Yesterday was fairly boring. Nothing special really happened. I went to my classes, and then afterward, we walked around Palma in search of the office to get a card for discounted rates on the bus. Of course when we found it, it was closed. I am starting to learn my way around, though (with a little help from the Google Maps app on my phone). Hannah and I went to El Corte Ingles to look at shoes. Of course the ones I wanted were ridiculously expensive, so I passed. I had some really good chickpea and veggie soup that is my second favorite only to the pumpkin cream soup and salmon. I also got 9 hours of sleep, which made me so very happy!
Today was pretty boring too. I went to classes which I enjoyed today. We talked about cultural things, and I also feel like I learned a lot of verb tenses. Lunch was amazing. It was "pollo rocquefort" (idk how to spell that) which was grilled chicken with a bleu cheese (but I couldn't really taste the typical bleu cheese flavor which was weird), cream, and pepper sauce.. it was so delicious. It was like Mexican + Indian food. The most notable part of today, aside from finally finding some reasonably priced black boots, was meeting some other American students on the train this morning. I rode the train alone today and had some homework to finish on the way to class. I first noticed a girl wearing TOMS shoes. Then I realized they were speaking English. So I quickly finished up my homework and went to sit with them to talk for a few minutes before we got to school. I found out they are with the CIEE program here, which is a bit different than ours. But I am so happy to have met more people here! I want to know everyone. Then after classes, I saw them at the train station which was funny. I keep running into the other Americans here, because we all use the same train station. Palma has a fair amount of people, and I am always surprised when I see someone I know. I also got a Spanish phone today with Yoigo (weird carrier name, I know), which I am excited about. The phone is pretty bad, but I am happy to be saving my family some money when I can. Another thing I did today (it was a productive day) was get my bus discount card, which was ridiculously hard. Imagine going to a government office in a foreign country and trying to understand a lady at a computer asking you questions. Hannah, Amit, and I did not know a certain word that she kept asking us, so it was pretty confusing until Hannah looked it up in the dictionary. Finally, we got our cards after we (partially) crossed the language barrier. I took my broken boot to a shoe repair place, and he said no one around here will fix the entire zipper so that is why I purchased some new ones. I will have to find a place to fix it this summer.
Tonight, we had another family dinner. This one was more fun, because I understood more of what they talked about. I also tried some Mallorcan food that was pretty good. They call it "pambolí" (idk how to spell it), and you make it like this: take a piece of bread, cut a Mallorcan tomato in half, rub the tomato juices and innards onto the bread, add salt if you wish, add lots of olive oil, add various types of meats including jamón serrano (typical Spanish ham cured with salt) and jamón york (they said it is "sweet". it is typical American sandwich ham, but better), and a slice of delicious cheese. You make it yourself so you control how much you want on it. She told me I probably wouldn't like it, so she gave me a giant salad to start the meal. I don't know why she thought I wouldn't like it. It doesn't have a very strong or different flavor. It is just like a sandwich with different things on it and without a top. It wasn't the best thing I have had, because I didn't think it was incredibly special, but I definitely liked it. Her grandson just got back from a boat in Norway (?????) so that was why we had a special dinner tonight. Then they debated about Catalan and why the Balearic Islands are classified as a Catalan speaking part of the world when they speak Mallorquin.
Anyway, time for bed.
Buenas noches!
-Lynne
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