Lorca y Chocolate

Yesterday I went to lorca with about 15 people to see the Fortaleza del Sol which is a fortress on top of a mountain which has been kept up and turned into a museum. The city of Lorca is beautiful and a lot of the buildings in the city center are ornate and colorful, which I really enjoyed.

After eating lunch on a gorgeous plaza in the city we went up the mountain and saw the fortress. I loved the gardens at the fortress and took some pretty good pictures.

We met a family that lived near the fortress and they had absolutely adorable puppies that were only 3 weeks old and tiny! After that we went to a restaurant and got dinner at a great, cheap, place that was delicious before taking the bus back home.

After getting home we went to the little festival on the plaza outside my apartment and finally got churros y chocolate which, suprisingly, I'm not a huge fan of. The churros are like a less-good version of fried dough and the chocolate was just not chocolate-y enough for me. I guess I'm just a coffee and pastry person and not a churros y chocolate person. Oh well, I'll just stick with my cappuccinos in the future.

Today I woke up and did my laundry for the first time. It was really exciting hanging out my laundry to dry! I was proud of myself for not dropping any of my clothes down the 4 floors. I also was really happy that my clothes smell really good from the fresh air. My roomate Lauren and I made eggs and bacon for lunch and then I read for a few hours and drank a cup of coffee at the pasteleria (bakery) downstairs from my apartment. I love having the pasteleria right there because I don't have to go far to get some coffee and a delicious snack :) Another great thing right next to my apartment is the aumentacion which is like a convenience store. They call the aumentaciones "chinos" because they are all run by Chinese immigrants. I love the chino because a) I can speak chinese to the people there and b) everything is really cheap there. Tonight we're going to Sabor y Arte which is a portuguese restaurant that is supposed to be really delicious. Tomorrow its back to class, ugh!

Sangria y el Mercado

Last night we went to another tapas restaurant that was wonderful. I am learning to love the food here more and more every day. Its so nice to always have healthy fresh food at my fingertips. The owner of the restaurant was really nice and he took good care of us, he also gave us free shots of lemoncello after dinner. After that we went to Badulake, the international bar, for free sangria night! Needless to say, it was a good time. I ended up going home a little early because my throat has been really sore and I wanted to get some sleep.

Today we woke up early to go to the open air market that is every Thursday morning. It was like heaven! There were sands and stands full of fresh fruits and vegetables that were so cheap and beautiful. I bought an onion, a huge red pepper, three tomatoes, and a cucumber for 1.2 euros! I can't wait to go back next weekend. There were also tons of clothes and other things at the market, I bought two pashminas and a sweater for 12 euros. I also got a free waist belt! I really liked the atmosphere there and it was such a beautiful sunny day I could have shopped forever.

There is a really cute little children's festival going on at the plaza where I live, and I have made friends with a man who is selling dried fruit there. I bought some cranberries and apricots there yesterday and I think I'm going to back tomorrow! I love dried fruit and its nice to support the local people. There is also a hot chocolate and churro stand which was set up today, I can't wait for when it opens! The hot chocolate here is like melted chocolate, its the consistancy of pudding and is absolutely delicious.

Tomorrow we have to go get our International Student Identification Numbers from some office in the city, and then we are meeting with our land lady to hopefully get the internet sorted out! Our butane still hasn't come, but they said it would be here before 10 am tomorrow so I'm keeping my hopes up.

El Museo

Today I went to the Museo del Arte (Art Museum) with almost all of the students from ISEP. It is a really nice museum with some art by painters that are well known both in Spain and throughout the world. I took three photos before the curator yelled at me and told me they would kick me out if I took any more, but I'll upload them and put them up here some time soon.

Our Spanish classes are very easy and I'm not really enjoying them, but its nice to have something to take up the days as well as give me a chance to see all the other Americans and get to know them better. I really enjoy having the afternoons free to do touristy things and relax.

Good news! Tomorrow we're getting butane! Yay hot water! Yay stove!

For the past two days we have been using Ali and Manuel's stove and I have been making dinner for everyone. Last night I made salad with chicken and tonight I made burritos. Cooking here is a little challenging because they don't have the same ingredients and its hard to find specific things. So far, however, it seems like I'm doing okay with the cooking. Ali, Manuel, Lara, and Lauren seem to like it anyways. We have been eating about a roll of cookies every night but I feel okay about it because we walk so much here. We have no class Thursday so tomorrow night we are going to go out for Tapas and to the bars. I am really excited.

Me encanta los domingos

Pictures of me and the mountain, and giant Jesus.

My first coappuccino in Spain, it was delicious.

I love Sundays! Everything here is closed on Sundays which forces you to relax--something I have really needed. Tomorrow we start our Spanish intensive classes, so I'm going to try to get some sleep. Today I woke up really late, Manuel and Ali came over for lunch, we went to get some coffee, and then we went to their apartment to plan a trip to Toledo. After that we went to tapas for dinner since we still haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store. We're going to go tomorrow though. Now we're just watching movies and hanging out before bed.

Murcia...its okay

I made it here! I am at a friends house using the internet. It has definitely been a couple of interesting days. I got here on Thursday and I was exhausted but I met my two roomates and we went to the grocery store and made dinner and talked, it was nice to meet them and they both seem like they're really nice so hopefully we'll get alone. Then it was time to go to sleep so I went and I slept for about 3 hours and then I woke up with an incredible bout of homesickness. It was pretty bad that first night, but I finally fell asleep around 6am. Our apartment is okay, its not vwonderful but it is big. Its so different from home though! We have to hand-light the butane for hot water and the stove/oven and the oven has no thermometer so we just have to guess! Its kinda rough and we think getting butane all the time might add up. We'll have to see. Hopefully soon we'll get internet in our apartment.

