Day Trippin' (part one)

A common question I receive at school when attempting small-talk is "What did you do this weekend?"

Normally, I respond with "I went out with friends and just kinda hung out."

Tomorrow, I will be able to say I took not only one, but two road trips!

But before I sat in a car for hours at a time, I had a little night out with Karly. It was pretty much the same as before (go to the city center, get food, get ice cream, go to botellon), but this time we didn't get lost! It feels really really good to actually know where I am. At the botellon, however, it was raining and there weren't many people, so it was kind of not very fun at all.

Karly spent the night at my house that night and in the morning we got ready for our adventure...

To Sevilla!!

My host mom had a meeting in Sevilla, so it was the perfect opportunity to explore Andalucia's capital city with my host dad, Karly, and Robin.

After we picked up Robin and my host mom's coworker who was also going to the meeting, we hit the road.

The drive was about 2-3 hours long (ugh), but totally worth it.

We dropped off my host mom and her coworker at their meeting and then drove into the city center.

First stop: churros con chocolate.

Now we'd all already had breakfast, but like, hey, we're in Spain- why not have a second, more unhealthy breakfast?

No reason at all, my friends.

The cafe we went to unfortunately did not have chocolate to accompany our churros, so we ended up with cafe con leche instead.

The before:

And the after:

Lemme tell you something- yum.

This fried dough covered in sugar creation will knock your socks off. You've probably had churros at the fair or Disneyland or something, but those are no competition for traditional Spanish churros. Seriously. Sorry America, Spain does churros better. Way better.

After stuffing ourselves with caffeine and sugar, we took a walk to explore the beautiful city of Sevilla. We saw the cathedral (the biggest in Andalucia):

And of course posed in front of the cathedral:

We saw these horse-drawn carriages everywhere! I guess they're like the Spanish equivalent of gondolas in Venice.

All the while, my host dad was telling us history of Sevilla. It was super interesting...I wish I remembered it all! After walking around for a while, we went solo into the apparently famous shopping street(s). Where we came upon this...churros con chocolate!

And of course, since we hadn't gotten the full experience the first time due to the lack of chocolate, we just had to order them!

The before, round two:

And the after:

And not a single regret.

So we walked some more. And some more. And some more. Finally, it was time to meet back up with my host dad...we had tickets to see the old Muslim palace!

I couldn't even begin to explain the beauty and intricacy of the palace, so I'll just give you a few pictures:

Now keep in mind that I'm kind of a crappy photographer and that these pictures DO NOT do this place justice in the slightest.

But like...wow. This palace is crazy beautiful and intricate- and people actually lived here once?! Like what!

To make up for that last terribly written blurb trying to describe how rad this palace is, I will give you a few more mediocre pictures of the palace garden,which was equally beautiful.

So beautiful! (Lame word, I know...but give me a break- it's been a long weekend).

Not much happened post-palace. We got some lunch (which we totally didn't need because of the double churro-ing), picked up my host mom and her coworker from their meeting, and drove home. We passed the city where the Pionono was born (the pionono is a type of pastry originally made for a pope!). And we saw some flamingos.

Yes, you read that correctly. Flamingos.

These guys fly in from Africa and chill out at this lagoon. Right now there aren't many there, but still- flamingos!

Perfect for our Flamingo Domingos (keep an eye out for an upcoming #FlamingoDomingo on instagram).

So that was our Saturday!

Muchas Gracias! xo

P.S. "Day Trippin' (part two)" will be all about the second half of my weekend!

OH!

I totally forgot to include this in my last post, so here we go!

I have enrolled in a Spanish class!!

You may be thinking, "Why take a Spanish class...in Spain?"

I'm taking this class at a school down the street from mine because I really want to become as fluent as possible, as quickly as possible. Also, my host mom told me that one of their past exchange students took this class and her Spanish improved immensely and she even made new friends. 

Today, I had to take an entrance exam to see what level I'd be in (Karly was there too because she's also taking the class!). 

The test consisted of 60 multiple choice questions and a 150 word essay. There was also a small talking portion, but I don't think it was a test- they just needed some information. 

