Hello again! I hope that yet again I have not waited too long to post. Currently it is midnight here and we have just finished watching a soccer game with our host mom. During meals we typically sit with her and watch the news and discuss what is going on in the world as well as in our daily lives. We have been trying to figure out the mystery of her children. It sounds ridiculous but it has been very difficult for us the past week to figure out where all her children live. But we have finally had a breakthrough and yesterday we figured out she has four children, two boys and two girls, and they live in Mallorca, New York, Granada, and Cadiz. We were so proud that we finally figured out her children haha.
I am becoming very accustomed to life in Spain even after only one week. I feel that this is the kind of life I was meant to live. It is so much more relaxed and I am not stressed at all. And I love walking everywhere it is definitely a huge change from living in the suburbs. The only problem is that everywhere I go I sweat profusely so it is rather embarrassing to constantly feel sticky and hot. I am also enjoying siesta, I could write a whole blog dedicated to the benefits of siesta. The biggest one for me is how it places a much higher value on time with family. I know that as we have gotten older it has been hard for my family to regularly sit down for meals together. But here, in southern Spain, it is the norm. I truly appreciate this custom and I wish that we adopted it in the states. The other benefit to the lifestyle is your day seems so much longer. People still get up relatively early around eight but you do not go to bed until around two or three in the morning. We have been walking home from tapas or the movies at 1am and have seen babies in strollers. I truly have fallen in love with the culture and all it has to offer.
The shopping here is also very accessible and somewhat addicting. Sorry mom if you're reading this but I believe we have gone inside every shoe store we pass haha. It has almost become a habit. It is a very open environment because all the stores leave their doors open or they have a completely open storefront. It is very easy to stroll the streets after class and pop in a few stores on your way home.
The heladerias (ice cream shops) are another thing I could write an entire blog about. They are just about on every corner (similar to Starbucks in the states) and it is hard to resist since they usually only cost 1.20 euro for a small taste. They have very different flavors to try as well such as ferrero which is like the candy ferrero rocher. Also gelato with nutella, different types of chocolate, and also a lot of flavors with fruit.
Class has been going really well so far. It is just the language intensive month right now so we have class everyday from 4-8pm but we have two different teachers. The first teacher, Ana, is really nice but she has a really thick accent and sometimes goes too fast. Our other teacher Javier is a flat out character. He will speak English sometimes if we don't understand or if he wants us to better understand the grammatical point he is trying to make. He also says the F word all the time in English and in Spanish which is hilarious and very different from class in the states. It has only been three days of class and I have already learned so much it. It really has blown my mind how many misconceptions I had about the Spanish language and how to use it correctly.
We also went to Nerja this weekend, as you can probably clearly tell from my photos. Above anything I was just proud that we figured out all the buses and how to get back to the station. It is always a little nerve wracking traveling somewhere new but even more so when you're in a foreign country. One of my favorite parts of the trip was when a man's phone was ringing and his ringtone was "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". We couldn't stop laughing. As you all probably saw Nerja is incredibly beautiful. It's as if the cliffs were beautifully and carefully carved out. It was an amazingly beautiful city and I believe we are planning a return trip during a day off next week.
So far everything has been incredible and extremely difficult to even put into words. Nothing can describe the emotions you feel when you see the Alhambra for the first time. Or when you pass by the ornate architecture that has been here for centuries. It truly is incredible and I am so blessed to be here.
Hasta luego :)
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