Since my vacation to Tenerife, not too much has been happening here besides putting a 70s Road Trip on repeat in Spotify. If you have a Spotify, I really recommend this playlist. I have another one with music from the 50s-70s and I am rediscovering my 7th grade version of me who loved Earth, Wind, & Fire and The Eagles but also discover some other artists like my new obsession with The Beatles (yeah, I jumped on that bandwagon a little late,) Iggy Pop, Elvis Presley, Elton John, The Who, etc. Sometimes I find myself identifying with wanting to live in the 1920s, but perhaps the 60s and 70s were actually meant for me. Important things I ponder in my free time you see.
However, I did recently take a day trip to Pontevedra with other exchange students to do a little excursion and have lunch and get out of the house!
Fun day, really great for all the Galician exchangers to get together because last time we were all together was in November for our Santiago de Compostela trip and Thanksgiving. In fact, Eric left Tenerife the day before I got there so I just missed him. I really enjoyed Pontevedra though. It was big enough that it is considered a city, but also small enough that there was no bus system and you could walk anywhere in a decent amount of time. Truly, apart from all of the rain during the winter, I immensely like Galicia. It's really beautiful and when it is warm and sunny, the beach is nice to have so close to home.
Other new things: Monday, so in two days, I will leave for Andalucia for Semana Santa aka Easter week. My family and I will be going to Linares, Granada, Toledo, and I am reeeeeeeaaally hoping for Sevilla since La Feria de Abril is happening there. La Feria is a month long "fair" where Flamenco dancing litters every corner of the city and it's a fiesta constantly. One thing I do know for sure is that we are going to La Alhambra which is the castle where the Arab king lived in Granda. Rumor has it that you have to make reservations to get a tour/go inside up to 6 months ahead of time because it is such a hot spot in Spain to see. I am incredibly thankful for the fact that we are going. Not to mention, we are going back to my favorite city in Spain when it is actually warm outside! Supposed to be in the high 20ºCs all week! For those who use Fahrenheit, it will be 70ºF-80ºF all week. Not too shabby I'd say! Apparently, my host family has an orchard in Toledo so it is possible we will be going there and maybe picking fruit? Or whatever food grows in said orchard. It will be a good week!
As soon as we get back from our Semana Santa vacation, I leave 4 days later to go to Madrid and RUN MY FIRST EVER MARATHON. AHHHHHHHHH. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!! I have been training for this race since the end of October when I decided I wanted to have a hard and unique goal for my fitness for the year, so I decided to run a marathon. I can't even begin to thank the family I will be staying with in Madrid for allowing me to stay with them (without them, I couldn't go since I have to stay with people from Rotary) as well as God for giving me a body healthy and strong enough to run 26.2 miles (or 42 kilometers) at one time. I am hoping to use this race as a launching pad for future goals I have for myself in life like running an ultrathon of 50 miles or 80ish kilometers, maybe an Iron Man, running a marathon on every continent (yes, I recently found one on Antarctica. I was beyond ready to jump at that opportunity one day,) etc. Granted these are goals I have now and they are subject to change as I grow older and my body becomes more or less adept to running/doing activity for crazy long distances, but being healthy is easier when you have a long term set for yourself. That is one thing this year has taught me.
Other things I am doing? Well, school is now becoming primarily tests and preparing for tests so a good portion of the time, my teachers tell me I don't have to come to class or take notes or pay attention really because the material to learn is ending. Trust me, I took enough IB and AP tests last year to know what my classmates are going through and the best thing I can do is let them study and understand when they are stressed that taking a short walk or getting a snack together can alleviate a lot of worry. Been there, done that.
Because of all this free time during the day now, I want to be constructive with it, so I am fulfilling my New Year's goal I set for myself! The goal is to learn all the countries of the world, their capitals, and where they are located on the map. Successfully, I can tell you every single country, name about 130 capitals, and can place the majority on the map. I am still working on Africa, Eastern Europe, and Oceania locations, but it helps when in my main classrooms at school, there are maps I will stare at. Not only does it help me learn locations of countries, but also their names in Spanish!
Last night, I also finished my first compilation baking book of some of my favorite cake, cupcake, cookie, brownie, bar, pie, frosting, bread, muffin, baked good recipes as well as ones I really want to try or have saved on my email or Stumbleupon or wherever. It is 104 pages long. I want nothing more to bake now. Basically I am saying that if ever you or someone you know wants a homemade cake or pie or whatever, I will gladly make one. Give me ingredients and a kitchen and I am set to go. My one payment being a piece of what I make. That's it. I just want an excuse to bake and make food, especially for other people, I love that. Hence why another dream of mine in life is to have a bakery. Will it happen? I don't know, but I actually think a lot about having one and what I would make and sell and where it would be. Again, important things I ponder in my free time.
