Routine

   Since arriving in Spain eleven days ago, I've fallen into a routine.  On weekdays, my classes are from 10 to 11am and 12 to 3pm.  Of course I pay attention, but my best practice comes from speaking Spanish with the cute Russian girl who I sit next to in both classes, coincidentally.  After catching the bus home, I play guitar for an hour or two, then walk to the beach where I am part of a group that maintains the same location from about 1 to 8 o'clock.  As a daily ritual, I go for a swim in the Mediterranean.  The sea water is much saltier than ocean water, so it's very easy to float on the surface. It's a soul cleansing experience.  Then I go back to mi casa, do my homework, and eat dinner with mi familia.  Sometimes I go out briefly or play guitar before going to sleep.
   I had wanted to get a guitar in Spain for several months, figuring I would need a musical outlet and this would be a good opportunity to really learn the instrument.  So on Wednesday I walked up to Alicante's Plaza de los Toros and into a music shop I'd found called Rogel.  Fifteen minutes later I walked out with a beautiful little natural colored flamenco guitar, went home, and played for the rest of the day.  Since then, I have been very content.
   And I've made it through my first weekend.  In Spain, the nightlife doesn't begin until 12 o'clock, and it doesn't end until after the sun comes up.  During this time, all the fun in Alicante is centralized to a district called 'el barrio' or 'the neighborhood'.  Bars in el barrio distinguish themselves with neon signs, one euro drink specials, and different sequences of the same ten electro-pop songs.  And it's not enough to stay at one establishment for the night; everybody bar hops and hangs out in the streets, effectively resulting in one big block party.  During the 3 o'clock hour, the bar scene shifts toward the club scene, and the truly dedicated ride it out until 7 or 8am.
   This is how I celebrated what was my twentieth birthday and my first cumpleaños, on Saturday September 10th.  Because the party doesn't start until midnight, my celebration happened Friday night.  I was with a crew of about twelve people, so I had a great time tearing up the dance floor and letting friends buy me drinks.  The following day was spent on the beach at San Juan, which is a fifteen minute tram ride from central Alicante.  At San Juan, the beach is longer, the waves are bigger, the water is clearer, the people are fewer, and the relaxation is greater.  Then after going home for a wonderful dinner with my host family, I walked to el barrio and went through the nightlife routine described above.  I made it to 5am.  My lazy Sunday has been spent resting and getting ready to begin my routine again.
    Lastly, today is 9/11/2011.  It's odd to be across the ocean from the United States today, ten years past the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Here, I've heard it mentioned only once, in conversation with a fellow American exchange student.  Even the way the date is written - 11/9 - doesn't represent the significance of the day.  Meanwhile, a Facebook dominated by statuses of remembrance represents the sentiments of every Americans on this day.  So a blessing for my home country, the lives that were lost, and the strength we gained from the experience.  Keep remembering, everybody.
   But no matter where you are, it is always time to look toward the future.  Now that I have my weekly schedule down, I must begin to focus on other things, like perfecting my Spanish and finding more new experiences to blog about.  Stay tuned.