Who I am now

I'm sitting outside in the backyard today. It's 30 degrees and it's so nice, it feels like summer. I am sitting listening to music. Somehow this feeling of summer doesn't feel that nice and happy to me. It reminds me to when I came here, and this makes me think of the time I have left in this gorgeus place. It's a weird feeling. I don't want to go back to Spain. I've changed so much and I've grown so much during this experience, my views are not the same anymore and I want to stay here. I've read many blogs of exchange students who have gone back home and they talk about the adaptation that it means. Basically, you've changed so much in your new life that getting back to your old life seems harder than adapting to a new culture. It's been a year since I came here, and even if I miss my friends a lot, I know they've met new people too and they may not understand what I've been through. I know I shouldn't be thinking such in a negative way because I still have some time here and I have to enjoy the rest of my experience, but I seriously don't want to leave! I've met some of my bestest friends here, I love them so much! I'll miss my host family so much too, they've helped me so much with everything and I'll make sure to keep in touch with them. This experience has been AWESOME and I wish I could stay here forever...🇺🇸❤️

It's all coming to an end...

Hey guys! 

Lately I've been pretty busy with school and everything in general... I wanted to write another post, because my school year, since I am a senior in my school, is ending in 3 weeks. I still can't believe it, our last day is May 22nd and I am already thinking about my plans for summer.

New Trier has been great. Maybe it hasn't been how I expected at the beggining, but it's been good. This school is a hard school, more like a college preparation high school, and for that reason I've learned a lot. I remember at the beggining I was mad because all  my friends were in easier high schools and had no homework. Also, the fact that there is no diversity in my high school has bothered me so much all this year. New Trier is like a bubble, it's a rich community and there's only white people who is only worried about academics and grades. It simply felt I was not living my american experience. It's been different, but amazing! I had expectations and they changed, but I've learned to adapt to any situation I have in front of me, even if I am not happy with it. Apart from that, I've met my amazing best friends and I've grown so much as a person. 

I'll keep you guys posted ❤️🇺🇸

Spring Break and more!

Hi everyone!!

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything here for the last three months... I get really lazy with this😅

Luckily, I have a lot of things to explain you guys!!! First of all, everything is great with my fam, school and friends. It seems I´ve been here forever! The weather is getting warmer and I´m so so happy with that! Most of my friends live close to the lake and we are going to go to swim in the lake and have lunch there! 🌞

Also, since it´s been more sunny I hangout more with my friends and we go do stuff outdoors, which is really nice!  This week was Spring Break, and I absolutely LOVED it because I got to see my parents and my sister👪 First my parents came to Chicago and we spent the night downtown in a HYATT hotel. The next day, we woke up early and we took a plane to Raleigh, and from there, we rented a car and we drove to my sister's house. I was not that excited to see my sister cause I saw her in New Years, but my parents were. It was so nice because we got to meet my sister's fam and see how it is where she lives. After that we drove to Topsail Island (still in North Carolina). We had rented a house there and our time there was so much fun! We were by the beach and the town was super cute! 

Cold

Hello family and friends! (Even though I know you won't read this)😘

I am so lazy and I haven't updated you guys on my life here in Chicago! 

These two past months have been so intense. First of all, my sister came for New Years and it was so much fun! All the CIEE kids went to spend a weekend in a cabin up in Wisconsin and we got to ski! It was so fun and the place was gorgeous! 

 I switched families and now I am living with the Mantice family! They are great and their food is amazing! (They are greek, so I get to learn 2 languages!) 

It's been so nice to get to know them and I am already part of the family 😊💕.

Me and my older host sister went to Indiana University last weekend, and it was AMAZING! We all went downtown and spent the whole day in Chicago, we went to have dinner at Tapas Barcelona, I met their family... They are all amazing! I have amazing friends that I would not change for anything in this world and I am so adapted in general (sometimes I even forget I am an exchange student, I'm not kidding)

I am so so happy but this experience is going by way too fast!

Bye guys, I'll keep you posted! 😜

Halloween is so close!

Hello everybody! 

