After siesta today, I went out, camera in hand, to explore. Went into two different bookstores…one in the old part of town, and one next to the mall in the new part of town. There’s just nothing else like a bookstore, no matter what the language. They just make me so darn giddy. I love that I can walk into a room and be completely surrounded by so many words and experiences. It truly is beautiful.
However, I wish a were a wee bit more well versed in Spanish authors because I had no idea what I should be buying.
Turns out, I bought what looks like a fun read that was actually originally written in French. “The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodiles.”
It’s trade paper and was 25 freakin dollars! WAY more than I was expecting to pay. But it’s kinda not my fault because there were no prices anywhere.
Claudia is reading to Berta in the kitchen, and it’s the cutest thing ever.
OBSERVACIONES:
- There are old people everywhere. And they are so cute. They are always holding hands or have their arms wrapped around each other. I absolutely adore it.
- We are now regulars at the café across the street from the university. The man and woman that work there are the cutest things ever. They always wish us a good day and say that they’ll see us tomorrow.
- Spanish tortillas are DEE-LISH!!!
- Tailored suits on men are God’s gift to women. (Sean, I’m buying you at least one. In silver.)
- People always cross the street, even if the light says don’t walk. And the light that tells you to walk or not is a little person that moves! It’s incredible.
- I’ve never seen so much sanitation in one city in my entire life. Every single night, there are workers hosing down the streets. And I think because so many people live in apartments, the trash comes every single night.
- It’s unclear which way you’re supposed to walk on the sidewalk – a lot of times, I feel like you should walk on the left side, but sometimes that’s not the case. CONFUSION!
- This must just be the city of statues. There are statues absolutely everywhere you turn around.
- I really liked going on the excursions because I got to spend some quality time with my iPod. I miss that.
- There are pharmacies absolutely everywhere. I guess in the States, we usually combine them with a store (Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Target, etc.)
- I’m spending way more money than I wanted to. No bueno.
- It cracks me up how Spaniards think it’s so cold here. Or hot. Today at lunch, Berta made Claudia wear a jacket because it was “cold.” It was in the mid-50s. It was glorious. They also think that mid-70s is hotter than Hades. I just have to laugh.
- I can’t get over the fact that you could climb a mountain and go to the beach in the same day. It really just blows my mind.
- Spanish is such a beautiful language. Just gorgeous.
- The only things people wear here are skinny jeans, much to my dismay. And flip-flops really must make me look like a tourist because no one wears them.
- I’m an absolutely horrible student here. At least in my poetry class. I can easily handle the work for the other class.
- Some men smell like B.O. here. It’s quite repulsive. The ones that don’t smell like B.O. smell really, really good.
- I think it’s the coolest thing in the world that I can talk to a guy from Thailand who doesn’t know English because we can both speak Spanish. Same with the girls from Brazil and the guys from France.
- I love going out with friends here and just talking for a long time. My favorite pastime J
*Footnote: After checking on Barnesandnoble.com, I feel a lot better about my purchase. It's not translated into English, so I didn't waste my dinero!
Also, I was seriously considering buying a compilation of T.S. Eliot poems in Spanish. If you know me, you know of my love for Eliot. However, I found the one instance where Spanish is not better than English - Eliot's poems. It was an absolute trainwreck. It sounded horrific.
I will take my Eliot in English, please and thanks!
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