Perhaps I should name this Fail blog . . .
(If one didn’t already exist, I would seriously consider changing it)
I have promised to update this blog numerous times over the past few weeks. There have been many new developments with school as well as with my living situation that have been worth mentioning, but somehow time always manages to slip away from me.
I suppose that is where I will begin: time. More specifically, Spanish Time. It really exists. At first, I didn’t believe it. I had read and heard from friends that everything in Spain is a few hours later than what most people are accustomed to. After being here for nearly 3 weeks, I can testify that that is completely true. Besides most things taking place later than normal here, time honestly feels like it passes differently. It’s not just for me, either. My travel partner Michael says he feels the same way. A typical day here starts off in almost the same way as it would back home. My alarm goes off at 7:00 a.m. I roll out of bed (which seriously feels much more difficult than it ever did in Oklahoma – I attribute it to the AMAZING industrial-like blinds that cover the window in my room. They make it pitch black whenever I want, even in the middle of the day), and then I get ready for school. I have to make it to the bus stop by 8:30, which is about three blocks away from my flat. Castellón has a wonderful public transportation system. I can get anywhere in town in twenty minutes or less. It takes about fifteen minutes to get to UJI, or Universidad Jaume I. It’s pronounced like “Eww. He,” like the sound that you would make when tasting something disgusting and then HE, as in “he has the car.”
At UJI, finding classes that I am allowed to take has been difficult, but after two weeks I think that I’ve finally gotten classes and a schedule that will work for me. The classes that I’m enrolled in are:
Intensive Spanish that lasts until March, followed by a semi-intensive class that lasts for the remainder of the semester
History of Europe
Spanish to English Translation
Contemporary Spanish History
Culture and Society of Spanish-Speaking Communities
The past two weeks have been filled with frustration concerning school. UJI’s enrolling system is completely different from that of OU’s. I suppose that’s something I should have expected, but it still doesn’t make it any easier when trying to make a schedule. It’s just that UJI’s website for enrolling is very misleading and difficult to understand. For example, you can't tell if the classes are taught in Spanish or Catalan, which is essentially a combination of Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Then some classes are yearlong and others are only for the first semester and some only for the second. It's just hard to get the information that you need to select classes from the website. The past two weeks have pretty much been trial and error. I think that next week will be a lot smoother!
When I finish my classes, which is around 5 p.m. or 7 p.m., I usually take the bus into the main part of town and walk from Park Ribalta back to my flat. The park is incredible! I consider it to be the “Central Park” of Castellón. Although it’s not nearly the size of New York’s Central Park, Park Ribalta is an applaudable project by the city. Part of it is still being renovated. Apparently, the city had to temporarily stop working on it because of the economic crisis, but I saw people working on it the other day. When I say “working on it,” the city workers assigned to the task are actually excavating caskets. Yes, caskets. Part of the park is built on an old cemetery. There is a fence around where they’re digging up caskets, but you can see still see what they’re do if you peek in between the cracks.
On my way home, I literally pass a hundred little shops that are all just starting to reopen from “siesta.” Nearly all the shops close between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. for the traditional Spanish siesta. Then they reopen from about 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Restaurants and café/bars stay open quite a bit later than that. But, on my way home I typically stop at a bread store or little grocery store and pick up a fresh loaf of bread, which costs about 50 cents and couldn’t be more delicious!! Bocadillos, or sandwiches are the most common things to eat for lunch. They’re sold everywhere! I prefer to make my own at home though. Somewhere in between making a sandwich and finishing up my homework, time slips by and when I catch a glance of a clock, it’s 9:00 p.m. Dinnertime! Or really, time to start cooking dinner. Michael and I have been doing a lot of cooking at home, which I like a lot!
Speaking of Michael, I need to note how thankful and fortunate I am to have such an amazing travel partner! I honestly don’t think I could ask for better! Just from the few travel experiences that I have had in the past, I know how difficult it can be to travel with people. All of the frustrations, differences and stresses often wear people down and can result in arguments or resentments. It’s been three weeks and I have not had one ill feeling towards Michael, nor do I have any complaints about living with him. I have actually stopped several times and thought about how lucky I am to have someone like him to share this experience with. Resentments and arguments have the potential to ruin a trip. With Michael, I don’t foresee any events that would cause either.
Once dinner is over and the kitchen gets cleaned up, on Friday and Saturday nights, most people our age meet on a street located in the central part of the city called Las Tascas, to get drinks and tapas, which are essentially just extremely tasty appetizers. The calamari here is to die for! The usual time to meet there is 11:00 p.m. Once the bars start closing down on that street, people generally head out to the clubs, or discothèques, which don’t close until 6:00 or 7:00 a.m.!!!!!!
This is a fairly decent explanation of what I mean by Spanish Time. The days are longer. The nights are shorter. Time is just different here.
