11 Sept 2011
I’ve had a
day of firsts. Today, I swam in the Mediterranean Sea.
Six years ago when I visited Spain
for the first time, I was able to just stick my foot in the Mediterranean
Sea because it was March and the water was way too cold to swim
in. However, today I was able to fix this. A former Fulbrighter and I left
for the beach at around noon. As we walked, we passed by a plaza that was
having a little book flea market. We found a table selling classics in Spanish
for only a euro. My Fulbright friend ended up buying Lord of the Rings and
Lolita.
Once at the beach, the experience
became very surreal. I went out into the water to swim and the water was the
perfect temperature. The water was super clear compared to the beaches I’ve
been in the US.
The sand was smooth and there were no rocks or shells in the water to hurt your
feet. In a word: perfect. But that’s not even the best part. I turned around to
look at the city and from the beach there is a fantastic view of the Castillo
(castle). I thought to myself that this must be a dream because there is no way
that I could be on the beach in Spain
with a real castle just hanging out in the background. Frankly speaking, it
also makes me feel a little guilty. I am in this amazing place where it’s warm
and there’s a beach 5 minutes away from my apartment… And I just can’t believe
that people actually get to live here! Though I guess the people who live here don't appreciate the beach nearly as much as I do because it's always been there for them.
We spent most of the day at the
beach—alternating between lying out on the beach and swimming in the water to
cool off. However, around 5pm, we had to leave the beach so that I could go
rent my first apartment.
One of the most stressful things
for me so far has been trying to find an apartment. I’ve never gone apartment
hunting before and so I felt like I didn’t know where to start. Thankfully, the
other Fulbrighter in Alicante
has been super helpful in assisting me. Originally, we planned on living
together, but apartments have been going really fast because the university
students are returning. However, we are still living in the same neighborhood
and we have a cute little plaza that serves as our meeting place.
So I took care of the logistics
with my landlady and am the proud resident of a piso (floor/apartment) in Alicante. I'll post pictures of it later! I spent most of
the evening unpacking all my stuff and I was happy to do so. It’s been a pain
trying to live out of my suitcase. I could never find anything that I really
wanted to wear or I just couldn’t remember where I put something… My sleep
schedule is still pretty off—so I’m planning to go to sleep early so that I can
get my body to be on a Spanish schedule.
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