This meeting was different though: at this meeting, I got to meet the other two exchange students!! One is named Robin and the other Karly. I already adore them both.
Karly is from Colorado...now she lives in the same apartment building as I do! I'm so happy that I have a fellow exchange student as a neighbor. I also found out we will be switching host families in February. I like Karly bunches.
Robin is from Nebraska and now lives in Albaicín, the old town around the Alhambra. I am so jealous! I also found out that her birthday is two days after mine. Robin is very nice and can totally rock a pair of Birkenstocks. I am sad that she lives so far away from Karly and I.
Along with the two inbound exchange students, there was also a rebound student named Laura. Laura went to Virginia last year and speaks English flawlessly. I hope I get to spend more time with her because she seems like someone I'd really enjoy hanging out with.
Another perk of the meeting was getting our dinero!! As long as we attend the monthly Rotary meetings, we will receive a €70 allowance each month (sweet!).
All in all, the Rotary meeting was pretty good (despite there not being any food like there is at the Rotary meetings at my home club).
This morning, after taking a shower, my
host mom and I went to my school to get my class schedule good to go.
Before I had been to my new school (IES La Madraza), my host brothers had told me it looked like a prison...they were not lying.
Inside a black metal gate lies a dusty looking square building with some of the windows broken and numerous holes surrounding it. This building? My school.
I have to admit, I was a little shocked because how different it looked than my school at home (St. Helena High School), which has recently undergone a huge facelift.
The inside of La Madraza, however, is quite nice. I only saw the hallways, but they were clean and non-threatening. The inside of the school sharply contrasts that of good ol' SHHS because there were actual halls! In California, almost all of the schools have outdoor walkways from class to class. How exciting!
I think my schedule will look something like this (I don't remember all of the classes I'm taking):
•Spanish (like an English class in USA, but in Español)
•World History
•Physical Education (PE)
•English (like a Spanish class in USA, but for English)
•French (I know, hella languages)
•Applied Mathematics
•Economy
•Study Period
I am in the Humanities section of school rather than the Math & Technology section.
After getting my classes set up, I went to the market with my host mom. The market is about a 10 (more or less) walk from our casa.
At the store, there were so many little differences! For one, a lot of people (including my host mom) use a little cart to carry food in.
They even have a little place where you can lock up your cart while you shop!
But the thing that was the cooliest to me were the baskets.
THEY HAVE WHEELS AND AN EXTRA LONG HANDLE SO YOU CAN WALK THEM LIKE A DOGGY THROUGHOUT THE STORE!!! SO COOL!!!
Another thing that we definitely don't have in American markets is the ham station.
I had fun at the market. I got some conditioner, which I desperately needed. My host mom kept asking me if I wanted anything special, but I love what she makes already! She really is a fabulous cook.
She did insist that I get some pastry. In the breakfast aisle, there were all of these little pastries. My host mom got a handful of one kind "for Samuel" and another kind "for Daniel" (my host brothers). She asked me which kind I would like...and I really had no idea! I'm already bad at decision-making, let alone choosing something I've never seen/tasted before! She explained what a couple had in them, and then told me one that she liked. It's a little bun with (I think) some chocolate in it. I'm not exactly sure, but she said it was good, I said it looked good, so she got a handful "for Tessa."
When we got back from grocery shopping, my host brothers asked me if I wanted to hang out with some friends of theirs. I said "sí" and we walked with a friend of my host brothers to another apartment building where we met with some of the girls I had met a few times before.
At the apartments, we went to the outside area by the pool where there was a ping-pong table set up. I didn't play (I am so terrible at ping-pong), but I enjoyed sitting outside with fun people.
Soon enough, it was time to go back home, where it was lunch time. For lunch, we had some chicken, a carrot salad, peas, potatoes, and melon. I love lunch time.
After lunch, I walked around town with Karly for about an hour. It's so nice living so close to someone who knows exactly what I'm going through.
Now, I am back at home, and in an hour I will be going with my host brothers and some friends (and Karly!) to the city center. Today has been a very good day.
Muchas gracias! xo
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