A Few Things I've Noticed:

28 January 2010

A few things I’ve noticed:

Mullets are the hairstyle of choice here. Especially when the longer-hair part is dreadlocks.
People here walk really fast; I fit in perfectly!
Everyone knows TN as “Jack Daniels.” This is because of the high number of billboards gloating that the best whiskey is from Tennessee. So when I say that’s where I’m from, I always get, “Oh si si, Jack Daniels!” hahaha
I have heard all different variations of Spanish accents: Polish-Spanish, French-Spanish, Brazilian-Spanish, American-Spanish, Belgian-Spanish, Australian-Spanish, Argentinean-Spanish, Chilean Spanish, etc. The cultural diversity among the exchange students is awesome!
All the rooms have “blackout blinds” so you can sleep at any time during the day. This I love :)


Now, a bit about what’s going on:

Tomorrow is my last day of the intensive Spanish course; real classes start Monday! The only thing is, they aren’t very helpful helping you choose classes here, so I’m still not sure exactly what I’m going to be doing next week. I’m sure it will be fine, though.
I am now happily situated in my, eh hem, “new new” apartment. I only stayed one night in the other one before realizing that I couldn’t stay there for 4 months, for various reasons. Two of my good friends from my university were still looking for a roommate, though, and so now I get to live with them in the coolest piso ever! Everything is newer and nicer than the old one, I have my own bathroom and a big bed, and two girls who are absolutely awesome to live with! And it’s only a 15 minute walk to the university. God is so good. I’m out a little bit of money for my mistake at the beginning, but my happiness and my experience here has been preserved, and for that, I am thankful.
I’ve been trying to be adventurous with the food here, but I’m not doing a very good job. I found that I like “pinchos,” which are like little sandwiches with eggs and ham and potatoes inside. So I pretty much eat those a lot. I will try more food, really I will, I just like eating sandwiches and cereal, too! Oh, but my new flat-mate, Fernanda (from Chile), likes to cook, so she cooks for us, which is great! My other roommate is Ellie from Montana. Both girls are super sweet, and I know we’re going to have a great time together.
Once I figure out how the courses work around here, I’ll post what classes I’m taking, etc. But right now I have no clue, only faith that everything will work out!

Here's What's Up

January 25, 2009: It’s no wonder the people in Spain are so thin! You have to walk everywhere. And when you go to buy groceries, you have to walk fifteen to twenty minutes to the store, and then lug all of your groceries back!
Last night I went to an Iglesia Evangelica with one of my friends, Hannah, and I felt like I was back in Costa Rica. The service was more than two hours long, and there was some REAL worshipping going on! I just kept thinking about how I had to walk twenty minutes back to my room in the dark, so I was kind of hoping it would end. But other than that, I really enjoyed the service, and we’ll probably go back next week.
Well, I started my intensive Spanish course at the university this morning. We took a placement class and then went into a classroom with our “level.” Luckily, all my new friends and I made it into the upper level, so we’re together. The class was pretty fun; we mostly just had conversations in Spanish and reviewed grammar.
More news: I moved into the apartment today. The unfortunate thing is, we don’t have wi-fi yet. Elise keeps telling me we’ll be able to get it, but I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Meanwhile, I just have to use the internet at school. So, that part of my trip is not working out so well.
Really, everything is just overwhelming right now. I know in 3 weeks, everything will be second nature and I’ll hardly remember being lost and naïve. But right now I am! And I hate not knowing everything about where I am. I just have to keep reminding myself, “Chrissy, you’re not in Maryville anymore.” The best way to cope is to remember who I am and whose I am. Without God, this trip would have no purpose. But because he is with me, I can be away from my family and friends for a while and still be okay. But I miss you guys a lot!!

Gracias a Dios por:

Things I’m thankful to God for right now:

1. Coffee in every country of the world (even if the serving size here is only the size of my fist)
2. No travel difficulties
3. Helping me make friends really quickly! (I was super worried about that…)
4. Blackout blinds to enhance the sleepability of the rooms here
5. Not raining the first few days so I can explore
6. SKYPE!!



A park with lots of pretty birds, including peacocks


Fernanda


With Ellie at dinner


A bit of "el centro" downtown


mmmm haha


More parque

I'm learning!

January 22, 2010

So, here I am sitting in my room in this beautiful city and I can hardly believe it’s real. I’ve been here for less than two days and my head is exploding with new information! Who knew there was a Universidad de Navarra and a Universidad Pública de Navarra within blocks of each other? Not me! I’ve found flat-mates (or rather, they found me through a mutual friend), but I’m moving into the adorable apartment on Monday. Elise is from Minnesota and Francisca is from Santiago, Chile. They are both really sweet girls and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together! The only thing is, I have to commute to my campus every day: it’s about 20 min both walking and by bus, so I’ll decide my mode of transport according to daily levels of both rain and laziness.

So far, everyone I’ve encountered has been really nice and helpful. The only thing is, when I arrived, I kept hearing a different language, and I was like, “what!?” When I say different, I’m not referring to Spanish, because I was EXPECTING that language. But no, it’s called Euskera. Who knew that the people of the Basque area like to speak the Basque language? Not me, that’s who. At least everyone knows Spanish, too, but three languages can get a bit confusing!

Also, I have to figure out what to do about food. So far, I’ve pretty much been eating pastries and drinking café con leche. The food here just looks a little bit weird to me. I know I need to try it, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ll let you know once I’ve actually eaten some Spanish food and we can see how that goes!

So thank you to everyone who is praying for me and thinking about me. I appreciate you all and will miss you dearly! More soon. (including pictures…)