¿Confundida? Ya no.

UNA CUEVA, UN MERCADILLO Y UN PISO
Friday was the beginning of a wonderful weekend and another week to follow. On Friday night, I was with some friends at the Iglesia Bautista until around midnight and then I met up with the UD crew to go to a club in the caves of Granada. It was crowded, but it was neat hearing people speaking in so many different languages. I enjoyed some dancing before returning home around 5:00 in the morning. Now, one would imagine that I would sleep until noon after being out so late. How does 8:30 sound to you? I woke up, showered, ate my breakfast before Carmen was even awake and headed out to the flee market with my friend Yelena from Minnesota and Raquel from Brazil. We walked to the market, found some delightful bargains and returned home in time for me to enjoy lunch with Carmen. I did appreciate taking my siesta on Saturday afternoon!

That evening, I joined the youth group for the Saturday meeting and afterwards, we went out together for pizza. I spent a good part of the evening talking with Nathalie, from Holland, while we chowed down our food in the pizzeria. I met several other people that evening from the United States, Brazil and other parts of Spain—so many folks and so many names to remember! The next morning included Sunday school, church and lunch with Carmen. After siesta, I took a walk to see the Fiesta de La Virgen de Granada, María de Angustias who is the patron saint of Granada. Because of the rain on Sunday, however, the festivities were not as grand as they typically are on this feast day. The festival, included a small parade, fruit and food vendors as well as sweet treats like “torta,” a sweet bread with apple filling and a layer of sugar to die for (Carmen gave me some torta for lunch on Saturday and for breakfast on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday mornings, so I am speaking from first-hand experience).

On Sunday night, I met up with Yelena, Nathalie and others at the piso (apartment) of April, one of the young women from the church. April, who is from California, studied in Granada for a year, and after being home for a time decided to return here to live and teach English. I was there until 00:30 in the morning chatting, in Spanish of course. She was so encouraging to us “extranjeras” and it was wonderful hearing about her experience in Granada studying Spanish. After talking with her, I made an executive decision: I will speak only in Spanish until the end of my trip in December. I want to learn and I will learn, and that takes practice, regardless if anyone thinks I am an overachiever or a geek for not speaking English!

The cool part has been that since Monday morning, I have been speaking nothing but Spanish, even with the folks from UD. Now, whenever I am around, the girls talk to me in Spanish and they have even begun to speak more in Spanish amongst themselves. All it took was a little courage and boom! A revolution among the “guiris” from UD! Here is a bit of a side note: “guiri” is the colloquial term for a silly “extranjero” or foreigner. When tourists first started coming from Britain in the 1970s asking “where is” this or “where is” that, it sounded like “guir ees” to the Spaniards who can’t pronounce the letter “w.” So, I am a “guiri” merely because I am and American. Oh well!

GOOD MORNING. MY NAME IS “LAURA SCHMIDT.” MY TAILOR IS RICH.
This moron Thursday morning in grammar class, Manolo—the 40-year-old bald professor who “enlightened” us on correct pronoun usage last week—was trying to tell the UD students they speak too much English and need to practice more Spanish. Seriously, in week four of classes, he will ask a question (in Spanish) and my classmates will respond in English (in a 400-level Spanish grammar class). Anyhow, he told us how students 50 years ago used to learn English through repetition of short phrases. They included expressions such as “good morning,” “my name is…” and “my tailor is rich,” which is not a very functional, but a product of the days when clothing was very expensive in Spain. People from Spain would arrive at an airport in Britain, proud of their language skills and be shocked to find out that “Good morning, my name is Pablo and my tailor is rich” didn’t get them very far. The point of all this was to stress the importance of practicing the verbal part of the Spanish language. Reading, writing and listening is not all there is to a language. I second that motion! All those in favor say “sí.”

But why is my name Laura Schmidt? Well, on Tuesday, one of my classmates Laura was feeling sick, still recovering from a head cold. She along with several others from UD were planning on going on an excursion sponsored by the Centro de Lenguas Modernas that included trekking up mountains and later relaxing in the Arab baths. She decided not to go and would lose her 23€ as a result. That same morning, I was lamenting that I had forgotten to sign up for the excursion before all the spaces filled up. Well, I put two and two together and what did I get—an alias. I took her ticket and I was Laura Schmidt for the evening (and when the guide asked for my name, of course I responded with the pseudonym).

