Man, my brain has been so fried with all this Spanish all around me, I've had a hard time mustering the will to write. Plus, since I'm learning so much I keep confusing words in my head. English and Spanish blend together. Now, don't go thinking I've mastered the language or anything. I am still speaking at a remedial second-grade level but I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. Sometimes.
Did I mention I got a place? Did I mention it doesn't have heat? (Just space heaters.) Did I also mention it snowed here yesterday. Yeah... I'm COLD. What the French??? I though Spain would be warmer than Seattle. And it's been raining here non-stop. They keep saying it'll get nicer in April. When I'm gone. Just my suerte! The BEST part of this apartment is that the water is heated by gas and if you leave the gas on all the time the big tank will run dry quickly. So, when I get up at 7:30 every morning I get to run through the freezing house to the kitchen, turn the tank on, then go out to the laundry room and light the pilot of the water heater then wait for the water to heat up so I can shower. Good thing 'm reading a book set in the 1700's, so every inconvenience seems like a luxury in comparison.
I share an apartment with two other girls, Juani and Tania. They are 23 and 25, which means I don't get much sleep with their giggling, drinking and tv-watching until the wee hours of the morning. (This place also has thin walls, too... Am I painting a pretty picture?) BUT! Their penchant for... well, being in their early twenties also means they'll take me out dancing! Which is exactly what happened on Saturday. We stayed in the apartment, chatting and drinking some strange 20-something concoction (I didn't have the words yet to ask what it was) until 1:30. How strange to go out when you are usually coming home! But, when the clubs are open until 9am, I guess this is what you do.
The club was huge! Twice as big as the biggest club back home. We danced to Spanish music until 4am when "Abuela" (Grandma, as one of them called me) decided she was ready for bed. Every time I tried to leave they'd pull me back into the dancing circle, singing along to me and making me cha cha cha with them. They are really sweet girls, even if they are a bit loud. (Listen to me: "girls" she says! I am a Grandma!) Thankfully, they can't believe I'm 33 and, thankfully, I only have to act my age during the week. Oh, and the club was full of people of all ages. The young and the old. Even older than me. (That made me feel a wee bit worse for pooping out "so early".)
School is going well, for the most part. I still have days where I feel like, YEAH! I've got it! and then other days when I feel muy tonto and look around to see if my classmates are as lost as I am. Trying to think and speak in another language is really taxing. I'm still watching movies in English on my computer because your ears just need a break every once in a while. Yesterday I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona (which was great!) and it so made me 1. excited for a summer in Spain I won't have (wah wahhhh) and 2. excited to go back to Barcelona and see all the things that were on my list that I booted for more time on the beach.
What else can I tell you about Spain? They love their talk shows. There's one called "Salvame!" that's a panel of 10 people or so and they seem to just watch gossip news and comment or yell at each other for three hours. I still don't get why that's so popular. Oh, and all the TV ladies have awful plastic surgery where their eyes look pulled or the nose is all to one side. THAT part is entertaining. It's just shy of Jocelyn Wildenstein. (Look her up!) They also love Xena (did you know that was still floating around???), Lost and Terminator: The Whatchamacallit Chronicles, all translated to Spanish. I'm assuming the "good" programing is on after I go to bed at 11. (You know Spaniards are just getting home from dinner at that time...) I did get to see some of "Gran Hermano" (Big Brother) which is super popular as well. My roommate was watching "Grey's Anatomy" on her computer (subtitled) and I was excited to relate her favorite show to my favorite city (home!). (Well, even though the Seattle in "Grey's" is nothing like the Seattle in Seattle. Icicles falling off and impaling people? Really? Come on now! That doesn't happen in Seattle! Slipping on wet cement into the Elvis pose and skinning your knee to all hell while the kind people of the city watch you, bemused... those are the kind of accidents we really have. NotthatIknowanythingaboutthat.)
Oh, and also in Spain (as in France) there is "mierde de perro" everywhere! I don't know what these dog owners think is going to happen when they leave those loads in the middle of the sidewalk... Needless to say, you have to watch where you walk here.
Man, my time away from blogging has led me to use a lot of punctuation. ("!!") I must be making up for lost time. And now, some pictures!
Lots of churches!
Lots of fountains!
Lots of grafitti!
My commute to school. Va a pie!
I'm hoping something is lost in the translation here...
And, finally, my little room. Notice my Spanish/English dictionary, the diet coke on the nightstand to keep me going and the ever-present glow from my space heater. Oh, and the sleeping bag in addition to the blankets to keep me warm at night. NOW I'm glad I hauled that thing all over Asia and Europe.
I'll try really hard to do something interesting soon and write about it. Promise.
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