So life has been pretty busy lately! I’ve been hanging out more with my host brother, and then hanging out with the group in the evening or doing work or spending time with my roommate. Our host brother is pretty nice, but kind of awkward. I’m not sure how to act with him, but he’s definitely warming up. Every now and then we help him practice English, and he helps us a lot with out Spanish. My comprehension has improved sooo much! I understand almost everything people say to me (usually), or I at least understand the general point of the sentence/convo. With my speaking, I really have to slow down and think more, if I want to improve.

Anyways, this weekend I am super excited to go to Madrid/Segovia/Toledo; it’s really nice to have a trip planned out for you. This week leading up to when we leave (on Thursday) is busy, though: tonight we were supposed to go salsa dancing, but the classes were canceled; tomorrow we are hanging out with some of the girls on the trip (Connie and Sarah) and we are going to play pool in the afternoon; and Wednesday we are going hiking with some people in the group. It’s like being on vacation!! It’s soo nice.

Also, right now I am planning my fall break. I’m really not sure what I want to do – I’m at a toss up between going through Northern Spain or going to Ireland and Amsterdam. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!!! I have to decide soon, or else it’s going to be really expensive and stressful. On top of that, I am super excited for my mom and my Mom-mom to come visit right after break. I know they are going to love Spain; I definitely do. I was kind of wary at first, but I feel at home here. I’m not nervous about talking to people anymore, and I know the city pretty well at this point.

Well, I will probably write again after we get back from the trip this weekend, and let you all know how it was. I hope everything is going well with all of you who read this, and that you are having as good of time in Delaware as I am here!!

Miss you all!

September 11-13, 2009

This weekend we went to the tropical coast!! It was such a nice break from the city, and I even got a little bit tanner J We stopped first in the mountains at these two little pueblos. They were pretty cool – the view was amazing! The water and air there was incredibly pure! After that we went to Almuñecar – an absolutely beautiful beach. The hotel rooms were amazing, and the beach was even better. The water was really warm, and it was actually deep enough that you could swim pretty well. Instead of sand they have rocks on the beaches along this coast, so that was kind of different. You definitely get less dirty, but it isn’t quite as comfortable laying on rocks ahahaha. I found some sea glass, though, and got to see some fish. That night, though, I got super homesick L probably because I had just read a book about families and stuff hahah, but I was able to get over it quickly, and enjoyed Saturday a lot. We began Saturday with a tour around the town – it was the first city taken by the Moors in their conquest of the Iberian peninsula! After a bit of history and culture, we headed over to the aquarium, which was nice. I got to see some manta rays and sharks and fish of course. After the aquarium, we hit the beach! I spent the whole day at the beach – it was nice and cool; I was surprised that it wasn’t hotter.

Sunday we left in the morning and stopped on the way home at las cuevas de Nerja – the caves of Nerja. It was pretty awesome being so far underground, and it looked awesome too. I thought it was going to be more natural, but they kind of turned it into a museum-esque tourist spot. Nevertheless, it was pretty awesome. The rest of Sunday has been uneventful for the most part… It rained for the first time here!! I was so surprised to see it; it’s so dry here that you don’t really expect it to rain. Anyways, the trip was relaxing, and I’m really glad I got to see the coast J

The first 2 weeks!

Hey everyone!!! Already it feels like so much time has passed here in Spain, and I have so many stories. The city is wonderful! I already feel a lot more confident with my Spanish even if I am always messing up; I’m just going to attribute that to nervousness, though J It’s a lot easier to understand Spaniards than Panamanians, but the Spanish accent is so different from what I’m used to, it’s going to take a bit longer to get used to. Nevertheless, I have discovered the reason for their using “th” and it is that their mouths are always dry. The air here is so dry and it’s so hot that I am always thirsty and my mouth is always dry. And I’ve discovered that it’s a lot easier to put on a Spanish accent and use the “th” when you are dying of thirst. Ahahah

Anyways, so I bet you are wondering what’s been going on, what my family is like, and what my group is like. Well, we got to Granada without any problems. We were dropped off with our host mothers at a bus stop and we walked back to the house. Our host mom is so kind!! She is so easy to talk to and really wants us to practice and improve our Spanish. Hillary (my roommate) and I will sit and talk with her for hours. It’s wonderful. Hillary is great too; she’s very nice and funny, and we get along great. I really like having a roommate too – it makes the whole experience a lot easier and more fun, I think. If I don’t understand something our host mom says, chances are she does, and vice versa. Also, Hillary is here to learn Spanish too, so we try to talk to each other most all the time in Spanish.

The food here is magnificent! The eating patterns are really different, but I’m getting used to it. We eat a light breakfast, a big lunch around 3/3:30, and then a light dinner around 9:30/10. My host mom is an amazing cook, and she is really healthy, so I don’t have to feel super bad about everything she makes us eat. They load up our plates with lots and lots of veggies usually and then either a type of beans or rice or something like that. This past Friday (Sept. 4) at lunch, Sra. Ballesta’s son, Santiago, came to lunch. It was nice getting to talk to another Spaniard. He was really nice, but unfortunately he wasn’t much of a talker. The whole kissing thing keeps catching me off guard too!! Ahahah

We have spent most of these first few days exploring the city, getting lost, and trying to buy the essentials. This past Saturday morning (Sept. 5th) we went to Hillary’s Adventist church. Everyone there was incredibly nice, though it was difficult to understand the pastor outside of the sermon. They were very welcoming and thought we could speak Spanish well, so I definitely like them ahahah J And this past Sunday, we went to the church Diane recommended I go to. I really liked it, too! Everyone there was super kind, and we met a bunch of people from the US. I’m definitely looking forward to going back soon! Also on Sunday, we went to the Albaicín with some people from the group. We “climbed” up to a lookout to see the view, and it was absolutely amazing!!!! You could see the Alhambra and the rest of the city.

This Monday (the 7th) we started classes – I think they are going to be super easy (knock on wood), and I’m not too worried about them. Both professors are super nice, and I think I will get along with them well. I’m really excited that we are doing grammar in SPAN 408; I definitely need a refresher. My Spanish has gotten better, but I still don’t feel like it’s that great – probably because I’m always talking to native speakers and my host mom helps us by correcting us and offering better ways of saying things. So lately I’ve been kinda feeling like it sucks, but I will get over it and improve, I’m sure. This past week, I’ve already made a ton of progress not just with my confidence in speaking Spanish, but also with using different tenses. They use the perfect tenses a lot here, thank goodness because I’m better with those.

I'll try to update again as soon as I can!!!