Two Fun Outings with the Host Fam

Last Saturday, I went to France. It's hard not to say that casually when you live thirty minutes from the border, but thinking about it's absolutely crazy that I WENT TO FRANCE, and even on top of that, it was a day trip! 

We left a bit too early in the morning for my liking, around 8:00, but I slept the majority of the way to our first destination; Lourdes. There is a beautiful cathedral there, which we walked around for a while. There's also a fountain which supposedly has healing water, and people in wheelchairs come to drink it and 1 in a million (or some percentage similar), are cured. My host mom joked that I could drink the water and be able to speak fluently. She even bought me a little bottle to fill up with the water (as a souvenir)... I tried some water but I still only speak proficient Spanish... It's probably a good thing though, I wouldn't want that 1 in a million miracle to be wasted on me... 

My host parents really aren't religious at all, so we left pretty quickly, probably only after about 45 minutes... On our way back to our car, we saw a memorial statue, which I guess is a normal thing in every small French town in the area we were in. On one side was a WWI memorial, with the names of all of the people from Lourdes who had died in it, and on the other side, a WWII memorial with the names of everyone who had died in WWII... It was pretty crazy to see how many people who had died, just from Lourdes! 

Next we went to Pau, which is a very old, very beautiful city. We went to lunch at the first place we saw (I was absolutely starved!) and ordered duck, which is a very typical dish in France. It was delicious! I also ate French fries in France, I feel like that's an important detail. After lunch we walked around for a while, trying to find a castle. With the help of some English speaking French people and my awesome translating skills (it was actually really difficult), we found it. It was so cool! It was Henry IV's castle! We took a tour, which of course I didn't understand a word of (French is weird), but we saw some beautiful artwork, and the whole place was just stunning, and all of the windows had beautiful views of the the French Pyrenees. 

The tour took about an hour, and afterwards we walked back to our car. On our way back to Spain, we stopped by the Lindt chocolate factory, and bought lots of truffles and chocolate of all sorts. It was fun!

The week passed with nothing too exciting happening... Wednesday I went to Jaca to visit Ethan, we just walked around, and ate food. I watched him get his hair cut, but nothing too special happened.

Yesterday, my host parents took me to Zaragoza!
I had been there three times before, but only to shop. This time we went to see the touristy places. First we went to the plaza of Pilar, and to this huge cathedral.

There was really cool artwork inside, and even a mass going on! Outside, there was a protest against the use of animal fur for clothing. It was actually quite comical, we watched a woman wearing a very obviously real fur coat attempting to find a back exit from the cathedral so that she wouldn't have to walk past them.

Afterwards, we walked around a bit, and ended up in a bar for tapas. We had this egg potato duck plate, which sounds disgusting, but was delicious (though maybe a bit salty). Afterwards, my host parents were still hungry for lunch (I wasn't really, although I'm am exchange student, I can always eat more), so we walked around looking for a restaurant. Eventually we found one, and it was very fancy (lunch here is kind of a big deal). For my first plate, I had mini bell peppers stuffed with French cheese and ham. It was delicious! For my second plate I had steak, which was served pretty much raw with a hot stone, so I got to cook it myself! It was so cool!

For dessert, I had lemon sorbet (my host mom got a chocolate volcano, and was surprised I hadn't ordered the same, but I was too full.) 

After lunch, we walked around a bit more, and we saw the ruins of a roman theater which are dated from somewhere between 2 B.C-1 A.D)!! It was crazy!

On our way out of town we stopped at the huge mall there, so that my dad could buy a few new heaters for our house (it's getting pretty cold :() so I got to shop a bit too, and got a new pair of jeans and a couple jackets. We got home around 10, and I pretty much went straight to bed. 

Today I stayed in, and watched a movie (in Spanish) with my host mom. It was pretty crazy, I actually understood probably 90% of it (granted she does give me Spanish subtitles since it's easier to read it than actually understand people speaking it, but still.) 

Anyways, that's pretty much been my week... I'll update again when something exciting happens. 

Sorry I took for ever to post this (it's been a week since I wrote it). Nothing too exciting has happened since, Saturday my host mom and I went to Huesca to visit my host grandparents, we had lunch with them, slept the siesta and then returned home. Yesterday, Ethan came over because both of us are feeling a little bit homesick with thanksgiving coming up (honestly I think that the jealousy of the fact that our friends back home don't have school this week and we do is half of the issue here),it it's definitely weird to think about what's happening in the U.S right now. Anyways, he came over, brought some American sweets his parents had sent him, and we watched one of our favorite American movies, "The Perks of Being A Wallflower". It was just a nice, relaxed American afternoon. 

Today I had school which is the same thing every day, I sit through six hours of classes, understanding maybe 70% of what's going on (except for in philosophy, that's more like 30%, but still compared to my first day it's incredible progress). It gets a bit boring, and it's definitely annoying, because I know that my Spanish is getting better everyday, but I really don't notice it on a day to day basis. Occasionally I'll think about something I said and think wow I wouldn't have been able to say that before I got here, but it's not something I notice without really focusing on thinking about it. In know at the end of the year I'll be able to look back and notice all of my improvements, but I am so exhausted all the time from having to mentally work so hard to make everything make sense and put things into context and wow. It's difficult, though only getting easier. 

