No me gusta PDA, and other assorted tidbits

I´ve been here for around two weeks now and I´m starting to learn about the things Spanish people go way over the top with. You know, every culture has their obsessions that seem to pervade everyday life to the point where they are taken for granted. Americans, for example, love their big cars and their fast food (to name just a couple). With Spain, there is the excessive use of olive oil and pork in just about everything they eat, banks (there is at least 2 or 3 branches -not just ATMS, but branches- of various banks on every single block in this city), the apparantly indelible mullet, and much to my dismay... PDA.

Now I´ve always been one to denounce Public Displays of Affection in the States (i.e. making out as if nobody were watching at my place of employment), but it´s absolutely ridiculous here. While one can make an argument that there is cultural justification for people to be going at it in public, it´s still rude and nasty in my opinion. As you may or may not be aware, Spaniards do not traditionally have guests in their homes the way Americans do. It is rare for people to invite their friends over to just hang out, and it is unheard of to have a boyfriend/girlfriend over to their parents place unless it is to maybe have lunch with the whole family. Also, the fact that people live with their parents until they are married adds a whole extra twist on the situation. I guess it´s just sort of how things have always been done here, so the result seems to be a bunch of young couples sorely lacking in privacy for more intimate activities. Consequently, you have people ¨being romantic¨ in some rather inappropiate places. Restaurants, bars... the bus on the way to school. Yeah, at 8:30 in the morning apparantly it´s not taboo to suck face on the bumpy ride down the road to the university. If breakfast in Spain wasn´t so meager, I´d probably lose it every time I had to watch this. Anyway, that´s my one major gripe for the week, and it needed to be expressed. Now I´m just worried about what´s going to happen when spring time rolls around *shiver*

Had my first test in Spanish class, and I did really well. I got an 84.5 which translates to an A by our standards (so we´re told). I guess it´s ridiculously difficult to get a 90 or higher, and my teacher said I should be extremely pleased with my grade. We´ve already forged ahead into more difficult subjects, so I doubt future tests will be as easy as this one. I´m getting a little better at speaking day by day, but it can get tiring to constantly have to think in Spanish at home and at school. I´m sure this will intensify once regular classes start and I´m in school for 40+ hours a week. I think it might also be difficult, because I still hang out with Americans and am switching between English and Spanish several times a day.

Tomorrow I´m supposed to meet with Arantxa, my intercambio (see last entry), and her friends for comida. Arantxa speaks pretty good English, although her friends don´t at all, so I´m going to try to only speak Spanish while I´m with them. I think hanging out with people my age will help broaden my vocabulary beyond words used only in the house and in a classroom. Once I feel a little more comfortable speaking, I think it´ll be easier to approach other Spanish people and strike up conversation, even if it´s about really simple stuff. Making friends is definitely going to be harder than I initially expected. I can imagine I come off as dull at times seeing as I still don´t have the words to describe how I feel about most things most of the time. This sometimes results in my sitting there smiling and nodding as other people are talking even though I only have a loose understanding of the subject matter. As a consolation, I´ve noticed my English has gotten ever so slightly worse. Basically I have trouble grabbing for certain less-than-common words -words you might only use once every 2 or 3 days- that normally would roll off my tongue. I think this means my brain is starting to shift more so towards thinking in Spanish, which is my ultimate goal.

Anyhow, went on a hiking trip Saturday. At 6 or 7 miles, it wasn´t the hardest hike ever, but it was definitely more difficult than I was anticipating. My legs are still a little sore from it, so it was welcomed exercise. When we got to the top of the mountain we had an excellent view of the province of Alicante, and the sun was out in full shine which made for a beautiful scene. Also, the people in charge of the trip brought up some tortilla, olives, cheese, pig, wine, dulces and café to enjoy at the summit. Touch of class. Got back early, so I took a long siesta, then went out for the night. Made a new friend in the form of a big smiling Uruguayan tapas bar owner who also happens to be an alcoholic. Apparantly my friends and I made a good impression on him, because he made us help him down half a bottle of whisky with him in 5 minutes, then proceeded to charge us 8 euros for about 6 or 7 other drinks we ordered over the course of the night (or course he was sitting at our table drinking with us the whole time). I wasn´t planning on really imbibing that much Saturday night, but I guess plans change sometimes. The American waitress at another bar right around the corner told us that the Uruguayan was notorious for such antics, and is often quite liberal with the handing out of his alcohol. Anyway, I know where not to go now if I want to have a quiet night, though it´s still nice to have someone new to practice conversational Spanish with. The rest of the night was spent at the puerto, dancing, which was much fun.

Gotta run for now, must do some tarea before dinner. More updates to come.