Martes, 11 de Enero

Para desayuno, Kristie y yo comieron nada. (For breakfast, Kristie and I didn't really eat anything.) To be honest, we were somewhat confused on what to eat. Encarna told us that the cookies, chocolate milk, and other treats on the counter were for breakfast last night. What? They eat dessert for breakfast?! How cool is that! Now that we've grasped the concept, I think we'll be alright tomorrow. It might feel a little funny at first, because I think in general, Americans eat healthy, light breakfasts on a regular basis. So for breakfast today, I had a Nature Valley Bar that I had left over from the plane ride. After sleeping in, Kristie and I went to explore Alcalá, our new hometown.

Alcalá es muy hermosa. It is simply beautiful. We still can't get over how cute the old men are that walk around. We needed to buy shampoo and conditioner, so we went on a hunt to track them down. We first went to the Farmacia, and a lady there showed us some, but it was really nice and looked expensive. She told us the mercado might have some, so we walked across the street. Once in the store, we spotted a whole cabinet full of shampoo and conditioner, but for some reason it was locked. Una mujer helped us grab what we needed, I was happy to see brands I recognized- so we picked up Garnier Fructis Shampoo and some L'Oreal Conditioner. Shampoo en español is champu and conditioner is suavizante.

After getting our hair products, we continued to walk around the streets. Beautiful people were everywhere. Not to sound ridiculous, but seriously, the Spanish people are stunning. We even walked by a few guys that looked to be our age (probably students at the university). All I can say is that I'm going to love living here :) After walking around for a 'bit, we came back to the casa and Maria, la madre de Encarna, was here to feed us lunch.

La Plaza de Cervantes- right near our apartment!

Para almuerzo hoy, comieron la sopa con carne? (For lunch today, we ate a type of soup with meat- they tasted like meat balls, but the meat was really soft. It was kind of a funny texture, and the soup/sauce reminded me somewhat of curry.) Maria didn't stay for us to finish lunch, so we felt okay in not eating all of it. It was nice to be able to wash our dishes and clean up after ourselves (for all of our previous meals they refuse to let us help them with any cleaning).

Catedral de Alcalá de Henares

After lunch, Kristie and I headed out to Alca Lingua, it is a school for foreign students. We met up with the rest of our group and then went on a tour of Alcalá with Rocia, our tour guide. It was amazing to see all of the history and beautiful architecture in this city we're living in. This cathedral is absolutely stunning. We looked pretty funny, a huge group of American girls, but it was fun. Oh, side note: We have been encouraged to smile less. According to our director, it will attract less men. Noted. Oh, that reminds me...

I forgot to write down our funny experience at the airport yesterday. There were about 10 of us girls waiting for our bus to arrive and our directors had just gone out side. No sooner that they left, a big, somewhat young Russian man came up to the group. He started talking to us in English, but it didn't seem like he could speak very well. His clutch line, that we all laughed at was, "Merry Christmas." This he said in between, "Are you guys a basketball team?" and "Can I have your number?" It was a funny experience, and he wouldn't really leave. One of the girls started pushing her arms out, shooing him away, but he wasn't paying attention. In the end he asked if we wanted to go party. All this time we were all thinking, "Where are our directors?" They show up right after he started talking about partying. Right when they did, he immediately stopped talking and looked uncomfortable. It was awkward, but a funny experience. We then, all talked about the movie Taken and how we were so much smarter than the girl in the movie.

Alright, back to today. After our tour, we went off with a few girls from the group and explored around. I was hungry and needed to use the restroom. Luckily, a few of the girls in our group lived close by so we went over to their apartment and used the restroom. We then went to the cafe that their host family owns. There, we got the yummiest food ever! Chocolate caliente con churros. Que rico. I loved it, and it was pretty cheap :) We then walked home and rested our busy feet.

For dinner tonight we had pasta! Something I recognize! And it was delicious. There was ham or some type of meat mixed in with vegetables, and it actually tasted great. Bread is served with practically every meal, and it's tasty. After dinner, we sat with Encarna and Roberto, her 12-year old son and talked. Encarna is so sweet, but very animated in everything she says. I feel like most Spanish people talk emphatically and emotionally when they speak to you. It's rad. We talked about random things, watched youtube videos, and had a great time. Although I still don't talk too much, Encarna told me that I have a good accent! How awesome is that? I was really happy to hear that, because I absolutely adore the way the Spanish people talk. Especially children. When I walk by and hear a little boy speak Spanish, I can't help but think to myself, "Man, I want my kids to speak Spanish." Spanish is a beautiful language. How fitting that it is spoken by the most beautiful people. 

I'm learning more and more. My Spanish is getting better, and I love everything that I've been able to see. Ay, school is coming... I'm imaging that will be hard to do while living in such an incredible place.

Buenas Noches.