Orientation in Cáceres

Thursday and Friday of this week we headed off to Cáceres, the capital of the northern province of Extremadura which is also called Cáceres.  The whole thing took place at la Universidad Laboral, which is a trade school.  The dorms were very interesting, with five to a room.  Marissa and I were very excited about hot showers, but we didn’t realize that we needed to pack our own towels.  She showered without a towel, and I gave up my dream of hot water.  

The dorms and Marissa

Though we did get a bit of information about getting our NIE and TIE cards, which are necessary to set up bank accounts and to live here legally, most of orientation was boring and useless.  The one exception was the opportunity it provided to meet other auxiliaries.  We started meeting people even at the bus station before leaving Zafra. It is not difficult out and about to tell who we are, especially in groups, because they are the ones speaking English.  While eating lunch, un bocadillo (sandwich) of chorizo y pan, we met Wade and Rebecca.  On buses here, the seats ARE assigned, and we were sitting near Wade, so we chatted with him until we realized there was wi-fi on the bus, and then we were hooked.  Thus far, wi-fi here is like a drug that I am addicted to and can never get enough of. 

We got to orientation a few hours early, along with many other people, so we all started chatting and getting to know each other.  I talked to one girl Michelle, from New York city, for a while, and spent a long time getting to know Rebecca more, who is from Atlanta, Georgia and is stationed in a small pueblo relatively near Zafra.  I also got to meet this girl Élodie, who is from France.  Some of the auxiliares actually come to teach other languages, like French and Portuguese.  Marissa and I ended up sitting with Rebecca and Élodie at the first meeting, and then we all decided to room together. 

Dinner was…interesting.  The bread was super hard, and the jamón (ham) a little weird, but the chorizo was good (haha). We also had tortilla española, which is like a potato and egg combo fried up in a bunch of olive oil in a giant “cake.”  I already knew I liked it, and theirs was not bad. After dinner, we decided to hit the town.  We met this girl, Yael, from England and she came out with us.  Somehow we got on the bus and headed to city center.  

We ended up at this really cute bar/restaurant with a ton of other auxiliares.  We drank cervezas, Cruzcampo, and got to meet a bunch more people.  Two of the guys were from UK, Ollie from near Cambridge and Craig from Ireland.  Gotta say I still love accents.  I was surprisingly outgoing and talked to strangers (i.e. other auxiliares), so it was a ton of fun.  We had to be back by 1, so we found taxis and headed back.  Caceres is SUCH a pretty city, the streets are quaint and adorable, and I cannot wait to go back :)    
 

Yael, Marissa, Rebecca, Elodie