A Day in the Life
On a typical weekday, I get up and eat breakfast, usually toast and a piece of fruit, and then walk to CLIC for my language classes a little before 9am. My class has about ten students in it, which is nice because everyone gets a chance to participate in the conversation and practice speaking. Plus, the teacher is enthusiastic and engaging, which makes the time go by faster (class is from 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a 20 minute coffee break at 11). Some professors I’ve had seemed to know how to make 20 minutes seem like an hour, but my teacher at CLIC does the opposite, gracias a Dios.
After class I usually either stay at CLIC and get some work done or go home to work and then eat lunch. Then, it is very likely that there is an activity planned with my dialogue, or service learning. Especially during the first two weeks, it seemed like there was an activity or tour every day, which was great because it really pushed us all to get out into the city. Now, there are fewer activities, but we have found the things we like to do, or coffee bars we frequent, so we don’t need as much structure. Plus, last week most of us spent the afternoons studying for the culture and then writing our essays over the guest lecture we had the week before.
Since dinner is typically late, there’s usually time for tapas or ice cream before people have to go back home to eat. Then, after dinner, I’m usually so tired that I shower and then go straight to bed. The wifi in my home stay is spotty at best, which, although frustrating at times, has really helped me sleep more. Instead of spending an hour on my phone looking at Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and all the rest, I just fall asleep right away. From my room I hear the people passing by really well because the walls are thin, and the narrow streets really amplify sounds. This freaked me out at first, but it now those laughing teenagers, grumbling old men, or women calling after free-roaming dogs have become something of a lullaby.
