El fin de enero!

     I'm sorry for not posting in a while!  I cannot believe today marks me being here for 4 weeks!  In a way, time has flown but I also feel like I have not been home in forever!  Last week was the last week of my intensive language course.  I had to give my tapas presentation on Wednesday for the oral part of our exam and it went really well!  At first when were assigned this project, I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I'm really glad we had to do it now!  I discovered a lot of new tapas places that I will definitely visit again.  Thursday I had my final exam for the course, which counted as 70% of our grade, and I found out on Friday that I got an A on it!  I was really relieved about that and I'm very happy the class is over!  It wasn't my favorite class but I think I will just need to adjust to their style of classes.  They are a lot more laid back here and there isn't much structure, which is hard for me but I'm sure our real classes will have more structure.  Last week I ran in Parque Garcia Lorca every day and it was beautiful.  I went right after class and it was always super sunny and warm =]

     This past weekend was pretty relaxing.  On Friday I went shopping a little and then went to a bar for tapas at night.  Saturday I enjoyed lunch with my family and then went out shopping and exploring with friends.  I was introduced to a frozen yogurt place that is just like red mango, but 10 times unhealthier.  hahaha that place is definitely going to be dangerous!  Saturday night a few friends and I went to a tetería in the albycin neighborhood.  It was so cute and I definitely want to go back there!  Yesterday I went for a long run in the morning and then went for a walk with Sarah in the afternoon.  It was a pretty relaxing weekend which was nice before my trip this week!

      My friends Marlee, Sarah, Katie and I are leaving super early tomorrow morning!  We will have to take a bus to Málaga, a plane to London, and then another plane to Prague.  We will spend two days in Prague and then take an overnight train to Krakow, where we will spend another two days!  I'm very excited because we're planning on getting a tour of Auschwitz when we're in Poland.  I can't believe I have the opportunity to see it!  We're coming back on Sunday night, but I will definitely blog about our adventures when I get back!  I can't believe I'm managing to fit all my stuff in just my backpack for the week...I'm a changed woman I guess!  Hasta Luego =]

İEl fin de enero!

     I'm sorry for not posting in a while!  I cannot believe today marks me being here for 4 weeks!  In a way, time has flown but I also feel like I have not been home in forever!  Last week was the last week of my intensive language course.  I had to give my tapas presentation on Wednesday for the oral part of our exam and it went really well!  At first when were assigned this project, I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I'm really glad we had to do it now!  I discovered a lot of new tapas places that I will definitely visit again.  Thursday I had my final exam for the course, which counted as 70% of our grade, and I found out on Friday that I got an A on it!  I was really relieved about that and I'm very happy the class is over!  It wasn't my favorite class but I think I will just need to adjust to their style of classes.  They are a lot more laid back here and there isn't much structure, which is hard for me but I'm sure our real classes will have more structure.  Last week I ran in Parque Garcia Lorca every day and it was beautiful.  I went right after class and it was always super sunny and warm =] 

     This past weekend was pretty relaxing.  On Friday I went shopping a little and then went to a bar for tapas at night.  Saturday I enjoyed lunch with my family and then went out shopping and exploring with friends.  I was introduced to a frozen yogurt place that is just like red mango, but 10 times unhealthier.  hahaha that place is definitely going to be dangerous!  Saturday night a few friends and I went to a tetería in the albycin neighborhood.  It was so cute and I definitely want to go back there!  Yesterday I went for a long run in the morning and then went for a walk with Sarah in the afternoon.  It was a pretty relaxing weekend which was nice before my trip this week!

      My friends Marlee, Sarah, Katie and I are leaving super early tomorrow morning!  We will have to take a bus to Málaga, a plane to London, and then another plane to Prague.  We will spend two days in Prague and then take an overnight train to Krakow, where we will spend another two days!  I'm very excited because we're planning on getting a tour of Auschwitz when we're in Poland.  I can't believe I have the opportunity to see it!  We're coming back on Sunday night, but I will definitely blog about our adventures when I get back!  I can't believe I'm managing to fit all my stuff in just my backpack for the week...I'm a changed woman I guess!  Hasta Luego =]

Málaga!

