good vibrations

Every morning I walk about 15 minutes to school. The pinks and yellows from the sunrise are always just fading as I make my way heading east down the main stretch to my school. I always have my iPod in as I walk and today the song "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys came up on my shuffle. I'd say that song title epitomizes how I'm feeling right now. I'm still confused with the language restrictions sometimes, I had my first full week of school and I can't say I'm totally comfortable there yet. I still sometimes get surprise when I see Spanish advertisements, when I walk by a bakery and see "Panaderia" above it, and when I wake up and I'm not in my American bed. But this confusion is not bad in any way, I'm picking up only good vibrations.



My Spanish is getting better. I'm understanding more and more each day, I'm finding myself saying things without having to literally translate each word or phrase in my head, and I can hear my very own Spanish accent rapidly developing. This is due in large part to my first week of school. It passed by rapidly, getting accustomed to my classes and friends. I love waking up in the morning and knowing that I have some consistency in my days, though I didn't remember how much my body and I dislike waking up at 7:30 in the morning. I wake up (and take my pills, mom :) and for breakfast I have Spanish coffee (unlike anything I've ever tasted) and a peach or apple and a piece of toast with a tomato paste and olive oil. I brush my teeth and walk out the door to a pleasant, cool morning and to my school IES Carlos Bousono.

My classes rotate every day, the only consistency to my days is that we follow the same time schedule every day, the classes vary. For example, one day I might have chemistry, english, philosophy, history, earth sciences, and psychology, and the next they may be rearranged or one may be substituted with spanish or biology. The only classes that I feel lost in are Philosophy and History because the concepts are abstract and I, shockingly, never learned the vocabulary words for "unified beings" and "barbaric invadors". My history teacher is an unforgettable woman. For those of you who know Mrs. Saxton-West at NHS who is impeccably prepared, maticulously organized, and unnaturally intelligent, I can only say I've found her Spanish compliment. Even though I've already learned most of the things they're teaching in my science classes, I find myself understanding the concepts all the more thouroughly because I have to listen more intently due to the language barrier. I always read the chapters I'm supposed to in my books and attempt at least a part of the homework; my teachers seem like they're at least expecting my to TRY and, that, ladies and gentlemen, I can do.

I have quite a few friends at school now, people that I'm with pretty consistently in my class of 24 students or so. I also introduce myself to new kids every day, always travelling around with my friend Alicia who loves motorbikes, studying, and hip hop dance. Jesus is from Mexico and has lived here for three years because of his parents work, he has essentially no social boundaries, plays paintball every day, and is incredibly intelligent, despite trying to appear like he's not. Daniel is somewhat of a nerd, always has intensely white shoes and is well-groomed; he uncomfortably laughs when he probably shouldn't. Adrian is a dashing Spanish devil, he lived in Canada for a year so his English is decent and he seems like he's up for pretty much anything. I have more people at school that I know pretty well, but these are the kids that I'm with for most of the day, and I see the other exchange student Jesse at the 25 minute break.

I met my counselor yesterday, a short, dominating little presence that swept me up in her arms when we met and told me immediately how gorgeous I am and how she looked just like me 30 years ago. She has to be at least 60 years old (which either means I look like I'm 30 or she's slightly confused about her age) and speaks very loudly- she doesn't dwell on questions, just waits for an answer and then clicks right along to the next. She informed me about the importance of having some sort of religion, of always keeping my purse zipped in the city, and how there were far too many South Americans in our town of Majadahonda. I'm to call her if I ever run into any trouble and send her emails very occasionally just for an update on how I'm feeling. I left our meeting totally exhausted :)

I have an enormous blister on the bottom of my foot that grows steadily each day from all the walking. My clothes are fitting a little looser despite all the food that I'm eating and my white Minnesota glow isn't radiating quite as much as the Spanish sun has been tinting my skin ever so slightly. This week I've been shopping with Bea, out to eat with my friend Rocio, I went into Madrid last night with my friend Robi and today we go back to our grandpa's house for the weekly lunch. Next weekend we have the same type of Fiestas that I've described in past posts, except in a neighboring suburb of Las Rozas. Keeping busy definitely takes the edge off of homesickness and I'm realizing now how fast time really can move if you're not hyperfocusing on it. Having talked to other exchange students and based off of my own feelings, sometimes it feels like we should constantly be doing things. Like whenever we're just sitting at home doing homework or just watching TV we're wasting our time here and should be out exploring our cities or countries. But I'm realizing further each day, that if Rotary desires for us that we live the life of a "typical" teenager in a different country, we're doing exactly what every other teenager does everywhere in the world, living day to day, not out changing the world every school night.

As we read in psychology class the other day, "we shouldn't judge this life or it's consequences, we shouldn't ask "why are we happy?", but simply embrace the happiness and forever seek more of it." I can't say that's a literal translation, but it is the general idea and it rings true for me as I pick up more and more good vibrations here in Spain. Each day gets better, each day I find more familiarity, more things to identify with across the Atlantic. I'm almost to my month mark, which feels surreal and brings with it a mixture of sadness, anticipation, and excitement. I'm picking up good vibrations and beautiful Spain is giving me definite excitations. I appreciate your comments, emails, and encouragements and I can only say thank you to Rotary again and again.

Un Besito, Sam