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Hello all,

Just so everyone has the opportunity to be on the same page as everyone else in my adventure, I am posting this very publicly:

I quit.

Before anyone asks, I quit for my own well-being. And since this was the second family I was with, I really see no point in trying to find a third. To be honest, I don't really know what I am doing, or going to do. I have a place to stay currently, but I am looking for a flat to rent for two months so I can be here when my mom comes. I am hoping that I can find more opportunities with conversational English classes, but honestly, who knows. I'm just a 19 year old girl, thousands of miles away from home, and I feel completely vulnerable. But, I guess we all have to grow up at some point.

XX

Kaixo! Hola! Hello!

Well, it's Monday. So here I am, blogging again, in the same spot, with the same café con leche and croissant. Wow, it really took me a long time to figure out how to spell "croissant." That's a word that I'm pretty sure I've never had to sit down and actually spell. I was butchering it so bad that auto-correct couldn't even help me out. Anyway, as I am sitting here blogging, there is a wonderful protest taking place with Basque Country citizens requesting to be separate from Spain. And by "requesting" I mean, shouting and marching around with signs in a less than subtle fashion. Since I'm talking about the Basque people, I might as well talk about their fashion sense that I have been judging ever since I have been in Vitoria and I just haven't gotten around to expressing my thoughts on it. The Basque people have a certain style that is, how can I put this, caught somewhere between 90's grunge and 70's punk rock. But not the good kind of punk rock style... like the mullets and awkward bangs. Think Ramones. I'm not one to necessarily judge based on style, but this one is just a really, really bad fashion trend. It is not uncommon in the least to see young boys and young men sporting this awful spin-off of a mullet. Let me paint the picture for you: You see a guy head on, and you think to yourself, "hmm, he is pretty cute." You keep walking, pass him, and turn around and then there it is. The dreads. They normally have anywhere between one to six dreads at the nape of their neck. And not short little rat tails either. Like full on, long dreads. Yikes. Mullet to a whole new level. The female hairstyle is the connection I make to the Ramones. If you don't know what the Ramones look like, I encourage you to look them up and you will see just how awful their hairstyle was. On top of this strange hair trend, everyone likes to wear bouldering clothes, meaning lightweight, capri like shorts, and hiking shoes. If that isn't enough to turn you off, the men also wear hoop earrings. Yes, hoop earrings. They can be anywhere between a small hoop to one that is seen on perhaps Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she's working the streets. It is very interesting to see.

To continue, I got my haircut! That was probably the most exciting thing that happened to me this week to be completely honest. I was ready for a change! So I made an appointment and did it. Most of you have already seen my lovely bangs and layers I got. I love 'em! My mom, however, pointed out that I resemble Björk STILL. That was something that I used to get a lot when I was a toddler because of my Asian eyes. But you guys, I'm still Björk. I'm thinking I should start making electronica music now, just so I can be even more like her. Just to show you how much I resemble her, I create a side-by-side picture of me and her. You tell me who is who.

In addition, my birthday is coming up! Hoo Rah! Unfortunately, I have had this idea ever since July that it was "close enough" to my birthday that I can just say that I'm 19. So, basically, everyone that I have met since July thinks I'm 19 right now. And they will probably think I'm turning 20 in eight days. So not that it's really awkward, it's just I'm going to feel a little silly letting everyone know "hey, I'm really still a teenager. Sorry I lied." So, to anyone who I am friends with that I told I was 19, I hate to break it to you, but I still got one more year of teenage living. Please don't confront me about this. I'm glad I got that one off my chest. But I'm beginning to fear that my birthday is just going to be another, ordinary day and I'm getting kind of sad that I won't be given any special treatments because it's my birthday. I guess that's part of "growing up," but I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP. I just want my dad to buy me Starbucks in the morning on my birthday, I want a birthday cake, and balloons, and hand-made cards. But beggars can't be choosers. And I'm only assuming it only gets worse the older you get. Luckily, 19 isn't like a super awesome year to celebrate anyway. 

Last weekend, I went out for a little while. Really, it was just an eventful Saturday overall. I went with the family to their Tennis Club's "Oktoberfest." They only had two beers on tap. One was some awful lager, and the other was Budweiser. Real German, ya know? But it was really fun nonetheless, and I ate like a king. They had schnitzel, meats, sauerkraut, sausage, pot roast, mashed potatoes and apple strudel. Ah, it was wonderful. Of course me being the stereotypical "fat american" I ate everything. And my host family, being all european, could barely finish the first plate. That's where I stepped in and decided to help them out a bit and eat what they couldn't finish. I began to wonder if they knew they also hired a personal garbage disposal in addition to an au pair. Afterwards, I went out for a while with Mel and Sofie, but ended up going home around 10. Not a late night. But still, it's always a good time with those girls. 

