Weekend update!

So I'm sitting in Farashta's room waiting awhile before we go out to Moore's. The weekends here are painfully boring; nothing is open on Sundays but the restaurants and I am starting to see how much money I'm spending going to restaurants. So, to conquer this, on Saturday, after I transported my luggage to my piso, we went to the supermercado. OMG. This was one of the most difficult things I've done here. We normally shop for food for two weeks, so now I'm already stuck on what to do; I don't know what everyone else has; and I don't know what food is even good to get. If I'm lucky, I can tell what something is by a picture or by picking out words, but I can't tell one marca from another.

So, pleased that I survived this with a loaf of bread, some tuna, apples, and chips (which, btw, were subpar), I started my piso meals with tuna sandwiches with mayo. For breakfast I have muffin-y things that are very yummy and as far as I'm concerned good enough :).

So, about my piso. It's essentially a hallway and all the rooms are capillaries of the main artery. There is no such thing as a common area or many places to sit. I have no windows in my room, so the only way I can tell time is by my alarm clock. If the stars align - that is, my roommate's blinds are open to the window and the sun is shining enough to get through the vent - I might be able to tell if it's daytime. It can really mess up my sleep schedule. Plus, I think she and I have become particularly close that Saturday night... Fortunately, the next evening when I saw her, which wasn't for the whole day because I felt it would be extremely awkward, she apologized for all the noise of the night before. I'm not really at my piso that much, which is ok, it's not really home-y. Fiona, the Scottish girl, will be moving out at semester, so I don't know what will happen with that.

Sunday is dull as usual. I ate my scrumptious muffins and agua del grife and then we went out for a group dinner at the Chinese restaurant. I got sweet and sour pork and it was MUCH better than whatever I had last time. I meant to wander around town and take pictures, but it was a little chilly during the day. After dinner, the girls went for chocolate con churros, which were delish as usual. I'm getting used to the dark chocolate here! Then, Hannah and I had some good discussions in my cave after dinner until the wee hours of the morning.

Today at school, I ended up being twenty minutes late. I thought I was taking a short cut, but nope. It was all right, I got to see a part of town I'd never seen before, and then after classes I walked around for another hour and a half just kind of meandering. It was nice to see everything, but I don't think all the information will be stored in my head. It was really rainy today! I kept thinking that it couldn't possibly rain as much as they say, but it rains about every other day guaranteed. I think I've walked something like 3 hours today, but can't quantify that any better. Because our piso steals an internet signal, it is very unreliable in my cave, so I keep borrowing other people's computers. I'm sure I will start exploring the cafe/cafes from where we are stealing it. :)
I love getting all the comments, emails, facebook messages from everyone! It makes me feel like I'm more in the loop. :) Photos to come soon... during a siesta time!

World Peace

Tonight was SO much fun! I am officially on Spain time, I think, or at least for the nights! After school, I went and bought my SIM card but I don't know which plan to choose, there are so many and I don't know which one outweighs the others. After that, we all got dressed up to go to dinner, we went to the Latino Bar for dinner and then after that met up with a girl from class, Anna (she has the MOST beautiful Spanish accent I've ever heard! It's a combination of French and Spanish and I just wish she would be the one who would read everything in class just so I can listen to her, and BTW I love our class! It is SOOOO much fun! I'm sure we are going to get in trouble for being so talkative!) and her friend Arthur. We went to a little hole in the wall place and had two bottles of some kind of wine that monks make. By we had two bottles, I mean I drank two cups, everyone else had one, and Valerie was a champ. The other bottle needed to be finished because you can't take it inside discotecas, so that was an adventure in itself! The first discoteca we went to was Grimpis, normally there is a cover but because Arthur knew the guy we all got in free. It was too crowded so we left for another, the other one was far too empty - Goldilocks, anyone? :) - and so we went to Apolo, which was a place we all had been wanting to see. Ladies get in free and this clicks that it must be a place like all the clubs in Lawrence when they have Ladies Night -- which it was.

So, we get there at like 2 am, which we all figure is about when everyone starts coming out to the discotecas, but no. Really, no one goes to bars until like 1 am and no one goes to the discotecas until 3 am. Anna, Mindy, and I were dancing all by ourselves in the middle of the floor because it was so empty. Everytime they played a song in English I would freak out because I might know it or what they were saying, but otherwise I had no idea what was going on. Then, all of us were dancing and having a good time and around 3 it started getting busier. I don't know if it was because we were obviously American, I had blonde hair (which I hear is a big, exotic thing here), because of our dancing skills (or lack thereof), or what, but the entire night there was a circle of guys crowded around us trying to break into our circle. There was one guy who followed me everywhere and kept staring at me, it was kind of creepy but now it is really funny. Also, one guy came up behind me and started rubbing his butt all over me and tried to hold my hands, but I was like, puh-lease. It was funny how many guys I had to wave down because I didn't want to dance with them. And then Mindy started getting the guys when I made her change places with me! Anyway, at around 5 or so we are starting to get kind of tired and it's really hot and stuffy inside, so we go to leave.

