It’s just like home, but with a fork

Even though I’ve only spent a few days in Valverde I already feel like I know a lot about the place. For starters, I stumbled upon the local hot spot, and by hot spot I mean it’s the place to be if you are over 75 years old. There is this fountain with two statues of men making leather boots (I’ll get there) right across the street from my school. It’s the center of a three street intersection and there are a couple of benches. Kate and I sat there for a while and over time all of these elder people came from all corners of town to sit and chat. We got the vibe that we weren’t wanted/we were taking someone’s seat, so we left. It was pretty cool but it felt like a legit elderly clique.

Next, I’ve discovered that all of the trees that line the sidewalks up and down Valverde are lime trees. I picked a few to juggle with (like the circus not like soccer juggle though I’m sure they would work). How cute is that? One less item on my shopping list. Speaking of shopping, in the grocery stores whenever you buy any kind of produce, vegetables, or anything that requires a plastic bag you need to individually weigh the item and then remember the individual code number, type it in, and place a sticker on your bag. Nobody told us this until we were checking out. It took us awhile to figure out what they were asking us to do and how we were suppose to it, but eventually we figured it out. It makes sense if you think about it, its one less thing the checkout person has to do at the register and it saves time.

Another thing I stumbled upon on Saturday was the soccer stadium in town. The field is named after the barrio in which it was built in, Triana. I couldn’t get a sense of whether the teams getting ready to play a game where two high school teams or just club teams in the town. I wanted to stay and watch because I was pretty sure it was free but once again I got weird looks for being the only girl interested in soccer who wasn’t a girlfriend or mother. After I settle in and learn about what that league is exactly I’ll go back and watch a match or two. I need my futbol fix. Also in Triana barrio is a night club called Club Blue. It is the only nightclub we have found in town yet we were told that Valverde has a great nightlife from Kate’s teachers who were referring to the old Language assistants from last year. The only warning they gave us is that you see all of your students there so it can be a little uncomfortable at times. That won’t be a problem for me J

The last thing I found in town reminded me of home. It was this bar (restaurant) called Boston Burger! The majority of the menu was burger, fries, and a drink combo named after American cities (New York, Miami—that’s what I got, Chicago…). The place also had pasta, sandwiches, and more food that I was familiar with. FINALLY A MENU I CAN READ! I was overjoyed with the place even before I got my food. I was so excited that I asked for a carry out menu and I wrote there number in my phone :P The best part about the meal was that it only cost 2.50 or 3 Euros…muy barrato!!! We really got a kick out of the fact that they served us French fries in a square basket with a fork. If it comes with a fork I’ll use a fork.

For those of you that don’t know, which is probably all of you, Valverde is know for its fine quality of leather, specifically leather boots. I guess you all know what your birthday/Hanukkah presents are going be for the next year now. Anyways, all the stores carry boots and at a really cheap price. If anyone is looking for something in particular let me know. Wallet, boots, hat, purse, whatever…. I’ll snap a picture of it, email it to you, and then proceed from there.

The last thing that I’ve discovered in Valverde is another Language and Cultural Assistant from England. Her name is Corrie and she works at Kate’s high school. We met her on Sunday. She and her mom (lucky duck!!!) came together and are staying in a small hotel in another small town near by. They rented a car and were nice enough to give us a lift back to Huelva instead of us having to take the bus. Corrie is only 20 and is from Chester, England it’s a pretty big city very close to Manchester. Unfortunately she is a ManU fan but I won’t hold it against her. She is taking a year off from St. Andrew’s in Scotland (I have two friends at the school from the US) to teach in Spain. She spent 6 weeks in Punta Umbria (the beach close to Huelva) this summer as an au pair. She said it really helped her understand the Andalucía accent better but she still has a tough time with it. I really like her and I can’t wait to get to know her better. The best part is she said we could travel to Manchester together and her family could pick me up from the airport. This is going to be marvelous!!!! She was truly a breath of fresh air. Meeting her made me feel better about being stuck here in Valverde. Most of the good friends I made during orientation are in Sevilla or in Huelva so now I feel like I’ll finally have a good friend here.