All in all, I feel like I did okay! I mean, I was super stressed and freaked out about it, but I think I'm a-okay. 

Hopefully, I will score high enough to get into the intermediate class instead of the basic classes. The intermediate classes aren't better solely for the difficulty level- they're also better because I'd only have class 2 times a week rather than 4 if I get placed in basic classes. 

The list showing who's in what class goes up on Monday...wish me luck!

Muchas gracias! xo

P.S. After I got home from my test, I was locked out! So, I took selfies!

I like to call this one "So close, yet so far"

Poco a Poco

Since my last post (which I wrote a while ago but just put up about a minute ago), everything has been pretty normal. 

Well, I'm guessing my days have been typical, but I still don't know what a "Normal Day in Spain" looks like. 

I've been going to school and talking with more people everyday and understanding more of my classes, too (barely). My host mother says I everything- whether it be Spanish, school, friends, etc.- is coming to me "poco a poco" or little by little. 

Which is totally true! I really like that phrase- poco a poco. 

Recently, I have been trying to get my American iPhone to work in Spain, but it has been a lot more difficult than I imagined (I'm not going to go into the gory details, but it's been a struggle). 

That's about it for now. The only amount of homesickness I've felt was about my school in California's homecoming. 

Homecoming is my favorite school event by far! We get to dress up for a week, build floats, have a parade, watch a fab football game (as well as powderpuff), and overall feel really excited about going to SHHS (as lame as that sounds). 

I'm not super homesick about it, but it's been the first time I'd rather be at home for a day than in Spain. 

That's really all that's been going on for me, really. Have a great day, reader. 

Muchas Gracias! xo

GO SAINTS!

Friday Funday

If you were to ask me which day out of the 15 and a half days I've been in Spain has been the best, I'd have to say Friday, September 20th (yesterday). 

Along with marking one month until my 17th birthday (am I really gonna be 17?!), Friday was the last day of my first week if school in Spain. 

I know that surviving a week of school doesn't sound like a reason to celebrate, but when you had a week like mine, it sure as hell is.

School was actually kind of good on Friday! Besides having my economics class (I literally understand nothing), I enjoyed myself. I'm actually a little excited for some of my classes this year!

Something amazing happened to me at recreo- a girl came up to me and said that her and some other girls wanted to be my friend! It was so crazy!! So I went over and talked to them in my broken Spanish (they also practiced their English with me a little) and I think I made real friends...like, by myself (usually I'm introduced to people by others, like my host brothers). We exchanged numbers and talked about having lunch together sometime! I couldn't stop smiling. 

After school, I walked home with Karly (Samuel didn't come to school because he had a big fat English test outside of school that day). I forget what we had for lunch at home, but I remember I liked it (on account of that I like everything that I've eaten so far). 

When we finished our comida, I finished The Catcher in the Rye. I don't think I completely understand the story, but I liked it a whole awful lot. 

When you finish a book, it kinda feels like your life has no meaning. So, I texted Karly. I went over to her house and we used this fancy exfoliator that smells like apricots that we bought at the pharmacy. 

With our faces feeling fresh, we just hung out in her room for a couple hours. We oogled over IOS 7 (the new iPhone update), showed eachother pictures of our friends from America, and made plans for our night out.

We were a little nervous about going out to the city center that night because this time, instead of having my host brothers with us, we'd be going alone. 

Having almost zero idea as to where we were going except knowing which bus gets us there and back, we embarked on our adventure. 

At about 9 o'clock, we walked to the bus stop in our cutest outfits and waited for the 22 bus. 

AKA the wrong bus. 

Little did we know, we got on the bus that takes us back home, not the bus that gets us into the city center. 

After taking a massive detour and getting off somewhere we didn't recognize (we would've stayed on longer until we were deeper in the city center, but it was the end of the bus' line). 

So, we walked. And walked. And walked.

To be completely honest, we were very lost.  

Eventually, we found a free wifi hub and could Google Map us to the nearest pharmacy (Karly was getting mad blisters and needed some bandaids). 

On our way to the pharmacy, we saw a sign spelling out "Centro" with a big arrow pointing left. Thank God!

