Really, I Do Go To School

I've realized lately that all of my posts and pictures have made my life in Alicante look like one giant party. Sure, I am having the time of my life here with lots of time for fun and travel, but I assure you, I do have a Spanish existence outside of fiesta-ing. With this in mind, I thought that I would update you all on some of the daily aspects of my life in Alicante because they are very important to me as well. I'm big on list-making, so here we go...

1. School. The 'study' part of studying abroad. School has been so busy lately! I'm learning SO MUCH in a relatively short amount of time, but I'm enjoying it immensely. My semester is more than halfway over now (where does the time go?!), but there is still a lot to learn. I spend about 3 hours in the classroom everyday, and the best part is that I can immediately apply the things I learn in the classroom to my Spanish life. As for my professor, she is absolutely great. She is probably one of the best teachers that I've ever had-- her enthusiasm and dedication for teaching us Spanish is inspiring. In fact, I might even double major in Psychology and Spanish now, but I need to crunch the numbers a few more times. One thing I know for sure: I don't want to lose my Spanish knowledge after I leave Spain. I'm hoping that maybe I can track down a conversation partner so that my talking ability doesn't completely disappear. Plus, I love to talk in any language.

2. Family. (I know that people have been wanting to see pictures, but I haven't gotten any yet. Don't worry-- I will take some before the semester is over!) Apart from my lack of pictures, everything with my host family has been going swimmingly. I feel like we have really bonded over the last few weeks. One of my favorite parts of the day is dinner because this is the time when I get to joke around with my host brothers, Victor and Abel. They really let loose since my host mom usually doesn't eat with us. Most of the time they call each other "tonto" (dumb), and I just sit there laughing. I'm their captive audience. But we also bond over our television shows, and sometimes we sit together for a while after dinner just watching our favorite game show: El Cubo. They are also good teachers for me, even though the words they teach me might not be exactly PG. It's rumored that we might take a family trip to a little town called Guadalest next Sunday, which I'm sure would be a lot of fun. Maybe that's when I can get my family pictures....

3. Work. Not sure if I can call it that, but I will anyway. Every Wednesday, I take the tram to the San Juan beach area to tutor Bernardo, an ears/nose/throat doctor, in English. I think I may have written about him before, but I just thought that I'd give a reminder and an update. Seriously though, I would do this job for free. I enjoy it that much. In fact, I feel almost guilty for taking his money sometimes because he teaches me almost as much as I teach him. Also, he has discovered my weakness for sweets, so he makes sure to give me chocolates during each of our tutoring sessions. Last Wednesday he even brought me a pastry similar to a cinnamon roll! Then, he was headed into Alicante, so he gave me a ride home. That was the first time that I've been in a car in Spain (besides a taxi), so I was fascinated by the roads and the change of scenery as I was taking a completely new route. This job is also very rewarding-- I helped Bernardo learn English phrases to use when he and his wife travel to Turkey for their anniversary in just a few weeks. His excitement and newfound confidence in English always make our sessions a highlight during the week.

4. Rowing. This week I started a rowing class that I'll have for the next few weeks. We meet twice a week for an hour each time. As un-coordinated as we all look out on the water, I have so much fun! There's nothing more beautiful than paddling through the gentle waves of the port right as the sun is setting. It's incredible.

As for this weekend, I'm going hiking on Saturday and then I'm headed to Valencia on Monday to experience Las Fallas, a famous festival in Spain. The weather continues to get better all the time, so I'l probably be out enjoying the sunshine in my free time. And hey, maybe I will even fit in a little fiesta time after all. Haha.