Up and Down

I’m not really sure where to begin with this post. And it’s going to be a bit disjointed, as I’m still trying to take it all in and deal with switching back and forth between languages, but I ask that you bear with me :) But I finally have (rather expensive) internet now, so I can give you a real update, which I’m super excited about!

The last week has been pretty much the biggest emotional roller coaster I’ve ever been on. What with lost luggage (which finally came yesterday, to my boundless delight – I feel like I have such wealth after living off of the things in my backpack and a few items from my host mom), getting over jet lag, missing family and friends, adjusting to a place that’s so different from home – and above all, trying not to get lost – it’s definitely been an adventure so far. There are parts of this trip that I don’t even want to think about, much less go through again.
However, I don’t want you to think that I’m unhappy here or that everything has been terrible – that’s simply not the case. Now that things are a little less overwhelming, and now that I’m able to take things a day (or even an hour) at a time – “poco a poco,” my host mom (who is extremely nice and motherly and is always making sure I have what I need) wisely says – I’m starting to really enjoy my time here. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here only a week; the days seem to last forever here because there’s so much to take in and because the pace is quite a bit slower than at home. But I keep going by reminding myself that, first and foremost, God is with me and is helping me every step of the way. Also, it’s good for me to remember that very few people have the opportunity to do this, and the fact that I am in Europe right now and get to experience so many amazing things is nothing short of incredible.

And all the little triumphs that I make every day are very encouraging as well. There are things like the fact that I can go to the bakery and buy bread for my host mom, walk to the university and not get lost, successfully use some of the buses, and often find myself able to understand perfectly what someone is telling me in Spanish, which show me that I am certainly not as incompetent and lost as I feel sometimes. And as always, I take pleasure in little things – I love the fact that the bread and coffee here are amazing, that I’m going to be super fit pretty soon with all of this walking, that I got to listen to some old ladies brag about their grandkids in Spanish last night, and even that, one night, a group of people walked down my street boisterously singing “Feliz Navidad”! Also, I love the fact that Spanish TV is fantastic! There are a lot of good Spanish programs, and they dub a lot of American shows and movies (and do quite a good job). I even saw part of The Return of the King a couple of days ago! I was stoked :) Oh, and the Spanish version of Spongebob (“Bob Esponja”)? So hilarious!

And there have been more than just little things. My favorite day so far was our first day of orientation, on Friday. In the morning, my host mom helped me find the bus station and made sure I got to the university okay (did I mention how great she is?) and to my surprise and delight, Skyla was on the bus when I got on it! I’d been worried about her, having had no way to contact her to learn whether she had made it safely to Pamplona, so I was extremely glad to see her. Once at school, we were given some information about the school and some of its organizations, and we started the registration process for classes. The schedule seems like it’ll be kind of strange, but I’m sure it’s manageable. Later, we had a nice long lunch in the cafeteria, and some of the other Concordia girls and I got to know a girl from Norway a little bit better. After that, we had a tour of the campus. From that, we transitioned to a tour of part of Pamplona. I feel somewhat more familiar with the city, but I think it’s going to be a while before I stop being afraid of getting lost all the time and stop wanting to carry my map with me everywhere. Anyway, we went all the way to the casco antiguo, which is the oldest part of the city – it dates back to medieval times, I believe, though I’m not sure of the exact period. Though the roads are confusing, it’s so beautiful there and I’m excited to go back – we got to see the gorgeous plaza where Ernest Hemingway himself used to sit, and the hotel in which he used to stay. We even got to see the stadium where they have bull fights, as well as the main street where they have the famous Running of the Bulls! We were amused to see that there is a digital clock counting down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the next time those crazy men will go hurtling down the narrow calles with angry bulls in pursuit – an event which I will regrettably miss this time around. After all this walking, we were getting pretty cold and tired, so we stopped in a bar to have a caña (beer). After that, some of the girls and I went with one of the leaders to go buy cell phones (quite an adventure, let me tell you – it took forever), and then went to another bar where all the groups were to meet. It was fantastic – I had my first pincho, (in the south, they call them tapas) which is the name for the yummy mini-meals that one can order at most Spanish bars, and also my first glass of sangria, which was delicious. And it was so much fun to meet some of the amazing international students! I met people from Germany, France, Norway, Asia, other parts of the U.S., Mexico, and Iraq. What a wonderful, diverse group of beautiful people!:) I absolutely can’t wait to get to know them better.

After all this, classes finally started as of yesterday. I’m still trying to get into school-mode, but that’ll come. And I think my classes are going to be pretty interesting and not too difficult, so I’m glad for that. For this evening, I’m planning to unwind a bit. It seems I have to do that a whole lot more often, but thankfully there are far more opportunities – things are very relaxed around here. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll have more adventures to tell you soon, but for now, I plan to do my best to take everything in and enjoy this roller coaster ride as it comes. And no matter that there are low points – the mountaintops are just around the bend!