by Toni St.Clair on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 10:45am via FB
I have been trying to get Internet for my laptop, so I won't have to always come to the cafe every night..it's starting to become embarassing!! Haha! So anyways, I went to the phone company (but that's where I had to go) and gave them my passport, my work contract and the number of my bank account. Well, apparently my work contract isn't 'official', which by the way it is, and so now a week later, they inform me I can't get internet unless I get an 'official' contract...so I think my boss is going to go in with me this week or next week and we're going to try and figure this out. All else fails I think he's going to sign up for the internet in his name and then I'll just pay for it!! Works for me!! For now, I'll just keep frequenting the cafe and language school for internet use!!
There are some definite differences I've noticed here in Spain. The spanish accents, for one, are different than the mexican accents. In Spain 'thank-you' sounds like 'grathias' and in Mexico it's 'gracias'. Another difference is coffee shops with coffee to go. I have yet to find a Starbucks, but I know that there is a Dunkin' Donuts. So it is possible to get a coffee to go, it's just not common. Another cultural thing that I am actually getting used to is the dinner time, which is normally around 9 or 10pm. Most restaurants aren't busy until these times and then they're pretty busy up until about 1 or 2am, so as you can imagine the nightlife starts around the same time as well. However, usually the parties don't stop until about 6 or 7am...yikes!! However, the one tradition I am happily embracing (on weekends only b/c of work) are siestas. BIG fan of these!! Between 2 and 5 Monday to Saturday, the majority of shops and cafes close. Some stay open for tourists and such, but for the most shopping must be done before or after these hours, so you can imagine the amount of people you'll be shopping with in a store!!! On Sundays, if a store is open it's only for about 4 or 5 hrs, between 10-2pm which of course I barely make sometimes due to the sleeping thing!!
So far I have had 2 different roommates, and one constant one. John, the guy from Holland will be there until the end of October, and the other room has had a guy from Turkey (who left last week) and a girl from Austria (who leaves next week), I wish was staying longer b/c she's awesome and we're getting along really well!! As for my moving apartments...that has yet to be determined since this is a really busy month for us at the office. Maybe I'll be moving in October, maybe I won't move at all...who knows?! Haha!!
Things at the internship have been busy!! My marketing campaign to schools in Canada has been going slowly since I started Spanish classes this week and am now only in the office in the afternoons. But so far it's going ok...I'll keep you all posted. There have been some fun incidents for sure though!! My favorite one being my first experience of picking up a group at the airport on Monday. I went with 2 coworkers, one of which had done this before. Anyways, basically everything that could happen did happen. The group's bags didn't make it to Malaga, and weren't coming in until the next day, so the group had to go to a shopping mall to buy whatever they needed for the next 12hrs. We mentioned to them that their host families were already waiting at the school for them, and since we were already 2 hrs late leaving the airport, we should just head to the school first, and then they could go to the stores in the area by the school (which has the same stores and were probably cheaper). But nope, they had to have a shopping mall. So off they went and we met them an hour later outside the mall, took them on the public bus to the school and then took each student to their individual host family!! It was quite the adventure and so now when I go to the airport by myself tomorrow (AH!) I am hoping that everything goes smoothly and even if something happens, I'll be ready!!!
As I mentioned, I started Spanish classes on Monday, and so far they're going very well! I really like my teacher. She teaches the class so that the grammar and practice are mixed together, instead of in separate sessions, which of course helps me reatin everything!! Little by little my spanish is improving!
I have met tons of people so far, mostly from the Spanish school, but since most of them are only here for their 2 weeks classes and then are heading back to their countries, it's hard to really become good friends. I have met a guy David from the US who will be here for sure until December and then maybe a little longer. So we have been hanging out a lot and meeting random people on our own!! It's been fun. Most of the students at the school are from Austria, Germany and Holland so I find myself surrounded by German most of the time!! It's an interesting language to hear and of course every country has it's own little versions of it!!
So I guess that's my update. Oh I found an awesome English bookstore next to Pablo Picasso's birth house and I managed to spend some $$ in there on some great beach books!! I usually head to the beach at least one day on the weekends...the weather is always nice so any day would work well!!
- xoxo
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