It's been a long time since I wrote a post here, anyways, I have a lot to talk about!

First of all, I can't believe it's already October! It's been almost a month and a half since I arrived here, and it feels like the time is going so fast! Yesterday it was October 3rd. For the ones who don't know, October 3rd it's mentioned in Mean girls. And, above all, I am in the High School where this movie was based on! 

Another thing that I've realised is how much money is here in this school. I mean, girls with Louis Vuitton day planners or herve chapelier bags is not normal for me... Plus the senior parking lot is full of BMW's and Jeeps. They say that New Trier is the school for white people. Yes, since I started school, I've only seen one african boy and one african girl, out of 3000 people in the school. I have to say that New Trier is located in one of the most affluent and rich suburbs in the famed North Shore of Chicago.

Another thing! Today I am going to Six Flags with my host sister and some friends! I am so exciiiiiiiiited, I love roller-coasters! 

Going back to school, I am pretty happy with all my classes, although philosophy and literature in english are not easy! 

Cross Country season is going to end soon and I am not happy with it, I love running and it's so much fun! :(

*Halloween is so close!* 

Here I have some quotes about New Trier that you may like:

A place where you won't find too many black people.

George: Hey Paul, do you ever see any black people here at New Trier?

Paul: Nope.

Where more than half of the students smoke pot, sell pot, or grow pot.

Where the grades are high, but the kids are higher.

  On the bus going to a Cross Country meet! 

Girl Up!

Aqui estem. Ja han passat tres setmanes desde que vaig comensar el cole, i el temps m'ha passat volant! Seguim entrenant cada dia després de classe, i els entrenaments segueixen sent igual de durillos. Dissabte vam fer una cursa de 3 milles (5 km) , i estic molt contenta perque vaig acabar als 22 minuts!    Bueno, aquesta entrada no va de córrer, sinó d'un club! Si, he entrat al club de Girl Up amb unes amigues. Bé, segur que us preguntareu que és. Girl Up és un club on estalviem diners, conscienciem i organitzem events per a l'educació  de nenes a països del tercer món. Ara ho estem organitzant tot, i hem d'aconseguir materials per a pancartes per promocionar el club! Crec que aquest club esta genial, estic molt contenta!

Survived the first day of High School!

Okay so today it was my first day of high school, and I can tell it went great! I was so nervous about getting lost and all this stuff (it's so big!) but, lucky me, I didn't, I could find all my classrooms so I am really happy. I asked everybody if they could help me to get to my next class, and they did, but people here is so nice they didn't only tell me where it was,  they also came with me!

When we came in the school I had to go to the second floor to talk with Athena (she's the girl who helps exchange students, makes the schedules, etc) about my schedule and she told me what was my advisory. An advisory is like a room where a group of about 15 girls meet, finish homework and sleep before starting classes, so it's great because you can just relax and talk with your friends before taking any class. Then I had free period, and then I had my first class; International Foods, wich I even didn't choose, but anyways, I am changing this one for Philosphy. Then I  had Modern America in the third floor, so I went downstairs and we started to talk about  us and our life and these things you do in your first day of school. All the people were so nice, and so it was the teacher! I met a girl from Chile who had the same Lunch period as me, so we went to the cafeteria and met some girls. Then we had Outdoor ed, which is like a class where you play sports like kayak, climbing... It was hard to find where that class was, but It looked cool! After this one I had Algebra so I went to the second floor, and I arrived late! Then I had Photography wich looked so cool and the teacher is so nice, and finally I had Good and Evil in Literature, where we spend the time reading American books and talking about them. 

When I finished my classes I went to my advisory again, and it was so nice to talk with those girls about our first day of High School! But the day didn't finish! After having lunch at home, at half past three (it was a weird day), I had Cross Country training for two hours, so I got there and I almost died, we train so hard! We ran and then we did push-ups and abs, oh my god I'll be so fit hahah! Two hours later my host mum picked me up and I had a shower, and at half past six we had a Parents cross country meeting where we talked about the trainings, competitions and that things. 

Now I can say I survived my first day at High School!