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Thursday night into Friday, I slept like a log, but was forced awake around 10 for a mandatory orientation meeting. Argh. Too groggy and uninterested in formalities to listen to 30 minutes of lecturing in Spanish, but I suppose it was necessary. We got some important things, including insurance cards and a fully loaded bus pass. Our class schedule looks to be pretty good, too. All of the following times have a two-hour break from 2-4 for a lunch and siesta as needed. On Monday, we have class from 12:45 to 5:15, on Tuesday and Wednesday from 11:30 to 5:15, and on Thursday from 4 to 5:15. That’s it. Good deal. We have classes on grammar, reading, art and culture, conversation, and current events, and they start tomorrow.

Immediately following the orientation, a representative from Movistar, a cell phone company, pitched us all on their deal. It isn’t too bad; only €19.20 for the phone rental, decent rates for outgoing calls, and incoming calls are free. Naturally, I signed up, and temporarily have a very pocketable Siemens A70.

All formalities cleared up, we went on a bus tour of the city. A little old Spanish woman led the tour, and she spoke half in English and half in Spanish as a “courtesy.” Really, it was just distracting, and I had a tough time getting back into translation mode every time she went back to Spanish, so I eventually stopped listening to her. That didn’t stop me from absorbing my surroundings, though–we went around to the other side of the river and up the hill to get a new perspective on the city. It really is stunning, and I plan to hike over there sometime in the coming weeks to snap some shots.

The bus dropped us off at the city’s walls, and we snaked through Toledo looking at the famous monuments, including the “most important church in Spain.” Toledo has variously been held by Romans, Arabs, and Spaniards over the last 2+ millenia, and many of the ruins and buildings date to the single-digit centuries.

After the tour was over, I sequestered myself in my room. The other students went to move in with their families, so I just chilled, read, and took my own informal tour of the city around sunset, trying to come to terms with the fact that I’ll be living here for another 10 weeks. Maybe coming to terms is the wrong phrase–it just hasn’t struck me yet that this is my semi-permanent life, that this isn’t just a vacation like in Rome and Amsterdam. It’s so delightful to think about.

I went to bed early on Friday, and slept in late on Saturday. It felt good to get a full night of uninterrupted, take-as-much-as-you-want rest. When I woke up, I decided it was time to check out Luz del Tajo (Light of the Tajo, the river that surrounds the city), the mall in Toledo’s suburbs. I caught the bus from Plaza Zocodover, and just gaped out the windows most of the time. It looks so different here from the metropoli I’ve become accustomed to; once you’re down the hill of Toledo, you’re in a non-barren desert, with big views and big skies. Everything looks so sharp, high-definition; there is not an ounce of humidity here.

At the mall, I tried a few electronics shops, and couldn’t believe the camera prices. The model previous to mine retailed for €100 more than mine had cost in dollars. Fuck. Then I went to the ground floor, and encountered Eroski, an hipermercado. Walmart has nothing on this place. Their camera selection was pretty limited, but the price was right, and I walked away with a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W30, for anyone curious enough to research it. It’s pretty nice; me gusta.

I snapped some shots upon my return to the Fundación, wrote a blog entry, then was starving. At that exact moment, Kim from Marietta College (Katie, she went to high school with Jerrod and Phillip! Small world!) came into the computer lab to say they were going to Enebro. Sweet. I followed them there, got another euro-fifty beer, and enjoyed the free tapas they include with every drink. What a deal. If you order your drink alone, you get a little wooden plate with some fries, olives, and a croqueta or Spanish eggroll-type-thing or hunk of cheese; if you order with 4 or 5 other people, they give you a plate of little sandwiches and fries. And you get more tapas with every additional drink. Since they eat dinner so late here, I can foresee going there quite frequently for a little late-afternoon snack and drink. All for a €1.50!

After Enebro, we returned to the “Foond” (as we call it) for a bit, then had dinner at 8:30. There, plans were made to go out bar-hopping, and a little later, we did. Mostly the same places we hit up on Thursday, I got a bit more drunk this time, and had a great time. I returned to my room around one, read for a while, and went to bed.

Today has been a pretty lazy Sunday; I’ve mostly just been waiting around to move into my family’s house. I took another walking tour of Toledo, and snapped a bunch of pictures. Photoblog updates forthcoming, once I figure out why my FTP client isn’t working. (Btw, my laptop internet randomly started working today. Sweet.) Ohter things today included a delicious, cheap gyro sandwich near the Plaza Zocodover, a chat with Danny on Skype for about 45 minutes. I’m probably going to go read for a while until my mother gets here. YES! All caught up. Classes start tomorrow, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing about them and my new house soon. Adios!