When I first arrived on Monday, la abuela picked me up from
Plaza de Cervantes, the main plaza in the city; it’s always filled with people,
except during siesta of course. Later, I talked with my mom here for a few
hours which was a lot of fun. It was
definitely comforting to see that my Spanish is good enough to have a
conversation for that long. She said she was impressed with how well I speak,
as well as how fast I speak. She’s had exchange students, not just from BYU,
for about 15 years so I suppose she must be used to having students in her
house. She’s so sweet. I told her that earlier when I was out walking and just
exploring this boy talked to me like I was a local. He asked a question about
something, and I just said that I didn’t know, etc. and then he asked why I was
taking pictures so I explained that I was a tourist and he was totally
surprised! My host mom said that I look Spanish enough and that I speak well
enough that I could pass for being Spanish—which was definitely exciting. Later
I went on a run/walk for a good hour or two just to see the city. I didn’t go
into the city, but went to a park and then this walking path that was through
this huge field. There were so many dogs! The people here are always out
walking, with or without dogs. I had hoped that my family would have a dog, but
we don’t have any pets. Not until yesterday, anyway.
We now have a PATO! Which is a duck! Él se llama Lucas, but
we don’t actually know if he’s a boy or girl, so he could be Lucía. He’s so
adorable, just a little ball of yellow fluff. One of my friends from the study
abroad group came over today and was holding him, and then he pooped on her! I felt
bad, but it was honestly so funny. Lucas is sitting on my lap right now… so
cute.
Yesterday, we all went to orientation for my school—I can’t
wait to start classes mañana! But at the same time, I’m pretty sure I could be
here for the two months and never actually go to class. We went and saw
different places around the city, including Cervantes’ birthplace, but we didn't go in (look at pictures here). Then we
wandered around the city for a while, got some helado (¡que delicioso!) and
then went and learned a Spanish dance. I got back to my house about 9:30 and they
were just sitting down to eat dinner! They eat dinner so late here. It’s not
hard to get used to that, but it’s a little strange going to bed almost
immediately after dinner.
That should be about everything for now, stay tuned para
más!