It's been quite a while since I've written!  Last week I was staying busy with classes, running, shopping!  For my class for part of our final exam we have to try tapas from different restaurants so we went on Thursday!  They were all delicious, except that I got sick that night :(  I stayed home from class Friday, got lots of rest and watched lots of friends with Spanish subtitles! Yesterday my friends Sarah and Julia and I went to Málaga!  It was so beautiful!  We started off the morning by taking a bus to the bus station, which we were kind of nervous about since we hadn't done it yet.  After we got off that bus, for a second Sarah and I thought that we got off at the wrong stop..so we were running after the bus banging on the door when I trip on a curb  I didn't see and completely face plant on the ground! hahahaha  I thought Sarah was about to help me up but she didn't have enough reaction time and she completely fell on top of me.  hahahaha We could hardly comopse ourselves to stop laughing enough to ask the bus driver if we were at the right stop! haha We have lots of scrapes and sores but it was SO funny!  We then met Julia at the bus station and rode to Málaga which was about an hour and a half away.  We got to see the sun rise behind the mountains on the way!  The whole day we layed on the beach, I read some Dear John in Spanish, shopped and just relaxed.  We then went out to dinner and stayed on the beach to watch the sunset :) On the way back we found the cutest bakery with oreo and banana muffins!   It was such a fun day!  We came back late last night and today is full of homework and relaxing!  Hasta Luego!

La Alhambra!

Well, I survived my first week of class!  I barely made it waking up so early but I survived! haha Also, yesterday I wasn't feeling too well and my host mom comforted me a lot and brought me chocolate.  We got SO lucky with this family, I'm so thankful for where I am living!  I'm also thankful for my real mom and patrick making me feel better yesterday also!  Thank goodness for skype :) Today, we visited the Alhambra, which is a HUGE castle built in the 11th century.  It was so pretty and we got to see amazing views of the city from the top of it!  We walked for like 5-6 hours so it was pretty exhausting but it was definitely worth it!  Definitely a place I want to take my parents when they visit!  After we got back, our third roommate came!  She is from U of I and is soo nice, I'm really excited!  After siesta time I just went for a run in the park with my friend Hillary and it felt really good!  I just skyped with Bethie, Delia and Richie too!  I can always count on them for a million laughs!  Tonight after dinner we're gonna go out for some tapas!  I'm enjoying being busier now because the beginning was a little slow before classes started.  I love having a busy schedule!  We only have two more weeks of this course and then it's time for traveling during winter break! I hope everyone is enjoying all the snow at home :) I'm extremely jealous of it!  I'm still missing everyone a LOT from home but I feel SO much more comfortable here as the days go on :)

La Escuela!

Yesterday was our first day of classes!  I will be taking a language-intensive class for the rest of January and the actual semester begins in February.  It is the same class every day for four hours a day.  Yesterday and today was pretty boring, but I am definitely enjoying the learning part.  Everything is definitely going to seem so much closer when I go back to the ILSTU, after walking 30 minutes to class every day here! I am also learning even more how open Spaniards are.  My teacher on the first day of class told us that she loves Spanish grammar more than sex, so that was un poco diferente.....hahahaha Definitely would never hear that in the states!  In this class we're reviewing all the grammar along with learning about the culture of Spain!  Tonight, I'm going with a few friends to get my very first Spanish tapas and I am very excited! :)

Running in the Mountains :)

Today, Sarah and I explored a bit as we went for a run.  We ran alongside the river and then up the mountains.  It was very stress relieving and so beautiful!  My favorite prarie path at home is nothing compared to the runs here!  Yesterday, we went to the Albaycin neighborhood which was an Arab neighborhood.  We took a bus there because it was so high up.  As soon as we got out of the bus, everyone was so impressed by the beautiful view of the mountains.  Our guide, Loli told us to stop taking pictures and wait till we get up a little higher.  I couldn't believe what I was actually seeing.  We walked up a little higher and saw a view of the entire city.  We could see the mountains, the sunset, beautiful clouds (my favorite!), the Alhambra (famous castle in Granada) and the whole city.  It was absolutely breath-taking!  Then we went shopping a bit in the evening because starting yesterday were the "rebajas" or sales.  They go throughout the rest of the month!  Tonight, I'm booking a trip to Krakow, Poland and Prague for my winter break!  I'll be going with a few close friends and I'm SO excited!  We are going to try to go on a tour of Auschwitz which will be a once in a lifetime experience and so eye opening.  Today, we're about to eat lunch and then go shopping a little and review for our placement exam which is tomorrow.  I"m so excited to be starting classes!  Adios!

