We arrived in San Sebastian on the 16th I believe and spent one night in a hotel with the the entire group as part of the orientation process. The next day we were given the keys to our apartments that are spread throughout the city which is split up into several different districts. Some of the most popular districts where people live are El Centro, which is the center part of town and has the baks and the shops, and stores like that, Parta Vieja which is where city hall is, the bars, and all the restraunts, and then there is Gross, which is not gross at all. Gross is the area where the surfing beach is and has a very laid back vibe. I live in Gross and I absolutely love it! I am five blocks from the beach and live with two amazing girls that also attend Chico State named Laura Huepper and Morgan Allen. I can tell that we are going to be having a lot of fun these next four months and I cannot wait for it. Its going to be awesome. We live on the other side of the city compared to the university so it is about a 40 minute walk to school, but we walk right along the beach so I am not complaining about that one! The scenery is beautiful even when it is foggy out. I absolutely love it all!
So let me tell you the tale of how I got to our apartment. Oh believe me its a good one that is probably no one but me would even be put in this situation, so here it goes:
Laura and I are waiting outside to ride to our apartment together and Morgan and her mom, who was visiting for a few days, would take a separate cab and meet us there. The cab pulls up and the guy comes out and shakes his head at us, says no and leaves. Laura and I are just standing there so confused and have no idea what to do but to laugh. So then we get the front desk lady to help us with the next cab and basically it turns out that I have to go in my own cab because both of our luggage wont fit in one cab trunk. So I leave and plan to meet Morgan, her mom, and Laura there. In order to tell the cab person where to go we were advised to point at the address we were given on our orientation paper and they would just know. Me being the idiot that I am packed my papers in my luggage which was now in the trunk so Laura pointed at hers before I left them so I should be set right? WRONG!
We get to my street corner where the driver drops me off and directly points me where I need to go. But I being the person who has to make everything complicated screws even a simple, easy finger point up. I walk up to my apartment and try to insert my key. I have three keys. But I decided that only one key should work for the entire apartment and the other two were for mail or something, or that the door to the building shouldn't even be locked because its day time. So i walk up another few feet and there is another entrance to a different part of the building that I am able to get into due to someone opening the door for me. I just assume that this is my apartment so i go to my apartment number and i insert the key and it doesn't work. I'm fiddling with the lock, and its dark in the hallway so i decide to turn on the light, I ring the doorbell and this lady comes out and I am pretty sure I scared the living daylights out of her! She speaks a little English and I am basically trying to tell her that I live in that apartment and she is like uhh noo. So then i remember the paper with my address on it. So I open up my small suitcase to try and find it. Its not there,. I open my huge suitcase and start searching through all the while I am still in the hall way and this lady thinks I am crazy. I am so frazzled and embarrassed and I feel terrible. I finally find the paper and point to the address and she tells me that I was in the building 13 when I should be in building 11. So basically the first door I went to when I tried my key was my building. Smart one Alli! So then I pack up all my clothes and luggage in the hallway of the building and finally get to my right area where I spy Morgan and Laura. I apologized to the lady and she was giggling at me but if it wasn't for her I would have been lost for probably another hour or so. It was bad.
But finally we got settled in and our apartment is quite small but very old fashioned and homey. I like it! I have my own room with a full bed and Morgan and Laura share a room. Its really cozy and fun but our kitchen is smaller than the size of my hall bathroom that was in my apartment back in Chico. its TINY! We have already gone grocery shopping and picked up food which is another experience within itself! Everything is in SPANIsH! obviously. but reading ingredients and brands is something that you severely take for granted back home. Trying to figure out how to microwave noodles is difficult here. and that just should not be hard. ever.! It makes me very excited and determined to pick up Spanish quickly in order to understand all of this. When you are thrown into a situation a lot like this you have to work hard to resolve the problems that you do not understand and I fully intend on doing that!
Much Love,
The Koose
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