Day 3- Domingo

Today is Sunday and I couldn't be more excited to celebrate Spanish culture with a day of rest. I woke up at noon and my host mom fed me cereal con leche and a “galleta.” I always thought that meant cookie but it was a sweet bread pastry type thing. Regardless, I like anything sweet so I’ll eat it  for breakfast. It has become routine that at every meal she comments on how little I eat. She’s always concerned that I’m not getting enough to eat. I've explained that my body isn’t adjusted to the time difference and secondly, I'm used to eating small meals and snacks throughout the day. In my explanation I tell her “mi estomago es poquito.” I only end up eating about half of the giant servings she gives me but the portions keep shrinking so I think she’s picking up on the hint.

After breakfast a few friends and I met up to map out our route to school tomorrow morning. Michelle and I got lost along the way because we are both directionally challenged. We ran into Michael, one of the guys on our program, who was wandering the streets looking for us. He is excellent with directions and led us there with confidence. I'm glad he lives by me because I know I'll never get lost when we walk together. The university is about a 30 minute walk one way from my house. Hopefully all the walking will balance out the large portions of delicious food I’ve been eating. Don’t worry Grammy, I’ll try not to blow up like a balloon.

 Once I got back it was lunch time and I talked with my host mom and host brother about my night as we watched the Spanish equivalent of ESPN. My host brother Oscar plays “futbol” or soccer so he was interested in watching clips from his favorite team, Madrid, on TV. Yet again, I entered another conversation about sports. My host mom and I laughed over the fact that neither one of us really cares about sports. She prefers reality TV, "romanticas", o "telanovelas." Now those I can do!

I decided my siesta today was going to last all day long. I used the day to relax and take a moment to settle in. I’m exhausted but made it until 11pm. I’m feeling delusional and still not adjusted to the time difference. Here in Spain we are 9 hours ahead of Oregon so I’m tired from a combination of jet lag and staying out late last night.

All the stores are closed today since it is Sunday so I’m going on 3 days without a cell phone and hair straightener. Life is rough, right?  I’m experiencing what it was like in the dark ages when you would meet up with people without the help of a cell phone. It is certainly possible but much more difficult. I find myself searching my pockets or in my purse looking for my phone to check the time or see if I have messages, forgetting I don’t have one. It’s such a habit and provides me with a sense of security. I was counting on using my phone as an alarm clock so I had to borrow my host brothers alarm clock to make sure I get up on time tomorrow morning for the first day of class. He graciously set it up for me and explained how to use it in Spanish. Oscar has studied English in school so he would add a few English words to clarify. I learned today that he also lived in San Francisco, California for a month with an exchange student who lived with the Casanova family last year. It seems like everyone here knows a little English. I told him about my trips to California- Disneyland as a kid and my Shasta trip freshman year of college.

Not only am I looking forward to having a cell phone tomorrow but I’m also looking forward to buying a hair straightener. Call me a diva, but after being around the beautiful people of Spain I can’t wait to look a little more polished. I didn't bring one from the United States to Europe because of the voltage difference and differences in outlets. I heard horror stories of girls who went on this program last year and made the power go out in the entier appartment when they tried to use their electric hair stuff from the US using a converter. And I thought not being able to open the door was embarrassing. 

I’m finishing off my night with watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in Spanish with my host mom and dad. They sometimes call me "hija" or daughter while talking to me. They make me feel very welcome.

Day 2- Orientación

Here's what I did on Saturday March 30th:

I woke up at 3:00 in the afternoon today. I’m still not adjusted to the time difference and exhausted from traveling and staying up late last night. When I woke up my host mom called me from downstairs to let me know lunch was ready and I could eat with one of my host brothers, Fernando who is 23, and his friend.  I'm not sure of what her relationship is to Fernando. I couldn't tell if she was a girlfriend or just a friend. I'm guessing girlfriend but I didn't feel brave enough to ask. I was surprised to see a guest in the home because I understood that culturally you don’t usually invite people into your home unless they are family. They’ve invited me here so maybe cultural norms are out the window.

I introduced myself to her and she had a name that I couldn’t pronounce or remember. She asked me about what I’m studying in my classes here at school and told her they start on Monday and they’re all in Spanish. She said she’s learned some English for a few years but she’s horrible at it. I responded quickly with “soy malo a Español y no se mucho.” She responded back with a “no, no, no” and told me I’m doing great because I approached a complete stranger and was able to hold a simple conversation with her.  It always makes me feel more connected to the people when they’ve learned a second language too. You have a mutual understanding of how hard it is to put yourself out there and how important it is for the native speaker to slow down, speak simply, and yelling the words louder isn’t going to help. I asked if she’s in school or works and I learned that she’s a dance instructor and teaches salsa outside the city. This was our second bonding moment because I lit up and told her about how I love to dance and the styles I’ve learned. I hope she comes over more often so that maybe she could help me find some dance classes to take in Santander.  

