La educación no consiste en llenar un cántaro sino en encender un fuego

So since coming to Málaga, I have been tutoring! When I first started taking the Spanish courses back in February, I saw a lot of advertisements from Spanish students looking for native English-speakers for tutoring. I found it quite interesting considering that for a native English-speaker, tutoring is just simply speaking and practicing English. Anyway, most of the adds said things such as "Looking for English speaker. Will trade my Spanish for your English", but I never pursued them because I was not looking to take Spanish classes.

A week later or so, the lady that picked me up from the airport called me to see how I was doing and adapting to life here in Málaga. Then she asked me if I would be willing to help her with her English. She had enrolled in an English program to get certified to be a teacher. The course tests on four areas: listening, speaking, reading, & writing. Since that moment, I have been tutoring her every other friday. She comes to pick me up after class on Fridays at 12:15 and we go to get coffee and speak English. I answer any questions she may have or any sort of doubts she may have when it comes to English, and I get a free coffee and pastry. It is very nice, because I use that opportunity to get to know her and help her improve.

She works as an independent contractor for a pharmaceutical company and has been out of work since January so she is looking to acquire this teaching certification so that she will be able to teach English. She is 34 years old, and I find it admirable of her to make an effort to learn a second language at this moment in her life. I do not charge her because speaking English is not that difficult for me, and I am not really doing anything except dedicating my time. She was tested and passed two of the sections already. Now she is concentrating on the other two and her next exam is in June. At first it was hard for her to understand me, because here in Spain they learn British English and it was difficult for her to understand my accent. I DIDN´T REALIZE I HAD AN ACCENT! lol. But I told her it was good for her to get exposed to American English because then she would not have trouble understanding it in the future.

One thing that I find very interesting is the fact that very few Spaniards speak English. I find that rather strange since my roommates and the rest of the Spaniards that live at the residency say that they start learning English from the age of 8 or 9 until the age of 18. That is 10 years of learning! However, very few know how to speak or understand the language. I started asking around to understand why they don´t speak it if they have been learning it since such an early age. I found out that the educational system does not emphasize practice. They learn vocab, sentence structuring, etc. but the entire class is taught in Spanish. I guess that is pretty insane since it is evident that without practice, there is no way to improve. Spaniards (at least the ones that I have been exposed to) also believe that British English is the best English to learn, because it is the most pure, which is why their ears are not used to understanding American English.

Anyway, it seems as though Europe in general is changing its entire educational system because they are looking to implant which they refer to "Bolognia". I am still trying to figure out what this new system will mean for Spain, but I am hoping to find out and write about it soon. Next week is our break for Semana Santa........it is off to BARCELONA & MALLORCA!

De músico, poeta, y loco, todos tenemos un poco.

Well, like many other major cities in the world, Málaga has an awesome night life. It does not really matter the type of person you are, because there is something to fulfill all different types of tastes. The last couple of weekends, I have gone out to explore what the city has to offer. As I mentioned in my previous blog, there are a ton of ERASMUS students studying here at UMA, and we all naturally gravitate towards one another since we share a common bond. To be quite honest, it is very nice to be able to share this experience with people who are going through the same feelings and emotions as I am. I definitely feel as though I have made some lasting friendships here at UMA.

A couple weekends ago, my friend from Great Britain, Natasha, invited Kelley and I to her "piso" (apartment) for a small get together. Afterward, we would go to one of the pubs and meet up with some other ERASMUS students. It was actually quite nice! Her piso is in the downtown Málaga area, and she has access to the night life and historical monuments all the time. (Idk if I could handle all the distraction!) When we got to her piso, we met up with several other girls that we had never met before. I met a girl from Canada, France, Denmark....it was like a mini-United Nations gathering! lol.