It's supposed to snow soon (there's already some snow in the mountains), so maybe I'll get to ski soon (I've decided I'm going to learn to ski here, because no one really snowboards :(). Anyways, I'll try to update again soon. 

Halloween, Lloret de Mar, and a Rotary Meeting

Last Friday was Halloween, and also the day that the Rotary weekend in Lloret de Mar began. Because Ethan and I did not have school, and were not planning to meet up with our friends in Zaragoza (whose families would take us to Lloret) until around 2:30, we decided to leave our area around 8:30 as to arrive around 10:30, and get to explore a bit on our own. We got off the bus at the normal station we go to in the center of the city, and decided that we wanted to go to the mall... However we soon found out that the large mall in Zaragoza was nowhere near us. Since neither of us really understood the bus system, we decided the most convenient and safest solution would be to take a taxi. We of course did not factor into our plan the extremely high gas rates in Europe, and the fact that the taxi would be much more expensive than what we were used to.... We ended up paying thirteen euros for a ten minute taxi ride...

The positive spin to that is that we decided to learn how to use public transportation, since you can get anywhere in the city for a euro thirty on the bus...

We got to the mall and just looked around for a while... I bought a few accessories for my Halloween costume (we were required to where them at Lloret), and we tried to find Ethan a new phone case. Eventually we got hungry, so with just under an hour left at the mall, we started looking for somewhere to eat... And we found a TACO BELL!! 

 Ethan and I both found it funny thatthey classified Taco Bell as Mexican food... 

It was weird, Ethan and I both agreed that Taco Bell tastes better here... Maybe it's because we just missed it so much, but it really does taste more flavorful... 

I drove to Lloret with my friend Amelia and her host parents. They were very friendly, and her host mom is an English teacher so she was able to speak to us when Amelia and I spoke English. 

We arrived to Lloret de Mar around 8, we weren't aware of how much later that was than everyone else (except for Ethan and the others from Zaragoza who wouldn't come until 11 or 12).The hotel we stayed in was really nice, four stars, with a huge outdoor pool, an indoor one too, a complimentary buffet for every meal, and a gym with a couple of stair climbers and a pull up bar. I stayed in a room with three other American girls, one from Hawaii, and two from somewhere I don't really remember. They were all very friendly though. Friday night, to get ready for Halloween,I went to another girls room to get ready. I dressed up as a goth punk type thing (super last minute costume). After I had finished with my makeup, my friend Michael came in with the other guys.  he was wearing his normal clothes and a mask that he said was poking at his eyes, So I asked him if I could do his makeup. He surprisingly agreed, so I made him into a pretty lady. A couple of othergirls from the room came into the area and caught on, so they went to find him am outfit. We ended up with a mini jean skirt, a shirt reading "keep calm and party on" and a hot pink push-up bra. I was kind of scared to walk by the Rotarians who were there, but they all laughed a lot (Michael is hosted by the rotary club of Lloret de Mar), and took plenty of pictures of him. 

There was a dance type thing at the hotel that we went to for a while, but it was more for little kids so we left, and ended up just hanging out. It was still pretty fun. 

Saturday, we went to the beginning of a Rotary meeting, but they got rid of us after we took pictures. 

We went to this park near the sea, which belongs to a rich family, who only come during the summer vacation. We had a guided tour, and the views were absolutely stunning. Of course, we took lots of group pictures. 

After the gardens, we went to the beach. They wouldn't let us swim, but we waded in up to our waists. The water was so warm! And the beach so beautiful. That place, with those people, really felt like a perfect moment. 

When we went back to the hotel, we were forced to hang out with the self-proclaimed "director of fun". We shot bee bee guns at targets, which was okay, but when we were told that we had to do Zumba (we were all very tired), my friends and I got permission from rotary to play cards in our room. As more people filtered in, we ended up in a very intense elimination round of spoons. It was crazy, it started with ten people, and at the end we had two winners, the girl from Hawaii, and me! That night, my friends and I hung out, did Zumba, and watched Germany has talent! It was pretty fun! 

Sunday, we left right after breakfast, and I got home around 7:30 (a long day of traveling). I was pretty tired, and went to bed immediately. 

Monday night, Ethan and I went to a Rotary meeting. First, they had three exchange students who had just returned from their exchanges present about their years abroad, and then they asked Ethan and I to stand up and speak a bit about ourselves. I was actually pretty proud of myself, as I was able to talk for about three minutes in Spanish in front of about thirty Rotarians (I could've spoken more, but Ethan had to as well). One weird thing about the meeting was that we were given wine. They did not even ask us if we wanted any, they just filled up our glasses. It was definitely a huge cultural difference. 