Today at 7 we had our first orientation with the whole group. There are about 17 of us in the program and we met at a restaurant that overlooks the beach while eating authentic Spanish tortilla. Tortilla in Spain is similar to a quiche and resembles nothing of the tortilla we know in North and South America.

 It was great to meet everyone and hear share stories of our host families, travel adventures, and talking about all the great food. The orientation was directed by Madeline, our onsite coordinator at the University de Cantabria. She speaks English and Spanish so she’s a great resource. Over the next 10 weeks we will be spending a lot of time with her. She was dressed beautifully in a ruffled pink and orange top with black cuffed skinny jeans and black wedges. Although I managed to pack 5 pairs of shoes, I wish I had a pair of wedges too.

Before the orientation I spent some time waiting at el Correos for my friends so and used that time to people watch. Everyone in Spain dresses so nicely and put together. I’ve already started scoping out the best clothing shops when I walk around the city. I’ve decided that trying to blend in and look like the Spaniards is unachievable, my blonde hair and blue eyes are a dead giveaway. Trying to dress less American is achievable by adding a few Spanish touches.  I noticed that a lot of women wear watches, heels, scarves, colored skinny jeans (nude/tan colored ones seemed to be popular), tailored jackets, beautiful skirts, or tights of some sort with skirts and dresses. They’re very modest but have excellent style. The men of Spain are handsome too. I haven’t seen a single guy in sweats or a sweatshirt. They were suits, button up shirts, tailored dress pants or jeans, nice shoes, sleek, fitted shirts and wonderful jackets wherever they go. American boys please take note.

After orientation we met up at 11pm to go out on the town together.  The night before we went out at 9pm which was way too early in Spanish culture. The night doesn’t come alive until about 11 or 12. Madeline told us of the best spot to go where the people our age hang out in Santander at night. All these bars were on a giant hill, which felt like a mountain after climbing it. It even had an outdoor escalator. Last night there were about 300 people spilling out from the bars and into the streets chatting with friends and drinking. It had a wonderful vibe. After wandering for a bit, we met some locals at a bar who took us under their wing and showed us a good time. They could speak a little bit of English which helped us communicate better when they said new Spanish words we didn’t understand.  I talked to one guy for a long time about sports. I rarely understand conversations about sports in English and somehow I was able to follow along and ask questions in Spanish. Thank goodness I learned some sports vocabulary back in the states.

All throughout the night, I kept on telling them “lo siento, no hablo mucho espanol” when I couldn’t remember a word or when they would give me a puzzled look after I said something. They always reassured me and the rest of the group that our Spanish was good and we speak the language well. I still don’t believe them because I feel like I have the vocabulary and grammar of a child.

Later in the conversation they started telling us words you’ll never learn in a Spanish class or from a Spanish textbook because they’re too inappropriate. I felt like I was on the in crowd because I know some “palabras de la calle” or slang. It felt like a rite of passage. One of the girls was so sweet and honest when she cautioned me to be careful about how I pronounce my name in Spanish. Depending on how I say it, it sounds similar to a sexual term. !Que bueno! I’m glad to know sooner rather than later so I can say my own name properly without getting laughed at.

 Another thing we learned was how to give high-fives in Spain. You raise your hand in the air and say “tocala” or “tocala cinco.” We had so much fun that we were out until 5am when the bar closed. Our new friend Ruben cleared up a common misconception that bars are open all night long in Spain. From what I understood, there are laws that started a few years that put some restrictions on hours of operations for hang out spots at night. To wrap up my night in one sentence, I laughed a lot and gave out lots of high-fives with my new Spanish Friends.

Once I got back home I got nervous and was unsure if I would be able to get into the gate and the house. After a 30 minute walk from the bars I didn’t have the energy to climb the fence. At the gate, I tried a new technique to open the gate that I hadn’t tried last night. I pushed my card through instead of sliding it in the slot. It worked like a charm. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t figure out how to unlock the front door of the house on my own. My host dad woke up and let me in at 5:30 am, and yet again I was embarrassed. He happily showed me a second time and made me practice on my own. I should be golden next time!

Day 1

Here’s a portion of an email I sent to my mom late at night on March 30^th, my first day in Spain!

Hola mama,

I'm currently sitting in my bed at my house family’s house and just figured out how to use the converter. I would have sent an email sooner but the converter kept on buzzing and the "surge" button was blinking like crazy. Guess I needed to change it from the "convert" setting to "adapt."

