DAYS 21-26

Day 21: Tuesday, January 21st

Hola, tengo mucho sueño. No lo sé por qué. Solo está 21.40 y quiero dormir ahora. I'm sleepy!

Today I met Meghan, an au pair who lives up the street from me. She is 20 years old and has been here for 2 months. I really like her! We went to a cafe and both had a cup of hot chocolate. (When you ask for hot chocolate here in Spain, it is LITERALLY a cup of HOT CHOCOLATE-Nothing else) You buy that with churros and dip the churros into the chocolate. It's delicious!

Meghan hasn't been taking Spanish classes, which makes me nervous that I won't find anything. She spends her days with a lot of free time, and doesn't speak or understand much Spanish. I REALLY don't want that to happen to me. I want to go to school SO BAD. I don't want to spend everyday wondering around my city. There's still a few things I have to do before going to school, I'm just so anxious to go.

Meghan then showed me where she lived and I did the same. We got to talkin' a lot and she knos that I'm Mormon. (I'm sure she figured that out after I declined coffee and beer) She told me where she's from there's a wide Mormon community and a temple. She told me she has Mormon friends and really respects the religion. i really like her outlook on life. I'm not going to explain it, but she seems very down to earth. Meghan is here until September, but making a trip back home in February. I then wished that I could be here that long, and that I didn't have the dumb visa stuff. Funny because that night I had a dream that it was me who made the trip back home, and suddenly realized I didn't have enough money to fly back to Spain, so all my stuff was still there. Lol, I thought it was funny.

Day 22: Wednesday, January 22nd

Phew! What a day! A very productive one though.

Marian didn't have work, so we went to get my monthly bus card. I'm excited about this because I can cruise all over town as much as I want. Next, we finally found Spanish classes! Yes, I'm so excited! Mondays & Fridays I have classes in the morning after taking Nicolas to school, which works perfect because I'm finished before it's time to go get him. I'm so happy!

After, we met with Marian's mom at a little retaurant just right on my street. I ate these weird little breaded bacon bites. SO GOOD. I asked Marian's mom if I could have all of them haha. I love how close I am to tapas, and cute little walk-ins, and also the supermarkets.

The rest of the day I played with the boys. Literally, all day! I am wiped out. Here in Spain, people visit and talk with each other for HOURS. So today Marian's mom came over, Chechu's mom, Cristina (his sister) Danny (her husband) Alvaro (their son). The in-laws all know each other well like family. They just hang out & chill like homies. It's not like I ever see my aunts from one side, chillin' with my grandma from the other side of my family. But Chechu and Marian's family all live really close, so they all get to know each other. One big, happy family!

Tonight for dinner we had tiny, tiny little clams, fish, breadsticks (very crunchy) and white asparagus. Everything was fine except for the clams-seafood is not my thing.

For my uncle Dave, I got him Pimentón. It's the red paprika stuff that he says he loves. It expires in September 2015, so there are no worries. Buenas.

Day 23: Thursday, January 23rd

Wow, I just collasped into bed. I am so tired and my head is spinning.

I ate a squid today!

It was so nasty, ah, so disgusting. They slice it into strips so it looks like noodles. But that doesn't disguise the sea taste. I really don't like seafood. The smell is unpleasant, and the taste triggers my vomiting sensors.

Today I spent my free time out in the city. I can't tell you how many times I got whistled at. I was waiting to cross a crosswalk, and a man in his car stops for me to cross (which by the way, no one ever does here) and after I pass, he unrolls his window and says "guapaaa" Lol.

So guess what's really exciting here? NO TAX. I don't know how to put the Euro sign, but if something is $1, then it's $1. If it's $5.95, then it's $5.95! I love it! I hate paying sales tax in the US because then I have to do the math of my total cost, which is always an estimate.

I love eating their little croissants here, and I bought a bag of 8 for 63 cents! I was excited to find Dove soup and bought that. The last thing I bought is very surprising...I bought floss. I will gladly admit that I never floss my teeth, and let's face it, who does? The only person I can think of who does is my dad. I've needed it though because of all the meat I've been eating. When I went to the markets, I remembered to bring my own bag, thinking of my mom living in Europe, and buying all her groceries without any way to get them home. They don't provide grocery bags. I wonder if that's some kind of environmental thing.

I'm getting really tired during the day. I'm finding out that being a co-mom is really tiring! So now I'm imagining actually being the mom, and I'm getting some real life experience. I hate being cooped up in the home all afternoon/night. I'd like to go out. Luckily, today we went to the mall. While Marian ran to make purchases and returns, I had the children with me. Phew! what a job. Good thing there's a pet store in the mall.

I have a few questions for Spain:

Why is the bathroom light on the outside? Every light in the house is inside its own room except for the bathroom light. This isn't just at my house, but in every house! Whoever invented this idea must have thought it was funny to turn off the light on their siblings while taking a shower or using the bathroom. I know my family would love that.

