Octopus in a Garage

                 I feel like a fish out of water. Actually that’s not true. I feel more like an octopus in a garage. Wait, you’re saying, because you are well versed in Spanish idioms, I thought those sayings were synonymous. Well, to most people, they are. But since I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve come to realize that to me, those two seemingly similar phrases mean two completely different things. To explain what I mean, let’s go back and think about where the phrases come from. Obviously, “a fish out of water” comes literally from what happens, when a fish is out of the water. Without its vitality, the fish struggles to breathe and eventually dies. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not compare my semi-permanent situation to that of a dying fish. That is why I like “an octopus in a garage” better. If an octopus were in a garage it would ultimately die from lack of water just like the fish, but that’s not the point of this saying. Fish are out of water quite frequently, every day thousands of fish are taken from the water and left out in the air to be eaten a later date. In contrast, octopi are very rarely found in garages. In fact, this situation is so rare that the saying is almost ridiculous. Why on earth would there be an octopus in a garage? I have no idea. But I think that is the whole point of this saying. If by chance you stumbled upon an octopus in a garage you’d want to know how it got there. You’d want to know the story. I am not just some fish. I was not taken against my will to a foreign country to be eaten by the inhabitants. I am an octopus in a garage. I am a person in an unusual place and circumstance and I am here by choice. I have a story. However, like the fish and the octopus, my new surroundings have not all been easy to adjust to. Fortunately, unlike the fish and the octopus, I can still breathe. I can still explore and learn and think for myself. So even though I get stared at as I walk to school and even though I don’t always understand what people are saying to me, I will survive. And eventually, I will return to my fish tank, and I will have a story to tell. A story about adapting and learning and dealing with being in a garage when I’m used to my garden in the shade. Here is part of that story thus far…

                My alarm goes off. I reach over to turn it off and almost fall off my bed. It scares me and for a moment and I’m not sure where I am. This is not my queen sized, memory foam mattress. This is my camp sized Spanish bed. Oh right. I remember. Spain. I get up, get dressed and get ready for school. I go into the kitchen for breakfast. I’m craving some Waffle House hashbrowns, but I’m met with a cup of coffee, a cookie, and a smiling Spanish woman. Buenas días, Rut. After our small breakfast I get my things and head for the door. I take the tiny elevator down 5 floors and exit my building. I turn right and breathe in the Spanish air that I’m starting to grow accustomed to. As I’m walking, I notice, as I do every day, the stares of the people sitting at the cafes. I try to ignore it and keep going. These people are not used to seeing a blonde haired blue eyed American girl in their neighborhood. Their stares are not hostile but mainly curious. Tourists do not come to this part of town, and if they did it would certainly not be this early in the morning on a Tuesday. These people have no way of knowing why I’m here or that I am a legal (if temporary) citizen of Spain. They only see an octopus in their garage. It’s a nice day out and I decide to walk instead of taking the bus. As I get closer to school and the “centro” the stares become less obvious and eventually I’m no longer getting strange looks at all. By the time I get to school, I’ve all but forgotten my cephalopod like appearance, but I’ll be reminded tonight when I go home.

                This kind of thing, though uncomfortable, is in my opinion good. I want to blend with this culture yes, but I am never going to be a Spanish person. Those stares remind me that although I will eventually become comfortable here, I don’t need to worry about being a perfect Spaniard. I can put on my best accent and learn every word, but an octopus cannot turn into a human simply by learning to talk and wearing clothes. It can however be an active member of the community. If it’s really good, people might even forget for a little while that it is in fact an octopus. Inside however, it will always be an octopus, a very cultured and globally aware octopus, but still an octopus. And eventually it will return back to its home. And that takes a lot of pressure off me… I mean the octopus.

Strange Things About Spain

 These are some things that have seemed strange to me. Not all Spanish people do these things and I'm not saying they are bad or good. They're things that are different for me.

1. When they eat bread, they put it on the table, not on their plates.
2. Most people don't have wifi, and it's not unusual to not have internet at all.
3. If they eat salad for dinner, there is only one bowl and everyone uses their own fork to eat the salad
4. Along with siesta at 2 o' clock, there is also a "descanso" (break) at around 10:45
5. The only time is it socially acceptable to not wear shoes or slippers is when you're in the shower or sleeping
6. Many people only have instant coffee at home that they drink with hot milk, but it's stronger than coffee in America
7. If you're not Spanish, they know. And they stare.
8. Because of their shortage of water, they use a different kind of soap that need a lot less water than normal soap
9. Many families change into pajamas immediately after getting home, regardless of guests.
10. They don't tip. If you try to, they will give you the extra money.
11. Many cafes and restaurants use a sort of "honor system" where you go to the counter, order, eat and then when you're done return to the counter with your dishes and tell them what you had. They don't use computers to keep track
12. Many apartments don't have air conditioning
13. All fruit is peeled before eaten. (except grapes)
14. There are not many bugs. At all.
15. It's very strange to stop and pet someoneelse's dog in the street.
16. They drink tap water, but they put it in a bottle and then put it in the fridge. They don't use ice at home.
17. They are NOT constantly on their phones. Most people do not have smart phones, and even if they do, they use them much less than the average American.
18. They use little forks and spoons for dessert
19 They eat cake, cookies, tarts, etc. for breakfast.
20. To use a debit or credit card in a store, you must have photo ID.

