As per finally having internet connection (sorta), down time, Lauren Rice’s encouragement, stalking Shelby Schulz, my family being confused about where I am, and IES telling me it’s a good coping strategy….I decided I needed a blog. So, here it is, in all its glory.
Where to begin…
Before I left:
Wellll even though I’ve lived in Spain before…I still managed to have a royal meltdown before I left, and my poor mother had to pick up my pieces. My meltdowns usually consist of a constant state of nervous, an inability to make any kind of decision, and if it’s a really good meltdown…some tears. I’m not a crier either. Bless my mother’s soul, but she did piece me together, reminded me of why I was doing this, and I got on the plane. I may have freaked out the whole way to Madrid, but once I got on the bus to Salamanca, I calmed down. What was done, was done.
Now that I’m here…
One of my main concerns in my meltdown was the fact that I was living with (what I thought) was a husband, wife, and their 31 year old son. (My dad told me to change my living arrangements immediately upon hearing that lol). In Madrid I lived with a Señora, and I felt that it worked out perfectly, and the 31 year old situation was really weirding me out. But once I met my madre and my padre, I was immediately sold.
The 31-year-old doesn’t live in my house. Win. But he did help me get my cell phone the first day. Double win. My madre has turned out to be so lovely, caring, and warm. She loves showing me Salamanca and talking to me about whatever. I have trouble responding in Spanish right now, but I love listening to her, and asking her questions. She’s also a fabulous cook…which I’m hoping won’t become a problem haha.We totally hang out too, it’s funny. The other day we literally spent the whole day together. We drank coffee together in the morning, spent lunch hanging, drank coffee again later while she showed me a bunch of pictures of Salamanca, then we went on her facebook and I taught her how to use it haha. We parted ways to nap, and later we watched Premonition in Spanish. It was really hard not to die laughing at how everyone sounds like a chipmunk speaking Spanish in these dubbed movies…but, yeah, we had fun. Or yesterday, I was super late to a meeting (standard, welcome to my life), and she told me she was worried about me leaving the house because my hair was wet, because she said I would get sick. She got me her hairdryer, and I literally had to dry it before I left…needless to say, I was REALLY late, but hey, she cares, and I’m not sick now, so maybe she was right lol. She’s an adorable little woman, and I love that she wants me to be part of her life and family. This is already turning out to be so much different than Madrid.
I just remember that one time in Madrid, our Señora left us alone in the house for some reason, and I remember feeling so badass taking over the living room with my housemates. The living room was a place we were only allowed to eat with her, we weren’t allowed to use it for any other purpose, even if it was studying. Here, it’s my right to be in the living room, because I am viewed as part of the family, and this is the fundamental difference between my Señora and my madre. It’s even in the name. Needless to say, I tell you what, small towns are the way to go.
I can walk to school, which is definitely different from Madrid. It takes 20 minutes here…,which is a little longer than it would take me at Tufts and an hour quicker than Madrid. It’s just being able to walk everywhere, and I really don’t mind the fact that I walk by things that are centuries old every day…average day in the life.
The people are incredibly nice too. I did a scavenger hunt the other day in the city and the people we talked to were so sweet. Everyone told us stories and jokes, and wanted to hang with us. They all seemed to know every street we asked about and wanted to help us find the things we were looking for. In Madrid, no one did…or at least claimed to. A lot of the time you’d find people who would pretend they didn’t live there, speak the language, or even pay attention to you. I mean, big city people are big city people, I guess. I still really love Madrid, but I’m really glad I chose a small city-I feel like I just don’t know how to function in big cities as well.
There’s a huge difference between the two programs too. It’s really nice only having a group of 24, and a group that really wants to know Spanish, and is working hard toward helping everyone achieve their goals. However, the lack of English between my peers, teachers, classes, home life and classmates may actually kill me soon…If I’m not fluent by the end of the month, I’ll be really confused. The only thing I don’t really appreciate about this program is that they make us all take a mandatory grammar class and four other classes on top of it…something none of us knew before getting here. I’ll be in class for more than 30 hours a week…some days I’ll be in classrooms for 6 hours at a time with no break. I think they just really want us to be good at Spanish…and I guess more than 30 hours of Spanish a week should do it…But whatever, I have Fridays off and I’m done by 1 on Thursdays…and the nightlife here is apparently insane…sorry for partying. I guess I’ll sleep when I’m dead.
Other than that, we went to Segovia, which has an aqueduct the ancient Romans constructed, a beautiful church, Isabel’s castle (that looks like the Disney castle), a jewish quarter and SO much history. I’ve seen it before with the NYU program (in my opinion, the people who lead us around with NYU were a lot better) but the place never ceases to amaze me. It’s just a really rare history with all the different cultures that influenced it over time, and the fact that Isabel lived in the castle there is pretty impressive…If I ever took someone around Spain, that’s definitely one of the first places I’d take them.
There’s definitely tons more to say…but I don’t have the time or energy right now…I really miss everyone, and it’s weird not being at Tufts right now, but I’m loving it here. I’ve already met some really quality people, and I’m happy I chose Spain again. Although it’s the same country, this place is so different. It’s going to be really cool having a more complete perspective of the country once I leave, but for now, I’m taking every day as it comes.
I’ll blog next time the option of Internet presents itself…and hopefully that’s sooner than later. xoxoxo.