So after all the small talk and such we decided to go to this pub Shamrock, which is considered to be the place for all of the ERASMUS students. I thought that was funny. So the moment I walk into the pub, I see all these familiar faces from my Spanish classes and from my classes at UMA. I also saw a whole set of new faces! I loved it! As I stood there chit chatting with all of these ERASMUS students, I chuckled in my mind, because everyone was from a different country!!!! The pub seemed to be a place away from home for a lot of these students, because it played all types of popular music. I found it quite interesting the fact that the students here are all very different. For example, I consider myself to be a calm, cool, and collective kind of person when it comes to going out. I can be reserved for the most part, but once I get out of my shell there is no way of shutting me up! lol. One thing is for sure, I cannot be out all night.

The buses stop running at around 11 pm here, and the bus, which costs 1,10 euros, is the cheapest way of getting around. A taxi from downtown to campus/ where the residencies are located costs 10 euros, so what students tend to do when they go out is just stay out until 7 am when the busses start running again so they don't spend the extra cash. Well, I cannot do that! Around 3 am I was starting to get tired. Plus, I like to sleep in my own bed, and the idea of wasting a day to sleep didn't seem to sit well with me. So around 3:3o in the morning Kelley and I split a taxi back to the residency.

Another time, my roommate Azu, who is a Spaniard from Córdoba, had invited me to go out with her and her friends. I really was not feeling up for the idea because of the situation with my classes and such. But Azu is such an awesome person and I didn't want to turn down her invitation. Plus, I had spent a good amount of time with the ERASMUS students and was curious to see how the Spaniards got down in their hometown. lol. So She and I met up with her friends downtown around 11 pm and went to a local bar to chit chat. Well little did I know that I was going to be the topic of discussion! Everyone was asking me about the United States and what it is like to live there. The mere fact that I was American and could speak English was thrilling to these people, which made me feel so awkward!

So when we finished, I looked at the clock and it was 2 am. The time had gone by so quickly! The invited to go to this discoteca called WHITE. Let me tell you, I had never seen so many Europeans in my life! The were playing american pop music and everyone was dancing around. From there they took me to the party ship. The party ship? YES! It's a ship that has been converted into a club, and it's divided into two sections--Latin music & hip hop. It was pretty fun! After about an hour though, I could not take it anymore. I heard my bed communicating with me telepathically! My roommate told me to wait a couple of hours and then I wouldn't have to spend the money for a taxi, and I told her my mind was made up! So I took a taxi and left my roommate and her friends behind for my date with my comfy bed!

I think I would be the first to admit that I can be a bit crazy at times, but I don't know if I could ever convert into a true Malagueña and stay out until the buses start running in the morning! All I can say is, GOTTA LOVE SPAIN. lol.....

Lo que en los libros no está, la vida te enseñará

Bueno, parece que algunos de ustedes quieren saber cómo es el campus de la UMA y cómo son las clases, asi que hoy hablaré de mis experiencias en las clases (it looks ike some of you would like to know what UMA´s campus looks like and what the classes are like, so today I will address some of those experience).

Well, it has been four weeks since classes started, and in the last month, a lot has happened. At GSU, I am registered for four classes--linguistics, Spanish for international business, Spanish culture and civilization, and translation. As you may well imagine, it is very difficult to match classes from two distinct universities. So the best way is by taking something as similar as possible.

The linguistics class was pretty easy to find, because UMA offers a general linguistics course and linguistics is linguistics whether it is in Spanish, French, English, Chinese, etc. Linguistics in general is a very difficult topic. No me dí cuenta de ésto hasta que empezó la clase (I did not realize this until I started class). The class is basically about languages and how languages develop and under what situations and how humans consider a language to be a language. I mean really deep and interesting theories! The professor for that class is a woman, and she started the first day of class with a story about an experience she had in London. She was basically saying that she did not understand why Spanish people did not act in the same way English speakers do, such as demand a translator when they do not know a language or refuse to learn a language before going abroad or expect everyone in the world to know English and not have to learn another language. Anyway, so she tells us that she went to London and did the same thing (even though she knew how to speak English). She was in a hotel and demanded a translator, and the hotel staff told her there was none available. So my professor said that she demanded a translator and told them that she would wait until one was available and for nothing, because in the end she ended up having to give up and speak their language. So I thought that was interesting that she refused to give up her native language to prove that the English speaker thinks that they are better than everyone else.

