Hola! Things are starting to really speed up so I decided I might need to break down the days or I'd start to mix the days together or forget what even took place over the week.
Monday:
This day was very unproductive overall. I had class for almost four and a half hours which makes the day fly by and I lose a lot of energy by the evening. But! I did go for a run before class finally. The weather is really nice in the morning and it isn't searing hot like the afternoons. However, after the run, I couldn't seem to cool down my body temperature and I ended up getting a terrible headache. I might have just been dehydrated but it made the rest of my day a tad miserable. I didn't do any homework--which fortunately I had none due the next day. I took a nap and ran a couple errands and that's about it. This weather has been so hot at night so I had a tough time sleeping the night before, so that might have been part of the reason my head was bugging me.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was a much better day than Monday--isn't that always the case? I set up an appointment (in Spanish) to get eyelash extensions. I was a tad nervous not being able to communicate fully, but she did a really nice job. Luckily for me, the word natural is the same in Spanish and in English so she was able to make them look like they are my own eyelashes. My "peluquera" (hair-stylist) was super sweet! Although she's not really a hair stylist...but I don't even know what the word in English would be to describe her--eyelash extensionista? "No lo sé" (I don't know)...hmm, if I don't know the word in English, I definitely don't know the word in Spanish. Anyway, I also found a Chinese store that sells a whole bunch of cool items. I found some notebooks for really cheap since my journal is filling up fast, and then also a shade of lipstick I've been wanting for night time when I want to go out and dress up a little. I had way too much fun shopping around that store. I also finally got "los sellos postales" (stamps) for the US so I can send postcards home. I had a lot of homework to do since I hadn't done any of it the day before so I got to work on that and then was feeling real motivated. I went on a run and did some abs and stretched and boy, I always feel so much better when I work out. I even clipped my toenails and repainted them--TMI, sorry. But I was just able to get so much done so I was proud!
Wednesday:
Today seemed like such a busy day but I just had class all day and dinner with the host family. I don't have much to report from today. I did end up going to an intercambio event where we met up with people from Spain, German, Japan, Canada, etc. We have the option to sign up for a program where we can have a "Compañero" (partner) where they help you learn their language and you help them learn English. It was quite interesting to go and meet some people from all over, but the way it was set-up wasn't super efficient. Oh well... I'm glad I went. I am supposed to get assigned a partner here soon. I'm glad it's Wednesday, but I can't believe it's already Wednesday. It's one of those feelings where you are conflicted if the week is going by fast or slow...
Thursday:
I was so busy today which is pretty rare here in Spain. I only had class from 12:00-1:20 but I just find it so fascinating. The class is my Communications and Media in the Digital Age class. Media is so powerful. We are talking about how the Gutenberg invention of the printing press was one of the most important in history. It started this mass communication process and almost all that we have today is based off the concepts that were started with this machine. I love the quotes and depth of meaning in that class. It is one of those classes that I use the concepts and apply them to my life, not just my learning. I think that is when education is truly beneficial. So, I also got my intercambio today. His name is Eduardo. He is 18-years-old and seems quite nice. We are talking about a time to meet up so we shall see. Tomorrow I have an excursion to Gibraltar with ISA and so I'm really excited for that. However, I am not excited for the fact that I have to wake up at 6:15am. Time for bed!