I've been up for more than 30 hours and I'm exhausted from travel but it's necessary to adjust to the time zone. I just got back from going out with my friends and it's about 1am here. I'm only guessing because I don't have a watch, phone, or a clock in my room. I only have the time on my computer that's still set to Oregon time at 4:30 PM. 

I flew from Portland on Thursday March 29 at 7:55 AM to Dallas, Texas. Then I caught a 9.5 hour flight from Texas to Madrid, and finally a short flight from Madrid to Santander. I traveled with 5 other girls who are also part of the program. I was so relieved to have them there every step of the way. When I arrived in Madrid, I called my host family to tell them I was close. I talked to my host mom Lourdes on the phone and I was super nervous. She was very easy to talk to and very excited to hear from me. She got my email and said I had good written Spanish. Who knows if she was being truthful or trying to make me feel better. I told her what I looked like so she could pick me up at the airport. She told me she would find me based on my blonde hair and purple shirt. All I knew was that she had dark hair. The other girls I traveled with had to figure out the bus system and walk to get to their houses. . I felt like a princess because my host mom insisted on picking me up from the airport. Once I arrived in Santander I said goodbye to my friends as they caught Taxi's and rode the bus. I ended up waiting in the airport of Santander nervously for an hour. I looked at each dark haired Spanish speaking person longingly as if they were my host mom. This is the one time I tried to look as lost and American as possible. After an hour of waiting, I decided to call her and see where she was. I called her cell phone and she was no more than 50 feet away. It made everything easier. I met her and my host dad Jose at the airport and we chatted about basic things in the car and pointed out landmarks along the way.

When we arrived at the house it was beautiful. It's in the center of Santander with a small little porch that gets sun all day long. The weather was perfect and sunny. Lourdes gave me a tour of the house which is 3 stories plus a basement.. I was excited to find out that I have my own room with a closet and my own bathroom. There is some sort of large exercise machine in the corner of the room too but who knows, maybe I'll decide to lift weights every day during my siesta. I unpacked all my things and then my host mom made me a grilled cheese sandwich and a cheesy pasta and ham dish.

Once I finished eating, Lourdes encouraged me to meet up with my friends and explore the city at night. She proceeded to call all my friends to arrange meeting up with them. She told me her sons were going out and I should too! While Lourdes talked to the other moms to arrange a play date, my host dad pulled out a giant book of pictures of Santander. He showed me pictures of everything in the city and from multiple angles too. I think he really likes geography and likes to teach me things. It made me laugh on the inside because his favorite thing to talk about was they ferry and the bay in Santander. Don't ask me why, but he would show me where the ferry was in every single picture. It must be a special ferry. I was grateful though because I could listen to him talk without being expected to talk back. I tried my best though and would ask clarifying questions. My favorite sayings so far are “que” and “que significa” which mean “what” and “what does that mean.” Every time I say either one of those, they talk slower, break down the words, or try to use more simple words. They don’t make me feel stupid because I can tell they truly want me to learn Spanish better. And if I don’t understand they move on and bring up a new subject. I’m getting good at smiling, nodding, and responding with “vale” which means “ok.”

After we went through the million pages of pictures of Santander, which I actually enjoyed very much because I’ve always been good at city vocabulary, my host dad pulled out a new book he bought. He has been learning English for a couple of years and has a 35 book collection of English textbooks. He’s on number 9 but just bought number 35 for later. He told me some of the words in English he knows including key, building, and fire. He also knows how to say “it’s sunny.” It made me feel right at ease because he was vulnerable sharing his few English words with a native English speaker as I was sharing my broken Spanish with a family of native Spanish speakers.

I got connected to the internet via one of my host brothers, Oscar, earlier today. It was an awkward encounter. He's 19 years old and I introduced myself and he handed me a card with the access information for the internet. I asked him if the paper was for me to keep but he looked at me funny because I probably said it all wrong and he walked away. Oh well, I'll try to say something more intelligent next time.

After dinner my host mom walked me around Santander and showed me around the city as we walked to “El Correos” or the post office where many young people meet their friends before going out. I had only been in Santander for a few hours and I was already pushed out the door. On the walk she showed me where the bus station was for going to school, to the center of the city, how to get to the beach and other good spots for shopping. I felt at such ease having her show me around for the first time. It was difficult for me to walk and talk with her because I couldn’t look at her face as she talked to understand the words better, otherwise I would risk running into a pole. When I met up with 3 other friends at El Correos we all shared about how much we love our host families and the funny things we have done or said so far. Before my host mom returned home she told all my friends that they weren’t allowed  to let me walk alone at night. It made me smile because 1, I know she cares about me and my safety and 2, she’s just like my real mom back home.

