Freaky Friday... not really at all actually

Friday wasn’t a very special day. Alex and I had to wake up early because we had to check out of our hotel and move to the hotel for orientation. We had breakfast at the hotel and the eggs were very different from the eggs we eat back home. However different, they were amazing. Equally as surprising, the chorizo sausages and the odd looking cheeses were amazing as well.

After finishing we had the front desk call a taxi for us and take us to our new hotel. When we got to the hotel and checked in, we were told that we were the first to arrive. I thought this was weird because I remembered Brian and RJ telling me that they would be arriving in the morning, yet Alex and I arrived sometime right before 1 p.m.

Not having anything to do, we thought we would go ahead and check in with the Texas Tech Center since we had to anyway. After heading in some random direction without seeing a major street for some good time, we finally found an area populated by people. There we had to ask directions for streets and we eventually found our way amid the very hot day.

They say the heat gets pretty high up there. Maybe one day I will experience the 45 degrees Celsius heat. Just for you Americans reading this, which is nearly all of you, that’s 113 degrees Fahrenheit. And I have already experienced the 95 degree weather, and it’s a lot hotter than the 95 in Texas. July is supposed to be the way hotter than June, and it’s only May. I don’t even want to compare May to July right now. I have been told by a native Sevillano that May isn’t hot. Great.

After showing up at the TTU center, they wondered what we were doing there. They gave us a tour, and then sent us on our way. We didn’t even need to check-in there. It was a waste of energy at a time when energy is scarce. We said as the Spaniards would say ‘Mierda’ and headed back to the hotel.

When we returned we met some people that had arrived while we were gone. I knew Austin already, he was assigned the room next to us. He really wanted to go drink because it is legal at 18 here. I declined going out with him, even though he pleaded.

They returned shortly, to my surprise, a little disappointed. I asked him what happened. He said the bartender asked him what he wanted to drink and he replied, “Something that will kick my ass.” The bartender proceeded to hand him a tiny glass of wine. Needless to say, Austin was confused. He drank it, and headed back to the hotel.

Apparently the bartender was confused as well. He heard ‘kick my ass’ and apparently there is a wine in Spain that sounds like ‘Kick-mas’ or something like that. From there on out Austin has wanted to go everywhere with me and use my Spanish skills.

Later we attended orientation. During orientation we convinced them to take us to a phone store. We all wanted/needed a cell phone. We went to a local Movistar phone store. They didn’t have enough activated to provide enough for our whole group.

I decided to head down to the Vodafone store, for some reason more loyal to this company. (Whoever didn’t catch on: it was only for the reason that they sponsored Manchester United’s shirt years earlier.) Then I quickly found out the prices were too high for my liking. Also, if many of us in the summer program use the same service, it costs way less to talk or text with each other. For example, a text message from a Movistar phone to another Movistar phone would cost only 5 cents, whereas a text from a Movistar phone to another phone company would cost 15 cents. And to text the US, it was at least double that.

I plan on getting a phone on Monday, just so everyone knows. It will cost a lot to call me, so I recommend not calling me. We can set up times to skype or something, which would be just dandy with me.