Spain, the World Leader in Organ Donations

After studying abroad in Madrid for a year, I would say that I agree that study abroad doesn’t change who you are but helps you discover yourself. Many people study abroad in college, but studying abroad in high school is less common and, in my opinion, more daring. There were about 100 students from all over the world, Germany to Hong Kong, who chose to go to Spain last year. I always found it interesting that people from all different backgrounds and places chose to do the same thing I had done.

            Personally, I expected more of a difference that there actually was. Whether you are in Spain or the U.S., there are grocery stores, class clowns, coffee machines, etc. The teenagers my age worried about the same thing every American teenager might worry about. There are difficult classes and teachers we take more seriously than others. 7,000 kilometers doesn’t change human nature.

            However, there was one major difference that stood out to me. Spain is the world leader in organ donations. This is the most generous, kind-hearted culture I have come across in my short, 17 years of life.

Not only based off of statistics, I can also attest to this from my personal experiences. After being told that I would have to leave my first host family, I was sad about the possibility of having to move to a different town and start over, and I disclosed said information to two friends. In the matter of less than a week, Marisa and Eva, my new host mother and her daughter, were there to pick up me and my crammed suitcase, a year in a bag.

I have never been able to fully thank my host family. Opening up your home to someone, especially for a year, is a lot more than a simple favor than can be correctly appreciated with a mere thank you. Spain taught me how five, benevolent strangers can become your family.

“You cracked hourglass, with sand spilling from behind your ribs: you wasted my time.“

They say time is one of the most valuable things you can give to somebody. It’s maybe one of the only things you can give away and won’t ever and can’t ever get back.  We are all guilty of investing our time in things that we find out were never really worth it.  Sometimes we have too much time in day and other times it’s not enough.  Instead of judging our days on how much we’ve done in a day, we should judge them by how much we have learned in one.

            The most beautiful days are those of which you do something that you have never done before. If we wake up everyday and do the same thing over and over again, as fun as it may be, it’s really doing us no good. We should live each day to its best. Those are the days, of course, that we will remember for years and years to come.

I remember some of my most memorable days were the days when I took risks. Sometimes it can be good to do something crazy and not particularly safe.  Sometimes you’ll wind up at 1 a.m. taking a taxi-cab to strange places or nervously taking a bus in the afternoon to other strange places, praying to get off at the right stop.  Sometimes it’s okay to  pretend like you are leaving school with a mother and her daughter and running home to lay out in the Madrid sun for an hour before anyone gets home, and it’s certainly okay to run home in the rain with no shoes on and sit on a bench near home while watching your brothers play soccer.  Those are the days that you remember.

I certainly couldn’t tell you about each and every one of the days when I woke up, went to school, got home, ate lunch, took a siesta and studied for a few hours, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Once you do something every day, it no longer stands out in your mind. Yes, I know I did that most days, and they were numerous, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you about all the days that I did.

My point behind all this is to take risks. Sometimes you have to do something that sounds ridiculous. I mean what’s the worst that could happen?

            

Holidays

Yes, I realize that I haven't written in a good amount of time. It's because I've been really busy with school and vacation.

Here are my grades from the first trimester.

Ampliación de física y química- 8
Biología y Geología- 7
Ciencias Sociales- 6
Educación Física- 4
Ético cívica- 6
Física y Química- 4
Informática- 5
Inglés- 9
Lengua Castellana y Literatura- 4
Matemáticas- 7

The grading scale is, obviously, a little bit different here. Anything that is a 5 and above is passing. I failed 3 classes: P.E., Spanish Lit, and Physics/chemistry. I was actually very pleased with myself because there were many other students who failed just as many or more than me.

Katrina came the weekend we got out of school if I remember correctly. She spent the night in my house, and we went to Telepizza with my boyfriend and his friends so she could meet him in person. The next day, we went to Madrid with Lucia, Aidyn, Sean, and some of their Spanish friends.

Other exciting things that have happened:
I went to a Belén, which is a real live nativity set with tons of people dressed up standing still, with Asier's family.

We had Christmas in the house and Papa Noel came and brought us gifts. He doesn't come in the middle of the night here. He actually rings the doorbell at 12ish and leaves all the gifts on the doorstep.

New Year's Eve- we ate 12 grapes in the 12 last seconds of the year.

Afterwards, at about 2:30, we went to a party in Ajalvir and didn't return till 6:30 a.m.

Día de los Reyes- now the three wise men come, and they actually come during the night and they woke up to gifts

I lost my passport, credit card, and money or it was stolen in the metro

Later, I found my passport in the airport after talking to the police