Adiós, España! (Alternate Title = 'Exchange Rocks!')

As I write this blog entry, I am sat in my rather comfortable bed in Spain, about to go to sleep in it for the last time. (For a while, at least – Isabel has extended me an open invitation to return whenever, for as long as I’d like :D)

I’m not entirely sure if I’m ecstatic or miserable to be going back home. I think it’s a healthy combination of the two. If anything, it will be nice to escape the current Spanish weather – the past three days have been over 40 degrees in Madrid, and not much better in Valencia!

A lot of people – actually, almost everyone I’ve spoken to in the past month – have asked me if I regret my decision to enrol in a Semester Program of exchange, as opposed to a Year Program. The answer is generally ‘no’. While I am quite upset to bid Colmenarejo ‘adios’ tomorrow, I still feel that the length of time I’ve spent over here is perfect for me, and that it’ll be good to get back to Perth and find some good, solid work for the second half of the year.

(Moral of the story: Don’t listen to exchange companies when they imply very strongly that the Semester Program is for wimps. I knew what I was signing up for!)

And hey, a semester is still a semester. And it’s been a busy, and wholly worthwhile one.

I’ve travelled to the other side of the world completely on my own – and without losing my passport once! [Let’s hope I didn’t just jinx that for tomorrow.]

I’ve gained a strong foundation in Spanish as a second language. While I’m still far from perfect, I can carry out a conversation and almost always understand what people are saying. It’s certainly something that I am hoping to continue to study, if I can only figure out how in Perth...

I’ve had a snowball fight!

I’ve lost a bit of weight.

I’ve made some wonderful friends. The friends my age are a lovely bunch of guys that have introduced me to some rather new and exciting experiences. My absolute best friend in Spain, however, has been my host mother Isabel. She and I have got on from day one, sharing a love of linguistics, fruit tea, bad puns, discussing human rights, jazz music and world history – among other things. She’s been so welcoming to me, and so open and patient. I feel remarkably lucky.

I’ve eaten so much new, delicious food.

I’ve seen beautiful places – tiny villages, big cities, the tops of mountains.

I’ve acquired three more siblings. Daniel, Maria and Antonio have all made my time here both wonderful and infuriating on different occasions. I feel like they’ve really become my family – we poke fun at each other, we sing Shakira and Kanye West songs together, we’ve taught each other to play sports and musical instruments and card games, and we squabble constantly. I’ll miss the three of them a hell of a lot.

I’ve visited Valencia not once, not twice, but three times.

I’ve played hockey, been to discotecas and house parties, strolled the streets of Madrid alone because I could, played Marco Polo about a million times, been to a traditional Spanish funeral, passed school sport, discovered that I actually like museli...

I could go on, of course, but I think you get the picture.

If anyone younger than me is reading this and considering exchange, I would absolutely recommend it. It’s fascinating to remove yourself from your comfort zone, particularly if – like me – you’ve spent your entire life living in the same house, in the same city.

I also feel like so much of the reason I have benefitted from this exchange has come from living with a different family. Staying in a house so different from mine, with a family so different from mine, was eye-opening, sometimes frustrating, and an interesting way to learn about the way my own family functions.

So yeah, exchange rules! If you’re really thinking about it, check out SEANZ – these guys are the ones that sorted me, Breanna and Jess out. They’re top.

So – guess that’s it. Better get some sleep to prepare for a 25 hour or so commute.

Adiós, España! Voy a volver pronto.

A Quick Update Yo

Today: I went to the Museo Del Prado with my host family. An absolute must for anyone that every visits Madrid. An amazing collection of artwork, a gorgeous building, and some rather delicious food at the cafe.

Tomorrow: I'm off to Oliva-Nova in Valencia again, to stay at the beach for my last few nights! I'm so excited to be heading back, and I'm really glad I'll get to spend some good quality time with the host fam before I leave.

Now - must start packing.

Solsticio Feliz!

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone!

(Or Winter Solstice for those of you in Australia, I suppose!)

We celebrated the longest day of the year last night with some good family friends and a feast of epic proportions! Mmm. Spanish omlette [tortilla de patatas], spinach pie [pastel de espinacas], nachos [...nachos], sausages [chorizos], and cheese and garlic bread [pan con ajo y queso]. Plus, of course, plenty of wine [vino], cake [pastel] and ice cream [helado]!

