Tonight we have our final dinner with our professors and señoras. Maybe it will hit me then, but I don't know. My room is currently a mess, with piles of my clothes that are being donated, shoes that are broken, and things that are making it home with me. My bags are heavy and full already, and even though my dad brought home all my winter clothes in April, I am going to have to check an extra bag. Oops.
It got HOT here suddenly. Apparently this always happens, because according to the Spanish spring does not exist here (they think 70 is cold, but then suddenly 80 is summer...). Yesterday I went to the beach in 85 degree heat, and today it's supposed to be 97. I am going to watch a bullfight in Sevilla tomorrow, and it's going to be 95 degrees! Water, water, water...
The heat here is very different from Connecticut, since it isn't humid. My skin feels like it is going to fall off because it is so dry. My whole body actually hurts, probably because my bed is a rock and my pillow still has metal springs on it. I'm ready for my real bed with my comfy pillows and peace and quiet (there is a baby in the apartment next door, and an elementary school next to the complex that has recess every morning around 9:30).
As for my Spanish speaking skills, they are greatly improved. I can carry on full conversations and can understand almost everything. The only thing that I am a little weak on is my vocabulary, because there are so many words I don't know. I mean, I know the basics, but having a large vocabulary in your second language is extremely difficult! I got frustrated last night because I took a taxi to my friends' house, and he brought me to the wrong place, and proceeded to talk to me in broken English as if I did not understand Spanish. He said to me, "one euro, please." Come on. Un euro, por favor. I am not an idiot.
These are the things I get annoyed about now, which is certainly better than the nonsense I worried about in the past. Sometimes I feel as though the Spanish do not even try to understand someone learning the language, and I end up feeling like an idiot. I went into Corte Ingles to buy flowers for my director, and I said, "Donde está los flores?" (Where are the flowers?) The man looked at me and said, "Comida?" (Food). I responded, "No, no, flores. Como un flor que personas compran para sus amigos en un ocasion especial?" (No, no, flowers. Like a flower that people buy for their friends on a special occasion?). He stared at me again. I played charades, and he finally goes, "OH! Flores, si." (Flowers, yes). Uhh...that is the word I said in the first place! I still can't roll my R's, so maybe that was the problem, but STILL! It's incredibly frustrating sometimes, especially when you have spent four months trying to get really good at a language.
On the other hand, I am able to answer people's questions when they approach me on the street ("Hay una salida en el parque en el otro lado?"=Is there an exist in the park on the other side? To which I was able to answer correctly) and I can easily ask for directions now when I get completely lost (still happens way too often). Ordering food is a simple task (which was once a nerve-wracking and heart pounding activity) and going shopping is now fun, rather than completely confusing. I have made big strides.
I also got an A in history! This is good news, because that's the one class that counts for my major. I got a great grade on my last paper, which was hilarious to me since I learned the majority of what I wrote about on wikipedia. Speaking of, wikipedia.org has truly saved me this semester. Who says it isn't a scholarly source? Ok, ok, maybe next semester I should not use it for my two history classes and political science classes...
I am off to pack and get ready for our fancy shmancy dinner. More pictures to come, of course, and hopefully one more blog post, but for now here are a few pictures from the last few days:
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| Lynn in front of a painting (that looks oddly like our literature teacher...) next to school |
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| My director, Lay, and me! Plus the flowers I purchased after a struggle with the Corte Ingles worker... |
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| My Señora's daughter Elena and me. She does not live in the house with us, but she lives in Granada too and comes over for lunch a lot. |
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| Kobe and I looking oh so thrilled at the beach :) |
Lauren
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