Nothing else has really happened.... I've just been at school... Tomorrow I'll go to Jaca to spend some time with Ethan and his Spanish friends there, and on Saturday I'm going to France with my host parents! 

Sorry this wasn't super long, I'm pretty tired. 

Hasta luego, Zeph(:

Halloween, Lloret de Mar, and a Rotary Meeting

Last Friday was Halloween, and also the day that the Rotary weekend in Lloret de Mar began. Because Ethan and I did not have school, and were not planning to meet up with our friends in Zaragoza (whose families would take us to Lloret) until around 2:30, we decided to leave our area around 8:30 as to arrive around 10:30, and get to explore a bit on our own. We got off the bus at the normal station we go to in the center of the city, and decided that we wanted to go to the mall... However we soon found out that the large mall in Zaragoza was nowhere near us. Since neither of us really understood the bus system, we decided the most convenient and safest solution would be to take a taxi. We of course did not factor into our plan the extremely high gas rates in Europe, and the fact that the taxi would be much more expensive than what we were used to.... We ended up paying thirteen euros for a ten minute taxi ride...

The positive spin to that is that we decided to learn how to use public transportation, since you can get anywhere in the city for a euro thirty on the bus...

We got to the mall and just looked around for a while... I bought a few accessories for my Halloween costume (we were required to where them at Lloret), and we tried to find Ethan a new phone case. Eventually we got hungry, so with just under an hour left at the mall, we started looking for somewhere to eat... And we found a TACO BELL!! 

 Ethan and I both found it funny thatthey classified Taco Bell as Mexican food... 

It was weird, Ethan and I both agreed that Taco Bell tastes better here... Maybe it's because we just missed it so much, but it really does taste more flavorful... 

I drove to Lloret with my friend Amelia and her host parents. They were very friendly, and her host mom is an English teacher so she was able to speak to us when Amelia and I spoke English. 

We arrived to Lloret de Mar around 8, we weren't aware of how much later that was than everyone else (except for Ethan and the others from Zaragoza who wouldn't come until 11 or 12).The hotel we stayed in was really nice, four stars, with a huge outdoor pool, an indoor one too, a complimentary buffet for every meal, and a gym with a couple of stair climbers and a pull up bar. I stayed in a room with three other American girls, one from Hawaii, and two from somewhere I don't really remember. They were all very friendly though. Friday night, to get ready for Halloween,I went to another girls room to get ready. I dressed up as a goth punk type thing (super last minute costume). After I had finished with my makeup, my friend Michael came in with the other guys.  he was wearing his normal clothes and a mask that he said was poking at his eyes, So I asked him if I could do his makeup. He surprisingly agreed, so I made him into a pretty lady. A couple of othergirls from the room came into the area and caught on, so they went to find him am outfit. We ended up with a mini jean skirt, a shirt reading "keep calm and party on" and a hot pink push-up bra. I was kind of scared to walk by the Rotarians who were there, but they all laughed a lot (Michael is hosted by the rotary club of Lloret de Mar), and took plenty of pictures of him. 

There was a dance type thing at the hotel that we went to for a while, but it was more for little kids so we left, and ended up just hanging out. It was still pretty fun. 

Saturday, we went to the beginning of a Rotary meeting, but they got rid of us after we took pictures. 

We went to this park near the sea, which belongs to a rich family, who only come during the summer vacation. We had a guided tour, and the views were absolutely stunning. Of course, we took lots of group pictures. 

After the gardens, we went to the beach. They wouldn't let us swim, but we waded in up to our waists. The water was so warm! And the beach so beautiful. That place, with those people, really felt like a perfect moment. 

When we went back to the hotel, we were forced to hang out with the self-proclaimed "director of fun". We shot bee bee guns at targets, which was okay, but when we were told that we had to do Zumba (we were all very tired), my friends and I got permission from rotary to play cards in our room. As more people filtered in, we ended up in a very intense elimination round of spoons. It was crazy, it started with ten people, and at the end we had two winners, the girl from Hawaii, and me! That night, my friends and I hung out, did Zumba, and watched Germany has talent! It was pretty fun! 

Sunday, we left right after breakfast, and I got home around 7:30 (a long day of traveling). I was pretty tired, and went to bed immediately. 

Monday night, Ethan and I went to a Rotary meeting. First, they had three exchange students who had just returned from their exchanges present about their years abroad, and then they asked Ethan and I to stand up and speak a bit about ourselves. I was actually pretty proud of myself, as I was able to talk for about three minutes in Spanish in front of about thirty Rotarians (I could've spoken more, but Ethan had to as well). One weird thing about the meeting was that we were given wine. They did not even ask us if we wanted any, they just filled up our glasses. It was definitely a huge cultural difference. 

Nothing else has really happened.... I've just been at school... Tomorrow I'll go to Jaca to spend some time with Ethan and his Spanish friends there, and on Saturday I'm going to France with my host parents! 

Sorry this wasn't super long, I'm pretty tired. 

Hasta luego, Zeph(: