It's Different Here

I've never been abroad before, so I didn't know what to expect when I signed up to go to Spain for three months. It's a totally different culture, and, naturally, a few things have surprised me. The first of which: body odor.

I don't think deodorant has been in Spain for very long. It's still in beta testing here. Only half the people use it which makes walking behind a person extremely dangerous. And elevators - Madre mía, elevators are traps hiding in plain sight. One time, I saw a cute girl walking out of the elevator just as I was walking into the apartment complex. I held the door for her as she left, then went to the elevator to go upstairs. I must have opened the elevator door between breaths because when the door shut and I inhaled, I think I became religious. Sweet baby Jesus, the unmistakable spicy musk of raw pit stench had filled that entire box! In a way, I was kind of impressed that a person could even produce such a pungent smell, but, at the same time, I wasn't sure if I was still getting off on the 6th floor, or if I would keep going up til I reached the pearly gates.

 

On a less traumatizing note, I expected Cuenca to have wifi. People have wifi in their houses, but businesses almost never offer it. The few that do make you sign up before using it, which isn't awful, it's just very 2008-USA-esque. I told my friends that I'd Skype them from somewhere cool, but that likely won't happen anymore.

I found where the smoking industry went. I thought it was fading into the past, but apparently it just left America and instead came to Spain. Everybody here smokes. I was told that they've recently made it illegal to smoke in restaurants, banks, hospitals, and all those places, so at least there's progress. The weirdest part for me, though, is that some people are only social smokers. America made me think that that was impossible. I'm a social Place 'N Bake cookie eater. You don't see people trying to quit eating Place 'N Bake cookies in America, nor people testifying about how Place 'N Bake cookies has affected somebody they love. Eating cookies socially makes sense to me, but smoking socially is hard for me to wrap my brain around.

Additionally, I've changed my mind about being tall. I'm not necessarily tall here, but in comparisson to my family, I'm definitely tall. I think my family and their apartment were all built to 3/4 scale. Some of the old buildings in Cuenca have front doors that reach just above my waist. I'll try to get a picture.

In Cuenca, just about all of the music is in English. The radio is exactly the same here as it is back home, but with a Spanish speaking DJ. It's weird. I figured it'd be similar music, but with artists from Spain making the crappy music instead of the same Americans I'm already used to.

All-in-all, I like the differences. I can live without the BO, but otherwise it's been great. It's not America, and that's exactly what I wanted out of my study abroad trip.

Day ten

Long day. Went canoeing with the family (minus the mom cuz she's "scared of water"). Super fun despite being paired with Maripaz who, in addition to being really flirty, was awful at steering. We hit so many branches and had tons of trouble handling the canoe, but the views were unreal at times. I wanna do it again by myself. Hadta wear one of Pablo's Under Armor shirts that fit waaayyyy too tight. My nips poked through before I was even cold lol. Immediately after, went to handball with Sara and Yuki. Omg sew kewl D: super loud too. Cuenca won 28-27 on a last second shot by their best player. The band was right behind us during the game. Went drinking afterwords while the band continued to play for the fans at the bar. And immediately after that, I went to a dinner with rock climbing people (who I'd only seen maybe twice before). Ate TONS of food. Drank tons of alcohol. Went to a club afterwords and stayed out til 4:00 am. It was weird seeing adults out past 10:00 pm.

Day eleven

Ears still ringing from yesterday (handball band and club music). Went to a party at the dad's dad's house. Gorgeous views. Couldn't understand anything because I was tired and they spoke fast.

Day twelve

I think I found a usual spot to get my midday snack from. Got super lost after rock climbing.

Day thirteen

One of the least eventful days. Couldn't find pottery class so I went to a couple bars then went home.

Day fourteen

Maripaz got her hair cut and dyed and thus decided to put makeup on and wear a lingerie-like dress with high heels lol. Drank "Torno" beer that's made in Cuenca and it's *really* awful.

