Hola :)
Well, I'm officially enrolled in school here (as an International student of course)! Our 40 minute trek to our building from home took an hour our first day, but we made it on time...today it took us an hour and we were 5 minutes late. There are so many streets here, it's too easy to get disorientated. Fortunately, I'm not afraid to ask for directions and the people here are, in my experience, are willing to help.
My classes are going well...small in size...and the professors seem very excited to educate. I'm in class, more or less, from 9'30 AM until 14'00. Then we return to our home, where "comida" is ready for us to eat, then we can take a nap, go on the Internet, or talk with our host mom...basically nothing stressful. It's much different here because all the small stores (which is a good 90%) close from 14'00-17'00 for lunch/siesta.
I've had difficulty adjusting to not having my friends near, to not knowing where I am, nor having anyone to really answer my questions. So yesterday afternoon I spent a couple hours wondering about the city trying to find a cafe. To my surprise, cafes here are also restaurants, so people are loud, talking, and SMOKING. Augh. I just want comfy seating, wireless Internet, and good coffee...so needless to say I was feeling a little disappointed yesterday.
That was until the night. It was my first Thursday here and we live in a "university town" so I was very curious to see the night life and hopefully meet some Spanish people. We waited until 23'00 to go out and found that it is true that people don't really go out until midnight. I went with my friend and she was ready to turn back..but I had a good feeling so I made her wait just a little longer. I found a guy and asked him where the students party and he gave me directions. As we're walking down the street, we didn't take a right (because it didn't look like a place to turn), in the meantime he'd met with his group of people (two girls, sisters) and were walking behind us, he stopped in the street and waved for us to go there. I'm so glad that we did. After introductions, they invited us to go with them, and the rest is history :) Haha. We went to a bar and had a great conversation (in Spanish!) and basically, long story short, they recommended a Cafe for me (and what I'm looking for) and also where all the bars are ;) Also, the guy works at a discoteca (dance club) and they invited us to go out with them on Saturday night!!
I was on such a high!! Meeting them reaffirmed that if there's a will there's a way : ) It's also now that I'm realizing why International students are always so appreciative of my assistance back home...now I know it's worth a million euros.
I think tomorrow (if I don't have too much fun tonight, we aren't going until midnight) I will try to find the cafe that she recommended. Also, my next will is to find a team here. I have such a desire to play futbol...I also want to learn handball (it's popular here, too).
Besos.
Well, I'm officially enrolled in school here (as an International student of course)! Our 40 minute trek to our building from home took an hour our first day, but we made it on time...today it took us an hour and we were 5 minutes late. There are so many streets here, it's too easy to get disorientated. Fortunately, I'm not afraid to ask for directions and the people here are, in my experience, are willing to help.
My classes are going well...small in size...and the professors seem very excited to educate. I'm in class, more or less, from 9'30 AM until 14'00. Then we return to our home, where "comida" is ready for us to eat, then we can take a nap, go on the Internet, or talk with our host mom...basically nothing stressful. It's much different here because all the small stores (which is a good 90%) close from 14'00-17'00 for lunch/siesta.
I've had difficulty adjusting to not having my friends near, to not knowing where I am, nor having anyone to really answer my questions. So yesterday afternoon I spent a couple hours wondering about the city trying to find a cafe. To my surprise, cafes here are also restaurants, so people are loud, talking, and SMOKING. Augh. I just want comfy seating, wireless Internet, and good coffee...so needless to say I was feeling a little disappointed yesterday.
That was until the night. It was my first Thursday here and we live in a "university town" so I was very curious to see the night life and hopefully meet some Spanish people. We waited until 23'00 to go out and found that it is true that people don't really go out until midnight. I went with my friend and she was ready to turn back..but I had a good feeling so I made her wait just a little longer. I found a guy and asked him where the students party and he gave me directions. As we're walking down the street, we didn't take a right (because it didn't look like a place to turn), in the meantime he'd met with his group of people (two girls, sisters) and were walking behind us, he stopped in the street and waved for us to go there. I'm so glad that we did. After introductions, they invited us to go with them, and the rest is history :) Haha. We went to a bar and had a great conversation (in Spanish!) and basically, long story short, they recommended a Cafe for me (and what I'm looking for) and also where all the bars are ;) Also, the guy works at a discoteca (dance club) and they invited us to go out with them on Saturday night!!
I was on such a high!! Meeting them reaffirmed that if there's a will there's a way : ) It's also now that I'm realizing why International students are always so appreciative of my assistance back home...now I know it's worth a million euros.
I think tomorrow (if I don't have too much fun tonight, we aren't going until midnight) I will try to find the cafe that she recommended. Also, my next will is to find a team here. I have such a desire to play futbol...I also want to learn handball (it's popular here, too).
Besos.
Sounds like you're having a good time, good luck with finding a futbol team and also in learning handball. For some American Football news, Eagles are still in the playoffs
ReplyDeleteHi Brenna Dee!!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE to read all about your adventures! Thank you for taking the time to do so. It sounds neat!
I heard you already bought Alexis a shirt! You Go Girl!!! You are good!!! I'm sure she will LOVE it! Thank you for doing that - you are always SO nice!
Nice to 'talk' to you!
Take care and God Bless,
Shannon