6 de enero

Hola!  Last night, I found out that my extremely close friend, Sarah from home will be living with me all semester!  It is so comforting having her here and it's going to be so much fun!  Today has been such a fun day!  It is dia de los reyes and when we woke up for breakfast we had a traditional pastry that has surprises in it.  I got a piece with a little statue of the king in it which meant I had to wear a crown around the house this morning! haha It was hilarious!  Then Sarah and I went for a run in the park which was BEAUTIFUL :) There are palm trees all over and amazing fountains and it's so breath-taking.  Words cannot describe how pretty this city is.  I also realized the view of the snow capped mountains from my bedroom window!  So cool!  We then played with our little sister and her kitchen that she got for dia de los reyes.  Our family also got us pretty scarves and bracelets!   I'm still missing home a lot but I'm getting more used to living here and I just finished skyping with my mom, pat and bethie and now we're going to relax and then possibly go out for some tapas tonight!

Dia de Los Reyes

Hola todos!  So much has happened in just a couple days, I feel like I've already been here for so long!  Yesterday I learned even more about how sweet my host family is.  I learned how fortunate I am to be living with them and have been told by many people that it is very rare to be in a situation like mine with such a loving family.  I had my first meltdown in front of my host mom and she was so comforting and told me that poco a poco it will get easier and no pasa nada :)  She is so understanding and is so sweet.  (reminds me of my own mom! :) )My five year old sister then told me if I ever needed anything she will always help me and then she made me a bracelet, draw a heart on my hand and kissed my cheek.  She's the little sister I've always wanted! (even though I still don't understand most of what she says! hahaha)  Last night I wandered around with my friend Amy who I am becoming really close with.  We explored the city and I am actually starting to understand the streets here! I ended my night with skyping with my mom, sister, julia, and pat, which all made me really happy :)  I can't wait for Julia to arrive in Granada with me next week!

       Today was our second day of orientation and we learned about the academics and extra-curricular aspect of the program.  It got me really excited for classes and I also found out that I can volunteer in a bilingual classroom while I'm here!  I have the placement exam this Monday and then classes begin on Tuesday.  After orientation we were given a tour of the city and I got to see so many more beautiful areas I had not seen yet.  I still can't believe I'm actually living here!  After siesta time and lunch, a bunch of us went to the Wise Men Parade for Dia de Los Reyes.  There were a lot of floats with children throwing candy in the streets everywhere.  I came home and found candy in my hood and falling everywhere! Haha It was a lot of fun! :)

I'm alive!

Well, I survived my first two days here in Spain!  After many extremely hard goodbyes at the airport, everything went really smoothly.  Our first flight was to Madrid and was a little over 7 hours.  I got my meal called "Koshair" (hahaha) that surprisingly wasn't terrible!  It hit me about three hours into the flight that this was actually happening and I had a small freak out attack and wanted to go right back home.  Luckily, I had my friend Sarah there with me!  I then slept the rest of the flight and felt better when I woke up. Then we had a connecting flight to Granada and that was very short. The view from the airplanes were unbelievable.  The first thing you see is snow capped mountains everywhere.  This city is absolutely beautiful.   I then met my host family!  They are extremely nice and I have two parents and a little sister named Margarita who is five years old. She will definitely be helpful with learning Spanish because she talks just as much as I do!  (maybe even more!)  I can't really understand anything she says yet, except that she has a little pet dog named Rosi and we watched bob esponja (spongebob) together last night.  hahaha  It is pretty awkward still living with a family I've never met before, but I know it will just take time to adjust and I'm trying my best to keep a positive attitude!  Today I had my first day of orientation and I just got back from that.  I got lost for my first time here!  My friends and I tried finding my house for SO long and finally we found it after asking a million people.  And apparently the third floor here is actually the fourth, so after spending ten minutes of trying to put my key in the wrong door, I realized I had to go up one more.  I think that's enough embarrassing myself for the day!  We're about to eat lunch and take a siesta.  I'm missing everyone back in the states so much but I know it will get easier!  Adios for now!