"Las Finales" by Jacob Spetzler

A big thanks to Jacob for making yet another awesome video. This shows the tail end of the year, starting with a timelapse of us in SOL- with the reflection of the glass exit of the Metro. (Me, Caroline, Jacob, and Alex) Following are some shots of the Basque Country, Madrid, the AFS group in the north, and our trip back..the plane, hostel, Swiss airport, etc.




Las Finales from Jacob Spetzler on Vimeo.



Yesterday seems so far away...
-mb

Smoke and Mirrors

One of the most important rules to live by in Madrid is to get a pocket camera and take it with you, everywhere. Everytime you leave the house you better have that camera, because you never know what you'll run into. Adventure turns up in the most unexpected places.


I would describe this as a 'double take'. It something I've only seen in movies. Whether it's a car bomb, magic wand, or grenade, it's only been done by Hollywood before in such a civilazed location.

This was one of those 'double take' moments. Something that happens and you realize once again where you are...followed by the alarming wonder of the country's laws and regulations, rights, and any other crazy thing that crosses your mind when you aren't familiar with your surroundings.

Alright, so it was more like five or six takes...while at a cafe I looked into the mirror on the back wall...which showed nothing less than a van on fire. It took a bit to put two and two together. But yep, it was real.

I miss Madrid. The excitement never ends.

Photo credited to Caroline Weldon

"Something tells me we should back up a couple of feet..."-CW




You should have seen that fire truck.

-mb

Party of Five

The best part of summer? Forget the beach.

Read back to my first few posts. Those who know me personally know that we hosted an Italian AFSer back in 2009-10. But really, he's not "the student" we hosted. Mario's a family member, and he came back to visit us this summer for a few weeks.

By far the best thing I could ask for.

Having to say goodbye to someone and not know when you'll see them again is by far one of the hardest things you'll ever do. Last summer's goodbye was hard. This one wasn't any better.

Alcatraz, with the Golden Gate Bridge.

AFS lasts beyond that one year of being abroad. It doesn't end. You go back, visit, and see the people that made such a difference in your life.

Our family vacation included nothing less than...the family. All five of us went out to the San Francisco/Lake Tahoe area for a weeklong summer vacation. We did a lot of fun things, but the best part was just being together. It was the first time in a long time we were finally all together.

Time flew, of course. Everyday was a good day, and I can't really ask much more than that.

We went from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, stopping through Sacramento to see some of our family. It's the first time I've seen them in...longer than I can remember. Best described as the "ultimate family reunion."

Coming home was an adventure in itself. But hey, I think after the past ten months we've all heard before that a little adventure doesn't kill ya.

Our plane left San Francisco at about 23.50 Sunday. At around 3AM local time, our pilot says we have to make an emergency landing due to a fuel imbalance. So we land in...Cheyene. Cheyene, Wyoming.

In a nuteshell:

We sit there for a bit, and they announce that we have to get off, and we can take our luggage if we want. We then move to what I would call a lobby-sized ice fishing hut, and wait there for....ever. We there regret not grabbing our luggage as we would loose everything in the event of a fire. 'Sigh'

Some idiot set off the door alarm that blasted for....ever as well. I got it on video it was so classic. Anyhow, they announce the plane in unfix-able, and we grabbed our luggage off the plane, waited in the lobby til who knows what hour, and then are told the earliest we'll leave is 3PM. The crew was now on their crew rest... After we moved to the airport lobby and are told we can go 'explore' Cheyene as we wish.

...Yeeeah.

So we sat there forever. It was comical to hear everyone tell their family the same story.

"I'm sitting here in ....Cheyene, Wyoming watching the sun rise. I guess I can check that off my bucket list..."

Skipping over the boring details, we next got a plane to come pick us up and we were out of Cheyene at 11am-ish. We all had to go through security again...with just one line. There was only one metal detector at the airport.

In the sky a bit longer the pilot announces:

"Ehm, so I know you all really don't want to hear this right now, but due to storms the MSP airport is closed. We will be making a landing in Fargo, North Dakota.

