Adjustment Period Dwindling.

It is funny the things that you appreciate while living abroad. Lined paper for example. Every notebook in every story is graph paper, apparently it is normal here. It wouldn´t be terrible, except that when I have to write a two page essay, it has to be both single-spaced, and there are 52 lines per page. Which translates into, around a four page paper. Luckily, I have had easy assignments, so the only book I have to use is my dictionary, but when classes begin, it may be a struggle.

Speaking of class, I officially began getting worried today. I knew that I would only be taking one class with the Americans, and the rest with the Spaniards. I was fine with that. I also assumed, that all of the European students, whom I have been taking my Spanish class with this month, would be in the same situation as me. No. They are all enrolled in a program similar to the American students, the classes are in Spanish, but they simultaneously learn both the language and the content of the class. Essentially, I thought that there would be others in my classes that would be learning the language. I was however, wrong.

My family still remains to be quite entertaining. The boys started school yesterday, the older one attends a public school, the younger one a private. All the students who attend a public school are required to learn Euskera, the language of the Basque country. That is one of the main reasons why the younger son, Daniel, is attending a private school, so that his first foreign language is English as opposed to Euskera.

As I am gone for lunch, the biggest meal of the day, I only have breakfast and dinner with the family. I introduced them to oatmeal, as I was tired of having cookies and croissants for breakfast. They all think it is far too healthy, but the family has an contagious sweet tooth--once one of them has something sweet, the container is gone shortly there after. Soup is a big part of this family´s diet. We have soup for dinner nearly every other night. Tonight however, we had salad, for which they do not use any dressings. Mi señora doesn´t use fresh veg tables, instead everything is canned, and preserved in vinegar. The salad, therefore, is covered in vinegar. I opt to use oil to tone the taste down, mi señora however, prefers mayonnaise. I have not seen "su amigo" for over a week now. I miss having him around!

I actually have quite a bit of travelling planned for the next few weeks, so that my travels won´t interfere with classes. This weekend I am off to the northern shore to go see a film festival. Then if I return on time I will watch the fútbol game on Sunday. The following weekend is Madrid and Toledo, which is one of the excursions with the American students. So my travels for the mean time are still within Spanish parameters, which is exactly what I wanted for my first trips. I´ll keep you posted as to how they go.