No pasa nada!

Thur 5/24- Friday 5/25

Thursday

Today I finished my analysis of the LD websites and wrote up my report.  First I shared it with Jose.  That took prolly about double the time it would’ve if I was speaking in English.  He liked a lot of my suggestions, so that was encouraging.  Then we sent it to the boss, Chema, but he said we had to drag him into our office so he would actually read it and be able to talk with him about it.  So again Jose and I went through the report and proposed our changes to the design of the page and additions to the content.  He liked some and nixed some.  He is one of those guys who you would say has a commanding personality and a powerful will, but at the same time he seems fun and easy-going.  That’s prolly what makes him a successful boss and an actor as well.  It was definitely a bit exciting to make progress on a project and present it to the boss and know that some of my work will be implemented to improve the company (M).

When I got off work I met with one of my co-workers, David, and his girlfriend, Pepi.  David was the guy who talked to me about meeting up sometime to hang out and practice English/Spanish with each other.  He told me that he and Pepi often watch English movies with subtitles to try and practice.  They said some actors were very hard to understand when they mumbled and didn’t move their lips, like Humphrey Bogart.  They also didn’t know what deer were.  They prolly do, but I couldn’t explain it well enough.  We walked around Alicante and stopped on the boardwalk at an ice cream shop where I had my first horchata.  Horchata is a desert/drink/ice cream made especially in Valencia.  It can be liquid or half liquid half shake.  It’s sweet and fruity, with an almost pineappley taste.  On the way back home they helped me figure out how to recharge (put credit on) my temporary cell phone.  It had been out of Euros since Tuesday so I couldn’t call or text anyone!  It’s not nearly as huge of a problem as it would’ve been in the US, but still quite annoying.  Btw, texting with those things takes me like an hour!  It’s like I’m back in 9^th grade.  I really enjoyed spending time with David and Pepi and they invited me to their house sometime if I wanted to have dinner or watch a Spanish movie.

After dinner I had to take care of some business.  For example, I was supposed to respond to an email interview about ASB before I left school and I just got to it.  It’s so easy to forget about everything back home especially during the summer when you are across the ocean.  I gotta try to stay on top of things though, because life goes on back home while I am in another world here. 

I have to use the Internet in the dining room because that’s as far as the borrowed WiFi reaches.  While I was working I think mamá was watching something like the Spanish version of Survivor except it was a lot more sketchy (E).  Mamá is also watching all kinds of different programs while I eat because she doesn’t eat much at all and usually eats before I do.  I’ve gotten quite used to the telenovela (soap opera) Victoria being on in front of me while I eat.  I usually don’t make out the words because I’m not paying close enough attention but it’s funny because I can always tell how dramatic the moment is by how slow the piano plays, how big the surprise by how strong they hard they hit the keys, and how villainous the character is by how dissonant the chords are.

Thurs. night I went out with my Mizzou friends to the one guy’s roof and then the barrio.  Apparently Thur. is when all the international students from the university go out because most don’t have school on Friday.  I on the other hand had work so I left to go home early at 3am.  I also wanted to go home because I had a cyber date with Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep on the coach in the middle of it (luckily it wasn’t video chat, that would’ve been a lot more embarrassing).

Friday

Surprise, Surprise it was really hard to get up this morning.  Luckily my commute is walking like 3 blocks.  Today I researched formats for the website available through the webpage building site Lucentum Digital subscribes to.  This would’ve been helpful to see when I was trying to think of how to improve the website design the other day, but no pasa nada.  You hear people say “No Pasa Nada” all the time here in Alicante (I think it should be the motto of the city).  It means no worries, or as Timon would say, Hakunnamatata (sp?).  Anyway, after Jose returns from watching a dubbing of his favorite show, Vampire Diaries, we will decide the final format.  Until then I am working on my next project of translating some text for descriptions of services in their English website.  It’s cool that I am doing so much work with the website, because I will be able to see and show off the fruits of my labor even in the states.

I decided I was going to give myself Friday afternoons off in my schedule, haha.  It’s really only 2 hrs that I am not returning for after siesta, but it will help if I ever wanna take a trip over a weekend.  We are working up some exciting plans for the weekend, so I’ll keep you all updated.  Until then,

No pasa nada,

Cóle