Paulina and Me at "Oktoberfest" (she loves to smile)

The girls and I out. It was this fellows bachelor party. Isn't he the cutest?

There's not much else to report. I miss everyone. And I'm excited to hear from EVERYBODY in eight days.... *Cough* My birthday *Cough*

Besitos xx

Happy Monday My Fellow Readers

Good day, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good something to whatever time zone you come from. I am again blogging on a Monday. It for some reason makes me feel more relaxed and makes Monday's a little more bearable when I blog, because Monday's still suck even when I am enjoying a nice cup of café con leche at a cafe. Today is not so beautiful in Vitoria. It's a little overcast and windy. It's starting to get real cold here. For example: it has been in the 50's during the day for the past week and in the 30's when I wake up. For Floridians, this is considered winter. For the Basque Country inhabiters, this is fall and I should only expect it to get EVEN COLDER. I know I have always claimed that I like cold weather more than hot weather, but I think I feel that way only when living in Florida. I am loving the weather right now, but any colder and I'm not sure if I can handle it. Yes, I have been exposed to Pennsylvania winters, but for two weeks at a time, at most. So I am starting to prepare myself for a solid six months of rain, clouds, snow and arctic coldness. Speaking of cold weather, I purchased my first REAL coat since I was 12. I'm not even sure if my coat from the sixth grade even qualifies as a real coat either. 

Me in my new coat! Yeah!

I'm pretty excited about it. Hopefully it shields me from the elements that my body is not prepared for in the slightest.

Last week, I met with the host parents of my au pair friend, Natalia who recently went back to her home in Slovakia. They wanted to have conversational English classes with me. They ended up paying me as well, and we will be meeting once a week at a cafe for conversational English. It's awesome that I got this opportunity to make a little extra money on the side. It's only for one hour and we just really talk about anything in English and drink coffee. It's awesome. And they are really cool people. The mom is a flight attendant and the dad is a pilot. 

This past weekend, I went out again. And stayed out until a ridiculous hour, again. And the next morning I woke up telling myself "never again," again. 5:30 in the morning. I really don't understand why people insist on staying out so late. I feel so wimpy when I start to get tired around two in the morning. Like, come on Sydney, you're young, you got that young energy!! Yeah, wrong. Regardless it was a fun night. I had to take the bus to the city, which was only 1.50 Euros! So much better than taking a taxi which would cost me around 21 Euros. Once I got to Vitoria, I met up with Sophie and Melanie at a wonderfully, fattening, greasy, American style restaurant called Burgerland. It was like a blessing from God for two reasons: I had to walk 30 minutes from the bus stop to meet up with them, so I had quite the hearty appetite. Secondly, American style food... home... comfort... need I say more? I was kindly welcomed with mountains of food: burgers, chili fries, ribs, nachos, french fries and beer. God bless America.  Also, on Saturday, there was a "fiesta" called Día de Hispanidad, which is pretty straightforward-- Hispanic Day. In the Basque Country, it's not as heavily emphasized because the Basque people want to be separate from Spain. So, on top of it being Día de Hispanidad, it was also "Green Night." Vitoria, since it is the Green Capital of Europe, really plays up the whole "green" thing. I don't even know what they did that was so green and eco-friendly on Saturday to be honest. I know there was food somewhere, and they had a really cool light show that went on in the main plaza, Plaza Blanca. They had these lasers, and synchronized it with music. It was so cool. I was hypnotized by it. They even had fog machines. So my friends and I got some beer, for me, I had a pica which is lemon juice and beer, and watched the light show. Later, we went to other bars, where I had a drink that is considered an after dinner drink. It kind of tastes like medicine and is horrible. 

Me and Melanie

Today in my Spanish class, we got another new student. GUESS WHERE THEY WERE FROM? If you guessed Pakistan, man are you dead on. And of course he asked me where I was from. And of course he made a sour face about me being "Americana." But that's beside the point. He told me I spoke very good Spanish and understood very well for only being here for three months. Woo! That was encouraging to hear. 

Another little tid-bit to share: Melanie and I are planning to cook a thanksgiving dinner for her family, my family and some of our foreign friends. It will be so much fun. We've already started planning what to cook. It's going to be hard not being in the States for this glorious holiday. No Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, no football, no Christmas movies, no family, no arguments. But it will be so much fun to share the over-eating ways of America with others. 

Lastly, my mom and Michael, her boyfriend, purchased their plane tickets for Spain! I am so excited! I can barely hold myself together. 

Sophie has now joined me at the cafe so I am going to stop writing now.

Besitos!!