Day 3

So, I think I´m going to try something new. Every day, you guys get a travel tip from me. Some of them might apply only to Spain, but I´m sure most of them will be relevant in most of southern Europe. So whether you´re traveling or plan to travel, these might be a tid bit useful. And if not, they´ll be comedically tragic at my expense, so you should read them anyway.

Today´s travel tip:
If you´re crossing a one-way street in España, you should probably still look both ways.



Allow me to tell you about my day yesterday. I woke up about 9, ate breakfast, and then was promptly shooed out of the house by mi señora. She told me i had to walk around. So I did. I left around 11am, and I started to say "I´ll come back at 2 for lunch," but she stopped me halfway and told me to come back whenever I pleased. However, when I came back, she had a place set for me at the table. That´s one thing about the Spanish. Meals are always eaten together, and lunch is the biggest meal of the day. We were told before we left the states that you should never miss a meal without letting them know beforehand, because it´s expected of you that you eat with them. I´m beginning to see what they meant, because I made sure to be home around 1:30 because we usually eat at 2. And sure enough, I see that there´s a place for me at the table. I love being right all the time.

Okay, back to my day. So I left at 11am and walked for about 2 and a half hours. Saw the sights/took pictures/attempted to construct a mental map, that sort of thing. (I think I´m going to start posting a "find of the day" kinda thing too. I need to figure out a way to upload my photos, first, though...) After siesta, I went to the Ayuntamiento, which is a City Hall of sorts, and met up with the rest of the group. We then had the director of the program give us a walking tour of downtown. You know what everyone keeps doing? Bragging about how the streets were constructed in a grid, and it´s all crap. In america, when we say grid, we mean GRID. I´ll give them that the streets are more grid-like and organized than most of the older cities in Europe, because those are insane. But these are vaguely geometric. So callate sobre los calles tontos. (That means shut up about your stupid streets.) Okay anyway, back to the walking tour. It started at 5, and went until 7. Then we all tried to figure out which bar we could go to to watch the Superbowl, and we found one way way downtown. Like, in the slums. It seemed fine, except that it was about a 30 minute walk from where we originally met (the city hall) and that was about a 15 minute walk from where we all live. So let´s calculate, shall we? By 2 o´clock, I had walked about 2.5 hours. Add 2.5 for the walking tour of downtown, then another hour for time it took us to walk to the bar to see where it was and walk back. By 9pm, I had walked a total of about 5 hours. I ate dinner and then mentally prepared myself to walk another hour or so.

We all met en la plaza about 10:30, and were excited to learn that there was a party set up for us at a club nearby. It was an awesome experience because we got to meet the other international students that are also here to learn spanish. After the game (yay packers), Most of us didn´t want to go home, so we went to the beach. I had been to the port, but not the shore. Even though it was freezing, I couldn´t help reminding myself that I was on the beach...in Spain. Never ceases to amaze. I probably won´t have any complaints for the next three months because I just keep telling myself, "Hey sherri, guess what...You´re in Spain." A few of the guys we met were from Germany. They´ve been in Santander studying Spanish for about a year. I got into a good conversation with one in particular, named Felix. His first language was German, his second English. And for the past year, he had been learning spanish. I love the European school system, because when they learn new languages, they do it right. I firmly believe there is no better way to learn a language than immersion. When I went to Austria, I met a group of Spanish students (not students of spanish, students from spain) that was there to learn German. I think that´s so cool. It was such a new concept to me, because in the states, when we want to learn a new language-which most of us never do-we go to class. When Europeans want to learn a new language, they go to that country. At one point in your schooling, you just go to a country and live there for a while. It makes me feel isolated in the United States, you know? It´s not like we can venture into Canada to learn Canadian. It´s just not a very practiced method of learning. I wish it was, but again, we are muy lejos (distant).

Sidenote- forgive me for the random use of Spanish. I always said there might not be enough room in my head for more than one language. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was going crazy. I'm beginning to think in Spanglish. It's like my brain can't decide which language it wants to use. Hopefully it's just the transition from thinking in English to thinking in spanish.

Anyway, back to Felix. Perhaps it was the cervezas, and maybe (i´d like to think) it´s because I´m getting better at Spanish, but throughout the conversation, I couldn´t even tell which language we were speaking. We switched back and forth from english to spanish, talking about our experiences learning new languages and studying outside our home countries. I hate to say this, but he might be better at Spanish than I am. Which is shameful, because He´s only been studying it for a year, and I´ve been studying for 5 years. But then again, I wasn´t living in Spain. I had never even been to Spain. So I think my level of speaking is appropriate. I also got to talk to a really nice girl from Mexico. It's extremely reassuring to be able to hold a conversation with someone in spanish. we keep hearing over and over that we, being the group of us Americans, need to speak Spanish to each other, but something about what the student teacher we met last night said really drove it home. And all he said was that our biggest problem was that we speak English to each other. There's something very daunting about the way he worded that. Because we're all here for the same reason- to learn Spanish. We only have so much time, and I can't speak for everyone, but I don't want to waste a second of it. One of the girls justified using only English by saying, well, it's only the second day. And I told her tomorrow, she'll be saying it's only the third day. And Saturday will only be the first week. If you justify your actions now, you will be doing so for the rest of your life. If you can't admit your faults now, what makes you think you'll be able to tomorrow? Or the next day?

I'm afraid this entry has taken a turn for he worst. So, more about last night. The Mexican girl i talked with told me that I spoke better Spanish after a couple beers, which is funny but understandably true. I know Spanish better than a lot of my peers. It's not the best, and it's far from perfect, but I can certainly hold a conversation. My problem is that I'm extremely timid. My fear of saying something wrong keeps me from practicing. Which, I know, I know, is a little bit counter-intuitive. That being said, after a cerveza or two, I became more fearless and ended up talking quite a bit in spanish.

So I guess I lost track of time, but now that I think back, it makes sense. The fame started at midnight and went on for I don't remember how long. Then we went to the beach and we there for a while, and when we left, we lost a member of our party and it was thing whole crazy ordeal. As we were walking home, I asked what time it was and mr. Student teacher guy, whatever his name was said that it was 5:37. I had to look at his watch to believe it. I suppose I had to have one crazy night in Spain, right?? At least it was before classes start. I'm just glad my señora wasn't awake when I got home...

Okay, hasta mañana, todos!!

"el Mundo es un libro, y aquellos que no viajan leen solo una pagina."