Letters from Abroad

Dear Patch,

Want to know something crazy? Only 81 days left until I’m back in Pleasanton! I think I say this every month, but March seemed to fly by. This month I only had three weeks of school because my spring break is two weeks long and started on the 19th. Unfortunately spent that first weekend sick, but the following two weeks were amazing.

I got to spend a week of it in an RV trailer with my host family and friends in Salou. It's a small town on the Mediterranean coast, about an hour south of Barcelona [picture 1]. Both on the way there and on the way back, we passed through the prime meridian, which I thought was pretty cool [2-3].

Our camp ground was about a 3 minute walk from the beach and even though it wasn’t that warm (by California weather standards), I was really excited. One of the days we were there we spent in Tarragona, the city close by. We saw the beach [4-5], the cathedral [6-9], some roman ruins [10], and of course I took lots of pictures. I also bought a new pin and a patch of the Spanish flag for my blazer [11].

While I was in Salou, I spent a day in Port Aventura, the most visited theme park in Spain [12-13]. While I was there, I got to ride the most popular rollercoasters multiple times, because we went on a weekday that wasn’t a holiday for Catalonians and most of the people there had little kids and weren’t there for the rollercoasters. My favorite ride (I rode it twice) was Shambhala, the tallest rollercoaster in Europe (it's 250 ft tall! That's equivalent to a seven story building!) . While I was there, I ate a waffle for the first time in 7 months and it was delicious. I also bought another pin to add to my blazer [11].

After we got back from Salou, I spent a day catching up on sleep, going to soccer practice and studying before the last weekend of break. Saturday night I went out and had a really great time with my friends; they even surprised me with a cake, a stuffed animal, a flower and a sash for my birthday. Sunday morning my host family woke me up to sing happy birthday and open presents, and later in the day we had a meal with family and friends to celebrate. That night I Skyped my family in California, and I would say I had an amazing birthday and break overall.

School-wise it’s been pretty consistent, I haven’t had any major tests or projects and the same goes for Rotary. Language-wise, I feel pretty fluent; although I’m still learning on a daily basis, I feel confident in my Spanish-speaking skills.

Until next time,
Nagisa

P.S. Some students from New Jersey came to Vitoria for two weeks through a program at my school and as it was their last day here, they came to school today to present a little bit about themselves. They were all super excited to see another American, and I even got to share a little about Rotary and long term exchanges with them.