Logrono y las fiestas de San Mateo

Hola to all!

Having successfully spent a week here without returning home on the next available flight, I feel a lot more settled and confident that I can do this! Haha. I know it sounds dramatic, but this first week has been really rough. I forgot how hard it is to move someplace new and not know anyone, and then to have to settle yourself in and make a place for yourself on your own. It’s just darn tough! But things have gotten better with every day that passes. Here’s a brief update on what’s happened this past week:

1. I’ve spent all week at school, including actually going into one class on Thursday morning. I THINK I have a finalized schedule now, which would put me in the bilingual classes of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years in various subjects. I went into a History/Geography class of 1st years on Thursday and they’re all just so TINY! I guess they’re only 12, but I just can’t believe how small 12 year olds look! I’m sure I was never that small! But they all seemed eager to talk and excited that I’d be there for the year, so I’m hoping to get to know them better soon. This coming week should be our first normal week, so settling into a routine will be nice.

2. I joined a gym, and that has just made me feel so much better! Never underestimate the power of endorphins! I went a couple of times last week and it’s gorgeous – tons of new-looking machines, both cardio and weights, and I think it’ll be good for me, giving me something else to do with my time.

3. I had coffee with Chris, one of the Americans at my school, on Thursday, and he told me about this girl Megan who he also knew that was in Burgos kind of on her own. So I called her up and we met up and went out with Becky and Rachel on Thursday night, and she’s just super nice! And she seems glad to know more Americans in the area, so we’re slowly growing our group of auxiliares with every passing day! So that makes me happy.

4. I caught the bus Friday afternoon back to Logrono for the annual festival of San Mateo/the vendimia (grape harvest). We went out last night and there were just a TON of people in every bar. But TODAY was the official start of the festivities. Oh my goodness, the insanity! We went with about a zillion other people to the main plaza del Ayuntamiento (city hall) today to start off the celebration, and there were tons of groups of people with bottles of wine and gaseosa (a slightly sweet seltzer water), bags of flour and cartons of eggs. They basically then took those things and flung them around the crowd, dousing everyone within reach. Once the welcome ceremonies were over, everyone moved en masse to the old town part of the city and the bars were hopping!! Everywhere was FULL of people, with loud dance music pumping inside and people overflowing out onto the streets, enjoying their beverages. It’s basically just a huge excuse to get totally drunk all day long, as far as I can tell. It was fun to be in for a few hours, but we ended up leaving around 3pm to take a break and make some lunch. But we’re off again tonight to brave the crowds and see what kind of festivities are happening around town.

5. I have officially met some of the new people who are going to be in Logrono this year, and that’s been really fun! Some people had emailed me over the summer, knowing that I’d been there last year, and asked me questions about what to expect, etc. This one girl in particular, Jennis, had been emailing with lots of questions and then actually called a few times this past week with various things she was confused about. So we ended up meeting up yesterday afternoon, and she is just the nicest, most fun person ever! It’s such a shame that we’re not physically going to be in the same place! But since we met yesterday evening, we have just gotten along so well, talking about everything and wandering around, exploring the city together. Her combined with my friends from last year that I met up with yesterday and today, have made me feel so much more comfortable about being back in Spain. Even though we aren’t in the same city, we’re close enough that we’ll be able to visit a fair amount, I hope!

6. I met up with one of my teachers from last year, Inma, for a coffee yesterday evening, too, so it was good to catch up with her, find out how things are at my old instituto, and again, just feel connected to Spain. She and her husband also showed me around the kiosks and stands set up for the festival so I could get more of an insiders’ view of the whole thing.

So, those are the highlights of this past few days, I suppose. I’ll try to figure out how to make pictures happen on this page shortly so you can have an idea of just how many people were out today for this festival – which goes until Sept 27th, by the way, so it’s a long, all-week affair! – and the kind of crazy things they wore and had thrown on them. It’s just really nothing like I’ve ever seen at home before!

Hopefully this coming week will bring many more interesting and new stories to share with everyone!

xxx

 

Ya he llegado a Burgos

So! I have arrived! [Translation of the title: I've arrived in Burgos] But not without some minor (and incredibly stupid to admit) setbacks along the way, might I add! But nevermind…I’m here, I can still speak Spanish, and the weather isn’t insanely cold yet, all positive things.

