¡Octubre!

Octubre

My adorable friend Kiersten

I can't believe it's already October...which means I've already been here for a month. The weather certainly doesn't have me believing it's Fall. It's 86 degrees today! And it's going to be hot all week. I took advantage of the beach today...I wish I had the time to everyday! And I'm getting even tanner. I have proof because my bronzer is now the same color as my face! (Go me!!) By October in Portland...I'd be white as snow.

Mi familia

I think I've set a new standard for American exchange students in my Spanish house. My mom couldn't believe what a good grade I got on my grammar exam and said that I am such a good student because I don't go out all the time and come back at 6 in the morning. It kind of saddens me that these are the expectations they had of me, and have of most American students. My host parents are starting to realize that I actually am interested in their lives, enjoy talking to them and hanging out. Every day we get closer and closer and my parents seem to really enjoy having me around. My host dad is always cracking jokes and asking me questions which never happened at the beginning (I think he thought I was an idiot, from previous experiences with exchange students). Meals used to be quiet and quick. Now we chat for a couple of hours and my host dad and I eat our ice cream cones together after dinner. My host mom knows I want to go to Italy and France in November and December and she pulled out her computer and helped me look up some super cheap flights (thanks to her I found 1-2 euro flights, crazy right?!). I'm glad we're forming such a nice bond. :)

La práctica

As of this Wednesday (tomorrow and Tuesday are holidays), I'll be starting my internship!!

On Monday I went out to the colegio with my other program director, Marisa, and I met the two English teachers who will be mentoring me and keeping track of my hours. I love them to death and I only spent a couple of hours with them. Their names are Raquel and Anabel and they couldn't be sweeter. Raquel works with the high school kids and Anabel teaches the primary school kids. I will mostly be working with Raquel but all of the English teachers at the colegio want my help so I'll be working in several other classrooms as well (I was told I'm going to be spread out among the teachers because they'll get jealous otherwise...). I don't know exactly what I'll be doing yet but I am considered a teacher at the school, students have to call me "Profesora Zoe," I will be speaking only in English while in the classroom and can speak in Spanish during breaks outside the classroom with students and faculty, and eventually I will be conducting classes on my own (!!). They also want me to help plan fun activities like Halloween and various theatrical performances. I could not be more excited to start! I will be working close to 20 hours a week on top of my university classes (this includes some Fridays because I will be working to make up hours from days that I have travel plans). It's a busy schedule but I can only imagine how rewarding the experience will be. And I'll let you know how the first week goes in my next blog!

Horario nuevo

Here is my new schedule for October and November. As you can see I've become quite a bit busier. Monday's are going to be my longest day of the week...not sure I'm ready for that. I'll be gone from 7:30 in the morning until 9 at night. But I am excited to start tutoring on Mondays! I get the privilege of tutoring Pepa's daughter and niece (my program director's daughter and niece!). She said that there are lists of parents who want English tutors for the their kids but she wanted to keep me for herself, which makes me feel really special. I start tomorrow and it pays!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:00 8:55	Colegio
9:00 9:50	Colegio	Colegio	Colegio		(Colegio)
9:55 10:45		Colegio	Colegio	Colegio	(Colegio)
Break
11:10 12:00	Colegio	Colegio	Colegio
12:00 12:55	Colegio	Colegio	Colegio	Colegio
Break
1:10 2:00	Colegio			Colegio
2:00 2:55
3:00 3:55	Social & Cultural Realities Class	History of Modern Spain	Social & Cultural Realities Class
4:00 4:55	Social & Cultural Realities Class		Social & Cultural Realities Class	Women’s Psychology
5:00 5:55	Tutoring English		History of Modern Spain	Women’s Psychology
6:00 6:55	Tutoring English		History of Modern Spain
7:00 7:55	Tutoring English
8:00 8:55		Women’s Psychology
9:00 9:55

La vida nocturna

Me, Kiersten, and Tsunako

Javier, me, Kiersten, and Andrew

When I'm not dead tired from my schedule, I do go out a little bit at night and grab drinks with friends. This last week, I went out for tapas and drinks with my intercambio Javier, Andrew, and Kiersten. That was really fun. And on Friday I went out to a bar with Andrew, Kiersten, Tsunako, and Kenta (two Japanese exchange students that were in my grammar class last month). We didn't do anything crazy or stay out super late but we ordered a liter of sangria and some piña coladas and it was a lot of fun!


La comida

Tapas and wine!

Saturday is my favorite day because Saturday is paella day! I think my host family must think I don't like anything else they make because when they bring out paella, I eat twice as much as I normally do at any other meal. It's that good. My host mom has been trying to get me to eat ice cream twice a day (once after lunch and once after dinner), I'm pretty sure she's going to start asking me after breakfast soon. I almost always take her up on it after dinner and occasionally at lunch. But her new treat after lunch is now vanilla pudding. Yesterday she brought it out for the first time and watched me closely as I took the first bite and immediately asked if I liked. I said, of course I do, it's pudding! I've never seen her so happy that I liked something. There is now a ton of it in the fridge...guess it's good that I like it! My host mom also loves the fact that I like coffee just as much as her. She's always asking me if I want coffee and if for some reason I don't have my usual late afternoon cup she assumes something is wrong with me :)

I'm so very happy to report that my stomach/gall bladder/digestive problems have improved so much since I arrived in Spain. A year ago this last week I was in the ER twice with the first symptoms of a cranky gall bladder and I'm so happy that it's now gone and I can pretty much eat whatever I want now. It's incredible how much better I feel after a year (really 19 years worth of stomach pains and problems). My host mom is convinced that the change in meal schedules and foods have improved my digestive problems. In Spain there are five meals (breakfast, little lunch, big lunch, snack, and dinner) and she believes that my digestive system is doing better because I eat more frequently and thus my liver doesn't have to produce as much bile anymore to digest 3 big meals a day). And she certainly has reason to believe that, because since I've arrived I don't take as much medicine to be able to eat, my stomach hardly ever hurts, and I can eat pretty much anything I want. I'm so grateful. We also learned in my cooking class that studies have shown that people who live along the Mediterranean eat better and live healthier lives. Not too bad, eh?