Week 2 - Orenitation, Food & Laundry

On Monday, Yaya showed me how to separate laundry, so I figured that she would wash them separately. I had washed a load of darks and hung them out to dry earlier in the day. I left a bag of whites by the dryer and Yaya came into our room before we left for class and grabbed our clothes for another load. At dinner our host mom was asking us about the laundry and how it went today, and she said there was another load in the machine. After dinner I happened to look in the washer and I could see our whites had been mixed in with our reds. So I told Pete he now had two pink shirts, and I had pink socks and he explained to her that its not a good thing to mix reds and whites. So she got our some bleach and bleached our whites, while we hung up all of our reds on the clothesline. That was a funny and interesting experience, I figured they would have washed alike colors separately since Yaya showed me to put all like colors together.

Meals have been good lately. When we got home last Sunday we had paella, and for dinner we had paella, and for lunch on Monday we had more paella, and then for dinner the rest of the left over paella was thrown into a soup. So we had paella for at least two days straight. We thought the food was great so we weren’t going to complain. Since I’m on the topic of food, I don’t understand how people are so skinny and healthy here, granted they walk practically everywhere. Every meal has bread and most of our meals have been a lot of carbs and starches, either being potatoes or rice. Even though we get a fruit after lunch and dinner, it still feels like that we don’t get enough fruits and vegetables.

The process in eating lunch here is opposite of the states. The main course of the meal is first (with bread), then a smaller second item, like empanadas, then salad, and finally a fruit. I would prefer to do it the other way around, starting with fruit or a salad and then combining the two courses, but I guess that’s just how I am so used to things back home. Also dairy is almost nonexistent because they do not drink much milk here, except for in coffee. Cheese and yogurt is like the main sources of dairy products, and they eat a ton of ham and cheese here. And ham is not an extremely great source of protein, so it just seems weird how it all works out. And after the biggest meal of the day, lunch, many people take a nap before going back to work or classes.

(This is where I attend classes - El Centro de Lenguas Modernas)

Another thing I’m not used to is a tiny breakfast, either a piece of fruit or bread. I feel like I need something more to make it through my day. Its kind of funny because Pete and I both had a croissant with a small muffin and I asked for fruit instead, so every morning, I have two slices of melon or watermelon on my plate, so we swap so we get a little fruit and carbs to start our days. This will just take time to get used to, even though I have been in Spain for two weeks now, and living with a host family for a week and a half.

Also I learned that when they say tortilla, it is not the tortilla that we are used to in the states like when we think of Mexican or Hispanic food. Tortilla here is an omelet, usually with cheese, ham, and some vegetables, and we have had it for dinner a couple times now. I like it but Pete hates eggs, so he struggles through dinner. Pete also doesn’t like tomatoes, so now we just get salads with just lettuce and onion. It’s interesting that when one of us says we don’t like something, then neither of us get it. Our host brother Galdreg thinks that we are weird since we do not put vinegar olive oil, or salt on our salads.

I have made some friends who live in Granada, and they invited us to play soccer with them last week. It has been rainy so they haven’t Also I have made friends from all over the states. Our program covers 11 different states and then I have met a group from Delaware and Claifornia. Also the other day I was walking to a group meeting wearing an Iowa shirt – looking like a complete tourist – a girl stopped me and asked me if I was from Iowa. And I thought for a second, should I say yes, or not but I like Iowa. Its seems like anyone outside of Iowa actually likes Iowa, so I said yes, and this girl attends Grinnell (Iowa) so a small world. I also met someone who went to Pella Christian and goes to Drake, so another small world experience. Earlier this week we went to a park near by and they have some of the coolest play ground equipment, a zipline, a teeter-totter that spins 360 degrees, trampolines built into the ground, and just a bunch of other stuff to climb around on. It’s nice that we found that place because its FREE and something completely random to go do and hang out.

Tonight is our placement test and we have a meeting after that to see our class schedules. Depending on what level I test into, I could start classes next Thursday or not until the following Tuesday. We leave tomorrow for Madrid for four days. So depending on my level I also might go to another country with my time off. Some people are going to Amsterdam, Octoberfest (but no Hotel accommodations), London, Paris, but they know that they won’t have class next week. I think I need to create a photo album because I already have over 300 pictures, and I am sure I will have a ton more after this trip.

Once I get the pictures from the beach, I will post that soon.