So as written previously, Senora provided me a pair of socks to wear around the house. I failed to mention in the last post the kind of socks she provided-- white, knee high, man socks. I am pretty sure they are the German's since they are identical to the ones he wears. These socks are so big and white, I actually remember to wear them. However, it is not the most attractive look I've got going for myself. Again, I've been really good at wearing them, and I typically take them off once my bedroom door is closed or before anyone wakes up in the morning. On this particular day, I decided it was probably a good idea to shower. I go into the bathroom and the first thing I do is take off my socks. Immediately after doing so, Senora calls me. WHAT DO I DO?? MY SOCKS ARE OFF! AHH! Do I put them back on which takes longer than you think since they are so high and big or do I leave them off. I had to open the door to answer her, and she was bound to see that my bare feet were touching her bathroom floor. Or should I just ignore her and wait to answer after the shower?
This, my friends, is the great sock debate.
Being that I am kind of terrified of Senora and didn't want to make her wait any longer, I decided to leave the socks off, open the door, and only stick my head out while my feet hide behind the wall. Talk about awkward body position. BUT WAIT... SHE'S WALKING TOWARDS THE BATHROOM NOW. Ahhh she'll see my feet. She gets closer and closer... and then tells me dinner is at 9:30pm. AND THEN LOOKS DOWN AT MY FEET. Bah.
Needless to say, I found another pair of socks on my bed after showering. Just as attractive as the first pair. (The poor German must be wondering why I am wearing his socks.)
So that was how I spent the rest of my Saturday.
On Sunday, I woke up bright and early to meet my friends at the train station. We planned on taking the train to a nearby Province called Cadiz to enjoy a day at the beach. This day was perfect. The train was an hour and 45 minutes long; not bad considering it takes about 2+ hours to drive down to the shore in New Jersey. (Nuevo Hersey as the Spanish pronounce it; not to be confused with Hershey.) The train dropped us off about a ten minutes away from La Playa de Victoria. It was super crowded due to the fact that there was an Airshow on the beach on this day. The airshow was kind of cool. It involved military/police airplanes flying over the water and sand. Sometimes they did tricks. It would have been even better if I had brought earplugs; it was beyond loud!
After the airshow finished, the beach cleared out which was perfect because we were able to move our beach things up to the edge of the water! Perfecto! I should also mention that Senora failed to make me breakfast on this day or pack me a lunch or a towel. This lady really must enjoy seeing me struggle. Thank goodness I have a great friend (Mariclare) who had an extra towel that I was able to borrow. (Yay to not laying in the sand!) And of course, no lunch meant it was necessary to eat Gelato! It is interesting to see the Spanish dynamic at the beach as opposed to the American one I am used to. In America, kids have about 20 toys to plays with, we eat sandwiches, we have lifeguards, we do not truly socialize-- we prefer to sleep or observe our surroundings. In Spain, the kids have ZERO toys. They are expected to be content with the sand and the water. This concept is brilliant! And how life with children should be. We already over stimulate our children in America they don't know how to use their imagination and just play. Instead it is expected/required to bring a million distractions so that the kid is constantly being stimulated. At the beach, the kids should be extremely happy to be surrounded by a giant sandbox and a giant pool of water. Sorry; teacher rant over. The beach was also filled with entire families. I'm talking grandparents, parents, kids, grandchildren, etc. To the Spaniards, it is a time to spend with family and they really do an excellent job at making that happen. Most of the Spaniards bring foldaway tables so that they can eat a family meal at the beach! I kid you not. I was a little jealous of their tables because their food never got sandy.
A Spanish family around their beach table
You also rarely see sandwiches at the beach. Most families bring big bowels of salads, platters of cheese and meats, loaves of bread, fruit, tinto de verano, beers, etc. It is comparable to eating a meal at a house. They take their eating very seriously here. As for the lifeguards, they don't exist. The people look out for each other here. Not sure how successful it is, but I am pleased to report that I did not see any drownings on this particular day. Back to the socialization thing, the Spaniards are always talking to the family members and friends around them, playing games like soccer, swimming, making out, etc. (Yes, public affection is very blatant here as well as very normal). You rarely see someone sleeping on the beach. Unless its a group of seven American girls (aka us). Oh and the girls don't wear bathing suit tops here. I'll let your mind wander with your thoughts on subject.
After leaving the beach, I headed back to my homestay where I had a rather rousing meal of eggs (again).
