huelva Coast on our way to Portufal and saw something that I honestly remember nothing about. Portugal however I remember. It’s fantastic and hard not to love. We spent the first night right by the ocean in a beautiful hotel (with a disco tecca inside...perfecto). Even better though was Lisboa (Lisbon). The Capital of Portugal. Some people here in Spain don’t understand why I loved it so much, since it’s not a particularly special town. But it was on the water, easy to get around, the food was a lot better than Spain, the people were nice and a lot spoke English.

We were in Lisboa longer than any of the other cities and made ourselves at home at the hotel. My roomies and I made friends with the hotel staff (like we did in pretty much all the hotels). We were in Lisboa for the Carneval celebrations and were lucky to be able to salir por la fiesta (aka go disco teccaing...aka clubbing). Don’t worry family and Rotary, I promise we did a lot of cultural things to...like go to the hard rock cafe(hahah).

Really though, we did do cultural things. Besides doing a tour around Lisboa we went to visit some pueblos near by. I loved Cascais, which was your typical little fishing village, with the best ice cream place I’ve ever been to (even better than in Italy).

Sadly, we had to leave Portugal (which I’m still convinced is not part of Europe). The last two days of our trip were spent in Caceres and Salamanca. Two towns I’d already seen. Caceres (where my host mom’s from and where we spent Christmas) we only stopped in to sleep, and for some reason, even though it’s a beautiful town, I can’t seem to fall in love with it.

On the contrary, I was glad our last night was spent in Salamanca. I have very fond memories of that town( was there in December for New Year’s Eve of the university students, which is different than real NYE). It’s such an amazing town filled with culture and so much ambiente(is that a Spanish or English word?). We went sight-seeing, ate churros, and had a wonderful fiesta.

....And then we woke up and it was all over and we had to go back to real life. I won’t go into the story of how Friday I missed my train home and got stuck in Madrid and had to stay in a friends house and buy overpriced Mexican Food and buy a whole new train ticket, and now I’m a broke exchange student.

Anyway....to sum it all up. I experienced the best 10 days of my life. And made so many good friends and so many memories that will last forever. Making friends with random Spanish and Portuguese (and Swiss jejej) people along the way. Speaking Spanish with a Portuguese accent or Adulusian accent...or of course Italian accent, playing the lighter game, and so many other things that no one besides the toher exchange students would understand. I miss everybody so frigen much, but like Dr. Sues says. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. So I’m going to try to do that.

posdata: My mother comes in 30 days!!! WADUPPP! Also, I think the next blog post might be a video blog so look forward to that loyal, dedicated followers.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

besos

"We're half way there...woaaah living on a prayer"

154 days ago I hugged my mom goodbye and I blindly bored a plane to a foreign country. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I had a lot of expectations and a lot of worries. And now that I have spent 5 months here I realize the things I worried about were unimportant and the things I expected were unrealistic. But I have however been having a amazing time, and I am so thankful for all of you who are supporting me and letting me experience this.

I look back at my first blog posts or journal entries and it's crazy how quickly the time has gone. Today is my half way mark here in Spain. 5 months down 5 to go. I love reading something I wrote in October and and realize how differently I see things now. Honestly I feel like I've changed and grown up so much. Living with different people gives you the ability to look at the good and bad in both them and the people you’re familiar with. And if we’re smart we’ll pick the good parts from everyone and adapt them to ourselves.

Another thing I have learned is the most important thing is to accept other people. You might not agree with them or how they live their life, but you know what? They might not agree with how you live your live. However, you can’t judge someone else’s life until you’ve experienced it. That’s why you have to go into every situation with an open mind, willing to change, even if the only thing you learn is that you prefer the way you live your life. You’ll never know until you give it a try though.

So I won't lie, since probably September I've planned to name this blog post after the Bon Jovi song "Living on a Prayer". And today while in the car driving to my host granpa's town, the song came on the radio and i just said...."what a coincidence".