Can our locations get any random-er? He's got to be joking.

"Excuse me, but, where are we landing?" isn't usually a question I have to ask.

Everyone was confused as to whether it was a joke or not. But it wasn't, and after sitting on the runway with other planes that had to land, we were finally up in the air to MSP not too much longer.

MSP Airport, and Coffee.

We did actually get home in the end. Almost 24 hours in travel time total. 

Sometime in the AM, much time without sleep.

What was noticed by us Europeans, along with two others, was the fact at how calm everyone was. People were thanking the pilot for landing safe in place of demanding another flight out. Everything was very poorly organized, as we were thinking a bit of complaining would have gotten a plane to come pick us up faster.

We did make it eventually, so that is what counts I guess.

Notes on the trip.

Over 2200 pictures were taken during the 11 day trip, but I tried to pick out the best ones.

Whitewater rafting was definitely the best activity we did- so if you ever get the chance, make sure you go.

I heard much more Chinese than Spanish. (Excluding China Town.)

This scares me.

All you economist should understand this.

I will never look at a tourist city again. You know what to look out for. After living in a tourist city, you'll never look at another one the same. It's weird to describe.

Santa Cruz, CA

AFS doesn't ever leave you. It has it's own way of following you. But it's ok, really. AFS changed my life and spun it in a different direction. It's made me more of who I am, and has expanded our family. I am so thankful to be a part of such an awesome experience. And tomorrow I'll be off to the next 2011-2012 AFS Arrival Orientation... except this time, as a returnee.

What's hard right now is not knowing when we'll all be back together. It's something all you host families understand. Something you think about everyday. And there is no greater wish, than to be together.

I'd do a lot to be back, stuck for hours in that Cheyenne airport. Just to be together.

-mb

And Now? Now What?

One month later.


(Making a grocery run for my mom...)

For one, I drove there. Passing two rather very larged sized American men on small mopeds. Taking the turns slowly at about 5MPH. (Miles?...yeah.)

Walk in, and talk to a few friends working. Grad what I need, and wait in the grocery line.

[Cashier]

"HI, how are you? Did you find everything ok?"


Like, obviously if I still wanted something I would be looking for it still. Or I would have asked someone by now, because really. Who whould stop the cashier to go look for something that clearly is not in the store?!

-Yeah.

"That's good."

[Plastic coke bottle falls to side when the belt moves...]

"Oh I am so sorry, would you like another one?"

Um seriously, why on Earth would would I request another coke? This one is cleary fine. Plastic.

Like what the heeck?

-No this one is fine.

"Out of twenty? Here's your change. Do you want a bag for this or..?"

-No that's fine I can carry it. (...the one onion and coke.)

...Saving the environment and all, of course.

"Have a nice day!"





This is AMERICAN. All of it! And it will sometimes just drive me insane. What a boring story, and I can tell you that every single event here was American. The fact that we have a bagger, or how the person infront of me was asked if they want paper or plastic? At the last Spanish grocery story we were at they were charging 25 or 50 Euro cents for each plastic bag you used. And you bag your own bags. If you don't bag fast enough, you get run over by the nest person's belongings falling down to your end.

And the whole entire event is done in silence...most of the times.


Unfortunately the blog I wrote before this was deleted when my computer lost internet. So here's what I remember.

One month later, and the world continues what it's been doing for the past however many billions of years scientists think the Earth is. NASA missions have been cancled, the economy of Greece has crashed, and the world still isn't happy. But that's the world. Coming home was like picking up the same book you fell asleep reading. You have to backtrack a bit and find out where exactly you are, but you're on the same page, with the same story, and you just continue to read.

My year feels real. I lived ten months away from "home". But I'm the only one who really feels anything, or cares too much. If my thoughts were written down, I'd be the only one to read them. The little things I notice I don't even bother to said outloud.

Because no one has read the same book I have. It's like written in code, and it's not even worth translating.

But the changes aren't dramatic. I don't feel totally different. I'm not a new identity.

