Update!

Hi everyone! Here is another update from the last two weeks…

Last week was a pretty relaxing week. After such a busy week last week with all of my long days, I was ready for a slower week. I had class from 9 until 2 or 3 in the afternoon then I went eat lunch at the bar, then I typically would go home and take a long siesta. I love siestas so much :)

Monday night, Pablo and Camino took me out. Surprising, I know. Pablo drove us to a big supermarket that’s similar to a Sam’s or Costco to buy some things for the bar. Then we went to the HUGE mall a little outside the city. It’s ginormous. We shopped around a little bit then we went to an American restaurant inside the mall. Our appetizer was cheese sticks, wings, onion rings, and.... RANCH! They served us ranch and I was such a happy camper. I told Pablo and Camino that it is my favorite and they laughed and let me have all of it. We then got fajitas and ribs. (They like to order a few plates for all of us to share.) Then we ordered a giant chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Everything was DELICIOUS. Pablo asked me if I know how to make American cookies, referring to the chocolate chip cookies, and when I said yes, they were so excited. Pablo asked me to teach Camino how to make them sometime while I’m here :) After dinner, we drove back and went to sleep.

There was a social thing at a bar near my house that all the exchange students were invited to on Tuesday night. It was Sangria and Mini Pizza night, so we went there and socialized and met more students. Then Wednesday night was much more relaxed; I just went to eat dinner at the bar and hung out for a little while then came back and skyped a little then went to bed.

Thursday, I had my first experience with the Oviedo bus. Lara, Bailey, and I went to the big mall because they hadn’t been there yet and wanted to go while rebajas were still going on. The bus made me a little nauseous, but we were successful and spent the afternoon shopping around. We went home to eat dinner quickly, then met up with our advisors, Paula and Luna, for our weekly meeting. We talked to them over drinks and caught up, talking about our families and our first weeks of school. They are so much fun and we loved catching up with them. After that, we went to a different bar to go to real Salsa dancing lessons. As everyone knows, I am not a great dancer, but I still tried and had so much fun. We walked the calle (street) with all of the bars afterwards, and just walking down the street, you wouldn’t believe how many people come up to us Americans and tell us to come into their bar for free drinks! It’s crazy, they love Americans :)

Friday night, we all stayed in with our families. I ate dinner at the bar then spent the rest of the night skyping and chatting with my friends and family then went to bed, not excited to wake up early.

Saturday morning I woke up super early to catch the bus at 7am to go to San Sebastian. When we arrived, we went straight to a place where we rode a trolley thing up a big hill to an old amusement park that is either closed for good or was closed while we were there, not sure. But the views were incredible. It was raining and cold the whole time we were there, so the views were not as pretty as they could have been, but I was still amazed. Mom, you would not have appreciated the rain. We then walked out on a walkway thing into the ocean. We were out where all the HUGE waves were breaking and crashing into the side, making these spouts squirt water up near where we were standing. It was really really cool, but again, it was rainy and cold. We then walked to the hostel and got settled in there, ate our lunches that our host families packed us, and went exploring on our own. Because it was siesta time and most of the shops were closed, we went to a supermarket to get some candy (everyone in my group craves candy here since they rarely eat sweets). We found one after a lot of wandering and stocked up. We then went back to the hostel to eat our candy and rest our feet for the group tour later. Turns out, the group tour was kind of boring. The city is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but when it comes to a big group tour, there just wasn’t enough to see to keep us interested. We then had the option to hike (again) up a small mountain/huge hill to a statue of Mary. It was about a 50/50 split, but I chose to skip the hike. I was not in the mood and I knew it would only be colder all the way at the top. It wasn’t worth it to me, or most of the girls in my group. We wandered back to the hostel where we hung out with everyone that stayed back. We met an Italian boy, a girl from New Zealand, a couple British girls, and a lot more people that go to the University with us. Turns out, we had so much fun. The tour guides threw us a “surprise party” that night in the hostel where they gave us free sangria. It was a really fun night.

