Anyways, I really missed having Thanksgiving. I never really liked the holiday very much and I still don't, but I just missed the general spirit that we have in America around this time- everybody preparing plans and talking about how much they're going to eat. Here nobody, and I mean nobody even thinks about celebrating it. It's not like Halloween which has made its way to Spain and now a lot of people celebrate it. On Thanksgiving, I woke up, went to school, and it wasn't until halfway through the day when I realized what day it was.
I had intentions to do something for Thanksgiving here, but it just didn't work out with everyone's busy lives. Not to mention it's very expensive and time-consuming to prepare all that food. I told my family all about the holiday, and that was that. The next day, Friday, we actually had a get-together for AFS for Christmas, so I had to prepare my Christmas cookies the day of Thanksgiving. Here they are: (they are in Christmas shapes and they were supposed to have red and green sprinkles but Spain doesn't sell those!)
The AFS fiesta was really fun, there was TONS of food especially desserts which is always good! :) Every person brought something from their country- so besides all the Spanish dishes that our families brought, we had carrot cake and chocolate-chip muffins (obviously also from the US), a chocolate cake type dessert from Germany, a dessert similar to apple crisp from Denmark, and the dessert from Latvia which I really can't describe. It was the only one I didn't like :( It had raisins, and pineapple chunks, and a bunch of other things thrown in and although I'm glad I tried it, I definitely wouldn't want any more.
It was also bittersweet though, because Ida from Denmark is going home this week and it was like a goodbye party for her. We are planning to do something Thursday this week, (the day before she leaves!) but I still don't want her to go :( It makes me realize how glad I am that I chose to come for a year. Spanish is just now starting to sink its way into my head- I mean my speaking skills are moving along slower but I can understand a LOT. I know I can't understand everything, and when people don't vocalize and talk super fast I'm clueless, but I'm happy with where I am as far as understanding. 3 months, or even a semester in another country isn't enough to become fluent, for sure.
Anyways, these were the realizations I wanted to talk about:
Every exchange is different. Every student has a different experience, but it really doesn't atter. In the end the year is fulfilling for everyone. I don't need to compare my year to the years of the other exchange students because they are all wonderful in their own ways.
I have so much appreciation for my family in the US. I miss having that natural closeness with people who you're related to by blood. Appreciate your families guys! Coming into a family in another culture with another language- it's incredibly hard to integrate yourself. It's alot of work.
Well, with that I end this post. Thanks to everyone who reads this- I have over 5000 blog views now which is incredible. I hope you all enjoy!
Besos, Lani.
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