Spanish for international business was a little easy as well because all one needs to do is take a general business class, which would basically be Spanish for international business--I mean, how much more international can one get than being in Europe?! So, to fulfill that requirement, I am taking "Organization y administración de empresa" (Business organization and administration).

The business class is in a whole different campus than the rest of UMA. All the facultades except for the business and engineering facultades are all located in the same area, but it seems that these two are new to the campus so they are located abt 20-30 minutes away (walking distance) from the other facultades. So every morning I wake up and go for a nice little stroll. The business class is pretty much a combination of economics and organizational behavior. So, it is not that bad because it is almost like a refresher. Hopefully. lol. But it is awesome, because I am going to learn a lot of new business terms in Spanish.

I am taking Historia Contemporanea de Andalucia to fulfill my Spanish culture and civilization requirement. The professor was out the first two weeks of class because he was sick. This man is the most laid-back man I have even met, and his accent is super thick and he speaks very fast. There are a lot of international students in that class so it is very fun. We tried last class period to get the professor to post his notes onto the online classroom, and he basically told us that he did not have time because he has a wife and kids. He prefered to make copies for us. I thought that was hilarious.

Anyway...cómo ya pueden ver, ya pude arreglar la situación con mi clase de negocios (as you can see, I was able to fix my situation with my business class). However, I had another situation! GAH! My trip would not be half as exciting if I did not have all these mini little problems! Well, my translation class had been cancelled the since the beginning of the semester because the professor got sick. So the first two weeks I waited with hopes that the professor would be back the third week. The third week she was a no show so I went with a couple of ERASMUS students to the Secretaría del Departamento to find out what was going on.

The secretaría said that all she knew was that the professor was sick and did not know when she would be back. Other ERASMUS students who had been here since September told us that this was normal at UMA. The educational system here is still very much under a bureacracy. So anyway, I go to register and the people in the international office tell me that I cannot register for the class because there is a limit on the number of ERASMUS students that can enroll in the class. I was so upset. So I ask what can I do to fix the problem, and they tell me that I have to go back to the professor and ask them for permission to register in the class. BUT.......the professor is no where to be found! So they advise me to put in a complaint with the director of the department. So I go and try to find the director and he is out sick. OF COURSE HE IS!

So week four, I send an email to the professor to find out if she is on her death bed dying! I get an email back saying that she is no longer the professor of that course and that I need to go back to the Secretaría to find out who is the new professor. WOW. I go back to the Secretaría and TELL the woman what I found out from the professor. She picks up the phone and makes small talk with the person on the other end, and I am like.....please, do your job! The lady then tells me that the class is without a professor and that they are in the process of finding a professor for the class. I was like WHAT?! So I go to the advisor, and he tells me that I am pretty much at a loss for the class because the professors are not allowed to give approval with that limit in place. I started laughing/crying and tell the advisor how I feel about everything. I guess he felt really bad because then he gave me some other options and apologized abundantly for everything.

All this to say that I finally have a semi-translation class with a very nice professor! In the end, this experience has taught me that sometimes you have to buckle up and help yourself and get stuff done whether no one else is willing to help you. I am definitely learning to be more TRANQUILA and appreciate what I have at home!

Oh Málaga....how so UNBORING you are! lol.

Hasta luego!

Voy pa´ Ronda a ver lo que hay

Bueno...

¿Por dónde empiezo? (Where do I start?) Saturday, the 27 of February, I got the opportunity to go to a city that I had never heard of before--Ronda. It all started when Teljer, one of my friends from GSU, got a recommendation from Dr. Elena del Río Parra, one of our professors from GSU. Neither one of us had ever heard mention of Ronda before, so I mentioned to one of my roommates that we were going to see what all the fuss was about, and she said that Ronda was a beautiful city. Supposedly, she had heard that it was one of the older cities in Spain that had been pretty well preserved and that it sat on a cliff. After speaking with her, I figured it was worth it.

