I wanted to write about Galicia and it's language. The fact that Spain actually has four official languages and that AFS places students even in the regions where Spanish might not be the main language freaks a lot of kids out. Some might decide Latin America is a better option and some might breathe a huge sigh of relief if they are placed elsewhere in Spain. (Everyone dreams of the classic South). But for me, that was always one of the most interesting parts about Spain, it's distinctive regions. Sure, I was a little worried that it would be harder to go somewhere like Galicia or Basque or Catalonia. and I am nervous, but not more so than than anyone going on exchange to anywhere. I feel so very lucky to be placed in Galicia. I will get the chance to learn both Spanish and Galician and my year will only be even more awesome because of it. And that's not even to mention the stunning Galician landscapes. (and rich food, historic cathedrals, cities, beaches, accents, sports, weather, and all of it. I don't know if you can tell, but I really like Galicia already).
picture of the Ría de Vigo (Vigo River) in Moaña (by my host mom)
Before I leave, I'm trying to learn at least a few basics in Galician (as well as brushing up on Spanish). I'll obviously learn the most from speaking with my family while I'm there, but I want to get just a little foundation beforehand because I'd like to be as prepared as possible!
Galician is too obscure to be taught on the mainstream language
learning sites, like rosetta stone, livemocha, or busuu, but there are
still resources out there. Only about 3 million people speak it! My host mom has been really helpful in
sending me some links.
My host mom is a writer and journalist in Galician. This is the book trailer for her fantasy trilogy! Someday I hope I can read her books.
some of my fancy colorful notes
Galician is a sister language to Portuguese, and both share Latin roots with
Spanish. I've studied Spanish in school for four
years so I can recognize some of the cognates. One difference between Spanish and Galician is the number of contractions; Galician is full of them, while in Spanish there are 2. (a + el = al, and de+el = del. ) In Galician... there are aaaaaall of the ones shown in the left picture below. I've also found listening comprehension exercises (right picture) that practice distinguishing between very similar words with different meanings. It's not easy!
(sorry the print turned out so small, i think the picture will enlarge if you click it)
I like this guy's Galician videos :)
and a few websites, just one the off chance you are reading this and want to learn some Galician:
This Site isn't language learning,
just a general site about galicia, but I figured if you are bothering to
look at these you will be interested in that too! This One is from the Galician government, the Xunta, and they have some good resources. This is an awesome interactive dictionary from my host mom. You can learn some important basic conversation skills Here. and Here is one that has lots of
activities and grammar and stuff (like the ones I took screenshots of and posted). It seems to work better on
internet explorer, for some reason. This has great verb conjugations, Here is more grammar, and there's more verbs Here. There are some more youtube channels for learning Galican Here and Here (the second one is harder because she doesn't teach speaking English). This has nice introduction stuff.
Galicia Spain
I've learned even more about Galicia but I want to save a few things to post about when I'm there. I cannot wait to be able to write from personal experience soon. :)
I have some actual news as well, but this post is already long and cluttered so I'll put the updates in a different post.
Exchange is supposed to be about the people you meet all over the world, and your host family is a huge part of your year. I know I was incredibly lucky to find out mine so early. It's not that easy writing to my family, though. How do you start to get to know the people who are opening their home and family to you for a year? We email in
Spanish and I make lots of mistakes and use Google translate more than I'd like. For one
thing, after talking to them for 4 months I learned that I should be addressing them using a different, less formal, version of "you" (as in, I was speaking to them formally the way you'd speak to a really important person, the Queen of England maybe, instead of family). A couple times I've almost told them that I was sending them some arms (I meant hugs! In Spanish the words for "hugs" (abrazos) and "arms" (brazos) are just one letter off.) Everyone wants to hear that they will be getting some body parts in the mail (Not). I definitely have stress dreams about going, despite how excited I am about it. My subconscious has gone through all the worst possible scenarios (from a nuclear crisis to leaving after a semester because no one would talk to me) in my dreams. Shut up, Brain, why are you messing with my positive attitude here?!
But seriously, I cannot wait to meet them in person in just 2 more months!
My host family has a beatiful garden with fruit trees and flowers. In September the apples and pears will be ready to eat, yumm!
Oh, did I mention it's practically a small farm? These are some of the chickens, or gallinas. Fresh eggs every day!
♥ ♥ ♥
Last spring, my parents and I decided to be a host family. It's really hard to describe how it was to be a host sister. It was just a big change to adjust to a new member of the family. I'm an only child, and there was suddenly a new teenager living with us. It was strange at first to explain things that seemed like normal daily life and sometimes miming to communicate, but by the last few months we were really close. I realized that exchanging is a new and challenging experience for the family as well as for the student. Hosting was one of the best things I could've done to get the full AFS exchange experience. I hope it will help me empathize and connect with my own host family because I've been in similar shoes. and I think the most important thing I learned is to not be afraid to speak up when I'm there!
