Today was the first day of classes at the University of Oviedo. I take 4 hours of Spanish a day, hoping to improve my Spanish speaking skills. So far, the class I have been placed into is achievable, but who knows if it will become more difficult as time goes on. I already have homework, on this first day of school, although its not like I can say it is too extremely difficult. I'm tired. I've been tired a lot lately. Maybe it's just adjusting with the changing lifestyle. I have found I have been extremely weak in the mornings, even when I make sure to eat a good breakfast and snack. It could be stress...I still have a month and a week until I return home. I can only imagine what can happen from here on out, considering the last two weeks I have had already. I suppose I am in the homesick phase of the cultural adaptation.
We get washing machines here, although it is difficult to find one that is empty, and then we have to hang dry our clothes because dryers practically do not exist here. And the washing load takes an hour and a half to begin with, so yikes.
I always forget the keys things I want to talk about when I write these things...bah.
The first night we were here I went on a 30 minute run with two of the girls, which felt good. It has been weird not working out a lot. We did a little bit of abs last night, which, sadly enough, already made them a little bit sore the next day.
Oh yes, onto the Spanish schedule, and my struggles at adjusting. So Spaniards don't normally wake up too early. But, because we have class every day, and have to walk 20 minutes to get there, I usually wake at about 8am to get ready for the day. I found that I get extremely tired at around 12:30, which actually has been a problem, since I have a Spanish writing class, and even worse, a Spanish art history class from 1-2. It was the most challenging thing in the world today trying to stay awake during that class!
So, our classes get out at 2pm, which is the beginning of the Spanish siesta. Spaniards take a 3 hour siesta (which is, essentially, a nap), and so it lasts from 2-5pm. And everything gets shut down, while people go home for their late lunches and siestas. This has been weird, as it is after class that we like to do our errands and go shopping, and so we have to wait. I took my first hour long siesta today even. haha...
Another reason the siesta occurs is because people in Europe have much later night lives. Usually dinner occurs at 9 or 10 pm, and then casual drinks occurs, and the clubs don't even open until around 2am. We went to a club at midnight the other day in Madrid, and it was dead...which would have been like prime time back in the states. There is no alcohol cut-off hour, so people don't even go home from the clubs until like 5 am. Like in Barcelona, when I lost track of time and it was 5am and I had a train at 8. hahah.
Because of losing another camera, I am now officially 350 euros (450 dollars) behind budget just because of cameras. I really need a couple new shirts to wear, as the rest are worn and torn, and the weather here is different than expected, but I cannot afford to do so. Or afford to eat hardly...BAH. So, yes, it's been tough.
I am going to make my way to a fruit store after I am done writing this, to hopefully nourish my body since I feel like poop. I should probably try and find some vitamins or something, since I'm not eating as well as I should be. Milk doesn't come refrigerated often here either, so I haven't been drinking that. And we don't have a stove, so I can't have any meat!! So nutrition is tough. I should probably go find an iron supplement. Ooook. Off I go, to go nourish my body. Miss you all back home.
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