en realidad, nada

So, I know it's been a long time since I wrote...Sorry! Truth is, since I'm settling in, there's really not a lot to write about. The weekdays here are actually a tad boring, since all my friends have to study for tests. Here tests are 100% of your grade, and there are a lot of tests, so everyday after 7 hours of school, they go home, eat, and study, before going to bed and repeating the same thing the next day.

However, the weekends are so fun that it kind of evens out. Every Friday and Saturday, I hang out with Andrea and Claudia (who, by the way have pretty much become my best friends), Iñaki, and Josémi. We go to the movies, go out to eat, or just play karaoke in Clau's INSANELY nice house (I'm talking chandeliers in every room. and the coolest bathroom sink I've ever seen!!) Last night we went to see the move "Orphan" (aka la huerfana), and it was soooo fun! Whenever I watch a scary movie, I am compelled to laugh. So the entire time I was laughing, while everyone else was screaming, or jumping in their seats. An hour-plus of laughing = a good time.

I am starting to really miss home. The animals, and the food are at the top of the list, although my family has started to figure out what I like, and the food is pretty good now. It's so weird to not have a pet in the house (unless you count the two fish Lidia has...how am I supposed to pet those?) All my life there has been at least 1 cat in the house, and to have to pet-able pets is pretty different. Especially since right now at home I have a HUUUUGE cat named Mollie (really fat, like 17 lbs!) who always felt the need to sleep on my feet, so that I couldn't move them when I slept, or to sit on my chest so I couldn't breathe, and then lick my nose right as I fall asleep. Lets just say she definitely made her presence known. So to go to bed everynight able to breathe and move my legs, one would think that it would be a relief. But it's not, I just miss my kitty.


Well, there's really not much else to say. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them. It's always fun to see who is reading.

Lots of love

and many Besos!

~Gwen

Estoy Viviendo

Hi all! I know my posts are getting sporadic, but I'm really trying to "immerse" myself in the language and culture here, hence not going on the computer very much. This also means that I will be posting even less. Sorry! I will try to do at least one post every two weeks, sometimes more if something really interesting happens. I know this isn't very much, but now that school's started, there's really not a whole lot to say.

Friday Night a bunch of friends and I went to downtown pamplona to hang out. It was really cold so we went to this little cafeto warm up, and I had the best tea ever. Then we just walked around Pamplona, chatting away in my now-perfected Spanglish. ;) I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but quite a few of my friends have done exchanges in the US or Canada for some period of time, so they all speak english quite well. (quite a few being: Teresa, Monica, Laura, Angela, and I think Yoli, too) So anyway, we walked around Pamplona (which, if I haven't mentioned it already is like the cutest city ever. It's sooo stereotypical europe, which I LOVE) and as we walked down the street, I smelled something really good. I asked Angela what it was, and she said "Oh, Chestnuts! Do you like them?"
So I actually got to try chestnuts -- roasted over a fire!! aah. it made me want christmas sooo bad.
The first few were pretty good, but after awhile I tired of them, I think it's one of those foods that you only really need 3 or 4 of, and then you're fine.

School is still school. I'm understanding a little bit more, but I'm already insanely bored with my classes. It's not like in the US where you have some core classes, but almost always have some fun class, like choir or something. Plus, here, they don't do activities in class, it's mostly just note-taking (yes, so that means we don't get to draw in literature while we're read to. dang it!)
Speaking of literature, right now we're dissecting an epic poem -- in Spanish. Sounds pretty epic to me. We have yet to read any books, but I think that might be a good thing for me, as I would probably have to ask if I could do an alternate assignment...like reading Dr. Seuss in Spanish, or something.

But, as I mentioned, my Spanish is getting better, poco a poco. I just have to work on learning the verb forms that I hadn't yet learned in Spanish class. (which, if you didn't know, is a LOT. There are way more verb forms in Spanish than in English. I'm really beginning to appreciate English.)

oh, and by the way, by the time you read this, I will probably have added more photos to the album.
:)

Besos!
~Gwen