When we have orientation or meetings about different cultures, we always hear that they drink a lot but they don't get drunk. To that I say, puh-lease. They just don't get drunk until 4 in the morning. And 4 am here is 9 pm in Kansas, so it's almost like everyone is drunk at the same time! Worldwide unity! That might be one of the best points in starting a world peace campaign :).

Today is the moveout day, but since we all slept past the checkout time of noon (I woke up around 3 pm... but I'm making up for the siestas I've been missing) we have the rooms until tomorrow at noon. And most of us are taking this because 1) guaranteed hot shower and 2) free breakfast. I'm going for the breakfast, definitely, but I don't know where that is prioritized for everyone else. I've managed to get everything to fit into my bags again, so I am going to be hesitant in unpacking some things because it's such a pain to unpack, repack, etc. Anyway, we are off for our first meal of the day, lunch because we all missed breakfast, and are going to find this cheap sandwich place. Yay! I think I also missed when the banks are open to cash my check, I am seriously low on Euro cash, and eventually go shopping. I wore Farashta's coat last night and it was soooo great! I love it, want it, and will buy it when I find it! Also, I need better shoes, my feet are killing me from all the walking, and febreze so my clothes smell less like second-hand smoke, haha.

Today was much better than yesterday. My apartment is paid for, I like my roommates, and I had a really good time tonight. After an impossible, literally, test about Spanish culture and most of the people failing it miserably, we were kind of lectured about being unprepared for class. My automatic response to almost everything that is different is to say 'it's an American custom'. I still am living by my motto that 'if I don't know something, someone else will', it's amazingly effective with navigation and basic skills and services.
Back to my apartment, but only because it is such a big deal that everyone has a place to live and that we had to find it ourselves!!, I will like it. It has an ideal, central location- both campuses, the Cathedral, and various stores. I will be living with two Spanish girls studying medicine, a girl from grupo de Kansas, and a girl from Glasgow. Because everything closes during siesta time, I couldn't get to a bank to cash the check for our deposits for apartments. So, that was stressful, and because of that I just didn't go to meet my landlord. And because I don't have a SIM card and my phone didn't unlock until today, I basically just totally blew her off. Eh, everything worked out fine.
Tonight, hah, everything is more fun at night, we went to a Chinese restaurant and I had sake for the first time; it's actually pretty good. But we couldn't figure out the drinking method, which is fine because I generally look like I don't know how to do whatever task is at hand, so I'm fairly used to it. The food was pretty good, I sure ate a lot! Later, we met up with a few guys from Venezuela to go to a cafeteria and they all got drinks for us. If you want a mixed drink here, it's always half and half. Then we went to Guayaba again, the place we went for our first night out. It was a lot of fun! I met some guy and talked with him for a long time, but I think there were many times where there was a miscommunication entre each other. We got home around 3.30 am, which shows we are adjusting to the right time! I had to go to class early to buy a packet because I didn't do it the other day because I alloted that time for a bank - which didn't work out - so, now my mission is to hit up the bank as well as the phone place. Also, Friday, move-in day, will be full of shopping as well because we don't have class. Suckas! The rain in Spain? Mainly in Santiago. It has been raining frequently, not pouring or anything, but a constant light rain. It's always comical to see the broken umbrellas strewn about the street. I lost mine today, I just dropped it but it was so crowded I couldn't get back to it. So, another sacrificed umbrella, I guess.
Tomorrow, running a few errands after all my classes - I'm going for a siesta! - so, here's hoping that the phone place is helpful!

Altas y bajas?

