Flat & Roommate

On Tuesday, I met Marissa at the bus station and her mentor, Juan Carlos, took us to our new flat.  It was really convenient, seeing as he is also our landlord.  Marissa and I met online when she was looking for someone to come live with her in the flat; we started emailing back and forth and decided it would be a good fit.  She is from Indiana and went to school in Denver.  So far, she seems really nice, and we have been having a good time.  Tuesday night we went and got drinks with my mentor, Chus, at the Parador, which is an old castle that has been converted into a hotel. She seems like she will be really helpful, but she is also very busy as head of the bilingual section at school and a mom of three. I'm not going to lie, I got a little tipsy because,  being so overwhelmed with all the newness, I sort of only at two apples and a few granola bars for the first 36 hours in Spain.  Suffice it to say, I was definitely ready for Marissa's and my first dinner in Spain at Casa Venanzio. 
  

The flat is nice and cozy, though a bit cold seeing as we have yet to see the infamous Spanish sun due to all the rain we’ve been experiencing.  Someone told us it is the first rain here in nearly a year, which explains why I thought everything seemed drier than in the States.  When we first got to the flat, Juan Carlos was showing us how things work, and we realized that the gas wasn’t working, which meant no hot water and no stove top.  Seeing as how we don’t have an oven (crazy, right?!?), this was really limiting what we could buy to cook.  I have mostly been existing on chorizo (a Spanish sausage) and pan (bread) with cerveza (beer).  It seems that everyone here drinks cervezas like it is water, probably because it is cheaper than water.  Oh it is only 2 o’clock, perfect time for a beer! It is definitely always 5 o’clock somewhere here. 

The flat is furnished, but we have still managed to find a good list of things we need to buy to make it comfortable/livable.  I brought my own sheets, which was nice, and he gave us some blankets, but we will definitely need more for the winter.  The kitchen is also sparsely equipped, but I think I will need some more things to be able to really cook the way I want to.  Speaking of buying things, shopping with Euros has been one of the most interesting and different experiences.  With Euros, the smallest bills are fives, and so you have one and two Euro coins.  It is very weird having coins with actual value and that can be used to buy things. 

Here are some pictures of the flat!