However, I am actually thinking of important things in my free time like college! I have officially confirmed going to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities for the fall of 2014 and gotten an orientation date set, my housing application filled, and will be taking placement tests probably sometime soon (only after I brush up on my calculus and chemistry...) Although I am nervous, I am very excited as well because I know college will be amazing and hard and good for me. Nervous? But Ashlyn, you willingly moved to a new country for a year where you didn't know anyone? Alas, this is true, but it still doesn't quell my fear of not making friends. No, the classes don't scare me. No, navigating around a city doesn't scare me. No, living away from home doesn't scare me (I sure hope not after my exchange.) But yes, making friends, in my native language in my home country in my own state and even in a relatively familiar city scares me. What a weird kid I am. I have no problem talking to strangers and I am naturally a very outgoing and talkative person... Again, what an irrational fear to have. On the bright side, I do know some exchange students this year who will be doing PSEO next year at the U and I am crossing my fingers that maybe even some exchange students will actually be attending there so I won't be alone?
Maybe I should explain this a little more: shown to all exchange students in my district, and I believe fairly widely around the world as well, is the graph of culture shock.
Alright, so according to this graph, over the course of time, 10 months in my case, I will experience highs and lows of culture shock. What is culture shock? Exactly what it sounds like, being shocked at the cultural differences found in other places around the world. The graph shows how at first you are like a tourist, everything is new and exciting; then, you get frustrated a little because maybe you can't find that one food you always eat at home *cough* peanut butter *cough* at the grocery store or people on the streets aren't as friendly as they were back home, etc. You are realizing the little differences that begin to annoy you because you are in a foreign country for a long time; next, you have another high where you can get over not having peanut butter all the time or it's okay that you might have to work a little harder to be social with the people of said foreign place; again, another dip where you begin to question how you actually fit in. Do people see you as a poser? Can you actually survive here for all 10 months? Why can't I speak the language as well as I want? Discovering why a country is the way it is. And it puts you in a rut for a little bit again. Some people skip this all together; finally, assimilation and you enjoy being where you are. The new country is home. Your home country is still "home" but a memory of home and now you have established yourself here.
Here comes the most important part: look at the dip at the end of the graph and notice where you are: you are in your HOME country. What happens there? Why would you begin to fall into the depression trough while in your native land? Well, to be frank, you don't exactly fit in anymore with your peers like you used to. 10 months changed everyone, but more profoundly it changes you, me, exchange students, more so. We come back "home" after leaving home. Our 10 months abroad was not just a trip, but something intricately a part of us now. Our time away wasn't touristy; we got to know to locals, speak their language, eat their food, adapt their mannerisms. People will get sick and tired of listening to us talking about how great Spain or Brazil or Finland or Japan or wherever was or how things were different there. We fall into a sadness state because almost no one understands this special feeling we have that can only be obtained when living in a different country for a prolonged period of time. Except. Except other exchange students. We cling to each other like fire ants making a raft (picture for reference:)
Odd metaphor, yes. But what I am saying is that need each other because it is for sure that they understand us when we say, "My host mom did ... one day," or "While in [insert country here] ..." We gather in groups, and trust me, it is not that hard to find the exchange student. In fact, we have a Facebook group with old, current, and incoming exchange students with over 10,000 members. When someone posts in the group, a large portion comment or like saying something along the lines of "that totally happened to me too!" or "I know exactly what you are talking about!" To be quite honest, the majority of people I text or Skype are other exchange students!
I hope my fear of making friends makes a little more sense now. I know for a fact I won't fit in like I did before and I know people will tell me to stop talking about Spain, it is imminent. So, exchange students reading this and looking for a college, COME TO THE U AND I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!
To wrap up since this blog post is actually way longer than I thought it was going to be, you have had a glimpse into my mind and my dreams. I want to own a bakery, I hope to succeed at university while studying something I am passionate about, I wish I was living in 1970, I'd like to buy a boat and sail to all the Oceania countries, I hope to backpack through all the -stans of Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan which I believe to be one of the most underrated countries in the world,) I think it would be cool to motorcycle my way through South America, the list could continue on and on. My point being, I have a lot of plans stored up for myself, but ultimately, I have no control over them whatsoever if they are not in God's plan for me. As much as I want to do what I want in life, my heart longs more to do what God wants me to do and honor Him in all that I do. Maybe sailing from Kiribati to Fiji will honor God, maybe it won't. Prayers shouldn't be us asking Him to grant us our wishes so we can do what we want, but to ask Him to reveal what He has in store for us so we may carry out the big God story since we all play a vital role. It is easy to get caught up in my next adventure seeing as it is cheaper to fly to Kazakhstan than it is to Amsterdam or it cost the same to fly to Fiji as it does to London; or after watching the Vagabrothers YouTube videos on one minute destination vacations to Rio de Janeiro or Dubai (go watch them, they are amazing adventurers!) so we must keep our eyes fixed on Christ so we are not pulled away by the many selfish temptations around us.
~Ashlyn
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