Yesterday (Monday), was my first day of Spanish class. It was also the day I decided to leave my homestay. My senora just wasn't cutting it. Technically I paid to live with this Spanish lady. So I should be getting my money's worth (at least that's how CIEE put it.) She rarely speaks to me, except when I'm not wearing socks. I think she has some kind of sixth sense that picks up on my bare feet touching her floor. She only feeds me meat or eggs. 1.) I don't eat meat, and she knows this. 2.) I am truly sick of eggs. 3.) When she does feed me, she makes me eat alone. She also is just plain mean. I am supposed to be living in her house so that I can improve my Spanish. Due to her meanness, I am afraid to talk to her and even if I wasn't afraid, she doesn't talk to me in the first place. Lastly, she signed a contract with CIEE to take only one person, and she gets paid a lot of money by CIEE to compensate for this. She is not allowed to have any other people living in her house that aren't family. That way I get all of the focus and truly improve my Spanish and immerse myself fully into the culture. (Hence the name of my program-- Teach in Spain Two Week Immersion). So the German was not supposed to be there. Summed up, she's only in it for the money. So after class, I headed to the CIEE "palace" in Sevilla. I met with a nice worker named Abraham who after explaining my story had no problem with my request to move. I was informed that I had to meet with my new family to make sure I like them and to tell my old family that I was leaving. So on my 30 minute walk back to my homestay from the city center, I planned out what I was going to tell Senora. And by planned out, I really mean I typed everything out in English and then my wonderful friend/old roommate Maggie translated it all into Spanish (she studied abroad in Granada, so she's very fluent). I arrived home, said my "hola's" and wrote out the note that I was going to hand to Senora. I figured this was the easiest route since I knew that it was written correctly, and I could say my spiel all at once. Talk about nervous. I explained in my note that CIEE found out about the German living in her house and because of that they are moving me to another homestay. I handed her my note, said a prayer, and sat down next to the German while she read it.
Then the yelling began.
For being as old as she was, this lady sure has a set of lungs on her. She yelled at me A LOT. During her yelling, she pulled out the CIEE contract she signed and shook it in my face. Then she called CIEE and left a yelling voicemail. While she was on the phone, I explained to the German what was going on because he nearly jumped out of his seat when Senora started shouting and clearly had no idea what was going on. After hanging up with CIEE, she continued to yell at me. I think the fact that she was yelling in Spanish, and I had no idea what she was saying made it 10 times scarier. It took everything in me not to cry. At this point, I was being treated like a five year old as opposed to a 23 year old woman plus I was battling back tears, so I walked away towards my room. Senora followed and yelled at me in there. Then she left and called CIEE two more times. I was smart enough to lock my bedroom door this time. And then I deliberately took off my socks-- I'll show you Senora. My mom has yelled at me before (shout out to Sheila!), but I have never had her or anyone in my entire life yell at me like this. Because Senora made me feel like I had done something terribly wrong, I reached out to one of my program leaders who calmed my nerves and confirmed that this was the typical reaction from people who are only in it for the money. This is because when a student leaves, they do not receive any of the money.
Now to form a get away plan... This house was even more terrifying after the explosion, so I had to leave when Senora wasn't around. As soon as she went into her bedroom, I snuck out of my bedroom. The German saw me leaving and said goodbye. He also gave me his phone number in case I needed anything and asked if I was okay. We truly bonded over the occurrences of this day. As soon as I was out of the house, I was able to breathe. Another good friend of mine, Ben, told me I could come meet him out with his friends. He lives near my homestay and has patiently listened to all of my problems with Senora and has graciously saved me each time I've needed to get out of the house. Not to mention, he's been great at escorting me around Sevilla both during the day and at night. I met up with him, drank a massive cervesa, and vented my life away. By the time all of this was finished, I needed to leave to meet my new homestay family. The new apartment is in the center of Sevilla-- no more 30 minute walks for me!! I was pleased to meet Marina (the Senora) and Marina (the daughter). Easy to remember. Their house is beautiful! It has big rooms and high ceilings plus access to the roof! (A big deal here in Spain.) Both Marinas were so nice! And in my short time with them, I picked up more Spanish than my entire time with Senora. After leaving my new home, I felt a weight lifted off of me. I didn't realize how sad I actually was from living at the other homestay.
Anyway, I refused to go back to Senora's home (I wasn't officially moving out for another 24 hours), so I utilized my time to buy a new pair of pants for 15 euros, getting lost on one of the side streets in el centro, drinking tinto and eating tapas with some friends. Around 10:00 pm I headed back to my old homestay. Of course, of all days, Senora decided to stay up past 9:00pm on this day. So I did have to cross paths with her. Luckily, she ignored me, and I hid in my room to pack my things.
Today (Tuesday), was move in day. YAY! It was also the first day that Senora fed me breakfast before class. Weird. But whatever. (**See the last paragraph of this blog). The German must have still been feeling pretty bad about the day before because our bonding continued this morning. I quickly ate the cold toast and coffee I was provided and headed towards my friend Ben's homestay, so we could walk to class together.
Sidenote: I forgot how much I miss learning. The ten day Spanish class I am currently enrolled in has been wonderful. I've learned so much in the last two days! And mi Profesora is a great teacher!
I rushed home after class, packed up my last minute things and headed out. Needless to say, Senora failed to acknowledge my "Adios" upon leaving. I WAS FINALLY FREE! I felt/still feel kind of guilty leaving the German behind. He was a bit jumpy for most of the day.
As for my new home, I love it here. The family makes me feel so welcome. They fed me a delicious lunch that wasn't eggs, and I got to eat at the table with them. They also talked the whole time and seemed truly interested in getting to know me. Plus my new bedroom has a fan (which I was lacking in the old place, and my old room averaged around 97 degrees). The mattress here is so comfortable too and has zero springs poking out. (Talk about best siesta ever!) And last but not least, they gave me a pair of flip flops to walk around the house in. I NEVER HAVE TO WALK AROUND IN MENS TUBE SOCKS AGAIN!! Wooooo Victory!
**Before I sign off, I am pretty sure Senora roofied my breakfast this morning because all day my stomach has felt squirrely. But who cares. I am in a new house with a new family who I have already fallen in love with!
No comments:
Post a Comment