Un Poco Loco

Wow.  It's only been like 3 days since the program started but it feels like forever.  We met the first day for orientation, had a relatively comprehensible meeting, went for a tour of important things like Metra stops and banks, ate dinner, and crashed (we had to get up early the next day).

The day after (Tuesday) we got up early, went to more meetings, placement exams, more meetings, more tours, another meeting, and then met our host family since by that time, we were so fried we could barely walk straight.  I love my family, though!  They are a couple from the Dominican Republic, with two children.  The dad's name is Antonio, and the Mom is Bea.  Their son, Angelo, is 11 and goes to an FC Barcelona school.  He loves to play soccer, and is a forward.  I might get to go to one of his games this Saturday, which I'm really looking forward to!  The daughter, Beth, is going to turn 1 on September 22nd.  She's so cute, and just learning how to walk.

When the first picked me up, Bea was talking and it was very difficult to talk to her since she spoke so quickly.  But Antonio stepped in and was much more clear, so I could converse fairly well with him.  The house never ever gets quiet, everybody is always yelling at everybody else, but it's always in Spanish so that's cool with me :)

I was feeling really overwhelmed, but then I sat down with Antonio to watch the Spain-Argentina game that was played yesterday.  It was a really good way to chill out, and talk with him in a more relaxed setting.  He's also a big Obama fan, so the University of Chicago gear that I brought them went over quite well.  Unfortunately for all of us, Spain played awful.  There was a goalie fumble that was, in my eyes, probably the most cringe-worthy thing I've ever seen on a soccer field.  Ouch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNDKDDrDKQ4  (around the 2:40 mark)

I also got a cellphone!  Probably won't be using it to call the USA, but I have it to call my friends here.  Woot.

This morning we had more meetings, and then our first class, which was 3 hours long.  I already have homework, which is a bummer.  My teacher taught for 2 years at UChicago, so when I told her where I went to school she asked if I knew Irena Kajkova, who was my first (and favorite) spanish teacher at UC.  It was pretty neat.  However, she didn't see any need to talk slowly since we were an "advanced" class.  I could follow her most of the time... but not all of it.  Fortunately the rest of the class was in the same boat, so afterward we all got together and compared notes.

After class a couple of us walked down to the beach, which was packed with tourists.  Also, we were on the part of the beach that allows partial nudity, which we didn't realize until we saw a man with a shirt but no swim trunks.  Awkward.

So the days have been packed but fun.  I'm crazy about Spain, I love the weather, I love the people, I love the architecture, and I love the food (well, most of it-  I accidentally ordered a dish that was flavored with octopus ink and it turned my mouth black).  But I'm super excited to be here!