FINALMENTE!

I realize it has been QUITE some time since I have updated my blog, but I've been busy and/or without internet, so I'm using Valerie's line to stay in contact. Anyway, I'm going to try to put my pictures up now... This first part is of my PISO! Affectionately known as the basement, the cave, or the hallway.

Ok, so, my pictures aren't quite loading yet. But after class... watch out! Anyway, to do a brief update.

Classes have been going well, I've been keeping up with the reading sufficiently and cramming in the grammar homework before class. I've been going out with the same schedule but not drinking because I'm realizing how expensive it is.

On Thursday, Valerie and I had an exciting adventure. We woke up early because I wanted to look for shoes. We searched high and low and finally meandered to a really far away part of town. A homeless guy started talking to us and then kind of left, but then he came back to give us croissants that he just bought. Valerie freaked out, per usual, but I accepted it and then we had a lot of fun feeding all the fat birds in the lake next to where we have class. When I say 'where we have class' I mean, the dorm where they stick us foreign kids so we have a place to learn. Then we bought our tickets (see below), at the end of the day I bought the shoes I really wanted, although for more than I originally wanted to spend.

Last weekend Mindy, Valerie, and I went to Porto, Portugal! It was a lot of fun! It seemed almost like Santiago in that it had a modern and antique feel all at the same time. It was absolutely gorgeous at night even though there were some parts of town that were kind of sketchy. The bus ride there was miserable for me. I got pretty car/bus-sick so, that totally sucked. I adamantly refused to undergo that again, so I bought some anti-motion sickness drugs in a Portuguese pharmacy. yay! I'm pretty sure the most memorable part of this trip was my terrible confusion between Portuguese and English. Really, it's absolutely hilarious.

So, I wanted to see the 'caves' of Portugal. But really, 'caves' is CAVA and not CUEVA en espanol. So, instead of seeing caves, like where Batman lives, we walked for 3 hours in an opposite direction, nearly walked to the ocean, walked all the way back, and then we found out that 'caves' are WINE CELLARS. Which worked out just fine because we wanted to go to a wine tasting event anyway. It's funny how things always seem to fall into place, even if they aren't planned. One of the things Mindy and I are most proud of is Valerie coping without a set itinerary made three weeks in advance with options of what to do should something go wrong and a map that has everything one might need in a rare occasion. Yay Valerie!

When we returned, it was still Santiago. But it was weird to return from a vacation, to a vacation. Everyone always says "Whew, I'm going to need a vacation from this vacation!", but tada! We are actually living it. Except with classes.

I've been hanging out with Manu a lot lately, it's helpful to practice my Spanish and always fun to be with new people. :) Plus, I'd say that Manu and I provide positive stories that are shared before classes start. Haha.

Lastly, on Friday our group went to A Coruna. I really enjoyed this city! It was kind of like Santiago - I'm not sure if this is a size of city thing, that it's in the same part, or the same age or something - so big enough that you could always find something to do but small enough that you would eventually run into someone you know on the street looking for something to do.
Valerie and I were discussing doing something new, and I wittily replied that there's not much TO do. It's possible to change the location of the bar here, but you are still going to be going to a bar. Anyway, Mindy and I stood out in the ocean! It was way fun and then a giant wave came out of no where and attacked us!!! So our jeans and shoes were wet the rest of the day. PS- we went to a planetarium and aquarium!!!! OMG. Love, love, love. I saw some tiburones, so pretty much my day was perfectly complete. In the planetarium, while basically everyone else was sleeping (cough Valerie cough), I was very pleased that I understood most of what the guy was saying. Granted, it's geared toward elementary school kids, but my Spanish is probably equal to a third-grader's.

I've been hanging out at Valerie's piso because mine just depresses me. There is no natural light, the lights we do have are kind of dingy, it's kind of musty/moldy/stank smelling, and I haven't really bonded with any of my Spanish piso mates. Which is fine, my piso is essentially where I shower - every other day, thanks to the freezing water that takes two hours to heat up - and sleep, which is actually amazing because there is no light I can literally sleep until 3 in the afternoon and not know it although I guess if I have class this isn't really so great. Speaking of, the night before we left for A Coruna, I didn't quite get 3 hours of sleep because I was worried I would sleep through it and REALLY did not want to miss out on the aquarium!!

Well, I apologize profusely for not being able to put pictures up. I think I'm going to get a flickr account and then just direct everyone there for the pictures, it will probably be easier and more reliable than anything else.

I love getting everyone's comments!!! It's like a little piece of home on the other side of the planet :)