One funny thing that just happened to me on the way home after a night out was that I had to climb the gate to get home. On the way out my host mom showed me where a key to the door was and how to get in the gate for when I would be letting myself in later that night. She and showed me how to unlock the gate using your credit card or something like it so I wouldn't need a key. When I got home I struggled for several minutes trying to unlock the gate with the same ease my host mom did. I tried several different credit cards and ID cards as if it would make a difference. I couldn’t figure it out, so my two options were to ring the voice box thing outside and wake up the whole family or climb the 7 foot tall gate. To save myself some dignity with my family I climbed the fence in my frilly top, skinny jeans, and nude flats. Now that I was in the front yard, my next obstacle was getting inside the door. I found the key hidden under the chair cushion outside with ease but couldn’t figure out how to unlock the door. I turned it left, right, and a combination of left and right hoping one way would work. I must have made a lot of noise because I heard my host dad whisper at me through the window in his Spanish accent “Pay-j, un momento” and he came out to help me. Without choosing it, people call me pa-hey or pay-j because “Paige” is too difficult. Growing up I always wanted a nick name so I find the way my dad call me Paige endearing. I felt embarrassed that I couldn’t figure out how to open the door but I reverted to one of my other favorite sayings “lo siento.” He was happy to show me how to unlock the door and said he waited up to make sure I got home safe. I thanked him multiple times and we parted ways and went to bed.

Despite the frequent embarrassing moments, I’m having a blast! I’m trying my best to look at these embarrassing moments as a learning experience. My host family is great and they make me feel at ease. Even though I’ve done some silly things since I’ve been here like waking my host family up at 1 am or giving deer in the headlights expressions as they talk, I know it is only going to get better. I’m learning so much in the few hours I’ve been here already. I’m exhausted and only running on sleep from the couple of wrestles naps I took on the plane from Dallas to Madrid. I’ve been up for 34 hours. I’m safe in Santander, having fun, and looking forward to orientation tomorrow!

Hasta luego,

Su hija Pay-j


Here are some pictures:

Natalie, me, Jen, Michelle, and Danielle
These are my travel buddies and I at our last meal in America at the Dallas Airport in TGIF Fridays. We had chicken burgers and cheeseburgers since we were unsure if we would have either for the next 3 months.

Here is my first spanish boyfriend who we met in the airport. He kept on wanting to stand by Alex and I because we have blonde hair. His mom said to him "encantas muy rapido" which means "you fall in love fast."

Jen, Natalie, and Alex at the Madrid Airport

Do we look tired? Are we there yet?

My room!

My little closet and the workout machine (or suitcase holder) in my room

The little bathroom I get all to myself

Pre-Departure Jitters

¡Hola amigos y familia!

I wrote this entry on March 27th before I left for Spain but hadn't officially set up my blog (or figured out how to use it) at that time so please ignore the post date of the next few entries.

Studying abroad has been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember. I started taking Spanish in 8th grade to start learning Spanish so I could live in a Spanish speaking country. I’ve always had my heart set on Spain and my dream is becoming a reality. I will be living in Santander, Spain for the next 3 months studying at the University of Cantabria. Santander is on the northern coast of Spain and has a population of over 180,000 people. Of those 180,000 people I will be living with a brave host family who is willing to allow a strange 20 (almost 21) year old American college student to live with them. Although I have 7 years of language under my belt, I feel like I hardly know any real Spanish. Ask me about my family, my home town, what I like to do on the weekend, my daily routine, or the colors of the rainbow, but only in the present tense, and I can talk your ear off. I think the most useful phrase I know how to say is “donde está el baño” or “where is the bathroom.” I hope to expand my repertoire of vocabulary.

I’ve been going through waves of excitement and nervousness during the past week of preparation. One of my biggest concerns is the lack of space in my suitcase. Narrowing my wardrobe down to a few pairs of jeans, shirts, and shoes I want to wear for the next 3 months is a challenging task. Some people face world hunger, I face the dilemma of packing a few clothes.

When people ask what I’m most excited for about studying abroad my answer changes almost every day. Last week I was looking forward to taking only 3 Spanish classes because taking 7 classes in different subjects last term was a lot to juggle. Yesterday I was most excited about living near the beach with 80 degree weather since I was experiencing rainy days in Oregon. Today I’m excited about meeting my host family and getting settled. When it all boils down, I’m going to a strange place where I have the language abilities of a 4 year old, don’t know my way around, and will be living with complete strangers. It’s scary to think about but it will be a once in a lifetime experience!

This is my first time blogging and it seems like this will be a great way to keep in contact with all my friends and family while I’m away, document all my adventures in Spain, and reflect back on the things I’ve learned along the way. This also gives everyone back home, nearly 5,000 miles away, a chance to live vicariously through me.