While following the arrow left, after we stopped at the pharmacy and picked up some Disney character bandaids, we ran into what at first looked like a concert. 

Once we got closer and swam a little way through the massive crowd, we saw something that completely mystified us. 

It wasn't a concert, it wasn't rally, it wasn't a wedding, and it wasn't a funeral.

It was this. Don't ask me what "this" is, because I'm not sure, even after further explanation. 

And it wasn't just in one area, there was a full procession. 

My pictures are awful, but at least you can kind of tell that there were a ton of people and that the evenf was Catholic. 

And let me remind you that Karly and I still had no idea where we were or even where we were going. 

This morning, when talking with my host mom, she told me that in Catholic countries (like Spain), people are very devotional to the Virgin Mary. She also told me that the procession I saw was a celebration of the Virgin of _________ (I forget), which is very special to Granada. 

Anyway, Karly and I finally find the city center where we've been before. We were so relieved to actually know where we were! 

Next stop: food. By now, we were starving and in need of some tapas. 

Of course we couldn't decide where to go and ended up wandering around for another hour. But it's okay because we had even more adventures! Like passing by a guy writing poems on a typewriter and giving them out for free. I haven't translated mine yet, but it's beautiful all the same. We also walked through the Moroccan alleyway. (The picture isn't from last night, but I wanted to include an image of the place anyway.)

One of the vendors saw me looking at a pair of cool flowy hammer-pants type pants and started talking to us rapidly and shoving the pants into our arms and saying to buy them and how great they were. At first, I thought he said the pants were €2, and I was ecstatic! But then I heard "doce" (€12) instead of the initial "dos" and changed my mind. Even though we said "no, gracias" countless times, he still was pushing for those pants (even lowering the price to €10). Still, we said "no, gracias" and finally got away. 

After walking for another 20 minutes, we finally decided on a place to eat. We ordered our drinks (sparkling water for me, diet Coke for Karly), and looked at the tapas menu. 

All of a sudden, I hear the most annoying ringtone! Then, I realize it's me and my brick of a móvil. 

On the other side of the call is my host mom, telling me that Samuel's friends are going to the botellon (the place where it's not illegal to drink in the streets) and that I should meet them there. 

Of course that sounded great, except for the fact that I had no idea where the botellon was in relation to where we were eating. My host mom told me to ask someone where Hipercor was because not many older people know about the botellon. 

After I hung up, we ordered our tapas. Along with the chicken wings and french fry dish that came with our drinks, I ordered the paella and Karly ordered the garlic chicken. Both were delicious. 

And you can't just skip dessert, right? Right! So we got yummy ice cream cones. We asked the man working at the ice cream place where Hipercor was, and he told us to take a left then take a right. 

Well, he told us "Go down for a while and then take a right...no, left. Then walk a little and go right."

The precision and detail of his instructions were mindblowing. 

What do you think happened next?

If you guessed that we'd get horribly, miserably lost for another hour, you'd be right!

Geez, it was bad! We were so exhausted and stressed out. 

Karly kept telling me to call Javi (one of Samuel's friends) to help us get there, but I didn't know what to tell him as to where we were! She ended up asking some guy who told us to follow the crowd of people...and whaddaya know, we got there! 

We were so relieved! Luckily, we saw Javi almost immediately and got with the group of people that I knew...or at least recognized. 

FINALLY!

It was a little strange not having my host brothers with me, but it was so much fun that I forgot all about it. 

We met these two girls who were so nice and funny and they ended up introducing us to so many people! It was crazy fun. 

At about 2:50 AM, Javi told us we were going home (which was good because it was starting to get real cold). 

Friday was by far my favorite day in Spain so far. I don't know how to end this post. 

Oh! The moon was gorgeous! 

  

(Yes, I know they're awful.)

Better than Before

If you read my last post, you know that my first day of school was absolute shit. I don't like to cuss, but that's really the best word to describe my first Spanish school experience- shit. 

So what have I been up to the past two days? Am I as miserable as I was before? Do I have friends? Do I understand anything the teachers, let alone my classmates, are saying?

