(Originally written Wednesday, August 29, 2007)

Hola a todos!

Don't worry, I'll keep this blog in English. I am in the middle of my first week
in Alcala de Henares, which is 40 minutes east-ish of Madrid.

I flew into Spain on Sunday morning at 8am. None of my bags were lost, and the
university was waiting for me as soon as I got my luggage. Outside the town
walls, which still enclose the old part of the city, I met my host mom, Arita
Casado. We walked to her apartment, which is 10 minutes away from the school,
la Plaza Cervantes (a common place to meet people), and to a grocery store.
There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. For this week, I have a temporary
host sister from Hungary named Fanni. My first night here she took me to las
ferias, a fair that is in town this week. We drank sangria and coke mixed
together, which is different, but apparently common in Spain. Since I was
jetlagged, I came home early at 1:45am.

This week is orientation, so we are learning about money, public transportation,
safety, activities, sports, and culture. We also got a tour of la Universidad de
Alcala, and on Friday we will have a tour of Madrid.

August is the month of vacations for Spaniards, so many people are not here
right now. Instead, they are at the beach. So, about 13 of us are going to stay
in Madrid on Friday, go to a club, and then go to the beach in Valencia on
Saturday/Sunday. The schedule here is very different from the USA. You have a
small breakfast, which is usually coffee, juice, and bread, with lunch at 2pm.
Lunch is the big meal of the day. After that, you take a siesta. Most Spaniards
only sleep for 30 minutes to an hour, but since students stay out as late as 4
in the morning (or 3am on Monday night for me), the siesta can last 2 to 3
hours. Dinner is at 9pm or 10pm, and then people go out.

If you are 2 months old to 80 years old, you will be out with your friends from
10pm until 1am, or 3am. Everyone goes out and stays out late. It was unusual to
see 5 year old kids staying out as late as teenagers, seemingly not tired at
all. Having a high quality of life here is important. Needless to say, students
from U of A have been enjoying themselves immensely.

Since I will be telling you all about life in Spain, I would love to know how
you are all doing. Please email me telling me how life is, etc, so I can keep
up with everything and not be confused when I come back in 4 months. Also, if
there's something particular you want to know about Spain, tell me and I'll put
it in my new blog.

Vale (okay). Until next week,

Lily