I guess I’ll end this post with my experience applying for the Permiso de Residencia (residency card). So Kate and I spent the night over at our friend Claire’s place in Huelva the night before because no bus leaves Valverde in time the next morning. The Oficina de Extranjeros doesn’t open until 9am but we were advised by our program coordinator that we should get there super early. I originally wanted to get there by 7:30am but Claire and Lawrence (another guy from the group) thought we’d be okay if we got there by 8am. Well we woke up at 6:45am, left at 7:20am and walked a good 45 minutes to the Oficina. When we got there around either there was already a long line going both ways from the main doors. One line said “Con Cita” while the other said “Sin Cita”; obviously we had no idea what a cita was so we got in the line with “sin cita”. Sat on the ground and waited until the doors finally opened at 9:15am. Once the doors opened some policemen came out and started going down the line and asking questions. Suddenly we noticed a lot of people in our line getting out of line and heading to the end of the line. We were a little scared that they would do that to us but they asked what country we were from and after we said USA they left us alone. We went from a good 30 people in front of us to 7. The only catch was the “con cita” line was people who had appointments made and that line was allowed to go in while our line didn’t move for another thirty minutes. The never-ending cita line was starting to get to us but finally the policeman started letting people from our line through. Once we were inside we had to go through a security check just like in airports. After that we were in another line where a lady asked why we were here. After she saw our passports we told to go through the other entrance. We made our way through the other door and talked with another man. He looked at our papers and gave us our very own “cita” with a date to come back. Sigh, all the waiting and we had to come back another day (October 8^th specifically) to have them look at our papers, give us a receipt that we can then present to the banks, and come back another day to physically pick up our residency card. Wowy, it’s a long process. We were happy that it only really took us an hour or so to go through the line once the doors opened, but next time it should go quicker since we have the much-needed cita. I mean it could have been a lot worse and we were just happy to get it over with. The other ten people in our group have to discover this process tomorrow. I know they won’t be happy but there isn’t much they can do about. All right my landlord is coming to mi casa at 4pm to fix mi televisor so yo tengo correr. Adios mi gente!

Pictures of my place

Mi Casa de Valverde

Mi casa es su casa (for now)

Hola amigas y amigos. I have finally moved into my apartment and have completely unpacked. It is an amazing feeling. The only thing that would make it better is if my friend Kate had found a place and still wasn't living in my room. I like my space and I need it. Two more days tops and I should get my room back. So as I promised here is an album dedicated to my new crib. I hope this embedded slideshow thing works. If not I will post a link to the album at the bottom. Anywho, so after completely unpacking the only casualty I had was my brand new, completely full foot lotion from Israel. It exploded all over my travel kit and got every other lotion bottle and bathroom necessity covered in mint lotion. It wasn't the end of the world but I was a tad disappointed that i wasn't able to salvage any of it. Oh well Birthday present right????!?! Just kidding. Being in Valverde during the weekend was an interesting experience. There isn't a lot of people walking around and again most of the stores are closed. I looked into a few bars and saw a soccer match being played so I walked in expecting to find a stool or table and just enjoy the game. Wrong, the place was completely packed with men and when i stepped inside they all turned around and starred out me. Talk about a welcoming environment. Wow, i slowly reversed my steps and exited. I tried this in two other bars and got the exact same reaction. Hurumph! Well I was convinced that the restaurant that I had eaten at twice would have the game on since it did the first time I ate in there. Well just my luck nobody was in the restaurant and the tv was turned to the top 50 music videos. Don't get me wrong we stayed and watched all 50 music videos because we were bored, but I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to watch any futbol this weekend. I would have watched it in my own house but our tv is on the fritz and it won't be fixed till Monday (today).

