Mi Semana Muy Rápido

(A flower outside the Museu Gulbenkian in Lisboa, Portugal)

Seeing as I need to get up early tomorrow and meet all the BC kids for our weekend program trip to Córdoba and Granada, I will just quickly summarize this past week.

Monday: Long. My two classes were pretty tedious as I had just gotten back from Lisboa that morning. I got back to Julia's and wanted to call Bank of America right away and have them send me a new card. But, as luck would have it, the internet was down, and therefore, Skype wouldn't work. I was not about to rack up the charges for a 45-minute (including hold-time) international phone call on my cell phone, so I just hoped that by the next day the internet would have fixed itself. Because of my lack of internet, I also couldn't upload any of my pictures (there were over 400 from Lisbon alone), write my blog, answer my e-mails, or skype anybody. So I went to bed early, which was probably the most productive thing to do anyway.

Tuesday: Only two classes today and a 3.5 hour break in the middle. I spent my break in the computer lab researching internships for next summer. Some of the application deadlines are already only a month away, so I will soon need to add resumes and cover letters to my life-management schedule. After class, I went back to Julia's and found that the internet still wasn't working. I went to go tell Julia and found her in the living room playing with Prince Francesco. She went to check the internet cord in her room, which had been unplugged, so that solved that problem. I called Bank of America, who transferred me to Visa, who transferred me to Mastercard, who tried to transfer me back to Bank of America before I put my foot down. My old card is blocked and my new card should be here within two weeks. Feeling somewhat rude just sitting in my room while there was company in the living room, (Francesco was here with his mother, the Princess of Sicily, who was asleep on the couch in the sunroom) I grabbed some of my homework and joined Julia in the living room. I sat down on the floor and she said, "You can't do homework in the salon, the salon is for greeting people," I returned to my room, that plan having been quite abruptly shot down.

Wednesday: Also long. One of my professors asked me a question in class and I had no idea what she was saying (she was asking me something in Spanish). I responded that I didn't understand the question, and she rephrased it, but I still had no idea what she was asking. Someone else answered, and I felt silly. But the rest of the day was good. I met with Jennifer, my intercambio, and this week was the English week, so less stress for me. I interviewed her about drinking in Spain for a globalpost.com article requested by the editor. We chatted for quite a while and I learned a lot. There are some interesting social currents floating around in that topic. Julia and I also got alone pretty well during dinner, and she told me my Spanish was getting better and better. I felt that it was easier, too, so maybe I'm making progress, even if I can't understand my professors half the time. . .

Thursday (today): I woke up this morning and thought I heard a girl's voice in Julia's room. I didn't think anything of it and went about getting ready for class. As I was stuffing books into my bag, I turned around and there was a 5-year-old little girl standing in my doorway. I jumped, because she came out of nowhere, but then introduced myself and asked what her name was. I don't think she was expecting to see me either and she ran away. I generally seem to have that effect on children. Julia later told me she went running back into her room and whispered, "There's a girl in there!" Apparently, this was Sarah, one of Julia's great-nieces that goes to French school and speaks Spanish, French, and German. A tad precocious if you ask me. I later heard Julia yelling at her about eating too many candies, so I'll have to teach Sarah how to hide candy the next time she comes over (it's a skill that's served me well here in Spain). After class I took the train home as soon as I had plunked myself down, out of nowhere pops Guillermo. So we rode the train home together and I practiced my eye contact. He's much better at it than I. I think I'm shifty eyed - cops will always be able to tell if I'm lying. But he gets brownie points for telling me my Spanish is great - I don't think he's even actually ever heard me speak Spanish. But it's the thought that counts. Julia and I had another good conversation at dinner tonight, and I'm starting to feel less nervous about my Spanish, so I seem to be slowly moving in the right direction.

Talk to you in a few days - Happy Halloween!