Settling...

Okay, so, I made it through my first week of working, and have had yesterday and today off.  Oh yeah, and next Tuesday is a holiday, so I have Monday and Tuesday off too.  It's a hard life, man. ;) I think for the long weekend I am going to rest and explore Villarrobledo a little more.   I am definitely excited for that!

My apartment is really cute!  We looked at a few of them last week, two in El Provencio and two here in Villarrobledo.  I really really liked the other one we looked at too, however this one was a tad cheaper and is on the 3rd floor (more light, less likely for someone to break in, although I wasn't too worried about it).  Anyway, here are some pictures of the apartment:

Here is my bed!

my closet..thing...? and behind the drapes is a door that leads to a little terrace :)

the kitchen

Sala, or living room! One set of double doors leads to another terrace. 

this is what is outside of my terrace! I have yet to try Telepizza, but I will!

Yesterday we had orientation in Cuenca.  Pedro, the principal of the school, and I drove there, and he showed me around the old part of Cuenca a little bit. It is awesome.  They have famous "casas colgadas" or "hanging houses", click here for an example.  I am going back to Cuenca in a few weeks because I have an appointment to get my NIE (a foreigner number..?) so that I can stay here for longer than 90 days.  Anyway, I will definitely get pictures then, and travel around a bit more! I met a a bunch of other Auxiliars--they were all really nice and I enjoyed hanging out with them! Hopefully we are going to meet up at some point. 

On the way to and from Cuenca, I was definitely in awe of the landscape.  It changes so much from town to town, and it is all so beautiful too.  In Cuenca, in was greener with more hills and trees.  The landscape changed from that, to smaller hills and vast "girasol" (sunflower) fields, to vineyards.  It all looks so different to my eyes, which are accustomed to the United States.  There is such a simplicity here, even in nature, that is hard not to appreciate.  I really loved it, I wish I could have captured how everything really looks, because pictures definitely don't give it justice! Also, the pictures I do have are blurry because people here drive really fast, haha :)

I've just been settling in the last couple of days, trying to figure out rent stuff and money stuff (gross!), but mostly trying to adjust to this culture.  I come from a culture that's in a hurry all of the time, and right now in my life, I feel that I need to calm down and slow down.  Those of you who know me know that I have a history of hopping place to place pretty quickly, I'm always eager to get going, for better or for worse, haha.  I have noticed that I worry too much about timing of things, about how I am going to live without certain things...but the trend that I am noticing and hearing people around me is this: You survive.  You have a roof over your head, you eat, you live.  You don't worry about little things, because you live without them.  What a lesson that I am learning--one that has been a long time coming :). 

Well, that is all for tonight!  I love you all very much, and I would love to hear from you, so let me know what's going on in your life too!

Mary