Last night was our last night in Madrid so we all wanted to
experience the night life. In Spain, people do not start going to the
discotecas until 1-2am and they stay out until 5-6am. That made for a rough morning since we had to
be on the bus to Cadiz at 10am (which we all knew wouldn’t happen). Breakfast
was equally miserable as every meal I have had thus far. Little did I know that
I would have a ham and cheese sandwich for every meal today. Our bus ride was
not too terrible. I slept the majority of the ride and we had wifi so everyone
was on their phones playing on the internet and I got to talk to Jeff a bunch,
which was nice. Driving through Spain was really pretty and the closer we got
to the shore, the flatter and flatter it got. We got to Cadiz around 8pm and
our host parents were all hanging out at the bus stop. It was absolutely
adorable. One, because they are just cute old Spanish people and two, because
they were so unbelievably excited to see us that you couldn’t help but have the
biggest smile on your face. My roommate, Leanna, and I were one of the last to
be paired with our new Mommy and it was funny trying to guess who it was going
to be. Turns out she is the most precious Grandma ever. We did the traditional
greeting “dos besos” and everyone’s biggest fear is kissing the wrong way first
and accidently kissing your new mom before she even knows your name. My host
Mom’s name is Nona, short for Antonia. She lives alone in an adorable apartment
that opens up into a beautiful courtyard that is always full of people and
dogs. In my previous post, I talked
about how people in Spain cannot pronounce my name and I have decided, after many
failed attempts of trying to help them, that I will be going by a different
name during my stay in Spain. My freshman year of high school, my Spanish
teacher gave me the name Chala and Nona smiled when I told her she could call
me that so that is what I am going to go by while I’m in Spain. It’s pretty
hilarious that they cannot spell or say Blair. It normally comes out blah or
blave or blat. All which are just too horrible for me to cope with considering
the pride I take in my name at home. It’s going to be funny telling everyone
that I’m going by Chala tomorrow morning at orientation at the University of
Cadiz. Oh! One funny thing, when we got
off the bus in Cadiz, we were handed a shirt that said….. “ YO HEART HABLAR
ESPANOL”….. I really hope no one wears that shirt while we here. Now that we are here, it will be nice to
settle in and find our way around the city. The beach is absolutely gorgeous
and Cadiz smells exactly like Hilton Head so I felt right at home…except for
the ham sandwiches.
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