It's not like the presidential election, where you go around campaigning your return. No. Infact, I have done quite the opposite. I still haven't seen most of the people I know in this town, and have hid the computer out of sight for quite some time. I really don't like the computer. It's not that I'm avoiding people, I just have so much cyber catch up to do. The overwhelmingness of using a phone is like a responsibility, and keeping up with my old friends, new ones, and everyone in between has just been...a lot. And I kind of got out of it by putting my computer under my bed for about two weeks.

That was put away when I cleaned my room. For a house showing. Yep. We're moving....

About a thousand miles south.

There's been a lot of behind-the-scenes type of events I haven't posted on my blog. But yes, about one or two weeks before I left Spain I found out my dad found a new job he likes, and we will be moving.

Time will tell when, so I'm finishing my senior year at the ol' great American high school I know best. That's just one small event from behind the scenes. Another event includes a double suicide in our small town, one girl being the other goalie on our hockey team. That was back a few months ago.

So sometimes I wonder if there was any more type of extreme changes possible why I was gone. And of course there are more extreme, but I did have an interesting road. Well traveled. Unpaved, but well traveled.

There's a bunch of random things I want to write about, but I can't seem to ever really remember them. The reverse culture shock isn't really shock...just annoyances. Things that silently make you... mad.

I still feel harassed by store clerks. I think that one will stick for a bit longer. The door handles aren't a problem after like day 6. Nothing in particular jumps out at me. We are served GIGANTIC portions of food in restaurants, and we'll waste gas just going around the parking lot to find the nearest spot, but overall, things are normal.

Well... Americans are strange. I'll admit that. Coming back is kind of like learning how to socialize again. Except the process is a million times quicker, even though it may not feel like it sometimes.

Just another typical day.
-mb

"America is Weird."

The post we've all been waiting for. 

What is the reverse culture shock?


But first let's start in chronological order. The trip home.

Wednesday I woke up at about 8:00AM and caught my bus at 10:15AM for Madrid. (4 hours of sleep) The goodbye wasn't that dramatic, as there wasn't many emotions but it was sad because our exchaneg year is over. I've only been with this host family for five months, and I can't say that we all got really close- like the others students did who had been with the same family all year. There were no goodbye parties, surprises, etc. But I'll keep it positive and say that I am lucky to have them for my last five months. It was moving seeing the younger host siblings of other students, and how attached they are to their newest family member. It's a hard concept to grasp. Being a host family before, I know what it's like. It's hard. Really hard. The goodbye is the worst part of exchange.

Chillin at the Madrid orientation site. Back to were it all started.
I think we played cards for about five hours at this table back in September.

So we arrived at the south bus station in Madrid around 3:30PM. It was a long ride. There we waited at the platform for more than... an hour? I forgot. Somehow AFS had that our bus came in later than it did, so they didn't come and get us until that time. We met the other students who were waiting inside, and just kind of chilled there until the last student came in. All the AFS Spain students were coming in on train or bus- the longest (that I know of) being an 8 hour bus ride from Cantabria. We all met at a hostel in Madrid- which happened to be the same one we were at in the beginning of the year. It was really cool, adding a classic before and after sense. 

Thankfully we didn't have many orientation activities. Everyone was pretty tired and just wanted to talk to one another. All the countries that went to Spain were there together, and it was really nice to see everyone again. We spoke in both languages- Spanish to the majority but also English. (the Americans are quite.. proud? to speak English) There are so many English speakers it's amazing. From non-English speaking countries that is. Kids from other countries speak their native language, English, and now Spanish. And of course the Catalan kids were amazing the rest of us with their Catalan. Two languages in one year? Incredible.

The night was filled with flag signing, card games, pictures (there are some VERY photo talented exchangers) weighting suitcases for the final time (thank you Sarah for bringing the hand scale (?) needless to say it was very helpful.) drinking coffee, dancing, etc. Some slept for a few hours, but if you were like me you never touched a bed, and pulled an all-nighter until 6:00AM Thursday when we headed off to the airport.