The First Days of School

                On Sunday night, as I was getting ready for bed, I started thinking about school the next day. I had no idea what to expect. I realized that I was going to be expected to wake myself up, get everything I needed ready, and walk to school all by myself. I wasn’t really scared, more excited, but still the thought of walking the street of a city that I had only been in for 3 days made me a little nervous. Not to mention the fact that if I did get lost, I’d have to get directions in Spanish. I wanted to leave earlier than I needed to just to be sure that I got there on time, and so I set out my outfit, packed my backpack, and got ready for school. I went to sleep and the next morning I woke up at 7, had breakfast, got ready, and left for school. I was pretty confident about where I was going for the first couple blocks, but then I started to second guess myself. I was seeing things that I hadn’t seen before and that made me think that I wasn’t going the right direction. The street that I walk on splits at one point and I was sure I had gone the wrong way. I turned around and went back to the split only to realize that I had been going the right way and turn back around. I finally got to school at about 8:35. When I walked with my host mother, Rut, we got there in 20 minutes. I went inside, up the stairs to the second floor and looked around at my new school. It is tiny. It takes up about half of the second floor of an average sized building. There is one “big room”, that doesn’t really seem so big when all 71 of us are in it, 4 slightly smaller than average classrooms, 3 offices that are the same size as the classrooms, and one double-classroom. We each have our own “taquilla” (locker, more like a cubby). That first morning, we had an assembly and heard about the different classes that are being offered. Then we made our final course selection. That afternoon we took 2 placement tests, one math, and one Spanish with written and oral parts.

This morning at school we went over lots of rules and expectations and fears and lots of other things that were on our minds, and this afternoon we had went on a scavenger hunt. It was lots of fun!

Let me tell you about a normal school day. In the morning, we will have two classes. Then what we call “descanso”. It’s from 10:45 to 11:20 and it’s a break where we can go to nearby cafés and get a coffee or a coke or something small to eat, or just take a break. Then we have 2 more classes. After those two classes, at 2, we have lunch. We walk three or so blocks to the local Monastery School and eat in their cafeteria. We all have a dinning card. At 3:30 the school re-opens and we have two more classes. Except on Fridays when we are done before lunch.

I meant to post this on Tuesday night but, I never got around to it. But here it is. Stay tuned for more about classes and my first free weekend!

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Las Primeras Imprecaciones de España

                Pues, estoy aquí en España. Todo es muy emocionante, pero extraño y un poco espeluznante también. Envié por avión con un grupo de estudiantes que asisten el mismo programa que yo, y con el director residente de nuestra escuela. Nuestro vuelo salió de JFK en Nueva York a las seis y media por la tarde en el seis y aterrizamos en Madrid a las nueve menos cuarto en el siete. Del aeropuerto, cargamos en bus y paseamos por cuatro horas a Zaragoza. Cuando llegamos en el estación de bus y tren, nuestras familias nuevas estaban esperando. Hay 71 estudiantes en total, por eso hubiera 71 familias esperando. Fue un poco abrumador. El director residente, Señor Morse, llamaba sus nombres y presentamos a nuestras familias nuevas.  Cuando toqué a mí, salí al bus y me saludaban mi nueva madre, Rut, y mi nueva padre, Nacho. Obtuvimos mis maletas, y rápidamente entramos en un taxi y fuimos al nuestro apartamento. Hicieron seguro que entendí que vivimos en el quinto piso, y cual puerta fue nuestra, y después mostraron el apartamento. Me encanta nuestro apartamento pequeño. Mi dormitorio es pequeño, pero me encanta. Compartimos un baño y sí quiero duchar, necesito hacerlo por las noches. Esto es bueno conmigo, por eso no hay problemas. Empecé deshacer el equipaje, y Rut y Nacho fueron al mercado. Nacho trabajo a las noches, por ese a la cena, Rut y yo comimos tortilla, jamón, y manzanas. No parece mucho, pero fui llena después. Rut se rio a mí porque no supe como pelear una manzana en un espiral perfecto como ella, pero me mostró.  El mañana próximo, despertamos y desayunamos sobre 11:30. Comimos un pastel como un Little Debbie y leche caliente con café. Después de desayuno, caminamos al cole a fin de yo sabía donde está.  Nos reunimos con la madre de Rut, Fina en el cole. Fina ha dado una chica quien está en el mismo programa. Se llama Gabby. Después de Rut y Fina nos dijimos sobre el cole y donde están el paradas del bus, caminamos al Centro donde compramos nuestras móviles españolas para 15 euros.  También cargamos el móviles con 20 euros. Después, comimos helado de yogur y cruzamos el río caminando a la casa de Fina para almuerzo. Nacho nos reunió allí. Para almuerzo, comimos una ensalada que tenía mayonesa, aceite, guisantes, zanahorias, patas, lechuga, y atún. No pensaba que me gustaba, pero probé y me gusta mucho. Después de la ensalada, comimos albóndigas con una salsa que es muy similar a salsa de espaguetis en los estados unidos excepto es naranja. Para postre, comimos fruta. Después de almuerzo, Gabby fue con nosotros a casa para usar el internet porque Fina no tiene internet. Gabby manda un correo electrónico a sus padres y luego fuimos al centro comercial que está en el otro lado del río cerca de su apartamento. Caminamos y usamos el wifi del McDonald´s y luego sobre 8:30, fuimos a casa. A las diez o quizás después, Rut y yo cenamos. Comimos tortilla, ensalada, y pan.

