Day 1 (Thursday, January 26th)... Arrived in Madrid, took a bus to Cáceres, and met our host families. My roommate, Angélica, and I are staying with Ísabel, an older woman who well known for her amazing cooking. She is so sweet, and always concerned about feeding us enough. I don't think that's going to be a problem! She made us tortilla de patata (my favorite!), and after we ate, I unpacked and went to bed. By that point I was too tired to think, let alone carry on conversation in Spanish. Ísabel was very sweet and understanding. I have my own room here, which was a nice, unexpected surprise.
Day 2... We met as a group to get our bus passes, cell phones, and library cards. We were pretty low key that day and spent some time catching up on sleep. Angélica and I also met up with some girls from our group at el Gran Cafe for coffee, cake, and churros. Deliciosos :)
Day 3... In the morning Angélica and I went shopping. It's rebajas here, which means major sales and awesome deals on clothes and shoes. Definitely had to take advantage of that! I think Mango is quickly becoming my favorite store (next to GAP, of course!). And after lunch and siesta, Audra came from Placensia! She showed Angélica and I around the old part of town in the evening and we had a nice touring around Cáceres. It's such a gorgeous city and so far there's not a single thing about it that I don't love. We went to an Arabic museum, climbed to the top of the tallest cathedral, and had drinks and tapas en the plaza.
Day 4... Our first Sunday in Cáceres. Angélica and I went to a Catholic mass in a beautiful old cathedral (I don't know which-- there are too many to keep track of). We were two of about ten people there, including the three priests. I was definitely a little bit thrown off because a) I'm not Catholic and b) I'm not fluent in liturgical Spanish, but all in all it was a good experience. We then met a group of other students and went to El Puente church, which is the one run by the Tjernagels. What an awesome experience! There was lots of praising and singing (all contemporary and all in Spanish), followed by a very, very long but heartfelt sermon delivered by a visiting minister. The Tjernagels and everyone at their church were so welcoming, and so excited for us to get involved. Admittedly, I haven't been the most faithful churchgoer as of late, but I think the becoming involved with El Puente will be good in a number of ways.
Day 5... Monday. We went on a tour of the University and got to see our classroom and some of the highlights of the campus. Afterwards, Cassie, Angélica, Tiffani, and I ventured out to the mall, to take advantage of rebajas... again. After our siesta I went out again and bought myself a coat at Mango and some shoes, too. Just what I needed! Actually, I really was in need if a coat... it's beautiful here during the day, but still a bit chilly in the morning and evenings. After dinner a large group of us met a la cruz to discuss travel plans, and then we all meandered home.
Day 6... This brings us up to date. We had our first day of classes in the university today, and all went well. Because of my internship and my independent study, I only have two classes in the university (grammar and Spanish literature), and I think they'll be enjoyable. This afternoon was definitely a highlight of the trip this far. We met as a group and climbed the mountain that Cáceres is tucked into. It's a little mountain, but a mountain nevertheless. It was a nice climb up, and the view from the top was worth every step. We overlooked the whole city and all of the countryside in the distance. We stayed up there and watched the sunset; I can think of few things more gorgeous. We slowly made our way back down, enjoying the night and the views.
That, in a nutshell, is Cáceres so far. I'll hopefully go into more details in future posts, but if I wrote everything about my first days here, I'd have to write a book.
