Tuesday, January 27, 2009
So today was a tough day. I’m probably being a baby but it’s true. Woke up, had breakfast, then rushed to get ready – put on my new sweater, jeans and red shoes. I didn’t want to wear my tennis shoes so my socks could be washed with the dark load today and I didn’t want to wear my black heels because of the cobblestone streets. Big mistake. After the walk to class my feet were ripped apart and I could feel blisters on almost all parts of my feet. Then we had to walk to the two other buildings where classes are held – ouch. I’ve noticed that I’m really cautious about people here, especially when I walk by myself I think that everyone’s out to get me. I’ve probably been reading too much about pickpocketers but I grip my backpack or swing it side to side so nobody can steal anything. One time walking down the sidewalk I caught this weirdo guy creeping around Taylor’s backpack and since then I’ve been even worse. Anyway, I’m jumpy as it is but as we were walking this high school kid flinched at me and I almost pulled a José. After a meeting in CCA 2 I came back and talked to Verónica. She is going to sign me up for class in Lengua and Cultura which is great. Then, her assistant said Iberia had called and gave me a new file number so Verónica called them to check on it. Then, she connected me to talk to a lady in English about reimbursement. Basically it’s still completely lost and she gave me opposite information money-wise from what I was told yesterday. I was getting pretty impatient and she kept contradicting herself so finally she more or less hung up on me. I was not happy at all and I’ll definitely have something to say to whichever Iberia representative gets to talk to me tomorrow! I checked my email a little bit, ate my bocadillio then got online with Taylor to look up information for our trip. The ryanair website was down which is what we were hopefully going to book our flights through so that was definitely disappointing. We found some good prices but everything back from Athens is crazy expensive. Also, I was kinda grouchy because she got an email from her mom right as she sat down that said her bag had been delivered so she ran downstairs and it was there! I’m so happy for her but at the same time it’s frustrating that I still don’t have mine and it seems like they’re not even trying to look for it. So then we headed to class where things didn’t get any better - we were learning a tense I have never really studied and just couldn’t get the hang of it. The next class wasn’t great either but at least we didn’t have to study much, we just talked in small groups. I really like the professors but they can rub me the wrong way sometimes. I’m not saying I’m completely conservative nor unwilling to see the other side but almost everyone I’ve met is extremely liberal, including my señora, Verónica, my professors, and even Taylor. (We talked about religion and politics our first night here - no big deal though) Anyway, I’m just not interested in politics and I’m pretty tired of hearing everyone’s opinions. Tonight we watched An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary about Al Gore and global warming. It’s probably best that I keep my comments inside for now. So after the movie we went down to get Taylor’s bag and thankfully she had a pair of flip flops for me to walk home in because I was ready to walk the whole way barefoot. When I took off my shoes my feet had dried blood all over and they were shredded. I only slipped 2304985 times on the way home (like usual) because the streets are so slick! I didn’t fall though, just a couple of close calls for this baby deer. Julia was so excited to see that Taylor had her bag and very concerned about my cold, bloody feet. She thinks she knows best but sometimes she’s way off. For example, she thinks the reason Taylor got her bag was because Julia told her to call Málaga but really it was because her mom had been calling daily for quite a while. Also, she doesn’t let us use the outlets behind our beds because she says it will heat up the wooden headboards and start a fire. How about the lace curtain that’s inches away from the radiator that’s always hot? There are more examples… I really am glad that I’m here though; this is very insignificant compared to a lot of things that students put up with in host family situations. She did wash a dark load of laundry today and put underwear and socks on the radiators to dry so I had something clean to put on after my shower. Enough complaining, even I’m annoyed at listening to it. Hopefully tomorrow will be better; Julia says she just knows my suitcase will come tomorrow. I’m not holding my breath…
