June 2 - before Madrid

June 2, 2010
1:26pm

Hola from school!

Today has been great except I did not sleep a lot last night because I had to do homework for my Arts & Museums class that I did not begin until midnight. Whoops.

In this class we just watched a video about homo sapiens and the first forms of art in prehistoric times (undocumented history). It is very interesting to see how they expressed themselves and created original art with the materials they have. They painted animals in caves out of only two colors, red and black. The animals on the walls did not correlate with the animals that they hunted. Animals were popular because at that time, some cultures believe animals were gods.

In the caves, there were also many impressions of hands. People would place their hands on the walls of caves and blow crushed berries over there hands were an imprint is thus left. The class makes me very interested in art history. As an accounting major, I do not have many classes like this anymore.

During our break, I went to the cafeteria and bought a café con leche (coffee and milk). It cost 1 euro. There is a vending machine for cigarettes and some students smoke in the cafeteria. There are ash trays on every table. My hair now smells like smoke (I feel like I just returned from a bar… ugh).

In Spain, they write numbers differently:
US: 1,234.50
Spain: 1.234,50
(the decimals and commas are switched)

Last night at dinner we were talking to our host family about what type of sandwich we would like for our travels tonight. Sandwiches are called bocadillos. El padre began talking about sardines, as he always goes through the cabinet and fridge for us to see if we want more food. I told him I like many things but sardines are not one of them. My brothers and dad like them, pero yo me gusta nada. (I don’t like at all)

The food has been very good and not very difficult for me to adjust. I am eating much more rich food here because lunch is like dinner and dinner is pretty heavy as well. For lunch, we usually have a soup for the first course. Yesterday it was a white chili. The salad is in a big plate in the middle of the table and we use our forks to eat it as we want (no salad plate). Then we have a type of meat such as chicken, pork, or fish. After lunch and dinner, the padre always cuts up fruit and gives it to whoever would like it. He usually cuts at least one pear and apple. He always removes the peeling which reminds me of my grandmother.

Telephone numbers are different here as well. There are 9 numbers written 555 555 555.

Adios!