Cormac arrived today! It was really fun going to the airport by myself (a bit of an adventure) to pick him up and awesome to see his familiar face.
I woke up Thursday and went to class, as usual. Classes are going well. We have one Spanish class which is composed of two parts: grammar and practice. Our grammar teacher, Manolo, is AWESOME. He is by far the best Spanish teacher I have ever had and is extremely entertaining. Each day we start class by writing a small story (un texto) and then reading them aloud and getting corrections/explanations of grammar errors we made. It's really helpful to get feedback this way and I've sort of been wondering why none of my teacher's in the States ever bothered to explain some of the simple and common rules that I have discovered in the past week. We also can ask any sort of questions about things we encountered in our interactions with our host families or random people on the streets. He has taught us a lot of common slang phrases and cuss words which I have been hearing at an alarming rate all over the city since I have become aware of their meaning. My favorite phrase we have learned is "I shit in the milk!". Spaniards use this to express frustration and it is not uncommon to hear little kids say it in the plaza while playing soccer. Monolo told us a hilarious story about one of his exchange students trying to use this phrase while walking with the dean. They were headed to lunch and the student said something and then "and after, I'm going to shit on the table". This story was to illustrate that we do not really understand how to use the phrase "shit in the milk" yet and should therefore avoid trying it out.
Our other teacher, for verbal practice, is a really soft spoke and impossible to understand woman named Susana. We all loath her class because it is impossible to understand what she is saying and all we do are really childish worksheets about character, mysteries, Shakira, and inventions. I have not learned anything in her class other than the fact that some Spanish guy made Chupachups (a brand of lollipops). By the end of the class there are several sub conversations going on in the back row, rarely related to the topic of the worksheet in front of us. Our goal is usually to get her off topic or embarrass her by using the new foul vocabulary that Manolo has just taught us.
After class we all sit around and take advantage of the internet connection. Most people are working hard to plan Semana Santa (spring break) trips. Luckily, Cormac and I are doing a relaxed tour of Italy and do not have to book a million flights. I usually write emails and check facebook during this time. Around 2:00 we all head home for lunch and siesta time.
At 4:30 I met up with most of the group at Café Vega, our favorite place to meet. Vega has awesome pastries and coffee plus free wifi. They have a huge room upstairs where we can set up camp for a couple hours at a time to do more trip planning and socializing. It was a good distraction for me while I anxiously awaited Cormac's arrival!
At 6:45 I made my way over to the bus station to try and find the airport shuttle. I asked several people for help in Spanish, with great success. I got on the bus and took the 15 minute ride to the airport for 2 Euros. When I got to the airport I was surprised to see Caroline, an exchange student from Great Britain, waiting at the gate to greet her boyfriend who was on the same flight as Cormac (weird and small world). Cormac came moseying out of the gate and we sat and talked until the shuttle returned.
Back in Santander, we hunted down Cormac's hostel (Pension de Madrid) in a part of town I haven't really been to before. The hostel was really nice, purple walls with white lace curtains. The woman in the hostel was really nice and I could understand her very easily (she didn't speak any English). Cormac's credit card wouldn't work so I communicated in very weird Spanish that we would go to an ATM as soon as possible.
After settling in to the hostel Cormac realized that he was starving so we went into the city in search of food. Cormac and I both get very cranky when we are hungry so finding a place to eat is a bit of a chore if we wait too late. We settled on a place called Cruzcampoo where Cormac had a sausage wrapped in bacon and filled with cheese, I had a ham and cheese sandwich, and we each had a Paulander. The walk back to the hostel was long since we were both tired and full.
haha you have to teach me some spanish cuss words because that whole shit on the milk/table thing was hilarious. Also Jeremy and i have the same hungry=cranky restaurant hunt problem (comforting to know im not the only one!) and Cormac's dinner looks like a large bug (toothpick legs) Hope you kids had a nice visit and that Italy is awesome!
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