My flight from SFO left around 10:30 on Thursday morning (September 11th, which made me SLIGHTLY less excited about flying, which you all know isn’t my favorite activity anyway!), and once I arrived at the airport and attempted to check in, I was directed to a kiosk which had a passport scanner to verify my identity. Wait, I’m supposed to have a passport???? Okay, I have travelled internationally many times in my life, and NEVER have I forgotten my passport. Not once. But for whatever reason, while I brought absolutely everything else that I might need for the next year, I totally spaced that all important piece of documentation. So I promptly freak out, call my (lovely!!) parents to inform them of my gaffe, and my (incredibly amazing!!) mother drove allll the way back to SFO from home, for the second time that morning, to get me my passport so that I didn’t miss my plane. IDIOT. I pretty much still can’t believe that I did that, and I have a feeling my loving friends and family won’t let me forget it for a loooong time.

But I arrived, as I said, 24+ hours later in Burgos, absolutely exhausted from three planes, a metro ride, and a bus trip. Luckily for me, my roommate from last year’s boyfriend’s son (got the connection?) lives in Burgos and came without question to pick me up from the bus station and take me to my hotel, saving me the stress of finding a taxi, which was SO NICE and unnecessary of him. He also then took me out to tapas with his family, making me feel very welcome after such a long trip. Keep in mind, I’ve met this man and his family probably twice in my life, very briefly each time, and they had absolutely no obligation to help me. But they did, and I am eternally grateful. It saved me from going to my hotel room at 9pm, not being sleepy and thinking about how much I missed home. So thank God for small miracles and generous people.

Saturday – day two – I met up with my roommate from last year and her boyfriend, and they took me on a mini-driving tour of the city, showing me where my school is (a good busride or 30 minute walk out of the center) and where the university is located, and then they took me out to a yummy Italian lunch. Basically, again, just making me feel welcomed and like I actually belong in this country. I know people here. People aren’t going to let me disappear off the face of the planet. I’m going to survive. Siiiiiiiigh.

Next order of business: find an apartment! I went off to turismo to get a map and then began calling people. Again, Andrés (the nice son of the boyfriend) had picked up many random numbers of people offering apartments for university students, and he passed those onto me Friday night. So I basically cold-called these people (again, NOT my favorite activity!), trying to find a place that wasn’t too far from the center, didn’t cost a zillion dollars, and that had internet. The internet thing is proving to be the sticking point, for sure. Apparently it’s just not as ubiquitous in houses here as it is at home, and I’m sorry, I just don’t think I can live without it (I think this is the point where my dad starts muttering, “What a Millenial!”)!

The first place I saw yesterday was lovely, with a really nice, fun girl as a roommate, but it was just too far from the center on a relatively untrafficked road, which made me nervous. NOT that I’ll EVER be out until 3am, but just in case I AM, I don’t really want to be walking home that way all by myself. So unfortunately, that one’s out. I saw another one in the evening which was fine, but again, a little far away and without internet. I learned that there are apparently “personal internet” kits you can buy here and put into your USB hub in order to have internet all the time, though, so I think I’ll look into those as an option. If that works and I can pay an extra 20-30€/month for internet and not be totally inconvenienced in my apartment’s location, then that would be perfect!

But then came today. I looked at THE most gorgeous, most perfect apartment I’ve ever seen on a beautiful street in Burgos. Close to the center, new, with a washer AND a dryer, with internet and TVs and a landline that I can make calls on, etc, etc, but it’s expensive. 370€ per month, when all the rest of the apartments are between 200-300€. So now comes the fun rationalization process in order to decide whether I can actually spend that amount. We shall see…

And lastly, yesterday I met up with this girl, Becky, who is going to be working at the same school as me this coming year. Which was SO NICE. We’d talked once over the phone and many times via facebook, but it was so great to finally MEET her and have at least one friend here in Burgos! We went out for tapas and a good wander through the streets and talked for awhile. And she has already met some French-speaking girls who are also teaching here, so hopefully this is the beginning of a little group! Yay! That on its own just makes me about a zillion times calmer.

Tomorrow I start school and meet up with the Couchsurfing people in the evening, so hopefully from there I can make myself some new friends, too! I need to keep reminding myself that I’ll be fine, that I know people here, that my apartment situation will work out soon and in a great way. And this weekend I’m going to Logroño to see my friends from last year, and that’ll be wonderful and comfortable and a good recharge for my batteries. Hopefully the next time I write to you it’s from my own internet!

Muchos besos a todos!