So this post is a couple days old (like 2) but I feel the continuous need to update everyone on my life and the last two days I don’t know what I was doing instead of doing that. I think I was just lazy or something. No idea, but here it is!
After the hike, we all came home to shower and get ready for Noche Blanca. Its this festival type thing where in the end everyone let go of balloons with lights and watched them float away. It was really magical despite the fact that I couldn’t get my mom’s voice out of my head saying how un-eco-friendly the whole thing was. Everyone let go of the balloons by the cathedral and we were in a different plaza, so watching all the balloons come up over the buildings was pretty great! Here is a video of the balloons as seen by the plaza of the cathedral http://multimedia.lne.es/videos/oviedo/20131006/noche-blanca-oviedo-441754.shtml I think it was the most fun night yet. We have pretty much learned what the etiquette is and where to be, so it is a great time. It was also the first time that we made it out as an entire group. The entire night was filled with dancing with each other and having a great time.
The next day, most of the group went kayaking, but it didn’t sound that great to me, so me and a couple other people stayed home instead. I ended up going to a family party with my host mom’s family, which I actually had fun at! I mostly talked to my host mom’s nephew Federico who totally understood that I was shy about my Spanish and was willing to speak slowly for me. I guess he’s about my age and plays the electric bass and the double bass. Everyone seemed worried they were speaking too fast or that I wasn’t being taken care of, but the entire family was the nicest group of people, so welcoming and sweet. Federico taught me how to play this weird game of pool too. There are no pockets, three balls and you can only hit one that is designated as “yours”. You hit your ball and have to use it to hit the other two and if you do, you get a point. I was awful. By the end I had one point and Federico and his cousin had like 30. After his cousin left, he decided he couldn’t take anymore of my awful playing and tried to help me learn where to hit and what to aim for. It was really nice of him and I had fun.
Monday and today, I just had classes. Sometimes I feel like I’m learning, which is great! And other times they start speaking fast or I stop understanding words that it just starts to go over my head. Even when that happens, though, I know I am retaining some of it at least. I kind of wish we all spoke Spanish together since it would force me to just always speak it, but not everyone goes for it. I am also the lowest level of the group so sometimes I feel awkward suggesting it since then I can’t answer half their questions. I just want to become more immersed in the language. It will probably get better when I get assigned my conversation partner and start trying to make friends with the Spaniards. That could be a lot of fun!
Adventure: Oviedo 