Week 1

Welcome to Spain,

Just kidding I have no clue where you are. So I arrived all in one piece. My trip was super long and I was exhausted when I arrived in Santomera. My trip was 17hour 30min plane ride to Dubai then 8hour flight to Barcelona and then a 4 hour Train to Alicante and then 40min car ride to Santomera. It was the most sleep-deprived I have ever felt. I arrived Monday night and then basically slept through Tuesday and then Wednesday was my first day at school (yay!!!!) just kidding I was still really tired. The best surprise was that everyone in my class had been learning English since they were super young and could speak really well and they were all super nice to me and made an effort to talk to me which was amazing.

The trip from Dubai I got hardly any sleep even though I tried and the food was sub-par in my opinion (Emirates could have done better) Then my trip from Dubai to Barcelona was made easier when Emirates gave me and Alyssia (another exchange student) four seats to ourselves. We got to talking and I realized she was who I was going on the train with later that day. The lunch was very good and we napped and talked the entire flight which was amazing (Thanks Alyssia!!!) Then we arrived in Barcelona and we were met with in my opinion a long wait for our bags and then we walked out of the airport without any customs which was so weird for me. This is when we met with the Interhispania representative who was helping us get to connecting flights or in Alyssia and my case connecting train. This is when I got to meet the other exchange students who were all really nice. Then Alyssia and I got to go on the train down the coast of Spain (Photo below) I got some sleep and then I had to farewell Alyssia in Valencia and then I accidentally fell asleep but luckily Alicante (my stop) was the last spot and I was not left somewhere I did not know.

I never realized this before but jet lag is unreal. I was constantly exhausted for four days straight (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) and my body just rejected all food. My family is more than I could ask for they took me food shopping and tried to make my tired ass feel as welcomed as possible. School days last from 8am-2pm which is actually a good period considering the homework and the sleep exhaustion I felt.

The food here is actually quite amusing the first few days I had trouble as my body clock was going crazy and it just didn't sit well and I just wasn't hungry but now I am back to my normal self. I have realized that Weetbix is Weetabix in Spain and they are rounded (mind blown) and that ham is something different than what we call ham in NZ. Paella is really yummy and their food is really good and my host family has put so much effort into making sure I have food to eat.

Soooooo school was different. The first day I was tired but we had English which was SURPRISE super easy and then I sat through a bio test that I didn't need to take and then we had chemistry and physics which is all one subject and they were going over a recent test which by the way was surprisingly easy to understand considering it was in Spanish. Then it was a break where you just chill for about half an hour and eat a snack. Then we had PE which was super fun considering we played their version of dodge ball and that was the best thing ever (even though they only use one ball which was super strange at first) and then Spanish where they were going over internal and external narrators and then they had homeroom (no clue what they call it) where they are planning the decorations for Christmas which is super cool considering we do nothing like it in New Zealand.

The second day of school was better as I was more awake and rested. We started off with C&P (chemistry and physics) which was doing stuff about acids and the formulae which was easy even in Spanish and then we had Drama which was hilarious we did all these fun activities and then we had math which was fractions and it was actually surprisingly easy to understand as well even in Spanish. After break, we had Geography and History (Same subject) which is in English and it was pretty good and then Spanish where we went over the homework (that I couldn't do cause I couldn't even understand it (oops) and then we started decorating the classroom and putting together decorations (I will include photos hopefully but school has a no-phone rule) and then we had English which was us continuing to do decorations while English Christmas music was playing in the background.

Third day of school was good I have no clue what order of classes we had but we had maths which is algebraic fractions (super easy), PE where we did these hilarious challenges and the other classes were a blur that I honestly don't remember than after school we went to my host grandmas house for lunch which was this Spanish soup that was really good. After we went swimming and I did laps while my sisters did their swim training. Then after we went to the Christmas tent in the centre of the town where Marta was playing the guitar for the choir in which my host Abuela was singing in.

On Saturday I got to sleep in (which if you know me is what I do best) after we had breakfast and then I showed Marta New Zealand via google maps and she showed me Spanish via google maps and then we went to a family friends daughters party where there was the hugest pan filled with paella I have ever seen. Then my host sisters had their swimming competition which they all won medals in and it was kinda repetitive but some of the swimmers were very nice to watch (have no clue why) and then my host parents and two of my sisters went to another friends party while me and Marta (host sister who is my age) ate sandwiches, flan and jelly (separately) and argued about NZ vs Spanish foods (NZ is better!!!) 

On Sunday (today) I slept in and then we had churros for breakfast and oh my gosh they were good. Then I went with my other host grandma, my host mother and one of my host sisters to go to the place where my host dad works with the mentally challenged. It smelled a lot like smoke as they use it to keep some of there patients calm and then we went for a pre-lunch type of snack in a town called Fortuna. Then we had lunch at home and Ives just been chilling all afternoon.

So Spain was off to a rough start but it is getting better by the minute. People are nice and they all make an effort to talk to me and be nice to me which is amazing and all I could have asked for. Special shout out to Jakob for helping me through this week cause honestly it was tough and you knew exactly what to say. Hopefully, I will keep this blog up to date and please excuse all grammatical and spelling mistakes I am tired and I don't have the time to spend on English mistakes when I am supposed to be learning Spanish. But yeah welcome to ESPANA!!!

 The view from the car on our way back from Fortuna

 Huesitos are yummy chocolate-covered wafers 

Some of my friends from school (peep me in the back)

 Where can I get these water cups they are the bomb

 Me half asleep waiting for the train to leave

 Meeting my host family when I'm half asleep

 The sunsets and sunrises in Spain are the best things ever

Inside the Christmas tent in the centre of Santomera