Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Things are looking up!

SO! Its been a week since I lasted posted and a good amount of stuff has happened. 

     First of all, I had my post arrival AFS orientation last weekend which was fantastic! It was really, really nice to hear other peoples struggles and mishaps and to know that I am not alone in this extremely challenging time! Of course my family and friends are all there for me, but its really hard to understand the things that I am going through unless you are experiencing them yourself too! At this same orientation, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that my Spanish speaking abilities are at an average if not a little above average level! And I am learning more and more everyday! Also at this orientation I got the privilege of meeting a lot of cool returnees! Those guys are funny let me tell you! No matter what the topic, serious or not, those guys never failed to make us kids smile! So if any of you are reading this right now THANK YOU! It was a great weekend that was much needed and helped me regain my optimistic outlook on the 9 months ahead of me!  

    Second of all, I have decided not to play soccer and pick up a dance class instead. I know this may come as quite a shock, considering I am in Spain and it seems almost unnatural NOT to play soccer here, but there are many reasons why I made this decision. 
  1. The soccer club that I practiced at was pretty far away. I had to take a train and a bus just to get to the field and then afterwards I had about a 15 minute walk to the train station to ride back home. So my 1 hour soccer practice actually took up about 3 hours of my time. The dance studio I now plan on attending is just a short walk away! 
  2. Practice was late! Practice would start at 8 or 9 and then end whenever the coaches decided we were done which was usually around 10:30 or 11 o'clock.
  3. Practices could be scheduled whenever the coaches felt like it. For example, practice was scheduled for every Monday and Friday, but if the coach thought we needed to run a bit, practice on Tuesday night this week, or we are gonna practice on Thursday night next week. TOO MUCH!
  4. Games are EVERY weekend. Now this may not have been a bad thing if I was really, really into soccer and it was like my main purpose for coming to Spain, but I came here to experience a whole bunch of different things. If I decide that I want to head on into the city spontaneously on Saturday afternoon, I want the freedom to be able to do that!
  5. The team I was on was pretty serious about their soccer. Hey I don't blame them! If I commit to a team and spend that much time practicing and giving up time with friends on Friday and Saturday nights I wouldn't want someone screwing up my chances of winning either. But I am here for fun, and I don't want my time here to be a constant competition! I want lots of fun, laughs and stories to tell!
  6. It was SO hard to understand the drills when they were explained in a different language. In time, once I knew the language better I know this wouldn't be a problem, but it will be so much easier in dance because everything is visual!
   I will totally resume playing school soccer next year in the fall when I am back home, but for the time being, I don't think playing soccer is in my best interest.

     Third of all, I am FINALLY truly happy at school! I have found my type people to hang out with that have similar interests as I do and its a social group so my friend group can only grow from here! One week ago, I am not gonna lie, I was MISERABLE at school and I literally counted the seconds until it ended. I would stay up late at night just to prolong the start of a new school day, it was honestly that bad! But now, I sing right along with my alarm at 7 AM (yes I also have the privilege of waking up at 7 here rather than the terrifying 5:40 at home) and head to school with a smile on my face!

      I am so glad I took a chance, stepped out of my comfort zone, and made more friends because now I am 94853678563875698756398746583748539534685x happier for it! Now I am getting pumped to head out to dance class and meet more people in my town and make even MORE friends! YAY! Its just been a really, really good week! Hope ya'll are having a great time as well! Happy October!


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