Ali Ali cante

Hey all, I’m baaaaaaack!  My apologies for the brief hiatus, but my lovely hard drive crashed.  Luckily my favorite little sister in the world gave me the external hard drive that she got for Christmas right before I left and, even luckier still, I used it to back up my computer the night before meltdown! Explaining everything to the apple store guy in Spanish was a blast too…  I’ll just call it a learning experience.  Now I can be a computer geek bilingually!  My week and a half in Alicante has done nothing but get me excited for the rest of the semester!  For my first week here, the weather was unbelievable- getting my hopes up for the rest of the term.  It went from mid 70’s everyday to mid to high 60’s.  It was nice while it lasted, but I can deal with blue skies and 60’s.  Before it got a little chillier I managed to get a little color and go for a few dips in the sea, so I’m satisfied.  It’s only going to get warmer from here on out!

My program in Alicante is split into two sections.  The first month that we are here is called the “intensive period” and it has been living up to its name.  We are taking nothing but a Spanish grammar course (which meets for four hours everyday) and a “social realities” course that meets twice a week.  Waking up early (really early) to catch the bus to the university (30 min ride) has been difficult.  Luckily, once I start the second section of the program (continuation period), my econ and business classes won’t start before 13:00 and I won’t have Friday class!  Long weekend excursions here I come!  Any suggestions?! 

My host family is great!  I live with an older woman named Stella and her 33-year-old son, Andres.  Andres’ girlfriend, Cristina, is always here too.  Stella rents a room to 63-year-old Eduardo.  Eduardo has been living in Spain for six years- since he moved to here from Peru.  I also live with another American student who is in the same program as me.  Nick goes to Eastern Michigan University and is a Spanish and Japanese double major.  He just returned from a semester abroad in Japan and is now in Spain.  What a crazy junior year for him!  His favorite hobby is knitting and he also enjoys theater and music.  Stella is Italian born, grew up in Argentina and has been in Spain for almost 12 years.  What does that mean?  The cooking is fantastic!  For those of you not familiar with the Spanish eating schedule, it is the best!  I wake up for school and eat a little breakfast, which usually consists of OJ, a sweet of some kind and some toast.  Around noon we eat a small lunch (more of a snack) and then 2.5 hours later a huuuuuuge lunch consisting of multiple courses and, of course, a dessert!  Dinner is never before nine and most of the time around 10.  I’m never “starving” in Spain and right when you start to get hungry more food is put down in front of you!  It’s not uncommon to have beer or wine at any meal, regardless of the time of day. 

The other students in my program are a lot of fun!  Of the 50 Americans studying abroad with CCCS in Alicante, only 10 are guys (and I think only 6 or 7 are straight guys-tbd).  The girls are also very cute ;).  Most of the people I hang out with consistently are girls and, other than the shopping I’ve had to suffer through, it’s been a nice change from fraternity life.  I won’t bore yall with names and details, but I definitely going to keep in touch with a lot of these people.