My second obstacle of the day was carrying my groceries up the hill to my house. I was stupid enough to buy water bottles and few heavier items and had to huff and puff m way up the hill. I had to stop four times to reposition the bags. It was not fun but i learned my lesson and now i plan to bring a mini suitcase with me when i go shopping. Another problem occurred in my kitchen. Kate decided to buy a pre-made pizza and put it in the oven. Well turns out I don't have an oven. hahah i guess i just didn't notice it when i saw the kitchen in the first place. We improvised and used the stove. I guess if i want to bake any chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, or lemon poppy seed muffins, I'll have to go to Kate's future apartment. Shucks. Well the first night in the new place went pretty well. I have a double bed that is really comfy (HURRAAYYY! In Argentina i had the worst bed ever and didn't sleep well for a month, no joke) so i got a great nights sleep. I wasn't exactly sure how to turn on the hot water so i opted not to take a shower and wait for Elisa (my new Spanish roommate) to come home and teach me. The last problem I encountered was the shades of the windows. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to put them down. The only reason I was really bothered by that was because i had them up in my bathroom and was afraid that people could see in. (Once Elisa came home she showed me how to do it and I felt like an idiot because its really easy).

So on Sunday Kate and I decided to try and hit up the internet cafe a the Youth House in the city center. Well I thought I knew where it was and I ended up passing it twice before I finally recognized the building. As usual, the place is closed on Sunday's so we had to go a second day with out internet. We attempted to sit on people's stoop and pick up a WiFi (in Spanish its WEE-FEE) signal but alas everyone was locked. Curse those Spaniards and there passwords. Our next mission was to do another grocery shop since we only had a few things left. Yup, you guessed it the Mercadona (Supermarket) was closed on Sunday's. Feeling defeated and a tad annoyed we went to a new little cafe on the way to my apartment and had some lunch. I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try some new foods. Well it turns out i ordered a very mayo potato-ish salad (I don't like potato salad) and unfortunately fried cuddle fish. OOPS. I tried the Choco Frito (fish) but I just wasn't having it. So I ended up paying 5 euros for an empty stomach. I learned my lesson. Stick to the basics until someone recommends a dish that I might like. throughout the day we heard this flute player but we could never figure out where it was coming from. When we sat down to eat lunch we finally figured out it was coming from this car. He was blasting this flute music as he drove throughout town. I have no idea what it was all about but i intend to find out.

In conclusion, small towns like Valverde are useless on Sunday's. Sunday's are the best days to go to the beach (Punta Umbria) or the city (Huelva, Sevilla) or to nap, tan, or exercise. Duly noted. The Youth House closes at 8pm and its 7:31pm so I'll wrap it up and post a new entry tomorrow. I still have lots to say hahah for once. Next blog I'll introduce Corrie from Chester, England!!!!! :)

final destination: HUELVA.. i mean Valverde del Camino

I have arrived in the city of Huelva in the province of Huelva in the region of Andalucia in the country of Spain. A lot to comprehend I know. Me and twelve other people from my program arrived in Huelva to start THE ADVENTURE! Its officially go time. We are all alone and have exactly five days to do the following:

1. Apply for a residency card. This is an extremely important process. We need this card in order to open a bank account (see number 2), in order to get our VISA extended six more months, and in order to not be illegal in this country. Oh and if I get arrested I won't be deported. This process is very difficult. They will not speak an ounce of English, they are under paid, very busy, very tired workers that are cranky, mean, and don't have the patience to deal with silly American students. Every office in every city is different so you never know exactly what they will ask of you so our program coordinated told us to make 3 copies of everything. 3 copies of our Junta papers (that's the name of the government that has employed us to work in Andalucia), our passport picture page, Visa page, and stamp pages, as well as 3 passport photos. They say it will take all day to get an appointment and we are suppose to be patient, polite, and courteous. All of us want to go together because we are afraid of not understanding what they will say or of doing something wrong. I'm petrified of doing this but I have to face the music like everyone else this Monday. eeeeeekkkkkkk

