I finally used some Spanish today! A personal victory! The workers came back over to finish the windows and I attempted to speak some Spanish to them. It worked out alright (I think). Susana and I also went in the morning to pick up the student who is staying with her for the semester. After taking a taxi ride to the hotel where the IES students were staying, I was introduced to a few different señoras and the IES program director. Everyone was very patient with my spanish skills, which was much appreciated. As soon as I started having too much trouble though, people were willing to switched to English.
Susana was finally matched with her student not too long after. His name is Eric Bean, and he's an American student from Claremont McKenna College. After meeting him I told him I was American as well, which seemed to ease any nervousness. (And surprisingly, we have a common friend in Jordan Nottke, who I went to high school with and he went to Claremont with. Fun fact.)As soon as we left the hotel, he turned to me and said "she seems awesome!" with which I replied, "you seriously hit the jackpot." We returned back to the apartment where Eric unpacked his things, and then we went to the apartment upstairs where IES rented out an apartment for a group of 6 girls to live in. We met them and their live-in RA, which allowed Eric to meet some more students and me to attempt to use some more spanish. A win-win.
Later in the afternoon, Eric left to go take a spanish language assessment test, at which point I had the pleasure of enjoying my first spanish siesta. Why the U.S. hasn't adopted the idea of a siesta is beyond me. This siesta might have gone a little longer than they usually do, but hey, my body was (is) still recovering from travel and being sick! Once everyone was awake and home, Susana, Sufiyan, Eric, and I all took a trip to the supermarket to get some food for the apartment and for dinner. In case anyone was wondering, shopping in Madrid and shopping in West Lafayette are NOT the same experiences. I feel like an aisle is packed in West Lafayette when there are three people in the aisle with carts. That aisle might as well be considered empty in Madrid! So there's another check for a new experience on the trip.
When we got back to the apartment, Sufiyan started cooking dinner (chicken and rice, with a side of olives, and wine of course). Susana had been bragging about how good of a cook he was, and I'd have to agree with her. He showed me his tips on how to cook the rice just right, and the four of us enjoyed olives to start with in the kitchen. Dinner itself was wonderful and lots of fun! We talked for some time about school, travel, fun facts about each other, and even got into the history of Spain and how the Spaniards obtained their values from this history. I still have a lot to learn but it was still very interesting! We ended dinner with chocolates, ginger, and buckeyes that I had brought from Ohio as a thank-you to Susana.
It was a late night, but a fun end to a fun day. Tomorrow I am headed to Sevilla. No one is picking me up from the train station, or giving me directions of how to get to the hotel, etc. So tomorrow is my first day on my own more than I have been so far. Let's see how it goes!
Sufiyan, basting the chicken.
Susana's student, Eric and myself.
Eric, myself, and Susana, all enjoying Ohio's own buckeyes! O-H!
I-O!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to have you prepare some meals for us when you return! Love you!