Orientation in Caceres and Living in Don Benito

On the 29th of September, all of Spain experienced a general strike. The trains and planes supposedly shut down, but in Caceres the impact seemed minimal. I saw some people marching in the streets and there were stickers put up all over town saying "Closed due to the strike," but nothing seemed to really be closed.

I got to Caceres two nights early which was cool because I got to spend a few extra days getting to know some people who would be living nearby. The orientation was basically a waste of time, but meeting most of the people was nice. There were about 140 of us at the orientation, so meeting everyone in one day was virtually impossible. The town of Caceres is absolutely beautiful and a pretty fun town as well. My camera broke in Florida, otherwise I would have snapped a ton of photos. The university students were hazing the freshmen since it was their first week of college. The were getting written on in sharpie, eggs cracked on their heads, sprayed with water, but all in all it was in good spirit and everyone seemed to be having fun. One of the more brave students came up to me and we talked for a while. I asked her about Don Benito and she said it was one of the more fun towns around. Sweet. She told me where everyone was going out that evening and a dozen or so of us auxiliars went out and met up with them.


Students being hazed by upperclassmen

After orientation my teacher drove me to Don Benito from Caceres. It was about an hour drive, and through a bunch of little pueblos along the way. The countryside along the way was full of fields separated by old stone walls. Really interesting stuff.

The second day in Don Benito we signed up for an apartment. I'll be living with an english girl and a girl from Iowa. The apartment belongs to my teacher's father and it is a pretty good fit I feel. It's relatively cheap and I haven't found anything wrong with it yet.

Today the three of us went with Aleksis and Tom to the Don Benito-Arroyo soccer match. The stadium was about a 3 or 4 minute walk from our apartment. About 200 people were in the stands to witness our beloved C.D. Don Benito defeat Arroyo 2-1. Just before halftime it started raining and we were told we could move from our cheaper side to the home side to get out of the rain.

All evening it has been raining. Strangely the rain is different from how it rains in California. My english roommate Victoria told me that this is a European rain. The raindrops are smaller, so it doesn't seem to be getting you as wet as it really is. My clothes were drying on the line when it started raining, and since we don't really have anywhere to put them, I guess they are just going to get wet again.


Caceres


Caceres