3 exciting months / tres meses excitante

It's officialy 3 months or 92 days since I arrived in Spain! I can't believe how fast the time goes - in less than 7 months I will be back in my country, back to the normal life.

It's crazy to imagine that soon I will no longer be that exchange student with a funny accent, always making mistakes that make sentences sound inappropriate and girl from 'north', 'Slovakia' or just 'from far away' who is always stuck in awkward situations, because most of the time doesn't have idea what's going on. So, for now I'm just trying to make the best of the time that I'm here and enjoy every moment, even though sometimes it's really hard. 

 

I joined the gym in the town to fill my free time and to get more busy. I've been going there for a while now, but in the past two weeks I've been going with one friend, which makes it even more fun. Together we also joined zumba, so my free time actually became productive. I also decided to change the class and go to a year higher, so I will be with the people of my age, but since the school system sucks they still haven't decided if I can change it or not.

AFS activities keep my life busy as well. Last weekend we had an excursion  with bikes by the sea in Barcelona and next week we're having 'merienda intercultural' when everybody has to bring food typical for their country. I'm also going on some trips with AFS, including visit of Sagrada Familia and trips to Madrid and Andalusia.  

The progress in understanding the two languages I'm learning this year is huge since I got here without knowing them at all (well, I knew some spanish from telenovelas). Now that I'm capable of having conversations in castellano it made my life here much more easier, because not a lot of people talk english here. And what concerns catala, I'm finally able to understand it more or less, yay! (I don't know how to talk though)

However, this first three months were full of ups and downs, but right now I'm  having the best time so far, because I got to know more people and I'm finally capable of having a decent conversation in spanish. I got closer and more comfortable with my family as well, so I can already see that goodbye will be very difficult for me.


You can check photos I took here

Vacations!

Since my life here is very busy, I don't have that much time to write, even though I really should do it more often, because right now I'm confusing all the languages I know with spanish. So, here is a short post about my first vacations with my family about two months ago (wow, time goes so fast).

 

First day we visited theme park Port Aventura. It's one of the most visited theme parks in Europe and it features areas based on the civilizations (Far West, Mexico, China, Mediterrania and Polynesia). Port Aventura has a lot of amazing attractions, including roller-coasters 'Furius Baco' with a top speed of 135 km/h, 'Dragon Khan' and 'Shambhala: Expedicion al Himalaya' which is about 75m tall and has the longest drop in Europe with top speed of 134 km/h. Since a day we spent in the theme park consisted a lot of adrenalin and fun, this sure was an unforgettable start of vacations.

  

Second day we visited one of my favourites cities so far, Tarragona. It's located in north-east of Spain and is surrounded by Mediterranean Sea. During the Roman Empire it was one of the main cities of Spain. The ruins of that time are still visible and have also been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

 

 That day we also came across an interesting project, about which you can read more here.

I really enjoyed my first holidays with my new family, because I got to see a lot of new amazing places, and what is the most important, we had tons of fun!

64

It has been more than two months since I left home in Slovenia and started a new life here in Spain. In these 64 days I had a lot of ups and downs. Beside meeting new people, going to new places and adapting to new habits, I also had some bad days, when I really missed my friends  and questioned my decision. Despite all this, I still don't regret my decision of starting this amazing experience and I believe it will only get better.
 

There are a lot of differences between our cultures. One of the biggest I noticed is in the school system. They start secondary school at age of twelve. It consists 4 years of ESO and after that optional 2 years of batchillerato starting at age of sixteen. Their school hour lasts exactly one hour and not 45 minutes like in my country. There aren't 5 minutes breaks between every class, but only two breaks during the whole day (from 8.00 to 14.30). First lasts 20 minutes and the other one 10 minutes. Even though I had a lot of difficulties with understanding the system at the begining, I'm getting used to it now. However I still can't get used to the relationship between the students and the teachers. I bet teachers in Slovenia wouldn't last even one week with students here.

Since bachillerato is optional and my classmates (which are a year younger than me) study a lot, I have a lot of time in the afternoon not really knowing what to do. Normally I read books, study Spanish or Catalan, watch series, spend time with family or go to the gym. During my time here I also visited Barcelona and festival La Mercè, Port Aventura, Tarragona, Gaudi's museum in Reus, Girona,... So far I loved all the places I've been to and I can't wait to discover more magnificent places.

You can check photos of my exchange here.

Beginning of my spanish life

And so it began.
I have arived to Spain 5 days ago. I flew from Ljubljana to Zurich and then from Zurich to Madrid, where I spent my first day in Spain with other exchange students. Now it's my 4th day in Barcelona with an amazing host family. 

That's what I learned so far:
1. When you have no idea what others are saying, just smile and say 'si' a lot.
2. It's normal for them to wear shoes in the house.
3. Spaniards are very friendly people, who sure like to touch you all the time, even if you are just a stranger.

4. You greet everyone with a kiss on each cheek.
5. On TV everything is in Spanish.
6. It doesn't matter if you can't speak spanish well, what matters is that you try. People will see you're making an effort to learn the language and they will appreciate it a lot.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time here so far and I believe it will only get better. Here are some photos I took:

10 days to go

Only 6 days of summer holidays are left over and only 10 days till I leave for Spain. I had a lot of doubts at first, but now I'm almost 100% sure I will have the best year ever. Sure, there are things I will miss, like my family and friends, who I can't even imagine living without, but I believe this year living abroad will definetely be worth it.

Few weeks ago I got an amazing family in a small town called Sant Esteve in Barcelona. I have two younger brothers Abel and Pau, and parents Isidre and Mila, who are enthusiastic about sports and nature. They are all very open-minded and friendly people, who I just can't wait to meet. 

In addition to everyhing, the exchange also provides you learning a new language. Even if I was scared at first, because I only know few words in spanish (una cerveza por favor), I am now happy that I have a chance, not only to learn one language, but also catalan besides spanish. I believe I will return home with a lot of new knowledge, experiences and opportunities for even better future.