Monday, January 19, 2009
Right before I fell asleep last night I warned Taylor that I snore and told her she’s welcome to wake me up or pinch my nose if she hears it. Apparently she did because in this soft voice I heard “Tammy….Tammy….Tammy”. This happened several times J I’m blaming it on this awful cold I have. She also couldn’t sleep because she kept thinking about how things were going here and missing. So instead of sit in the dark alone and cry she woke me up and we talked for quite a while. We both got a few hours of sleep but we found out this morning that was not quite enough. We both got ready and did some more swapping of what little items we had then had breakfast at 8:30. It was two big slices of toast with jam and some cola cao (hot chocolate). It was pretty good and I’m sure that’s what we’ll be having for breakfast most days. She had our bocadillos packed and ready to go then we headed to school after 9:00. Luckily she warned us that it was supposed to rain so I wore my coat with a hood. We finished the 25 minute walk at the CLM where we’ll meet and have classes. Verónica led us together down the street where we met Aurelio who is our tour guide for Granada and Sevilla and also teaches classes at the CLM. We walked around part of the city and he showed us some really cool places. The first stop was an ancient “hotel” (sidenote: It had a big, open courtyard but he pointed out how the top was covered with a net to keep birds out because their poo does a lot of damage to the ancient architecture. As we all looked up he noticed the three things stuck in the netting – a beer bottle, a dead bird, and a leg to a doll. ¡Qué locura!). It was awesome on the inside and it was quite so we could finally hear what he was saying. He spoke all in Spanish so I think a lot of the group didn’t catch most of what he was saying. Then we went through the Alicante which was the ancient marketplace and is now turned into lots of cute little tiendas. I can’t wait to go back there and do some shopping. We crossed through the university quarter (can’t remember the name) that had a lot of Baroque architecture, then saw a bunch of modern buildings which were constructed with the riches that were sent back from the Americas, and the last stop was the cathedral. Francisco showed us the night before from above and it was just as cool from eye-level. Aurelio suggested that we go to mass there some Sunday because it’s the only time you can get in for free! It is missing the top level because of an earthquake which I guess are really common here. That makes sense considering the topography of the area .. duh Tammy. Anyway, Francisco assured me that all the buildings now are prepared for them so I shouldn’t worry. So after the cathedral, Verónica yells, “meet at 2:30 at the CLM bye!” and her and Aurelio just walk off. Needless to say we were a little turned around so someone asked her for directions but all she did was point in the direction of the school. Penny, Lisa, Taylor and I found our way and walked right there! I went into supernerd mode immediately and tried to hook up my internet. As I looked around I realized that there were about 10 other Central girls doing the exact same thing! We were quite the sight.. Anyway I finally got some random connection that didn’t have security (we don’t have the school’s password) and checked my emails, Skyped Mom and Dad, and talked to Rob. Our break was a lot longer than I expected because I pretty much finished everything I wanted to do in that amount of time. It was definitely worth it to carry my super heavy backpack around all day. J During this time I also ate my sack lunch which was an egg sandwich with some cheese mixed in? It was warm when I picked it up this morning but keep in mind it was sitting at the bottom of my backpack which was drug all around the city while it was drizzling for a couple hours. Not very appetizing. Hopefully my Clementine gave me some extra vitamin C. Then our meeting started and Verónica went through our handbook with us. She told some funny stories about stuff that’s happened in past semesters (examples of what not to do). It went pretty fast and as soon as we finished we headed upstairs to take our placement test. The first section was writing which was really easy – just five questions, but the second section was 50 multiple choice questions that started easy and got pretty difficult. I’m not worried about this test at all because it’s just for our orientation groups. When we were done Taylor and I tried to check out cell phones but they all seemed really expensive so we didn’t buy any yet. Our señora keeps recommending a certain one so maybe we’ll figure it out tomorrow. After that we went to check out el Corte Inglés which is a is a huge five story department store/Super Wal-Mart. We finally bought a straightener so I’ll be able to do my hair for the first time tomorrow, yay! On our cold, rainy walk home we made some photocopies of our passports which were really cheap. Then we hung out in the living room with Julia for a while, she seemed so happy to have the company and she loves to talk! She fed us dinner: empanadas, baguette, French fries, and a baked apple with brown sugar in it. While we were eating I told her that I thought we were so lucky to be with her because I had heard some stories about what the other students’ señoras and houses were like. One girl said all three of her meals so far had been microwaved and another girl said her señora just left and said for her to find something to eat in the kitchen. She basically went on for 30 minutes about how she wouldn’t have brought it up but yes we were right. She has central heating (which is why the floors are warm – from the pipes), she cleans every single day, we have big beds, and she makes all her food from scratch. She doesn’t even own a microwave. Also, our walk to school is amazing – we cross over the river where there were some ducks this morning, through the center of the city then through two or three plazas, and it’s not too far at all. She really seems to love taking care of her students and she definitely takes pride in the fact that they always like her. Tonight she did tell us that we should turn the water off between soaping up and rinsing and never leave lights on. Apparently 11:30 is lights off for her? During our conversations I got a few more of my questions answered. First, she got married at 18 but I didn’t ask about what happened to her husband. Francisco was born when she was 19 so that would make her 60 which is unbelievable. She has another son who is younger and lives in Cataluña where he is the director of a train station. He’s married and has a couple of kids and she always goes to visit her sons and family in Madrid during Christmas break and in the summer. She got back the night before we came. Also, I found out two bad things today: definitely no wireless at the house, and still no luggage. But to end on a good note, I found out that we do get a break between orientation and when classes start so maybe tomorrow we can start looking up places to go!!!
