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 Madeline
(Maddy) Wolpow-Gindi
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2010-11 Outbound to Spain
Hometown:
Longwood, Florida
School:
Lyman High School
Sponsor:
Longwood Rotary Club, District 6980, Florida
Host:
Barcelona Condal Rotary Club, District 2202, Spain
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Bio
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| September 3 "The toilets have TWO
flush buttons. I still haven't really figured out when I´m supposed to use
one and when I´m supposed to use the other, so I just stick with one out of
fear." |
| November 30 "Youth exchange does
something to you, something you can’t explain. You wake up some days and see
yourself, the world, in a different way. You find yourself reflecting and
thinking, and keeping your eyes wide so as to not miss a beat." |
| January 12 "It’s
so hard to completely let go of your life and start a new one. But now that
I have, it’s even harder to go back and try to imagine your old life, how
things were, how things will be. " |
| April 28 "Before you realize, you forget how to speak your
own language. I’m almost embarrassed now to help my peers in English because
nothing that I say seems right anymore." |
Maddy's Bio
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Hola! Me llamo Maddy, y voy a Espana!
Hello, My name is Maddy Wolpow-Gindi, and I am going to
Spain! I am currently 16 and attend Lyman High School in Longwood, Florida.
Ten miles north of Orlando, Longwood is a suburban town in which I’ve lived
my entire life. As much as I love my family and friends, my heart isn’t in
Florida and I’ve always known I belong somewhere else. For this, I truly
believe I am meant to be in Spain next year.
I love nature and all of the four seasons. The only
problem is that living in Florida, I only get to experience two seasons: hot
and hotter. I am really looking forward to watching the leaves change in
autumn, the snow fall in winter, the flowers bloom in spring, and the sun
shine in summer.
As for school, I enjoy the intellectual aspect, however, I
want to be culturally stimulated as well. I am in my third year of studying
Spanish at my school, and I love the language. I’ve always dreamed of being
multilingual and this is where it starts.
I like to think that I have four families: the ones who
share my DNA and crazy last names, the goofy girls that make up my
volleyball team, the best friends who know me throughout, and the fellow
members of my BBYO chapter. More specifically, my immediate family consists
of two households (my parents are divorced). My father Jeff, his wife
Allison, and her son Dylan make up one half. My mom Tina, and big sister
Alex, make up the other. I love all of my families, and especially want this
one to know how much I love and appreciate them, for I wouldn’t be writing
this biography if not for them.
Ever since volleyball tryouts in the sixth grade, I have
had a passion for playing. Whether it’s with my school, or my club,
volleyball season is my absolute favorite part of the year. There’s just
something about being on a team (or family) that makes me happy. I like
being a part of something bigger than me, and working in conjunction with my
best friends to reach success. I hope that my future high school will have a
volleyball team and that I play on it. Honestly, playing volleyball in Spain
might be one of the things I’m looking forward to the most.
I’m very involved in clubs at my school. I’m in Spanish
club (and love it!), yearbook, Mu Alpha Theta (aka mathletes), Best Buddies,
and the English Honor Society. My favorite club, or class really, is
yearbook. It mixes the perfect amount of creativity, writing, and
independence for my liking. Once again, being in yearbook is like being in a
family, and working with them to reach a goal.
Now to explain my personality: Frankly, I’m a nerd. School
is always my top priority, and sometimes I let it stress me out too much. My
mom always likes to point out how much I persevere, even when I find it
embarrassing. On a lighter note, I love playing and watching sports, I’m
going to miss watching football on Sunday nights with my dad. I also really
enjoy jokes, no matter how dumb, and making puns, no matter how silly. I
love talking to my friends for hours, having picnics, stargazing, watching
movies, seeing plays, days with low humidity, painting my nails, and eating
frozen yogurt. Back to being a nerd, my favorite thing is probably learning
new skills. I can sail, scuba dive, drive a manual car, change a flat tire,
and I want to learn more. That includes: how to use a sewing machine, using
Adobe photoshop, speaking Spanish fluently, and so many other things.
About my upcoming journey: I know it’s a cliché, but words
can’t describe how excited I am to embark on this new chapter in my life.
Sometimes I’ll close my eyes while I’m in class, and think about how this
time next year, I’ll be in Spain, and butterflies fill my stomach as I start
to smile. It still amazes me that this is happening; I hope by my first blog
that it will have become real.