We decided to make it a day trip since the city was only an hour and a half by bus from Málaga. So Saturday morning comes around, and sadly I was not feeling too well. I don´t know how, but I somehow got sick with a cold. When I woke up at 6 am, I was still half asleep because the night before I had not gotten any sleep because I was coughing so much. My alarm had gone off about 15 minutes earlier, and I did not hear it. In my head I was debating with myself--do I go or stay? I started thinking about it and right when I had almost convinced myself to stay, I started thinking about my day if I were to stay. I thought, if I stay, I will regret it so much and just sit around doing nothing thinking about what the other girls were doing in RONDA!

So I get up in a flash, shake off the sleep, and start to get ready. I get down stairs and pick up my bocadillo that the dorm prepared for me and headed to the bus station with Teljer. We end up meeting Michelle and mount the bus to Ronda at around 8 am.

The bus ride was not bad at all. I was so hungry on the bus that I ended up eating my bocadillo and everything else the dorm had prepared for breakfast. While I was eating, I was taking in the experience and was happy to be able to share it with my friends from GSU and with some of the other ERASMUS students we have met here in Spain. We stopped a couple times before getting to Ronda in some smaller towns, which made me want to find out about those too because they seemed interesting. However, I was half asleep on the bus so I did not really notice how long the bus ride was in actuality.

Anyway, we get to Ronda and start walking down to the tourist center of the city. After a couple minutes of walking, we run into this beautiful church. I cannnot get over the architecture in Spain. It is absolutely breathtaking. Then right next to the church is this very large but calm and well kept courtyard. The courtyard has benches and fountains, but in the middle it had a small garden. I thought it was pretty cute. But then when you look down the courtyard, you see a fence and the courtyard almost stops and beyond the fence is just the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen. So I make my way down the courtyard and realize that the couryard is actually on a cliff! I look out over the fence and see rolling hills and green pastures divided by a rushing river. It was awesome! The hills eventually become mountain ranges and it was something like in a fairytale.

As we kept walking, we ran into the oldest bull fighting ring in the country! It was pretty interesting because it is now a museum and the museum had information about everything--arms, knights and chivalry, attire (for both men and women), and of course bullfighting. While there, I thought to myself how awesome it was to be in a place where millions had watched and experienced a famous sport that still lives on today.

After the bullfighting ring, we walked a little and saw the new bridge linking old and new Ronda. This bridge is awesome! You see it and it overlooks the entire tapestry. It is so high up and everything that surrounds it is beautiful! Plus, at the time, the weather was gorgeous, which made everything just 10 times better. When you cross the bridge, you feel like you are in a small little town. It is very cute. Ronda, like many of the other cities in Southern Spain, is influenced a lot by the Arab architecture and design. We went to "La Casa del Rey Moro" which is pretty much a huge ancient home that overlooks the tapestry next to a garden. It also had a mine that led all the way down to the gorge. So we walked down a bunch of stairs to see the gorge, which was gorgeous. Then we had to walk up (talk about a workout!) and by that point the day had become overcast, and it was evident it was going to rain.

We saw the Ayuntamiento and had some delicious tapas--chicken and shrimp skewers! Since the day was started to turn overcast, we decided to check out the Vine Museum as a last hoorah in the fabulous city of Ronda. The wine museum was fairly interesting. We participated in a wine tasting and the rest of the museum explained the process of wine tasting, which I have always been interested in checking out.

Overall, I would recommend Ronda to anyone! It has to be the most beautiful city I have ever seen or at least amongst the most beautiful cities. Spain has so many hidden beauties to it, and I cannot wait to continue discovering more about it.

I am starting to miss my friends a little bit, but I know July will be here before I know it....

Los amo a todos

Tranquila...

Buenos días,

For the last two weeks, I have been so busy that I could not really focus on writing my blog. I did not want to sit and write anything without giving it the importance I believe it deserves, so I will do my best to express what has been going on with my life the last two weeks.

