The second home you didn't know you had

So. I know that the last time I made a blog post was like 3 or 4 months ago, and for that I am sorry. I want to say that I don't have a lot of time for it... Which is true to some extent. I actually have a lot of free time. But that free time is mostly used for taking my daily nap, or catching up with my friends and family. 

I have some catching up to do. I'm more than half way through my exchange year. I've experienced my first Thanksgiving away from my family. My first Christmas away from my family. My first New Years away from my family. My first Kings Day, ever. It's march already. My birthday is in a week. While I have so many emotions, I would give anything to see my family right now, I also feel normal here. Spain has become a home for me. All of the things I do daily, have become a routine for me and I no longer feel like I'm exploring an unknown world alone. I don't really feel like I'm wandering around clueless. And while that's a great thing, (WOOO LILLY YOU MADE A NEW LIFE IN SPAIN, GO YOU!), it's also kind of a bummer. Maaaan, everything is now NORMAL. Since when is NORMAL good or exciting or fun? It's not. I'm at the point where I know my way all around the city, have eaten at almost every cafe that's worth eating at, can communicate about 98% of my thoughts and feelings quickly, at a pace where I only slow to think of words I don't know off the top of my head. I'm officially an American Spaniard! Woooo! I'm past the halfway point. Six months gone, 4 more to go. How depressing is that? 

I remember this time last year like it was yesterday, literally. It's about the time of the year where the Speedwell Scholarship winners have just been told that they got the scholarship and will officially be going to the non-English speaking country of their choice. This time last year, I was having trouble sleeping at night, thinking about my upcoming year in Spain. How crazy is it. I can EASILY recall my emotions, thoughts, feeling and everything during my anticipated year abroad ONE YEAR AGO, and here I am. Closer to my departure date than my arrival date. Never in a million years did I ever think that this would actually happen. I'm an exchange student living in Spain. I have Spanish friends, friends from ALL OVER THE WORLD, I speak great Spanish, I know my way around a few big, famous Spanish cities, just from memory. I eat chorizo, drink coffee, clear my plate with bread, and say "sta logo" (jajajaja you won't understand that unless you've been to Spain) all on a daily basis, like second nature.

I guess that just stands to say that what everyone told you about your exchange, is right. Your host country will become a home to you. You will begin to know it and recognize it like the back of your hand (in theory because really idk if I could choose the back of my hand out of a group of others) and it will all become NORMAL. That's the problem. DONT LET IT BECOME NORMAL. The moment things become normal is the moment that your exchange year ends and it's June and you are on your flight back home. I am saying this to you, encouraging you to make the best of your experience, and I'm saying it to me too, because right now my life is normal. Walk through streets that you've never seen before. Take pictures of things that have become "normal" to you because in a couple months, you won't see them anymore, possibly ever.

These past 6 months, I have experienced thins that I will most likely NEVER experience again. That being said, I also experienced things that like 70% of the American population will never even experience once. I'm beyond honored and couldn't be anymore proud of my decision to try something completely different, something that most people are too scared to try, too scared of change. 

But the real important thing is that you will spend your entire life looking at peoples pictures online and think "wow I wanna climb a mountain" or "man I wanna walk the great wall of china" but then you don't do anything to make it happen. You have to make it happen! 

Go after what you want, it isn't just going to pop up in front of you.

Lilly Cook

What is artwork even for

Wow well, time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday that I was making my one month blog post, and now I'm 2 and a half months into my program.

Things I have learned while being here so far:

Every city in Spain is beautiful. Beautiful in that "full of history and culture and art" way. I fall in love with every new city that I go to. 

Other exchange students progress faster and slower, so you can't compare your own experience to theirs. You may occasionally get jealous that it looks like others are having a fantastic time, and you're at that stage of your exchange where you are just bored. And trust me, that stage comes, and it sucks. And that's when you know you need to plan a weekend retreat with your fellow exchangers.

The holidays come a lot faster than you expect. Next week is thanksgiving, and I'm planning on making thanksgiving dinner for my family. And then in a month is Christmas.

All in all, there are good times and then there are rough patches. Sometimes you may regret deciding to go on exchange because you miss your friends and family, and then the next day you are running around a new city alone with your closest friends in your new country. (That's what I did). But at the end of it all, the year is going by too fast.

