On Sunday, May 30th, I got the opportunity to meet a few more members of my host family. My host mother has a son whose name is Jaime (same as his father) but his nickname is Mani (I believe that’s how it’s spelled). Mani is married to Virginia and they have 2 sons: Jaime who is 5.5 going on 6 and Miguel who is 3. I got to see their house and play with the 2 boys and Sira (their cousin) in their backyard.
I was then invited to go out to lunch (the big meal of the day) with all of the grown children and their young children. There were 4 couples, me, and 4 young kids. The 4th kid was named Tony and he’s 2 years old and adorable. He is the nephew and godson of Tony (yeah the repeat names get a little bit confusing across the generations). We went to this nice restaurant that was right next to the beach and could smell the sea air. The little kids brought their bicycles and played with one another.
A little bit after I got back from lunch, it was time to go to my orientation with Arcadia University. Up until then, I hadn’t met any of the other students on the program, besides the few that I met in the airport. It was really nice to finally meet the people I had been emailing and Facebooking for the past month or so. And it was also really nice to speak in English again! Our orientation was held in the same building that we’ll be taking all of our classes. Our 2 program directors, Jaume and Alice, went over different things like our home stays, safety and health considerations, and perhaps most importantly: where the best beaches are! After orientation, all 15 of us students and our 2 directors went out to dinner. We had a nice meal and almost everyone had ice cream for dessert.
Afterward, Jaume took us for a walk near the port so he could show us where the bike/running path is. We got to see the Cathedral from the distance and saw many boats docked in the water. Since it was still pretty early, about 2/3 of the students decided to go out to an Irish Pub for a drink while some of the others headed home. I joined my new friends and spent my very first Euro on a glass of white wine. It was very exciting (at least for me) to not be carded since the drinking age in Spain is 18. Around midnight, everyone decided to head back to their houses. However, we didn’t really know where we were. I went with 4 other students who live near me and we used a map to help navigate our way back home. I was able to find my street ok, but some of the others got lost. It took us about 30 minutes to walk back and I got home a little bit before 1 AM. My host mother, Loli, was still awake and greeted me at the door (I was given my own set of keys). I told her about my day and then said goodnight to her.
Some fun facts I learned that day:
• Almost all of the music on the radio in Spain is in English! I’m not exactly sure why but the Spaniards seem to like American music, although they can’t understand the lyrics. I started talking with Eva and Tony while in the car and they started listing American music artists they know like Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, and Michael Jackson. It was really funny to hear them pronounce the names with their Spanish accent.
• Every car that I have ridden in so far has been a stick shift! Apparently automatic cars cost more here so everyone learns to drive a stick shift when they first get their license.
• It took me a little while to realize that Spain uses the metric system. The first instance I realized this is when I was driving with Loli on the highway and suddenly noticed that the street limit signs (which just have a red number inside of a circle) said “100” and “120.” And I noticed that the speedometer read 100. I realized that no, we weren’t travelling 100 miles per hour but instead 100 kilometers per hour. I still don’t know how to convert Celsius and Fahrenheit though.
• Amongst the young kids, Disney, Hello Kitty, and Spiderman are all insanely popular! I watched Playhouse Disney in Spanish with Sira and it was an interesting experience to hear Mickey talk with a thick Spanish accent.
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The next day, Monday the 31st, I had to wake up early for my Spanish placement exam. We were told to meet at the University at 10 AM. The exam was based on grammar, listening, answering questions after reading a story, short answer questions, and an essay. It took about 2 hours to complete but I didn’t think it was so bad. The results of the exam will be posted tomorrow morning to decide which level (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced) each student will be placed in. We also received our class schedule today. My Spanish Literature class is from 8:45 – 10:45 AM Monday – Thursday. Yeah, not a fan of how early it is but classes start at 8:45 or 9 AM for almost everyone. However, we then have a large gap of time because our Spanish language class isn’t until 4:30 – 6:30 PM. The program directors told us that students either go to the beach, explore the city, or go home to nap and eat during the break.
After everyone was finished taking the exam, we went to a Municipal building in order to get a bus ticket. You can pay 18 Euros and get unlimited bus transportation for the month. However, not everyone was able to get one, including me, because the place closed at 2 PM and they didn’t tell us that. We’ll probably go another day. Everyone was also told to bring and/or wear a bathing suit because Jaume, the director, was going to take us in his car in shifts to the beach! I was part of the 2nd shift and he dropped us off at this really nice beach that was in the German part of the city. The sand was very smooth and the water was pretty warm. Apparently the Mallorcians don’t swim unless the water is like bath water and they wait until July and August for it to warm up. But us East Coasters who are used to the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean in late May and early June headed straight on in. The first few times we went in to our waist and the final time we went in all the way and I got my hair wet.
It was really fun that all 15 of us were together at the beach. I went for a walk along the water’s edge with 2 other girls and we saw some people building professional sandcastles. There was also a nice mix of language that ranged from German to Spanish to English. Although we were warned beforehand, this was my very first time visiting a nude beach. Everyone seems ok with it and don’t even notice it, but the other students and I were very much aware of the many women (usually older) who were completely topless on the beach and in the water. It was a little awkward but we just didn’t look their way. And the European men very much love their Speedos.
After the beach, I got a ride home from the program director. I’ve been able to borrow someone else’s Wi-Fi connection in my house and realized today that it is strongest when I’m sitting outside on the patio in the back of the house. I was finally able to make my first Skype call and I talked to my parents for about an hour. I explained to my home stay parents what I was doing and they came outside to “meet” my parents. It was really cool to have all 4 parents talking with one another at the same time. My mom is able to speak a little bit of Spanish, but I served as the translator between everyone. My parents were glad to see that I was alive and well and that I had nice new parents taking care of me.
After dinner, I also learned that I’m able to Skype from a computer to a cell phone and was able to Skype call with Josh for a little bit. It was really great to finally hear his voice again after 4 days of not being able to speak to him. Hopefully tomorrow I will be purchasing a Spanish cell phone and will be able to make some phone calls and text people back home.
That’s all for now! Tomorrow is the first day of classes so I’ll be sure to let you all know how that goes! Talk to you later!
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