One Month

Hello hello hello

It has been a long time since I have posted, and lot of that has to do with me being very busy, having internet at sporadic times of the day, and being a little bit lazy. 

  The past couple weeks have been good. Kind of uneventful, but good. I went to Sevilla last weekend, which was very fun. We (Juan, Mila, and myself) stayed with Mila's nephews, a pair of triplets who have lived together in Sevilla for 4 years. Joaquin, Salvador, and Angel, are crazy and so much fun! They all speak very quickly and all kind of look alike, so that was a challenge on its own. We were in Sevilla because a friend of Juan's wrote a book about post war Yugoslavia and was presenting it in an old abandoned hat factory. Sevilla is beautiful, even though it rained the whole weekend.

School is ok. I am in the equivalent of a freshman class, which is kind of lame, but the classes are easier and it was the only room they had at the school. I am the oldest person in the class by almost 2 years, but whatever. My classmates are all AMAZED that I am from San Francisco. They huddle around me and ask me questions almost all of the time. And almost all of the students want to practice their "English" as well. This is how the conversation usually goes.   

"I can espeik englis."

"Vale, pero, solo espanol porque yo quiero aprendir espanol." 

"Yeees, but I can espeik englis. luk--do you, do you, ummmm, how do you say...."

And so on and so forth. But its all in good fun. All of my teachers are very nice and understanding, except for one, my Chemistry teacher. The first time I turned in my homework, she gave it back to me and said "Madre mia! You need help, what you have here is not Spanish, and it is not expectable." I was kind of in shock but honestly, who cares that much. Of COURSE I can't do Chemistry homework in SPANISH in a way that makes sense. I have been here for one month. So suck it. 

I think the strangest thing about school is the half hour break we have at 11. If you are over 18, you can get a pass to leave campus. I don't know how, but I got one, which is quite nice. So, the first time I went off campus (meaning outside of the green gate that locks the students in), I was SO surprised to see my teachers smoking. It was the strangest thing ever, coming from Marin, where teachers have posters hanging in their room about the dangers of smoking. 

What else? If you want a letter, please send me your address......

But yes, things are going really well for me at this point in time, but I still can't wrap my head around the idea that I am going to be living here for 8 more months!

OH YEA! Here is a funny story. Many classmates have asked me if I believe in G-D, and I just say yes so I don' t have to explain myself any further. The question that follows is "are you catholic, Protestant....." And I then say, No, I am a Jew. But I say Jew like huee, in Spanish accent, and STILL get looks of confusion. And when they still don't understand, I say hannukah, candles, killers of Jesus (just kidding). But, once they finally understand, the usual response is " I have never met a huee before." and then a long awkward silence. 

hahahaa

xoxo.