Today: A typical Tuesday

I woke up bright and early at 7:30 AM and went on an unintentionally long run of 50 minutes (Side note: I've been having various problems with English lately, for instance, I was positive unintentionaly was spelled with one l--I mean, what's the other one there for anyway?) What a great surprise, upon arriving to the apartment to be greeted by a waiting Leo--"that took a while!" A jog around the Cathedral, a sprint through the Plaza del Triunfo, only having to dodge a few creepers, gasp through puffs of smoke and clouds of cologne, and seeing one friendly Spanish face from church: overall a very enjoyable morning.

Next up: literature class at 10:15, which I really like. My professor Ana is great and we're getting into realism--huzzah! After that, the mandatory Spanish café with Marina. There was some sort of protest outside the Cathedral near where we were seated, whistles and shouts serenading our coffee break and an exorbitant number of sedentary police officers were blue-suited spectators.

Lunch at the apartment, then siesta for the soul (the country-wide nap time is such a handy way to set aside daily devotional) and then a glance at homework...which inevitably drifted into planning my summer. Norway? Germany? Hungary? Spain? All of the above, please. Make money? Hmm..spend it. Work on an organic farm and speak others languages.  It's shaping up to be quite the adventure, as far as I can tell.

Then came baby-sitting--I mean--tutoring. It's no wonder I get confused. The poor little 9-year-old José with whom I spent an hour and a half today was as rambunctious as they come, refused to say a word of English and drew on me with marker. I was writing a list for him, so he could see his every-increasing English vocabulary when he decided it would be fun to not let me write anymore. No holds barred on how he prevented me from writing, I'll leave it up to your imagination. Then he got out the permanent marker. Need I say more? My favorite thing right now is getting him to say red correctly. Sound out the American r for yourself and think of how many other languages have it. (He likes to say rrrrrrred.) That's right--we're pretty unique. And th. But I am determined for him to at least say a few consonants well.

I called his mother back, after he was reduced to tears of exhaustion on the phone with her 20 minutes earlier (I almost joined him) and she agreed it'd be best that we leave it at that for the day. I'm not sure about this situation--I was hired as a tutor but she's never even there when I show up...unusual.

I then leapt onto a bike and headed on out to Nervíon for bachata and salsa classes. I had plenty of time, unlike normal, so I enjoyed a leisurely ride. Class was as fun as always: bachata introduced some smooth new moves and in salsa class, a song was dedicated to me, Juliana! Even though the words are about a rather quesitonable character (Juliana, que mala eres...etc.) it was a fun time, dancing around to "my" song. Now, no one ought to forget my name at least (our teacher has finally got it down, after weeks of calling me Julieta).

I was strolling home at 10:30 PM, exhausted yet content, when suddenly I was interrupted by a ¡Perdona! ¿Dónde está la parade del tranvía? I immediately ended my phone conversation and began explaining to this man where to go, and I explained I was headed that way ¡vamos! but he and his wife began discussing another idea when all of the sudden another woman addressed me in Spanish for directions. Now the heavily Irish-accented Spanish was amusing, but I put her out of her misery, "well, we could just speak in English." Gladly, she responded and doing my best to make out her story through her accented English, ended up walking with her for ten minutes helping her find a hostel. As I pointed her down Avenida de la Constitución I said I was going to 'hop on a bike' to head home (which is perfectly normal for me), "you're really Irish!" she shouted, laughing. Well then, cool.

All this talk of various cultures reminds me of the other night where there were too many representatives to count. I was having dinner with an Italian and a Dutch girl (Erin & Marina, from Hillsdale) I had delicious Mexican guacamole, a savory Greek gyro and a hearty German beer, along with a taste of an Australian kangaroo burger (1. They eat kangaroos? 2. Ew.) Ordering some of the above in Spanish was just a confusing situation. [It was a fair featuring different ethnicities' foods and just as we clearly tried, you could eat your way around the world.]

Alright, maybe today wasn't entirely typical but it was great. And tomorrow is Wednesday (which means almost Thursday, the weekend). More cultural fun: Ben Murrey, a fellow Hillsdalian is visiting from Germany and of course I will get to sprechen auf Deutsch a bit. I was invited by a new Latino friend to a Spanish club for a German party--odd mix. I recently made friends with a few Senegalese and through that connection, I am going to an awesome African drum concert on Friday. Saturday, Ben, Marina and I are kayaking on the Guadalquivir. And my dad arrives on Sunday! From da U.P. to Sevilla: talk about culture shock, eh der, pops?

Now that my head's whirling, time to go to bed.