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!!!