2. Open a bank account. We have to decide what bank we want to open an account with because this is the bank we will get a debit card with to get money out all over the world that we want to visit to. Almost every bank has the same account for students under 26 with limited to no fees, its just a matter of finding a prevalent bank close to your school, home, city, ect that will get you the best deal. The guy who told us about banking told us that its all about who you know. Some people pay lots of fees, some pay none. Its all about saying, "oh hey i'm friends with Maria", oh she's my BFF, you don't have to pay this fee. One guy told us his sister works at the bank so he pays nada (nothing). Lucky!

3. Find an apartment. This is the hardest and most time consuming of anything. There is so much you have to take into account and ask about and doing it in another language in another country without your parents to reassure you is terrifying. You might have to sign a contract, you need to check if there is hot water, sit on the bed and see if you find it comfortable, does it get enough light so you don't have to pay much for electricity (which is super expensive). Does it have internet, if not you have to call the company up and get it installed (SOOOOOO CONFUSING!!!!). Do you like the roommate? She might be a smoker, is that okay...and so, so, so much more. Finding an apartment is twice, no three times as hard in a small town that doesn't really use the internet to post renting signs. You have to go by word of mouth or signs posted up in town. This requires going to the small town and walking around the entire day and making appointments to see the room. Well when your Spanish is still a work in progress it becomes a bigger challenge. I was all alone making calls on a phone that dies after two calls, I could barely understand them, they could barely understand me. It was embarrassing and extremely frustrating. I wanted to cry, stomp on my phone, and cuss out the person on the other line, but I didn't. I had to get over the fear of feeling like an idiot and just do it. aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Go to my school. Since I chose to have my hotel in Huelva City for these five days I had to go to the city that I will be teaching in on my own via bus. It is only 30 minutes away by car but since the bus stops at multiple cities on the way to Valverde del Camino it takes an hour. Also their are a minimum number of buses that travel from Valverde to Huelva each day. If you miss the four o clock but you have to wait until 8:45pm for the next one. Yes, i had to do that. It was not fun. I met my bilingual coordinator and a few of the other English teachers as well as my director (principle). They were all very nice and helpful. They made phone calls for me about seeing apartments and they seemed very excited to have me start school on October 1st. One lady already gave me an extra job to give her two children more English lessons after school. Saweeeeet. The name of my escuela es: C.E.I.P Menedez y Pelayo

5. Repack. OMG living out of a suitcase for these past two weeks have been a nightmare. I thought I knew where all of my things were but now i have no clue. I've been wearing the same shoe everyday. My feet are black from all the dirt. I am running out of underwear, and my dirty clothes are starting to merge with my clean clothes. Ayudame por favor. I cannot wait to unpack tomorrow. I think i will devote an entire post to the joys of unpacking. Touch base with the blog on Sunday. Once i unpack I PROMISE to post pictures. I've taken quite a few so I'm excited to show everyone visuals. The only thing I ask is that after seeing where I live you still promise to try and visit :) :) :) :) lovessssss

Sevilla culture according to me

So I got to spend about approximately 5 days in the capital of Andalucia (anda-lu-see-a). The city is massive and full of beautiful, well-put-together people, a crazy night life, and the bright sun. All the women, young and old, always look stunning and wear some form of heels or wedges. I feel slightly self conscious but i know that all the girls from my program feel the same way. One of the first things I noticed upon arriving in the city was a green two lane bike path painted into the side walk. I made the mistake of trying to walk on it and I nearly got clipped from the bicycles whizzing by. Now you are warned, stay off the bike path. Another aspect of Sevilla I noticed is their accent. They have a slight lisp to their spanish so the sound of some letters like P sound like B's and J's sound like Ll's. Over time you get use to the difference just like in Argentina, but the first few conversations i had with the hotel staff was somewhat difficult.