En la mañana nos despertamos y comimos el mismo desayuno en la misma hora. Luego, nos reunimos con Fina y Gabby y fuimos al mercado. Fue muy interesante ver todos cosas diferentes vendían. Me gustaría ir el domingo que viene también. Después, Fina y Gabby fueron a caminar en Zaragoza antes almuerzo y Rut y yo paseamos en bus a la casa de madre de Nacho para almuerzo. Llegamos temprano y visitamos con Antonio, un vecino que es amigo de Rut y Nacho. Nacho erigió una computadora para él mientras esperamos. Cuando Antonio dio en cuento que soy americana, estaba muy emocionante y corrió a la concina para me dio un coke. Fue muy contento cuando dije,  “gracias”, y lo bebí.  A las dos, cruzamos al pasillo al apartamento de Nacho y almorzamos con su madre, su hermana, y su cuñado. Fueran muy simpáticas. Para almuerzo, comimos el mismos cosas que comimos en la casa de Fina. Per para postre, comimos piña y algo que fue como postre. Después bebimos café y una tarta de manzanas. Nos quedamos y hablamos y no salimos hasta 5:15 más o menos. Cuando regresamos a casa, tomé una siesta.

                En general, mi experiencia en España he sido emocionante y divertido. Tengo demasiado tiempo libre y estoy emocionante para el principo día de escuela mañana. En la mañana, me despertaré a las 7 o 7 y cuarta y saliré la casa antes de 8 al fin de llegaré antes de 8 y media. Me duelen las pies porque caminamos much, pero pienso que lo acostombraré.

Ciao,

Sharron

First Impressions of Spain

                Well, here I am in Spain. Everything is very exciting, but also strange and sometimes a bit scary. I flew with a group of students who are attending the same program and the Resident Director from our school. Our flight left JFK in New York at 6:30 PM on the 6^th and we touched down in Madrid at 8:45 AM on the 7^th. From the airport, we loaded on to a bus and rode four hours to Zaragoza. When we arrived at the bus and train station in Zaragoza, our host families were waiting for us. There are 71 students total, so there were 71 families waiting for us. It was a little overwhelming. The Resident Director, Señor Morse, called our names one by one and we were introduced to our families. When it was my turn, I stepped off the bus and was greeted by my host mom, Rut, and my host father, Nacho. We got my suitcases and immediately got in a taxi and headed for their apartment. They made sure I understood that we live on the 5 floor and which door lead to our apartment and then they showed me around. I love our little apartment. My room is small, but I love it. We share a bathroom and I was told that if I wanted to shower, then I had to do it in the evening. This is fine with me, so no problems there. I began to unpack and Rut and Nacho went to the store. Nacho works at night, so at dinner time Rut and I had tortilla, jamón, and apples. It didn’t seem like much to me but I was full after. Rut laughed at me for not knowing how to peel the apple in a perfect spiral like she does, but she showed me how. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast around 11:30. We had a cake sort of like a Little Debbie, and hot milk with instant coffee. After breakfast, we walked to school so she could show me where it was. We met Rut’s mom, Fina, at school. Fina is hosting a girl who is in the program as well, her name is Gabby. After Rut and Fina told Gabby and me about the school and where the bus stops are, we walked to “El Centro” where we each bought our own Spanish “móvil” for 15 Euros. We also each put 20 Euros on our prepaid phone cards. After that, we had frozen yogurt and then we walked across the river to Fina’s house for lunch. Nacho met us there. For lunch, we had a salad type thing, which I’ve learned is very common. It had mayonnaise, olive oil, peas, carrots, potatoes, some sort of lettuce or cabbage, and canned tuna all mixed together. I didn’t think I would like it, but I tried it and to my surprise, I like it a lot. After the salad, we had meatballs with a sauce that is very much like American spaghetti sauce only orange. I’m assuming this is because the tomatoes were orange. For dessert we had fruit. After lunch, Gabby came back to our apartment with Rut, Nacho, and I because Fina doesn’t have internet. Gabby wrote her parents an email and then she and I went to the mall across the river near her apartment. We walked around and used the McDonald’s free wifi and around 8:30 we headed home. At 10:00 or maybe a little later, Rut and I had dinner: again tortilla, but this time with a salad and bread. This morning we woke up and ate the same breakfast as yesterday at about the same time, and then met Fina and Gabby and went to the market. It was very interesting to see the different things they were selling and I would like to go back next Sunday. After that, Fina and Gabby went to walk around Zaragoza some more before lunch, and Rut and I got on a bus to go to Nacho’s mom’s house for lunch. We got there early and visited, Antonio, one of the neighbors who is friends with Nacho and Rut. Nacho set up a computer for him while we waited. When Antonio realized I was American, he got very excited and ran to the kitchen to get me a coke. He was very happy when I said, “gracias” and drank it. At 2 we went across the hall to Nacho’s mom’s apartment and had lunch with his mom, his sister, and his brother-in-law. They were all very nice. For lunch we had the same thing as we did at Fina’s house. But for dessert, we had pineapple and a pudding type thing that was very good. Then we had coffee and some apple coffee cake. We stayed and talked and didn’t leave until 5:15 or so. When we got home, I took a nap.

