Orientation, Housing, Nightlife

6 Sep 2008
We went to sleep muy temprano by even US standards for a Friday night (midnight) because we had Orientation today at 9:15, which mean we had to have eaten breakfast and checked out by then. I was not about to miss breakfast because in Spain you don't eat until at least 2 or 2:30, but I still slept through my first couple of alarms. Kevin and I took showers around 8:20 before going down for breakfast. It was a pretty standard hotel breakfast--eggs, bacon (BOILED THOUGH, lame), bread, juice--much bigger than a typical breakfast here.

Orientation was ok. It wasn't much, but even the little things helped me gain confidence. The safety part was meaningless because by all the descriptions, it's nothing compared to CP. Pickpocketing is the most common crime, but I've gotten used to walking around with just an ID and a few Euros (usually coins) in my pocket, and a money belt with some bills. I'm not going to get too drunk here because I don't have that kind of money, and the city is so well lit and there are always groups of people (not sketchily) walking around the streets, even late at night.

Then we had an academics presentation that got me really excited for classes to start. Our program director spoke in Spanish, but I could understand everything he said (Probably because he's an American who lives in Spain--he's married to a Sevillana). I was starving--my stomach was growling audibly and Brenna kept giving me weird looks because I was doubling over. Lunch sucked. It was a tiny sandwich and a tiny salad--not the huge lunch that is typical of the country. Then we got cell phones. Cell phones are very different here. You don't buy minutes, you just get charged a rate based on the type of call. I get free incoming calls though, so if you want my number, just ask.

Then we had a break because the homestay and apartment people had a presentation, so the rest of us went out for coffee (not like the Argentineans). I had a cafe con leche (con mucho azucar), and it was really good. I'm probably going to start drinking coffee because soda es muy caro. Then we all walked around a bit before making it back to the CEA center. Then we had our housing presentation. Eh. I kind of just wanted to move into it so I could unpack.

Our casa is across the river on this tiny little street. It is gorgeous. I'm going to post pictures tomorrow, but it's a 3 story house with a balcony in the living room and a terrace on the roof where we can hang out. There is art everywhere and even the tiling is stylish. There are 7 of us living here (5 guys from my program, 2 from CCIS). The two twins took a double, and the other 3 from CEA are rotating in the single and other double (I get the single for the first 1/3 of the program). Our host mom is kind of strict--no guests after dinner, no girls EVER allowed in--but she is an incredibly nice woman. She claims she speaks no English, but we thinks she's lying--she's been hosting students for over 20 years, no way she didn't pick up anything. She cooks us lunch and dinner 6 or 7 days a week (we didn't ask her about Sundays), and washes our clothes once a week. I asked her when dinner was and she said 8:30, so we had about 90 minutes to unpack and explore.

After we unpacked, we walked around the neighborhood and decided that we liked living across the river from the city central because it gives us more to explore. We went to a supermarket where the guys bought some beer for dirt cheap (even by US standards). I didn't buy anything because, well, I just didn't. Then we hung out on the roof for a while talking about how nice our place is. Dinner was gazpacho and Spanish tortilla (potato and onions), and was really good and filling. Our Señora (landlady), whose name turned out to be Filla (short for Setafilla) sat with us and chatted with us, which is good because I was concerned that I wouldn't get as much language practice because she doesn't live with us. She was telling us that in the spring there were about 100 CEA students, and only about 12-15 of them were guys. Crazy.

We bussed our plates (she refused to let us help wash them--because that is what she is paid (probably handsomely) to do, and then bid us good night and told us to have fun. She even taught us how to say "shots" in Spanish--"chupito," and joined in our discussion about alcohol prices across the globe. She also said that she always hosts boys because girls are too difficult to deal with. Said they have too many problems between each other and didn't like the drama.

Then we sat around talking about random stuff before going out. It was really funny because we went out at 11pm, which is normal for Americans but is extremely early for Spaniards--many of them are still eating dinner at restaurants at that time. The bar we were at was called Big Ben, and pretty much turned into our bar because we all decided to meet there. It got a little crowded around 1,and then we met this guy who runs international parties (he had posted on our Facebook group). He took all of us (like 25) to a club in the city--where we got in free. It was fun--everytime an American song came on (quite often actually), we always did a double take before realizing that everyone knew the song anyway.

I thought it was really funny that some Americans from other programs thought I was a Spaniard at first--at least 3 people talked to me in Spanish before asking my name and realizing I was American. Yay for button-ups and leather shoes I guess. Matt and I (he lives in my casa--he's in Gemstone at UMD actually) left around 3 and got back home around 3:15 after stopping for churros at a stand. Really good and really cheap, but Spaniards don't put cinnamon and sugar on their churros. I'm about to go to sleep now. Tomorrow we don't have much to do--I'm probably going to check out the cathedral and walk around either on my own or with a few people before our walking tour at 7:30 pm.

For my earlier talk of not spending too much money, I spent 15 euros on drinks and wasn't even too much past tipsy. The rum at Big Ben tasted a little watered down, especially when I compared it to the same drink at the club. Oh well, lesson learned. Actually, I knew that would happen. I had asked people for change before we left because I didn't want to bring 20 euros out, knowing that i'd be likely to spend them. I'm a victim. Really I am. Lol.

Good night. If you think I'm posting too long, let me know. Pictures are on facebook, but I think I'll start uploading a few here.

Paz,
Ryan