Wow, I've been here over a week?

el 9 de septiembre de 2008

Wow. Again, I start with that word. It's really the only thing I can use to describe this place. I'm always in awe. We went to this little secluded beach yesterday afternoon, and to get there we had to walk along this beautiful cliff walk. I remember on the way back looking across the Bay and seeing the two gorgeous beaches stretching across my entire view, behind which stood this beautiful city, and of course behind that towered mountains topped with clouds. The sun was shining, and I had to check myself. Do I really live here? Am I truly in this place? Did I really leave all my family and friends and security behind? How could I have done so? This must be a dream.

But it's not, it only seems so.

So the first week was amazing! I am currently taking two classes: Grammar and Converstation. Both profesores are absolutely amazing. They're really laid back, but I'm learning SO much. I really am. I'm in the 3rd level (of 4) and decided to do so based on my want for a stronger base before starting the semester. Much of what we're going over I have already learned or addressed before in my studies, but the new style of presentation and learning it from someone who actually speaks Spanish all class is so different. As I said, I'm learning, and have learned already, so much. It's a little tough sometimes because the 40 of us aren't on the same level, and so we have to switch back and forth between languages quite often. Everyone here speaks English (what the hell!) but we're pretty good about speaking Spanish a lot. When we're in a bigger group, there's a little more English spoken just because it's the nature of the beast. But it greatly depends on how lazy/tired/intoxicated we are.

As far as how I pass the day, well that's easy. It's Spain. I have class from 09:15-14:00ish, with two 5 minute breaks and one 1/2 hour break. Grammar lasts 3 hours, and Conversation is about 1 hour or a little over. The program itself has 40 students in it, and they're all awesome. Already I've made a lot of new friends. The groups is quite the mescla, with Austrians, Frenchies, a handful of Americans (only 2 in addition to us 3), 2 girls from the UK, and the rest are all Germans. Almost the whole group is Germans actually. Anyays, after class we come home and have lunch, and then siesta begins. Today is actually the first day I've taken full adventage of siesta. The first week we spent the afternoons going to the supermarket, trying to find household items and groceries that we'd need. Then Cory arrived on Wednesday and so he also had things to get, so we returned again. Yesterday we spent siesta at the beach (a pretty good trade off) but today was the first day I stayed home. I took a nap. Actually, I would have gone to the beach with some others but I wasn't feeling to well. I think I might be getting a bit of a cold, so I wanted some more sleep. I do feel better (thanks for asking!).

So after the afternoon activities we normally break and have dinner at home or some people go out or sometimes we all go out together. The night can start at any time from 8 to midnight depending on what day it is. Weekdays we normally go out around 8ish and then stay out til aftermidnight or so, maybe 1 or 2 if we push it, then walk home. Weekends... well... I came home at 5am on Saturday. Haha, it was a great night! We left the apartment at midnight after making tortilla from scratch... and then immediately devouring it. But side note: I'm going to be in such good shape in about 2 weeks. Santander is situated on a hill. The University and my apartment on are one side, towards the top, and el centro (the bars, shops, etc) is on the other side. So the walk home is a long, sobering, 15 minute walk straight uphill. Ridiculous. I actually prefer it though, for several reasons: it really does sober you up, it's getting me in shape, and I'm a cheap bastard and it's cheaper than a taxi. Ha!

So that's the night life. The beaches here are absolutely amazing! I can't even describe them. The one we went to on Sunday was fantastic. I've never seen anything like it. The bottom contours were all messed up. You could tell just walking on them! They undulated very much, and becaues of this the waves would break 2 or 3 times on their way in. That led to a very interesting phenomenon, which was that over the 8 hour period we were there, I never once looked out and saw less than 4 waves breaking at once. There are waves breaking all the time, all over the place. It's so beautiful. The one down side is when you rent a surfboard, haha. We got our asses kicked. It was so fun though! I can't wait to go back. It's really cheap too, only 10euro for the whole day's rental of the board and wetsuit. The water here is very, very cold (think RI waters in April or May) and so the wetsuit is essential, especially if you're out there for a while.

I've described the general outlook, so now it's time for some highlights! Surfing is definitely one, and Cañadio is surely another. It's this open air plaza surrounded by bars. When the cops aren't there, we normally sneak up the street to a corner store, buy a couple of 6-packs, and then bring them down to enjoy on the fountains and stairs, talking the night away. I really can't describe the experience. It seems so simple, but I really couldn't ask for much more. We've had such good times there, and it's only been a week and a half. In addition, on Sunday I had quite the meal. We went out to dinner after surfing and quickly noticed that not only could none of us really read the menu, but we couldn't describe what we did know to the others becuase we couldn't translate from spanish to english/german, and then to german/english, haha. In any case, I accidentaly, but was pleased to find out, that I had ordered octopus. It was delicious! It had a texture like calimari crossed with scallops. It was good though. It also helped that we downed two pitchers of Sagnría. Oh man, so good! The other drink I love is called "calimocho", which is half red wine and half coka-cola. It's absolutely delicious! Try it as soon as possible! Also, making tortilla is really fun, and it's so tasty! I can't wait to make more. So far Cory has made two, Amanda made one at her other friends house, and I think I might be up next, or at least I'd like to try.

So that's it for now I guess. In short, this place is amazing, I love the people, love the city, my Spanish is improving, I'm enjoying myself, and I can't wait for visitors so I can share some of these amazing experiences with you all!

Salutaciones.

Antentamente,
Andrew
Santander, ESP