Katie and I went on a mission to buy her phone, the first time, she forgot her passport. You'd think I would have reminded her to bring it given my experience. The second time, Orange's system crashed so the payments wouldn't go through. We have yet to return. We did find an ATM though, which was important to do. We went into Corte Ingles to buy shampoo and the cheapest bottle they had was 14 Euros... And it was a small bottle of something we had never even heard of, so as we decided we didn't need it and were leaving, Katie randomly got a nose bleed. We dealt with that and then returned home for lunch. Cristina informed us of the basic rules of the apartment at this meal, most importantly that we have to speak Spanish with her, that we all share a bathroom, that she eats lunch but not dinner with us, and that we have to lock the door even when we are inside the apartment. For lunch we had a delicious Spanish Tortilla, in other words, an omelette with potatoes, onion, and salt. We also had some roasted tomatoes kind of similar to the ones my mom makes at home. And for dessert we had some vanilla ice cream and cherries. It was wonderful.
The tradition of siestas is by far my favorite though. I was ready to pass out like I had jet lag despite having been in Europe already for 10 days... But we had our siesta, I took a short one and then proceeded to try to figure out the Wi-Fi. It was a struggle, let me tell you. First of all, it is not called Wi-Fi here, it is pronounced Wee-Fee. I was reprimanded for saying Wi-Fi. Second of all, we did not know the name of the network or which password was the correct one. By the time Katie woke up from her nap an hour or so into my attempts at getting the Wee-Fee to work, I knew the password and I knew the network name, but I had screwed something up within my computer and the IP address. So, I gave Katie the information and it worked perfectly for her! I almost screamed. Long story short, I ended up giving Katie my computer and she has the magic touch, because I am now able to use the internet!
After the Wee-Fee episode we just hung out for a bit and then had dinner early. It was date-like with just the two of us, but it was fun. We had a really yummy pasta dish that was cooked with lots of vegetables and some chicken. There was also a plate of salami and sardines, the salami was eaten and the sardines were not. The best thing is that Katie is allergic to shellfish and fish so that means my picky eating habits of no muscles, clams, oysters, shrimp, etc go unnoticed because we can't eat them! Anyway, dessert was fresh apricots and then Katie and I hung out some more. It was at that time that I realized she is my soul mate because she is just as addicted to Harry Potter as I am. We are currently in the process of transferring all of the books on tape onto her computer from mine and hopefully the movies onto mine from hers. Side note - Netflix doesn't work in Spain, a very sad realization for me, but Katie has an extensive movie collection on her iTunes account, so it should be ok. Luckily, the Slingbox does work! So we were able to watch both the Duke Mens Lacrosse game as well as the Blackhawks game. As my dad was watching the lacrosse game (it was against Hopkins) I typed into the search menu go duke, which he quickly erased and tried to write go hopkins, but it only let him get to 'go hop'.
Bedtime came and morning came earlier. I did wake myself up before my alarm and was brushing my teeth when it went off so Katie had to turn it off for me because I didn't hear it. Yes, the alarm makes the "bee-doh" sound from Despicable Me 2, yes it annoys everybody on the planet, except Katie! Breakfast was some coffee and watermelon and a small cookie and then we took the Metro, with Cristina's help, to class. We were among the first ones there for orientation, and two kids weren't there at all today because they had passport issues. I would have been stressed out of my mind. Anyway, our two classes were explained to us (kind of), and one of them had a topic change. The first one is a cultural studies class that will use primarily literature and artwork from the 19th and 20th centuries. The second one is also a cultural studies class but it is based on 2008 until the present. The focus is the Spanish social movement that was the inspiration for the U.S. "Occupy" movement, and most of it is economic-based, but it has to do with the culture as a whole apparently. Should be interesting! After the orientation we went on a bus tour of the city and everywhere we had stopped, I had seen. So I guess BB, my mom, Aunt Kait and I did a good job! Katie and I found a place for regular shampoo on the way home and made it back just in time for our lunch. Today we had a dish that I don't know the name of, but it had ham, potatoes, and green beans with delicious seasoning. Cristina had also made a homemade guacamole that had a little kick to it and was yummy. Dessert was the best though: roasted apples. Cristina told me how to make them, and it is so easy! She put three apples in the microwave for 10 minutes with a little bit of water and some sugar and then they were done. Beautiful, healthy, delicious. I know what my desserts will be the second half of the summer when I'm in Durham!
After lunch was siesta, hallelujah. I think I'm dehydrated though, so Katie and I are going to buy water bottles, and hopefully third time is the charm for her phone. Regular class starts tomorrow, so we are going to use our last ours of freedom well: sleeping, listening to Harry Potter, and drinking water. I also put some pictures up of my room here, hopefully it actually stays this clean!
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