Dos Gringos en Alicante

I arrived in Boston to catch the group flight to Madrid. Incidentally enough, Heather was flying to Boston from Florida at the same time on the same airline, so we were able to meet up for a drink and some lunch. She, and our outrageous waiter, Carmine, helped to settle my nerves a little bit. I met the other 5 girls from Northeastern who were headed for Alicante in the international terminal at Logan, a place I know all too well. Everyone seemed very nice and very anxious. The flight to Madrid went smoothly, pero they did not feed us until two hours into the flight and then they turned off the lights, so if we wanted to sleep we only had 4 hours, but they turned the lights on an hour before we landed to feed us again. So, I arrived in Madrid sleep deprived and cranky, only to find out que nostros vuelo fue delayed. So the group from Northeastern met some other students going to Alicante with us and hung out for some food and drinks. And then our flight was delayed again. And again. And we had to walk up and down the vast terminal to find the right gate over and over again. Not ideal. When it snows in Madrid, apparently the world falls apart. But, we finally got on the plane at 1:15 pm and I fell right asleep.

Our bags arrived safe and sound in Alicante, so life was good for me. Plus it was about 65 degrees outside and sunny when we landed, which was completely different from Madrid. We got to our hotel and it was beautiful and gorgeous, and more than half the group had yet to arrive due to delays and cancelations in Madrid. Therefore, I had my own room for the night, which I was not complaining about. We had a short orientation session and went off for dinner with some student helpers from the Universidad de Alicante, who were forcing everyone to speak in Spanish, which is obviously the point of this trip, but honestly, I need a refresher course and a nice nap before I jump right into that kind of stuff. Dinner was a lovely array of cheese, bread, fried calamari, jamon, y vegetables, etc. The student helpers told us all about where to go out at night and what the youngsters do around town. Following dinner, I immediately crawled upstairs and collapsed into bed after being awake for a good 30 or so hours.

The next morning we got our information about our family which was exciting for everyone. I found out I had a young madre y padre y 5 year old brother and dog! That is the exact opposite of the family I said I wanted, but i was actually very excited about it. At lunch, I found out one of the student helpers, who was a study abroad student from last year, had the same family and they were wonderful, so it made me feel much better. But, I was a little worried because when he studied here last year, he was already fluent in Spanish. So, I have a little catching up to do. Just a little ;)

after orientation and some great tapas, the student helpers took us out to the Dos Gringos bar, which is not really culturally Spanish, but they thought we would enjoy the Tuesday night beer pong tournaments. Andalusia and I ended up losing to some Spaniards who were very nice in teaching me some Spanish while the tournament progressed. I also met a new British friend who is stuck in Alicante on business for a while. The night progressed into a small group of us stopping at KFC on the way home for some fried chicken and fries and talking to Nepalese immigrants about working in Spain. Night well played. I vowed that the next day I would start doing more Spanish things, knowing I would be forced to when I moved in with mi familia.

On Wednesday, everyone was anxious about meeting their family and moving in. It was as if we were about to leave summer camp and get picked up by our parents. We split up into small groups for lunch; split up by where we live around town. I and three other students happen to live in houses furthest away from the center of town, minus the 6 students who are living in dorms at the universidad. Its okay, I was reassured that the neighborhood I lived in was a nice suburbia with a shopping mall across the street. And it is true. Mi madre, Maria Jesus came to pick me up this afternoon and she drove me home. She is very nice, but it is so hard for me to understand what she is saying. I don't want to have to ask her to repeat everything or claim that I don't understand everything, but its true!! It's very frustrating, but she and Jose, mi padre, seem to be very understanding of the fact that I am not very good in their language. Jose Chema, my hermano, does not understand that fact, but he is very very cute. He gave me a stuffed animal on his way out to Judo class, but he took it back later on in the night haha. Eating dinner was funny because Chema likes dessert more than dinner and crawled under the table to get the whipped cream out of the refrigerator. Maria y Jose cooked me tortillas de patatas, which is like a potato omelette, but better, with some sausage on the side and a big salad. it was delicioso and I would definitely be happy if I was cooked that again.

Living in the home so far is a bit uncomfortable because I didnt understand what she was saying about some "rules" or I guess ways of the house is a better way of putting it, and I feel bad having to ask again, especially because I won't understand again haha. I also broke my desk chair the minute I sat down which was a bit awkward. I need to lay off those potato omelets I guess! It's the little things, like not knowing how to act in the house, not knowing when I can take a shower, not knowing if I'm allowed to go in the fridge, not knowing where I am, etc that can really make it kind of difficult. I think Maria was telling me about a job she started, but I could be completely wrong and she could have been talking about someone else. The student who lived with them last year is coming over for dinner this weekend, which is very good because I am going to get him to clear up a few things for me!

Tomorrow we take our Spanish placement exam and tour the campus. I cannot wait to start the Spanish classes so I can feel more comfortable speaking. I wish we had started before moving in with our families!!

That is all I have for now. I am exhausted from meeting people, making small talk and wracking my brain for Spanish words I haven't used in years. Es muy dificil!