We danced, told jokes and riddles and stories, had a midnight swim in the pool, and sang Shakira songs at the top of our voices. Also, I was finally taught how to play the castanets properly!

This party also served as a bit of a goodbye for me to these particular friends - Cristina and Reuben, and Mila, Ricardo and Nacho. All of whom are lovely, welcoming and hilarious people, who I feel so lucky to have met.

Why goodbye? Because um, I go home in less than a week, apparently. What? When did that happen!?

Picspam 5 - Retiro Park/Puerta Del Sol

I headed out on another solo voyage to Madrid yesterday, wiith two main purposes -

1) To check out Retiro Park. Retiro Park, or Parque De Madrid, is made up of some gorgeous, once-upon-a-time-palace-gardens. I ate lunch, wandered, read my book, and had an amusing walk along the man-made lake with a gaggle of Irishmen.

2) To have a look around the current protest camp in Puerta Del Sol. For those who haven't heard about this, I suggest watching the video at the link - but basically, the protests stemmed from public anger at the political response to the economic crisis in Spain. This anger led to hundreds of people (known, in Spanish, as 'The Indignant Ones') camping in one of the busiest places in Madrid, the Puerta Del Sol square. The camp has grown to become a media-attention-grabbing voice against many of the big issues in Spain; political corruption, sexism, homophobia and universal lowering of salaries, as the main exmaples. For the huge politics nerd that I am, it was so exciting to walk around, and to chat to some of the protestors!

It was another amazing and fascinating day, and I could go on and on with stories.

However, a picture speaks a thousand words, apparently. So here's 9000 words about my Saturday!

In Which Grace Commutes Solo To Madrid

I've been into central Madrid a handful of times whilst I've been here. A few times with friends, and a few times with my host family - but always with people, and with a specific purpose for being there.

Yesterday, finally feeling comfortable enough in my Spanish and my knowledge of Madrid's public transport system to do so, I ventured into the CBD by myself.

This is something that I've been keen to do for a while, to say the least. When I first heard that my host family placement was in the province of Madrid, I was stoked at the thought that maybe I would get the chance to explore the major streets of the capital of Spain alone.

That's not to say that I don't love exploring with other people. But going out into the culmination of centuries worth of history and culture and hubub by myself was such a different experiences. I could stop to look at the statues, plaques and parks that locals don't bother to glance at. I could wander, in an aimless and leisurely fashion, focussed more on the experiencing than the doing.

So that's exactly what I did, bussing and then metro-ing until I arrived in Plaza de España at about 2pm.

I took a stroll through a little park, stumbling across fountains, statues, some amazing markets, and some delicious take away coffee.

I ate lunch by myself in a small, beautiful cafe on the Gran Via. I ordered the somewhat typical bocadillo calamares, and dutifully refused the free glass of beer that came with it - opting instead for a Diet Coke. (I was also asked out by the waiter. That was... interesting.)

I went into shops, from the nine-storey megastore El Corte Inglés to the tiny, ancient little jewellery shops. I'll admit, I bought a fair bit yesterday - both for me and for some of you lucky things.

When it hit 8.30pm, still nowhere near dark, the nightlife began to emerge and so I felt as though I'd better skedaddle.

In my last couple of weeks here I'll be on exam break - while I don't have to take the exams, all my friends will be busy studying themselves silly. With Isabel still working and Daniel, Maria and Antonio still at school, I was worried I'd be rather bored. Now, knowing I can tackle Madrid, I'll take it upon myself to do all the stuff I'd been worried I wouldn't get the chance to - museums and art galleries, the Palace, the botanic gardens.

The experience was absolutely incredible. I can't really describe it well enough. I've not on this entire exchange felt more independent, or grown up. I was chilling in Madrid, guys!

On The Road Again (What is it about Valencia that inspires song-themed blog posts?)

On the weekend, I travelled to Valencia - the city of strangely-shaped buildings.

I headed off on a trip organised by my exchange company, Juventud y Cultura.

I was considering not going, because twelve hours total on a bus seemed like a rather long time to only stay in a city for one night.

However - I am so, so glad that I decided on tagging along. It was an awesome trip, with an amazing bunch of exchange students.
Here we all are! Out of the 13 of us, 6 were Aussies, one was a Kiwi and one Belgian with Australian parents and accent. Us folks from Down Under totally dominated!

