Al Ferial!

Last Thursday, Caceres had a massive gathering on the outside of the city to welcome the arrival of spring. By massive gathering on the outside of the city, I mean that everyone in the city under the age of 30 went to a field/parking lot out in the middle of nowhere. What was the idea? Basically, to drink, meet new people, hang out with friends, and drink. No, that was not a typo. It may seem absolutely pointless, but I actually had a good time. It was another all-night event, but like everything else, it went by too fast. Unlike the carnival at Badajoz, however, there were no porta-johns or bathrooms of any kind. Unless you count bushes and sneaking behind cars. Yuck. Now, I could rough if it I had to, but considering that there were at least a couple thousand people out, I just wasn't quite brave enough to "take a squat". So, Kerry and I decided to walk away from the crowd to a quieter area, but no matter where we went, there was always at least one small group of people around, so there was absolutely no privacy. We saw some lights up ahead of us that looked like a gas station, so we went in that direction. Please don't think we were two girls walking alone at night. There were still people around and my roommate and his friend were just feet ahead of us. By this time, we needed a bathroom. And I mean we really needed a bathroom. Well, we never found a gas station, but we were able to get into a cafe as it was closing. Despite a lack of toilet paper, just seeing a actual toilet was like seeing a glimpse of Heaven. Even though we took a bus to the fairground, we decided to walk back to the city, which took less than an hour. Our group decided to go to Pans & Company, a popular fast food joint that's open 24/7. However, when we finally got there, there was already give or take 100 people in the restaurant with an enormous line outside. We thought we'd go for churros but didn't think the churreria was open yet. So, we just went home. I slept for 10 hours.

Light

So it's been quite a while since I've last blogged. I would apologize, but I honestly don't think anyone really reads this stuff, so we'll just get on with it, okay? I'm so surprised at how tired I am all the time. I still haven't gotten used to the difference in hours here in Spain. Everything is closed between 2 and 5, the time when I usually go shopping, and I stay up late because I always have late classes. By the time I get home, it's almost 10 pm and I still have to eat dinner and finish homework.

Kerry and I finally received our reimbursements and paychecks, so I was no longer worried about money. Although, I really do need to stop buying so many sweets. I know I walk everywhere, but I can't keep using that excuse for the next several months. Otherwise, I will gain several extra pounds. My mom and my aunt are coming the weekend before Easter and staying until after Easter. We're going to spend a few days in Madrid and then return to Caceres. I'm so excited about that! However, I am a little bummed out that my roommate is leaving Wednesday for Valencia and will be gone until Sunday, so I'm going to find it hard to keep myself busy without her here. But, I am going to Toledo this Saturday and Friday is a holiday, so no classes! I don't think I have much cause to complain.

For at least two straight weeks, it rained here. It was cold and windy, too. I lost two umbrellas, one of which I lost on the day I bought it and then found it again. Not to mention, the ground was so wet that my socks were making squishing noises in my boots. Yuck. I kept asking myself, "Where on earth is the Spanish weather that's supposed to be here?" Well, it finally came. At least the sun did. After being cloaked under cold rain and clouds for so long, I can finally see the light. Spain is like an awakening. Not quite like seeing the light for the first time, but finally being able to be exposed to it and to see everything for what it really is. We're expecting more bad weather soon. Naturally. But, all I can do is brave it and I'll get through it stronger. So bring it on.

Isn´t this how you´re supposed to eat it?

So last night we had another American dinner, or I should say an American breakfast dinner. I had decided that I wanted to make pancakes for my roommates. Well, Kerry got very excited about it and said she wanted bacon. So, we ended up making pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I was surprised that we could find everything that we needed from the store aside from the syrup, but we improvised with nutella, caramel, strawberries, etc. The pancakes weren´t nearly as good as at home since I didn´t have a grill, crisco, or blueberries, but they were still surprisingly delicious. Europeans don´t eat crispy bacon here, but everyone seemed to eat ours up quickly. Naturally. Also, they´d never seen scrambled eggs before. James, Steph´s boyfriend, was absolutely amazed and kept asking us how we did it. Like they were magic eggs or something.

We also had a few laughs, too, including inside jokes such as "Poker". However, after we all sat down to eat, it seems that some people were unaware of how to eat pancakes since in the UK, they eat it as a dessert. Also, Steph had never seen a breakfast that was made up of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs, so she thought that you were supposed to put the bacon and the eggs in the pancake and eat it like a taco. Kerry and I died laughing when we realized what she was doing and asked, "Steph, what are you doing?" She asked, "What, this isn´t how you eat it?" I love my roommates! All in all, I think that we had another success.

I have to say that I´m really enjoying cooking here. We have no measurements and even if we did, I´m still not sure how to convert everything properly. Normally, I just throw things together and hope it turns out okay. We have a really great crowd of friends here, too. Last night we basically just sat around and talked, going back and forth between English, French, and Spanish. It´s actually not as confusing as I thought. We had some food, we had some laughs, and apparently I now have a new nickname, which honestly, is not even worth explaining so I won´t. ¡Salud!

So I'm a teacher?

So I've finally got my finalized schedule of classes that I'm taking and classes that I'm teaching. Technically, I don't feel like I'm teaching. What I do is basically talk to the students, ask them questions, answer theirs, and encourage them to participate in our discussions. I've been creating short power point presentations as a guideline. For example, for the first week, I wanted the students to learn a little more about me and my state, so I created a power point on me, my friends and family, my university, and North Carolina itself. For each new class, there's a new topic of discussion. So far, we've been discussing travel and vacation throughout Spain and the U.S., our favorite and worst vacation memories, and families.

I've really enjoyed my students in the past couple weeks. It's so strange to say students because I'm learning so much from them, too. I'm working with 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th year students. I haven't met the 5th years yet and the 4th years are in London this week, but so far, they're all very interested in learning and improving English. I think it helps that they're speaking with someone their own age and who is pretty different from them considering I'm a foreigner. Kerry and I are also doing a speaking and listening class for 2nd years where we play tapes and teach from a book. It was a little intimidating last week because I was standing at the front of the classroom on a platform and with a podium and everything. The students weren't accustomed to the American accent, so when I spoke or asked a question, they'd just stare at me. However, knowing how the class works and that I will start having conversation classes with them, too, I think it will get better.

My other classes are going pretty well, too. Although not all are always interesting, at least I don't feel overwhelmed like I thought I would in the beginning. I particularly like my French culture and Translation (Eng-Spa & Spa-Eng) classes. In my French class, there was only Steph and me at first and now there's an Italian girl, too. But, still, that's it. What is really nice is that we haven't really had homework yet. I've had to read one short article and write my opinion on it and present information on a francophone island, which wasn't even graded so there was no pressure. Even though I want to do well on my final exams in June, my actual grade comes from the notes I take, so I write down everything that I can understand. Also, my GPA won't change while I'm abroad, so that's another load off my chest.

I must say, though, that while study abroad is for studying, I think that it's more than studying books. It's studying, and more importantly, learning about another culture, which encompasses language, customs, food, lifestyle, everything you can imagine. If you can take something away from the experience and allow it to change you, you've basically passed.