The first day

This morning, I booted in the bathroom of the IES center.

Now, I wish I had some sort amazing story about a crazy night out partying and a horrible hangover, but alas, this was not the case. I'm not sure what happened---maybe a combo of not enough sleep, not enough to eat, and dehydration from the plane. Whatever it was, it was the first time I have thrown up like that since 4th grade. Super.

I woke up this morning feeling crummy, and I tried to eat some yogurt but just couldn't. My roommates, RA and I all walked to the Metro stop, got on, switched lines, and got to the IES center in the Plaza Catalunya. It's a nice building just to the side of the plaza. We had a special orientation for the Spanish Language House that I am living in. We all introduced ourselves, and we learned about the activities we are going to have. There are only 9 of us (5 girls and 4 boys), but we get extra money from IES to plan activities for the group to practice Spanish or to experience Spanish culture. We could go to flamenco lessons, or play Monopoly in Spanish. From what I heard of it before one of the directors looked at me and asked me if I needed to leave (which I obviously did), it seems like we're in a cool program!

After that some of roommates and I came back to the house for an early siesta. We then had an overall orientation at 3. It was two hours about our housing rules, the side trips and extracurriculars that IES offers, etc. A little boring but I ran into a fellow Jumbo, Nikki, so that was good. We got little sandwiches (jamon del pais mmm) and came back to the apartment.

At around 6ish we went on a tour of the barrio we live in with the rest of our house. We got our bearings straight, so that was good. When we were walking, this man blatantly bumped into me and one of the guys. Apparently, it is a stereotype that Americans take up too much room on the sidewalk. I guess that is correct and he wanted to highlight it for us. Then we came home and got ready for the night! A group of people came over to our apartment and hung out for a bit. We had some wine and beer but I didn't partake, as I still wasn't sure about the stomach (we're all clear now!). At around 11ish we hopped on the metro and went to this club Shoko. It was a huge welcome party for all the international kids. There were SO many people there, and from 10:30-12 they were serving free dinner (sushi, chicken skewers, etc.) and an open bar of wine and beer. So there were a lot of people there early, when usually most people come to the clubs at 1 or 1:30. I ran into Neha, Kate, and Kip! Jumbo love. We stayed until around 1:45-2, hopped in cabs and came back home.

Spain really needs some late night take out services. We came home and wanted pizza or something, but settled for cereal and Nutella on toast. I guess because people don't eat dinner here until 11 pm, they usually aren't hungry when they come home. Or they stay up until breakfast for some churros con chocolate. We talked for a little and then got ready for bed.

I'm starting to feel more adjusted and excited about this semester. Yesterday I was so tired and I didn't feel good and I was nervous, all of which added up to some apprehension about being here for 4 months. But after running into some people from Tufts, getting to know my roommates more, and going out to experience Spanish life, I'm feeling much better. I'm really excited for the next couple of months, and I know they are going to fly by. It's going to be amazing though!

Loves.

P.S. We have a tiny little turtle in our apartment. Her name is Antonia. My RA Cristina thinks she might be anorexic or depressed. She hasn't been eating much---I'll keep you all posted on her status. ;-)