The African Sun Says "Hello!"

So apparently today is officially the start of spring? That seems so strange to me!

As far as my life goes... My mom sent me Girl Scout cookies and Reese's peanut butter cups in a care package recently, and the cookies lasted for a solid seven days. I'd say that's pretty good! I went to my first wedding in Spain last Saturday (the 10th)! It was actually pretty similar to weddings in the US. Here, there are two types of weddings: "Religious" weddings that take place in churches for Catholics/Christians, and "Civil" weddings that take place somewhere other than the church. The one I went to was a civil wedding. The ceremony took place outside, and was very short. Also, something different was that why the bride and groom were in front of everyone, they sat in chairs instead standing in front of the lady who married them. Right after the ceremony, champagne was served to everyone, followed by some tapas (small servings of various Spanish foods). We then went inside a wedding hall in which we ate a huge, delicious meal and later on danced a bit in.

Also a cool tradition at Spanish weddings -- the bride gives every woman/girl this flower-pin thing, and depending on whether you're married or not, puts it a certain way on your shirt/jacket. If your married, she places the pin correctly, with the flower upright and the sharp side pointing down, so it doesn't fall out. If these women still manage to lose it, that means they will lose their husband (or something like that). For all the women that aren't married -- me! -- the bride places the pin upside down, so that the pointy side is pointing upward. Like that, the pin is likely to fall out. If you lose the pin (not on purpose, but by accident) then you will find true love! I thought this was interesting. My pin actually did drop out, but I saw it fall so it wasn't truly losing it. I put it back on, and you will never believe what happened... I went to the restroom and it somehow fell in the toilet.... WHAT? What does that even suggest for my love-life?? For those wondering, I didn't fish it outta there.

My flower-pin that eventually fell in the toilet

Not much happened last week, until Thursday when I went to Melilla for my Rotary District Conference! Melilla is a Spanish territory on the coast of Morocco, Africa!!

Melilla is a Spanish territory on the northern African coast

Melilla was only a half-our plane ride from Malaga City! While in Melilla, my host parents stayed in a hotel with the rest of the Rotarians, and I stayed with an exchange student, Jess from New York, who is actually living in Melilla! We totally had the instant-exchange-student-connection and it was so nice spending the weekend with her. We had to help out a lot at the conference, but when we weren't there we had fun visiting the ancient city in Melilla, sunbathing at the beach, and exploring the streets and culture. Melilla was definitely interesting because of all the influence of Morroco! One day, we actually went to the military base of Melilla with Rotary! Some things that stood out to me in Melilla were all the Muslim women, the Arabic, and constant stares from people on the street. Overall I enjoyed the city, and I'm glad I got to hang out with Jess. Exchange students get exchange students perfectly. It's nice. Hopefully, Jess can come here in a few months for the Marbella Feria!

We made the newspaper!

After more than an hour of cooking and hoping for the best, Jess and I successfully made a tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelet with potatoes) 

Melilla has water the color of Kool-Aid :)

Inside the military base for a small lunch. Rotary meeting FTW

Jess and I with a soldier we met at the base

Jess and I with a goat.... long story? I'm still unsure of why this picture ever happened.

We came back on Sunday evening, and now it's back to the usual. At school, we're finishing up the second trimester, so that means exam time! AKA Everyone is cramming and freaking out. I believe we finish all the finals this week, have school next week (for some reason I'm not sure of if we've already finished exams), and the following week is Semana Santa, or Easter, so we have the week off (it's like our Spring Break). After that, there are about three months of school left and only four months remaining of my exchange! Time is flying guys. 

Happy Spring, Feliz Primavera!

Josie

P.S. After re-reading this, I decided my English has met a new low. I'm sorry about that, but I hope it just means my Spanish is taking over! Right now, it's kind of difficult to express myself in any language. More on that later though.  :)