The First Days

I left my parents and Tom in Detroit three days ago (although it feels like two days because I've only slept twice since). I was actually doing pretty well handling leaving. I only cried a little bit when I left. Basically, I hadn't been sleeping almost at all in the last four days and I am so completely exhausted that I can't be emotional. Other than the possible negative side effects on my immune system, it is really working out pretty well. I really don't feel like I'm here. There is snow on the ground (very, very odd for Madrid: one student said that his host family was scraping their car with a spatula), it's cold, and the change in language is not nearly as bad as I thought... what culture shock? Maybe I'm just too relaxed... really, me?

 

One thing that I really liked about the plane was that I had a window seat and therefore was able to watch the sun rise up over the clouds at about 2:30 in the morning Toledo time as we flew east. It was really beautiful. Spain is six hours ahead of Toledo, which isn't too bad. I've been keeping in contact with my mom and Tom through email. I've used Skype with the crappy internet I can pick up at my piso (I'm stealing it so I suppose I can't complain). It's kind of like instant messenger, but you can "call" other Skype members and video chat. It's fantastic.

 

I've unpacked everything. I get a whole room to myself, but it is very small (See above). It's about half the size of a dorm room at Bowling Green, but I'm glad that I don't have to share. I need my personal space (and somewhere to hide when I can't take Spanish anymore). My bed folds down from a giant wardrobe looking thing that has two drawers for clothes and a space to hang clothes. There is a tiny desk in the opposite corner, which is a nice place to sit and there is a bedside table with a few drawers and some shelves on the wall. I like it. The space management is good. The floor is tiled, though, and it is really cold on my feet, although I think I'm just supposed to walk around in my shoes, which will never happen because I'm too used to taking my shoes off when I go in the house.

I took four years of high school spanish and one semester of 202 at Bowling Green. Supposedly, this is all I need to succeed here in Spain. So far, I beg to differ. I am really far behind, I think, or everyone else is just pretending a lot better than I am. There are a few people that were here last semester also and a few people that are already pretty fluent in Spanish for other reasons. And then there is me. My host mom keeps saying "pobre niña" over and over when I just shake my head because I don't understand her.

I live pretty far away from the University. I walked this afternoon (oh, the weather is fantastic! It's cold in the morning, like Bowling Green cold, but then the sun comes out and the whole place warms up and it feels like spring... It's amazing!) and it took about 30 minutes. I walk fast though... Google maps says 38 minutes. However, I live very close to the Plaza, which is the main meeting point of the entire city. I'd rather live next to the plaza than near the school because I have managed to schedule only Monday, Wednesday classes, which is fantastic! 9am-1:30pm and then 4pm-5:30 is rough, but I'd rather do that than have to go to the university everyday.

The food isn't bad so far. My host mom is always trying to get me to eat. I'm having trouble with having such a large lunch (la comida is the biggest meal of the day and then you have la cena, a tiny dinner at around 9:30pm) because I'm used to having a sandwich at noon and then a big meal at 6. I don't want to eat at 9:30pm. The food is a bit different, but a lot of it seems to be cabbage based, which is fine with me because I love cooked cabbage. There is also a lot of meat though. I'm not really a fan of plain meat, but apparently that's supposed to be the biggest part of lunch. The milk is definitely different. It's pasteurized, not homogenized. It's a little warm and a little sour, but it's thick like milk.

I'm not homesick yet. I'm having a hard time with the language and I feel really dumb a lot, but I'm mostly just numb right now. Being away from home hasn't really affected me yet, which is great. I expected to have a lot of trouble with that. Well, I've written quite a bit. Congratulations for making it, if you did. There is still so much to say, so I'll write again soon.