Second Week Down!

Things I've learned about La Coruna (and Spain in general) in the past two weeks:

1. Bumpers on cars are actually for bumping. There is no possible way to get in and out of most of the spots on the road without knocking your way though.
2. Apparently everyone is a professional dog trainer, as I have rarely seen a dog on a leash as they stroll by on the street. That or my dog is just a monster. But she's my monster so it's okay.
3. Smoking is much more common overseas. Like, much, much more common. Crazy common.
4. If you don't step on the gas pedal as soon as the light turns green, the entire line behind you will serenade you with honks of all tones all at the same time. On that note, mopeds have the most adorable honk I've ever heard.
5. These people know how to have a good time. If you stop partying before 7AM, you may as well not even go out night before. You are also expected to do the same thing the next night.
6. Of course, my beloved siestas, are the unsung heroes that seem to keep this town rolling.
7. The beach is a place to let everything loose. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Don't think too hard about that.
8. Like Golden, somehow you are always walking uphill.
9. Man purses are in and working.
10. Oreos are equally delicious on this side of the planet, if not more so :)

Things I appreciate about the place I call home that I didn't appreciate as much as I do now:

1. Our appliances - dryers, dish washers, ovens, automatic gas/electric stoves, large refrigerators, etc.
2. American hamburgers. Oh Bob's how I miss you.
3. Dinner before 10PM.
4. The ability to zone out during class and still have a general understanding of what's happening. I zone out for a second here and unfortunately have no idea what we're talking about.
5. My car and parking lots. I could never drive here, it's crazy.
6. Being able to make phone calls without Wi-Fi.
7. Dry air. 
8. The Coloradoan casual look. I mean we still wear our t-shirts, athletic shorts, and sandals anyway, but it would be nice if we didn't get so many weird looks for doing so.
9. The ability to eavesdrop. Actually, to just simply understand conversations in general.
10. "Human interaction in the home" - Victoria. She is yet to encounter all of her roommates and they seem to do their best to time their days so they never see each other.

Two weeks down! This week was pretty calm with some fun adventures mixed in. It was weird because a few times we found ourselves with "free time" - nothing to do, nowhere we had to be, no one we had to please - and we really didn't know what to do. We felt guilty for not filling the time, but it felt so good that we didn't want to! It's probably not something we should get used to, but a fun feeling nonetheless!

Addy, Nicki, and I's classes are going well - we are little better every day and are talking a little faster now. While it's overall a little intimidating because there are so many words and rules and such that we don't know, every time we do know what someone is saying, it's so exciting that we can't help but want to learn more! So that's pretty neat. As for Victoria, while her bosses are almost never at work, she seems to be enjoying her job, though her current project is pretty daunting. She is creating a 30 slide presentation about a greenhouse. I didn't know one could even write 30 pages about a greenhouse, but she has, and it's pretty impressive. Those guys don't even realize how lucky they are that she is their intern.

On Monday after class, Nora, Victoria, Sophie, Addy, Nicki, and I went to what Nicole initially described as a "dance martial arts" class, called capoiera. At the start of class, the Brazilian capoiera master gave us all instruments of various types, from a drum to a tambourine to this wooden instrument that looked like a bow and arrow, and I began to question how I could've confused "dance martial arts" with "band," but just rolled with it. We jammed out (and by jam I mean slowly try to stay on beat together) for a while, but then we moved to the center of the floor and began to rock back and forth. Slowly but surely he started to show us things to do (or try to do) and soon we were all sweating pretty hard. Up, down, handstand, push up-like position, back up, kick, down again, for a long time. Eventually he had us start moving across the floor, and that was my favorite part of the whole class. Not because it was easier or we were good at it, but because I got to witness some of the most incredible visions of coordination to have ever existed. For example, when Victoria was told to do cartwheels all the way across the room. Honestly she did really good for being somewhat afraid of them, but the face she made at the start was priceless. My favorite one though was when Addy and Victoria had to roll all the way across the room at the same time without loosing eye contact with each other. It's safe to say they were laughing long before they started, but at some point they really started losing it and the eye contact was just making it worse. Not something I will easily forget, or let them forget either!