My second and third day of school were fabulous...compared to my first day, at least. I only walked into one wrong class (not my fault- there were two economics classes, how was I supposed to know which one was mine?). 

Even though I have zero idea what's going on the vast majority of the time, I am getting through school just fine (so far). 

I wouldn't say I've made "friends," but I'm talking to a lot of people and it seems like they like me okay! 

Something that I've noticed is that I am exhausted by the time I get home after school. I've been told this is because my brain is always on and translating everything. I believe it, the evidence shows when I fall asleep instantly after lunch.

Jumping back to the topic of school, almost everyone I've met speaks a good amount of English. I love that I have the option to communicate in my native tongue, but I also kind of hate it because it feels like I'm not learning as much Spanish. 

But whenever I do feel like I don't know as much Spanish as I should, I have to remind myself that I've only been in Spain for two weeks (officially two weeks on September 19th!). 

I really have to remember not to be so hard on myself. I want to do well and make friends and understand the language and be able to communicate, and when I am unable to do those things, I feel like I'm kind of failing my mission as an exchange student. 

But. I'm. Not. 

I know I put myself in the most difficult situation I've ever had to face. And I think I'm doing pretty well. Go me!

Something I'm afraid of is having a panic attack. When I get stressed out, I get a lot of anxiety and I sometimes find it difficult to breathe, start shaking and crying, and feel really really afraid. It's scary as well as embarrassing. 

Before I left America for España, I had a few panic attacks thinking about my journey. I would think I wasn't ready and I became overwhelmed. 

Now that I'm in Spain, I am not as afraid. However, when things become increasingly more difficult, I feel I may become stressed and have a panic attack. That is something I never want to happen. 

It's stupid to think about the future in a negative way though. The important thing is that everyday is better than the last and I am enjoying myself immensely in Spain, regardless of the language barrier. 

Muchas gracias! xo

P.S.- Here is a screenshot of a text that my best friend Naomi (from 'Merica) sent me and I found hilarious. 

(I'm pretty sure she meant "princess," but "process" is 10x more accurate)

First Day Failures (also some clarification)

Coming to Spain and living with a Spanish-speaking family is tough. Coming to Spain and attending a Spanish-speaking high school is worse. Much worse. 

This morning, I woke up at 9:30 to get ready for my first day if school at I.E.S. La Madraza. Normally, I would be waking up at around 6:30, but classes began at noon today. 

I had terrible jitters! I was so nervous that I was my hands were shaking and I couldn't eat breakfast. But I was overreacting, right?

So wrong. 

When I got to school, my host mom introduced me to some girls in my grade and then introduced Karly to her new English teacher. 

I did the cheek-kiss thing and stood with a group of about 6 girls...who totally and completely ignored me. It was awful! It's already muy dificil to understand what one person is saying directly to me, but when there are a half-dozen teenage girls babbling rapidly to each other, it's impossible (the nerves didn't help, either).

Once in the school building, I heard some students speaking familiar words. I was desperate to understand anything that was going on, so I asked them, "Are you speaking English?!" Sure enough, I was talking to two exchange students (one from Denmark and one from Norway) and a boy who went on exchange to Fresno, California last year. 

Never in my life would I think that I'd be excited to hear that someone lived in Fresno! 

It was such a relief to comprehend at least a little of the craziness around me. 

When the bell rang, I followed my three new friends into a classroom (luckily, it was my correct class).

This is where my day really starts to go downhill. 

I have no idea what class I was in. I just know that the teacher called my name while taking roll (a major plus). He wrote this very confusing schedule on the board which we were supposed to copy and handed out forms which we were supposed to fill out (I copied the board, but I just stared blankly at the form). 

When the bell rang, I went to the office with the two other exchange students because we didn't know our schedules! After getting my schedule that I didn't understand printed out for me, I found out that the break was only 5 minutes long and that I'd probably already missed my next class. 

I followed the other exchangers back to the same classroom we were in before (we were late) and I soon found out I was in the wrong class. 

I was then escorted into my correct class and, while trying to hold back the tears, sat in my math class completely and utterly confused and embarrassed. 

