Mi familia español

Buenos dias!

I thought of a few more anecdotes this morning to share.

Obviously, my name is not Spanish. When I had gotten my baggage at the Pamplona airport and walked out to find Carmen and Aran, they saw me immediately. I had sent them a picture of myself and I think I also just looked a little American/out of place at that point. They both came up to me and greeted me. I couldn't understand exactly what they were saying, but it was clear they were asking my name. I said, "Rachel," and they looked at each other, confused. I repeated my name and Carmen said that they were looking for another person then. I panicked a little, because I was so sure that they were the right people. I thought, "Hopefully there is another mother and daughter in this airport. What are the odds?" (except probably not that dignified or coherent). But then, Carmen said, "Soy Carmen," (or I'm Carmen) and I told her that's who I was looking for. She introduced me to Aran and then we left the airport. Later that night, she asked me my name again. She just could not pronounce it! So now she calls me, "Raquel," which is fine by me.

Continuing with the name theme, I learned that Lisa is a really common German name. There are so many Germans here! I love it because I can practice a little German as well. I'm used to there being a lot of Rachels so it is nice not having the common name.

Ellis, the other student here from PC, lives in the same building as me. We had no idea of this until I got here and we decided to meet up. He got here a few days before I did, which was smart. I kind of wish I had been here to see the big fiesta for the Wise Men (their version of Epiphany). Anyway, it's cool that we live so close! A lot of people live our zone of the city, which is awesome. Although, one thing about living with a family is that I'm not allowed to bring people over. That's totally understandable though.

Carmen has been very helpful in informing me about the customs. She just came in my room and reminded me about the differences between formal and informal. Luckily she doesn't expect formal from me. She said that's okay to be informal because of our closer relationship, but with a professor I, of course, use the formal.

It's funny. The first night she asked me if I'm single. I told her I am and ever since then she's been telling me about the local "chicos." She pointed out some tall, goodlooking ones (I couldn't see because they were ahead of us). She also tells me about her friends that are hosting students. It's really funny.

There have been many interesting cultural differences. One of which is the dress code for the school. Perhaps it's because the U of Navarra is a private, Catholic school, but we have to dress nicely. We can't wear shorts and definitely not flip flops. We also have to wear modest clothing. If we females wear dresses they have to have tights if they're short. Good thing I decided to throw tights in my bag (hope they don't rip). I packed a lot of sundresses because they're so easy to roll up. Since it's so cold right now, none of that is a problem, but I'll have to be aware when it gets a little warmer.

People who walk their dogs let them go off the leash a lot. It's very common for people to walk their dogs and then let the dog go sniff around. The owner will just watch or talk to some friends and call the dog back when they're ready to go. This may be dumb, but it's weird for me to think that there are Spanish dogs. I know dogs don't really speak human languages, but I think it's strange and I'm not sure why. It's silly, I know.

That's all I've thought of at the moment. Now I'll throw in a few pictures I took. I hope the quality is okay, I only have my iPhone camera. Whoops.

Here are two shots of my closet.

Carmen had sitting the pink storage box waiting on the bed for me. I thought that was very sweet.

I also didn't expect her to have hangers in the closet for me. That was a great surprise.

This is my bed. My dear friend Sarah gave me the Princess Merida doll from Brave and I brought her a long with me. I enjoy seeing her on the shelf when I walk in the room. I don't know what Carman and Aran think of her, but whatever.

Here is my desk! Already a mess...

Here are a few that I took sitting of the steps of the Edificio Central (Main Building). Reminded me of sitting on the steps of Neville. I started playing with the panoramic setting on my phone.

I will take more later, I promise! Sorry I'm a slacker.