Hello everyone! As I gradually get used to the time-change, I can feel my Spanish comprehension slowly getting better as well. This morning, I woke up and at breakfast at my hotel, then checked out and got a taxi to the university housing that I will be staying at during the Fellowship. Carla, the site manager, was there to greet me. She gave me a welcome package and showed me to my dorm.
Three fellows showed up at the same time as me: Saman, Kirsten, and Kyle. Saman is from California, Kirsten is from Missouri, and Kyle is originally from Boulder but he is going to school in Ohio. We went to a small cafe and chatted about skiing, our excitement for the trip, and the Spanish language. Kyle and I knew more Spanish than the other two girls, so we translated most of the communications with the waiter.
We ran into the owner of the university building (he didn’t speak a lick of English) but I chatted him up about where I was from and what I thought about Spain so far. “Arizona!” he exclaimed. “Cerca de la frontera de Mexico, sí?” (Close to the Mexican border, right?) I told him yes and he got excited and complimented me on my Spanish. He also recognized the state of Colorado where Kyle was from, but he was disappointed the Californian and Missourian couldn’t understand the conversation.
Shortly after we were returning from the cafe, four more fellows showed up. Sean from Iowa, Lily from California, De’Ryonne from California, and Caroline from… (I don’t remember). The only person who is missing now is Ethan from Florida. We walked around the city and stopped for some gelato, then we went down to the “beach”, which was really a sandy area next to a river. There were tons of locals participating in a beach volleyball tournament down by the shore.
We went to the grocery store and picked up a few items and then walked back to the housing. Kyle and a couple of the others looked ready to pass out, so they went into their rooms to take a nap. I went back into the dorm to unpack and write this blog post! I’m still trying to overcome jetlag, so I’m forcing myself to stay up late. But tomorrow is our very first excursion! I’ll be sure to update about how it goes! Adios!
Anna-phylactic Shock 