We left in two groups, ours was the first to ship out in the morning. Saying goodbye one bye one was really sad and depressing, and got kind of old after awhile really. I made so many good friends here, seeing them leave one after another was not fun. At all.

Caroline with all her bags unloading at Barajas. 6:30am.

Us Americans finally made it to the Swiss Airlines check-in. Before they even got there, kids were weighing their suitcases on the scales that weren't being used, reorganizing things, etc. I weighed my smaller suitcase, which was at 17 kilos. TOMA! was the first thing that came out of my mouth, as I was more or less bouncing off the walls that I had so much "weight" left in that suitcase. My bigger one was over 2 kilos at 25, so I did some rearranging- as my backpack was a bit over as well. It turns out they didn't even weight ANYTHING. I was completely shocked. They weighed everyone else's that I saw though.

On the flight to Switzerland- Me, Andrew, and Alex.

So we caught our plane which was supposed to leave at 9:35am. It wasn't until we arrived to Zurich, Switzerland that I realized we left over an hour late. There we were supposed to switch planes for JFK Airport. Our group kid of left in...smaller groups, as everyone just headed on their own for the next gate. Us being last, we were racing the clock to get there on time. Let's just say we flew through the walking platforms, tram, and some forms in order to make our flight. But I was pretty disappointed we didn't get any spare time to check out the airport once again.

The flight to Switzerland was about two hours or so. And to JFK about...eight? You kind of loose track of time in the sky. We arrived at JFK at what had to of been around 4PM?

And for the first time in over three hundred days, we were back in the United States of America.

Flying over the States- the best group picture
I could get of us after an exhausting trip.

Customs was next. It was the first time we were able to look at each other and think- "We're not foreign anymore."

We all packed into the "US Residence/Citizen line." It was there that speaking in Spanish was oh-so-much more exciting. I mean we were clearly American. High schoolers. Speaking in a different language.

How many times do you experience that? A big group of American high schoolers, in America, speaking a different language, as if it was nothing?

We got some weird looks.

Baggage claim was kind of hectic. There was no plan, but many had to run to their next flight. AFS volunteers met us right when we walked out, along with the parents of some of the kids who were from the area. The signs, smiles, tears, and above all just general atmosphere was moving. It's not like there was a ton of people waiting, but enough to set the mood home.

Caroline and our luggage. I'm not really sure what I would have done without her.
And yes. We are missing one fifty pound suitcase in this picture...

I was able to meet my friend's family, which was really awesome. After I said goodbye I had my final flight from JFK to Minneapolis/St. Paul. I don't think there were any pictures taken after this point. There's a good reason there aren't mirrors everywhere in an airport. Probably for the better.

At this point everyone but the other girl from Minnesota was gone. We were lucky enough to be on the same flight. But let me say- speaking English was weird. The only time I spoke English to someone was if they were another exchange student (age 15-18) with a possible exception of someone from AFS. Anytime else I was on the phone or using Skype. So seeing adults, older adults, kids, or toddlers speaking English?! Mind-blowing. And I had never, ever been asked by a clerk anything in English all year.

It's strange. My best attempt to explain it all is this. Example: The flight attendants from Swiss Airlines speak German and English. They spoke to us in English. But it was the first time anyone who was waiting on us spoke to us in English. So it's like your brain can't process the fact that you have to use that part of vocabulary in English, or that you are supposed to speak back to them in English. For ten months we had been training our brains to think, speak, respond, and listen- in Spanish. And block out English. So it was reverse.

But everything still came out in Spanish.

It didn't matter if it was "thank you", "yes," or numbers, it all came out in Spanish. We could be having a conversation in English with the person next to us- but when the flight attendants came around, words just came out in Spanish.

It was strange.

Same at the JFK airport, where we once again were able to use American Dollars. I'll try not to dwell on the subject too much, but the United State of America is CHEAP.

It's cheap to the point where somewhere down inside, it makes you almost angry. It's so dramatic. You can but two drinks and meals for the price of one in Spain. And this was the "expensive" food sold in airports.