After that class was over, my math teacher, who thankfully speaks a good amount of english, took me to the office to get my schedule sorted out. 

When we got to the office, I saw Karly- who was equally as lost as I was. 

My math teacher helped us out and now I know where to go when. Unfortunately, I spent the majority of my first day of school in the office feeling 100% out of place rather than making friends. 

After I got my schedule correct, my math teacher escorted me to my last class of the day- French. 

Now I was absolutely dreading French due to the fact that I know literally nothing of the language.

Luckily, I had a wonderful French teacher who speaks some English and understands my total lack of French knowledge. When the kids were introducing themselves in French, my teacher let me introduce myself in Spanish and English instead. 

Finally, the moment I'd been waiting all day for arrived- the final bell rang. 

Not even acknowledging my fellow classmates, I walked straight for the doors. Hallelujah! 

Soon enough, I saw my host brother, Samuel, and some of his friends who I had met before. I finally felt like I wasn't totally alone all day. 

When Samuel and I began walking home, we saw Karly. Both Karly and I were so exhausted from not only trying to navigate through a new school, but from trying to navigate through a new school where everything is completely different and everyone is speaking a language you don't understand very well. 

After eating lunch at home (which is totally rad), I fell asleep. 

When my bedroom light went off, my brain could also turn off. 

All day everyday in Spain, especially today, my brain is on. I am always thinking about what people are saying and translating it. It is incredibly tiring.

Thank God for siestas. 

********************************

CLARIFICATION:

I don't know how often all y'all read my blog (if you're even this far, I thank you immensely), but if you read it fairly often, you may have noticed how I post about "last night" or "tomorrow morning". The thing is, I often times write a post when I don't have internet and actually upload it when I'm in a wifi zone (which is seldom). So I may post something saying "today" or something and it was 2 days ago. Also, I may upload like 3 posts at a time. I don't know why I feel I should be telling you this, but I already typed it all out. 

Muchas gracias! xo

Welcome to "Madrid"

Early Friday morning, along with Karly and Robin, my exchange partners in crime, I embarked on a weekend of fun, friends, and Rotary. 

It all started on a bus. 

And continued on the bus for five hours. 

Look how much fun we had!

Karly even made a friend!

When we finally arrived in Madrid, another bus was awaiting us. This time, however, it was full of exchange students and headed to where we'd be spending the weekend. 

We were told we would be staying in Madrid, so we all expected a short bus ride to a local youth hostel or something similar. 

Instead, we stayed on that bus for another two and a half hours as it scarily winded its way up a steep mountain. 

When we finally got to where we were staying, we didn't see any buildings...uh oh. 

After a short walk (which seemed like forever due to all our crap we were carrying), we could see our sleeping arrangements- tents. 

Yes, six of a to a tiny tent was the plan. 

Were we told we'd be in the cold (and by cold, I mean COLD) mountains? No. We were told we'd be in Madrid- like, you know, the city Madrid. 

But once we put on as many layers as we could, the experience became extremely enjoyable. 

We played a ton of games and I met many people who I grew to love that weekend. 

And you know, the campground wasn't actually all that bad.

Yep, there's Karly being cute as a button. 

After we got settled, we had dinner- sweet, glorious, dinner. 

Selfies with Karly and selfies with Karly and Meg (the girl living in Sevilla).

And I had to get a shot of my table-mates. 

Everyone is just wonderful. 

For dinner, we had soup, lomo (a type of meat- very delicious), french fries, and a banana. 

After dinner, many of us huddled around the lights set up in front of the tents for warmth. A great bonding activity. 

Then came the worst experience of the weekend by far: sleeping. 

Sure we all had sleeping bags and mats, but nothing could make 6 girls in a small tent on the lumpy ground in the freezing cold mountains of "Madrid" anything close to comfortable. 

We were all fairly miserable that night. 

But with morning came breakfast, a sure way to boost morale. 

Later that day, we learned about rules of exchange and how to make this year the best year ever and watched a lame exchange video with horrible acting.

After all the boring (yet informative and essential) parts of the weekend were over, we were given exciting news:

That night we'd be sleeping in a building!

