On Monday we met our families, and that was officially the start of the program when we swore we'd only speak in Spanish. It's really difficult because there are so many words that we don't know yet and are forced to say it in English. I know it takes patience and a while before you become good at something, but it's always frustrating and embarrassing whenever you are unable to understand the other person and have to ask constantly, "Que?" "Repitelo por favor," or "No te entiendo." Another reason is sometimes I have a hard time expressing myself in Spanish, whether it be pausing to think and conjugate or simply not knowing the words in Spanish to say it. But I like it because it's a challenge. It motivates me to try harder. My goal is to be able to hold a conversation comfortably in Spanish. In order to improve my Spanish, like this blog or maybe in this blog, I want to write only in Spanish so I can improve my grammar. I need to read more and solely speak in Spanish while I'm here. I can keep a notebook of Spanish words that I learned or need to know.
Besides the language barrier, my first day at my homestay was okay. I was a bit confused about whether I liked my family. My host mom was older even though I wanted a mom who could take me around the city. I wanted a brother or sister who was my age but I got a sister who is twice my age. I missed staying in a hostel or hotel room with friends. Now I have my own room that seems lonely without a cell phone, and it's very cold in the mornings and at night. There is no heater in the apartment, only blankets. The one thing that filled me with optimism at first was when, last night, the former student who lived here posted on the UCEAP facebook page saying that whoever has Magdalena is very lucky! I agree that my family members are very nice to me, and I love Magdalena's cooking so far. I've had el cocido, Spanish tortilla con potatas, y paella- for the first time! I've also heard about other families, and I am content with mine.
Today is Tuesday, a nice and sunny day but the morning was around zero degree Celsius. It was also the day that I met my intercambio Esther. She's 25 years old and a very nice gal who is studying to be an English teacher in Cordoba. I feel lucky because she knows English and can help me out with my Spanish.
After our meeting, the Cordoba group of us went to the Zoco to buy a cell phone- Happy Movil which is a prepaid phone. It costs 17cents per call and 59 free min afterwards for each day that it's used. It costs 34 euros which includes 15 euros for service which means that the phone itself costs 19 euros. That was the best deal we could find. The problem was that there were only 4 phones available. The rest of us waited for our phones to arrive in the store but it never did so many of us are still without a phone to contact each other. I'm hoping tomorrow I can go to another store to get one.
It's late (1am) here and I'm getting sleepy. I have to wake up early tomorrow for school around 8am. It's freezing cold right now and in the morning when I have to shower. It's really difficult to keep up with this blog especially since there's so much that happens and too much to write about and I would like to avoid writing and speaking any English for a time but still I'll try to post whenever something new happens.
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