Clara's View of Life

I keep forgetting to write what my host sister Clara told me the other day. She said that in Spain, they work to live as compared to the US, where we live to work. This makes so much sense after living here. I don't feel like they are as concerned with having the biggest and best things here. They just want to work so that they can have a comfortable life and that is enough. She told me that they like to have a drink and enjoy life. It is nice to be away from the fast pace of the US for a while. I have only been here for 5 days, but it feels like forever since everything goes at a slower pace. For example, when walking down the street, people stroll along at a nice easy pace, nothing like how I would walk on campus to get to class. I still have not adapted to walking so slow because I feel like it is a waste of time so I'm sure the Spaniards can definitely tell I am from the US based on how fast I walk.

Today, I had my first real class! It was my Spanish Conversation class. We met our professor, Ramone, and he seems really cool! We attend his class 3 hours/week. One day, we each give a 4 minute speech about the topic for the week. The next day, we learn about Spanish grammar and write a 10 sentence composition. The third day, we listen to Spanish pop songs, watch movie clips, and learn Spanish games. Sounds like the easiest class ever so far!

After school, Lizzy, Shea, Claire, and I walked home from the university. The weather was 50 degrees and sunny and it was about a 1 hour walk. We saw a lot of the city though! We got so hot when we were walking that we had to take off our coats and sweaters until we only had short sleeves. All the Spanish people stared at us walking around in short sleeves when they were all bundled up because they think it's SO cold.

Tonight, I applied for a library card to check out books...and DVDs! We found the movie Mean Girls in Spanish. It's called Chicas Malas. We also found Made of Honor...it's called La Boda de la Novia (the wedding of my best female friend). After supper, my host family helped me work on planning hotels and activities for my dad and brother when they come to visit in March. They are VERY helpful!!!