Hola! 

Happy to say that I made it to my destination, Vigo!!  The flights were very long, and on the flight to Dubai, there were 5 babies in my area on the plane, 5!  So, I got next to no sleep :(  The food made up for it, because it was very good!  I was able to buy some presents for my family at Dubai airport, so the flight was worth it.  Madrid airport was a bit harder to understand, one because it was in Spanish and 2 because they didn't call out boarding flights! You had to know exactly what time to be at the gate, and what gate to be at. 

I also met my host family for the first time, and they are amazing!  They are all so nice, and Mario, my host brother, is teaching me how to play the guitar! So far, I can play (very badly) Old McDonald had a farm!  Vicente, my host dad, makes the food and he is a very good cook!  It is very different because we have a huge meal for lunch, with dessert, and dinner is very small, maybe a sandwich or some fruit.  I thought I would be getting more hungry, but I have adjusted pretty well!  It is difficult to understand when they speak in Spanish, but if I know the topic, like if they are speaking about football, or about school, I can pick up some words and kind-of understand what is going on.

I started school this week, but only went for two days.  School is very difficult, not many of the students know any English, so if I don't know the words in Spanish, it is very hard to have a conversation.   Some of the teachers don't seem to understand that I'm not fluent, because when they ask if I know Spanish I say yes, but I find speaking hard, and then they say 'well you probably won't understand anything then'.  Fun fun for me! :-/

My physics/chemistry teacher is from Canada, and he knows English and understands that I am there to learn Spanish more than physics, so he put me with a girl who doesn't know any English so I can try and talk to her!  It is very hard, but hopefully I will get better soon!

I haven't done much else, just tried to get used to the time difference and make sure I'm doing everything I can to help out the host family!  Today, I went to my host sister, Irlanda's, roller skating competition and it was very exciting!  It was like figure skating, but on roller blades!! 

I am going to upload weekly, so I will have something new next Saturday!  But if something exciting happens, I will update earlier! Tomorrow there is a celebration/festival in Vigo, to commemorate the people that helped get the French out of Vigo!  Hopefully I can get some good photos there!

Hope everyone back home is doing good, and not missing me too much :p
Adios for now!

Some of the skaters practising their routine

Each club in front of the podium, my host sister has the purple skirt on the right.

We had lunch in a café during the break in the competition, it was three courses!  My first course was meatballs, which were really nice!  Next I had this, which is Hake!  It was very good also but there were a lot of bones in the fish which I kept getting stuck in my teeth!!  And for dessert I had some custard and fruit!

Today is the big day!

I can't believe the day has finally arrived!  I have been so busy with my swimming that I haven't had much time to think about leaving, but now the day is here!

I wasn't feeling too nervous, until around 30 minutes before we left for the airport and I realised I'm about to leave New Zealand, alone, for 3 months!  Now I am very nervous, wondering if I'll make all of my flights, if the food will be good, if there will be a kid kicking my chair.... so many different things are going through my mind!  My family came with me to the airport, which was nice because I thought my sister wasn't going to be able to make it!  I'm going to miss them heaps, it will be so different waking up and not seeing them every morning!

Today was also my last day of school, until I come back of course!  My friends and I got a bit emotional, and I know that I will miss them heaps!  We have agreed to try and update each other around once every two weeks, so hopefully I won't be missing out on too much!  I also won't be seeing all of my friends from the pool, which will be hard!  I'm so used to going to the pool every day and seeing the same people there, so I'll have to do my best to cope!

Not much is happening right at this moment, I'm sitting really close to my gate so I make the flight on time!  Don't want to miss the first one! 

Hopefully I can update in Madrid, as I have around a six hour stop over... fun fun!

I'll miss you all heaps :)

2 weeks left, thoughts and feelings!

Only two weeks left until I leave on this great adventure to Spain, and I'm not sure what to feel!  Of course I feel excited, nervous, and even a bit scared!  Going halfway across the world from where I live, to a country I have never been to with a completely different language, is a big step!  But, NZIIU has made things a lot easier, with the orientation manual describing different ways to cope with these emotions, and my family are also helping by keeping my spirits up!  My host mother in Spain has also been keeping in contact with me, explaining how she has set me up at school and at the local swim club in Vigo, which is amazing! 

My thoughts seem to be all jumbled at this point, I'm always wondering what I will be doing two weeks from now!  Will I be settling in alright?  Will I like the host family?  Will the host family like me? Thoughts like these filter though my mind on a regular basis!  I also think of how well speaking Spanish is going to go for me.  Even though I have learnt it for a few years, I know no learning can compare to being thrown into a country that has their main language as Spanish!  I will try my best to speak as much Spanish as I can, so I hope I don't say things too wrong!

I have mostly finished packing, and my suitcase feels a bit heavy :-/  When I weigh it, I hope it doesn't go over the limit! 

About this blog :)

Hi!!

My name is Kyra Forrest and thanks to the exchange provider NZIIU, I have won a scholarship for an exchange to Vigo, Spain for three months this year!  I will use this blog to update you all on how my life is going, and I'll also post picture of the things I am doing!

Hope you all enjoy :)