Day fifteen

Learned that Christmas in Spain involves Santa Claus (as a secondary character) and one of the three wise men (except magic and more important than Santa). Also they put out shoes and water instead of milk and cookies. Tried clams (maybe oysters, I dunno but I think clams). Quite good.

Day sixteen

For class, we ate churros while learning cuss words instead of doing real work because Lucias is the best. In Spain it's "cara o cruz" instead of "heads or tails." Played monopoly with the mom, Maripaz, and Pablo's friend.

Day seventeen

Needed to pee for two hours cuz I was waiting for Maripaz to get out of the friggin bathroom. Got my hair cut (which was frightening). Bought bread and ate the whole thing while I watched the sunset. Went to a bar to watch most of Copa del Rey (including Messi's phenomenal goal).

Day eighteen

Too much arguing and door slamming before 10 am. I don't think I like my family anymore. Went to the river for a couple hours. Saw a guy beat a snake to death with a stick. Met Jim and Jeanne from North Carolina (old married couple). Walked the river at sunset.

Day nineteen

Met new students. Saw a parade for Virgen de la Luz. Dudes carried a huge statue thing of Virgen de la Luz on their shoulders from the church next to class all the way up hill to another church while a band played and people followed and quietly sang hymns. The bell at the church was rung in a cool way once the statue got there. Cooked enchiladas for my family. I had almost nothing I needed and the chilis were barely even spicy. They also gave me frozen fajita crap instead of chicken so it was more like fajitas than it was enchiladas. Toured Plaza Mayor again.

Sara photobombing the band at the bar before the match

On our way to balonmano (handball) with tons of other Cuencans

Look at how big the churros are here!

Aforementioned statue thing of Virgen de la Luz being carried by the aforementioned dudes

Mi Familia

My Cuencan family is pretty cool. They're just like any other family, but in Spanish. One dad, one mom, three kids (two girls and a boy), one cat, and a dog. Textbook family composition.

The dad is cool. He tries to be funny like all dads do. I get along with him pretty well for not speaking Spanish. The longest conversation we've had was about bars: which bar has the best beer, which bar has the best food, etc. The first few days I was here, I didn't understand anything anyone said at the dinner table. When he noticed, he would try really hard to explain to me what was going on, but I couldn't understand what he was saying either. Usually I tried to look like I was thinking, then reply "sí," but that never convinced anyone.

I definitely had one of the worst introductions of my life on my first day in Spain. When I met the mom, Encarna, I hadn't had any sleep for more than 24 hours, so thinking clearly wasn't something I was capable of. When I met her I instinctively went for a handshake, and she motioned for the cheek-kiss thing. When I realized that I wasn't in America, I pulled my hand back to convert into a Spaniard for the first time, she put her hand out for me to shake. I was already leaning in towards her so I just turned the whole thing into a hug. It was awkward. She had no idea what was going on, and neither did I. Since then, I've found out that the mom is way super nice. She doesn't know any English whatsoever, which is fine, but she doesn't understand broken Spanish very well either so we don't really talk. We mostly just smile cluelessly at each other from time to time. Probably because of the hug.

Maripaz is the oldest child. She's the only one who speaks English which is sssssooooooooo helpful because I wouldn't have otherwise been able to function the first few days. She's extremely studious and will finish high school soon. The first few days, I talked to the family almost exclusively through her, so the family designated her as my tour guide until I knew what I was doing. I'm 98% sure she developed a crush on me, which is the absolute worst since I need to talk to her so often. The day I went from unsure to 98% sure was also the day the parents decided to send us to watch the sunset. It was just me and this socially-underdeveloped high schooler... All alone... The sunset was beautiful, but the conversation was uncomfortable.

Andrea is 16, and she's a walking stereotype. Like every other 16 year old girl, her favorite band is One Direction. She's a fan of shopping, boys, and taking selfies. She can be sassy at times, then pleasant minutes later. She's also pestering me to download Instagram because she wants more followers. We've talked a bit more recently because I'm understanding a lot more Spanish, but when I first got here she would taunt me for not knowing anything. Also, she likes to ask me inappropriate questions in Spanish since she knows I won't understand, so that's obviously fun for me.