At night Sevillanos hang out at the outdoor cafe's all night long. They spend hours drinking, people watching, and talking. They don't worry about time or where they need to be. Don't bother making arrangements with someone for after dinner, the odds of meeting that person at the correct time is slim to none. Its best to just see where the night takes you and go with it. This is a new concept for me. It will take me awhile to get use to that. One night we were taken to this outdoor bar. People just drink outdoors and mingle. It reminded me of New Orleans where you can drink in the streets. I asked our guide if that is the norm everywhere and she said no. Actually its against the law but nobody enforces it and unless they get a complaint no one really gives a hoot. It makes America seem so uptight, but I guess America really is uptight.

One night our program offered us the chance to go to a free Flamenco Show. Everyone was really excited for it. We were told to get tapas on our own and meet our guide at 9:45pm for the show at the Catedral. Well half of our group was a good half hour to an hour late because their dinner took to long. They all said they didn't think tapas would take two hours. I did, that's why i ate groceries for dinner. The show was pretty cool. There was one guy playing the guitar, one lady singing, one extra person to help clap, and then either a man or a woman dancing on a small platform. The speed of their legs is incredible. When i watched the man start throwing in a few kicks here and there i had a flashback of that Friends episode where Chandler's biggest fear is revealed: Michael Flatly's Lord of the Dance. "The way is legs move it looks like they are detached from his body!!"---I thought the same thing!!! haha

A word of advice to all the vegetarians. Don't bother in Spain. Everything has seafood in it of jamon (ham). Our farewell dinner consisted all high class tapas that contained shrimp in every dish. The only thing the vegetarians of our group could eat was the dessert. The only standard dish that I have come across as completely vegetarian is "Espinache y Garbanzos"--Spinach and garbanzo beans. I tried it, its not bad but i would get very tired of it very quickly. Also you will find huevos (eggs) in most dishes as well so what I like to do is ask if there are any eggs and say none for me. Can't be too careful. For those of you who like to party you will be happy to know that vino y cerveza is muy barrato! Wine and beer is extremely cheap, maybe 2 Euros for a glass of wine or a cup of beer. I found good wine at the supermercado for 71 cents (in Euros)! Increible!

I was completely unaware of the store called Corte Ingles until I arrived in Sevilla. This is the equivalent of Harrods in England except not quite as big and its a department type store that you can find all over the place. They actually have everything you could ever need. Seriously. I don't know how i didn't know about this store but everyone in my program seemed to be quite familiar with it. Its relatively cheap so its a great place to go if you have a shopping list of several things that you would think require several different stores. Nope, Corte Ingles has it all. Most stores have four or five floors of stuff. So if you plan on visiting me and you end up forgetting something, don't worry about it, Corte Ingles has got you covered.

One thing one of our teachers pointed out to us is about American's usage of "I'm sorry". We say I'm sorry to EVERYTHING. I knock your pencil off your desk, I'M SORRY. I step on your foot in the elevator, I'M SORRY. NO NO NO!!! In Spain it's "perdon". No big deal. They might not even say anything because its really not a big deal and definitively not worth an "I'm sorry". They reserve the "Lo siento" for the death of a loved one, spilling coffee on your shirt, losing your luggage after promising you would get it after one day and you need to leave to go to another town for nine months (happened to a friend). When our teacher explained it like that to us it really did seem kind of silly how we use I'm sorry ALL of the time. I'm happy to report that I have reduced my "I'm sorries" to one a day. :)

