Spanish(ish) Party

Last night I went to my first Spanish fiesta! (And no I don’t have any pictures from it! Lo siento!) It was a birthday party for one of my housemate’s friends. Although it was soooo much fun I have to admit that it wasn’t a typical Spanish party because no one there was from Spain. There were people from Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Colombia, Honduras, Thailand, France, and of course me as the sole representative for Los Estados Unidos. I was also the baby of the group (everyone there was at least 26-27) but they still treated me the same and were super nice.

I was only there for the first 2 parts of the party, which lasted from 10pm-215am and consisted of eating dinner and dessert, drinking, and dancing (mostly to salsa music, I was soo happy!). Then at around 230am most of the group went out to a club. Since my housemate wasn’t feeling well I came back to the apartment with her. But tonight is someone else’s birthday, so they invited me to join them for another party as long as I promised that I would go to the club after.

Since I am here for a language and cultural exchange program, I figured what better way to practice Spanish and learn about a ton of different cultures then to go partying with this group!

Spain can't handle this!

Today I managed to blow out the fuse for our entire apartment for the second time. When it happened the first time my computer speakers were plugged in… I’m pretty sure they’re dead now. Then later that day I plugged my computer into the same outlet and it didn’t blow the fuse, but instead started smoking. It took me a good 5 minutes to realize where the burning smell was coming from. Today I put my computer into a different outlet and once again we found ourselves sitting in complete darkness. Since I’m sure my housemates aren’t thrilled about living like Amish people I’m going to add this to the list of things I need to figure out. If you have any solutions let me know!

Sí sí hablo inglés

Today one of my housemates asked me how to say in English the thing that we use to wash the floors. “Oh that’s a mop,” I said, adding “and that’s a dust pan.” Then she asked what the thing next to the dust pan was. I couldn’t remember the name of it for the life of me! “Oh my god, am I forgetting English already???” I asked myself. My roommate made fun of me and said that by the end of the nine months here someone will have to teach me English. Fearing that there was some truth to that I started thinking constantly about what that stupid thing was called. About 4 hours later, when I was riding the bus, I finally remembered. I rushed home to tell my roommate and as soon as I walked through the door I exclaimed, “¡Me acuerdo, me acuerdo! IT’S A BROOM!!!¨
Right now I´m really starting to feel bad for the kids I´m going to be teaching…

Bus privileges

I’m not sure if this is something only found in Palma or if it is typical throughout Mallorca, but apparently when you’re on the bus you can only press the emergency button if you are pregnant or if you’re a pimp.  Just don’t forget your pimp cane at home.

 

Hamburguesa

Today we were walking by the water, admiring the beautiful Catedral de Palma when a guy walks right up to my dad and angrily yells, “Hamburguesa! Fuck you!” Before my dad could even process that the man was talking to him he had already stormed away.

We figured this could have only happened for 2 reasons: 1) ether the guy was drunk/crazy and desperately wanted a hamburger (very unlikely since he only did that to my dad) or 2) he hated the US/and or George Bush and was mad that my dad was wearing a shirt that said "Texas." So in case you don’t want random people shouting obscenities to you when you visit Palma try not to wear anything that suggests you're from the US. Apparently the hatred for our former president runs deep in Spain.

Free Wine

Today we had lunch at one of the few places in Palma that are open on a Sunday. It is called La Cuchara (Spoon), and the food was delicious. There was one thing, though, that really bothered us…my dad ordered a glass of wine and it didn’t show up on the bill. “Well hell if I knew that I would have order wine, not stupid water,” I told my dad. He agreed saying that he would have definitely had a second glass and then remembered when he was in another restaurant in Tarragona and ordered a bottle of wine that didn’t show up on the bill either. “I wonder if all the wine is free in Spain?”my dad asked. My dad decided that he would ask the lady who works at the hotel and see what she thought of the free wine situation.

Before we made it back to the hotel it dawned on my dad that he and I ordered the meal of the day and Elizabeth did not. Finally he remembered that the waiter actually didn’t charge him for my water either, only for Elizabeth’s water, so the drink must have been included in the meal of the day. Sadly all of my dreams of surviving on nothing but free wine and free bread dwindled in a matter of seconds, but when I thought of how the lady at the hotel would have reacted when we asked her if all the wine in Spain was free I was pretty happy that my dad figured it out before we made fools out of ourselves.

Estoy Aquí!

Ive been in Spain for a little more than a day and already I've had some great moments. Yesterday after a 14 hour journey to Mallorca I met my dad at the airport (my Dad came to help me settle in, but he decided to make a mini vacation out of it and sandwich the four days that’s he’s here in Palma with three days in Barcelona and three days in Madrid. Elizabeth, my dad’s best friend is also here). After we went to his hotel I called my roommates and told them we were on our way. They offered to drive to the hotel and bring us to the apartment –that was, of course, before they knew I had two full size suitcases, a mini suitcase, two duffel bags, and a backpack. Let’s just say the look on their face when they saw an elevator filled with my bags was priceless.

My roommates are extremely sweet and welcoming. Pinwadee ( or Pin) is from Thailand, but has lived in Spain for five years. Shes 27 years old and shares a room in our apartment with Stéphane, a guy from France who came to Mallorca six months ago to learn Spanish and is currently looking for a job. My third roommate is actually from Spain. Her name is Maria Jose and I love her already. She’s in her mid-thirties and has a really outgoing personality. Last night she invited me to go to the supermarket with her, so we had some time to bond. Just so you can get an idea of how nice my roommates are, last night after I came home from dinner I found a set of clean sheets folded on my bed. Pin told me that Stéphane put them there because he noticed that I didn’t have any. Then when Stéphane came home I thanked him for the sheets and he offered me towels, food, drinks, soap (pretty much everything you can think of). So I definitely feel lucky to have found an apartment with such great roommates, I have a feeling we are going to get along and I'm sure I am going to learn a ton from them. And my apartment is great. Its clean, has a big living room, a balcony, and is right next to a cultural center with a bakery, library, tapas restaurant, park, and movie theater. The only downside is that it doesn’t have wireless, which I’m working on getting. 

 





This picture is taken at the Arab Baths House in Palma, which is from the 10th century and is one of the last remnants of the Moorish presence in Mallorca.