Hello everyone!
I’m sorry I haven’t been very good at updates so far! The internet access in my apartment is really hit and miss and I’ve been very busy (as you can imagine).
I’ll start with a few of the popular questions…
Where are you living?
I am living in an apartment flat just outside of the immediate downtown area. We have a park right in front of our apartment building and there are families playing there all the time. I live just a couple minutes away from the international building where I’ve been taking my intensive Spanish class, which is nice. I kind of wish I was downtown, because that’s where most of my friends live and that’s where I spend most of my time, but it only takes a few minutes to walk there.
Are you living with anyone? Do you like your roommates?
Yes and yes. I live with 4 other people. Rafael is from Spain, and Barbara is from Austria. I only see Marco and Paulina in passing. They aren’t students and they work during the day so they don’t really hang out with us. They technically live in the same apartment as me, but their part of their apartment is almost like another apartment…we only share a kitchen and washing machine. Rafael can speak German, Spanish and French and Barbara can speak German, Spanish and English, so we have quite the mix of languages here. Barbara was here for first semester, so she’s actually leaving this week and I might be getting another roommate, possibly a guy from Italy. Barbara and Rafael were really accepting and immediately took me in and invited me to hang out with them and their friends. It definitely made the acclimation period go a little smoother.
When do classes start?
Well I’ve been taking an intensive Spanish class for the last couple weeks but real classes don’t start till the 18th. I had to take a test for the intensive Spanish course to determine if I was in the beginning, intermediate or advanced class. I was SHOCKED when I made it into advanced. Being in the class though has only made me realize how much I don’t know about Spanish grammar and such. Hopefully the semester long Spanish class will help me improve a lot. Lately I’ve been jumping hoops trying to figure out how to pick classes that I’m allowed to take here and that my university back in Spokane will accept for credit and then get registered for them. So far it looks like I’ll be taking another intensive Spanish course, Systems and Processes of Publicity and Public Relations, History and Evolution of Photography and the Image and one other Publicity and Public Relations course…possibly Business Administration.
Have you done any traveling yet?
Not yet. I’ve been spending my time exploring Murcia and hanging out with my friends here. However, tomorrow I’m going to Madrid! Tomorrow’s the last day of the intensive Spanish class and since real classes don’t start till next Monday we (Me, and my new friends Brittany and Grace) wanted to take advantage of the free time to tour one of the bigger cities. We’re going to Madrid, Toledo and Salamanca for about 5 days. We’re all very excited! We’ll be staying in a hostel in Madrid the whole time, and making day trips out from there.
Have you had a hard time with the language barrier?
No, it hasn’t been too bad. I know I made tons of grammatical errors but they seem to understand me anyways. There’s one café we go to all the time called Martinez. At first they would always bring us the English menu but they’ve started to bring us the Spanish menu now so we feel like we must be improving! There are a lot of people that try to speak English with me when they find out that I’m from the U.S. Frequently I speak English with the other American students but we’re trying to get better about staying in Spanish.
Have you found any hot Spanish men to woo you yet?
Haha…no…not any sober ones at least. However, within 30 hours of my arrival in Murcia I was approached by two different Moroccan men who tried to ask me out on dates. My blond hair and blues eyes don’t exactly help me blend in. Craziness…
Have you come across any anti-American sentiments in Europe?
No, actually the people here usually make it a point to tell us, “We like you! You’re our friends (even if it’s someone we just met). We don’t have anything against the U.S. or the people there. We just HATE your president and his foreign policy.” That seems to be the most common feeling toward the U.S. that I’ve come across. People are generally very accepting and friendly.
Some random, cool facts...
*The streets are lined with orange trees.
*Waiters won't bring your bill until you ask for it. They don't bother you during your meal or check in with you. It's considered rude...and they don't tip here.
*We don't have a dryer. Almost everyone hangs their clothes outside to dry
*There's graffiti all over the place, but here it is treated more as an art or a political statement than vandalism. Some of it is actually very impressive.
*Coffee to-go like Starbucks is an unknown concept here...everyone gathers at cafes and restaurants and sits for hours socializing with friends. The general pace of life is a lot slower. People typically don't eat as they walk either...and I do mean walk. Yes, there are cars but almost everything is within walking distance. If not you can take the bus. People don't usually drive. (My feet hurt SO bad for awhile because I wasn't used to it!)
*I was told today that you don’t ever talk with your hands in your pockets. It’s a sign that you aren’t interested in what the other person is saying.
If you have Facebook or Myspace I’ve been a lot better about uploading photos there. Feel free to check them out!
Hope you’re all doing well!
