Más de mi vida cotidiana

I’ve been in Spain for 24 days now, which is the same number of days I was in Spain in 2006. And that trip seemed to last a lifetime, not in that it was too long or drawn out but in that it had such a huge impact on my life and so many fantastic memories were formed during it, so it’s kind of wild that I’ve already been here that long. So this will mark the longest I’ve been out of the country, possibly the longest I’ve been away from home (I’ve probably been at UCLA without going home for longer, but that’s close enough to home that it doesn’t really count), and I’ve barely begun my time here!

The weather forecast says the temperature will be in the 70s all week, which is going to be amazing, because I’m very tired of enduring 90+ degree temperatures with no air conditioning and lots of walking around. It’s even kind of windy and overcast and is almost starting to feel like fall. Nice work, weather. I approve. Now if only it would stay this temperature for the rest of the year instead of getting cold in the winter.

This weekend has been rather uneventful, although yesterday I went with a few friends to the mall out in the boonies of Madrid to visit Ikea and Carrefour (the Wal-Mart-like store I mentioned previously). I didn’t get anything at Ikea, although I did think about how I’ll decorate my new room, and Ikea is fabulous for fantasizing about how you’ll decorate since there looks so cute. At Carrefour, I got some essentials, like school supplies and a travel suitcase. Carrefour makes me happy because I don’t feel like I’m spending an arm and a leg on everything I buy like I feel when I go anywhere else in Spain.

Being at the mall, which looks a lot like an American mall, aside from all the Spanish and a few stores I didn’t recognize, made me a little homesick, because I realized how much I miss just being in a place where you’re totally comfortable and know exactly what the rules and customs are everywhere and where you know exactly the best place to go if you need to buy something, etc. Of course I love it here, but you kind of take for granted the comfort of being in your home country until you move abroad. Also, contrary to popular belief, there is a distinct American culture, and it’s really kind of awesome. I’m not sure how to explain exactly what I mean, but, basically, most Americans probably don’t have much of an appreciation for their own culture, but being here makes me really appreciate it.

Grr. I really want to update some things on this blog and a few other sites, but, for some reason, FTP (which is how you upload files to a website) isn’t working here. I don’t know if it’s because I’m in Spain or because of the university wifi, but it’s very frustrating.

I’m probably going to the Prado museum in a few minutes, so I’ll end this now. Ciao!