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