A little bit of Corn Pops goes a long way

The other day at breakfast, Carmen decided to shake things up and give me cereal. Sounds normal, right? Well, she gave it to me in a saucer dry--no milk. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do. So, I asked her for milk and she told me that the saucer wouldn't hold milk. I told her that I like milk with my cereal, thinking that maybe they eat it dry in Spain or just in her family. She proceeds to go to the stove and warm me up a mug of milk.

I must have looked confused, because she said, "We must not be understanding each other." So I asked her how she normally eats her cereal. She told me that she doesn't eat cereal, but Aran puts her cereal in her hot milk (except Aran normally eats it with Cola-Cow--their version of hot chocolate). It was actually quite tasty, but it was very confusing--especially in my befuddled morning state. It's fun to eat the cereal and then be able to drink the milk, in a socially acceptable way. I love drinking the milk after I eat cereal, but in front of other people it's not exactly the best manners to drink out of a bowl.

For the past few days now, I've asked for cereal in the morning. It's amazing the difference in adding cereal to one's breakfast. Even though the cereal at the present is Corn Pops, that extra food lasts for so much longer. I think it's also the milk, because it's so rich and creamy. Probably really fattening, but it feels me up so I don't really worry about it. Hopefully all the walking balances it out.

Another culture shock problem I've been having is my class schedule. I normally have class at 8:30 am or 9:00 am and my last class ends around 2:30-3:45, depending on the day. First off, it's really hard to go that long with just a bit of toast and coffee (and now cereal) for breakfast. I normally bring a snack, which only abates the hunger a little. Secondly, I usually have breaks between classes that last several hours. Carmen goes out in the morning to go shopping and deadlocks the door. My key won't work on the deadlock, so I can't go home. I could ask her to leave it open, but the breaks make me be productive so normally I do whatever homework I have. Often times though, I don't have very much to do so I wander around campus or Pamplona. I just feel like I waste so much time. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually.

I visited Carmen's friend Monica again yesterday. We had a lovely chat. She offered to ask some of her friends if they know of anyone who'd like an English person to talk with their children. A lot of her friends have grandchildren so maybe at least one family will want me!

We also talked about the drinking age in the US and how it can be problematic. In her building, they have an apartment of people from the United States who live there. Monica says that they are extremely nice during the week and often help her with her bags or hold the door open for her. However, during the weekend, it´s a "transformation." They hold raucus parties at all hours of the night and are drunk all the time. She said that they think it's normal in Spain to have house parties and be intoxicated. In reality, many people go out to bars and discoteques; however, people don't have late night house parties out of respect to the neighbors. After all, sound really carries in these apartment buildings.

I must admit, I kind of thought partying was the norm here. Then I realized that the impression I get of the Spanish has come from other international students who know just about as much as I do. The misconceptions are very interesting. I thought I saw the proof when I went to the part of the city where people party. It seemed like the whole city was out there because it was absolutely packed and there were people of all ages. I didn't know what to make of it. To a small-town girl where the only nightlife is fraternity parties, it definitely seemed like everyone was there. I'm relieved to know that there is more to Spanish culture than sleeping and partying because, if that were the case, the culture would be very shallow indeed.

Alcohol is just a normal part of culture here. People have a glass of wine with lunch and dinner and don't think anything about it. Monica said the word "prohibition" and it made me think. We had a strict prohibition a while ago, but in a way we're still in one. Our alcohol laws are very strict compared with other countries. And why? I really don't know. Maybe if they weren't so strict, we wouldn't have as much of a binge drinking problem. Just some food for thought.

So I went to the library the other day by myself. Why is that cool? Well, it was the first place that I have been able to get back to without help from another person or using a map. Carmen showed me where it was once and I found it on my own the next time. I didn't take a wrong turn or anything! It's still hard for me to find my house sometimes. Maybe I have a library tracker in my brain or something.

My main reason for going to the library was to return a couple DVDs I had checked out in Spanish. I've been reading Los Juegos de Hambre in Spanish on the Kindle my grandma lent me and so I decided I'd look to see if I could find the sequel. Well I found it all right, but it wasn't in Spanish. It was in Euskera, the Basque language. I can't read that!

The Basque are the people who've lived here for centuries, before the Spanish came into the picture. I guess kind of like our Native Americans. There is a region of Spain called the Basque Country, or País Basco, and it stretches from part of northern Spain to part of southern France. Navarra (Pamplona's region) isn't actually in the Basque Country, but there are many Basque people here. The second language on most anything in the city is in Euskera.

Back to the library, in the absence of a Spanish version of Catching Fire, I checked out the second Harry Potter book and a Scott Westerfeld novel that I read back in high school. I also picked up Easy A to watch in Spanish. I watched that last night. I learned a lot of Spanish insults from that movie.

There's this part in Easy A where Emma Stone's character uses a British profanity, so in this version she used a Mexican profanity. I know this because it said it in the movie. I thought that was pretty funny.  

Wow, I think my inner old-lady showed a lot in this blog post. I've actually thought about asking Carmen to teach me a little more about knitting. All I know how to do is one type of stitching.

Anyhoo, that's kind of what I've been up to this week. Mostly classes, checking out the city, the things mentioned above, and relaxing a bit. Until next time!