Ok, so I have officially given in and decided to create one of these blogs (but, yes I do have my journal in which I will write more personal things). However, I am not to be held responsible for boring entries. If the entries are boring then it is safe to assume that my life is boring.
I am starting my 3rd week here in Spain and to say life is crazy is an understatement. I feel as if I am going at a million miles an hour and I can't catch my breath. Casey assures me however that it will slow down.
The first week in Spain was orientation at the University. Everything was new and it's funny now to think that I could not even figure out the layout of the building. During orientation week I had a crisis because three of my classes that I needed to take where all scheduled at the same time. This was a problem considering that all three of them are required classes for my major and that I am not left with much time before I graduate. I will not bore you with all the details just that after some maneuvering I am able to have three classes count for something. However, my fourth classes does not really help me in any way towards graduation. Therefore, I will be forced to take 6 classes in the Fall. Not ideal, but doable.
So, anyway, I am now starting my second week of classes and to my surprise the one I enjoy the most is called literatura española contemporánea. I have never had a teacher that can read out loud as well as he can. He makes the poetry sound like music. I have just finished reading a short story that actually kept my attention. I actually wanted to keep reading to find out how it ended. Anyway, I could go on but I feel as if you get my point.
Also, my host family here is so nice. I completely lucked out with them. There is a mother, father, and two daughters named Laura (22) and Cristina (17). On Sunday, they invited me to a family get together and I was very touched. It was a birthday lunch for my host father's father. I meet many cousins, aunts, and uncles and everyone was super sweet and the food was very good. After the lunch Cristina and I both had to do homework. However, Cristina, being 17, can get dramatic at times and yesterday I just had to laugh at her. She was complaining about the fact that she could not possible start her homework now because the lunch made her so tired. It was quite funny and I had to rag on her a bit.
Also, last night Anne (the girl that lives with the family down the street) and I found this bakery where we sat and did our homework. We ordered café con leche and later tea. It was the absolute best tea I have ever had. It was called té de bosque (tea from the forest). We stroke up a conversation with the woman working there and she seemed to be quite amused by us. I have a feeling we will be going back there many times throughout our time here.
With regards to the Spanish I have just three words to say, "Thank you Middlebury!" I feel so comfortable using my Spanish. My host family comments about how I am such a good speaker and how much I understand. Even Anne's host family said the same thing. Yes, I do realize that I am boasting here a bit, but I feel I have worked hard enough to deserve a little self-boasting.
This weekend we do not have school on Monday so a group of us have planned a trip to Italy. We are leaving on Thursday and fly into Milan. We have 4 1/2 days in which time we are going to see Milan, Venice, and Florence. I am quite excited and can't believe my life right now. How crazy is it to go to Italy for a long weekend. I mean, even going to California for a long weekend is not something you do everyday, let alone Italy.
Anyway, I feel that this blog has gotten excessively long and therefore I will end it here.
Besos
