Everyday this week Anna Maria has put something new in our room. Day one the put in a new outlet with extension cord next to the mirror so that we could do our hair there. Day two she hung got a new lamp for our room. Day three she put up a new shelf above our beds so that we can put our books and computers up there. Day four she got another lovely lamp. It looks like hair was glued on it. Day five she bought a mosaic moon designed mirror that now hangs right above our other mirror. I wonder what she will buy for this room tomorrow.
On Monday it was my fist day of Spanish classes! I am enrolled in Spanish 105, Spanish 112, Art, Madrid walks, and Religion. I think these classes are pretty fun and I would think a lot better than taking them at BYU in Provo. So I dont think I was suppose to sign up for Spanish 112 if I have not taken 111, especially since I am in the beginning class of Spanish 105. All week I have been trying to decide if I should stay in 112 or move down to 111. Almost the hardest decision of my life. I thought it might be good to stay in 112 so that I could push and challenge myself and I was doing fine. I could understand the teacher and was talking just fine in that class. I finally decided to move down though because I felt like I should know the basics before I jumped too far in. It was pretty stressful being in 112 because she expected me to know all the basics when I dont. All the girls in that class had taken a university level Spanish while I had not. I was just scared of the day she would ask me a question in Spanish and I would not know what she is saying and I would look like an idiot. It is a valid fear! Anyways, after a week in that class I decided it was best to start lower in the 111 class.
Wednesday was the worst day I have had here in Spain and hopefully the last. In the pre-departure class last semester someone came in and talked to us about culture shock and how to recognize if you have culture shock. After that I was really scared that I would get it once I got here. My worst fear came true this past Wednesday. I woke up. It was a normal morning and I was just laying in my bed thinking about what I would grab to from my closet to wear for the day. I decided on an outfit that included a green sweater I brought. After thinking about that sweater I realized that I had not even seen it in my drawers since I first moved in. I got up and looked in every drawer and every crevice to find this sweater and I couldnt find it. We had class early so I put on another jacket and left for school convinced that Anna Maria stole my sweater. I KNEW that I had brought it here and put it away. My mind then wandered to how upset it makes me when she moves my stuff in my room and puts things in drawers. It is such a tiny room and I have few belongings, but I swear it is the hardest to find anything in that room. So the rest of the day was terrible because I didnt want to talk to anyone and just imagined that Anna Maria was hiding my sweater in one of her closets in her room so that there would be no evidence when I accuse her of stealing from me. I was in such a bad mood and just wanted to cry the whole day. I feel bad for Chloe because she had to be with me while I was so rude. Everything was frustrating me so when Chloe and I got home I took a nap. A very long nap. Lasted the whole day actually. 2-7pm. Felt wayyy too good. When I woke up I wanted to skype my sister Amber who was on line at the time. I didnt want to disturb Chloe so I decided to get my headphones...which were not in the same place I left them. That darn Anna Maria stole my headphones too!! I just didnt understand why she would want these random things. Maybe she thought I wouldnt notice them gone? Soon after that she called us to dinner. Dinner was great as usual because she is a pretty good cook. As we were finishing up dinner she mentioned that she had finished laundry and just needed to dry them on the heaters throughout the house. My green sweater was in the pile. Then I went to my room and found my headphones in the bucket of electronics she organized for us. I recall that one of the signs of culture shock is getting upset about little things. I knew she was doing laundry that day and it crossed my mind that it may have been in that pile but I refused to believe that I would put a clean shirt in the dirty laundry. Or was it dirty? She was only trying to help us by putting all our electronics in one basket and I was upset about it. She is seriously a good hearted woman who loves her grandson. And yes I may miss home but only because of the familiarity. I miss being able to hear English and understanding what people say around me. All I can do now is to keep an open mind which I am good at. It was just really surprising to me that I was so upset about all that because I dont ever get that mad about anything. I also should give others the benefit of the doubt. I knew she would never steal from me. She is too nice. I decided to blame this all on culture shock, or maybe just an extremely bad mood. But I know for sure it wont happen again. My life is too short.
Moving on...Thursday Jenna, Lindsey, Chloe and I went into Madrid just into Puerto del Sol to get some Gelado. We heard about this place called Fredd Fredd that had the best Gelado and wanted to try it out. The rumors were true and the Gelado was more than delightful. We will be going back there a lot
for the few months we have here. We went to a few shops and then went home for dinner. I love going into Madrid and I hope it never gets old because there is so much to see there. We have been to the Retiro park twice now and I plan on going there hopefully more times in the future. Overall this week has been great minus that one dark and dreary Wednesday which will never be mentioned again.
Sorry for the extremely long post, there was a lot I wanted to remember by writing down. The following are pictures from Puerto del Sol Madrid when we went on Thursday.
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