Presence and Paella Week 3!

 Hola!

Present... what does it practically look like to be present at all times? Is it doing everything possible, is it going to the beach every day, is it savoring every last bite of paella? I think that depends on the day, the week, the time, the place, and the person. What it looks like for someone is not necessarily what it looks like for the person next to them. what it looks like for me certainly changes constantly.

Just like that a bit over a quarter of my time here has come and gone. They warned me that the time was going to fly and while it does seem like that is true at times, I am really working on being present for each and every moment that I can and loving the time that I do get.

   Day 14(continued):

All l have left to share is a picture of our paella from that afternoon. Please enjoy and I give you full permission to be a little jealous too! hahaha

   Day 15:

Back to Monday again. It was not a very exciting day, just the normal routine of school and then homework. The tram has been crazy packed with new international students, students finishing their exams at the university, and just people in general. It's definitely not a comfortable experience with that many bodies in a small area but does make for some fun conversations to listen in on(those that I can understand of course). Later, I went to the beach for a little while and then watched a movie and went to bed. Simple, but good for the body and soul sometimes. 

   Day 16:

Tuesday was rather pleasant. Started off the day by waking up a bit late, but I got ready in 20 minutes and then rushed to the tram. That's just how it goes sometimes but learning to go with it. That afternoon Skylar and I had quite the time trying to find a coffee shop to try out and work on planning a weekend trip. We originally were going to go to the one that is right below where she lives, we had heard that it was great and had good wifi, but in passing it after class found that they were doing some sort of remodeling there and it wasn't going to be open. Skylar found one on her phone that looked promising so we headed there just to find the empty lot where it used to be. We finally landed at a place that we had passed on our way and ordered coffee and I got a chocolate croissant. The waiter brought it out and even gave Skylar a free croissant. The croissants were soo good as they had some sort of sugary glaze over the top. I never got around to asking for the wifi password so we talked about a trip for a little bit mulling over going to Majorca because the flights were cheap but decided to sleep on it before booking tickets. We then proceeded to spend almost three hours here just chatting about life! That night a group of us went and got super cheap pizza(that was not very good) and watched the sunset from the beach while listening to music and just taking it all in. It was gorgeous and so nice to just sit and chat as the waves crashed and the sky was painted in various shades of pink and purple. We have decided that this is going to be a regular thing that we do and I'm really ok with that lol. 

   Day 17: 

I had the realization this week that I'm not sure if Wednesday or Thursday is considered the middle of their week here when the calendar starts with Monday instead of Sunday. I'll let y'all know if I ever figure that one out. Anyways Wednesday was pretty fun, I took the tram like normal and met a kid from Florida after he heard a few of us talking and asked if we were from America. He just got here with CEA and will be here for 4 weeks. I had no idea how many Americans we would meet while here, but honestly really appreciate hearing conversations that I can understand so it has been really nice to not be the only ones. After class, Skylar and I went and asked our director about his thoughts on majorca and he told us that it was not really worth it and that it would be far better for us to go to Grenada or Seville and told us that he would help us figure out what to do at these places. This was super helpful and I am so glad that we went and talked with him. Later in the afternoon, we went on a "sunset cruise" though it was before sunset so I'm not sure why they called it that. Almost everyone in our program decided to book this so we took up more than half of the boat which was really fun! It was one of the catamarans that have netting on the front that you can lay out on. I had never been on a catamaran like this or one that was this big. We drove out a way and then anchored so that we could swim in the ocean a bit. They even convinced me to jump off the boat which if you know me and my feelings about the lack of control there is with jumping into water, you know that is a big deal for me. The water in the Mediterranean is SOO salty, this is great in that you float really easily when in it but also tragic when it gets in your mouth and nose. Nevertheless, a great experience to say the least. I really tried to not be on my phone during this so I got a few pictures, but not a ton. We had mini cheese burgers with some sort of small bird egg sunny-side up on top and salad for dinner that really hit the spot!

   Day 18:

Today was a day full of studying and sleeping and not much else. In class, we had a review day and that was honestly really nice and built my confidence in what I do know and have learned in the past few weeks. I only had to look up a couple of the questions in our review packet so I was pretty happy about where I was at. When I got home, I made a Quizlet of 99 vocab terms that I knew decently, but honestly I don't really know how to study for tests other than that. I talked to Nolan for a few minutes before lunch that contained a large piece of fish with bones still intact and vegetables. Then I came back to my desk and I went through the terms and took a couple practice tests, then took a couple-hour-long nap, and then pretended to study some more, but really just looked at my phone as time slowly passed until I gave up on this studying concept and watched some TV and fell asleep. 

