January 25

I got my housing assignment today! I’m living in southern Madrid in an apartment with an elderly couple. The husband is Manuel, and I can’t for the life of me remember the señora’s name. I’m actually not sure if I was ever told. They seem very nice, but they’re very clean, ‘wipe your feet on the doormat, wear slippers in the house’ type of people. I’m afraid they will be stricter than I’m used to. I have a designated towel, fork, spoon, napkin, and bathroom. I got the feeling that I might be in trouble if I used someone else’s things. I have my own room, which is nice, and there aren’t any other students living here. My room is quite cozy, with a futon and a table and a bed that folds up into the wall during the day. It’s really hot in my room, too, which is completely the opposite of what I expected. I heard that the heat isn’t very good in most buildings, but I’ve had to keep the window open. Hopefully that doesn’t mean it will be even hotter in the summer. My señora will provide two meals a day and I’ll eat lunch at the university or out somewhere. On weekends I can pick whether I want lunch or dinner at home. We had spaghetti for lunch today, which had a weird flavor. We also had meatballs which were really good. My family berated me for not eating enough, but I wasn’t very hungry. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and my body’s still thinking it’s 7:30 in the morning. Breakfast is usually coffee, tea, or cocao (sp?), which is a very thick hot chocolate type drink, plus a roll or sweet bun. I’m really worried about the carb thing, but I don’t want to be a nuisance, especially since it’s just her and her husband normally. I hope I can balance it out.
It was hard getting through lunch concentrating on the language that much. I guess in English I take for granted the ability to half pay attention to a conversation and still understand. It was difficult, but my family was very nice about it. I can understand almost everything, or use my super-duper deductive reasoning, but sometimes I get lost or miss something. I’m working on not feeling like a fool for only being able to speak at a grade school level.
One of the girls from Ripon, Cassondra Meyer, is living across the street, so we’re going to meet at the Metro station tomorrow morning to travel to Sol where the AYA group is gathering. Most of the other people from AYA are living just a few Metro stops away, so hopefully we’ll be able to get together easily.
I can’t get my computer to connect to the internet here, even though there are a few public access networks listed. Hopefully I will be able to finagle it, otherwise I’ll have to find an internet café or go to the university. Dangit, I would have loved to have internet here. L So I’m still writing on Word and waiting to post until I have somewhere to do it.
I have an hour and a half until we’re going out to explore the city, so I think I’m going to rest. I’m still pretty tired.
Miss you all,
Bethany