The class was really fun and I think we all want to go back, but we were all so sore that we needed some time to recover. Maybe we will go again next week!

In our Tuesday afternoon class this week our teacher, Maria, took us all on a field trip to the nearby opera house, waterfall, and park (if you've forgotten, I am very passionate about the park, so this was pretty exciting). It was very beautiful and tucked into the park there just so happened to be a Science Center. Inside, the center housed nerd heaven and I think every child from the west side of La Coruna. That's okay though, we felt right at home. There was a super cool double pendulum swing set, lots of circular motion toys, a little glass box with little hatching chicks that was its own level of adorable, and so much more. At every stop Addy, Vic, and I found ourselves explaining (or at least trying) the physics behind it, and while it made us seem even more dorky than before (if that's possible) it was so fun that none of us really cared. Maybe we did choose the right major at school after all. After Maria was able to collect us all, we strolled through the park, got some ice cream, and talked until our usual end time. Best. Class. Ever.

One afternoon Addy, Vic, Nicki, and I went to a Churreria downtown. Nicki hadn't tried the infamous hot chocolate n' churros combination, and we all felt pretty good about experiencing it with her. They were very delicious, and they even had dairy-free hot chocolate, which made it even more yummy (for me, at least)! 

On Thursday night we all went to a bar in town and had drinks and tapas with some Spanish people who are currently learning English. Overall we were speaking Spanglish and from the outside it probably resembled something like group speed dating (if that's a thing), but it was really, really fun! They were all so nice and it was actually really cool to perhaps maybe, just maybe, be speaking enough Spanish for someone to understand. One girl said she thought I was 25 and really couldn't figure out how we are 19. She also said that for her last birthday, she and her friend partied for 4 days. 4. Entire. DAYS. I tried to play it cool, but I didn't have anything to say in any language but "wow!" We talked for about 2 hours before we parted ways, but it flew by and was a very fun experience!

My roommate just came in and said a lot of things really fast and I didn't get any of it so then all he repeated was "bano" (bathroom) and then made this air sweeping gesture with his hands. Though I finally understood that he wanted me to clean the bathroom, I was tempted not to tell him that so he'd either continue air sweeping or perhaps come up with some other great dance moves to show the dumb American what she needed to do, but instead I just headed for the bathroom, cleaning supplies in hand. I got so used to living with the angel that is Melissa that I forgot what it's like to live with boys. Let's just say, it's clean now. Oy, muchachos.

What else, what else...Oh Sophie and Nora went and got haircuts, but though they showed pictures and gave what they thought were clear instructions, they walked out with completely different styles than what they asked for. To us, they both looked very cute, but they knew the truth of the story. They handled it like champs and laughed about it even just after it happened. You only live once!

Another random thing - one of my roommates, Alvaro, is a very jolly guy. I haven't really seen him do anything but smile and laugh, most likely at my inability to speak. Anyway, he works a lot, but when he gets home and hears me in my room, he yells, "Ah Lorenaaaaa! Que taaaaal?" to which I respond, "bien, y tu?" and he says, "bien!" Though that's about the extent of it, it's so fun when he belts the "a" that isn't actually on the end of my name. I wouldn't be surprised if Santa is a distant relative of his and his spirit animal is a panda bear. What a guy. 

Well I think that's all for this week! On Friday night there is a big celebration for San Juan, with food, bonfires, fireworks, the whole nine yards. Then, on Sunday, we are all going to a nearby beach to learn to surf! We're all very excited, I'll let you know how it goes!

Quote of the Week: "I thought I just translated it wrong." - Lauren to Victoria while listening to Spanish music in class one day and realizing not all lyrics are G rated.

Post Capoeira Glamour

Nerds getting their picture with the Isaac Newton apple tree

Spanglish students unite!