Mi primera semana in espana...

Well, my first week of class is done and although I started pretty badly (it was a rough first day), my Spanish boot camp is starting to pay off a bit. Everything gets a little better although I'm sure I could be learning more. But I have to treat myself and will go to the beach this afternoon (not a cloud in the sky... which you probably think happens all the time here but not so... It has been cloudy all week).

So, what the heck am I doing with myself in Bilbao, you may be asking yourself (or not)? Well, once I arrived after my 2-day marathon travelling, my body just wanted to die so the 7 hours of sleep on Sunday night did almost nothing in denting my fatigue. So, after my first day of classes, I almost went straight to bed (although I had to wait until 9:30 PM as my family eats at that time of the night... Spanish people eat breakfast at 8:00 AM, lunch at 2:30 PM and supper at 9:30 PM... They don't seem to snack but I seem to have gotten used to the routine!).

Following that, Tuesday was spent immersing myself in my books and trying to learn as much vocabulary as possible (it's incredible how many words you need to know to express even the simplest ideas!). I also had to work on my verb tenses. It seems that spaniards use the Passé Simple in Spanish almost all the time (while we never use it). So I need to know the equivalent Spanish verb tense for Passé Composé, Passé Simple and Imparfait... And when to use them! Not easy... Not easy at all, especially when you want to express yourself quickly. But I am learning slowly the verbs, the conjugacions and the vocabulary.

Yesterday, I went to eat with Scott, another Canadian at the school from Vancouver (about to start his Ph.D in meteorology) and Ana, a Russian-Italian living in Scotland and studying psychology with a minor in Spanish (wow... that took me a little while to understand this in Spanish!). We ate at a Japanese restaurant (yes, I know... a bit strange given we are in Spain). But the sushi was great! Me gusto mucho (I liked it very much!).

Bueno... This weekend, I will be going to San Sebastien on Saturday and simply relaxing and spending time at the beach on Sunday... I should check the weather forecast... Stay tuned for my last entry coming up! Yes, my year in Europe is almost over (8 days until I return to Canada...)