A real siesta

Monday, September 7, 2009

This morning we had to get up early again for breakfast. SCHOOL! Chryssi, another AIFS resident student and I had been considering changing classes (moving up a level), so we acted on that today. I think it was a good idea, though one of our professors wasn’t very supportive. Our first professor of the day, Mariangeles was very helpful and wished us luck, while Javier told us “we risked failure” by changing classes. We decided to risk it. “Go out on a limb—that’s where the fruit is.” –Will Rogers (Ironically the quote they used in our weekly newsletter for AIFS.) The lady who had to approve our move looked over our tests and signed the sheet right away. I guess she thought we could handle it. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow!

We got back kind of late for lunch because of all of the changing and such after class. However, Elena was very nice and still served us…whatever it was we ate. Not quite sure. Looked like hamburger patties. After lunch I actually fell asleep down in the common room watching TV. A REAL SIESTA!! That’s what they usually do…go home from work around 2pm, eat lunch, and then sit down to watch TV. Then they slowly drift off for about 20 minutes...before waking up to go back to work. How wonderful. I hadn’t yet done the real siesta, but I guess today was basically it! Haha. Merete and the other like doing the “super siesta”…meaning they just sleep for 2 or 3 hours. I guess that’s necessary after a night out!

Tonight a few girls and I ate dinner here with one of the Spaniard students. Her name is Amaia, and she rooms with Ana…the girl who I had watched TV with/ate with before. She was REALLY funny, because we were all trying to say things to each other, but we couldn’t understand her fast talking, and she tried to understand when we were talking to each other in English. Overall it was just a VERY funny conversation. I tried asking her about her favorite gelato places, but she suggested the one place (Los Italianos) that I really DIDN’T like. She was appalled.

Talk of gelato at dinner obviously made me crave some…so I went out and tried a new heladeria. I tried a new flavor as well…Dad and Daniel’s favorite, Tiramisu! It wasn’t very good, but I think it was because of the place I went to. I guess I’ll just have to stick to my regular place. I think they’re starting to recognize me. Is that good?

I signed up for my hotel room for both the Madrid trip and the trip to Nerja beach next weekend. Both are set up by AIFS. Should be a lot of fun!! Paula is bringing her whole family, and encouraged us to speak in English with her 2 boys to help them practice, haha. I also signed up for an Arabic Tea Ceremony/story telling on Wednesday…not quite sure what to expect, but it should be fun!

Tonight we went out for this one girl’s birthday. Even though it was another big group, I thought it would be fun, but it was actually kind of weird. Everyone decided to go to this “chupiteria”…a shot bar. They had over 100 different kinds of shots, and the kids took full advantage of it. It was kind of sad because the only people in the place were Americans…as Paula had mentioned: Spaniards don’t ‘drink to get drunk’ like Americans. They’re all out having Sangria and tapas. I decided that’s where I wanted to be, so Will and I left after about half an hour. I felt bad for leaving, but it’s just not my thing. It’s not a Spaniards thing.

ANYWAYS, I’m gonna head to bed, since tomorrow is my first day in Intermediate 1! I hope it goes well! Also, it’s in a different building (Kenia…pronounced like ‘Kenya’) which is even further away from Jardines.

Adios y buenos noches!
M

Gelato count: 7

p.s. They have LAY’S chips flavored: Jamon (ham), Jamon y Queso (ham and cheese) and Paprika. COOL.