For breakfast today, there was leche cacao!!! And we all know how much I love chocolate milk! Today was pretty intense. We are searching for apartments now for the rest of the semester. There aren't enough places listed for as many people that are in the program! Anyway, after seeing many pisos and a few issues that arose, most everything has started to settle. I have an apartment in the zona vieja (old zone) with Hannah, and three others. One is Iria, and she seems super nice and I'm sure we will get along really well. I haven't met the other two, but I've heard good things.
After I got situated, most of the girls went to Pizza Hut. It's hard if you don't like seafood here! Then we went back to the Rock Cafe for more chocolate rocks. They are SOOO GOOD! It was some good girl talk and a really great bonding experience. :)

After a few hours there, we meandered the two doors back to the hostal. Drew and Amy were waiting for the guys to go out, so most of us joined them to go to the Tuesday night event (Monday is Pub Quiz night). It's a jazz house called Dada-dadó. It's really chill and totally reminds me of Lawrence, but with more smoking. One of my new friends, Daniel from England, played his pocket trumpet with the rotating musicians. It was very cool. I'm getting to know the people from last semester's program MUCH better. I think the whole group will start having a lot of fun once everyone gets settled into apartments. We stayed out until about 2.30, I'm slowly adapting to Spain time! Now if I only I could take siestas and drink cheap beer... I'm almost getting used to being around smoke, my eyes still burn a bit but I know it's the culture in Europe.

What a day(s)!

Today was quite busy! I felt a little sick this morning and couldn't place why. I will give you, faithful readers :), a rundown of yesterday to try to solve the problem.

Breakfast was, again, bread. Today there was toast though! It was very dry, even with the margarine I added. I asked for tea instead of coffee, so at least I was able to drink something in the morning. Yay.

After our second orientation about acclimating to the culture and apartments and classes and such, we all went for a bienvenidos (welcome) lunch. It was veeery interesting, especially for non-Spaniards. It was essentially a meal of appetizers. It started with basic things, ham and bread, then because more distinct. We had shrimp, but different from any cocktail shrimp I've ever had! We had to remove everything: head, legs, tail, shell... sick. Then inside you could see the 'fecal matter' or pepper, as I called it so I could at least mentally prepare myself to try it. Anyway, the 'pepper' was crunchy, so I could only eat one. But I'm proud I tried one!
Then came the little squid, I forgot the name but it is something like chipirros, maybe. Or I'm making that up (a bad habit I have in Spanish!). This wasn't bad at all. I cut off the tentacles, I'm not quite ready to eat all of everything yet. But ate everything else, it was slightly rubbery but not offensively or impossible to digest. Next came the peppers, which had a potato chip aftertaste, interestingly enough.
Next was the dessert!! There was a cheesecake thing, a floured cake thing, and then cheese with a jelly type thing. All was very good and yummy!

After lunch and the important locations and pretty scenery tour with our profesores - they all seem great, I can't wait to have classes with them - we went walking around some more to get back. Once again, I was unable to participate in the siesta, maybe soon though? For dinner, we went back to Galeon, the place we had our first group dinner. I had another bocadillo, this time the tortilla francesa- it's basically like an omelette. We are getting to know the waiter, Jose, pretty well but because everyone has been getting sketchy hamburguesas and feeling ill, I doubt we will frequent El Galeon.

This morning, I woke up a few times in the night feeling ill. I'm assuming it's because I haven't had any juice since Thursday. Which could mess me up since I drank so much of it, or because I haven't been eating fruit. Anyway, I didn't eat the carb-caffeine breakfast, but had an orange before we started marching to class. We left at 9.00 am (not, Spanish time is pimp- everyone is late, how perfect for me!) and got there at 9.4 am, this campus is where our electives will be. On the way there, the walk is soo gorgeous! It is very green, there are a variety of trees (even palm trees!), and beautiful hills. There is a place on the side of the street that is sheltered and provides an excellent view of the boundary of Santiago. I called it make out lookout, because it is very apt. But then we realized it is just a superfluous title, PDA is rampant there! Because I don't have class at 9.30, a few of us went to the cafetería. I got juice because I was going to go crazy... but I'm not sure we entirely understood the process for ordering and sitting. Who knew that something so simple could be done in different ways? Behind us, at another table, a couple was making out hardcore, what a great breakfast background! Haha, a great example of PDA.

The first class is about Islamic culture in Spain. I LOVE la profesora, it will be a fun and interesting class! Then we had Spanish culture, el profesor is very funny, he uses great and witty analogies and things. He told us that we could bring gin, whiskey, cocaine, red bull to class to ensure we were awake, attentive, and participating in class! Awesome! :) Then, we went back to the hostal. I was hungry, since I had an insufficient breakfast, but was luckily feeling better after the juice. I went to a 24 hour store and bought Cheetos (which taste like the regular cheese puffs but LOOK like Cheetos - don't be confused or tricked) and an ice cream cone thing. It was SO good! It kind of tasted like Cold Stone's cake batter on a stick. Yum. After that, we had a party in my room and were listening to my goofy songs, like Aladdin and 2gether. At 4.15, we left to take our placement exams. The writing part wasn't terrible, the questions at the end of the exam were essentially impossible, and the oral part was all right. We left for the other side of the north campus to pick up a messenger bag thing with maps. Lame.