Here's a visual of the placements of AFS Spain students so far! Just shows that you really can be placed anywhere.
On June 1st I recieved my travel itinerary! Spain is
usually one of the earliest countries to get that info because there are
lots of kids traveling and AFS purchases the tickets as a group. So
that's really exciting! I'll arrive in madrid on September 7th with the
rest of the kids going to Spain, then I somehow travel the next 650 km
to my host city but I don't have information on that part yet. I can't
wait to meet my family in person, although I'll be super nervous at
first!
The flags of regions in Spain
Today I had my Pre-Departure Orientation as a conference call. For the most part it was fairly basic stuff going over AFS guidelines and support structure, which is good to know, and I did get some good ideas for host family gifts, but it wasn't super exciting and I may have looked like this a lot of the time (not as cute though):
adorable baby sloth yawn
One thing that stuck with me from the PDO was what the AFS coordinator said about how other countries have complained that Americans never know anything about the rest of the world, and don't care. Well, I do care, or I wouldn't be going to another country for a year. I decided that it would be a good idea to brush up on my Spanish history though!
not my cutest pic, oh well
I'm still working on all the visa requirements. There are just so many documents to gather and notarize and apostille and translate and mail and deal with etc. I'm also in summer school taking US History to make up for the credits I'll miss in Spain.
Everything feels so much more real now that there's a date, but I still can't really believe it's actually happening. 80 more days in Austin!
Well, it's been a few months since I posted. Obviously, I will have more to post (although probably even less time) once I've actually left the country!
I've been pretty busy this spring. It's hard to believe that not even four months ago I was still finishing my application and hoping I would be accepted. I've now received Visa instructions from AFS, which are ridiculously long and difficult to achieve. I was a little disappointed to learn that my local AFS chapter would not be holding a pre-departure orientation, so instead I will have a "virtual on-the-phone" orientation. I had been looking forward to meeting some other kids going abroad, but that's okay.
I have been trying to find out as much as I can about Galicia, the region where I will be living in just about- I can't believe how fast time has gone!- 97 days. It's not the most well-known part of Spain so there aren't many too many resources. I did learn that there are Celtic influences, so the bagpipes (I laughed too- what? bagpipes? in Spain?) are a traditional instrument. This is a video of a famous Galician musician...
I have heard, however, that it is sometimes referred to (in the most loving way possible I'm sure) as the "Urinal of Spain". How marvelous. (Because it rains so much there, apparently.) But really, it's beautiful.
Seems to be plenty of sunshine....
I've been exchanging emails with my host parents about once a week or so. I don't think I introduced them in my other post, but my family includes my host mom Elena, my host dad Lois (yep, not Luis), my one-year-younger host sister Antía, and two Dalmatian dogs named Babi and Pinto. I love getting to know my future family!
Mostly, I've just been trying to get through the last few months of school in America. The end of my sophomore year has been quite stressful with trying to get extra credits so I can graduate on time despite not getting any credits from my classes in Spain. I still have some final exams after this weekend, but Wednesday is my last day. I'll be that much closer to leaving for Spain! (Of course, I'm taking an extra history class which means I'll still be in school through July.... bummer.)
koalas are cool (me gusta coalas).
It's going to be a huge change, and of course I will miss my life here in the USA. I will have to get used to another language or two, I won't understand puns, or have a decent vocabulary, I'll have to use the Euro system, and the metric system, I won't have my own friends or family or dog, or a legal driver's license, or my favorite TV shows and movies and music and snacks... I'll even miss Presidential elections! And for many of my friends, this is the last year we have together, because by the time I return they will be in college being awesome. I'm going to miss so much. Thinking about everything I'm leaving behind makes me seem crazy, but there are million more reasons that make it worth it. (I could make a long list of reasons why... maybe in another
post).
My name is Amy. This is my blog about journeying from Austin, Texas, to Marín, Spain. I am making this so that people back home can see what I'm up to 4,808 miles away, and so that future exchange students can maybe learn a little bit from my experience. (I know I've certainly been addicted to following other kids' exchange blogs...). I'm going to try to keep up with this blog now that I do have a little something to say!
Some things to know:
I am going to spend my junior year (2012-2013) abroad in Spain through the exchange organization AFS.
My application has been accepted by both AFS USA and AFS Spain, and today I received a host family (which I am still amazed by, they seem awesome and it was so fast) !
As of today, March 15th, there are one hundred and sixty-nine days until September 1st, which is approximately when I leave. (also the same date as the Hogwarts Express... I'm a Harry Potter fan).
There are about 4,808 miles (7,737 km) between my hometown and my host town of Marín, a small city in the province of Pontevedra in the Galicia region of España!