To my family and friends: I love you and will miss you
dearly. To Liz Gatti, my guidance counselor: Thank you so much for
introducing me to Rotary Youth Exchange, you are so wonderful. To the hard
workers at RYE Florida: Thank you for providing me with this amazing
opportunity, you are all so great, and I’m excited to share this with you. |
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 So
right now I´m writing this journal in my town´s library because I
foolishly forgot to bring an outlet converter to use with my laptop.
I´ve been in Spain now for four days and thankfully, this is the most of
my troubles. I arrived safely in Barcelona, Spain after a nerveracking
plane ride. I couldn´t really figure out what about it made me nervous
(besides the fact that I was realizing what exactly I was about to do),
but for the whole time leading up to my landing in Barcelona, I just
didn´t feel myself. As my Outbound Student Handbook will tell me, this
was my first incline on the roller coaster that is the emotions of an
exchange student. Fortunately, my coaster began to decline as soon as my
plane prepared to land in Barcelona and I looked out my window to see
the thriving city stuck in between the Mediterranean Sea and the
Pyrenees Mountains. The sight of the two extremes are so contrasting
that it was astonishing. I was utterly convinced that this was the most
beautiful place I had ever seen.
After thankfully retrieving my bags from baggage claim without a
problem, I was met by a smiling host mom, dad, and little brother. We
then drove about twenty-five minutes to our secluded town-and my new
home--Sant Feliu de Codines. This town is like nothing I´ve ever seen.
It literally sits on the side of a mountain and not a single road is
horizontal, everything is at an incline. Something quite opposite from
the flatness of central Florida, where there is maybe...I don´t know,
one hill? My favorite part is that when you go to the edge of the town
(or drive anywhere, for that matter) you can see all the mountains
surrounding you, and the valleys in between. One thing in particular I
noticed about my town is that they sure know how to save space. The
roads are barely wide enough for a single car, not that that stops
people from driving recklessly, and the sidewalks shouldn't even be
called sidewalks, because you can´t walk on them comfortably. Most are
about 10 inches wide and you constantly have to look around to make
sure you don´t get hit by one of those reckless drivers coming
around the ever winding roads. And on occasion when the sidewalks are
wider, you still have no room to walk because cars are parked all along
it. Sant Feliu can only perfectly be described as quaint. Every road
leads to home. If it doesn´t, you´ll know it because there´s only empty
land outside of the city (and your ears will start to pop because of the
altitude). It almost looks like a diagram from my Spanish textbook
during the chapter on people and places. There´s a plaza in the center
of the town, and around it are several shops, each with its own
specialty. La farmacia, la biblioteca, el carnisseria, etc etc. The only
thing that I don´t like about Sant Feliu is that every now and then, a
large truck carrying about 30-40 dirty, smelly, pigs will drive by and
leave you traumatized not only by the helpless oinks you hear, but by
the horrid stench which lingers in the air for about five dreadful
minutes. This is especially nice during mealtimes.
My house isn´t much smaller than my home in Florida. However, there is
only one full bathroom that everyone shares. This is quite different
than what I´m used to, and another one of those ¨conserve space and
energy¨ things that this place is so fond of. On the contrary, I am very
proud of myself for cutting my twenty minute showers that my
parents love so much down to about five. Being a girl, this was very
difficult. My room also never looks like a tornado came through it (as
my parents like to describe my room in Florida) I keep it nice and neat,
make my bed every morning, and put my clothes back where they belong. My
parents are probably dying of shock right now.
As for my family, they are really sweet people and have welcomed me with
open arms. I mostly just hang out with my little host brother, Nestor.
I´ve come to the conclusion that little boys are the same everywhere. We
play video games, watch dubbed over Spongebob, and play fuzbol (or
futbolinn). I even showed him some of the best games from my childhood
that he´s now hooked on. I also taught him how to play Ninja and Bubble
Trouble haha(or should I say ¨jaja¨). He always makes me laugh, whether
its from a meow, or a random noise, or showing me his gross scratch n´
sniff trading cards...this is how I know we are going to be great
friends.
In my six days in Spain, I have noticed many small, yet distinct
differences. For instance, the bathroom has become a very confusing
place for me. The toilets have TWO flush buttons. This was an
interesting and scary experience the first time around. I still haven´t
really figured out when I´m supposed to use one and when I´m supposed to
use the other, so I just stick with one out of fear. Also, I don´t think
Spain got the memo that MC Hammer pants are no longer fashionable.
Although, I will admit that I´ve seen many people make them work. Table
manners were also an interesting learning experience. Apparently it´s in
bad manners to keep one hand in your lap while eating. My host dad
always has to say to me ¨las manos!¨ so I remember to barbarically keep
my hands on the table, hovering over my food. I certainly don´t want to
be rude though and will make this a habit. Mealtimes are very important
around here; in fact, I´ve come to realize that when the entire city
closes down for the siesta, it´s not necessarily to sleep like I
thought, but so that they can give their undivided attention to lunch,
figures.
Today the other Rotary exchange student in my town and I went to our
school to speak with a guidance counselor. Turns out that she is making
us both specialized schedules to make our time here easy and enjoyable.
You see, usually students have to choose between a math and science
schedule, a history and literature schedule, or a mix of both, with few
choices or electives. But for us, we hand picked the classes we wanted
to take and we even have a special class with just the two of us and a
Spanish tutor. This, I am most excited about. For a while there, I was
afraid that since my entire peer group and school spoke Catalan, that I
wouldn´t be able to become fluent in Spanish. Fortunately, this won´t be
the case.
Anyway, I´ve written enough for now, no need to go off on more tangents.
I always seem to write a book whenever someone asks me to write a page.
I´m sure my next journal will be filled with more confusions and
realizations. I have to say that my exchange is off to a great start. :)
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| November 30 |
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It
was brought to my attention today that I have been in Spain for just over 90
days, a figure that I can’t even comprehend. It seems like so many, ninety;
yet feels like so few. I can’t believe that it has already been a year since
I attended my first Rotary Youth Exchange meeting. I sat there, soaking in
all the unfathomable opportunity and adventure the Rotarians promised and
that the inbounds vouched. When I think back to how I got here, I still
don’t really believe it; all those steps I took to prepare and now I’m
actually living my exchange. I’m ninety days through. Ninety days filled
with learning, wonder, confusion, excitement, loneliness, apprehension,
adjustment, awkwardness, and sublimity; ninety days that I never want to
forget and ninety days that I will never get back.
Like too many other journals I’ve read before, I want
to apologize for the two month gap in between entries. I never understood
all last year why the outbounds didn’t seem incredibly anxious to tell the
world of their experiences and reflections—I know I was, and I hadn’t even
been accepted yet. Now I understand. I don’t know where my time went or what
I have been doing, but writing this journal has been a challenge for me.
Words typically come very naturally to me, but right now, I’m almost at a
loss. As I type, I feel like I don’t sound like myself. I’m not sure if it’s
my English I’m having to pry out of the dusty nooks of my brain, or just the
mere fact that I’m changing. Youth exchange does something to you, something
you can’t explain. You wake up some days and see yourself, the world, in a
different way. You find yourself reflecting and thinking, and keeping your
eyes wide so as to not miss a beat. My time here so far hasn’t necessarily
been busy, or extremely exciting, it’s just been life. But even as I say
that I have to remind myself that this isn’t your typical every day. I’m
learning, growing, feeling things I can’t explain. I repeat how difficult
I’m finding it right now to write, because a lack of words is such a foreign
feeling to me.
Anyway, I know this journal is well past due, but in
all honesty, for the past month I couldn’t write a single word without going
off on tangents or just sounding morose. My emotions have been so erratic
that one day I’m happy, feeling completely at home and normal, but then the
next I spend all day in my head, thinking of home and how I still don’t
understand when someone asks me a simple question. There have been plenty of
times where all I wanted was to just be able to go to sleep in my own bed
and go back to a home that I know and feel loved. But that’s the trick about
being an exchange student; it messes with your head. Yet you have to get
over those hurdles and jump through those flaming hoops, and trust me, it’s
a challenge. You’re put to the test every day, whether its restraining
yourself from going on Facebook, or not letting the small stuff get to you,
or just plain old living in a different culture with a different language.
This “three month homesick period”, as the Rotarians call it, has a
completely appropriate reputation. I am SO happy to be practically over with
it.
One step at a time, little by little, poco a poco,
everything comes together. I think this week has been the first time that
I’ve felt like a normal person and not ‘the exchange student’. I’m more
comfortable with people at school, I actually have a few friends lol, and I
even joined the soccer team. Oh, that was very interesting. One day (it was
one of those bad days), I decided I was sick of not having much to do and
that I had too much time to think to myself, so I joined the soccer team, no
big deal, except that soccer is not a sport that I’m accustomed to. I’m a
volleyball player, my running and foot-eye coordination skills are very low.
Nevertheless, it’s definitely made me happier; I have things to do and
something to work at, not to mention more friends, haha.
I learn more about Spain, and especially Catalonia
every day; and trust me, there’s a difference. I’m happy to say that there
have been a lot of information exchanges. People are always so interested in
the United States, or “California”, as many people call it who don’t really
realize that there are 49 other states… My teachers at school always make
connections to the United States in order to ask me questions. I can’t tell
if the USA really comes up that much in lectures, or if they do it more
because I’m there. Regardless, isn’t that why we go on exchange? To learn
about the world and to teach and enlighten each other? The other American
exchange student and I are currently on a tour of the English classes in my
school, giving various presentations. It’s always funny to see how the
tables turn when we’re no longer the ones who don’t understand the language,
and our peers are dumbfounded that we have a rate of more than twenty words
per minute. We also give English lessons around my town. People are very
interested in the English language, and everybody wants to learn how to
speak. We give a private class on Tuesdays and then on Fridays we go to the
town elementary school and give little conversational sessions. This has
been something that I really enjoy. So in the course of about two weeks, I
went from having way too much time on my hands, to having a full schedule.
It’s a nice feeling; it feels like home, like routine.
It’s pretty much winter here and getting COLD. I don’t
live that north, but I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, and this is
something very new to me. I think I’m adjusting though, minus a little head
cold. But that doesn’t keep my host mom from always worrying about me. She’s
always telling me to put more layers on and that I’m not accustomed to the
cold and I’ll get sick. Clearly, she’s right. I do enjoy the opportunity
for buying clothes though, hehe, thanks mom and dad. I am now the proud
owner of a pair of boots. That’s right, my first pair of winter boots.
Everyone in my host family is really nice and treats me like part of the
family. I think my little host brother especially likes that he has someone
to act as a “big brother” to, since I’m clueless when it comes to a lot of
things. He really likes to shoot me lines that clearly came straight from
his parents’ mouths. He always tries to act like the adult, it’s cute. He’s
fun though. I actually just got a Hanukkah package from my mom that had a
menorah, dreidels, and chocolate inside. He’s really fond of this whole
playing a game that requires no skill to win chocolate thing.
So basically the past ninety days have just been life.
Sure there have been many ups and downs, but at the end of the day, you get
out of it what you put in. I may dream about going home sometimes and not
wanting to “learn and grow” from yet another experience, but I am so happy
to be here. I’ve only just begun, and I’m so excited for the next seven
months.
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| My
town |
The
view of the valleys surrounding my town |
At
a Rotary BBQ held at a farm owned by a Rotarian |
The
annual pumpkin festival |
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| My
Rotary tutor and another exchange student from the USA |
Me |
At
La Boqueria, a famous Saturday market on Las Ramblas in Barcelona |
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People tell me all the time that they would never
be able to do this, to be an exchange student; to be away from their family
and friends for practically a year, away from everything they know and
opening themselves up to the unknown and to the vulnerable. I never really
understood that though. I never heard “youth exchange” and thought about all
the reasons why it would be uncomfortable or challenging, I just sort of saw
the opportunity and did it. But now that I’ve been in Spain for close to
five months, I have realized why exactly so many people react the way they
do to the idea of an exchange. I now feel the hardships they automatically
imagined. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I can
definitely vouch for that. My life here has become so normal that home is no
longer something that is always in my head. So much so that when I do think
about home, it almost hurts. It’s so hard to completely let go of your life
and start a new one. But now that I have, it’s even harder to go back and
try to imagine your old life, how things were, how things will be. I
honestly never thought I would feel this way, but after five months in a
foreign country, I’m kind of used to things turning out differently than I
imagined.
This past month, I experienced
the holidays Spanish style. Here, the Navidad (Spanish for Christmas) is
about a month and a half long process filled with various holidays. This
begins at the end of November with the day of the Immaculate Conception and
continues to Jan 6, where the real fun is: the Three Kings Day. This is
basically the same as Christmas day except that the three Kings who
witnessed the birth of Jesus are the ones to bring the children their
presents. The holiday season, though with a few add-ins, seemed very similar
to that of the States’. It was a time filled with family, presents,
decorations, and food, lots of food. There was however one extremely
distinct Catalonian tradition that I will never forget. In fact, you
probably won’t even believe it when I tell you. The number one Christmas
icon here is the Caganen, which means “pooping boy” in Catalan. The greatest
part is that nativity scenes and houses alike are adorned with figures of
this Caganen. The story goes that during the birth of Jesus, an on looking
pastor really had to go, but he waited until after Jesus was born to go.
Apparently it’s supposed to demonstrate humility. So right there in the
nativity scenes, next to baby Jesus is a little figure of a pastor with his
pants down, squatting over a fresh batch of #2. You can imagine my surprise
when one day while passing through the center of a mall, where I expected to
find a towering Christmas tree, I found in its place a giant man, doing his
business. You can even go into any town this time of year and pick up a
figurine of your favorite sports star or politician in their little act of
Mother Nature.
As time progresses here,
things definitely get somewhat easier. It’s never really that easy though, I
just get more used to life. Language is definitely still a challenge. It’s
so hard at times to not get frustrated with myself because I’m not further
along in fluidity. I have to remember to take into account though that there
are two different languages spoken where I live: Spanish and Catalan. And in
my house my family only speaks Spanish when they are speaking to me. But
while before I thought that that would make it impossible to learn anything,
I find now that I can almost understand Catalan as well as Spanish. Four
months ago, I thought Catalan was a crazy language and couldn’t understand a
word. Now, I can make simple sentences! Even still, I never really realize
how much I’ve actually learned until I’m in the middle of a conversation
with someone, speaking without translating in my head, and understanding
everything they say back to me. That I think is the greatest feeling in the
world.
This exchange feels like it’s
going as fast as a bullet train yet as slow as a slug all at the same time.
It makes me so sad to think that I have such little time left, yet sometimes
I would love to skip to the time where I can speak with ease and have made
close friends. I have so much to look forward to though, and I don’t want to
miss a thing or take a minute for granted. I love my exchange, all the bad
and all the good. Thank you Rotary, thank you friends, and thank you family,
I really can’t say that enough. Happy new year to all, hasta luego!
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My little host brother helping to light the
Hanukkah candles my mom sent me |
At a Christmas fair with friends, drinking the
traditional Caldo, a homemade beef broth |
In
Barcelona with my family |
The giant Caganen going #2 |
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Where Barcelona meets the Mediterranean Sea |
At the annual Rotary Christmas dinner |
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I’m
so sorry I haven’t updated my blog in a while, these last few months have
passed by so quickly. I can’t believe that I am already in my eighth month
abroad and that I only have two and a half months to go. I also want to
apologize for the probable lack of eloquence in this blog; it seems as if
right now I’m not fluent in any language. That’s one of the weird parts
about going on exchange, before you realize, you forget how to speak your
own language. I’m almost embarrassed now to help my peers in English because
nothing that I say seems right anymore. Not to mention that they use British
grammar books here, which although you may think would be the same, it’s
not. Even still, I end up helping everyone in English, but it’s because I
like to and I want to. It’s like we’ve all come full-circle. Now that I can
speak Spanish, I happily give up some of my time to help my friends in
English who have helped me this entire year in Spanish, even when that meant
giving up speaking their own native language of Catalan. As you take, you
must always to remember to give.
About a month and a half ago, I changed houses. Normally, in this area of
Spain, the exchange students don’t change host families because there just
aren’t enough. But when I started to have some problems with my original
host family, a good friend of mine invited me to come live with her. So here
I am, living with my best Spanish friend and loving it. They have taught me
so much in such little time and I really feel like a part of the family;
like I live with people who love and care about me. I know this will be a
lifelong relationship and I am so excited about that.
Although the point of this exchange is primarily to experience another
culture and create understanding between countries, a large part you spend
learning about yourself. Throughout an entire year in a foreign place, with
new people and countless uncomfortable situations, you learn how you cope as
an individual, how you resolve problems, and how you grow with every
experience. You see the world from a different perspective and begin to let
go of the learned customs you’ve known your whole life. You learn about
people, language, and life lessons. You learn about the good, and you learn
about the bad. But above all you become a person more in touch with reality,
more aware of the happenings around you, and you change; I know I have.
That’s all I have for now, but I promise for real this time that I’ll write
more often. Thank you again to everyone who has made this exchange possible!
Rotary district 6980 and John Siegel, my host families, my friends, my
family, and my mom and my sister whom I will see this weekend!
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Eating gelato in Italy during a week long exchange with students
from an Italian school and my Spanish school.
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My
new host sister and me on the Mediterranean Costa Brava
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Fellow RYE Florida outbound and Spain inbound, Greg Collins, and me
in Portugal, representing our state!
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Eating the traditional dish of Paella on the Mediterranean Costa
Brava
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My
Italian host mom and me.
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