Lastly, Pablo. I don't want to not like someone, especially if I have to live with them. But Pablo? Pablo's a punk. I haven't ever really talked to him because his Spanish is always too fast, too muffled, and full of teenage angst. I guess I get it: he's 15 and I have preexisting biases towards kids like him, so that may be the root of my disdain, but, be that as it may, I'll try my best to get to know him better so that I can say I tried.

The sunset over Cuenca

Graffiti (American graffiti artists need to step up their game because this is rad)

Journal entries

Day six

It rained for the first time since I've been here, then it quickly turned to hail. Encarna insisted on doing my laundry despite my many attempts to politely decline. Washing machines are the same here, but dryers aren't. Dryers appear to be normal, when in actuality they are big containers to heat your clothes to the point *just* before they catch fire. I went to pottery class and was sufficiently out of my element. Mario, the teacher, was really nice and invited me and Yuki to grab a beer.

Day seven

Found my way back from class without getting lost for the first time. Spaghetti for lunch got me excited. Cold spaghetti made me sad. Why is everything always served cold? Ate excellent desert confections and tried a drink called "Bitter". It was good but bitter indeed. Saw an accordion for the first time. Talked to the dad about beer and bars. Longest conversation in spanish with anyone in the family to date 👍

Day eight

Today in class I understood so much more than ever before. Got invited to go to a handball game on Saturday. Toured a museum.

Day nine

Bought a battery for the phone my family gave me. Thought "catorce euros" was forty euros :( had pizza for dinner and IT WAS WARM!!! :D except one pizza was cold, but whatevs. Had ice cream with the family.

¡Hola! From Cuenca

I am on day six of my 90 day excursion abroad and I've already learned a lot. Here, I am tall. Not regular tall, but hit-your-head-on-all-the-lights-in-the-apartment tall. I'm also blonde (I'm not blonde). In Cuenca, breakfast, lunch, and dinner is actually breakfast, dinner, and lunch.

Speaking of which, I wake up at 7:30 to have breakfast with the family. It's usually small cookie-like bread circles or toast with coffee, which is probably the least substantial breakfast any real American has ever had. Because of this, I'm starved come 2:45 when we eat lunch. Let me tell you, lunch is the meal here in Cuenca and oh my goodness it's big. I'll eat strange food and finish whatever portion I think is polite, then be tactfully forced to eat more until I'm full. Afterwards, the main dish comes out. Then I eat more food and get even more full. And when everyone is done, fruit. After every lunch and every dinner we eat fruit... I forget every time.

Dinner isn't huge, but it's not small either. We have three or four appetizers at the table and that's dinner. Plus fruit, of course.

Besides my food rant, I've been keeping a log so that I can remember everything. This is everything I've written down so far, completely unedited:

Day one

Spanish is hard. Light switches switch the opposite way. Need sleep.

Day two

Spoke with Carlos and Cristina in Spanish while they talked to me in English. Drank my first beer(s) here. Need sleep.

Day three

Went on a walk/hike with the parents. Andrea asked me if I had seen 50 Shades of Grey while giggling like the 16 year old girl she is. Tried "Risolí" (traditional liqueur of Cuenca/coffee liqueur). It's disgusting. Toured Cuenca with the family. Ate at a restaurant in a village outside of Cuenca that was fancy. Ate octopus that looked like onion rings. Need sleep.

Day four

I got to sleep in (9:00) but I stayed up til 1:00 playing monopoly so it doesn't really count. Also Espot the dog slept with me so I slept poorly. Took a phenomenal nap. Watched the sunset then walked around the castle.

Day five

First day of classes. Talked to the Japanese girl and it turns out she's fresh out of a divorce. Ate a níspero. Muy bueno. Went rock climbing. That was more scary than it should've been. Ordered food for the first time (which was even scarier than rock climbing). Ordered a hamburger cuz I was nervous. Hamburgers apparently have eggs over easy on top of the patty here.