One Week Down

Hola!
Well my first full week in Spain is officially over, and I gotta say, it was a long one. Between walking everywhere, living 30 minutes from school, and having to be home for all three meals, there's not a lot of time to do much.

My school days go like this: wake up at 6:30 am (I guess I'm a morning person), eat toast at 8, leave for school at 8:25, get to school at 9. Have class from 9-1. Walk home, and eat at 2. Eat until about 3:30, then time for siesta or for me Sex and the City relaxing time. I choose to watch TV in English because I'm realizing I get a little overwhelmed when everything is in Spanish 24/7. This week we've had meetings in the afternoons so that's taken up some time, or if we don't have a meeting we walk around or go somewhere for a drink and free tapas. Sometimes I use this time to skype the handsome Hayden Smith. On Tuesdays/Thursdays we have a culture class from 5:15-6:45. Then a drink and tapas or homework, followed by dinner at 9 until about 10. During the school week my roommate and I have been so tired that we usually sleep around 11/12. That's how my first week went. On Friday we went out, which doesn't happen until about 11/12 and goes until about 7/8 am. (I know, I can't believe it either). We went out to a chupiteria (shot bar) and then to another bar for drinks that actually taste good. We got home at around 3:30 and we were SO exhausted the next morning when we woke up at 10. I have NO idea how the Spanish people my age stay out so late. I couldn't do it. Especially because the next day we were so tired that we didn't want to go out Saturday night. I'd like to add that no, we were not hungover. :)

Something fun that we did on Saturday was cook dinner for our host parents. We made a recipe that Kayley's (my roommate) mom makes back home. It was really good, though every ingredient was slightly different than back in the U.S. We also got our mom to buy granola so we could have something other than toast for breakfast. She had never heard of or seen it. Over all the recipe turned out great and our host parents loved it. I think we'll  make cooking for them a regular thing because it's fun and a good way to learn new words. Plus we feel bad because our host parents won't let us do anything to help around the house. Whenever we offer they say no, that we need to study and relax.

Last Sunday we went to el campo (aka the country) because our host parents have a house out there. It reminded me of a WAY older, Spanish version of the lake house, minus the lake. We get to the house and there is a curtain covering the door, with bricks holding the curtain down. Behind the curtain was a regular door. We get in the house and it was FREEZING (sounds like the lake, right mom and dad?). The walls were made of clay and they had a fireplace that looks a lot like the fireplace at the lake. The first room looked really old but as you got further into the house (aka the kitchen and bathroom) they started to become more modern. My host parents son is slowly renovating the house. We walked around the property in which we were told that all of the houses in the area belonged to my host parents family. One was Antonio's (host dad) brother's, one was his parents' house in which he grew up, the other was Antonia's moms (host mom, yeah they have almost the same name). My host parents literally grew up right next to each other. There was also a school (aka a clay building). One of the houses used to be Antonia's grandma's house but it was literally caving in on itself. And then there was the house for the dogs. My host parents have two dogs, one is huge like Bethoven (you know, the huge dog from that movie from my childhood) and the other was smaller. The strangest part to me was that the dogs have their own house all to themselves that was literally the same size as my host parents' house. We asked why they had their own house and they said that the house didn't have electricity so that was why. I'm still not entirely sure how the dogs survive because nobody lives out there with them. So I guess they have to leave enough food for them? I'm still not sure. Their son goes out there every Sunday to walk the dogs and work on the house, but it still seems weird to me.

This Sunday (aka today) it rained...but we still had an excursion planned with our program. Needless to say I got home completely soaking wet. We went to a nearby neighborhood that has old "bathrooms" which was pretty cool to see. We also walked up this huge hill and when we got to the top the view was amazing. (Refer to pictures on facebook). By the end though I was glad it was over because I was ready to put some dry clothes on. I also have a cold (and have had a cold for the last week) so hopefully I didn't just make my cold even worse.

This afternoon I have to work on a class "project". The oral part to our final exam is to present to the class on a "barrio" (neighborhood) of our choosing. Our presentation is to include a couple of slides about important buildings or churches and their history, but the bulk of our presentation is we're supposed to go to three different bars in the neighborhood, rate the food/drinks/atmosphere, take pictures, ask the waiter about the history of the bar and present it to the class. Then we're supposed to choose which bar was our favorite and at the end of the class presentations the entire class is going to go to each of the "best" bars. Life's hard at study abroad.

This week I think the hardest thing to adjust to is the people. Spanish people walk SO slow, and if you've ever walked with me you know that I don't walk, I run. This month all of the stores have rebajas (sales) that are kind of like Black Friday but less intense because it's all month. Or so I thought. My roommate and I had some time before dinner last night so we went to the "mall" to shop for some clothes. After about 20 minutes we decided to leave because there were literally people everywhere but it wasn't even like Black Friday. All of the people were so pushy. You'd be walking through an aisle and someone would come barging past you, when there was literally no space for them to be walking. The other thing was I would be looking at a shirt on a rack and someone would come and grab the shirt right behind it. I couldn't get passed the fact that they wouldn't wait five seconds for me to walk away from the rack. Needless to say we didn't buy anything.

I'm also realizing how much I love my friends. Sydney and Alex, you two are the best friends a girl could ask for. I got so lucky meeting you both the first day at GU. I can't wait to have girl time next year and go out and be drama free. Love you guys and miss you so much!

Something interesting that happened this week was when Kayley and I were walking home we were waiting at a crosswalk when suddenly a car and a motorcycle collided and the two people on the motorcycle flew off. We both stopped talking and looked at each other and said "Oh my god I think those people are dead!". One of the people shot right up and ran out of the road (I think he thought he was gonna get run over by a car). The other guy stayed down for like 30 seconds but eventually got up. Then the driver of the car started to argue with the motorcycle people about whose fault it was, without even asking if they were okay. Nobody called the police or an ambulance either which I thought was strange. Kayley and I walked home in shock and when we told our host parents about it they just shrugged and said it happens a lot. I was so shocked by how nonchalant they were about it. Now, every time a motorcycle goes speeding by me I get a little bit anxious.

All in all it was a good week. Busy as always, but that's just my life. Missing everyone back home, and I'm desperately craving a cheeseburger with American french fries (the potatoes here are slightly different) but I'm seeing somewhere I never would have had the opportunity to see, learning lots of Spanish, and I'm excited to travel in a few weeks!

Hasta luego!