I called my parents, who happened to be sitting in the basement at home and at work due to a tornado.

A tornado?!

Yeah. It turns out that no one actually knows if it was a tornado, but just a huge storm with anywhere from 80-150MPH (it's in MILES!) winds.

Technical issues caused a 30 minute delay, and while in the air our plane had to circle up north (extra 30 min.) to circle around the storm. In all the flight was about three hours or so. Completely exhausted, I met my family at baggage claim.

Unable to drive home, Saturday morning started the three hour trip home.

PART TWO.

"America is Weird." -AFS Student.

I'll say it a million times to make it clear. The things that we do, what we say, how we act, it's all just very weird. Unique. Different. So does that make it wrong? Noooo! But here is what I experienced.

JFK Airport. THE TAXI'S ARE YELLOW! And not just yellow like I remembered them. They are like BRIGHT, bright yellow. Wow. And of course the cars in general are a bit bigger, but nothing too dramatic.

The greeting. In Spain they use the two cheek kisses. This was quite strange for me at first. But now? I'm totally confused and lost. What do we do, like shake hands? Sure, ok. But it's a bit weird to shake someone's hand who's your age or younger. And a hug is only for the people you know. But this is something that still confuses me. I suppose the greeting is just nothing. Just awkwardly standing there, with maybe a smile followed by a "hi" and possibly the wave of hand.

I am so confused.

Arriving at the hotel. PEOPLE TALK TO US! They ask how we are doing, if we need any help, side chat, etc. It's day six in the states and I'm still getting used to this. In Spain it's very much to the point. There's no side comments, conversation, nothing. What you need, and nothing more.

People talk to us, IN ENGLISH! There were two big points I noticed. 

1.  It should be normal, but for our ears it's just not. We are not accustomed to hearing so much English. 

2. The side conversation. Even if no one is speaking TO you, everyone around you is. In a way I felt like everyone was yelling at me, without...yelling..at..me. It kind of just set me back listening to the guys in the lounge talk about the game on TV.

Going home. The gas station we stopped at? I cannot wrap my head around how CHEAP everything is. My brain of course hasn't automatically stopped converting, so whenever I see dollars I convert it into euros. The guy at the counter was kind of freaking me out. Just the fact that you make conversation with a stranger? I don't get it. Like, why? You are there, you buy something, and leave. What else does someone need to tell you besides how much you owe them? This one is taking me a bit to get used to.

Phones. WE CAN USE THEM! My friend borrowed mine at the airport, and your automatic instinct is to not let someone use it, because it's too expensive. My American phone was turned on again by the time I got to JFK. It's a weird panic feeling if they start to use your phone for more than two minutes. That is just something else that I have to retrain myself- It's not the end of the world if someone uses my phone. Once, twice, or a hundred times I have a plan that doesn't spend my life savings.

I once wrote a blog about substitution. How you can't do it when comparing two cultures. The fact that I come home through a garage door isn't weird. It's my American home, and it doesn't weird me out that I have a garage here. Just like the other things. It's not weird we have an office. Or a dryer. Those things are normal. It's weird to retrain your brain, actions, words, and even mentality.

So here is what I first noticed. The door handle. I had no clue this was going to be different- but walking inside I just about took the handle right off the door. The door handles in my Spanish house must have been forcefully harder to open.

Day six, and I'm still getting used to the handles.

All throughout the house I have to be a bit careful that I don't rip off the handle. It's also significantly lower on the door, so I'll find myself searching for the handle a bit when I'm not paying too much attention.

The bathroom. The sinks are deeper here. Maybe a bit narrower too. It's a house to house difference. I'm sure our next door neighboor's house in either country could have something different. Or like the handles on the kitchen cabinets are smaller in my American home.

Our house here is BIG. Bigger than I remembered. But by about day five or so it's starting to feel pretty normal. My room and kitchen was bigger than I remembered.

The swingset was given to the neighbors, but unfortunately destroyed in the storm. You notice the little things like new tableware, pictures, etc.

