disorientation and confirmation

It's hard to believe that it's only been 36 hours since I first stepped off my plane and onto Spanish, European ground. They didn't park the plane at the gate and we had to step outside into the cold, cold weather and board a bus to the terminal. Ever since I was young, I don't know why but I always thought that was cooler than going straight up to the gate.

Conveniently, one of my housemates was on the same flight as me, so we got to travel to our homestay together. Apparently, it hasn't been this cold in this country for a long time. I thought it was strange that the first thing the taxi driver from the airport said to me was "Hace frío!¨ to which I responded, oh, no we're from New York, this is nothing. But one of the news stories I caught while we were settling into our apartment focused solely on the cold weather. They showed multiple Spaniards saying "It's cold!" so that's how I got the idea that this is an abnormal temperature.

Lucky for me, I had contacted our señora before coming, so I'm in the single room. I feel pretty bad for my 2 housemates, though. Not only do they share a room, but they essentially share a bed. There are 2 mattresses pushed together on one bed frame... they're gonna get pretty intimate! My room is a pretty decent size though, so I don't have too many complaints. I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know my señora, Nuri, better because I can actually talk with her. She does seem to treat us a little more like boarders than close family or something. She lives alone I'm pretty sure she's a widow.
Both of my other housemates are not too fluent. One of them doesn't understand or speak at all, so I end up being the interpreter, which I really don't mind at all. In fact, I kind of enjoy it because I think it will help strengthen my language skills.

I still can't fully believe that I'm in Barcelona. I feel like I've barely touched the city, and I have a very loose grasp on the directions of the city. But from what I've seen and experienced so far, I've been able to reconfirm my love for the Spanish language. Today, we had this pretty pointless orientation that introduced all the program rules and norms, but because I placed into the Advanced track, the whole thing was in Spanish, which made it so much more enjoyable. Even though the staff lady was talking about housing and common sense things like not going out alone and watching out for pickpocketers, just because she was speaking in Spanish made me pay so much more attention and not feel as bored.
And walking around the city, hearing everyone speaking in Spanish (never without a strong, authentic Spanish lis(th)p!) just makes me so happy.
It's really interesting because the majority of the students on this program are learning Spanish for the first time or have limited Spanish skills. So it kinda makes me feel a little more confident in my skills, even though I am well aware that I am far from fluent. Also, it makes me feel like I have pretty distinct goals from many others. Whereas others' primary goals may have been to leave tiny campuses in the middle of nowhere, I left Barnard in New York City just because I needed to have an indepedent experience, to leave the competitve, pressure-filled environment at Columbia and just experience something new and unfamiliar without those familiar tensions.

Part of me feels like maybe I should just try to dive right into the city, but the other part of me that is winning just feels like taking it easy, knowing that getting used to this city obviously will take some time, and that it's okay that I don't know everything right now. I just have to keep reminding myself that I only got here yesterday, so it's impossible to expect myself to be adjusted enough to understand everything around me. It's incredible to think that eventually I'll be able to maneuver my way though the city on my own. Or, at least, that is the goal.

After orientation today, I ventured with a few others into the areas surrounding our academic center. It's really nice that we're located at a pretty central location, so there are tons of shops and eateries and people all over the place. I just loved looking at all the architecture around me. It's so amazing that one moment you're surrounded by all these old, rustic buildings, and then around the next corner you're faced with the Museum of Contemporary Art in this vast white, modern-looking building. One of my friends said, "That's the beauty of Spain."

I love just observing the people around me, knowing that I am a visitor in another country, another culture, and just so excited about all the things that I am going to experience.

I apologize for the scattered nature of this entry. Please forgive me, I'm still getting a bit oriented to this :)

PS- I'll take better pictures soon, I promise. But I'll post a picture in case you were really curious about my living space...