First Week Highlights.

Moving in! On Tuesday, we moved into our host family’s apartment in Malaga. My host mom is Puri. She is in her 70’s and lives with her daughter, Lissa, who is in her 40’s. Puri talks A LOT. This is fabulous, but we don’t understand a lot of what she is saying. She doesn’t grow impatient, but helps us out and is very sweet. Her goal is to fatten me up and find me a boyfriend. (For all of you who have joked about me finding “the love of my life” in Malaga, Puri is on your side. She brought this up of her own accord on Wednesday at lunch. Though I found this hilarious, it’s still not going to happen.) Also, for those of you placing bets on the mysterious pet: I don’t think there is one! So far we have only seen the 3 dogs.  So sorry to disappoint!

The street we live on!

First day of school! Wednesday, we began classes. We had our Spanish placement exam first thing in the morning and began classes shortly after. I tested into intermediate, which is exactly where I wanted to be! We will now have FIVE hours of Spanish everyday. My brain may turn to mush. But I am very excited to see how my Spanish will improve!

La Playa! During one of my short breaks between classes on Thursday morning, I ran down to the beach with Anna. This was the first time I had made it to the beach since arriving in Malaga. Why I waited so long, I have NO idea. It was incredible. When and where in the world can you get to the beach during a 20-minute break in classes? Not in Colorado, that’s for sure! It is amazing to be able to see the Mediterranean Sea, the mountains, and the city of Malaga at the same time! (Ryan-I think I finally found our perfect place with the mountains and the beach! They have skiing just an hour from here).

Mountains, sea, and city all at once!!!

Intercambio! Thursday night, we participated in our first intercambio. This places Spanish-speaking students with English-speaking students and gives us a chance to just talk, get to know other people, and practice using another language. It was a little awkward at first, but it got better! For some of the time, we were speaking in Spanish and they were answering in English so that we all could practice. Also, we met in this really neat tea shop, unlike anything we have back home. It was an awesome experience!

I can already tell that I am learning. I feel that I understand more of what Puri is saying and am more eager to try to speak. I can’t wait to be able to understand and say even more!