Catching up

Hello again!

Time is flying by, but I'm sticking with it all! I'm getting lots of final projects finished in the next couple of weeks, then my parents come to visit for 8 days in mid May, then I have final exams and June 5th I'm done! Yikes, I don't want it to end but I'm enjoying every new twist and turn and life experience I've encountered.

I finally got around to putting up the rest of the photos from the Italy trip, so check those out when you get a chance, and if you have a facebook you can see lots more there!

Today I was working on some homework in my room when my friend Federica called me "vete al parque, vamos a ganar unos zapatos!". Her spanish roommate is friends with a guy who works for the shoe company Converse, and found out about a promotion they were doing in the park. We got there, they handed us some brand new converse shoes, and we put them on, tied our legs together and raced! And we won! AKA we got free shirts, bandannas and sound-canceling headphones, pilot-sized. It was just a random group of spaniards who had heard about the promotion and were there, and I'm so glad we went! It was a blast to participate and learn new vocabulary (I was saying things like hop and rub (the string was rubbing my skin) and just a big group of words I had never really used/learned before). I got to meet some friends of Federica's roommate and practice my spanish with more locals.

It's amazing how different it is between in-class-spanish (or with other international students) and in-a-group-of-spaniard-friends-spanish. They talk SO much faster, and use lots of slang and phrases that don't make any sense to someone who's not a native speaker or part of their group. But it was fun to listen and participate when I could, and I hey, I walked away with some free shoes!

Pretty fun stuff. Last night a big group of us from the program and some spaniards went out for tapas and ended up at a bar that is on the top floor of an apartment building. There's outdoor seating and lots of space inside, which is good since it was packed at 11pm for dinner. Everyone ordered sangria and we munched on fried calamari, potatoes, olives etc. Basically just having a blast and enjoying being with spaniards...and totally exhausted and must go to bed (sorry if this blog has horrible english, much too tired to care right now).

Tomorrow is a day of homework, then I'm seeing a dance show in the evening with Fede. My host mom taught me how to make paella today! So it's another thing to add to my list...gonna do a big spanish meal for all my buds at Whitman when I get back.

Hasta luego!
Alex