alacalá de henares and my first weekend

I apologize in advance for the super long post!  Enjoy anyways...

This weekend was hard for me.  It was my first weekend, and I actually really was looking forward to the down time.  When I got home on Friday, the Internet wasn’t working.  Then changed my plans for what my Friday night was going to look like.  I felt super disconnected and all of my prior ideas and possibilities for the night were truly off the table- FaceTime, schoolwork, work out video, Netflix… (Evidently the neighbor disconnected his wifi, and I don’t know if this is temporary- is it just not working?- or permanent, but I’m considering every possible option to resolve this problem haha.)  In the meantime, I was able to talk on the phone with my mom for a while.  Then Pilar got home from work, and we had dinner together.  She was a good listening ear and kept telling me that it was normal for me to feel like I was and said she knew this would happen (this being a breakdown on my part haha).  That night we watched some TV and made plans to go to Alcalá de Henares on Saturday. 

When I got up the next morning, I checked immediately to see if the wifi was working- still no.  It’s kind of sad how much I rely on internet, but I truly do feel as though I need it while student teaching.  I don’t want to be at school late working by myself throughout the week while I’m doing things for my portfolio and with planning for school, and it’s just more comfortable and convenient to have it at home for fun things too.  At this point, I think the best option for me will be to open a bank account in Spain so I can get a bank card and then get a contract for a hotspot, knowing that I will just close the bank account when I leave and will get out of the contract that way.  But of course, the banks in Camarma aren’t open on Saturdays, and they’re only open some days of the week for very small windows of time during the week.  Cue the next challenge- there’s always something. 

I went to the school to use the internet.  There were actually a lot of people there on a Saturday, so I did some trip planning for spring break and a little bit of school prep.  I had taken care of most of my planning for next week before I left on Friday so I could have a relaxing weekend at home ha.  I also got to FaceTime with Mom (and Dad and Jackson). 

Pilar and I had lunch together when I got home.  We’ve only talked in Spanish during my time so far, but I think she speaks English pretty well.  She’s a really good teacher, and she keeps telling me that she’s impressed and didn’t think I’d speak Spanish as well as I do.  Many of the people who come to ECA as teachers or missionaries don’t have any Spanish background, so my conversational skills are actually in the upper percentile even though I don’t think I’m that good.  We decided to take the bus around 6 to go to Alcalá.  She specifically wanted to take me to Domino’s there because I told her that pizza is my favorite food, and she wanted to show me how to take the bus from Camarma to Alcalá. 

The bus was about 15 minutes late to Camarma- see other bus disasters in posts from summer 2014 in Madrid, in Granada, in Gibraltar, and basically everywhere I’ve ever been in Spain.  In this case, it wasn’t a big deal at all since we weren’t on a schedule, but I’ll definitely remember that for planning any future trips that will require me to take the bus to Alcalá to get to Madrid.  The bus ride itself only took 15 minutes and was very easy.  I now know the bus number that I would need and the best places to get off the bus depending on where I need to go. 

Pilar showed me the best parts of Alcalá.  It’s way smaller than Madrid or Sevilla, but way bigger than Camarma.  It reminded me a lot of Sevilla just because, even in the winter at night, everyone of all ages was out in the street with their friends and family.  We walked past all of the universities because Alcalá is a college town.  “All of the universities” implies that there is more than one, but I think they’re all the same “university,” but each school or major has its own building.  So there is a university for engineering, for medicine, for history, etc.  We also walked to the Plaza de Cervantes, named after Spanish author Miguel Cervantes who wrote Don Quixote.  It was beautiful even in the cold winter, but I can’t wait to see it when all of the trees and flowers are in bloom and more people are out and about.  Also in Alcalá is a really small Cervantes exhibit in a museum and his birthplace.  Almost every building is historic in some way, mostly for all of the Spanish writers who lived or studied there, and there are several cathedrals and churches. 

I'm sitting with Don Quixote and and Sancho Panza- the main characters in Cervantes' most famous work.

In the Plaza de Cervantes- surrounded by trees.  I can't wait until they're in bloom!

I’m not sure how exactly she figured it out, but Pilar saw or heard that there was a “tuno” in a bar as we were walking back towards the main center street.  “El tuno” is something that college students do to make money, but basically a group of students wears their academic garb and plays instruments and sings in a bar to earn money.  People who listen will give them tips.  The robes that the students wear also have their “carrera” or their majors and the name of their university on them, so we were able to see what each student was studying and where.  This particular tuno had been playing since 5:00- we got there around 8:30.  The bar was super crowded, but Pilar got us each a drink and a tapa (included with the drinks).  I had a garlic bread with cheese fondue spread for my tapa- I wanted to try something new without getting too crazy.  We listened to the tuno while we ate, and Pilar kept saying “Qué suerte, Allison!” meaning “so lucky!”  Evidently tunos don’t happen a lot, so it was a great opportunity!

On the way back to the bus stop, we got our medium pepperoni pizza from Domino’s.  It was nice to see a familiar site and to know exactly what to expect on the menu.  We also went to Carrefour, which is a French grocery/supermarket.  It’s more like the grocery stores we have, like Meijer or Wal-Mart, where you can buy your food and clothes and other things.  The bus driver was making jokes about the pizza box and asked if it was for him when we got on the bus.  At first I didn’t hear what he had said, and then once I realized what he was saying, I laughed.  It’s fun to be able to share those moments now.  I really can’t believe how much better my Spanish is than since even the last time I was in Spain.  We ate our pizza and watched “España Got Talent,” just like America’s Got Talent.  Spanish primetime shows don’t start until 10 or 11, so I only watched an hour or so before I went to bed! 

Inside Carrefour- very similar to our big grocery stores, but everything (produce and meat at least) seems much more fresh!

I went to bed feeling more content than I had when I got up that morning.  Even though everything (aka wifi) isn’t going perfectly, I am safe, and I am certainly spoiled with my housing arrangement.  Pilar is the perfect host, and I am so thankful for her.  I can’t wait to spend more time with her over the next few weeks.  I truly feel like I’ve known her for much longer- and it’s only been a few days.  Tomorrow I'll post more about the rest of my weekend. 

Pilar and me in the Plaza de Cervantes.