Chicos, al barrio!

I moved in to my host house yesterday. Until mid-December, I'll be living with an older woman, Juana María (who I'm supposed to call Juani) in a really cute house in a barrio (neighborhood) of Alicante. The house is much smaller than typical American homes (it's also sandwiched between two other buildings and right on the street) but it's so lovely--it's got a charming kitchen and living room, and my favorite part is the courtyard and rooftop terrace out back. I usually read or do my homework outside. It's hot here, but not too unpleasant, especially if you wear light clothing.

Today we went to the University, which is in a suburb outside Alicante called San Vincente. I have to take a half-hour bus ride to get there, but I much prefer riding public transportation to driving. The bus system was a little confusing, at least compared to the metro, because you just have to know where you get off.

The University is really pretty. There are lots of plazas, and landscaping (we saw lime and hibiscus trees among other pretty plants), and fountains. It's great to be on an "outside" campus--the cold weather detested by Iowans 3/4 of the school year makes elaborate landscaping at Drake a huge waste of time.

I did get lost today. We went to buy books and the professor dropped us off at the bookstore and said "see you later". I don't think any of us really remembered the way to get back, considering we had another tour of the campus earlier that day, and all the landmarks ran together. So we wandered for about 45 minutes in the searing heat until I finally called the study abroad office and asked for someone to come get me at the building I was at, lest I get more lost and mugged and run over by a car. I was really frustrated because there are few things I hate more than not knowing exactly where I'm going when I have somewhere to be (like class).

Today I am a little homesick. A lot homesick. I miss my friends. I think of them often--that Tucker would love the terrace at my house, that Lydia would be a great addition to my afternoons at the cafe/bars, that Lisa would do so well chattering with me in Spanish on the way to la playa.  I am making friends here, even though the sheer volume of people is really overwhelming. As an introvert I tend to gravitate towards and prefer to be around one or two people at a time--any more and I tend to get tired out really easily.

Tomorrow's Friday, which means fiesta and hopefully the beach. I think everyone's still getting into the groove of living here. Tomorrow it will have been a week since leaving the country. I know the time's going to go by so quickly, and I think I'm doing a good job of making it count.

¡Hasta luego!
Maren