10.10.06

Today is Tuesday, and one of the only two days during which I have class this week. Yesterday was a festival and Thursday is a festival and Fridays I never have class. Yay for no class! Yet, speaking of classes, they are going well for the most part. I have all of them approved to count at OU as what I want them to count for except for the botany course. And that one shouldn't be a problem. And if it is....I'll be okay with that. It only meets once a week and is a bit on the difficult side, one reason being that it doesn't start until 5:30 PM and my only other class that day is at 10 AM, so I'm a bit tired by that point and concentration is hard. Also...I don't know any of the other students in that class and it only meets once a week and I don't have any of the vocabulary that would be helpful for talking about medicinal and aromatic plants... On a happier note, I'm starting to understand the prof in Baroque Art. That class meets three times a week, so I have ample time to get used to his voice. I actually took some notes in that one today! The other ones are going well but no particular news.

I've hung out with the Italian bunch a little bit the past day or so. There are a lot of them and they quite often slip into Italian, so I never quite follow the conversation completely. I'm also bad with names...so if I see them across the way but they don't see me, getting their attention is a little hard. They're nice though.

I have a Spanish friend now! His name is Rafa and he's the only Spaniard friend I've made that doesn't work at the international office and/or isn't married with children. Living in Benicassim with a family is wonderful, but it makes it harder to get to know other students. Rafa is in two of my classes and has now met a nice little bunch of Erasmus students and taken us under his wing. I say Erasmus because the majority of the international students are in this program called Erasmus, which is actually only between European contries. So, technically I'm not Erasmus, but it's just easier to go along with that label because everyone knows what it is.

Yesterday was Begona and Danny's 7th wedding anniversary. (They are the husband and wife of the family of four with whom I am living.) We drove into the mountains and ate at a lovely restuarant on the side of one of these mountains along with Begona's parents and another family. I enjoy spending time with Begona's dad. I think he reminds me of someone, but I'm not sure who. Anyway, he's fun. Before eating we walked around the village and picked some almonds. Having tasted almonds freshly picked off of a tree, I have now decided that I like them...a lot. They're even better toasted with a bit of olive oil and salt. After eating we went to another mountain and watchd the munchkins play in a park. From that mountain you could see for miles. It was quite a view. I had left my camera at home, though.

After we got back from this adventure, I joined some friends on the beach at Benicassim. They had been there since one in the afternoon, so they were about ready to go. Wanting to spend time with them I walked back towards Castellon with them and then took a bus back home. It was altogether a long, but enjoyable day.

I'll try to post some pics of my room, house, family, and campus soon. For now, I'm off to eat some freshly toasted almonds. :-)