On a more serious note, one thing I learned about the Spanish school system is that they don't really address the needs of gifted students or students with special needs. Instead of creating a separate environment for these students or taking the time to teach the material to them one on one or addressing them individually, they are just ignored. Teachers don't treat these students differently and if they have ADD or autism and need special attention they don't get it. Teachers put them in the corner or just tune them out. That was probably the most disheartening thing i learned thus far in Spain. I believe that ADD and to an extent Autism is over diagnosed in America, but some kids really have disabilities and can learn if given the time and energy and I commend our school systems for developing programs where these kids can thrive. Now for the best thing about the Spanish school system, every school has its own individual schedule. Every town or city has a fair and its own annual date for the fair, so when its your towns fair you get a three or four day weekend. We were told that there is a fair every weekend of the calendar year in Spain, so if you are so inclined you could see one every weekend. It would be a difficult challenge but not impossible. Along with the fairs, every school has a certain number of "Puentes" (bridge). A "puente" is a holiday but if you decide to put a puente on a Wednesday, you would get Thursday and Friday off because a puente is a "bridge to the weekend". Again, every school decides when they want their puentes so my schedule of days off will differ from someone in Cordoba or someone in Valverde (my town). Its kind of awesome, especially if you get Monday's off. That's a good one day work week :) Also we were told that Spain has WAY more national holidays than the states. They have at least ONE holiday a month and get everything from flag day to Semana Santa (equivalent to our Easter break) off. I think I'm REALLLLLY going to like my job :D

The last thing about Sevilla culture that i learned was about their national sport. And no its not futbol (Shocked??!?!), its arguing. My favorite..... Yeah, so Spaniards in general love to argue. Anything you say they have an opinion about, a long opinion about. The thing that gets me is that lets so you say tea is healthier than coffee, they respond: "NO,NO,no, no....NO!" "blah blah BLAH BLAH!!!" they get very loud and passionate and they sound very authoritative as if, NO, TEA CANNOT POSSIBLY BE HEALTHIER AND YOU ARE AN IDIOT FOR SAYING THAT." But we were told that as if maybe come across like that, they are just expressing their opinion and it is not the law. If you engage them for a little they start to settle down and then their argument becomes, "Okay, maybe tea is better but to me I prefer coffee." For me this is hard because if someone starts out with NO NO NO, I'm like okay, im sorry I'm wrong, i won't drink tea anymore. So i guess my challenge is to not take their words so seriously, instead just listen, nod, and say "okay, but i don't agree". Its a work in progress. I think that's it for culture at the moment.

3 flights, 4 bags, 24 hr of travel but i MADE It!!!

Hola! I have survived my first week in SPAIN. These last few days have been a whirlwind of information, people, and spanish. I successfully made each of my connecting flights to Spain and was fortunate enough to have my bags arrive with me. I met a few people from my program on my plane rides so that was a plus. Me and two other girls split two cabs with parts of my luggage in each taxi. Once we checked in, showered, and got our selfs oriented we decided to go out to dinner. We ate outside at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed the beautiful night. Choosing what to eat was a challenge because nothing on the menu looked familiar. Being that it was the first night i stuck to what i knew and got pork. We ordered a bottle of wine and toasted to our new adventure in Spain. We were all apprehensive about finding an apartment, applying for a residency card, opening up a bank account, and actually teaching kids or adults English. It was nice to know that everyone felt the same way and we all had our doubts about these things regardless of our Spanish abilities.

We were all pretty zonked out so we called it an early night and headed in. It didn't really hit me that I was in Spain until I walked out on my balcony and saw two giant soccer fields across the street full with little kids playing. Yup, I'm really here.

The next day was a big crazy mess. Everyone from all over the USA was arriving and checking in. I took advantage of my free time while I could and explored the city. I found the Sevilla F.C stadium a block away from the hotel as well as this beautiful church that i distinctly remember taking a picture of in the eight grade when I came to Spain on a class trip for the first time. When I returned I discovered my two roommates had moved into my room. The one was from MN and the other from WI. We decided to go out to lunch together with one other girl to get better acquainted since these were the girls I am planning on living with. Lunch was just a whole mess of awkward conversation. Me and this girl who is living in Granada were the only ones talking, or attempting to talk. The other two were mutes with one word answers. I understand being shy and quiet, trust me I'm an expert at it but this was painful. Not even the usual "where you from", "how was your flight", "have you been to spain" ice breakers. Just silence. It got better, we decided, check that I decided since no one would make a decision, to run some errands (adaptor, shampoo) and they walked BEHIND me the whole time. ?????? I slowed down and tried to walk in step with them but it was painfully slow and didn't really help since no one wanted to initiate leading the way. Sigh it wasn't a good start.

