“Life is like photography. You need the negatives to develop.”

                   So I've been here for a little over a month and I have gotten into the swing of things. I feel confident with the language, that is not to say that I can understand everything or say everything perfectly, but it's coming along. I'm not sure how to subtly say this, but I will be changing families sometime this week. I was placed with a wonderful family that was super welcoming even 3 months before coming here and a family that gave me a lot. I'm thankful to have spent my first month, I would call it my "birth" in Spain, with this family. They have taught me a lot, not only in Spanish but in things about myself and about people in general. 

                   What's next? Originally, it was up in the air where I would be going. I could stay relatively in Madrid or I could go to somewhere as far as the Canary Islands, for example. When I told my friends this, they were naturally upset because now our 9 months left together, filled with many promises of prospective plans, had now been shortened to days. I had confided in 3 of my Spanish friends what was going on. Later, more people new just from talk and also the part that's coming next. Sunday afternoon, I went to my friend, Eva's house to pick up a shirt I had left over there and maybe say our last goodbyes. While I was there, she told me her plan that her family could possibly host me but that she wasn't sure because they were already a big family and her parents had to talk about it. I didn't really want to get my hopes up, but I really liked the idea. Then while I was at her house, another friend texted me and said their family would host me. I passed both of the numbers of the moms to my liaison, and them the rest is in the hands of AFS. 

      I think what will end up happening is that I will be staying in Eva's house. Her parents said yes, and today they are having the home interview. As of now, I am pretty uninformed of what all is going on. I get most of my information from Eva. 

               Above all, what surprised me the most from this ordeal is that I didn't ask anyone to host me, these families and friends of mine reached out to me once they realized what was happening. I can't express my emotions for this. First of all, this shows what great friends I have here and how lucky I am. And secondly, this is a perfect example of the Spanish culture. They really go out of their way to do good for others. Like after school Monday, once the other people found out that I would most likely be Eva's new sister, a boy asked her why she was doing this for me and her answer was, "a mi me da pena." 

¨The smallest decisions that you make influence your life in the strangest of ways.¨

I can´t say that much new has happened. School is still school, and I am still improving my language skills everyday. I´ve met so many new people, and it is strange to think that if I never had made this decision to go, I would have never met all these people from around the world and from my city in Spain. 

This weekend was an exceptionally fun one. Friday, I had plans to go take coffee with a friend, but they somehow happened to be put off like two hours later, so I couldn´t hang out with the friends that I normally hang out with Fridays because I just didn´t have enough time. Also I wasn´t let aware that we would be hanging out with a couple of other people as well who all go to Antamira, the school of my sisters. We met up at Burger King, then she and I broke off and got coffees and napolitanas, and later we got back together and watched the whole town´s soccer practice. I´m not really sure the point of us going, but doesn´t that sound like a typical night in Spain besides the Burger King part. It was really cool to meet a bunch of new people because I had forgotten that I don´t know even half of the kids my age in my town. 

Also, probably my favorite thing about meeting new people is the fact that at first glance, I look completely Spanish, that is to say that I fit in for the most part with the people around me, so people don´t expect that I am any different or in any means foreign. So I purposely try to talk a lot when I don´t know people because their reactions are the funniest. A lot of people actually think I´m French or something, and it´s really  interesting to see how confused they get. 

The next day, Saturday, I went to Madrid with Lucia, another American. It was really great to be able to talk to another foreign exchange student again, even though the first five minutes of speaking English was so weird. And we sat through the whole metro ride speaking in our language that nobody else could understand. Picture going to the nail salon and not understanding anything the people are saying and with constant fear that they are talking about you. Well now we were the ones painting nails, not literally though because it just wouldn´t work out on a metro if you´ve ever ridden one. So the original plan was to go shopping, but after browsing around a few stores, we realized that we didn´t have ¨ganas´¨ or desire to do so. We just enjoyed walking around and speaking English is loudly as possible when walking by large groups of people our age. Then we came across a discoteca with a bunch of well dressed teenagers waiting outside. This is one discoteca that we could go to, and it is only opened until 10 and then later opens for people of age. Originally, we had decided that this was way to lame, but it actually looked extremely fun. After a whole ordeal of trying to not be dressed so lamely, we went in and it was such a great decision. It was packed with people and a really cool atmosphere. The strangest part is that we ran into 2 other AFSers, Sean and Aidyn. 

Sunday was a really great day as well. Nerea had to do a project for class where she is learning about where she lives. This week she is learning about La Puerta del Sol or Door in the Sun, she says, so the whole familiy took the metro there where we walked around, took pictures, and sightsaw(?). We also went to the Plaza Mayor and had coffee, cake, and ice cream. It was everything that one would imagine and more. Madrid is such a beautiful and exciting city. I could go there every Sunday and do the same thing without getting bored. The streets are filled with people who each have their own story and shops that sell just about anything that you can imagine. It is so Europe, y tengo mucha suerte para estar aquí.