This time last year I was applying to study abroad. I remembering it like I have a photographic mind or something (which I don't or else id be a lot better at spanish by now) and now here I am, actually in Spain. I never in my wildest dreams believed that I would do something this crazy and outgoing and life changing. I don't regret it one bit.

The past two weekend I had hung out with my afs friends, one weekend in Zaragoza and the next weekend in pamplona. Here are some pictures. 

My motto for the year "what's artwork even for if you aren't going to post awkwardly with it?"

All in all, my year is going great. I'm sorry I don't post more but MY LIFE IS JUST SO DARN EXCITING I NEVER HAVE TIME.

Jk I sleep a lot. 

But it's all good. Adios amigos!

Lilly 

A month and a week later

As I had originally planned on making a post on the day of my one month anniversary with Spain, I have failed horribly. 

Right now it is a Saturday afternoon, I woke up 25 minutes ago and I have all the time in the world to post. (Not literally but still). 

Well I have been here for over a month. A month and a week of me living in Spain. I think I put this in my last post, but I'm going to say it again. This has been the most challenging time of my life. Things have been getting easier. I have fallen into a good patter for the weekends, were it's pretty much the unspoken rule that every Friday we meet at The Plaza at 7 and hang out for the night. 

The Plaza Nueva is the center of the city. It's where practically everyone meets when they need to meet, and you pretty much walk through it going anywhere. I walk through it at least 2 times a day, and up to 4 or 6 times a day. I walk through it going two and from school, and some days when Lina and Goyo have music I walk through more. I don't mind though. It's beautiful. Lined with restaurants and bars with rows and rows of table and chairs for people to sit at. One thing I've learned while being here is that Spain is a very social country. I love it. 

Since I've been in Spain, I have visited many big cities. Those cities include Toledo, Zaragoza and the beautiful San Sebastián. 

I had gone to Toledo with my family my second week here. We went and stayed with a family friend for a night and I got to see the beautiful city. It's literally sitting atop of a hill and all of the streets and rocky and winding. Just standing there and breathing in the air I could feel the history that lies in the city. In spanish class in the United States, I learned about El Greco and Don Quijote and El Castillo de La Mancha. It's amazing to think that I was standing there. The home of all of these amazing things. 

The next weekend, I had my first orientation in Zaragoza. There I met with 5 other AFSers staying in my area of Spain. We were given the chance to explore the city together and it was all so much fun. I loved getting together and talking to all of them because we are all experiencing the same thing. 

And finally, San Sebastián. The most beautiful place I have visited since being in Spain. My school had taken a trip there to visit the aquarium and the University of Navarra. The aquarium was freaking awesome and even had one of those walk through tubes where all of the sharks and sting rays and sea turtles swim over and under and around you. It was such a great experience and definitely would NOT object to going again in the future.

It's definitely weird to think that 3 weeks ago I was homesick and wanted to go home to the comfort of my family, and now I am having fun with all of the new friends I've made while being here. I'm already over 10% finished with my exchange. A couple weeks ago I would've been excited to say that, but now I'm thinking "wow, I don't have that much time left." 

School is definitely still the most challenging thing here. Some classes I am doing well in.... Like English. And surprisingly, Spanish. The two classes I am struggling most with are Physics and Chemistry  and Math. In math, my class is in their second year of learning trogonometry while I haven't even learned geometry yet. And in Physics, I don't even know what I'm learning except that it included trigonometry which, as I just said, I have never learned. I had a physics exam the other day and got a 0.6 out of 10. I was pretty excited since I was expecting a flat 0.

Anyway, I'm sure that class will get easier as I become better at understanding the language. My parents told me that they can tell the difference from how I was the first week, to how I am now. Give me another 2 months and hopefully I will have this whole language barrier in the bag.

Hasta luego!

Lilly

SPAIN

Today, I arrived in Spain. After quite a lengthy, over-night orientation in NYC, a 7 hour flight to Switzerland, a 4 hour layover, and a 2 hour flight to Madrid.... Here I am! It is beautiful and..... HOT! 

We had dinner and an arrival orientation which didn't include too much, but I am now pleased to say that I will leave in the morning at 7 o'clock for the train station, and head to Pamplona, where my host family will pick me up! I am beyond incredibly excited and ecstatic that I am finally here, but it still doesn't feel real and I don't think it will until I actually meet my family and sleep in my bed. 

