What a month it has been. I’ve changed host families, gone skiing, spent 5 days in Murcia, and passed all my classes. My daily life has become considerably more active and so has my Spanish. The double digit countdown until my flight out has begun which is terrifying in so many ways, a huge relief, and a big motivation to take in all that I possibly can.
NUEVA FAMILIA | NEW FAMILY
At the beginning of this month I moved in with a new family! There are no words in any language that would accurately express my gratitude to my first host family and all that they did for me. It was difficult to leave them but change is exciting and brings new experiences. I am living with a family with 3 children, one is currently living in Germany, 2 dogs, 1 cat, several chickens, and we live in their vineyard.
Fiona is my 12 year old host sister who has a lively spirit and is always full of energy. She always has something planned for us to do together and makes a great running buddy. Sebas/Sebastian is 15 years old and has a great sense of humor. He reminds me a whole lot of my brother and has no shame in joking around with Fiona and me. Tina is my host mom and she is from Denmark, studied abroad in the U.S, and is the most creative person I have ever met in my life. You can name anything in the house, and chances are, she made it. Goyo is my host dad and anything you need you can ask him for help, and if he can’t help you he knows about 10 other people who can.
ESQUIAR | SKIING
It was the last week of March and I had reached the conclusion that this year wouldn’t include skiing. On the fourth day with my new family we loaded up the car and headed towards Madrid and the beautiful mountain range in-between. The snow was good considering the 50degree weather and I was smiling all. day. long.
MURCIA
It is crazy how you can drive 200 miles south and the temperature rises 30 degrees and your Spanish comprehension decreases a solid level or two due to the drastic accent change. I touched/swam/scuba-dived in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, watched sunrise and played and ultimate game of hide and seek at dusk from la batería (old defense post overlooking the sea), went fishing with the local fishermen, spent the day fishing with my younger host brother and a local fisherman, visited one of the oldest cities in Spain, Cartagena, and I still feel like all of it was a dream.
My host family has a house in La Azohía which is a little beach-front town in Murcia. It doesn’t have a developed beach (rockless shorefront) which keeps the crowds minimal to non-existent. It is also where 70% of Europe’s tomatoes are grown!
On Monday morning we woke up early and headed to the docks where we embarked with the fishermen and headed out of the bay to the system of nets the fishermen have set. They practice a type of fishing that is only used in six places in the world. There are two main boats that have a large net placed between each other, the boats get closer and closer to each other, until all the fish eventually spill on board of one boat. The fish gets boxed up, returns to shore, and flies off to China, except for the one fish we ate later that day.
Getting up before the sun was painful thanks to the time change, but watching the sunrise from the ruins of an old defense post with canons and everything overlooking the sea was an unforgettable experience. Being in a place that has canons and towers makes it impossible to not want to run around like a spy (Agents Tina and Fiona pictured below).
We also returned to La Batería another night to play the most intense game of hide and seek I have played in my life. We hid in tunnels, rooms, towers, underneath canons.
Sebas and I spent 7 hours fishing with an 18 year old local. Unfortunately the didn’t have any hunger (as we say in Spanish) and we caught only one edible fish and one very poisonous fish. Despite the bad luck, I worked on my tan and the incredible scenery.
When my host dad asked if Fiona and I wanted to go scuba diving, I was thinking “You are kidding right?” Scuba diving has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember and getting to scuba dive in the Mediterranean was a complete dream come true. Being said that I am not scuba-certified, we couldn’t go very deep, but there is nothing to complain about spending and hour underwater with an abundance of marine life.
The trip included all sorts of other experiences and memories (like Tina catching a fish with her toe) and I put together a video of the trip you can watch below!!!!
I have soooo many pictures, here are my favorites!
SEMANA SANTA | EASTER BREAK
Easter in Spain is a very different experience than Easter in the U.S. For one, the Easter Bunny doesn’t come and secondly, watching the procession almost every night of the week gave me goosebumps and my heart was beating ten million times faster. To explain to my Spanish friends why this was such a scary experience is because the procession attire has a striking resemblance to the Klu Klux Klan, an extremist group in the United States. Despite the fact that my nerves were sky high, I really enjoyed watching the procession, moving one step at a time to the beat of the drum (which made it even scarier).
FIN DEL MUNDO | END OF THE WORLD
Semana Santa/Spring break came and after a long trimester of hard work we were all ready for the break.
It was a super great afternoon/night/morning with all these wonderful people and these memories will stick with me as some of the highlights of exchange.
Got questions? Ask ’em below!
Postcards from Spain 