Much Much Better

Today was a much better day. Last night I was pretty upset and feeling pretty down. I think it was just a mix of being in a new place and being stressed out, as well as some things not being what I expected. This week my host brothers were not at home, so my host mom wasn't home very much - and I don't understand her very well - so I was pretty sure that she didn't like me. And all of the people in my program really like to go out to just get drunk, and that's not my scene, so I've been feeling pretty lonely.

Anyway, I talked to my host mom and told her how I was feeling and last night we made some pasta and watched Miss Congeniality (in Spanish of course...I think it was called La Agente Especial"... something like that...But yes I felt better after that.

So today, I went into the city with some people in my program and we went to El Corte Inglés because I needed to buy a straightener and a bag for my school books. I can tell my spanish is getting a little better here and there because today I was able to go to the store and talk to the cashiers and know what was going on - much better than trying to buy a phone when I know nothing about electronics to begin with. After that we got lunch at a little restaurant and I tried "una bocadilla de calamari" - which I believe next to paella is the second most popular food in Spain.

After I got home I took a little nap and then around 6 I finally got to meet my host brothers. They are 10 and 7 and have so much energy! We ended up playing Sims for a few hours then had some homemade pizza. I also got to meet their dad who is from the Galicia area and he was much easier for me to understand. We actually had an intellectual conversation about different languages and the complexities of them and how words are created and whatnot - how I can manage that but not a conversation about my trip to school is beyond me.

But yes, today was much better and I'm starting to feel more comfortable with the city and my family and communicating with my real family. (By the way - Happy Birthday Mommy!! your present will arrive whenever I can manage to figure out how mailing packages works...so it might be a while...) Tomorrow I have another orientation type activity. It's a scavenger hunt around the city to help us use our Spanish and meet people so I'm excited.