With My Own Two Hands

First of all, I would like to extend a very excited “Rock Chalk” to my basketball team to beating K-State. I was a little scared when I heard that K-State and KU were actually tied in the rankings, but it is very nice to know that order has once again been restored to the universe.

Not a whole lot has been going on here in the rainy city of Santiago. This is an odd thing to report, because I am in Spain now I have a routine and all of those things that at first were so complex and unfamiliar are common and everyday. Even the language, believe it or not. I still have to be active about it – I can’t just walk down the street and catch bits of conversations if I am not paying full attention. Yet I can now understand almost everyone, and beyond that I can really talk to people. My ability to speak is growing largely because of my ego. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I don’t have, nor will ever have perfect Spanish. I’ll never get those freakin pronouns down and I’ll always fall victim to confusing words that sounds similar. However, if I just waited to only speak when I had the perfectly constructed sentence I’d hardly ever say anything. So, in typical Valerie fashion, I throw caution to the wind and open my mouth. At first it was really hard to get my point across, but it is becoming easier and easier. I want to hug anyone that compliments me on my improvement, because this truly is one of the most difficult and most rewarding things I have ever done in my life.

My classes are going well; I can’t really say that they are that difficult at all. We have grammar worksheets in our grammar/conversation class and every now and then I have to handwrite a 150 word essay, but other than that I can’t complain homework-wise. Wednesday I have a test in my business class but we’ve only learned how to write resumes, complaint letters, and the organization of businesses so I’m not losing sleep over it. In my grammar/conversation class (I write it like that because we have different classes each day but we use the same book and it is impossible to tell them apart) Kate and I are in the same class and one of our teachers has separated us (I can’t imagine why!). Also, we have taught the class “your mom” jokes. Not outright, of course, but we always seem to work them into our examples when we have to practice conjugation. At first the German girl (Theresa) and the French girl (Anna) were taken aback, but now they join in. It is really a lot of fun!

Yesterday Kate, Hannah, and Alana and I went to the Corte Ingles, which is the department store here in Spain. (http://www.elcorteingles.es/ if you have never seen one before). It is the most American shopping experience you can have here across the pond, they have everything from clothes, to furniture, to a bookstore. And the sales are still going on, so it is the perfect time for a shopping adventure. And an adventure it was! We had to take the bus since it was far away and rainy, but we took the wrong one at first before we realized we needed to take the 6. Getting there wasn’t a problem after that, but going home we quickly learned that the stops aren’t the same on the return route. We missed our stop on the way back but we assumed it wouldn’t be a problem since the bus would loop around anyway. Wrong! We drove all the way to another city, and after the last passenger got off the bus driver stopped the bus and demanded more money or get off right then. Since we didn’t know where we were, let alone how to get home, we paid for yet another ticket and he turned around the bus and we eventually got back to where we needed to be. Yet another example of how the Spanish do not know the meaning of “customer service”.

At the Corte Ingles I bought Harry Potter – in Spanish! I haven’t read any of the books yet, so I’m excited to finally be able to understand when people talk about Harry Potter. Now, I knew that I’d buy some books in Spain because I love me some books but it is becoming a bit of a problem. Right now these are all the books that I have to take home:

But I’m deciding not to worry about it because I’m very content with all of my purchases and you only live once, so heavy suitcases coming home be dammed!

I kind of have a cold right now, which seems to be about par for the course. Most of the people in our Kansas group has one or is getting over one, and both me and Manuel have one in our piso. Things in the piso are going very well. I adore Mila and we chat into the wee hours of the morning pretty much every day. I love that I can really talk to her, not just to practice Spanish, but because she is an incredible person. We are a lot alike, which sometimes causes problems because we both can get really loud and the landlady/roommate/resident dictator has to tell us to keep it down. Tonight we made dinner together which marks the first time I’ve ever had spaghetti with octopus, but it was really good. This week we are going to make cous cous together, I’m excited. The resident dictator has asked us all to be home tomorrow at 6 so we can have a piso pow-wow which I’m trying to decide if I want to attend. I have a feeling she’s going to yell at us and tell us to keep the kitchen cleaner or some other dumb thing like that and I’m really not in the mood. Plus, it will be my birthday eve.

Speaking of, it doesn’t feel like my birthday is Monday even though it is. I’ll be 21 but for some reason I’m not really all that excited. This will be my first birthday without my friends and family and for that reason alone it makes it feel not like a celebration and more like any other day. Except I’ll be older. I don’t have any plans yet, but I’m thinking about getting a cake/cookies and having my friends over and then going to a bar or something. I am sure it will be fun, just different.