Luna de miel

Hi friends! So what have I been doing? Well…as for the title of this entry, a psychologist came to talk to us about culture shock and told us that the honeymoon period is first where you love everything and haven’t yet to miss people and be sad that you are looked at everywhere you go as an extranjero (stranger).

My host mom is nice and gets up every morning to make me desayuno, which usually consists of toast with butter, Cola-Cao (hot chocolate), un biscocho (sweet bread) or fruit. Midday meal is huge, often involving a soup first (vegetable, lentil, etc.), and then chicken (or spaghetti with tuna, croquettes, lengao - a fish, etc.) with a vegetable and bread and yogurt and fruit to finish. Dinner is smaller and is a variation of lunch.

This past week has been full of orientation activities for all of us (39 in all). Futbol games, karaoke coming up, shopping and chats about student life. Once I’m finished with these “intensive” Spanish classes (lots of silly role-playing), I’ll start real classes on the 26th (3 IES and 2 USAL classes most likely).

On Saturday, I went out to celebrate my birthday. My host mom was asking me if I was going to go out, por fin (Finally! she said). Four other girls and I went to a bar near the university that was packed of students. At first we had this tiny forgotten table shoved in the wall, but finally people left and we sat more in the middle. Really smoky! I had a gin + tonic (gin y tonic in spanish, ahaha). It just felt all so awkward not knowing where to go, not being familiar with student life and being obvious americans. We got a lot of comments on the street from guys about smiling and laughing too much because apparently people aren't supposed to do that. They would say things like, "Graciosas" (sillies), "Ajajajajaja" or "Funny, funny". I walked back home and got in at 2 am, AND my mom was still awake and asked me why I was home so EARLY!

Spanish/general observations:
1) The fashion here is not very different from those fashionable at Mac, like tights, boots definitely (sad I forgot mine), stylish coats, etc.
2) Spain so far has the cutest dogs ever - I’ve seen 5 westies so far all in sweaters because it is cold (not compared to MN though). Yesterday was the day of San Anton, saint to domestic animals. Tons of people waited in front of the churches to have their dogs blessed!
3) Water and electricity conservation is very important because it is so expensive. We tend to keep all of our lights off and I have to turn them off in my room when I go to the bathroom down the hall, which is funny considering the hall is pitch black and I have to feel my way. Soon I’ll be a pro (note: I am not the only one to experience this).
4) I will never use a bide (like a half size toilet lower to the ground used for rinsing your behind off, I think…).
5) I can understand my mom really well. I can understand older people pretty well, younger people tend to talk faster and use made-up words. But the streets are a little bare of students because they are taking their finals and aren’t partying. Wait for Feb!

I hope this wasn't too boring. I'll get back to you soon...and eventually I'll post some pictures from Segovia this past weekend. Other interesting news: I have been drinking cafe con leche often (not exactly like coffee), but it is delicious.