School and the Mall

Second day of class.... I think I slept through the first hour... I literally could not keep my eyes open.. we were already assigned to read about 12 pages in spanish and to do a 10 min presentation! ugh, I'm not ready for school again....especially four straight hours of it. Who signed me up for this class thing?? haha

At our school, everyone stares at us wherever we go, there are no water fountains anywhere, they don't have the technology that we have in the classroom, and there are only 8 ppl in our class, and we are the big class. haha, very different than PSU. The campus seems to be in the middle of a desert and the buildings are arranged by numbers, not names. Floors (there are only two) and they are A and B (alta y baja/upper and lower).

Some current trends among university students in Sevilla:

-baggy, harem pants for girls

-RAT TAILS for boys and girls!

-greek sandals

-wedge high heels

-soccer jerseys or logos on all clothing

-rompers for girls, sometimes the long pants kind

Here is a pic of one of the buildings

Today we met ....the nameless man. (We think his name is either Juan or Juilian or Julio) and he also may either be the husband our house mother is separated from, or her new bf.... all this info was lost in translation. Man, is he a talker. haha We now have a full history of Spain and their futbol league, art history, and places to visit in Portugal. Luckily, he was easier to communicate with because he is currently studying english. Though half the time he couldn't understand us and would repeat his explanations because he thought we didn't know what he was talking about when we spoke English. What a mess this language barrier is... We now realize, that when you are hanging out in Capital City mall and there are Spanish/Asian/etc people around you speaking a different language........ they actually ARE talking about you!! All we do is comment on the things that people are doing or wearing that is different than in the US.

Our house mother loves the girl who stayed here before us, Natasha. She talks about her almost every day and says how pretty she was. She told us the girl lived near a big lake, and we commented that we lived near lots of lakes also. So yesterday she showed us a rock.. supposedly from the bottom of Lake Michigan. We were really confused until we realized that she thought that we lived near the same lake as Natasha, from Michigan.

Another thing that's weird in Spanish is how nicknames rarely every correspond to the original name. For example... the nickname for Francisco= Paco... nickname for Ignacio=Nacho Eduardo=Lalo Mercedes= Mentxu ... just plain nonsense.

After lunch, we took our daily siesta (you don't mean to take a nap here, but you eat lunch and then just pass out). We each woke up with about 1 million bug bites because there are no screens on anyone's windows here in Spain so the mosquitos come in and bite us while we're asleep.

After that, we went to the mall in La Plaza Nervion----without getting lost!!! Shopping in the stores at the mall is very stressful because people will just push you over, butt in front of you in line, and yell at you if you're doing something wrong while they are all running past you. All the sizes are downsized a lot. If you are a small in the US, you're like a large in Europe. Plus I don't know how these people get into thier clothes because none of the dresses or rompers have zippers, nor does the material stretch?? It's a mystery.. Also, if you want to try on shoes, they make you try them on in front of them by the check out counter.. as if I'm going to put them on and walk away in them. Maybe I just look suspicious.. Who knows? At least I know how to order coffee effectively- "grande frappuchino caramelo con cafe y nata por favor.." Unfortunately, my beloved starbucks is very expensive here in Spain.

The most exciting news of this week, is that we're going to Lagos, Portugal this weekend!!! This Thursday is Corpus Cristi- a religious holiday here in Spain, and since its on a Thursday they do a "puente" (bridge), so that every has off Friday also. This way, there isn't a random day off in the middle of the week. So, Thursday, we will be going to visit Amelia's hometown for the day (called Moron) and to meet her parents. Her dad is making us arroz con leche (rice pudding) which I am very excited for. :) On Friday, we are taking a bus to Portugal through a program called discover Sevilla!! It includes transportation, a two-night stay in a hotel right near the beach, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday morning, a sunset excursion to the End of the World--Cabo San Vicente (Google it- it's gorgeous!!), tour guides, and a kickoff welcome party with free drinks! We cannot wait to hit the beach!! And I cannot wait to take a little break from the stressful city life. I have re-evaluated my life plans to include-- never living in a busy city where I have to use public transportation and risk my life when crossing the street. These cars literally do NOT stop for pedestrians. Another great thing about this trip to Lagos is that some of my friends who are in the ciee travel program are going so we will be able to meet up with them too!!

Well, that's all the exciting news for today.. Adios! :)