The beach, school, running, and a shot of homesickness

Today was my fourteenth day in Spain. It’s only been two weeks, but it feels like so much longer. Here is a little of what I’ve been up to:

Last weekend my host family and I hit up San Sebastián. I saw the ocean for the first time and it was super amazing. We swam in it every day, and I enjoyed it immensely. San Sebastián is beautiful, and I bonded with my host family a lot. Since arriving, I have met a lot of different people—María and Antonio’s siblings, friends, and relatives. When you meet someone for the first time, it is Spanish tradition to kiss them on the cheeks, both left and right. It was weird to me at first but now I am getting used to cheek kisses, and it’s actually a nice way to do things.

Monday classes started, but it has been anything besides simple. Registering for classes here has been one of the most confusing things I’ve done thus far. I am still not completely sure of my schedule. Every other international student I have talked to is having the same issue, and even the Spanish students think it is confusing. I did manage to attend a few classes this week, despite the confusion. I have a little trouble following everything that is going on, but the teachers are helpful and the classes are small. As they say here, I will learn “poco a poco,” a little at a time.

I didn’t have class yesterday, so I slept in. In the afternoon, I went downtown and met up with a few of my friends, and we went shopping. Normally I’m not much of a shopper, but here it is addicting—I can’t seem to get enough of it. Unfortunately, money doesn’t grow on trees, so this shopping habit is ending now :)

Last night was María and Antonio’s 16^th wedding anniversary, so we went to a nearby pueblo and ate out. We had deep-fried squid, salad, and some other tapas, which are like appetizers. It was delicious, and overall a very good night. There was a festival going on in the pueblo, so after supper the kids and I rode the bumper cars. We finally arrived home at around 11:30 p.m.

Diego and Eva, the two youngest children, are involved in atletismo, which is kind of like track, but only for running. They had a “track meet” of sorts today, and both of them won their respective races. It was exciting, and I got to meet and cheek kiss a bunch more relatives.

Today I was a little homesick. The countryside where I am is similar to the prairie, with a few more trees. There are cottonwoods here, and some of the grasses are the same, but they don’t make me feel closer to home. Instead, they emphasize the distance. I really miss driving my car, and of course I miss all of my people.

So I’m homesick, but I don’t want to end this blog on a sad note, because homesickness is manageable. It is much easier now to communicate than it was 10 or 20 years ago, and I am thankful for that. It has been a really good two weeks, and I know it can only get better as school gets underway. I was quite shocked to realize tonight that today is September 11. It is strange to me to be in a foreign country, remembering all the things that happened in my own country on this day.

I also think I should mention that I walked four miles today. Personally, I find it quite impressive :D