   Day 19:

Friday!! I got up this morning and was so ready to just get the test over with! I spent the tram ride going over my notes one more time and then anxiously waited for it to begin. I was done with my test in 45 minutes approximately. The struggle of there only being 2 people in class is that I knew I was going to be the first one done and was not going to be able to hide that very well. Eventually, after going back through my test for another 15 minutes I knew there was nothing else for me to do. Our professor then gave us the option to stay and do the oral portion of the exam that day or to wait and do it on Monday. Danielle seemed to want to wait so I got to leave as soon as I handed her my exam. I had plans to meet up with others to book our trip to Grenada. Once they all got out of class we met up and booked our bus tickets, Airbnb, and tickets to see the Alhambra next weekend. We then went and told Luis our plans and he sat down with us and told us the best things to see when we are there. I then went home and had Arroz negro, which I believe to be rice that is cooked with shrimp and squid ink. It was so different and interesting! Nolan and Ellie told me that it looked like ants which was not a pleasant idea to put in my head, but it was still good anyway. Later that afternoon I went to the bookstore that was down the street from my apartment with Charlotte and Piper. I found a beautiful copy of Pride and Prejudice in Spanish that I might have to go back and get at a later time, just to add to the collection. I am not sure of my ability to get through a book written in Spanish so I did not buy anything yet. After that Ellie and I got to talk on the phone and we planned and booked our transportation and sleeping arrangements for the 10ish days that she will be here when my program finishes. I had soup with small bird eggs and chicken on the side for dinner and I even made myself a little honey-mustard dipping sauce because we had been talking about it in our family group message and that just made me crave it lol. Later I went over to Charlotte's apartment and we started watching the movie Eat, Pray, Love. Which we then decided is the perfect movie to watch when you are abroad because it is so easy to relate to. 

  

  Day 20:

Ahh la Isla de Tabarca! This was a beautifully tiring day. We met at 9am to take a bus to Santa Pola where we caught a ferry to Tabarca Island. It was a nice 25-minute ferry ride to this tiny Island that has the cutest town with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. The moment we pulled into the shore we could see fish in the water just below us. We started off the day just wandering the small island looking at the views and the cute little lighthouse. After this, we went snorkeling. Let me tell you, this started off as a big struggle for me. I am a decent swimmer and have been snorkeling, but the breathing has always freaked me out. Once I got my heart to stop racing and could actually breathe without hyperventilating it was amazing to see all the fish below me. They looked like you could just reach out and grab them, I didn't...but it looked like you could!  After this, we all went and enjoyed a meal together of all things classic Spanish cuisine regularly offers, from bread and vegetables to paella and sweet desserts with fruit. It was amazing and fun to get to take part in such a meal with all of the people in our program. We then wandered around the small town that looks like a little taste of Greece with its white buildings and colored doors and windows. The ride back was pretty rough as we had all been in the sun pretty much all day and just wanted to get back, take a shower and go to sleep. That is pretty much what I did as soon as I got back. I thought about going out with people but ultimately decided that I just did not want to and fell asleep pretty quickly after that decision!

   Day 21:

Here is where the week comes to a close. I slept in this morning and woke up to fresh coffee and then my host mom made me bacon and eggs. After she finished cleaning the kitchen, we got to work making cookies. She had asked me when I first got here if I would teach her how to make classic American cookies so that is what I set out to do. I found a recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies and sent her the list of ingredients that we would need. Apparently, we got a little lost in translation and chocolate chips somehow became their version of Chips Ahoy cookies but I didn't want to make her feel bad so we got creative. She also wanted to add cocoa powder so I said sure why not! I went about the recipe as normal and then at the end when it said to add chocolate chips, we crushed up the cookies with our hands and a potato masher and I pretended like everything was normal when I really had no idea what I was doing or how this was going to turn out, but fingers were crossed haha. (oh also, I used a tea cup to measure flour and guestimated with spoons pretty much all the other measurements...eek) After we put the dough in the fridge, she asked if I would like to see how she makes paella and I said "of course!". Honestly, it seems pretty simple to prepare so if anyone wants to be there for my trial run when I get home, let me know! I am starting to feel like a real writer as I sit here drinking a Heineken and blogging for the week, probably just me being silly but that's what I imagine writers do. We had our paella for lunch and it was amazing yet again and then had the cookies for dessert. The cookies actually were pretty good. I probably should have baked them a bit longer but they had a gooey but thin brownie-like consistency and I definitely was not mad at it. It's already been a great day. 

So yeah, that was my week and this week being present looked like spending time not doing anything, eating lots of different but good food, watching the waves hit the shore, avoiding being on my phone, watching movies, having good conversations, and getting creative in the kitchen. Who knows what that will look like next week but we take it one week at a time. I'm soaking it all in! Miss you all every day and cannot wait to have a big paella party when I return!

Hasta luego!