New Apt

Yesterday Libby and I moved into our new apartment in the center of downtown.  It is about three blocks up from the beach, across the street from  the district of restaurants and bars called "El Barrio," and right next to the university's bus stop.  (FYI, Libby is my friend who went to Sion and is also a Chi O at MU)  The two of us moved in with two Spanish girls, locals, who have been living here for a while.  They are both named Cristina-can't mess that up.  Anyhoo, they are very nice girls, a little older than Libby and I, I would say about 24.  They have jobs and Cristina #1 is studying to be a physical therapist.   Cristina #2 we still don't know much about because she went home yesterday right after we moved in.

A little history...for the past month I have been living with a family out in the suburbs of Alicante near the beach.  Everyone in the program was randomly assigned to a family.  In our program there are kids from Missouri, Arizona State, Marist, MIT, Illinous and a few other small schools.  Missouri students are the only ones who are dueled enrolled in the university in actual spanish student classes.  (That means everyone else takes special classes for foreign kids, we take real university courses.)  Missouri students are also the only ones given the option to move out of their host families and into an apartment after a month.  

Living with the host family was nice in some ways.  Everything was taken care of for us.  They fed us, did our laundry, cleaned our rooms and helped us with our homework.  However, the food was slightly sketch--they love LOVE olive oil and salt here.  They put it on everything in very high quantities.  Also, the Spanish eating schedule is very different than the United states.  They eat breakfast, usually coffee and some sort of croissant or sweet bread thing.  They eat a light "almuerzo" in the early afternoon, a sandwich and a piece of fruit per say.  The main meal of the day is in the late afternoon, around 3, and is usually some kind of vegetable soaked in oil and salt, a type of pork, bread and fruit.  Then they eat dinner, "cena" between 9-10 at night, something light again-like a sandwich or "bocodillo."   Living with the family was difficult because you had to eat what they cooked, when they cooked it, or else the "madre" would be very offended.  It was often times a very forced situation, you had to be part of their family whether you wanted to or not.

My family was a divorced woman and her two kids, Antonio and Andrea.  Lupe, la madre, is about 45 and loves to smoke like a chimney and watch old romantic spanish movies.  She doesn't work now, but she used to teach old people how to macreme.  Antonio is 24 and a construction worker who loves to fish with a huge spear gun in the ocean.  He came home with two octopus one day over his shoulder.  I will never forget what they looked like, very hard to explain.  I regret not taking a picture of that.  Andrea is studying to learn how to drive buses.  She is 20 years old.  Funny story:  Yesterday I was unpacking my bags in my new room and realized I had forgotten my adapter for spanish outlets at my old house.  I had just left there a few hours ago so I decided to jump on the tram and go back out and get it.  It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but these types of adapters are really hard to find here and I needed it for my computer etc.  So I get to my old house, about 3 hours after I left, and my room had been completely converted back into Andrea's room.  Lupe had rented out her own daughter's room.  The entire month I had been there I had been sleeping in her room and she had been sleeping on the couch.  She was completely fine with it.  Call me crazy, but Mom and Dad, I would be a little upset if you pulled a stunt like that.  

Tough to get everyone up-to-date, but now that I'm in the new apt I will be able to much more easily.  Miss you all.  Keep me updated on all the news from home!