One thing that I was expecting but dreading was drinks with no ice. A cold glass of water will only keep from becoming room temperature if it is paired with ice, and sadly, Spaniards do not put ice in their drinks. Room-temperature drinks may not be as refreshing as ice-cold drinks, but they do go down the pipe better! 

As I have not much more to say, I will update again in another couple days (or weeks) as I see fit.

Despedida!

Lilly

PS everyone thinks I'm weird for bringing my javelin with me and carrying it around in a PVC pipe.

electonics and stuff

As I have about 6 days until I board my plane for Switzerland, I have been running around frantically. Checking, double-checking and triple-checking to make sure I have everything I need. Today I received my debit card and 150 euros. About a week ago I opened a bank account with Santander. I chose Santander because while it is a bank in the US, it is also a popular bank in Spain. Luckily for me, there happens to be a Santander bank in Tudela, the city I will live in. Along with my banking, we also purchased a laptop with a detachable monitor (acting sort of like a tablet), European plug adapters and a handheld English-Spanish translator. With the translator..... We originally planned on buying just a small, pocket-sized Spanish dictionary. But after looking at a couple and searching for many minutes for specific words, we decided that although cheaper, it was just too inconvenient and too much of a hassle. At this point, I feel fully prepared for Spain. Except for the packing part... I began packing a couple weeks ago, just before Momoka arrived... I have not done much since. I understand that I leave for New York in 4 days and I need to have everything packed SOON, but it is such a tedious process and I get distracted so easily. I PLAN, HOPE and PRAY that I am able to get mostly everything packed by the end of tomorrow, as I will be busy most of Friday. We will see, and even if it all ends on Sunday evening in a giant rush (knock on wood) at least I should be good to go by the time we leave. No matter how badly I procrastinate, it will all be OK in the end..... Won't it?

What's weird is that I have known Momoka for only about two weeks and I already know that I am going to miss her. It kind of makes me upset that I was here for the beginning of her exchange and we have become rather close friends, but I will not be able to experience many things with her though out the year. Things like homecoming, first crushes, Friday night football, family vacations, are all things that I am sure I will miss, but I am more saddened by the thought that I will not be able to witness all of Momoka's firsts.

I had my going away party two weekends ago, it was fun and exciting and got me hype to leave. I was a bit surprised by the fact that although I was happy all of my friends were supporting me, I wasn't worried about missing them too much. I love them all, don't get me wrong, but I am just excited to begin my life in Spain. I don't think it has quite hit me yet how long a year really is and how much I love all of the people around me. Below are a few pictures from my party.

Packing list.

Now before you get all creeped out because I have begun packing more than 3 weeks before my departure, realize that my family is hosting an exchange student as well. That exchange student, Momoka, will be staying in my room for the year while I am in Spain. Said exchange student will also be arriving to our home in 3 days..... Sooooo I am cleaning my room. I have about 3 baskets of clean laundry in my room that I refuse to put away just to get them back out in a week. So I have begun my packing process. 

I am packing mostly my fall/winter clothes into my giant checked luggage. That includes jackets, sweater, boots, long sleeve shirts, jeans and pants. My summer clothes including shorts, shirts, tee shirts, bathing suits, converses and sandals will then be fit into the rest of the space in my luggage, and my carry on. 

Here is my Unofficially Offical list:

(Numbers are approximations)

TOPS:

Short sleeve t-shirts (6)

Long sleeve t-shirts (4)

Tank tops (5)

Sweaters (2)

Sweatshirts (3)

Jackets (2)

Dresses (4)

Rompers/Jumpsuits (1)

Nice shirts (5)

BOTTOMS:

Jeans (4) ... I've packed 6 so far...

Pants (3)

Skirts (4)

Leggings

Shorts (5)

Athletic shorts (5)

Tights

Capris (2)

Sweats/pajamas (2)

SHOES:

Converses

Canvas shoes

Boots (2)

Sneakers (2) 

Spikes (for track and field)

Sandals

Flip flops

OTHER:

Underwear (24)

Bras (4)

Sports bras (6)

Socks (10 pairs)

Scarves (3)

Earrings (3) ... I only wear studs...

Makeup

Headbands (5)

Belts (2)

Gloves (1 pair)

This list is not including toiletries. I'm sure I will be adding and subtracting many thing from this list as I attempt to meet the size and weight requirements. I also plan on bringing a few journals: a journal for daily/weekly/monthly writing, a journal for learning and remembering words and phrases, a booklet with names, numbers, and addresses, and a Spanish to English dictionary. Other things I will bring will be a power converter or two and host family gifts.