And walking into my room was like Christmas. I HAVE CLOTHES! Amazing. Along with a bunch of other things I forgot we had. Like team pictures, certain clocks, the random things.

A very American week.

So most of these things happened within the first three days of me being home. After walking halfway up the stairs in my flip-flops, I realized that I had forgotten to take my shoes off. So I've been walking around the house without shoes feeling a bit strange.

I forgot my travel sized contact solution in the hostel we stayed at, opened new contacts Sunday morning, and forgot to buy more solution once I got home. So...late Sunday night around oh...11:30 or so, I was able to "aprovechar" (take advantage of) the good old Wal-Mart open 24/7. That would never happen in Spain. Sunday night? You better be joking.

• I freely open my refrigerator door without shoes or 'the fear of dying'.
• Using the different outlets with lower voltage.
• Played the piano. (Apartments and pianos call for angry neighbors..)
• I DRIVE! Surprisingly it's not strange. It all comes back and is like you never left it. I've also taken what I've learned from the small streets of Spain and let the pedestrians cross when they have the right of way. I look at street crossings completely different now.
• Texting conversations. I am horrible at replying. I don't like being with my phone all the time, and don't see any point in short, useless texts. I suppose I'm still mentally retraining my brain that it's ok to use my phone.
• Seeing all the pictures on my home computer that I didn't have with me on my laptop was nice.
• It's true. Sizes are just bigger here. A large here doesn't exhist in Spain. I forgot how big things really were here. Beverage size, food quantity, etc.
• Familiar sounds again. The lawn mower, creaking of wood stairs (we had hard tile/marble in Spain), etc.
• I forgot the radio station that I usually listen to. It took me about ten minutes by myself to remember it.
• Everything here is GREEN, did I mention that? I guess suffering from mosquitos evens it out though.
• The is a lot more space between the houses than I remembered.
• People wear like...whatever. Oversized clothes, sportswear, and all. We don't make much of an effort to dress up...
• Went rollerblading! That was a first since I've been here. Also went ot my first hockey practice. And I was surprised, because like the driving, it all comes back. You pick up where you left off. Sure muscle memory lacks a bit and I'll have to get back into shape, but everything else just comes.
• Enjoyed the health care system as I returned to get a regular shot. Technology, my friends, is somethin' else.
• Used a dishwasher for the first time in ten months.
• Had the first running shower... in a long time.

So that's all I really have at the moment. And really they are differences, but they aren't a big deal. The biggest thing for me is just how I look at things in general. I mean, our town seems smaller, and the Minnesotan accents are really thick, but besides that, things are right where they left off.

Some things take time though. Like the fact I have a 700page ACT test study book waiting for me to open or need to go by the school to sort out class credits are things to come shortly.

You can't see half the luggage in the picture. But we made it.
Back on American soil in the first hour. Notice the Madrid map and Spanish flag.

The way I look at Americans has really changed. We sit here and wonder- "How could you ever go abroad?" When really, people come to the states and could wonder why anyone would want to come to our country. People are people. Whether they are American, Spanish, Australian, Japanese, Italian, or Norweigan, people are still people. And when you travel that's what you find. So how dare we think our "people" are better than others? How dare we think that our culture is better than others? How dare we think that traveling the world is something we shouldn't do?

We are ignorant, and that is all. We imagine ourselves as number one and everyone below. There is no other explanation. Can for once, the mentality of the people be that other cultures may have more reason or rhyme than ours?

Only after the first few days I am already getting tired of answering "the question."

"How was Spain?"

LIKE, A MILLION TIMES.

Those of you who know my real story would definitely explain it differently than someone who just hears about the good things. The fun stuff. Because when someone asks you "the question," they probably aren't really interested. It's like a question they feel like they have to ask since it's the obvious road block causing your presence something to talk about. And if you mention a blog? Something that requires work from them to read? Forget it. All interest is lost.

