Bienvenidos a Alicante!

Hola, amigos! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while -- I have a lot to catch up on!

Well, the last day in Madrid we spent exploring once more. We slept until almost 5pm and then went to the Prado Museum -- we got there at the perfect time, because it was free! Hey-o. That was really cool, I picked up a couple of postcards and a small book of Velasquez artwork to show everyone when I get home. You know me, I love art museums, so it was really cool to see all of that sort of stuff!

Then we had our adventure in the Metro, which I hinted to in other posts. Yeah, things we learn the hard way. Monday, we went to the airport, and had that entire fiasco, which I don't really want to talk about again, but basically, we were freaking out and crying at the lady, almost missed our flight, blahblahblah. Well, not everything is perfect, right? That left me sortof in a funk for the rest of the day.

HOWEVER, Alicante is BEAUTIFUL. This is the city I'm going to be staying in for the rest of the semester. We arrived on Monday to the Orientation hotel and met everyone in the rest of the group. Tons of people are from the Midwest, which means they are already super different than Miss California over here. They all grew up on farms in small towns, blergh.. I like Silicon Valley! We also met our "Spanish helpers" who are current students at the University of Alicante who are going to hang out with us and be our friends while we're here. They're reallyyyy awesome. Their English is about as good as our Spanish, so its interesting trying to communicate. They're all like, 20-23 though, so its awesome.

On Tuesday, we did a walking tour of the city and learned a lot of history of the city of Alicante. Originally, it was a strategic battle point for first the Moors, then the Spanish Christians, and many people fought over the city. Also, since the city was occupied by both the Spanish and the Moors, there are two separate "parts" of the city (architecturally speaking, of course) -- the more Middle-Eastern, African architecture, and the more traditional Christian Spanish architecture. Our tour guide told us all about how to spot the differences, it was cool. Alicante is a lot bigger than I expected. It really is a city. Everyone lives in apartments and not everyone owns cars. Oh, and speaking of driving, the Spanish -- whooo, they canNOT drive. So scary.

La playa in Alicante
.Taken in El Centro of Alicante

The main walk in front of the beach.
The tour guide said that these tiles were made to look like the ocean, moving in and out.

An example of the streets of Alicante. This is what most everything looks like.

Eating is a huge event here. Every meal takes at least an hour (minus breakfast, of course, which hardly exists). Lunch is like, two hours long. Also, its customary to eat every meal with your family, even come home from school or work for lunch and then go back. I feel like I've gone on eating marathons. Also, (at least at all the places we've eaten so far), we eat a TON of small courses -- I never know when they are going to stop bringing food out! They're called 'tapas' and its like eating appetizers constantly: you aren't hungry anymore, but its not the same feeling as eating a plate of food. Maybe it will change with eating with my family.

Also, for food, they're very into bread, everything is on bread. Especially cheese, mmm. Oh, and Auntie Annette, you would absolutely die because there is so much seafood. Seriously, fish heads lookin' up at you from the plate, hanging out everywhere. I was trying to figure out a way to send you some lovely fish from here, but I don't think it would fit in my luggage -- too bad. Surprisingly, I'm liking everything I've tried so far. Everything is very salty, but tasty. I listened to your advice, Mom, I'm trying everything at least once! (Even if it has fish eyes and fish eggs!!) Although their milk is processed differently and its a little ...strange, they do have eggs with EVERY meal, which is good news for me considering you find me scrambling eggs for dinner all the time at home.

Today and yesterday, we had a bunch of orientation stuff -- what happens if you get sick, activities, class information, cultural differences. Sortof boring but interesting at the same time. Tomorrow I'm taking my placement test for my Spanish classes. We're going to be studying only Spanish for two weeks for five hours a day. Whew. My Spanish is actually really good -- I'm able to communicate very well, which is a surprise for me. My grammar sucks, but I can generally get my idea across, even if it is scrambled. Most of the students are impressed by how much I know, which is awesome. I'm impressed myself, considering I always sat silently in the back of class and can't ever speak to anyone at home! Anyways, I'm trying to move up so that all of my classes are in Spanish instead of English, because I think that English classes would be too easy for me. I'm sure it would be hard at first -- but I'll catch on! We'll see. It's all based on the exam tomorrow (which I think is oral, so that's good) so I'll let you know the outcome.

During our break in orientation, we went to El Corto Ingles which is basically an American-style department store in Spain. Oh. My. God. How I have missed those kinds of stores. You know how you can go to Target and basically buy everything you'd ever need? Yeah, those don't exist here. Except for Corte Ingles. Hooray!

