Some peculiarities about spain

Well, there is a mountain of things that I should write about, but I just thought I'd share some of the odd things that I've encountered here:

The weather is either hot or cold. If I had a nickel for every time my host mom or another random woman in the street said "Aye que calor!" or "Aye que frio!", I'd bring you all to Spain. But it's never just pleasant outside, she is either freezing or burning up. Maybe it's menopause? Along these lines, if it's under 65f in the house, I have to wear slippers. My host dad told me that if someone in Cadiz gets cold, they stay cold forever. I am not sure how much I believe that... the wonders of the circulatory system. It's these kind of things that I wish I could debate with them in Spanish, but my language skills are so poopy still that all I can do is nod and smile. Other tidbits of wisdom from my host dad: It's windy in Cadiz because of the romans, there are so many crazy people in Cadiz because of the wind....

Nodding and smiling is what I do a lot here. Like today when my host mom told me that spanish mom's always tell the truth, unlike mom's in the United States. I'm not sure what to make of that haha. I made a joke about how she is ALWAYS right, and she took it totally the wrong way. She was being completely and utterly serious and I just didn't understand.

We had our first sort of "misunderstanding" yesterday- she told me that I couldn't continue reading my book in english because I am here to learn spanish. I was really upset because I was really homesick (and I still am...). She also got upset with me because I haven't made Spanish friends yet. I have only been here 2.5 weeks!!!! Gosh. It really set me off, I was so upset with her all day, but I felt like I couldn't express it/show it to her. When my host dad came home she rushed me off to take a shower so he wouldn't see me crying. I feel like it's way more taboo to cry here than it is in the U.S. and it just made me way MORE frustrated that I couldn't even cry.

She had also told me something about her upcoming trip a few weeks ago, but I thought that I just didn't understand where she was going, because I definitely didn't understand when she was leaving. But she got really offended yesterday because I had still not asked where she was going and she leaves on sunday.

Also, today my host dad got upset with me because it is customary to give kisses to everyone when you come home and when you leave, and I forgot. It is these little things that make me feel so awkward here, and I wish that I could just come home somedays.

Other little things: people don't pick up their dog poop here, so you have to constantly keep an eye out for dog poop, ( and EVERYONE has a little dog) but you also have to keep your head up so you don't get run over by motos or cars. I feel like a bobblehead doll somedays.

I am 99% sure my host mom irons my underwear. And clothes are folded inside out here?

Also, everything is SO expensive here, and the exchange rate just keeps getting worse. I feel sort of limited in what I do because I don't want to blow all of my money (and I've already spent quite a bit...). A lot of my American friends here have quite deep pockets, and it has become quite obvious that they are going to lead a very different way of life here than I can or would want to.

Other than these little things, life is going pretty well. Hopefully I can update soon, it just seems like I am always busy. I miss the United States a lot right now, but hopefully that will go away sooner rather than later...

Safe and Sound

Well I´ve arrived here in Madrid. There is so much to say and I am still processing it all really. Our trip was long and exhausting, but somehow I am awake at 8:30 am (up since 5). We got here at about 8pm Madrid time (11am pst) on thursday, a full 24 hours after leaving Seattle. Stopping over in Copenhagen was my first real "peak" at what Europe might be like. We settled in to the hostel, took showers, and then went out. We ended up eating Italian food (within our comfort zones, haha) and then going to a few bars. People here have been really nice. Giving us directions, helping us with our bags. We were getting lots of cat calls last night, but it seemed like it was more just flirting and not really agression. Everything is super expensive here, and I am still getting used to the Euro and the metric system...

I will have more to say tonight as we are going to el Museo Prado and a big park like central park, and hopefully I will have some pictures.