Melissa's Travels

It's Friday afternoon here in Alicante, Spain and I've just come home from class. My roommate is in Italy this weekend and said I could borrow her computer so I thought I'd take this opportunity to keep everyone posted on what I've been up to this past week since I arrived in Spain. Let me warn you in advance though that after being immersed in Spanish for this past week, I've found that my English is deteriorating. It's very difficult to not have a grasp on Spanish and at the same time losing my proficiency in my first language. Hopefully I learn a great deal more Spanish before I forget English altogether. Anyways, here's the scoop on my travels so far in Spain:I left Seatac bound for Spain last Friday afternoon. I could lie to everyone and say that it was an easy departure, that I headed to my departure gate grinning and dreaming of all of the adventures I was going to have in Spain. However, the truth is that I spent the two hours prior to my departure wandering in a nonstop circle out of fear that if I sat down and actually stopped to consider what I was doing that I would either a) get sick b) have a panic attack. I did take a break from my walking to call my family and upon reaching my sister I instantly burst into tears and exclaimed that I had made a mistake, that I didn't actually want to go to Spain, that I couldn't actually do this . My mind frantically searched for a way to "get out of" going to Spain without having to face the questions and disappointment of everyone. Thankfully my sister was able to talk some sense into me and I did end up boarding my flight. I must warn all of you that traveling to Europe on Easter weekend is not a wise idea. After a turbulent flight to England I spent 9 hours trying to get some sleep. I can't help but laugh at what I must've looked like sleeping curled up on a wooden bench with my arms wrapped tightly around my duffel bag...what a sight! I didn't arrive in Madrid until close to 1am and then had to head to my hotel where I got a total of 4 hours of sleep before it was time to catch the train to Alicante. I attempted to tell my taxi driver "Happy Easter" in Spanish, but he looked at my like I was nuts. His expression could've also been a result of the fact that I gave him a 5 euro tip, but I wasn't sure how to ask for the change in Spanish and really just wanted to get on my way... The train ride to Alicante took about 4 hours and then came the task of finding the home of my host family. It turns out that my family lives 5 minutes from the train station, but I didn't know this so I hailed another cab...and received another crazy look from a cab driver. My host family is incredibly friendly. They're actually from Argentina and they told me why they moved to Spain, but I couldn't really understand the explanation because...my host family only speaks Spanish! My host mom is very patient and helpful with my Spanish but my host father talks so fast!! The other day he asked me what my astrological sign was, but it took him another 5 minutes of explanation and repetition before I could actually understand what he said! Also, the first night I was here he asked if I had a "novio" (boyfriend), but I thought he was asking me about snow, which sounds a little similar...thankfully I had my roommate to translate for me! There are actually two other students from the U.S. who live with the family and they have a daughter who is 21 as well. It's a very busy apartment!! We're located right across from the bus station and this combined with the fact that my family has a bird meant I didn't get much sleep my first couple of nights here. Thankfully I found my earplugs and this has made a world of difference! I think I'm finally over my jet lag as well--the first few days in Spain I took a 4 hour siesta every afternoon!! My first day of classes was Monday. If any of you have read Eat, Pray, Love, you'll recall Elizabeth Gilbert's feelings of anticipation on her first day of class. Just like her I was very anxious for my placement test. I did not want to be in the lowest level, anything but the lowest level would be okay. I took 2 quarters of Spanish for goodness sakes! Even if it was two years ago...I could NOT be in the lowest level! Then came the moment when I found out what class I was in--I was not in the lowest level! You'd think I'd be excited...and I was until I found out that in my class they spoke ONLY in Spanish. No English, ever. Somehow I was placed in a class that picked up exactly where I left off with Spanish 2 years ago and during this week we've covered at least a quarter's worth of material. My head is spinning with indefenidos and imperativos... and then next week I am moving on to the next class!! The learning will never end! At least I don't have to worry about not actually learning Spanish while here! I've already made some great friends from my school here. There are two other people in my current class, a 27 year old business woman from Switzerland and a 33 year old science teacher from England. We talk only in Spanish with eachother and are quite the hilarious trio. Yesterday we joined up with two students from Germany and another from Korea to head to a local town, Altea, also on the Mediterranean. Oh yeah, did I mention that the beach is 5 minutes from my house? It is absolutely AMAZING! I think I'll spend this weekend studying all of my verb conjucations on the beach. This email has already become far too lengthy, thank you to anyone who's actually read to this point!! I hope to hear from all of you soon, I don't have email at home but will try my best to get back to you soon! Ciao!