With newfound smiles on our faces, we packed up and walked the half hour to our new site. 

It was a beautiful building! But we didn't have time to take a tour just yet- we had a hike to take!

We hiked even further up the mountain and it was gorgeous! 

Karly and I made a trade with Hunter: he could have as much of our knock-off Cheetos as he wanted as long as we could have some of his water. We all benefitted, and Hunter especially enjoyed his cheese puffs. 

So we hiked and talked and laughed and learned about Texas from Reid and Hunter. 

Then, we were told we were just now crossing the border into Madrid...liars. 

(The border ^)

After climbing up some big boulders, we had a beautiful view of Valle de los Caídos- the monument honoring those who fell in the Spanish civil war and where Francisco Franco is buried. 

Obviously, my pictures do not do its beauty justice. 

We tried to take pictures in front of it, but the sun was way too bright and we all look fairly awful (except for Hunter looking fab in the background).

I personally think the thumb covering a quarter of the picture really makes this image especially great. 

So, we ended up taking selfies, as always.

We then hiked back down and, after briefly being thoroughly scared that we lost Aja (we didn't), we set up our rooms in the building. 

The building was very nice, and it was so great to have actual beds to sleep in, despite how grody the sheets looked (thank God for sleeping bags).

We had dinner and then we performed skits. They were all so ridiculous and lame and hilarious! My group's skit featured Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Iz, Waving Flag by K'naan, and We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus. 

After hamburgers and lots of laughter and Fanta, we had a fiesta! Without any neighbors, we could play our music as loud as we wanted and dance as late as we pleased (or rather as late as our counselors allowed). 

When the lights were shut off and the counselors went to bed, we were allowed to stay up for another hour as long as we were quiet. We all sat in a circle and played "Never Have I Ever" and laughed until we had to retire to our rooms. 

I. Slept. Like. A. Rock. 

In the morning, we all packed up and got in groups according to bus/train station. 

Next came the 2+ hour bus ride down the mountain. Karly, Robin, Aja, Meg, Joe, and my bus station came first, so we all waved and said goodbye to all of our new friends. 

*Insert 5 hour bus ride*

Finally, we were home in Granada. It's a little strange to call Granada home, but it feels right. 

I got to take a shower (the best I've had in a long time) and, since my host family wasn't home, I hung out with Karly some more. 

Despite the freezing cold, the less-than-pleasant sleeping conditions, and the fact that we spoke only English for 3 days (making it so hard to go back to only Spanish), I loved this past weekend and cannot wait until I get to see all my amigos again. 

Adios Granada (y Daniel)

In about 2 and a half hours (less by the time I actually get to post this) I will be boarding a bus to Madrid. 

Why Madrid? Why at 10 AM? Why spend a 5+ hour drive in a bus? 

Rotary. 

Luckily, Karly and Robin are coming as well. It also helps that Karly and I went crazy in the snack aisles of the Mercadona yesterday prepping for this journey (soon we should be prepping for type 2 diabetes and a heart attack). 

But before I say "adios" to Granada for the weekend, I'll say "adios" to my host brother Daniel, who is going to university in Barcelona today. 

And what better way to say "bye bye" than tapas! 

So last night, I went with Daniel, my other host brother Samuel, and many many others (25 all together I think) to a tapas bar in the city center. 

Now these were my first ever tapas, but I think I can say this bar isn't on Granada's top ten list (the tapa of the night was a piece of lomo and a piece of queso on a tiny cold piece if bread with a few greasy fries). Not the best food, but yummy enough. 

We all just had a fun time and chatted all night. I even met a guy from Germany who is studying at the university in Granada for a year. 

It wasn't very eventful, so there isn't much to write. I mainly wanted to share that I am having fun, making friends, and actually being able to communicate a lot more. 

Estoy bien. 

Muchas gracias! xo

 

Mucha Fruta y Mas Amigas

Yesterday morning, I went to to the frutería with my host mother. Her frutería of choice is a small one in the Chana barrio next to our barrio (we live in the Periodista barrio..fitting, right?). 

From our casa to the frutería is about a 10 minute walk, maybe less. 

