Reembolso Por Favor!

I have just accomplished quite the feat: accidently booking a seat on a bus to Granada for tonight (we're going next week) and having to trek over to the bus station and get my £25 refund. But, I'll start where I left off.

School is really really time consuming. We've had so much work to do over the past few days that I haven't done much else. Our exam yesterday was worth 30% of our grade, but it was also exactly what he showed us as an "example" on Thursday. The only part that I found pretty difficult was the part where we read an article about the economy in Spain and comment on it. I can hardly speak the business language in English let alone in Spanish, so we'll see what comes of that grade.

I've also realized how different this semester will be in terms of school days. I guess I forgot what it was like to live in a home with a family. You go to school, come home, eat, do homework, and hang out with family. Very different from Madison. And apparently it's also very American to go to cafes with friends to study, something that will also be hard to get used to. Today, however, Emily and I went to a cafe called Coffee Corner to plan out some trips, and it was a really good spot, one we think we will be able to do work and not look like total tourists.

My mom will be happy to know that I have tried every food that has been put in front of me. We had a type of artichoke soup one night, some spinach thing with garbanzo beans in it last night, and today had two types of fish, both which looked very strange but ended up being pretty good...not to say I want to have that every single night. They're also easing me into it a little, I think, by making mini hot dogs to go with some fried eggs. We had homemade pizza last night that had ham, peperoni, and, believe it or not, mushrooms. Again, not to say I now want mushrooms on my pizza if I were to have the choice, but I can handle it. And bizcocho. Ohh bizcocho, you will be the death of me. It is basically like a sponge cake, but better. 

So, as I said, Emily and I met up today to plan our first trip and look at our calendars in general. We've decided to go to Granada next Friday-Sunday! Using my guidebook, we now have a hostel that is close to the Alhambra, probably the main attraction of Granada. After comparing prices of transportation, we've booked a round trip bus ticket for pretty cheap.

Then came the mistake. I was plugging in more dates to try and get to a page where I could click on the "See Map" tab to see where we would be dropped in Granada, and somehow I ended up booking a seat for tonight. Major stress factor since that seat was the equivalent of $41 and had already showed up on my online bank account. In my very broken, flustered, Spanish, I called the number provided and they told me I had to go to the bus station I was to be leaving out of. That was a good 40 minute walk away. So, I googled it, wrote down some directions, and headed out (unfortunately having to ditch out on my run). I got there with minor issues, walked up to the window and somehow managed to obtain my reembolso (refund). I didn't say much, mostly just I made a mistake, I don't want this trip, etc, and although I could tell the lady was semi annoyed, I did it. I walked out of there probably the happiest I've been since arriving here.

On the walk home, I was able to actually enjoy the scenery and the start of the sunset. It was gorgeous. In my agitated state, I had forgot to grab my camera, but now I will never forget it again. It was one of those sunsets that has some clouds (fluffy ones), but not enough to obstruct it. And when I was walking through the park, the buildings that it was reflecting off of were amazing. There will obviously be more sunsets, but this one was pretty perfect and came at the right time. (And I made it home before dark, no worries).

Today was one of the nicest days we've had weather wise. It's been in the 40s for a while, which I know is nothing compared to the 3 degrees it's been in Madison, but keep in mind that I packed for warmer weather. Today it got up to 58, I believe, and with one of my new coats (I only bought two), I was perfect. All in all, today was quite the day. I know I can get things done when I need to, but I've also realized how little Spanish I actually know. Just another tourist in a gorgeous city. Hopefully, soon, that will start to change.