Siesta!

La Plaza de Cervantes

I think I maybe finally starting to adapt to this new culture! Today I took my first siesta! At around 2:30 all the shops close and the city goes completely quiet, even during las fiestas. After our orientation, tour of the University and walking around the Plaza, I returned to my home stay to take a nap! Naps are not only for young children in Spain, they are for everyone! (I think this is something I would like to bring back to the United States)! The shops all reopen after 5:00 until 8:00pm. No worries, that is not dinner time! Dinner comes after 9:30 and is usually a smaller meal compared to lunch. Everyone is Spain stays up much later than in the States, I have seen children wondering the streets with their parents at 1:00am! No wonder everyone needs a siesta.

The food here has taken some getting use to. My host mom, Cris, is a great cook and has been keeping everything relatively simple for me! She is use to having students stay with her and so I even get an apple and peanut butter for breakfast! Some of the other students in my group have had to be a little more willing to try new things. I am definitely considering myself lucky. My host family is absolutely amazing. They are welcoming, extremely kind and have made me feel incredibly comfortable (even when I couldn't figure out how to work the toliet)! I have a host brother, Victor, who is 19 and LOVES fútbol (soccer) and I have probably watched more games on TV in the last week then in the last 20 years of my life! I also have a host sister, Laura, who is 18 and has been unbelievably helpful with this whole transition. She speaks incredibly slowly and repeats comments over and over in different ways until l I understand! My Spanish is slowly improving, but I definitely have a long way to go...I could not be more thankful about how understanding my family has been in dealing with my many hand gestures.

Starting classes on Friday, which I think we are all very nervous about, but it will be nice to have more of a set schedule! That's all for now!

Muchos Besos!

Asturias

Thursday morning we left bright and early for Asturias (northern Spain). After a 6 hour bus ride we arrived in the most beautiful place. Green mountains everywhere that are right next to the beach! We hadn't even been at the beach two minutes and we all agreed we were never going home. On Thursday we also visited Oviedo a beautiful city in Asturias where we enjoyed our first taste of sidra!

Sidra!

The following day was not as perfect as we imagined and involved lots of actually learning about the Spanish civil war. We did spend some time learning about "the colored people" who made up their own language and made tiles for roofs starting at the age of 9 and 10. They traveled around Spain doing basically slave work with barely any shelter. It definitely was a reality check after all the complaining we had done over lunch. They gave us the options of beans, beans or more beans and our rude American instincts came out and we had to ask for an alternate choice! Hopefully we will start getting a little more adjusted to not only the food but the hours of meals (9am, 2:30pm and 10:00pm)!
Saturday was filled with breathtaking views. We began the day visiting las picas de europa (named because they are the first mountains seen from the Atlantic Ocean). After a bus ride to the top of the mountains we were able to bond with las vacas (the cows), as well as see the two amazing glacier lakes. As the fog cleared you could not only see the glacier lakes and the mountains but also the ocean! That afternoon was spent at the beach where we enjoyed the waves, sunbathing and ice cream!

La Picas de Europa

Ribadesella - KellyAnn and Me

On Sunday before returning to Alcalá we went kayaking. The kayak trip began by being pushed down a ramp and thrown into the water to start our 10km trip. The river is one of the cleanest in the world and the views were amazing once again. We reached a spot where we could jump of a cliff. My first jump was quite successful, but on the second I managed to do a full body flop...oops! I went again and once again successfully landed feet first in the water! The 6 hour bus ride back was less than enjoyable but it nice to be back at my new home!

Fiestas, Ferias y Peñas

View of Las Ferias from the top of the Ferris Wheel

Alcalá de Henares is beautiful. It is an old city where Miguel de Cervantes (the writer of Don Quijote) lived and where I will be spending the next four months. A small extremely old city where no one speaks English. I think we all agree that the language barrier is more difficult than expected, but I seem to be managing with lots of hand motions!
We arrived in Alcalá during fiestas. A week long party of activities during the day in the plaza and a fair in a park at night. Both my host mom and Maria Jose (my director) kept explaining how big this fiesta is. On my second day I walked to the Plaza de Cervantes (the center of the city) to find tons of people all doing a variety of activities and a parade-type thing. This parade included giant figures who pranced around the streets dancing and spinning. All of the children had water guns...and much to my dismay thought it was fun to "by-mistake" shot the American. Along with the activities and parade there was music, mostly American music allowing me to feel a little more at home.
That night my host mom strongly encouraged my friends and me to go to las ferias. I am so glad we listened to her. Las ferias is much bigger than anything I have experienced in the United States. It had a flee market, rides and attractions that probably would not be legal at an amusement park and this is a traveling carnival, food vendors, and las peñas. The only way for me to describe las peñas are frats...they have about thirty tents lined up all blasting music and serving drinks sponsored by the individual peñas. At the top of the ferris wheel we could see the whole feria and all of us were in complete awe of the size of this non-permanent carnival, flee market, frat party!

Dos Besos

La Plaza de Cervantes

After successfully flying from Boston to Newark and Newark to Madrid, navigating customs and the Madrid baggage claim, getting into a cab I thought I was home free. All I had left was to knock on the door of my house family. I had no idea finding the house would be so difficult. They live in an apartment building in the second building on the eighth floor in apartment c. The address I gave to the taxi driver made it look like it was 28 and there was no 28 to be found. With the help of the taxi driver, a random women on the street, a postman all communicating with hand gestures and my host brother happening to see me out the window I finally arrived at the correct building and had to take a 2ft by 2ft elevator with two huge suitcases to their floor.
Upon my arrival I was greeted by my host mom and host brother. This is where things started to get a little more complicated. I went to shake my host brother's hand and he went in to kiss me on the cheek I was startled and moved back quickly. He then proceed to kiss my other cheek. With a very confused look on my face all he said was "en españa dos besos" (in Spain two kisses). Since this first encounter with a completely new way of meeting someone for the first time I have successfully used "dos besos" with my host sister, host mom, host brother's best friend, a waiter and a random guy who knew English in a bar. Never a hand shake or a hug, always two kisses.