I'm so Spanish!

Hello again!

Wow, the time since coming back from Milan has kind of been a whirlwind. Classes started last Monday, but the system is so very different here and very tough to figure out. When students enter college here, they choose a major and then their schedule is pretty much handed to them and they don't have choices. I came here with the hopes of taking elective classes because those are the kind that I saved up to take while abroad. Half of our classes have to be from the same major, though, and we were basically given a website and told to choose our schedule. Last week two of my classes on Tuesday just didn't happen, and one of them was back again on Wednesday - they just didn't have a teacher yet. The other one apparently doesn't start until the first week of March because it's a music ed class and those students have practicum until the end of February, so that won't start until next week. Pretty much every night I've looked over my schedule and changed it up and I think I finally have one that I can stick with, although one of the classes I went to yesterday was cancelled, and the other one that I went to I figured out afterward that I'm really not supposed to be in that class. The professor said it was okay, and the other students were really really nice and the subject is interesting, but it's a continuation of a class from the first semester. Oh well :)

The weekends are very fun here, too. Kind of lazy sometimes, kind of fast-paced other times. Last Saturday we had a Valentine's Party at someone's apartment and just ate and talked and had a good time, and then a bunch of us went out dancing afterwards. Speaking of Valentine's Day, I was so pleasantly surprised when I received a dozen roses and a teddy bear on Saturday from Rob. He figured out how to send it even in Spain - made my day :) This weekend started the International Week festivities, so we had a brunch with the president of the University and all of the international students. Tapas and wine at 1 in the afternoon...only in Spain. Later that day my friend Megan and I went to find our costumes for Carnaval, which is basically like Halloween in February, minus the candy. I went to church later that night to meet with Lidia, the lady that does exchange with me, but she wasn't there. I ended up typing some documents for the pastor and hanging out with the men cleaning the church. I tried some Ecuadorian bread - best I've ever had in my life. I had friends over to make dinner and hang out, and then the next day was our trip to Cartegena, which is a city in the region of Murcia that's about 45 minutes away. It's a very historical city becuase it's very old. We got to see the Roman theater, a maritime museum (they found a boat about a half an hour away that was from 1000 years B.C. and there was a replica in the museum). It was a beautiful day because the sun finally decided to come out and shine for us, and Cartegena is a cute little port town, which made for some beautiful pictures.






When we got back I got ready to go out because our school reserved a club for all of the international students for Carnaval, so I dressed up as a pirate. It was a really fun night to meet people and hang out with friends. I got up the next morning and got picked up by Jose Maria, Beto, Pablo, and Javi. I don't know if I talked about Beto in a previous blog, but I met him at the missionaries' house one Sunday and he needed help writing an English paper about an American city, so I helped him with it, and now we hang out every once and a while. He's Bolivian but has lived here for the past seven years. Anyway, to back up a little bit, I joined the praise team at church. Rafael found out that I could play the piano and told Jose Maria, and bada bing, bada boom, I'm on the praise team. It's actually really cool to be involved in a church, and I'm getting to know quite a few people there. I also haven't played music at church for quite a while, and that's nice too. I definitely was slightly confused when I saw Fa, Do, and Sim, but then I remembered The Sound of Music and made myself a little chart. I did pretty well!

After church, they asked if I had lunch plans, and I said no, so they asked if I would like to join them. I figured that it would be a small lunch at their house, but it turned into a huge lunch at a really nice restaurant with fifteen people. It was a blast, and probably the best food that I've eaten thus far, which is really saying something, because the food has been amazing here. Anyway, after that shindig I went back and changed and then headed into town to see the BULL FIGHT! Yes, friends, you heard me. I went to a bull fight! It was something that I felt like I wouldn't really like, but I needed to experience it because it's the culture. I actually didn't hate it. It was not as brutal as I thought it would be, and it was just very interesting to see. I don't know that I would choose to go to another one, but I'm so glad that I had that experience. (Pictures coming soon)

Another week of classes, and though it's been crazy, I think I finally have a schedule that works! OH! And I don't think I mentioned the flamenco classes! My friend Chelsea and I found a class where we can learn flamenco. We went Monday night - LOVE it :) We went today to buy shoes and the skirt - classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

Hasta luego, amigos!