New Experiences

So yesterday around 5pm, my roomie arrived. I was really nervous at first because I was not sure what to expect. I was hoping that he was cool and not like the other kids I had met in ISA, but I had a feeling that he was going to be just like them. Rufi and I walked to go retrieve him from the bus stop and it was funny because he was like the only kid who was sitting there, waiting and ready. He had all his bags with him and he was ready to rumble. Rufi asked if we were interested in walking from the bus stop to her house (it was not far) and we both said that that was fine, so we started our trek.

His name is Will and he is a Business and Spanish major from Birmingham, Alabama who goes to school in Chicago, at Wheaton College. He and I talked as we walked and Rufi trailed behind us. He seemed cool at first (and still does, but it has been less than a day, so who knows), which made me really excited.

At 6pm, so not long after he arrived, I had a date with Sara to do an intercambio. Jenna, our housemate, asked if she could come with me and I said that that was fine with me and I was sure that Sara would not have a problem with it. Rufi had also asked me if I could bring Will to the Plaza Mayor and show him around a little bit since I was going that way for my intercambio. I agreed, but then realized that he probably would not want to explore the city by himself the first day here in Salamanca, so I invited him to come do the intercambio with us as well. So we walked down there, met up with Sara and Ivan, and went to a cafe. We had some coffees and chatted mostly in Spanish. I was at the other end of the table of Sara and Will, next to Sara's husband, Ivan, so he and I chatted. It was really funny though, because whenever Will did not know a word or if he was having trouble expressing himself in Spanish, he would always look at me and ask how you say something. After he would ask me about a single word, I would rack my brain, but everybody at the table would stare at me while I figured it out. It was like I was a walking dictionary. Then if he was having trouble with a phrase or an expression or something, or if Sara was having trouble expressing herself, they would look to me to be the go-between person for languages. Will fit right in, jumping into the conversation and soaking it up. I was really glad that he was engaging himself and seemingly enjoying himself as well.

We went home for dinner, where we had melón con jamón. It was a melon (do not ask what kind because I did not know nor did Rufi, but it was sorta like cantaloupe/honeydew mix sorta thing) with ham on top. It sounds weird, I know, but it was really good and if you think about it, it is not that strange. The ham is salty and the melon is sweet, put the two together, you have a nut bar (the name of which escapes me now). It was really good. After dinner, I asked Will if he wanted to go down to the Plaza so he could know the route and location where he had to meet the group tomorrow (today, Monday), and he said yes. So we were walking down there and I made some comment about how it is a lot of Spanish for his first day, huh? And he said that he had had more exposure to Spanish today than he had had in the whole four days he had already been here, perhaps even in his entire life. He had the same problem with the kids from ISA: they did not want to speak in Spanish and he said that he always tried to speak in Spanish with them, but it never worked and he ended up speaking English. He said it was nice that he was with someone who wanted to speak the language and really practice. So I showed him the Plaza, and we returned home. He said he had to write an email and make a phone call, so I let him be in our room by himself for privacy. I went into the kitchen to talk with Rufi. I walked in, she was ironing, and she asked how things were going and I said that I really liked Will. She agreed, so we talked about him a bit, then we talked about all the other people she has had in the past and how horrible some of them can be and how grateful and lucky she was to have such great kids here now. I could not agree more!

Rufi went to bed after talking with me for some time, and then Will came into the kitchen asking where Rufi was. He had a pillow case in his hands and I was really confused. I asked him why he needed Rufi, cuz she had gone to bed, and he said that he was going to ask if it is ok if he uses his own pillowcase. (It gets really cute and precious here on out, so be warned. Grab a tissue or something.) He said that his girlfriend's parents are missionaries from one of the former Russian satellite states (I wanna say it is Kyrgyzstan...something that starts with a K) and that she goes to Wheaton or whatever. He also said that she made him this pillowcase (I thought she made the whole thing from scratch, but she just wrote some stuff on the open end. But she wrote, in Russian, I miss you. So he can fall asleep thinking of her every night! CUTE?!?! I teared up a little bit. Then Rufi came into the room and so he asked her if that was ok, she said definitely, and then he explained the story to her as well. She said that that was fine, just give it to her once a week so she can wash it or whatever, and she said something along the lines of, you are going to have to sleep without her one night per week, I hope that is ok. AWWWWWWWWWWWW. Precious!

Anyhow, he seems like a super great, awesome, kid and I hope that he and I can make a lasting relationship at least while we are here in Spain, if not longer (I am hoping it lasts longer than Spain, but who knows.) Life is pretty good right now!! :)