Almost one week!

Hola a todos!

It's been a few days since I last posted, so I have a bunch to share! It's been getting better day by day here. Wednesday, through the program, we went out for tapas and then to a disco (club) afterwards. The disco was outdoors (it's so warm outside... they can do that here). There were tons and tons of people, but they really didn't start coming there till about 2am-- I'm not used to being out that late!

Thursday was great as well. We had some orientation stuff, and then I just hung out around the city. I stopped in a few churches as well. There is pretty much a Catholic church on EVERY block... and they are all super gorgeous. They're all very ornate and traditional looking. I even prayed part of a rosary at one of them with a bunch of old Spanish women :)

Last night, my friend Nanou (she's part of the program as well, but she's actually from Martinique--a French island in the Carribean) and I went out... we went to a little restaurant next to the river, and then to a flamenco bar and then to another indoor disco. The flamenco bar was so neat. There was live music, and everyone was dancing and seemed so relaxed and happy. The disco was fun too... but the Spanish chicos were a little creepy at times, so I liked the flamenco bar better. Only in Spain!

I love my host family and my house. I have my own room and bathroom, which is really nice. And the food here is AMAZING! So far we've had a lot of fish, a paella type dish, gaspacho, tortilla, salsa, and more. Every meal is so fantastic... and they always want you to eat more and more! They always watch tv during their meals, so we sit on a couch at a table in front of the tv. I like doing that, because it's a challenge for me to understand the tv. They talk super super fast on tv, so hopefully by then end of the semester I'll understand it a little better. My family is really good about talking slowly and repeating things if they don't understand. They are really welcoming and accomodating as well. They invited me to go to the beach (on the Mediterranean sea) with them this weekend, but I already have plans for a mini-trip with the program! I'll have to definitely check that out soon.

The city is beautiful. There are thousands of shops and beautiful architecture. The streets are always filled with people-- it's so much fun to just be out walking around. The woman are always dressed up and ALWAYS wear heels. Shoes are a huge thing around here. I'm not really into wearing fancy shoes because it is a 45 minute walk for me to go from my house to the CIEE study center, so as you can imagine, taking that walk a few times a day in heels would start to hurt.

There are so many cute little restaurants and ice cream shops and places like that to stop and grab a bite to eat or drink at any moment. Mom and Dad would love the grocery stores... they are a like those little ones that Dad looks for in the city... like Gloriosos. That's how they all are here! You walk by the window and they have hams hanging.. it's really cool. I can't wait until you two come to visit!

I haven't met too many Spanish people yet, because it's still early, and we haven't started classes or activities yet. But I want to start using my Spanish with natives so I can practice! I get to use it at home, but most of the time I'm just listening while they speak.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful day, and I will post some pictures later!

Marissa