Friday we went to our orientation and met the other people in our program. It was pretty easy and I think I understood everything the orientation leaders said which I was pretty proud of. After that we went to IKEA to buy sheets and to El Corte Ingles, which is like a giant department store of "American" stuff to get cell phones. El Corte Ingles is like heaven, its the biggest department store I've ever seen. In Spain this month they have a national sale called rebajas, and rebajas means that everything is really cheap! People keep telling us we should buy things before the end of January before stuff gets expensive again, but I don't want to buy winter clothes. Its funny here because even though its like 70 degrees every day the people dress for the season, not the weather, so they're still walking around in coats and boots. Then we went to dinner at a wonderful little tapas restaurant with some of my roomate Lara's friends. After dinner we went out to the clubs and we danced and stuff until 4am. I like the Spaniards for staying out late, but it was pretty exhausting.

Today we woke up kindof late, had breakfast and then we met a bunch of people to go to Monteguro--a mountain with a giant statue of Jesus on top. It was absolutely beautiful and we could see the entire city from the top of the mountain. Climbing to the top, however, was absolutely horrifying and I about had a heart attack on the way down. It was worth it, though, to get up close and personal with "Giant Jesus" as the natives call it. Then we went to a friend's house for dinner and just hung out. Tomorrow its Sunday so everything will be closed, I'm kindof looking forward to a chance to rest.

I'm still having some homesickness, but I'm slowly getting used to it here and every day feels a little better. My Spanish is definitely improving, and I feel like I learn a few new words every day which is what I should feel, I think. My Spanish class starts on Monday, so I'm sure that will help too. Hopefully it will be good enough to get me ready for real classes in mid-February. If you're reading this send me emails/facebook messages! I miss everyone a lot and I want to hear about whats going on in the US! I'll try to post photos tomorrow.

Words I have learned:
copa: wine glass
locutoria: place with internet and phones you can pay for
and many, many more that I can't remember because its 3:30am.

Up in the Air

So, I'm leaving tomorrow. I am pretty much all packed except for those few last minute things, I have lots of stuff to read on the plane, and I think I'm ready. I leave at 9:25am Mountain time, and will arrive at Alicante airport at 12:50pm Spain time. (For future reference: that's 8 hours ahead of Mountain time and 6 ahead of Eastern time.) Then I have to take a bus from Alicante to Murcia which is supposed to take about an hour. Then a taxi to my apartment. Hopefully this means I'll be there around 3:00pm if nothing goes horribly wrong. I'm totally horrified and excited at this point. I guess thats how I'm supposed to feel.

My friend Molly and I have started planning a trip to Valencia a couple weeks after I get there. She's studying abroad in Madrid so we're going to meet in Valencia to spend the weekend. I'm excited about that because I've been in touch with some of the dancers in Valencia so hopefully I'll get some swingin' in while I'm there. Not to mention how beautiful Valencia is supposed to be. And I get to see Molly! Hopefully it will work out.

In less happy news, my favorite Spanish teacher from school passed away this passed Friday. It was totally suprising when I got the news this morning because she seemed like she was totally healthy and in her mid-late fifties. She was a great Spanish teacher and friend. She's the whole reason I chose the study abroad program I did, and she wrote me some wonderful letters of recommendation during the application process. All of the classes I had with her were interesting, and I loved how she focused both on speaking and writing skills in a way some teachers have never mastered. I was pretty excited to come back from Spain and be able to show off my new Spanish skills to her. She will be greatly missed.

I'll do my best to write as soon as I can once I arrive but I don't know what my internet access situation will be--I'll do my best!

The First Entry

So I am leaving in five days...FIVE DAYS!! Obviously, I am freaking out a little bit. In five days I'll be in Murcia, Spain with nothing to my name but one giant suitcase. Awesome. I'm going to be living in what looks like a tiny apartment with at least two other girls and going to class at the University of Murcia. I will put up the classes I'm taking when I figure that out. First, I have to get there.

I have a lot to do before I leave even though I spent the entire day doing things to get ready. I guess that's just how life is though right? There's always more to do. The best advice I've gotten so far? "Whether or not you get everything done you'll be getting on the plane, so don't worry about it." That did make me feel a lot better. The biggest thing I still have to do is pack. How do you pack for 3 seasons, 6 months, and a ton of dancing all in one suitcase? I have no idea.

I talked to my landlady today via email. It was pretty cool to get to finally ask all the questions I've been wondering about lately like "what am I going to be spending on utilities?" and "Who in the world will I be living with!?" Apparently there are only three girls assigned to live in the apartment right now, even though there are four beds. There are two single rooms and a double room. I am praying I get a single room because, lets face it, I just don't want to share. One of the girls is named Lara and the other is named Lauren. I feel like that might make things a little confusing and complicated at first. Something interesting I learned about Murcia today: they don't use driers for their clothes, they just hang them. Why? Because its so warm and dry there that clothes dry really fast! I guess that means I definitely don't need to pack snow boots.

I've been in contact with a few dancers in Spain and they all keep telling me the only Swing scenes in the country are in Madrid and Barcelona (both really far away from me.) They also have mentioned that there is a baby swing scene in Valencia (a little closer to me) but I think I'm going to be looking at a pretty dance-less few months until the festivals start. Of course, I'll be salsa dancing my heart out in the mean time which can't possibly be a bad thing. I think this will be a good six months. Okay, off to do more getting ready type stuff. :)