In Valladolid

Well, I was finally able to unpack my suitcase! We’ve been in Valladolid since Saturday. I really like this city. It’s much more spacious compared to the others we’ve visited, and there are parks all over the place. It is known to be the city where the best Castellano is spoken. I can see that….especially compared to Andalucia. They talk very similarly to Cubans, which is hard to understand sometimes.

Classes started on Monday, and as I’m writing this, I have just finished Tuesday’s classes. The classes are alright, but it’s hard to tell in only 2 days. It’s looking like I could have taken 3 instead of 2 because the classes that I do have don’t have much out of class reading or work to do. We do the work in class. The school has free wireless Internet, so that has been really nice. I get to Skype with Jordan every day.

You know what’s kind of annoying (and this happened in Mexico too)? Any time I get money from an ATM, I always get 50-euro bills. I don’t think there is a single place in Spain that can break a 50. The only way I’ve been able to get rid of them is during meals while we were traveling. I would put the 50 down and people would give me what they owed. Also, for some strange reason, it seems to be very difficult to break a 20. I don’t get it. I was at a large supermarket yesterday, and the cashier couldn’t (or maybe didn’t want to) break my 20. If nobody in the country has change for these bills, why do they make such “large” bills? Not everybody spends 50 Euros each time they make a purchase.

Speaking of the supermarket, when I was on my way home, I was waiting to cross a street. I was looking to make sure no cars were coming because I was going to cross “illegally” (which everyone does). I glanced over to the other side of the crosswalk and noticed an old lady…maybe late 60s? Maybe younger. I saw her spit and kind of glare at me. I just thought it was the sun or something. Then she proceeds to cross the street and spit at me as she walked by, screaming something that I didn’t understand at all. All I heard were the words “language” and “female dog.” I was really confused since I barely even looked at her. She was obviously crazy….maybe on her way back to her insane-people home.

I found a gym within 2 mins. of where I live, and I paid for a month to come only in the mornings. It’s a really nice gym, and if I wanted to I could do the aerobics and step classes in the morning, but there’s no time for that. I don’t think there is air conditioning in there. Get these hours: Mon. Wed. Fri. 8:00 am – noon then 5:30 – 11:30 pm. Tues. Thurs.: 10:00 am—1:00 then 6:00—11:30. If I could, I would go at 7 am every day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can’t be there for long because I have a class at 11. The entire city becomes a ghost city between noon and 5:00 PM. Mostly all of the stores and restaurants are closed. I will never understand why.
My meal plan is crazy too. I eat breakfast whenever I get up, lunch is at 3:00 PM, and dinner is at 10:00 PM. Most of the time, I’m ready to go to bed by 9:30. Spanish food isn’t really the best. I’ve been eating tasty things here that my host mom cooks, but overall it’s nothing special. I prefer Mexican, Chinese, Indian, and American food over this. I can’t wait to go home and cook these things and go out to eat!