de buen humor

It's been a good week. I've been de buen humor, in a good mood.

The week started with badminton and ended with the Spanish version of kickball. It included the new ritual of 'rueda inglesa', which means that from now on, car rides home (in certain company) will be spent practicing English. (This makes me happy. Despite the fact that car rides are a great place for practicing Spanish, there are few things that I love more than hearing Spaniards attempt English.) We had our second meeting of "English Club" at school, which turned out to be 1 (yes, one) girl coming to chat with me during recess, and mostly in Spanish. (But shhh, don't tell.) I went out to dinner this week, just for the heck of it. I feel like I had a lot of good conversations. I was invited to Morocco. Or Cadiz. Oh, and I became an 'amiga' of one of the beggars who sits near the cathedral.

I also began reading a new book -- IN SPANISH. In the first 7 pages I have filled the front and back of a page from my little notebook with new vocabulary words. Tricky! I understood the jist of what was happening, but there are plenty of unfamiliar words. This is the first Spanish book that I am attempting to read on my own, outside of class. We shall see how it goes. But I'm optimistic. One of the teachers recommended it to me today as I was scanning the shelves of the school library. So I have some motivation to finish it. Wish me luck with this venture.

Tomorrow I am also supposed to be meeting another teacher at the public library, so that she can help me find a book in Spanish. I may be getting in over my head here, but I agreed to this appointment before taking a gander at the school library. If nothing else, hopefully she'll be able to help me navigate the public library a little better. And, best case scenario: I'll find another good book to read, and I'll make a habit of reading in Spanish. One can hope.

I have reinstated my "25 books a year" rule -- which really isn't that many, but it encourages continuous reading. I was a failure at reading last year -- only about 4 books all year. What a pity. This year I've got to do better. And I'm sure that I will. I have already finished 2 books, and since I have a Kindle on the way (WOOHOO!), I'm sure I'll be reading more. I've also decided to count each Spanish book as 2 books, which I think is fair, considering the extra time and effort that I will need to spend on vocab and comprehension.

So yes. I suppose if you want to call these resolutions, I'm making progress.

Oh, and also this week, I've been thinking about next year, and where I might want to be. And I'm working on some applications. I'm also inquiring about going back to volunteer at the place where I did my internship the last time I was here. So, I'm also on my way to becoming a productive member of society, which is always commendable.

Only complaint for the week?
Correos. I inquired about the package yesterday, and they said it was still in Madrid (though she was very sparse with details). They told me to call customer service, who said "there is no information available for your package". Rosa thinks somebody swiped the Kindle. I'm still holding my breath that it might show up.
Oh, I would also like to officially complain about the ola de frío. The cold is back -- with a vengeance.