McDonalds, La Playa, y Shakira

It’s been a whirlwind couple of days (so this is going to be a whirlwind of a post) but I thought it was time for an update so here we go!

The first thing I absolutely must share with you all is that I have found the most posh, breathtaking McDonalds that I’ve ever encountered. Yes, you read that right. In addition to the pronunciation here being “MacDonalds,” I’ve been informed that the flavor is different and that students actually like the food there (they have fancy cake). My host mom took Matthew (the student who lives near me) and I to McDonalds because her daughter, Arantxa (pronounced Aran-cha), works there. I accidentally ordered a McFlurry with both M&Ms and strawberry syrup (but it’s okay because it was surprisingly delicious — chocolate and strawberries, no?) and then we were treated to the following view.

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Having shared that exciting news, I also went to the beach (which was amazing). I brought East of Eden with me and alternated between reading on the beach and floating in the Mediterranean. The beach we went to is la Playa de San Juan, but we got off the TRAM at a stop called Costa Blanca (White Coast).

Now I have just a bunch of random thoughts / fun pieces of information:

• The elevator that is inside my apartment complex has an extra door that you need to open once the sliding door opens. It surprises me every time.
• I now have a Spanish phone number (thanks, SIM card) so if you just regularly text or call me I won’t get it. Email and WhatsApp (I have my normal number on that) are the best ways to reach me,
• The slogan for Cabify (Alicante’s version of Uber) is “Own the City,” which I just really enjoy.
• When I don’t eat lunch at home (normally around 2pm), my host mom prepares me a bocadillo, which is basically just a sack lunch. I’ve eaten a lot of them in recent days.
• The longhorns hand gesture basically symbolizes an unfaithful partner here in Alicante (it’s more explicit than that, but that’s the gist).
• Similarly, the peace sign symbolizes devil’s horns.
• It’s fun to say “vamos a la playa” and really mean it.
• The University here is very cheap to attend. For undergrad, it is 1,000 Euros per year, and for masters and doctorate it is 2.5-3,000 Euros per year. Apparently, a lot of US students come to the University to complete their masters and doctorate degrees because it is so cheap and an international university.
• When it rains here (because it does not rain very often), it rains hard. My professor told us a story the other day in which it rained so hard people actually got sucked down the street drains. Yikes.
• I’ve started my two-week intensive Spanish course and it’s going well so far. My teacher is amazing and super nice. Plus, on the second day of class, we got to listen to a Shakira song (Me Enamoré) so I’m set.

Whew. That was a lot of information — but there’s still more to come! Stay tuned for my first experience with tapas and my hike to the top of Alicante’s castle.

In the meantime, continued prayers for new friends would be appreciated, as well as prayers for bravery!

¡Hasta luego!

— Grace