As there are many obvious or less obvious items that are vital to pack PLEASE comment and let me know if you find my list is missing something. 

My natural family's exchange student arrives in 3 days, and my host family's exchange student arrives in approximately 25 days. 

No puedo esperar! ....

I can not wait!

Lilly

Fully supported

So I have had a very exciting last couple of days. My week began with a sports writer for the daily newspaper contacting me to ask if he cold write a story on me. I of course said yes! Matt Goul, from York Daily Record had called me for an interview and a few short hours later I was in an article! Somehow I ended up being on the front page of the sports section, and had a giant picture of me throwing javelin. 

Here is the link to the article: http://www.gametimepa.com/yorkadams/ci_26260524/dallastowns-lilly-cook-spend-year-spain

Along with that Matt Goul posting that article on twitter, 5 Spanish twitter accounts had also posted it! I have no idea why but it was super exciting! Along with that, I had also been elected for The YMCA's member spotlight! It described my upcoming venture to Spain and my plans to train with the javelin, regardless of being coachless. I am feeling very honored and very fortunate to be in the position I am. 

Also, yesterday was the Speedwell Foundation Scholarship Picnic. I was able to meet the lady who began it all. Jenny and Mike Messner, who had been an exchange student to Brazil, has given out 115 full scholarships for AFS students in the past 7 years. I was very excited to meet them as they are the couple that is funding my entire journey to Spain. 

I also got to meet and talk to returnees from Spain. I heard all about their experiences and it makes me even more eager to just get there! Below is the group of students from my area chapter that I will be traveling to Spain with (excluding one.) 

30 more days!!

Buenas Dias,

Lilly

False advertisement.

Let me just start by saying this: I typed almost this entire entry using my Spanish  keyboard and kept wondering why the words continued to change to words that I had no idea the meaning was. That was why. The Spanish keyboard is helpful when you are typing in Spanish, not English. 

ANYWAY, today was my lucky day. After hours of confusion and many cancelled appointments. I finally have gotten my visa. Unofficially of course. Today was appointment at the Spanish consulate and it was the easiest thing ever. We literally walked up to a window (to a VERY nice looking Spanish man I must add) and we handed him the papers he asked for and boom, I had my visa. Not officially though. He said that we were successful and that my passport containing the visa would come in the mail in 3 weeks. HALLELUJIAH. The visa process was soooooo complicated with collecting papers and trying to book appointments and everything, but when it came down to it, it was just a 10 minute confrontation that made the whole process seem pointless. All in all, I am super happy and I leave in 34 days. Ahhh it will not come soon enough.

Lilly

Stupid visa

I can easily, without a doubt say that the visa process is the hardest, most stupid, and difficult for no reason thing that had to do with going to Spain. To everyone who will be reading this, thinking about studying abroad next year, I'm not going to make it out to be a stroll in the park. Because it's not. It's hard and annoying. 

When you first start, the paperwork seems like a lot and VERY overwhelming. But once you get it all together, you realize that it wasn't that difficult. My ONE recommendation would be to go onto the consulate website ATLEAST 2 and a half months ahead of time to make your appointment. Me and my mom went on in late May and the earliest appointment they had was August 7, which is cutting it very close. Luckily, a week later a couple spots opened up in late June. But not lucky. THE DAY BEFORE we left for NYC, we were told that I can't get my spanish visa unless I have my school in Spain. Ugh. Wow so I have my host family, but not school. So that day we cancelled me June 23 appointment, and scheduled the nearest appointment....... September 3. Yes. Exactly, do not procrastinate with scheduling the appointment or else you may be leaving separately than everyone else. BUUUUUTTTT, today, my mom called me and told me that a couple slots opened up in late July, which is exactly what we needed! I was also able to message my friend Ryan (who's luck was not much better than mine with a date of September 2) and tell him to get on the website and get booked!! The appointments get booked VERY fast and really the only way to get one without missing it is to refresh the site every half hour. Yes, that is what my mother and I did for about 4 days straight. But anyway, I just felt the need to post because I am so ecstatic. 

So, I already have like 8 posts or something like that, and I'm not even in Spain yet..... My prediction is that as soon as I get there, I will either post all the time, or drop off the side of the earth and just forget about my blog as my new life progresses. I guess we have yet to see.... 68 days and counting!

