This week has been a week of firsts. First day of school, first day of my internship, first encounter with the bus system, and of course, first time trying new foods.
On Monday, we went to the campus and on the bus ride there, it was so painfully obvious that we were Americans, which is just something I’m still trying to get used to. On campus, we got our student IDs and were shown where our classes would be. Almost all of our classes are in the same exact room and the professors just come and go. Being in the same room all day brings back some memories from elementary school, where we only left our classroom for art and gym. Also, there are no Spanish students in our class. It’s just our group of thirteen. So everyday, we walk past all of the students and head into our little American classroom in the back of the building. Our professors are from the university and almost all of them only speak Spanish so we do get to hear the language all the time in class. Honestly, this makes me better appreciate the students who come to Iowa State from other countries and are immediately put in the same classes we are. It takes a lot of courage to talk to someone in a language you are still getting the hang of in a totally new country.
After we got back from campus, we all kind of went our own separate ways. Six of us girls went and found a tapas place to have a little something before lunch. Class then tapas? I could get used to this. We shared this delightful meat dish called Pluma Ibérica which is Iberian pork meat with sautéed vegetables. It was perfect. Just the right size for a little snack before lunch. Although the food was great, our conversation was even better. It has been great getting to know our group, especially these girls!
Tuesday after classes and siesta, I went to my first day at my internship. Before I walked into the building, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I would be doing office administrator type of work, for this small business called Espacio Atica, that rents out rooms to other businesses around Cáceres or from out of town who might need meeting rooms. Little did I know, this was not the only business I would be working for. So, I walk in to the building and I meet my boss, this super trendy, exuberant, young, Spanish women named Ana. Primarily, Ana owns a bridal shop with dresses and her own line of bridal accessories as well as Espacio Atica. Definitely not what I was expecting! After talking to her over the course of this week, I've learned that she is the epitome of entrepreneur. Before I got here, she literally did everything herself: accounting, scheduling appointments, ordering merchandise, making the product, etc. And she has her second child on the way! So basically she's super woman. What do I do? I do the only thing she can't do quite as well as everything else: translate from Spanish to English. Ana has a website, lamatte-shop.com , for all of her bridal accessories. In the near future, she wants to have a website available in English in order to reach the U.K. and the U.S. I am slowly but surely working my way through over 400 of her products she has available, and translating their titles and descriptions into English. Yes, Google Translate could probably do this, but most all of the translations are in broken English, so my job is to make the words pretty. So far, I've learned a lot! Mostly about weddings, but I have also gotten to interact with her clients of both LaMatte and Espacio Atica so I have a chance to practice my Spanish. Over all, it's been a great experience so far!
The rest of the week has been pretty regular. We usually don't have class on Friday, so I took my free Friday and knocked out 8 hours of my internship (yay work!). For the internship to count as a 3 credit class, you must complete 130 hours over the course of our time here. So far I'm ahead of the game with 14.5 hours done! Anyways, it hasn't been very sunny here which has been kind of a bummer, but the locals say it's coming! Since we have been doing so many things this week, I haven't really had a chance to really think about missing my family. Of course I miss them, but it hasn't been my all-consuming thought which is good. I do miss certain things about the States already: big, red apples, almond milk, peanut butter, mac and cheese, reliable wifi, having it socially acceptable to wear sweat pants to school, and my mom (I know I'm basically mentioning her twice, but back off she's my mom). Some of the things that I love here: coffee (just black, milk is for the weak), fresh fruit, no snow, and being out of my comfort zone by just doing the simplest of tasks, like buying food at a grocery store.
Next week, we have a class trip to Mérida to see some Roman ruins, so history, yay! I don't have any fun pictures from this week, but I do have a food pic, so I'll leave you with that. And please, if you have any questions for me or anything at all, please let me know! I would love to hear how your life is going!
Love you guys!
Adventure Awaits,
Maddie
