Sketch Story Numero Uno, Hopefully The Last, But Probably Not

So my companera de piso (flatmate) and I signed up for an intercambio linguistico (language exchange) via our new universidad. There's this notice-board online where you can post something about yourself and find people who speak English and want to learn Spanish, or vice versa. So Jory and I both posted a little something and within just a couple hours, we both had reponses from others who spoke Spanish and wanted to learn English. The number of responses was incredible and they're still coming in (I got another one this morning) and I wish I knew how to make them stop because there really is only so many intercambios I can handle at once. Plus, intercambios mean meeting one on one with a complete stranger.

I got lucky; the first person I met was indeed a male, but he was perfectly nice and harmless and even paid for the water I got at the little cafe we went to. Jory was a bit hesitant to meet with her person one-on-one, so I went with her. In hindsight, this was one of the smarter decisions we've both made since we've been here. The first sketchy sign was the speed at which he responded to her emails - persistence is great, but too much of it makes a person think that you have no life and are really, REALLY interested in meeting up - which can be both good and bad.

So Jory and I walk to meet Alberto, who turned out to be a thirty-something year old man who is totally not a student (WHY he is using a university notice-board, I don't know) and is unemployed. So basically, he's just living here with nothing to do and randomly decided to meet up with some university girls. Great. He took us away from our meeting place at Lizarran, a wonderful tapas place, and walked us far, FAR away to some other tapas place about fifteen minutes away. Instead of sitting down to actually converse in English/Spanish, Alberto (who had become increasingly creepy by now) took us on a tour of an empty mall/cinema complex and kept asking us about our plans for later on in the night (meeting up with friends to see a movie WITHOUT YOU ALBERTO thankyouverymuch). His creepiness increased with every single time that he asked when we were meeting with friends, where we were meeitng, what time the movie was, what movie we were seeing, who these friends were....

The fun part of the night came when we ended up sitting in with a group of retired Spanish people who wanted to learn English, only because we didn't have to talk to Alberto and instead could converse with other, non-creepy people. At one point, Alberto mentioned something about going home - thank the lordy. Jory and I, in the most polite way possible, shoved him on his way and kept saying "No, it's okay, we're meeting with friends, you don't have to stay with us please go home and leave us alone and do not come to the movie no do not meet our friends just go home for the love of goodness won't somebody please think of the chilren?!" He either got the hint, or he just wanted to go home because these old people didn't do it for him.

We thought all was well when, ten minutes later, we got up to leave. We figured we'd kill some time and grab some food before the movie, when, right after walking out of the restaurant, Mr. Creeper walks up to us. He apparently did NOT get the hint. Oh. Well, hello. It looks like you waited for us and isn't that just great? Heh. *AWKWARD MOMENT* After a few minutes of, "NO, YOU CANNOT COME WITH US, WE ARE MEETING WITH FRIENDS" he went home, but not before he asked Jory to call or email so that they could meet up again. I hate to break it to you Alberto, but she's not going to be doing any more of that. That night, she swore to never do an intercambio ever again and I can completely understand why. I just got lucky with my first guy and since that night, I've been ignoring/deleting all the responses I get about meeting up. Funnily enough, I have another meeting in an hour or so (which was scheduled before meeting with Mr. Creeper), but it's with a girl so hopefully all will be well.

More adventurous stories to come luego (later).
11:28 am

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Bienvenida A Espana! Or, I Think I'm Jealous Of Myself

Hola mi amigos! I arrived in Alicante at nearly nine in the evening three nights ago and since then, my mindset has centered mainly around the thought: I can't believe that I live here now. I was greeted by one of my two new flatmates, her mum, the hugest and nicest flat/apartment, and a glass of red wine (this place even came with wine/brandy/martini/shot/etc. glasses!). I was a bit disappointed that since it was night-time I couldn't see the coast as the taxi drove me to my new flat in the city center, but I figure that I'll see it sometime later. Perhaps when I go to the airport to pick up my lovely roomie who just booked tickets to come and visit me in just two weeks!

My first twenty four hours in Spain included many, MANY things I never thought I'd do. I made my first successful transaction in broken Spanish and managed to order a kebab for a late dinner my first night here. Since then I've learned much more, but my knowledge of the language doesn't extend beyond some basic vocabulary and saying everything in the present tense. Muy importante is "Tengo un novio lindo" which means that I have a cute boyfriend who told me to say that to every single male that I meet.

London got it's first snowfall of the year when I landed, and the night that I arrived here, it rained for the first time in months. It seems that my presence is enough to drastically change weather conditions in foreign countries. My new roommate and I went for a walk in the city anyway so I could see the barrio (a hefty, HEFTY selection of bars that we live near) and the beach, of course. It wasn't the nicest day since it was raining, but if I loved the city that much in the rain, I can only imagine how much I'll love it when it hits 25 in the afternoon.

The rain didn't stop us from heading into a few bars and settling in a Mexican restaurant for some (read: a large pitcher of) sangria. For reasons unknown to us, one of the servers kept bringing us free things like a plate of nachos and salsa, then a shot of mango magarita and then tequila. Gratis? Si, si. Por que? Ah, que pasa nada! Ah, muy bien! Gracias, senor. So we drank it all and were quite 'warm' at three thirty in the afternoon so that stumbling home uphill was quite the gigglefest.

Since it was domingo (Sunday), nearly everything was closed, so we stayed in and watched Sex and the City for a bit before heading out to a bar where we met people, learned lots more Spanish, and got free Guinness scarfs before heading up to the tallest hotel in Alicante to see the view from the top at night. I had my first authentic tapas meal, drank more sangria, headed out for mojitos, met two weird Spanish men, went back to their place to hang out, went to a new friend's place to hang out and then walked home at sometime past five in the morning. I keep making strange decisions (going to random people's apartments in a new city with fairly new people) but I was never alone and safe and sound in bed by six a.m., and up at nine thirty to head to school so I could see my new universidad and register for my courses, among other academic things.

It's been a busy few days since I arrived; I learned to do laundry the Spanish way (see: deciperhing labels, a washing machine that takes two hours to do a load and hanging my things on a clothesline just beyond the kitchen door) and fight with the gas heater to get hot water in the mornings for my shower. I finally got a set of keys, a phone number, and bought some groceries so I don't have to keep eating out and spending all my dinero on tapas. Since I've been here, I've actually imbibed nothing but water and alcohol (waaaaay too much sangria), but it's an interesting way of getting immersed in the culture.

Basically, I wake up every morning, step out onto the balcony and take a deep breath of sunshine and Mediterranean air and think to myself: I can't believe I live here now. Life is pretty awesome and I think I may even be jealous of myself.

8:40 pm

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Goodbye, J.O.E.*

So I'm done with Jolly Ol' England (for now) and I loved every minute that I spent here during the last week and a half. My last couple days were spent mainly on trains, melting over all things related to Harry Potter, and taking time to steady myself when faced with magnificent things like the Roman Baths, the English countryside and Stonehenge. Stone. Henge.

Hm.

I'm flying to Spain today. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous.


*I stole this from Simon @ agirlandaboy.com because it's just so good

2:48 am