Okay, and the information you have ALL been waiting for.......... MY FAMILY.

I met my family! Okay, I got a piece of paper with the information on it, and I was sooo worried. The paper basically said I was going to be living alone with a 75-year-old woman. I had no idea what to expect. So today, the families all came into the room that we were sitting in, and they called our names and we said hello, and just left with them! So intense! (Oh, also, the proper way to greet someone in Spain is the dos besos, which is the two kisses, one on each cheek. For those of you who knew Sanda, she did that too. European thing, I guess. So I've been doing that! Weird!)

Anyways, my senora's name is Juana Maria, and she is probably the sweetest woman I have ever met in my entire life. She reminds me of my Nana soooo much. My pictures are still uploading, so I'll add them later, but she is super short and sassy as hell. I was really worried, because we looked on a map and I am living super far away from everyone (okay not that far, but it is still pretty far.) I was like, Oh no, what if I don't like the house, blahblahblah.

Okay. Let me tell you. This is the coolest house ever.

When my Senora first met me, she hugged me sooo tight and was like, You are going to be my new daughter! She has three grown daughters, one of which was at the house when I arrived. She also has a nieto (grandson--I'll throw in some Spanish here and there for y'all to learn, too.) who is about 5, and he reminds me of a Spanish version of Aidan. Aka, the most adorable kid you've ever seen. He kept throwing his pelota (ball) at me to bounce to him, and showed me all of his "tricks". Too bad he speaks better Spanish than I do! Maybe we can teach each other, no?

The house is very small, but perfect. My room is right in the front of the apartment. Its very narrow, with a bed, a dresser, a desk and a big mirror with a short dresser beneath it. It is decorated so adorably -- I have a huge window (it looks out onto the street, though, so it will probably be loud) with lace on them and pretty curtains. There's a small kitchen, a study, a living room and a bathroom, and that's it!

Oh wait, did I say that's it? There's also an outdoor terrace, which is the most charming and beautiful thing you've ever seen. There's tons of plants and green things, and since it is soooo hot, it is nice to have a place to go outside. There's stairs set into the wall, and if you go up them, its like going into another world. Its so green and pretty! There's even a light up there, so my senora said that I can study up there, read up there, sometimes her daughters sunbathe up there, etc. Its so hot in the house, so its nice to have a place that is higher that has wind.

In the middle of me writing this, my senora came in and asked me what I like to eat, and what I wanted for dinner. People don't eat dinner here until really late, like 8:30 or 9 (so like my family at home, hahaha, right Mom? :P ). When I told her I ate fish, she hugged me! She said her last student didn't eat anything fun to cook, hahaha. She also doesn't speak a word of English, so I've really got to work on my Spanish. She said I will learn a ton, though, and she is really good about speaking slowly and enunciating her words. (The Spanish have a lisp, though. For example, they pronounce their v's with b's, and their 's's with 'th' sounds. Also, Kandace is like, the hardest name for them to say.) She made some sort of meat, eggs, and french fries which we ate with fruit, juice, and, of course, pieces of bread. We watched a Spanish TV game show and it was really funny, because I actually knew one of the answers! They laughed because I actually understood what it was about. Its only because the question was about Indiana Jones and, if you live with Molly Kagel for a year, you know lots of facts you never want to know about Indiana Jones :)

After that, her daughter and I went up on the terrace and helped her hang up laundry (dryers don't exist here) and then we talked for a while. I told her about my family and she told me about her life, etc. It was cool and I actually understood a good portion of the conversation, so that was great. Then we came back downstairs and talked with all three of us -- seriously, my senora is so sweet. She showed me how to work the window in my room, and I couldn't do it, and she was laughing and just tugged my cheek and hugged me. (The Spanish are very touchy-feely.) But, I already feel like part of the family.

Anyways, I feel like I'm being a little rude just hanging out in my room on my computer. I'm also extremely tired, so I sorta want to go to sleep, even though it is only 10:00 here. We have to be at the meeting point tomorrow at 8:30 and then we're going to go to the University for the first time! I've heard that its HUGE. They said to wear good walking shoes. Oy. My feet are going to fall off! Then, on Friday, we're going to the beach and exploring around Alicante, I think. I forgot the name of the place already.

Alrighty, I will talk to you all later. Leave me lots of messages and comments - I love getting them and hearing about home! Love you all tons and tons. <3