After everyone finished their exams and picked up their bags, the group went to our first apartment showing. It wasn't so hot, but that's all right. The landlady was really nice and we were talking quite a bit. Katherine, Claire, and I went out for a de-stress pre-drink. We went to the Rock Cafe and Claire and I had chocolate rock. OMG. It was hot chocolate with Frangelico and whipped cream and sprinkles, I know. I've decided that the vino tinto (red wine) is always better than vino blanco (white wine), which is very good to know. After this, we went to the second apartment showing. This place was much improved, but kind of far away. We have 6 or so more landlords' apartments to check out, so no rush or pressure.

It finally started to sprinkle, after hearing that it essentially rains every day, this was the first. And it wasn't even super rainy. Anyway, we went to a tapas bar first. This is where you order a drink and they bring food with it to you. Bonus! Afterward, we went to Anatolio's, which is a doner kebab place. Later, we went to Moore's pub. Monday night is American trivia night for the Pub Quiz, and it was just generally a lot of fun. It's a nice place to rest your brain from Spanish for a night. Anyway, I had a beer there that I actually liked! It was called 'desparados' or something that translates to the desperate ones. I got home around 1 am. Their hours are SO difficult to fully understand, the adjusting part is going slowly for me. Because I don't have a class before 11, I should be able to start staying out later which will force me into a siesta... Anyway, I'm going to go to bed, I smell like smoke from everywhere I've been today, to be ready for breakfast and Mar's class and to see what our grammar/convo class will be like. Love love!

aqui!

Well, I arrived in Santiago last night around 10 pm. The flights all went well once I found the correct terminal. My motto the entire time was 'if I don't know where it is, someone will' so that worked out really well. The only problem I encountered was from the Paris to Lisbon flight. It was delayed almost 2 hours so when I finally got to Lisbon I had to pick up my luggage, find the right portal to check it in, then find the right gate to board. I had 20 minutes. By the time the late luggage arrived and I finally found the right place to check in, I was running to get there and they had to call in to confirm it was me and that I was late. Yipes. Anyway, on the flights to Europe and Lisbon I met very interesting people. One was a college student from Cincinatti studying in Paris andhe helped me understand the signs so I could partly get to where I needed to go. Then, from Paris to Lisbon, on the flight I saw the ocean, the Pyrenees, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc du Triomph. My two seat buddies were from France but one knew Portuguese. So we tried to have a conversation, but no one had a common language. Portuguese and Spanish are similar, so we could get by using hand gestures and speaking slowly, and then the Portuguese woman would translate to French. It was very interesting, they were impressed by my teaching English job!

After I made it onto the plane to get to Madrid and then Santiago, the flights were generally uneventful. Valerie, Mindy, and Megan were waiting in the airport because their flight from Madrid was delayed 8 hours!! So we shared a cab to get to our hostel. Which, by the way, is more like a hotel than a hostel. Like, they change our sheets and make our beds and replace our towels!

Today, we went to get a free breakfast, and it is true that you get what you pay for: we had a sweet croissant and a hard roll with jam or butter and cafe con leche. Tomorrow I will make a point to get anything but cafe con leche.

After that, we walked around the city because I needed to get Euros and then to find the Cathedral. It was a lengthy walk, but the city is really pretty and extremely scenic, very picturesque. After that we went to lunch, which was good. I had a tortilla española and vino blanco - which did not mesh at all. Then we had our first orientation meeting. Classes start Monday and we have a placement exam that day as well. Eventually, we are going to be looking for apartments but until then we are just hanging out at the hostel.

This evening, after a late dinner and a completely OVERPRICED dessert, we went out to a bar. However, the bar was having dance classes at the time, so it was mildly awkward for us to just stand there. It's nice to know that the prices of drinks are comparable to what they were in Ireland, beer is 2.50 and mixed drinks are 4.50.

Tomorrow we have another orientation meeting and then a group meal, but I think that evening we may also be going out. Since things don't usually start happening until 2 am, it will take some adjusting to their nightlife. I still haven't figured out the phone thing, but I'm sure it will work itself out. :)

One step closer!

And now I am coming home! I should be back in MCI at 9:00ish PM on June 11. Just in time for me to renew my drivers license the next day :).
I'm coming back from Dublin, in case Fro and I are near there, that will be very convenient. But it's very difficult for me to guess where I may be in 6 months...