We passed many fruit vendors selling oranges, watermelons, and the like out of crates and wheelbarrows. My host mom told me she would rather pay more at the frutería because there's a good chance that the street vendors had stolen the fruit. I really do like my host mom a whole awful lot. 

At the frutería, we had to take a number. Soon enough, our number was flashing on the screen above the scales. 

My host mom stepped up and told the woman working how many kilos of what fruit and vegetables she wanted...we got a lot of fresh produce! 

Here's a picture of the frutería:

And it smelled so fresh, too! 

My host mom told me what all the different fruits and veggies were called in Español. I really like when people tell me what things are called before I even ask. 

Then, we had to walk about 3 minutes to my host mom's mother's apartments because my host mom needed to get some papers. The house was vacant when we arrived (I think my host mom said her mother was at the beach? I'm not sure). 

While she sorted through papers, I was given the task to water the plants. 

On the walk home, my host mom needed to stop at the bank. She told me to walk home alone with the big cart full of produce. I was nervous because 

1) I didn't exactly know where I was and 

2) that cart is difficult to push!

But I made it home without getting lost and with all the fruit and vegetables safe and sound. I even opened the door on my first try! (I had previously had a lot of trouble unlocking mi puerta). 

Later, despues comida, I went to the pool with Karly. We just tanned and chatted for about an hour. It was relaxing and incredibly enjoyable. 

When I got back, my host mom told me that Amanda wanted to hang out with me! Amanda is best friends with Monica, my host family's daughter who is on exchange in Florida. I had met Amanda once before and she is in the same grade as me. 

So my host father drove me to Maracena, the small town outside of Granada (it's basically a part of Granada). He drove me because I didn't know the bus system well enough...but I do now!

When I arrived in Maracena, I walked with Amanda to her friend Inma's house. 

Now, here's the catch- Amanda and Inma speak almost zero English. 

Another catch- I could actually communicate with them?!

We walked around Maracena about 6 times (yes, it's that small) and talked. I actually talked!! In Spanish!! 

I had a blast! For the last half of us hanging out, we just sat on a bench and talked and joked and laughed. 

These past few days, I've began to feel more at home in Granada. I now feel like I'm not totally just tagging along. Hooray for inclusion!

(**and when I say "inclusion," it's not like people weren't including me before, it's that I'm including myself in conversations)

At about 10 or 11 (I forget) my host dad picked me up. My host mom made me a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner and we talked about pasteles and what I did with Amanda and Inma and that there were guys coming to polish the floors in the morning. I really, really enjoy speaking in Spanish to people. 

Tomorrow, I leave at 10 AM with Karly and Robin to our Rotary conference in Madrid. 

To prepare for the 5+ hour bus ride, I need to buy some snacks and maybe a book today (there is a librería near my house). 

As of now, though, I have no plans for today except putting everything that's on my bedroom floor onto my bed so the floor polishing guys can polish my floor. 

(**NOTE: this is a late post- the activities in this post did not happen "last night". why am I even including this disclaimer? I don't know, but I am.)

Muchas gracias! xo

Exploring Albaicín

Let me begin with a picture-

This is Albaicín, the old part of Granada. This is not my barrio, but this is my city. 

Walking around Albaicín with my host brothers, Karly (the exchange student from Colorado who lives in my apartment building), and some others was the perfect evening activity last night. 

Albaicín is seriously the most beautiful place I have ever been. I can't even begin to describe it, so I'll leave it to the few photos I took (which do not do it justice).

And of course a selfie:

(The blonde girl in the pink is Karly)

After exploring the city, we hopped a fence and sat on part of the ancient wall. GREAT view! (It's where I took the majority of the pictures).

The night was super mellow and laid back, and people even talked slower! It was also nice to have an American to be a little touristy with (Karly and I were the only people on the wall who were taking pictures). 

After this, I have come to the conclusion that I have fallen in love with Granada. And right now, there is no other place in the world I'd rather be than here.

(**NOTE: this is a late post- the activities in this post did not happen "last night". why am I even including this disclaimer? I don't know, but I am.)

Muchas gracias! xo