We went trekking for about two hours up and around the hills of Granada. While I was on the excursion, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with María, a girl from Connecticut who is here studying Spanish for the year. María has actually been learning Italian since she was eight-years-old and now she speaks both Italian and Spanish beautifully (since the languages are so similar). I enjoyed so much getting to know her and speaking with her during the hike and while relaxing in the Arab baths.

Now I must explain the beauty of the baths. Essentially, there are three pools of water: cold, hot and lukewarm. One only needs to sit in one of the pools for a few minutes before moving to another for a short time. Even better than the pools of water was the mint tea, the best tea of any sort I have ever tasted in my entire life! I was in my own little heaven; then, it was time for my massage! Oh my, I was quite content with the evening! I was glad to have been so relaxed, because afterwards, we went a Middle Eastern restaurant and were quite frustrated by the service (or lack thereof). There were only two servers for the entire restaurant and in an hour and a half, all that managed to make it to our table was my cup of tea and some platters of hummus we never even ordered. I was just hungry, but others were very hungry and angry (not a fun combination). Thus, I was commissioned to go talk to the waiter and get our food! Ultimately, I told him we were planning to leave, and eventually we did even though only two of us received our dinner. I returned home (my dinner was one of the dishes that eventually arrived) and some of the others went to find some more food. I am convinced that the problem in Spain is not unemployment due to lack of jobs but rather to stubborn managers who refuse to hire and pay a sufficient number of workers. But I am not here to fix Spanish social woes.

“WACHU, WACHU, WACHU” AND DUNKIN COFFEE
The rest of the week has been marvelous. Classes have been going well, although I am now focusing on studying for my finals next Thursday. Throughout the semester, we have seen some very humorous videos on YouTube all relating to Spanish culture. One video has to do with the manner in which Spaniards speak using gestures rather than words. I enjoy this one tremendously, because if I don’t know how to say something, I just use my hands—how perfect! Another video pokes fun at how people fight over the check when they go out to dinner. One person always insists on paying and then the other insists; essentially, the server just stands there until they are done “discussing” who will pay. The clip shows two men being held up by a robber, and imitates how they would fight for the check as they argue over who will give the gunman his money. Another video clip has to do with the sounds of different languages, the tones and pitches. Catherine Tate, a British comedian imitates the sounds of seven different languages around the world (quite terribly, but humorously). Our culture professor showed us this clip after she explained that Americans sound like, “WACHU, WACHU, WACHU,” when they speak to one another in English. If you want a good laugh, try watching one or all of these YouTube clips.

1. SPLUNGE “GESTOS” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEGamVBeeOc
2. SPLUNGE “ESTA LA PAGO YO” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZUqNinCyto
3. THE CATHERINE TATE SHOW “TRANSLATOR” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdf2eLeCLHI

Amidst all of this Spanish culture, I can’t help but laugh at the American invasion. A “DUNKIN COFFEE” (Spain’s chain of “DUNKIN DONUTS”) just opened around the corner from my apartment. You wouldn’t believe how long the lines are inside at all hours of the day! You would think that wonderful treats like torta or anything in one of the delicious pastry shops would be satisfying enough! No. They have to convert to American doughnuts. Well, I will be sure to enjoy my Spanish desserts while I am here. I have yet to be disappointed.

EAT, SLEEP AND DREAM IN SPANISH
I must admit how hard it is getting for me to speak and write in English. I forget words sometimes (like when I was talking to Faith on Skype this week and I told her we must “reunirnos” instead of “meet one another” again next week). I am also beginning to think in Spanish a little more. It only gets to be more challenging when I don’t know how to say a word in Spanish—that is when my thoughts “stop” for a moment and I start thinking in Spanglish. Oh my! I have yet to have a full-fledged Spanish dream; right now, I am limited dreaming with some Spanish conversations intermingled with whatever is happening. How strange! From day to day, I also forget whether I had a conversation with someone in English or Spanish. I think this is a good problem to have and we’ll see how much longer it will be before I am completely confused…or fluent…I believe they are synonyms.

Tomorrow, we will be traveling with Jorge to Ronda, a city about two hours away, near Málaga. I do not know what the day trip will entail, except that Carmen needs to pack me a bagged lunch and I will be viewing some lovely scenery. I will give you the details upon my return!

Thanks for all the e-mails, notes and prayers! I love hearing from you folks in the States!

Con amor,
Diana