"Tengo la Camisa Negra." - Juanes

Hola from Toledo! Although it has only been one day since my last post and it's already 1:34am here, today has been such a great day and I must let it all out.  First, I must say that while typing this blog in English, I automatically translate what I am saying in my head to Spanish.  This must be good news on day two. I am extremely tired right now from the many activities of the day.

Today's adventures began with my host mom personally waking me up to catch the bus to the Fundación (my school).  Mar (my host sister) was so kind to take the bus with me to my very first day of school, although I did not start classes yet. I will start them tomorrow (actually today in España time).  

Onto more good news...we picked our classes today and I was very nervous since I was the second to last person to pick my classes since my last name starts with a W.  I'll tell ya, my last name has not done any good for me in my entire life! Even though I was very worried about making sure that I got all the classes I needed since they are required for me to graduate on time, I ended up with the perfect schedule.  Get ready for this.......I only have class on Tuesday and Thursday, although Thursday shouldn't count as a class since this is my art class where we tour the city of Toledo and stand in wonder at its beauty.  My Tuesdays will be a little intense, but since there are no classes on Fridays at the Fundación, I will have a 4 day weekend.  

My schedule:

1.) The Cultural Heritage of Spain

2.) Seminar: Narrative of Spanish American Literature

3.) Muslim, Christian, and Jewish influence in the art of Toledo

4.) Politics and Society in Latin America

5.) Service Learning ( I will be working with local Spaniards, but I am not sure yet what I'll be doing)

I took the bus by myself today from my apartment to school and I made it without getting lost.  In Toledo, this is a huge accomplishment since the roads wind all over and it becomes really confusing.  Also, today I met my host brother and his girlfriend. They are super nice. His name is José Manuel y he studied in America and Canada.  I also got to know my host dad Manolo better.  He works for the Toledo government, so he has been quite busy this week.  Also, there has recently been a severe illness in the extended family.  My madre's brother-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer.  In Spain, families are very committed to one another.  My family here has been comforting my madre's sister.  We are even watching her little dog Agua (water) for a while while she copes with this adjustment.  I will post a picture of little agua.  My host dad is pretty cool.  We spent some time on Google Earth, and I showed him my house in Kenosha, and I also gave him a virtual tour of my college.  I am very impressed with their knowledge of the state of Wisconsin.  They know all about the Packers and they think we are famous for our milk.  By the way, I tried leche con cocoa today which is their version of chocolate milk and it was absolutely heavenly!

To end the day, we had a welcoming party for the fall semester students at the school.  It was complete with dinner consisting mainly of what I believed to be tapas (appetizers) and very good desert.  The majority of my meal consisted of flan (a custardy desert).  Also, a Mariachi (or possibly salsa) band made a surprise appearance at our party.  This part of the nice was so fun.  The band really made us all step outside our comfort zones (in a good Spanish way).  Since the only students dancing were the students from Puerto Rico, the band started selecting students from the crowd (male and female) and paired them together to dance.  They really got the party started because by the end of the night, most of the students were dancing the night away Spanish style.  Our dance was held in a courtyard that is in the center of our school.  Since there is not a roof, it is just the starts above. I am now starting to finally believe that I am in España.

One more good thing before I head off to bed since I need to wake up at 7:30am.  My family just recently moved to the apartments that we are currently living in. They used to live in the old part of Toledo (this is the actual heart of the historical city).  It has breathtaking views and is very unique.  Today, my family informed me that they still own their house in the historical part of Toledo.  They are starting a business where they have opened their former home as a hotel for tourists.  However, they said that we can sleep overnight there one weekend.  I have to post pictures soon because it is truly breathtaking.

All in all, my family has really calmed all my worries and fears and I am starting to feel at home.  I still miss home, but I feel very comfortable here already.  They are such warm people.  This may be abnormal, but I do not really feel a strong sense of culture shock today.  Although it has only been one day, I have noticed a huge difference in my confidence today as opposed to yesterday.  I already feel used to this lifestyle and am loving the siesta break. That is one thing I know I will miss when I return to the United States.

If you have made it this far in the blog, thank you for reading.  Sorry for the mass amount of details.   As times goes on, I probably won't have as many details.  Wish me luck with the beginning of classes tomorrow!

Also, my friend and I discovered a room today at the top of our school with a gorgeous view of Toledo, and here is the picture:

P.S. My familia ate dinner at 11:30pm tonight! I don't know how they do it!

P.P.S I forgot a significant event  that happened today! A local Spaniard approached my friend Laura and I  with a microphone.  He started speaking really fast and asked us questions.  We finally understood that he wanted to hear our thoughts about the attacks on September 11th.  There we were scrambling for the words to explain how we feel about an attack in our country in Spanish while he filmed us.  We did well though!

The view from a room in our school

I took pictures of my entire route from school to the bus, so I could study it

Laura being interviews by a local Spaniard news reporter

My bathroom

Un abrazo, 

Alyssa