Settling In

Hola Familia y amigos!

Alright, so I’m getting into the swing of things.  I get up each morning around 8:15 so that way I can leave the house at 9:05 and arrive to school by 9:30 so I can take my Spanish intensive course.  It is freezing when I first get up! Oye, it is so hard to get out of my warm bed, but thankfully I can take a nice hot, but short, shower.  I eat breakfast by myself, which is no big deal. And I’m pretty sure that I’m using whole milk with my cereal….oh well at least I’m walking a lot haha.  So then I’m in school from 9:30 until 12:45.   And I have a mid-term exam about the Spanish vocabulary and grammar that we learned/reviewed this week.  I know its to my advantage that I learn it, but I’m not too worried about my exam tomorrow.

         After that I come home and then eventually eat lunch between 2:30 and 3:30.  And my goodness I have not been disappointed by any of the lunches I’ve had! The other day I had paella and it was awesome!  Pepe (my Padre) had his sister over for lunch this week.  She is a nurse and my goodness she is a Sevillian.  The reason I say this is because she drops her words! They don’t finish their sentences…so I already fight to understand what their saying in Spanish and then on top of that they don’t finsh their words….oh lucky me.  To understand what I mean, I’ll give an example.  It would be like an english speaker saying, “Oh yeah the party wa gre….” So yeah, that is something I need to get used to…really fast. 

         Last night I met up with some friends in my program and we did the touristy thing and walked around Barrio Santa Cruz.  It is freaking awesome, it is so Spanish and beautiful.  And my goodness the Cathedral in Sevilla, it is simply impossible to capture in one photo. It just simply cannot be done.  Anyways, We had a great time walking around, taking pictures and acting like tourists. 

         Tonight I went with Kristen, the girl who lives on my street, to Montequinto, the neighboring little town to find a place to study.  We ended up going to this little strip mall that has a cell phone shop, movie theater, and a little café – it was cute.  I had a delicious cappucino and we were able to pirate internet off of the movie theater! I had to write a paper  and it was by far the most fluid I’ve ever written in Spanish.  I was hardly looking up words or second guessing myself on phrases – its been incredible to see how my thinking has changed and how effecient I have already become – I can’t wait to see how I’ll be in 4 months! 

         After I finished my paper, Kristen and I started to plan a trip.  We were looking at cities and we might go to Ronda, Spain which is not too far away.  We are hoping to go not this weekend, but the next because we have an extra day off.  We are really excited and we are going to try our best to make it happen. Kristen has been great, we walk to school together and travel downtown together.  She is a sweetheart and we have similar interests / personalities, shes been great to “pal  around with.”

         And I cannot tell you how freaking excited I am to experience las discotecas and the nightlife!!! I haven’t been able to do any of that staff in the States because I’ve not of age, but now that I’m legal here…. I’m going to have myself a little bit off fun. But only a little bit.

Things to note:

-Whoever told me that Spain does not have as many handsome men --- is an idiot.  I mean okay they are not all pretty, but when you see a handsome one --- dayum.

-Spainards are dramatic. They love talking with words such as, “what horror”  haha its funny.  Its like life is constantly on stage here

-I’m becoming more touchy feely – its the culture! Its something I’ve noticed right away. Matilde and Pepe simply touch my arm to get my attention  and I’ve been doing this with my new friends here.  Its funny to me because typically I like my space, but now it doesn’t bother me.

-Have I told you yet how much I love siesta? Yes? Okay let me remind you again. Everything shuts down from 3-5 so people can be sleepy! It’s great, they actually listen to their bodies, unlike the American culture where we try to work through it, the Spaniards acknowledge it and take care of it.  I heart taking naps at 4PM and laying in bed. SO GREAT

-Friday = DISCOTECA. I can’t wait! Ba! It will be so fun J and now handsome Spaniards are in reach. Woot woot.

-It is so humid here that my bathroom towel doesn’t dry. Yum.

-Every house on my block has 2 patios, one in front and one in back. And you can park your compact car on your front patio if you want. Que loco.

Okay that’s all for now! Stay tuned for my next entry about los discotecas!! Haha J I’m not excited or anything.  Love and miss you all.

Besos y Salude,

Erica