We woke up the next morning to a blown fuse, so we all had to get ready in the dark with a little bit of sunlight. That was interesting. We caught the bus around eleven (the driver was so late) and headed out to Bilbao. We all slept on the bus and woke up in yet another beautiful city. We went on a tour right when we got there and learned about the old part of the city, which was really interesting and so pretty. Then we got free time so us UNI girls split up into two groups and went exploring. We went through the huge market then went to a café where we ordered delicious sandwiches and played. Then we found a dessert place, but they were weird choices so Bailey and I got little tiny pastries that we ate in two bites. So weird. Then we found a place for churros and chocolate so of course, we ate those. YUMMM! We met up with the group after that to walk to the Guggenheim. It was a long walk through the newer part of the city, and when we finally made it to the museum, my jaw dropped. The building is STUNNING. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and it’s amazing. I took a lot of pictures. Sadly, the inside was incredibly boring for me. I just don’t do well at art museums; I don’t have the appreciation. After the museum, Bailey and I went to some souvenir shops where I continue to fail to find any ornaments, and then caught the bus to go home. We slept the whole three hour drive home. I got home around eleven and Camino offered me dinner. At eleven! Crazy! I was not very hungry and really only wanted to sleep to I told her I just was going to bed, and I did just that. Successful weekend for sure! But I was completely drained after it.

Monday morning I went to class at nine, where I was told that my professor was sick and class was cancelled :) the best part was that both of my classes that day were with Concha, so school for me! I came home, hoping to sleep, but Pablo took it into his hands to entertain me since I had the day off. He took me to Camino’s office at her other job, and the three of us went out for coffee. They forgot that I don’t like coffee, so I drank it anyways. Later I went to the bar for lunch with Pablo then came home and took a siesta. For dinner, Camino and Pablo took me out for Tinto Veranos with a couple of their friends, then the three of us went to get hamburgers and French fries! We got an appetizer that I made the mistake of asking what it was before eating it…but I tried it. It was muscles. They were way too chewy and smelly…I couldn’t eat them. But I tried them!! My burger was so Spanish…it was the burger patty, cheese, ham, a fried egg, lettuce, and mayonnaise. It was SO SO SO GOOD. After a couple more tinto veranos with dinner, Camino and Pablo successfully got me speaking much more Spanish than normal once again. We were making jokes and laughing a lot together, it felt so good to finally be able to laugh with them and make fun of my mistakes.

Tuesday was pretty uneventful after class; I was feeling a little homesick and didn’t have much interest in doing anything. This is the week of the culture shock phase that we were warned about before we left…it’s the week where the “vacation” feeling starts to wear off and I’m realizing that I’m here for four more months. I rarely get homesick, so it’s been a new feeling for me. Bailey and Lara and I opted to not go to Barcelona this weekend with the rest of the UNI girls because it was not cheap and I did not feel it would be worth all the money to see what I’ve already seen. Instead, us three decided to stay in Oviedo, maybe take a day trip, but mostly, we just want to experience Oviedo for a full weekend. Unfortunately the rain kept us from going anywhere, but we still are happy to be in Oviedo and have a weekend to relax. Camino and Pablo are definitely learning very quickly how much I LOVE my sleep – both at night and my siestas during the day.  They understand and they don’t mess with my sleep schedule, which makes me happy. I am making friends with the three waiters at the bar that I see every day. We definitely have the language barrier, but I love them and they’re quickly becoming like my family. My Spanish is still in the struggle phase but I’m workin’ on it. The weather is up and down temperature-wise, and it rains a lot but I have no complains. This city is perfect. I’m keeping in touch with my family and friends easily, which is very important for me and has been great. I’m making friends here and loving life.

I hope everyone is staying healthy and warm! I would love to hear from my little cousins if possible sometime… hint hint :) I miss you all and love you guys! Thanks for reading these novels!