Turns out that the six hours on a bus both ways was actually a lot of fun. I got to spend some time getting to know fellow exchange students and Aussies.
I made some great friends, and shared plenty of both exchange-related and entirely random stories. I also realised just how much I have been missing the Australian sense of humour! And, I'll be honest, it was quite exciting to talk in English again.

Once we arrived in Valencia, we dumped our bags at our hotel (Yes, Michael, it was 'spiffy digs'!) before heading straight off to the Oceanográfic - Spain's largest aquarium! It was rather entertaining - there was lots to see, our favourites included the whales, a high diving act, and a pair of walruses!


Next up on the agenda was the Museo De Las Ciencias. For anyone heading to Valencia, I would absolutely recommend this place - think Scitech, only HUGE! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there, and spent a good couple of hours pressing buttons, pulling levers, swinging pendulums and electrocuting one another.

That night, tapas was on the menu for dinner. Of course, our coordinator had forgotten that Saturday night was the night of the Champions League final! We finally found a (very, very crowded) bar to grab some food in. It was quite a posh little bar, but the only place with any room.
Every time Barcelona scored the street exploded with cheers! People would dance, and once or twice a firework was set off.

Once we could tear ourselves away from the soccer, we took a midnight stroll through Valencia. It was gorgeous.
The next morning, after a delicious buffet breakfast, we took off to the beach! Which, to be honest, was a bit of a let down for those of us that had experienced Australian beaches. But it was an alright way to pass a few hours!

We ate some early lunch at the beach, and then spent our last few hours in the city centre. We visited some churches, had a look around the local souvenir markets, tried our best to dodge the rain, and took plenty of photos!
Aaand then we headed back on another six hour bus ride home, but it wasn't without its excitement! Excitement such as these somewhat suspicious items for sale at the petrol station. Hmm.

Yet Another Update On My Spanish

A few weeks ago, I had to take a test a test in Spanish. This was to give my school and my exchange program an indication of how my language skills were progressing. There was an hour of speaking - which was rather fun, because it consisted of playing games with another exchange student! - and then an hour of reading/writing.

Today I got the results back! I was quite pleased.

I received 85% for speaking, and 75% for writing. My Spanish teacher was particularly happy with my 'extended writing' piece, in which I was required to "write a few paragraphs describing your favourite holiday destination", because I scored 9.5/10.

So, for those interested in how my written Spanish is going - here's the product of half an hour under exam conditions, ie. no dictionary or verb conjugation tables!

(If you are curious as to what it says I recommend Google Translate - which can give you a good, if gramatically incorrect, idea.)

Isla Rottnest - conocido como 'Rotto' en mi ciudad, Perth - es una isla en el coste oeste de Australia. Es muy poco pero tan bonita, y es un destino popular para vacaciones. Me encanta Rotto.

Rotto es reservado solo para vacaciones. Nadie viviendo en la isla. Es tan popular porque es un sitio perfecto para relax. El alojamiento es poco chaletes cual alojar familias de cinco o seis personas. Todos los chaletes son con vista al mar.

Mucho de Rotto es bonito. Las playas son maravilloso, y puede nadar, tomar el sol, pescar y (muy tipica de Australia!) jugar cricket. La isla tiene un arrecife, y puede esnorkel ver peces y un naufragio! Es una isla con mucho vegetation - es muy verde.

Ademas, Rotto tiene 'quokkas', unos poco, peludos animales son no otra sitio en el mundo!

La especial cosa de Rotto es que es sin coches. Todo el mundo debemos utilizar bicicletas, o caminar. Asi, es muy seguro para niños.

Mi familia gustamos ir a Rottnest en la primavera, especialmente octubre. Gustamos pescar, nadar y especialmente comer en la famosa 'Panaderia de Rotto'!

Este año, quiero ire en bici alrededor de todo la isla con mi padre. Porque la isla es tan poco, solo necesitamos montar seis horas!

Otherwise, not too many interesting things have been happening in the past few weeks! I've spent the last few weekends just relaxing around the house during the day.

I've been to the disco a couple of times with my friends, which has been quite a lot of fun. Dancing to loud technopop in a club - I'm living the teenage dream!

Next weekend I'm off to Valencia again for two nights, on a trip organised by my exchange program. I'm looking forward to meeting some fellow exchange students - and, of course, eating more paella!