One Month In

So it has been just more than a month over here in Spain for me, and I am still adjusting to life over here. It is different, but you know I just got to get used to it. I am certainly having a good time over here though ..

I am still trying to meet as many people as possible. I do have some core friends who are in my classes, but I am trying to meet more you know. The unfortunate part is that it is very difficult to make friends with Spaniards. In fact, the only spaniards I get to know are either my roommates or my friends roommates. Also, most Spaniards are still studying for their exams right now, and are not out as much. You can sense that a lot of the international students cling together. At the same time, spaniards may be less willing to talk to Americans at times. I am still making friends with as many people as possible, and experiencing other cultures.

I was able to have an amazing dinner with some Chinese students last Friday. I never had better Chinese food in my life, and the food was not what I expected. None of my meal would be served in an American Chinese Restaurante. They are either not as popular in the US or just typical in the US. I think it is the second one, because the Chinese restaurantes realized that they needed to adapt their food for Americans. Plus Americans like fried food more, and I did not have any fried Chinese food. It was realy nice to experience another culture, and my family would have been proud of my chop stick skills.

I am still traveling around as much as possible, when it comes to visiting cities and other countries. This upcoming weekend I will be in Paris, and I am still trying to make plans for Spring Break. I know that the weekend after Paris, there is a strong possibility that I will take a weekend off of traveling. That weekend is the festival of Carnaval, so you never know though. I am no longer uncomfortable about traveling in Spain, but going to a country where I speak none of their language scares me. Hopefully my Silver Bay friends in Paris will help me out this upcoming weekend.

I still though am not officially cultured into the Spain lifestyle. I am doing very well, I have started to drink coffee after classes with students while eating tapas. I walk around the streets of Alcala and visit local markets for foods, but the language is still coming. I make dinner and lunch with my roomates often, and that is my favorite part of the day. I try to cook as much as possible, so people please send me recipes if you have any. I am now only watching movies in Spanish, but I do need the subtitles. It is dificult to take in the accent at times. When I watch the spanish tv, I still am working to understand what is going on. They certainly watch just as much tv as americans over here, but their prgrams are a bit more liberal and free for network television.

well adios all, and I hope you all enjoy some more pictures from my second voyage through toledo. By the way, I thought the super bowl could have been better. It still was worth being up to 6 am in the morning because of my trip into madrid for the game.