The last three weeks since our trip to Madrid and since the start of classes have been great. Every day I feel more settled and at home here, and am not looking forward to the end of the semester. I want to see my family and friends, but I don't want to leave the people here. In particular I will miss Gregorio, Ima's neighbor, with whom I have an intercambio. We now meet almost every day. It is amazing how much he understands me, and how I think. He's surprised me a few times by his observations about my personality because they describe so clearly how I feel about myself and how I view the world. I'm also learning a lot of Spanish, and am having fun helping his English. He has become my friend, my mentor and teacher, and I will miss him so much when I leave.
Still, I know that I will always be able to come back and visit. For now, I just need to enjoy the time I have here. It is hard having loved ones in all parts of the world, the U.S., England, Mexico, Spain, Holland, but it is also incredible to have a place like home in so many different places.
My classes are also going well. Mondays and Wednesdays I have my Spanish language class (POE class) from 4 to 6 p.m., and then my Latin America Civilization and Culture class from 6 to 8 p.m. At first, I really didn't like the fact that I have class so late, and it means that I don't see Ima much, since she gets home at 3. We eat together, and then I have to leave at 3:30 to get to class on time. Still, it gives me a lot of time free time during the day, which is great.
Tuesday and Thursdays, I have my Varieties of Spanish class from 10:30 to12:30, and then my Image of Women in Spanish Literature class from 4 to 6. This means that I have to return to the center twice each day, but there is enough time between classes that I don't feel rushed, and I have figured out the bus system, which makes life a lot easier! It still takes about 20 minutes from leaving the house to arriving at the CLM (because of the walk to the bus stop from the house and then from the bus to the CLM) but it is a much easier journey than the walk! Still, when I have time I try to walk, because I enjoy the exercise.
One of the Bucknell students, Julia, is in my Civilization class, and we found out last week that I can walk her home, and then walk the rest of the way to my house, and it takes the same time as the other route I usually take. So on Monday and Wednesdays we walk home together.
On Fridays we don't have classes, which gives us the opportunity to travel on the weekends (that we don't have trips with Bucknell). In the last few weeks, Bucknell students have gone to Portugal, Morroco, Prague, Italy.... The first weekend after the beginning of classes, I went to Nerja with my senora, who has a house there. We left on Friday, which was a national holiday, el dia de hispanidad, so Ima had the day off work. Her son, Eduardo, and his wife, Noria also came with us, with their beagle Nela. I had a really good time. Friday night I went out to the feria (fair) with Ima, and her neighbors, one of whom is my professor of Varieties of Spanish!
Maria had told me that Ima was friends with him, but I didn't know I would see him at the beach. It was amusing when his wife introduced him to me, saying "Guess what, Pedro teaches at the CLM, where you take classes." I smiled and said, "I know, he is my professor." He hadn't recognized me, which his wife gave him a bit of flack for, but we'd only had two days of class, and there are a lot of students in the class, so I don't blame him for not recognizing me. I just found the situation amusing!
I had a great night at the fair. The fair was like so many that I've been to in the U.S., with rides, and games to play, like throwing darts at balloons. We played a few rounds of bingo, but didn't win anything. Then we went to one of the big canopy tents which were set up where music was being played and listened to the music and danced. At first they were playing traditional Spanish music, and just my professor and his wife danced.
Then when they began playing more modern stuff, everyone got up to dance. I was a bit reluctant, but wasn't given a chance to refuse, which in the end I was glad for. It was so much fun, although a bit surreal to be dancing with my professor and senora! We danced to the twist, I will survive, the YMCA ... as well as some modern Spanish songs that I knew. Then they played more traditional songs, and I returned to the table to watch the dancers. The Spanish know how to have fun! At first I felt that the dancing was one thing that made the fair different from others that I have been too, but then I realized that it is just different music.
This summer, when I was at the county fair, I sat with my friends under the pavilion and listened to a band and watched people dance. That night in Nerja I stayed up longer than any other night here in Spain! I was ready for bed at about one o'clock, way before everyone else was! Finally, at about 3 a.m. we headed home, tired but happy.
Saturday I slept in late, (as did everyone else) and then I walked down to the beach to lie in the sun. I also went swimming. Even though the water was a bit cold, it felt really good, but I didn't stay in long because of all the flotsam that was in the water from the recent flooding. I also spent the afternoon, after la comida, with Kristin, a girl from my intensive Spanish class. She was in Nerja on Friday with her study abroad program and then she and two of her friends stayed the night. I had a really good time with them. I liked her friends, and I discovered a fellow Eddie Izzard lover in her friend Jim. "Cake or death? Cake, please."
(Eddie Izzard is one of my favorite comedians. His observations about life, history and God are hilarious!) Jim and I had fun quoting all of our favorite lines. It was great. Kristin and I also talked about planning a trip to Cabo de Gata, the beach Maria Jose, our professora, had recommended when we had her class in September.
Sunday morning we had churros for breakfast. They were so good, much better than the ones we made in my Spanish class when I was in highschool. I had hot chocolate, which was basically liquid chocolate, to dip them in ... mmmm ... they were amazing! After breakfast I went birdwatching. I walked down to the river, and I saw a lot of birds, but only managed to identify a few. It is hard to go from knowing hundreds of species and calls, to not knowing hardly anything.
Sometimes I feel like I have lost a sense, like my hearing or sight, when I hear a bird singing but don't know what it is. I'm so used to automatically identifying the bird calls I hear around me, it is strange to not know. Another problem is that my bird guide to European birds is falling apart, and isn't the best identification tool ... so, I need to find a new one.
Still, despite these things I had a good time. I haven't birded in so long, it was great to get out again, and even though it was frustrating, it was also exciting to finally identify a bird! It must be a birdwatcher trait to enjoy the confusion and frustration that is often a part of birding! (Wouldn't you agree Debby?) It definitely takes a lot of patience, but it is also so rewarding. I hope that I can get some time to bird when I go to Holland this weekend, and also sometime around the Alhambra. (Last time I was planning on going birdwatching I ended up at NOS for three awesome hours! It's a long story...) All in all, I had a very satisfying weekend in Nerja with my senora.
Last weekend, (the weekend after Nerja) I had another exciting time at the beach, this time at Cabo de Gata with Kristin, and Anna, another friend from our intensive Spanish class. That story is in my next blog, which I'll hopefully also post today. I have already written it, but I want to add many of the beautiful pics I took and that might take time. As always I hope that everything is going well at Bucknell. (I hope that everyone is figuring out their classes okay. I received some emails from my advisors and couldn't believe that it was that time in the semester already!)