An Afternoon in Alcalá

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19:00

Some of you asked what my life is like outside of school and day trips to other parts of Spain...

I'm sitting in the plaza de Cervantes, the center square of Alcalà. I just pulled out my iPhone to write this because I've found that its easier to narrate my life out in the midst of things than at home on a laptop. Though this is usually a fun place, horns and whistles are blasting because a union of hospital workers is protesting. They're matching around the main street with a banner. Awesome... Now they're walking right past my nice quiet bench. I had thought it was getting louder...

Ignoring them, the Plaza de Cervantes is beautiful. I don't remember if I've mentioned him before, but the famous writer Cervantes was born in Alcalà. Another thing that starts with a C!!! The plaza in his honor is filled with rosebushes of every color. My classes take place just around the corner.

This afternoon I had lunch with my brother at home. Cami, our house cleaner, always makes lunch because my Spanish parents get home later. Afterwards I was antsy to do something but had to rule out heading to Madrid, though it’s just a 30-minute train ride away. I decided to relax, grabbing my homework and heading to the bus. On a patio on the main street I had a cerveza and the complimentary snack. Actually the free snacks are one of the reasons I think people in Spain get drunk less often than Americans. We always take our alcohol with food.
After finishing my homework and doing a bit of trip planning with my Kindle, I browsed the shops on the main road. Life is pretty leisurely here. It's taking time, but I'm learning how to slow down.

Something I forgot to mention a couple days ago: we have ducks. On Sunday morning we found a mother duck and her four ducklings in the yard. With a waist-high stone fence surrounding our house, the ducks are definitely a surprise. They seem to have found an oasis as they swim back and forth in the pool and eat bread my Spanish family gives them. At night while we're eating dinner the four ducklings walk underneath the mother and she sits down to keep them warm. Macarena keeps worrying that they are gone. I like watching the ducklings attempting to walk or hop out of the pool because they often fall down adorably.

Another thing... Words that sound similar are not necessarily the same. My friend told me yesterday that when her host family served cerezas (cherries) for dessert, she exclaimed, "me gustan cervezas!! (I like beers!)" Amidst their protests, she repeated, "me gustan cervezas (I like beers!)!" She often has these amusing language confusions, which keeps the rest of our group entertained.

Peace and quiet has returned to the plaza, but I'm ready to go hit up a few more shops. Maybe I'll find even better prices for the voluminous pants I've been seeing everywhere!



21:00

Yep. I did. Now I have awesome pants.

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