It's Time to Decide Just What Side You're on.

It's been another slightly boring week.  It's been 'cold' here- it even got down into the 30's one night.  But I would like to reiterate the fact that there is NO HEAT in the piso. You would turn on your heat if it got down to 38 degrees where you live.  And if you didn't have heat (like I don't) you would break down and buy another blanket for your bed (like I did) (it was 6,95 € or about $9.45).  It was the best $9.45 I've spent this year.  Aside from the stifling heat of the swimming pool locker room, last night is one of the few times I remember being comfortably warm here in Spain in the past few months.  I look forward to another toasty rest when night falls today.  This morning at school I was struck (special thanks Shunter Synonym Services for finding the perfect word to convey my thoughts here) by the crispness of the air inside the building.  The students were huddled around the coffee machine awaiting their turn for a warm beverage.  I think they are tougher than they themselves or any stereotype gives them credit for.  They survive 'winter' (the equivalent of a MN/WI fall) without heat and sultry summer temperatures without the air conditioning in every room and every store that we have grown accustomed to.  The temperature at school is teetering on the line of comfort for an indoor space.  I would guess it was about 55/60 degrees. The floors are marble and and the walls are white (which makes it seem colder somehow) and bare.  The school is just not built to hold heat.  I will be thankful for this in a few months.  For now though, I dress myself in a tank top, a sweater, a jacket (an overcoat, you might call it) and a scarf when I go to class.  With body heat and the electric radiator I'm usually ok in the classroom.  My hands get cold, but really that could happen anywhere.

This past Saturday it was too cold for my roommate to leave the house.  So, I went to a movie (También la Lluvia) alone.  It was a little harder to understand than the last movie, but I still got the gist of what was happening.  Though, during the part where the Australian was speaking (in English) I had to use the Spanish subtitles that were provided.  My ear is tuned to understand British English and English with a Spanish accent.

But back to it being too cold to leave the house- I disagree with this, of course, but a few mornings I have found myself wondering 'Is it too cold to run because I don't have the proper clothing?'  Then I have a little talk with myself that goes like this:  It is 45 degrees outside.  You will be fine in a long-sleeved t-shirt and pants.  You could even wear shorts if it is not windy.  You are going running.  Don't be ridiculous. 

Class Story:
I had another run-in with the 'y' and 'j' sound differentiation in class today.  The advanced students were talking about what they did as children.  One student said that he played in the 'jar'.
 'Jar?' I asked.  'A little glass container where you keep food?'
'No,' he said, 'Jardín, patio'.
'Oh, YARD' I said.

Switching subjects completely (again), my roommate and I went shopping yesterday (when I bought the blanket).  On our walk home, I was surprised when Clarisse said, 'Sometimes I just stop and think to myself, I'm in Spain.  I'm living in Spain.  I am doing my grocery shopping in Spain.  And sometimes I am having a conversation with someone and I stop and think how amazing it is that the other person is speaking in Spanish and I can understand what they are saying.  I am having a conversation in other language.' I was taken aback and a little creeped out because she completely read my mind.  I had that exact same thought as we stood in line at the grocery store just a few minutes before this conversation.  And those weren't her exact words, of course, I am translating because she said this all in Spanish.  I think about this sometimes too: how everything she knows about me and everything I know about her has been explained by one of us via the Spanish language.  There have been times where I've been speaking to José or Megan or a student and I've asked myself, 'Were we talking in Spanish or English?' and most of the time I can't be 100% certain.  (Most likely it was both. I probably in English while the other person spoke in Spanish. Or I said the 'easy' words in Spanish and the rest in English.)  Somehow my brain works it out.