You come back, and the people don't really notice. They say it's good to have you, act interested, but the reality is- they turn away and forget about what was said. Like small talk. You'll get your real friends or family who want to know what your year abroad was like, but for the most part-

Your year is just a conversation topic for them.

AFS MADRID 2010-2011

"It was good. Pretty interesting, but overall a good experience."

-mb

Leaving Day

Today came too fast.

It's late, and my bus for Madrid leaves in less than eight hours. But before then, I have a few things to wrap up before I head off to bed.

It really didn't hit me. I thought it would bit me earlier. I thought the last month I'd start to really feel the pressure, but no. It came about an hour ago or less, as I'm sitting here writing my host family a thank you note for everything they have done for me. For the family they have been, and everything they've shared.

You don't realize it until it's over. I don't know if it's a psycological thing, but you can't make the realization of everything coming to an end on your own. You can't realize how much time has past, until it's really over. You can't realize what you were living, until it's gone.

And with that, I'm not sure quite what to do. How do you write that thank you note? How can you just leave your room, looking over your shoulder and not know when you'll be back?

It's hard. This whole road has been hard.

Lately things have been quite crazy. Packing going home is much easier than coming over. You simply have your restrictions- two suitcases at 23kilos each, and have to fit your things into what you are allowed back. Everything else you just throw or send home in a box. I won't be sending a box home, and feel quite accomplished to be able to say that. I'll be taking two suitcases, a backpack, and camera bag home.

Never pack too fast though... I packed everything up pretty quick, and within all that packed my bus ticket to Madrid in with everything. Unpacking a suitcase later, it's found. I suppose I might need that...

The trip back to my old home Madrid will start in just a matter of hours. And then the reverse journey back.

The "current" exchange year will stop. But my blog won't. I'll be writing things that I've missed throughout the year, what's different when I go back, etc. There are quite a few stories that have yet to be shared. So please keep reading. I've kept a journal to write all these things down, so they're not lost. Writing is the best thing I've done. Because if you don't write, how else will you remember everything?

And the ultimate question. Are you ready to come home? Do you want to stay longer? My answer, is yes. I am ready to go home. Even though I'll miss things here, the day to return to my home has come. Things are thrown at us whether we like it or not. The difference is how we handle it. We are going home. It is going to happen. We can sit and complain all we want, but that won't change anything. It just makes it miserable for everyone else. So why take it in a bad way? There are plenty of good things upon our return.

We signed up for ten months, and not the rest of our lives. I am excited to see everyone again. When I left I knew that I would be coming back. And it's the same story here. I'll be back. It's just a matter of when. But for now, I have to go home. I'm ready to see what the next adventure brings.

A shout out to all the wonderful people who have helped me along the way. My family, friends, AFS volunteers, blog readers, those who have sent me emails, cards, etc. The support group has been incredible.

But as they say- the sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back.

Goodbyes are never fun. Never have been, never will be. And for this I don't say goodbye, because sometime along the way, there will be a hello... which eliminates the need for the ending of a goodbye.

Dear USA:

It's been awhile.

-mb

La Mascleta

Fourth of July just got owned. Sorry.

This past week was the Hogueras (Bonfire) Festival in Alicante. Sometime when I get the patience to sit down and explain it all, I'll be able to write an explanation. It's something that's hard to describe- you just have to see it for yourself.

Everyday this week at 2PM there was "La Mascleta" which is what the following video shows. The original is about 8 minutes long, but I cut it down to just the end. Throughout the week they have different presentations with the "damas y bellezas" (Alicante representatives). There are 91 "Hogueras" which are the monuments that are built specifically for hogueras, and burned on the 24th. There is an "hoguera" for every few neighborhoods or so.

The whole week was pretty crazy, with all the ceremonies, fireworks, fires, food, dancing, and more.

La Mascelta is famous for the ground trembling under your feet. The people come to feel the earth shake. There's not too much to see, but is really impressive in television from the sky view. Sound gets rather deafening. Turn volume on max for the most 'real' experience...

I think this is the closest I'll get to a war zone...

-mb