A Day in the Life.

As of today, it has been exactly a month since my feet touched the Spanish soil. I have pretty much gotten into the routine of things and many of you have asked what my schedule is and what I do, so now let me take you through "A Day in the Life of Andrea".

I have classes at 9:00am Monday-Friday so I get up around (read: my alarm goes off for the first time at) 7:20am (boo!) and head out the door around 8:40ish. I walk to and from school every day and it takes about 15-20minutes. Everyone here walks so that's no big deal, but really stinks if it's raining. I then have class from 9:00 - 1:00pm. After class, I go back to my residence and eat lunch. How I spend my afternoons usually depends on my mood but usually I'll do one or several of the following:
I usually check my e-mails, Facebook, blog, etc in the afternoons and reply to any of that stuff. The wifi here is quite touchy and when a lot of people are on it in the evening it disconnects a lot. Therefore, e-mail is usually a high priority in my afternoon.
Study. I am here to learn Spanish so I do study pretty much every day. I also usually have homework so, being that I'm a good student, I usually always do that. I usually study for 2-3 hours on a good day, 1-2 on a lazy day. About once a week I also try to review and study for 3-4 hours - with little breaks in between. :)
Siesta. Depending on how tired I am I may or may not take a siesta. I really like taking the siestas but I usually end up sleeping away my afternoon and then I don't feel very productive so lately I've skipped siesta unless in dire need of it.
Go to the grocery store. If you've read all my blogs, you know I'm getting half board here, and have breakfast and dinner provided for me, but since I still have to make my own lunches and buy an snack stuff I want/need I go to the store about once a week. This may seem like a lot for someone who only has to provide one meal for herself, but since I have to walk to the store, it limits how much I can buy at one time. Plus, since I don't have much storage room in a fridge or cabinet, it's easier to just buy what I'm going to need soon than find a place to store it. And ultimately, that's the Spanish way of life. They usually go to the store several times a week and just buy what they need for a few days.
Go sight-seeing. If it's nice out I try to get out and go see some sights or just walk around the city to get a little bit of exercise.

In the evenings, I have an optional class that is on different cultural topics. This class is from 7:00pm-8:00pm and depending on the topic, I'll usually go 2 or 3 times a week. Then somewhere between 8:00-8:45ish is dinner. Spaniards eat late and I'm usually really hungry by then. After that I usually relax for a while. It's both nice and terrible to eat so late. It's nice because you go to bed all full and content - kind of like an after-Thanksgiving nap. It's terrible because you go to bed on a full stomach and feel like all the food does is just sit there all night and make you fat. Alas though, going to bed on a full stomach is what usually happens and I go to bed somewhere between 11:00-Midnight. Now, I know some of you will be like "What?!? You go to bed?! It's Spain you have to go out for tapas or something!" Well, I do some of that too, but not every night. Just like in the U.S., it's expensive to go out every night and I have to be able to make it to class the next morning so I can't go out every night. Plus, then what would be left to do on the weekends? ;)

And that is "A Day in the Life of Andrea".