Musings and Ramblings

It's been 2 months since I quit my job and made a huge decision in my life - to pursue what I have always wanted. I've enrolled in a Spanish immersion classes here in Salamanca. Time flies really quickly, we will have our partial exam next week. I realized that it's been a month and still I have no one to call a friend in this foreign land. Muchos conocidos pero amigos nada. When I was still processing for the matriculation, I was very hopeful that I would meet interesting people and that I would be able to make new friends easily. Spain is known after all for being friendly and welcoming. Right now I feel like I'm the only exception and that fate has played its dirty tricks on me. Don't get me wrong. Salamanca is a bustling city with a large influx of foreign students each year. In my class, there's a group of Americans students who are enrolled as a part of their home university program. Naturally they have their own little group while the rest of the class have their own set of friends as most of them are staying in homestays. I opted to stay in a college residence since its a cheaper option and I thought it would be a good place to meet students from different countries. Unfortunately for me I am stuck in a dorm where the majority of the students are Italian. Apparently this dorm is fully occupied but I don't know where the rest of the people are. I only see the Italian barrio everyday and now the thought of socializing in a dorm is no longer appealing. This is even worse than college. The first two weeks was fine as I had really fun dorm mates: one cool lady from Australia and a really outgoing guy from Hong Kong. Sadly they were only here for 2 weeks. And to make matters worse, I am in Spain the land of tapas and fiesta. Fate can be so cruel. I consider myself a friendly person but I don't like the thought of hanging out with a bunch of college kids partying all night. So to make things less "lonely" and for me to be more productive in practicing my Spanish, I signed up in an intercambio. But that's it. I still have no friends to hang out with and enjoy delicious tapas, or go shopping or watch movies. There are so many things I want to do but I am hindered because of my solitary routine like eating paella for instance. The best paella restaurant only serves for a minimum of 2 people. Boo! Now I feel like I'm watching the world silently, like having a severe depersonalization disorder. I guess this is the downside of being 60% introverted and 40% extroverted. You survive even though you have few friends to socialize. It's also hard to reconnect with old friends due to the difference in time zones plus the fact the fact they are busy or they may have already forgotten about me completely. It's even worse now that November has arrived. For the first time I'm truly dreading the prospect of my birthday. I just know that it will be the most pathetic birthday ever. No friends and family to celebrate it with. I don't feel comfortable randomly telling my classmates "hey you know what, it's my birthday today, let's go to the bar to celebrate. My treat!" *Sigh* Life sucks.