Meeting new intercambios...

So yesterday night, some girls in the program, Kim and Pamela, and I met up with the intercambios that we met at our exchange on Tuesday. There was that initial awkwardness when we first got there, but that was over once we all got over the small talk. We went to a tapas bar at Plaza Einstein then to an Irish pub after. This forces me to practice my Spanish and hang out with locals which is nice. There were 4 intercambios...Antonio, Juanra, Ricardo, and Nacho. So the last guy said his name at the beginning of the night, but I could not hear. I don't know if his name was actually Nacho but I didn't want to ask half way through the night so for now, he is Nacho. All of them work and a couple of them are Ph.D. students at the university here so they have a good 6-7 years on me. It was a little different at first because here I was talking about being home for my senora’s dinner at 8pm and there they were talking about finishing up their dissertations. Oh well…I fulfilled the purpose of the intercambio exchange and practiced my Spanish. Sure I said “vale” and “claro” to some of the things they said even if I didn’t get it, but that’s basically the story of everyday. When in doubt, nod my head, make a face like I know exactly what they said, and refer to one of the many default responses I have consolidated in my memory. The whole language thing is leaps and bounds better than when I first got here for sure though.

Btw…Granada means pomegranate J