Buenas Tardes,

Lilly

Cannot wait!

As I got my host family a couple days ago, I have been communicating with my host mom via email. At first we were speaking in English until she told me that she doesn't actually speak fluent English..... That's when I decided I might a well get a head start on my Spanish, and try my best to write by myself.... Although I have been using google translate for assistance (about 1/3 of every email) but hey, practice makes perfect right? So I learned that I will be living in a beautiful, small, red house and I fell in love the first time I saw it.... On google earth I might add. I just typed in the address that was listed under my placement page and BOOM there is my beautiful future home. I fell in love instantly. I've been talking to my mom. About family and sports. I told her that I really love track and field and would like to participate in it while in Spain if possible, but if there wasn't a club nearby, any sport would suffice. And guess what? The VERY next day, my host mom emailed me saying that she found a track club for me and that she would sign me up if I wanted to do it. Ding ding ding. Now I already love my house AND my mom. I cannot wait to begin my life with them!! 

This is the home of the family that I will soon call my own. 95 days and counting......

Hasta la proxima,

Lilly

My permanent host family placement

Today was my lucky day!! After alllllllllll of the waiting that seemed like forever, I finally got my host family. While a lot of people have already gotten their host families, a lot are also still waiting. I feel very fortunate to have a family who chose me based on what they saw on my application..... Hopefully they can handle the Lilly.... Anyway, I was waiting for my friend to get out of class for lunch when I opened up my email on my iPod. I refreshed the page and there is was! "AFS: Your permanent host family placement". I literally started jumping up and down with excitement. I sent an email to my host mom, Lina. It turns out that along with my host mom and dad, I will also have 3 younger siblings. A sister who is 9, a sister who is 8, and a brother who is 6. Now, I'm comfortable with being in a family with a lot of kids because I myself am 1 of 4. Being the oldest one will be the new part for me. Knowing that I won't have any siblings near my age, I am nervous about beginning high school alone, but hey, I can really do anything I want to right? I am so very excited to begin my life in Spain with this beautiful family. About 96 days and counting until departure. 

Adios,

Lilia

AFS Potluck

This past weekend, my area chapter hosted a social potluck for any and all afs participants and family. While there, I talked to a student who is abroad in the US from Spain named Lluc. I loved talking to him because he could speak English really well, but he also had a thick Spanish accent. I asked what is something we have in the US that isn't in Spain and he said "peanut butter". I then asked what his favorite food in the US was and he again said "peanut butter". And finally I asked what is something he would miss after he leaves, and you could probably guess what he said. "Peanut butter". It was so fun and awesome being able to talk to him because it is getting me more mentally prepared for what kind of situation I have gotten myself into. Speaking of which, LESS THAN 4 MONTHS UNTIL I LEAVE FOR SPAIN. I am soooo excited and soooo anxious and I feel like it's taking forever, but before I know it, I will be on the plane to Madrid. But back to the social, I also met and talked with 3 other students from my area that will be going abroad with me to Spain. Along with them, I met a student who is studying in the US from Pakistan! Tuaha is his name! He was so happy and energetic and the coolest person I have ever met. I promised him that we are definitely going to hang out before he leaves within the next month and a half.... (Which is kind of disappointing to think about, because I will be in the same situation one year from now.) I'm not even in Spain yet, and I already don't want to leave!

Below are some pictures from the potluck.

Lluc from Spain.

Tuaha from Pakistan.

Hasta luego! 

Lilly

Afs-Spain

Today may have been the best day of my life so far. I was in third period when my mom texted me, telling me that I was accepted into AFS-Spain! The past 5 weeks and 5 days have been the longest ever. After I was accepted into AFS-USA they told me that my application would be reviewed by Spain in the next 4-6 weeks. Of course, being the super optimistic person I am, I was hoping for it to come sooner than that. Sadly, it did not. But happy now, I have been accepted into Spain! I have already started the visa process for Spain, and so far it is such a hassle! I had to get my passport notarized and get an apostille and then get that notarized! Whatever that means. I am just very happy now that i have been guaranteed to go abroad. Lets just say that even though the process may take forever, once it is all said and done and there is no more left to do, you are free! I can't get it through my head that this time next year I will be completely comfortable with a new family and a new group of friends and a new language. It all just seems too good to be true.

Well, adios for now,

Lilly Cook