The view from the observation deck

Hey there!

Well, I don’t really have much to say about today.  As I get more and more settled into a routine, fewer and fewer things seem noteworthy, or, in this case, blog-worthy (at least during the week).  Here’s my day in a nutshell: Spanish class was good; I have a lot of vocabulary to learn—I think I might be saying that for the whole semester!  I figured out how to print today—woo hoo!  We have 500 pages of “free” printing, meaning we paid for 500 pages in our tuition.  So I guess I’d better use them all.  Haha.  Side note: paper here is not 8½ x 11.  It’s longer and looks totally weird to me.  Plus it doesn’t fit in my notebooks, so I have to fold everything.  What a pain.  Anyway, I went to the supermarket with some friends at the time when I would have been in dance today, and I got Pringles!  As well as a Milka chocolate bar.  Yum.  I was going to buy an apple also, but I wasn’t aware of the purchasing process, which involves weighing it in the fruit area, not at the checkout.  Thus, I scratched the fruit idea.  Oh well.  I had philosophy at 4 and it was boring again.  That’s gonna be a long class.  I’m currently sitting in the student lounge (which is a one room—a multipurpose area with 3 couches, 4 tables with chairs, a pool table, and a counter that is the “bookstore.”), waiting for a friend to get out of class so we can walk home together, at least for half the way.

Here are some other observations to keep you interested and entertained:

1.     In Spain, there are two major sale (or “rebajas”) seasons, one in January (after Christmas and Three Kings’ Day) and another in August.  These sales last for the whole month.  Everywhere I walk, the stores have huge signs screaming, “REBAJAS!!!!” to entice customers. I’m falling for the good deals, and I plan to do a little shopping on Friday.  :)

2.     There are a ton of dogs here.  And by “dogs,” I mean dogs as pets, not strays wandering around.  Whenever I see an exorbitant number of dogs in a city, I am very surprised because I would not want to subject a dog (especially a large one) to living in a metropolitan area.

3.     I eat fries more here than I ever did at home.  They are always available for lunch (and you fill your plate with as much as possible, all for 3,50 euro), and Maria makes them often with dinner because she knows I like them.  I think I like them because they remind me of home.  I haven’t gotten tired of them yet, so that’s good.

4.     In case you didn’t pick up on this in point number 3, here in Europe, prices are written differently than in the U.S.  We write $3.50 with a period, but they write 3,50  with a comma.  That can be confusing.

5.     At stores, the tax is already factored into the price, so whatever you see as the advertised price is exactly how much you pay.  I’m a fan of this system.

6.     In Spain, people don’t tip at restaurants (or the tip is very small… less than 10%).  This may seem like a deal, but it makes for a lot of terrible service.  Whenever we go out, we have to call over the waiter every time we need something.  I definitely prefer the American system of paying based on quality of service.

Okay, I can’t think of anything else right now, and I should do some homework.  So, I’ll leave it at that for tonight.

Un abrazo y un beso (a hug and a kiss),

Elizabeth