Friday:
Today has been a very eventful day. Gibraltar was a 4-hour bus ride away. I actually do not mind the travel time. It is time to decompress and relax and listen to music or watch downloaded Netflix episodes or purposely be lazy but not actually because you are being transported somewhere so it is technically beneficial still. I'm not sure if that made any sense, "pero bueno" (this is a transition phrase used all the time here). Gibraltar is actually owned by the English, the British. It is such a strange city/mountain. It is so small. To cross the border, we literally held up our passports. It was the most "tranquilo" (chill) system ever. We did a bus tour of the city and this was so cool. Our tour guide had British English because English is his first language but he also spoke Spanish with some weird words from France and German mixed in. I asked him how the languages worked there and I guess every person is required to know both English and Spanish before primary school. It makes sense because it is technically in Spain, it is just such a weird concept. We got to go to the very tip of the Peninsula and we could see Morocco from where we were. Also, as we drove from one side of the "island" to the other, it was the Atlantic ocean and then we crossed through a tunnel and it was the Mediterranean Sea. I thought that was pretty cool. Then, we went to the top of the mountain where we got to go inside these caves where they hold concerts because the acoustics are so cool inside. I'll post pictures on Facebook because it was super cool. Then, as we went outside...these gigantic monkeys were just all over the place. If you've heard of Gibraltar, you've probably heard of the monkeys, too. I'll post pictures of that too but it was so weird because they are just all over the mountain running wild. They are scary though because they are not nice. As we were driving down the mountain, several jumped on the top of our van and then jumped into the sides of the windows. It was quite terrifying. Then, we had free time in the city where I discovered that it is a very British culture. The currency was in Pounds, but everything was super expensive. It definitely had the feel of London, and it made me really happy I chose to study in Spain and not in the UK. Shh, don't tell any of my friends who are studying there. The food was terrible also, at least in my opinion. I was glad it was just a day trip there. Overall, I loved it but I could never live there. It was pretty too! But the storms there are apparently awful sometimes. We got home around 7:30pm and I was utterly exhausted but, of course I had signed up for an 8k that night. I literally went back to my apartment to change and then had to go back to town to run the race. I didn't think I'd survive but I ended up having a great time with my friend Jenna. She was nervous I was wanting to seriously run it but I told her it was just for fun and then she ended up wanting to run the whole thing. The term "running" scares so many people. They don't understand that it can be fun when there's 25,000 other people doing it with you and there's music and lights and music. The race started at 10pm, but it was still 89 degrees. So yes, I died--in case you were wondering. It was so hot. But it was great! 6.2 miles later, we felt very accomplished, especially because we got to run around the main part of the city and explore the city in a fun way. Then, I am now back home and for some reason I have been feeling homesick, more or less. I just am missing "my people" is how I like to word it. My roommate is gone this weekend so I have the place to myself so I face-timed my mom and dad until 3am. It was grand! Now I need sleep.
Saturday:
I was exhausted all day today. I slept until noon so I have no reason to actually be exhausted, but maybe it's from last night. I'm not as sore as I thought I would be so that's good! I love how we can just do nothing on the weekends and not even feel bad about it. I ended up doing some homework today so I wasn't completely unproductive. Then, I met with some friends downtown and we went to these festivals by the river. It was really fun to just hangout and sit by the river dangling our feet and talking. After, there's this street that my friend's sister had said was really fun where lots of locals hangout. It was about a 30-minute walk and we wanted the exercise so we decided to go. Once, we got there it was 2:30am and there was absolutely no one there. That is rare for Spain. But luckily, we walked closer to my house so I was able to just walk home. We felt like such losers because we were so tired, but I just am too old for all the partying. 21 hit me hard, man. It was still a 30-min walk home but on the bright side, I got 9,770 steps in before I went to bed. That way, if I don't walk at all tomorrow, I don't feel bad cause I can still get my 10,000 steps. Hee hee, sneaky--I know.
Sunday:
Well, today is back to 93 degree weather. I am so ready for it to cool down, but once it gets cold, I know that I'll want warm weather again so I'm trying to enjoy it. Today, I met up with my intercambio, Eduardo, for lunch. We had tapas at a bar and then got "helado" (ice cream) and then walked around. He is the tallest Spaniard I have met here. Most Spaniards are very short here, but he's well over 6-foot. He has very tall legs and probably weighs 110 pounds. He was super nice though and can speak 4 languages of course. We were technically supposed to be paired with someone who speaks the same level of English that I do Spanish but he is pretty much fluent in English. He said I spoke Spanish very well though and that made me pleased. I know it isn't true, but I was still flattered. We had a good time and we will probably meet up again next week. He's different than most of the locals I have met here. He actually lives on the campus of UPO and is from Granada. He is young, but brilliant. I have figured out that English is pretty easy for Spaniards to learn if they want to because they can watch and read in English very easily and English is spoken all over the world. I learned in my International Marketing class this week that English is becoming the official business language or something like that. There is push in businesses for adding language programs to their company so that there isn't miscommunication between employees. I think it could be very beneficial actually. Speaking of all this, I have a presentation in that class tomorrow about this so I better go finish that now. Saving homework for Sunday--that's something that I can do in any country.
I will be posting pictures on Facebook this time since it is already October 1st!!!! That's crazy. Oh, also a big day for Spain because, I don't know if you all have heard, but Cataluña, which is a region here in Spain in the North (Barcelona is a part of this region), is trying to get its independence. It wants to be its own country apart from Spain. It's technically illegal but the vote is today so it's a big day here in Spain. I am interested to see what happens. Thanks for reading and have a great week!!
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