So much to say

I am home for lunch after my first day of school! I am having so much fun but it is so tiring and sort of lonely too. It takes a ridiculous amount of focus to always be translating from English to Spanish in my head. I realized recently though, that I have started to think in Spanish and translate into English! It's so weird.

Yesterday was Los Reyes Magos, a holiday like Christmas that is dedicated to the Three Kings at Jesus' birth. I woke up at 12:30 in the afternoon and Marimar, my AMAZING host mom gave me an I LOVE ZARAGOZA sweatshirt. It's so cute. The night before the holiday, my first day in Zaragoza, I went to the parade and it was so cold! Even though the temperatures are the same here and in Connecticut, it is so damp here that everything feels colder!

Last night I was so nervous for school, and on top of that I was feeling a little woozy from the fried pig skins, pickled asparagus, deep fried mystery meat, seafood paella and a multitude of other interesting foods. I have never seen anyone eat as much as the Spaniards. More than once I have been asked why Americans are so fat, a common stereotype here in Spain... but I have to tell them in my broken Spanish that unlike Spaniards, most Americans prefer one or two course meals. Here in Spain my meals consist of a huge appetizer of ham, eggs, mayo and deep fried mashed potato and bacon nuggets. Then comes the main course of deep fried meat with butter-dipped fries and peppers. Next comes snacks like toast and candy. Then comes dessert, lemon whipped cream, sugared bread with whipped cream, or chocolate with whipped cream. There is not a lot of variety. Oh and after that we go home and eat melon. No wonder they think I don't eat enough! The main dish here is ham. Smoked ham is in everything! In my kitchen here, there is an entire leg of a pig that they take shavings of ham from. It's pretty cool actually... I am slowly adjusting to the different food choices, and luckily Silvia is a picky eater too, so it all works out.

The first half of school was ridiculously boring, but entertaining in between classes. All of the boys have been looking forward to two new female additions to the grade, and I was informed by Sergio, my desk mate, that I am a new "fish in the sea." Well India is really a major topic of discussion... the boys like to reach over and pull her hair. They tell her she is Bob Marley and she is commonly referred to as Tarzan.

In ethics class, the teacher is so funny and likes to speak in English for me. In the beginning of the class, I was able to follow what he was saying, unlike biology and Latin, but towards the end I couldn't focus anymore. I hope that eventually I will start to understand more in class.

I got invited to my first birthday party in Spain! I get to go out with all of Silvia's friends this weekend for a birthday party. Luckily, India is coming too so we can stick together while we are thoroughly immersed into the social lives of Zaragozans. I think we're going to a discotecha for the party... so that should be interesting.

All of the girls ask if I know famous people since I live near New York. I like to tell them I do... but they never believe me. The boys tell me that they are famous Futbol players. Manzano introduced himself to me as Cristiano Ronoldo, and Sergio asked me if I knew Obama. Everyone is so funny and social and they all want to know about the U.S. They sing Fiesta en los Estados Unidos (Party in the U.S.A), and ask who has the best American accent. It's so much fun!

I'm off to school again for History class and English! Yayayya English class finally! I met the teacher and she doesn't speak very much English, but some of the students do and it will be fun to see how much they know. It is SUCH a hard language to learn. I was trying to help Silvia with simple fill in the blank English homework and I could barely do it. Nothing makes sense in the English language.

Pues... Adios!