Mi Vida en España: día dos.

Today was yet another fun day in España! We started classes this morning...I only had my Spanish 106 class in which all we did was take a looooong (and fairly easy) placement test. After class, the entire group took a tour of the original building of Alcalá -- gorgeous! Oh and before that, a group of us took a tour of Cervantes' house led by none other than David Bradley....who is not a real tour guide and really had no clue what he was talking about. But it was good for some laughs!

Afterwards, we went home, ate lunch, I took a short siesta, then we met up with some friends in the Plaza and went to City Hall to see if they had any info on things to do in Alcalá. The lady directed us to the office of Información y Turismo where I tried to remember the word for "map" (which, turns out, is just mapa) and she explained various events, the bus schedule, etc. to me. She also corrected my Spanish a few times. But then, as she was showing us something else, she whipped out some PERFECT English! She could speak English all along! I was like, "What?! ¿Habla inglés?" And she responded with (in Spanish), "Yes, but you're in Spain so you need to speak Spanish! I was giving you the opportunity!" It was pretty funny.

Anyways, so after receiving about a billion pamphlets and maps from the kind lady, the ten of us headed out to the bus (for the first time for me!) and got off a few stops away to go to the mall. Can I just say, H&M in Spain is A MILLION times better than in the U.S.! And with all the rebajas (sales), everything was really inexpensive! But, I was trying not to spend money so, sadly, I didn't buy anything. I was kind of disappointed because the mall was very Americanized...there were good shops, but it was too expensive and I felt like I wasn't in Spain, so I was pretty much ready to leave.

Also, I've decided that people in Spain are really nice. Everyone I've tried to talk to has been patient with my little Spanish. And tonight, as Chelsey and I were coming back to our apartment, we decided to stop in this UPS store because Chels had some questions about mailing things. Just as we walked up, we saw a lady walk out and lock it. We went to the door just to check the hours and the guy inside opened up the door for us and answered our questions even though they were closed! What a nice guy, I've never had that happen to me in the U.S....so until further notice -- Spanish people are much kinder than they may seem.

Sorry for all the writing, I will now post some pictures for your viewing pleasure!