Why don't they have dryers here? Everything is lined dried. Walking down the streets, I'll see clothes, even delicates, hanging out the window. Lol.

Why so much seafood?! Whhhyyyy. I know the answer. Because Spain is almost a 360 degree country of beach, so there's a lot of places to catch underwater animals. And, the people here love it! For me, I'm not used to it.

Why are there so many hair salons? I have not seen anyone with fabulous hair, so maybe there's so many because they're trying to encourage people to do something with their hair?! I don't want to sound mean, but I can definitely say that where I'm from, we either spend a lot of time on our hair, or we just have fabulous hair. Because here, I feel that people's hair either looks unwashed, unbrushed, or fried-out. I only say this because I'm noticing the culture difference, not because I'm being a snob with my "oh-so-beautiful" hair.

Day 24: Friday, January 24th 2014

Today was my first day of school. I was surprised at how well I could hold a conversation in Spanish compared to everyone else. I think having those Latino friends for six months really helped with having basic conversations, understanding, and a boost of confidence. There were proabably 10 or so people in the classs, and we were split into groups. My group was me and 2 other and then a Spanish speaker. He would take turns asking us questions in Spanish and we would respond. We also did 2 worksheets. One about the states of Spain and the other telling time. He kept asking in Spanish where specific cities are and I would point and say "aquí?" I was right every time. Wow, I guess I've really done my research on Spain without really even knowing it.

Walking to school is about 15-20 minutes. I was a little uncomfortable with how many "cat calls" and whistling I got on my walk. A lot of the men start talking to me, and sometimes I'm glad I don't know exactly what they're saying, and I just keep on walking. I'll be walking on the sidewalk, and from the other side of the street, men will shout "Hola!" or "Holaaa, guapaaaa." or they'll whistle. I'm okay with that, I just hate when they start talking to me because if it were English, I would understand what they're saying. It's quite culturally different because this doesn't happen (at least not to me) in Utah. The staring is also extremely uncomfortable. I've noticed that people just stare at me. And no one ever smiles, so I'm thinking "Is there something on my face?" "Am I so white you can't even handle it?" I never know what to do. Usually I smile at people, but people either don't make eye contact, or they stare at you without smiling back. Utah is much more friendly, that's for sure.

I went on a Nutella hunt yesterday and I didn't find any. So today after school I went somewhere new and I found some! I have no regrets on the 2.79 jar I bought hahah. Chechu doesn't go into work Fridays, so once everyone was home, we went to a cute, little Italian restaurant. I got Spaghetti, and it was nice to have something familar and from home (well, originally Italy)

Day 25: Saturday, January 25th

Institute class was this morning, meaning, lots of practice speaking Spanish. Claire, the girl from England in my class lives there in Alcala and says the ward has 150 members. I kinda wish I was in that ward because I would meet a lot more people my age. Today was my free day so I hung out with Meghan. We walked through the city and stopped in a Panadería for some delicious pastries. We then went shopping. The clothes here are so cheap! I found a shirt folded over with the American flag on it. I thought "Perfect, my county!" I picked up the shirt and what unfolded before me was shocking. Underneath the flag is said "No thanks." Meghan and I laughed and I cried saying, "my country..."

Meghan asked me if I'd want to go with her and guy named Jose tonight to grab dinner and go over to a bar for night life and dancing. She knows I don't drink, and she was especially mindful of that, and told me there's no pressure, and that she still wanted me to come even if I wasn't going to drink. She told me that latest they stay out is about 3am. For years I always wished my parents would let me stay out past 12, and now, I just want to be home and in bed. Lol, I'm such a party pooper, so instead, I went home, put on my pj's, and watched tv, cuddling with my little ones on the couch. Honestly, I can't think of a better Saturday night.

I can't believe I've almost been here for a month. I get sad thinking there could be a possibility that I'm home at the end of March, Sigh.

Oh yeah, today I ate crab soup, and a bean&clam soup. "Interesting" is a nice way to say blehhhh. #IJustCantDoSeafood

Day 26: Sunday, January 26th

Church was today and it was my first time in our new chapel. There are actually a lot more people in my ward than I thought. Proabably around 60 and they are all very loving. After church I went for a long walk. The weather was sunny and lovely, and the path I walked on was beautiful with lots of trees. In the city, I felt like I was walking through ghost town because everything is closed on Sunday. Compare any other day in my city to Sunday, and you've got night and day. NO ONE is out on Sunday. I imagined that I was the only person walking on the earth, and it freaked me out because for a second I believed it until a car finally passed me.

I came home and fell asleep for 2 hours, and now, woke up to an empty house. Lol, that's never happened before so I don't know what to do. I guess I'll do some studying...