Barcelona, Being a Tourist and BBQs

Kimya, Me, Panda, Calli, Ciel

Me and Karl

At Kendra's friends birthday party

The Beach :D

Me and Kendra at Parc Güell


Here is the email I sent out today, it talks about what I did the second half of May, and what I've been up to so far in June.
Pictures from everyday life and Barcelona.

So, its June...when did that happen? I figured it was about time for my final "monthly" update....It's completely unreal that this is the last time I will update you all on my time in Spain, soon I will be with you all, telling stories face to face.
Nothing much has changed since May...my Spanish still improves everyday, but there haven't been any big breakthroughs lately. My family here is still the best thing that could have happened to me. I am so thankful everyday for what they have given me here, a home and a life. I have recently done some traveling, here is my time in Barcelona:
Day 1: Fresh off the one hour plane ride from Madrid to Barcelona, I met my friend Kendra at the airport. She is another exchange student from Newfoundland that I met previously on the Italy trip. We went to her house first to settle in, then it was back to Barcelona to be tourists! We went to Parc Güell, the Gaudí Park, Sagrada Familia and a couple of the main plazas in Barcelona. There seemed to be a large amount of people dressed in the Barça futbol team jersey... nothing seemed too out of the normal since they had just won their 3rd title this year the night before. We made our way down to the port where there continued to be TONS of people. THEN on top of a huge bus labeled "campeones" was the Barça team! Yupp, I saw them feet away from me, too bad they are my sworn enemies because my heart is for RealMadrid. :D haha. but really it was cool to see the team. Then we went and sat on the beach for awhile.
Day 2: BEACH DAY. an amazing sunny beautiful beach day, we played volleyball, went swimming, hung out with Kendra's friends and people watched. It was perfect. My poor friend kendra "forgot" to put on sunscreen and we were in the Spanish sun for 7 hours...the rest of the trip was spent bathing her in aloe vera. That night we went to Castellers in her pueblo. Castellers is human castle building. They stack people on top of people and little kids shimmy up the tower to the top. It was really interesting.
Day 3: We went to Kendra's soccer game, it was a tough loss because they didn't have their goalie playing. After that we went to get ice cream and followed the Castellers around the pueblo watching them make castles. That night we went out to celebrate one of Kendra's friends birthday.
Day 4: Went into Barcelona again and went to a music festival in which Karl Blau and Kimya Dawson were playing. I got to sit and hang out with them and their families and listen to good music. It was a good home away from home experience.
Day 5: Got home to the beautiful city of Madrid which I had missed so much during my days away.

So that was Barcelona. It really was amazing, and it was nice seeing another city in Spain. It also made me realize how thankful I am to live in Madrid. It has really been the perfect fit for me :) the only thing its missing is the beach!

In Madrid I have been doing quite a lot trying to fit everything into the small amount of time I have left. Kelly and I have been working through the list. Before Barcelona we went to our friends concert. We also went to the last RealMadrid game of the season. On another day we went to the Palacio Real, and walked around in Sol and Plaza Mayor. We also celebrated my brothers birthday with a HUGE barbeque and pool party. It was really cool to hang out with my Spanish friends at my house, it so rarely happens. I hope there is time for a couple more barbeques before I leave!

Since being back from Barcelona we have been doing quite a lot of relaxing and thinking. The days after Barcelona were spent trying to avoid the heat. It was SO unbearably hot and my friends kept saying, "yeah and you haven't even experienced an August in Spain".
I am truly going to miss the people that have come into my life here in Spain. They have all been so wonderful to me and I don't want to have to leave them. My only wish right now is that I could combine my life in Madrid and my life in Anacortes and be able to live them at once. It is not possible and that is the risk an exchange student takes....being ripped into two pieces for the rest of their lives. It only happens in certain exchanges, the ones that really work, really hold strong to you. I never realized it at first, the fact that I would not want to leave this place. I thought I was never going to make friends, never be close to the people here and then my friends back home gently reminded me "Maddy, Its been a week, give it a little more time, we believe in you" And really all it took was for me to believe in myself. After that I threw myself into life here. I didn't say no to any experience, I wouldn't be left behind on this amazing roller coaster ride of an exchange. And now I look at my life here, who I have become and the fact that I am in so much pain right now at the thought of leaving. All this just lets me know that I was a success here. I fulfilled what expectations I had. Here, I am part of a group, a group of amazing people that say they will miss me. They tell me I am a part of them and don't want me to leave. My host mom calls me 'niña' and my brothers refer to me as, 'hermanita'. This is what I wanted and what I accomplished being here. I have people I can come back to, I have a life here that will stay a part of me forever. Even though it will hurt to have it there sometimes, it is worth it every bit to have these people I can always come back to. The exchanges that really hold, I have lived one of those and just to let you all know how much a good one holds... I was talking to my dear friend Alberto today. He was an exchange student in Anacortes 2 years ago now...today we talked and he told me "I still picture myself in places of Anacortes everyday, dunno like anywhere I've been, I still dream about people in the USA" and now in a month I will get to see him again, he will get to see Anacortes again, and it will probably be one of the best months ever. a reunion. I already cannot wait for my reunion here.

I guess what's on my mind right now, to tell the truth is I'm a little scared. Already this place feels like a dream to me, I really don't want it to. It can be so hard when one of the best things in your life feels like it never happened. I know I will keep in touch with my family, a ton, and I have facebook for writing to all my friends, but that doesn't stop the feeling of drifting apart, not being in these people's lives every day... I guess the worst part is the flip side, will I feel like a dream to them? The dream has already begun to form in my head, already I don't feel like I've lived this year I have, and I haven't even left yet. Why does this happen I wonder? It seems to be a trend in a lot of exchanges and it makes me curious. Is it some sort of defense mechanism? Am I trying to make myself hurt less by thinking it all never happened? Needless to say, there has been a lot going on in my mind. My answers haven't come to me yet...I don't know if they ever will, maybe its just another mystery about the life of an exchange student.

Emotional is my state of being. Happy, sad, frustrated, anxious, but mostly right here in my last weeks here I am just trying to keep myself in a state of joy. The hardest thing I've had to conquer on exchange are my goodbyes and the fact of them creeping up on me so quickly. But nevertheless they will be here soon and I will make it through, and be back in the beautiful city of Anacortes in less than a month saying all my hellos. I cannot wait for all the happy hellos awaiting me back home. Thank you all for making this year possible. I cannot wait to see your faces so soon.
Besos,
Maddy


El Rastro, biggest flea market in Europe

Me at Palacio Real

Kelly and I at the Real Madrid game

My friend Nano's concert, he's the one on the left

Pako, Suarez, Manu and Cris at my brother's bday bbq