                Over all, my experience in Spain so far has been exciting and fun. I have too much free time for my liking right now though and I’m excited for school to start tomorrow. In the morning, I’ll wake up at 7:00 or 7:15 and leave the house by 8 so that I can walk and get there by 8:30. My feet hurt from all the walking we’ve done, but I guess I’ll get used to it.

Ciao,

Sharron

Adventures in New York

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow evening for Spain. It's super surreal. But since I've said adieu to all of you (except my mom) I decided to go ahead and start my blog. My first day away from the safety and comfort of Chattanooga has definitely been a full one.
It started at 6:45 AM when I woke up before my alarm and couldn't go back to sleep. I sat with my dad in the living room and watched the "Best of the Best Barbeque", strange at 7 in the morning I know, and waited for it to be time to leave. Finally, at around 9:00 we headed for the airport. My mom and I were supposed to be flying from Chattanooga to New York via Atlanta and our flight was to leave at 10:35. We got to the airport and were informed that we were too late to check in for our flight which apparently now left at 10:00 AM instead of 10:35. After some rushed phone conversations and many angry words from my father, I hugged him quickly told him I'd call him and my mom and I rushed to our gate. Only to find that they had only just begun boarding and we had plenty of time. After a quick reprint of my boarding pass we were on the plane. Here we go I thought. As we took of, at 10:15 by the way, I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh. I didn't say bye to my cats". I thought of them during my 21 minute flight to Atlanta.
Upon arriving in Atlanta, my mom and I found our gate and grabbed some sandwiches for lunch. We boarded our plane at 12:20 and were set to take off by 12:30. Or so we thought. We taxied to the runway and then stopped. The pilot then informed us that there was some sort of delay at the JFK International Airport. He said he would keep us informed. We sat on the Tarmac until just before 2:45. One uneventful and a slightly stressful first taxi ride in New York later we arrived at our hotel at 6:30 PM.
We chose a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then headed for Times Square. Little did we know that we would soon be meeting the one and only Snoop Lion, formerly Snoop Dogg. We visited the Disney Store, the M n' M Store, Hersey's Chocolate World, and Toys R Us. It was mind blowing for me. To see something that you've only seen on TV in real life is a very strange experience. It's either exactly what you were expecting, disappointing, or even better than you expected. As I saw all the lights and stores for the first time, I was hit with all three. The lights and advertisements were just as I had pictured them, the smell was disappointing, and I was pleasantly surprised with the noise level. 

Then as we were heading back towards the hotel, my mom says, "Sharron look!" and points towards a group of people. I move forward and try to see what they're all looking at and I hear my mom's voice say, "It's Snoop Lion". I don't know what surprised me more about this statement, the fact that it was actually Snoop Lion, or the fact that my mom knew who Snoop Lion was! I really can't say Snoop Lion any more so from now on I will refer to him as "Snoop". We watched Snoop for awhile and tried to get some pictures but couldn't really see. Then we started to walk away and he started walking the same way. Long story short, as we were both walking I managed to get him to stop for a minute and pose for a picture with me. This is the resulting picture:

 

And with that, I'll say goodnight. I'll post again soon! (: