tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow!!

I'm leaving for Spain. Tomorrow.

Oh my gosh.

This is AWESOME!

I finally charged up my camera today so I can be sure to take tons of pictures to post up here. And I packed some Pablo Neruda poems for reading and a bunch of verb conjugation charts for the flight! But even though I've spent several hours packing...I'm still pretty nervous.

Que será, será =)

1 day to Cádiz!

♥Meredith

end of school

Today was my last day as a sophomore. If anybody asks me what grade I'm in starting tomorrow, I won't be sure how to answer. My exams are done, I'm going to start getting much more sleep, and I really need to start packing! =)

7 days to Cádiz!

♥Meredith

research!

I thought that I should learn a little bit about where I'm going, so I looked some stuff up.

This is Spain:

(courtesy of worldtravels.com)

Cádiz is at the bottom--it's right near Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean side.

Cádiz was originally called Gadir, which means 'walled city,' 'walled stronghold,' 'compound,' and so on and so forth, depending on who's translating. It is the oldest functioning city in Western Europe as of today (founded perhaps as early as 1104 BC). People there are infamous for their accents (yes!), and the wind can get really strong.

...And that was all the knowledge that I had the will to pursue.

--------------------

My last day of sophomore year is tomorrow, and it really IS starting to feel like summer! I've received some information about my host family. My future roommate, Nina, sent me an email. I'm looking forward to meeting all of them in real life =)

8 days to Cádiz!

♥Meredith

lists

Things I want to learn

• What people listen to on the other side of the ocean
• How to say names of flowers in Spanish
• Vocabulary from a ton of Pablo Neruda's poems
• How to say random math terms in Spanish
• How to conjugate all the different command forms

Things I want to experience

• Going to a dance in Cádiz
• Meeting my host family and bonding with my roomie!
• The sun and the water
• Acquiring a local accent
• Making a ridiculous metadura de pata (faux pas) in an embarrassing situation
• Forgetting how to say some words in English

I am so excited.

9 days to Cádiz!

♥Meredith

hola =)

My name is Meredith Derecho, and I'm going to Cádiz this summer.

With a name like Derecho (it means right, straight ahead, and law), I should probably know more about Spain than I do now.

At the moment I know that Spain is a country somewhere in Europe near France and Portugal where many Spaniards speak Spanish. I know a little about Goya, Velázquez, and Dalí because of an art project I did in Spanish class this year. And since I'm interested in music, I'm slightly familiar with the toque, cante, and baile of flamenco.

Oh, and I've heard that the beaches--especially the ones in Cádiz--are beautiful.

I can't wait to go to Cádiz this summer, and I'm very excited to share the experience with all of you =)

10 days to Cádiz!

♥Meredith