Capítulo Dos: It's Everything that is Connected and Beautiful

"Two worlds, one family."

- Phil Collins

Mom's going to be so proud of me, because as of a couple days ago, I have decided that throughout most of Spain, I will be carrying a purse.

You heard me right. And I bet no one saw that coming, right?

With all honesty, though, it's just more convenient to do that here. I don't like keeping too much in my pocket, especially when going to very busy places, out of the fear of getting pickpocketed. That and at this point, I just have so much else to carry that I don't just want in my hand (camera, wallet, maps, etc.).

But mark my words: I'll return to my normal self once I get back to the states.

Now something to make my sister happy: I'm drinking a lot of water, and very little soda.

In bigger news, I moved in to my new apartment con mi anfitriona (host) yesterday afternoon. Se llama Susana, and she works in some sort of traveling business. Her origin is Argentina, actually, and she's pretty young (early thirties). She's a very organized person, liking to keep the house clean and having a pretty laid out schedule (remind you of my sister, anyone?), so I am going to try to keep my room and belongings sorted, which I'm normally okay at especially when need be. She's very, very generosa though, and very thoughtful. She gives me a lot of independence, gives me suggestions on places to go, and cooks for me. She even bought me Coca Cola! What's also nice is that we have quite a bit in common, like music tastes and religious views. Overall, I think she's much girlier than I am, but that's very okay. I think I'm becoming girlier by the day, to be honest. I mean I'm already carrying a purse and admiring los vestidos (dresses)...

We walked to the apartment, which was only a few blocks away from Hotel Sancho. The apartment I'm staying in is fairly small, but since it's maintained so well, it's a cozy place to live. My room is probably no bigger than what my room was in Dodd's last year, except now I'm not sharing it with another person, which makes organization and what not a little easier (it wasn't a roommate issue at all; it was just that the room was small). I've got a desk, a bunk bed, and a really big closet with a dresser on the inside. It's a yellow room, and I've got a cute fish-shaped hamper! Then there's a living room with a small TV, radio, and desk for Susana to work or check email.

I'll have pictures of the apartment up soon so I don't have to bore you by explaining ALL the details.

But as of right now, I am content with my housing situation. I am a little bit more south than what I'd like to be, but still, I can't complain because I'm really close to all the convenient stores, like the supermarket and pharmacy. Robby and Trinity also live right up the street, so I can go and meet up with them when need be.

Last night, a group of us from CIEE went out and walked around the city. The original plan was to La Kapital, a seven-story discoteca that has different types of music on each floor to dance to. None of us, however, were wearing the appropriate attire -- this place is really fancy! So instead, we walked around in search of bars, and we finally ended up at the bar in which Trinity's anfitriona works, which was really neat. It was a lot of walking, and we probably got lost more than a couple of times, but that made it kind of amusing. We looked like a bunch of n00bs, carrying our maps, but better to have one that to get COMPLETELY lost.

On the topic of walking, I no longer think I am going to get fat here; I'm doing so much walking that I'm really just working it all off, and the hilly roads...

Headed to El Rastro (market) this morning. That was really intersting to explore. There are so many little stands with a bunch of unique little gifts, as well as clothing (I was actually admiring the dresses and will probably buy one the next time I'm around). And almost everything had pretty good prices! So just so y'all know, when it comes time for gift buying, you can expect lots of them to come from there.

And tomorrow, we get to see the running of the bulls! AND eat churros y chocolate! We're only seeing the beginning (which apparently is very quick), so basically it go, take pictures, leave. It should be a sight to see, though I'm kind of glad I'm not watching all of it.

So, some other notes:

I feel really tall here. Most of the Spaniards are really short, and every time I'm walking through the city, I feel like a tree in some areas. It's kind of a new feeling for me, because I'm about an average height, and thin, but sometimes when I'm here I feel like a giant. I should play basketball here -- I bet I could pull off being a center.

(hey, if Ben Wallace at a shrimpy 6'9 can play the center position in the NBA among trees that are over 7' tall, I'll bet I could pull it off)

(ha, shrimpy 6'9...)

I'm noticing the differences in speech here, too. No, not just the language obviously, but speech patterns, like telling the difference between Mexican (or Latin American) Spanish versus...well, Spanish Spanish. The Spanish have the 'jota' and the lisp when they pronounce the letter 'c' like an 's'. Latin America sometimes doesn't pronounce the 's' at all, and, to be perfectly honest, they speak much clearer than the Spaniards do. Spaniards combine words and speak very much so together, but Mexicans tend to spread it out a bit, which makes them easier to understand. Because of this, I can tell that mi anfitriona is from Argentina. I'm also grateful for her in the fact that she's very patient with me -- I'm nowhere near as good as she as at Spanish, and I definitely need to practice. But hey, that's half the reason I'm here.

So I'm doing okay in the city life so far, but school hasn't started yet, and when it does, that's when things are going to get much harder and complex.

Y ahora, voy al museo Reina Sofia! Que bueno!

Hasta luego.

~ LSquared