Culture Shock

So, if you were all wondering, I survived my first week abroad. It's funny, but it feels as if I've been here for months now. The days are finally starting to get a little routine and I am slowly getting used to this Spanish lifestyle; however, this acclimation came with a few minor struggles...

First thing: the toilets here flush by pulling the handle up, not down. As far as other bathroom necessities, it seems that righty-tighty lefty-loosey

is a universal standard, so no worries there.

Moving on...

I may have overestimated my excitement for cobblestone streets. While at first they appear enchanting, the overall image is somewhat misleading, because after only about 10 minutes of steady walking you're ready for a good foot rub. It's also hard to not look like a meek tourist when you are tripping on stones all the time. Another comment on the streets

of Toledo: it's very rare that you're not walking up or downhill. It's also very rare that you are not walking up or down said hill at a 45% degree angle. The final formula is something like this:

Cobblestone + tripping + steep hill = pain and suffering

I was also mislead about cafes. I was excited to exercise my inner european with some cafe camaraderie, but I'm starting to lose hope. Spain isn't really one of those countries that has menus. This turns getting a cup of coffee into a game of 20 questions if you don't want it black. And just because a cafe might have tortilla española one day, that doesn't mean they will have it the next.

Jesus is big here. In the older parts of Toledo, every building seems to have a cross. There are also some fantastic nun sightings if you look hard enough. Also the cathedral right outside my window rings it's bells every fifteen minutes. Every fifteen minutes. If I sleep with the windows open I can use Quasimoto as my alarm clock.

Oh, and fun fact for the day: The phrase Holy Toledo! is a reference to the amount of churches in the city.

I have become more accustomed to the food here, although the portions of meat are ridiculously large. Overall I'd say B+ which far exceeds my first day expectations.

Interactions with the locals have been pretty positive. Most seem really excited to listen to our broken spanish. Occasionally I will get the blank stare or well duh! response, but overall it's not that intimidating. Small conversations are all you can generally get out of people, but I think that will change once we assimilate a little more.

Side note: Nobody can pronounce my name

"¿Cómo te llamas?

"Me llamo Kyle."

"¿Karel?"

"Ky-el."

"¿Kay-lel?"

"KYLE!"

Well that's all for now, I have to get to class. We have a trip to Madrid this weekend and a birthday to celebrate so check back for details.