Final Countdown

My daily routine here in Spain was waking up 8:30 getting ready eating breakfast. Then coming back to put contacts on last minute if I decided to and then get my books for school and go to school. My first class was Spanish 3 and then lunch where I would meet my friends at the vending machines and then go eat the food at the dorms and then while they all went to take a nap I was in literature class. I would come back wake them up and more times then not we would go out some where. Whether it was just to walk around or if we were looking for something or trying to go to the beach we always tried to do something. After a couple hours we would come back start some homework and then eat some supper. After supper do some more homework stay up late to either skype with family or friends back home. Most times when I came back to from my literature class I would always say hi to the guy at the front desk and he would always say hi back. He was definitely one of my favorite workers here. He would always say hi and help answer our questions even if we did not necessarily know how to ask him he sorta got the idea after some acting and describing. Obviously on the weekends we always went out and sometimes stayed out later then planned or did more wandering then expected but that is how you live and learn here. Yes we would ask for directions but either people did not understand us or we did not understand them. But I got through it day by day. Meeting new people and doing different things. Overall I would say my experience was amazing minus the days I was homesick or not feeling well or hadn't eaten much of the food. But we all survived and are still alive so it is fine.
As for my advice for anyone thinking about traveling abroad. If you can do it do it. Honestly, I was hesitant and I was kind of told I had to do it but I went ahead and did it. Yes, Ill admit I may be a big bay about being away from home but from the support of my family and the friends I made here I got through it. The best way I dealt with it was doing stuff like going for a walk or just hanging out in a room or playing games. Sometimes it is better to distract yourself. Skype is a wonderfull thing it saves you a lot of money. However, skyping late at night can be hard because you want to talk to your family and friends but you have to cut it off at some point. Even though, I am used to not getting a lot of sleep some people are not and it is not always the easiest to be sitting in class tired in a foriegn country trying to learn. However, you will manage. That has been like my catch frase here. I will manage, no matter what happens or happened I will manage. My other advice is do not be afarid to go on adventure or try new things or ask people their opinions about where a good place to eat or not. Honestly that is all apart of this experience yes to learn but you got to learn outside of the classroom too. I am going to give advice about living in the dorms. Yes it does sound great on paper but it is not the best living situation. The hallways carry your voice like crazy and the lights in the hallway have a timer so you are constantly turning them on. The washers are small ones and there are only four...you do not have to pay for the laundry though. Detergant or fabric softener is not provided you will have to buy at least detergant. Also more times then not the food was not that great and there are certain times of eating and the cafeteria will be close if you got a minute after they close. We tended to eat a lot of french fries and bread. The yogurt and milk more times then not are not cold. Also everything taste different they do not use a spices or flavoring like we do in america. There are some positives you do get your own bed and bathroom. Also you get towels and sheets provided for you. They get changed once a week and your room gets cleaned twice a week. However, you will have to make your own bed. There is no air conditioning so when it is actually hot in Bilbao you probably won't end up sleeping with any blankets on and may put a sheet on during the night. There are no screens in the windows so if your windows are opened be prepared for bugs and you will wake up misquito bites. Another thing that is awesome are these shades/blind things you pull them all the way down and your room will stay pitched black and the bugs won't come in but your room will get hot. In the dorms you tend to speak english more then anything so if you are coming here to really learn the language I would say host family is your best option however, you can talk in spanish with the people who work here and there are some native speakers that are here that if you make friends with you can speak spanish with them. Take one day at a time and don't worry about the next days coming because here everyone is very relaxed and carefree. If you are missing american food there are a few good pizza places around like telepizza by plaza moyua or pizza via in casco viejo. Also in the Zubiarte they have Mcdonalds and Burger King and a few other places that have similar foods to America.  Live by the saying YOSO it is like YOLO but is You're only in Spain Once because honestly how many times do you honestly think that you are going to come back. It is likely but less likely because you experienced it already so while you are here do everything you can within limits. I would not say spend 1,000's of dollars but go for a hike or a walk and just get lost. Go to the street festival and come back at 6 in the morning...do it on the weekend you might be regretting it the next day just a little. But that is fine basically my advice in general is to enjoy the time you have here because before you know it you will be saying adios to Spain and Hello America.

 I will miss Puppy the most! But I will have my puppy when I get back home! =)

My experience of culture shock when I go back I think is actually going back to my daily crazy routine back home. Here I definitely relaxed more in my opinion because I did not have a crazy hetic schedule like I do back home. However, I am jumping right back into my crazy life when I get back. So I am expecting to get sick or just be really tired for a week. When I get back though I get back at night time so I am hoping my time clock will go back relatively fast because when I get back I am going to sleep and wake up and do things.By doing so I hope my body will not even notice the difference. The one thing that is going to be hard to get use to again is the food. I feel like since I have gotten use to eating less flavored food that I won't like food in America anymore. Two things I am going to miss from Spain that I won't be able to get are bueno bars and the delicious ice cream here. I do not know why but ice cream is just so good over here. I think by walking around here a lot has made me realize that I can walk to places and not be lazy and drive two minutes down the road it is fine to take 5 minutes to walk there instead. I think driving is going to be a big culture shock because I have not driven a car in over a month and thats a long time for me because I drive every single day back home. I think food times are going to mess with me too and the difference in climate and the view. It just all very different.

 -> the people I spent 5 most of weeks of my summer with. I will never forget them.