Later on we had to meet everyone for a cocktail reception and introduction meeting. I would estimate that their were about 80 of us in the hotel for orientation. That amounts to repeating and hearing the same information 79 times over the course of five days. I could count on my hand the number of people's names and information i retained from orientation. It was intense.

My goal for orientation was to make at least one friend in each of the major cities (Sevilla, Huelva, Granada, and Cordoba). I think i succeeded but I won't know until i end up contacting them again to arrange lodging logistics for when I visit :)

Everyday of orientation was scheduled to the T with 4 hour + long meetings on topics such as Banking, Housing, Tutoring one on one, Teaching Grammar, ect... as well as group lunches, outings, and siestas. Basically it was 24/7 quality group time. People who know me well know that I need my alone time and I definitively didn't get that. The only way i could get some alone time was by waking up a good hour before everyone. So i did. I ate breakfast at 7am after going to bed at 1am. Yes i was sleep deprived but i got to eat in peace. What made it worse was that one of the girls snores at night and leaves lights on. Who doesn't know to turn off ALL the lights before going to bed? I just couldn't understand that. The first two nights i woke up @ 3am (prob b/c of the time difference) and couldn't go back to bed (b/c of the snoring). The joys of roommates.

The informational sections were extremely important. The information we learned really helped me understand my job position and my duties as a Language and Cultural Assistant as well as get me super excited to work with kids. This one girl told us how the little kids will just come up to you and constantly hug and kiss you. They are very affectionate and will look up to you since you prob the first American they have ever met. Learning about what it would be like to teach made me so excited to teach kids. they are really receptive to pictures, maps, books, food, movies, and so forth. I consider myself a pretty creative person so I think I really enjoy my job. Everything that comes before the start of school is what freaks me out.

1 week countdown

I'm back. Today is the official start of the one week countdown till I depart for Espana. The nine month adventure is just around the corner and I still have a lot to do before I leave. My least favorite part about leaving, one word: PACKING. Figuring out what to bring for nine months in 2 suitcases is not an easy task. My normal tendency would be to put it off to the last minute, but I really can't afford to do that so I think I'm going to start the dreaded task today. When it comes to packing I've been told two things:

1. Pack really light. Just wear the same thing over again, nobody cares.

2. Only pack essentials, you can buy anything you really need when your over there.

First off, I care if I wear the same thing over again. Secondly, what is essential? Everything is essential to me. I plan for every possible situation so i have extra of everything, clothes for every occasion, and back up of back ups. Slimming down or narrowing down what is "essential" might be a task for an outsider (aka mom).

Just to make it clear, I do plan on continuing the blog throughout my stay in Spain. It probably won't be updated daily like it was in Argentina because I won't be doing something exciting every day. Nine months gives me more time to space out my sightseeing and get settled into my new lifestyle, thus reducing my need to document every little thing/incident like i did in Argentina. I will have a phone while I am abroad that receives calls for free from France, Italy, Spain, and the UK so if anyone is in the neighborhood feel free to give me a shout. Also, I am planning on setting up a free travel journal that will document where I go in Europe and Africa through my texts and phone calls. It sounds a little invasive, but in the end I think its kind of cool so again check that out if you wish. (I'll post the link to it when I receive my phone). I also plan on using Skype for almost all means of communication to the States so if you haven't already found me on it my username is: egwroll.

Alright, well I guess I should get back to packing. Hopefully the next time I write I will be settled into my new living arrangement in Huelva. Adios amigos!