Monday the 15 of February, which was the day after I arrived from Morocco, the international relations office held a meeting for the North American international students. The school divides the meetings in two: one for the ERASMUS students, which are the students from other European countries studying in Spain, and another for the American students, which is pretty much everyone in North and South America. Obviously, the meeting for the North American students was much smaller because there are less than us than there are ERASMUS students. The meeting was to inform us of how the matriculation for UMA would be processed and the steps that we needed to take in order to complete our matriculation in an orderly fashion.

It is actually quite frustrating because UMA has a completely different mentality about matriculation than in USA. Here, the students start school in late September and around that time, they matriculate for both Fall and Spring semesters. The students have about a month to go around and "listen-in" on classes until they feel they have solidified their class schedule. In our case, it is a lot more difficult because we are coming in without being registered in the classes that we need. The office basically gives us an opportunity to sit in on some of the courses to aquire a feel for our classes. This is good and bad. I believe that this is a great opportunity for international students to chose the classes they feel best fits them. However, the longer you continue sitting in on classes, the longer it takes to complete your registration and the more you continue missing out on valuable class time.

Another note of importance is that UMA has different "facultades" or campuses of concentration and the students spend their entire day at the same facultad and each facultad starts school on a different date; all the facultades do not start classes at the same time. For example, at GSU, students can double major in business administration and pre-law if they wanted too. Students at GSU would have to go from Aderhold, which is where the majority of the business classes are taken, and the main campus. This is not done here. A double major is unheard of here, and students usually spend their entire day in their own facultad. If a student is a psychology major, he or she will take classes in "La Facultad de Psycología". Another issue is that the facultades do not communicate with one another, since there is really no need to do so. With that being said, chosing business classes and Spanish classes has been quite the ordeal.

At the meeting, it was believed that the Facultad de Sociales Empresariales and the Facultad de Economía started classes on Wednesday the 17th, two days after our meeting. This made me a little concerned because I had not been told sooner and there had been no way for me to find out what classes would be available, so I decided to hold off and research and start attending classes on Monday the 22nd, which is when the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras started classes.

The weekend before the 22nd, I found some classes online that would be available and worked out a schedule that I felt was practicle. Satifisfied with what I had put together, I went exploring on Sunday to "El Alcazaba" a fortress-palace in Málaga. It was pretty awesome because it really was decorated like a moorish palace. There were several gardens and courtyards as you continued through. You could also tell it was very well protected because it was built on a hillside and as you climb up you can slowly but surely see the entire downtown Málaga. I find moorish architecture and the Arab influence on Southern Spain to be quite fascinating, which is why I am taking a history of Andalucía class.

The next day, Monday, I woke up early and went to my first class at 8:30 in the morning and sat there for two hours confused as to why the professor had not presented the course plan before lecturing about demographics, to then find out that the class was an annual class. After a moment of frustration, I went to my next class to find out that the professor was not going to be available because he had a conference, but that class too was an annual class.

I arrived back at the dorm a bit frustrated because I obviously attended the wrong classes on my first day, which was, in my eyes, a non-productive day. I explained the situation to my roommates, and they of course said to me....TRANQUILA, NO PASA NADA (relax, it is going to be fine) because usually the first week is just for class presentations and the professors know that the majority of the students are sitting in with hopes of choosing their classes wisely. With Michelle´s help, that evening I put together a schedule with semester classes that I needed. Once again, on Tuesday, I wake up for class at 8:30 and after waiting for a half our my professor did not show. I proceeded to go to my next class--linguistics, which was a success. In the evening, my history class was cancelled for the first week because the professor got sick, so the class would not start until the following week.

Wednesday, my birthday, was a very frustrating day because that was the first day I went to my business class, which had a started a week earlier. After sitting in class for two hours and feeling relieve because I felt that my schedule had been completed, I find out that the class was an annual class as well. Frustrated, once again, I went to the international relations office and spoke to my program director about my situation. She kindly sat down with me and gave me some other options and the names of some of the professors. After the meeting with her, I went and spoke with one of the professors to see if his class would be a good option. He kindly answered all of my questions, but I later found out that his class coincides with another one of my classes. So I am basically back at square one with my business class with hopes to attend the right one this following week.
That night, the girls from GSU and I went to celebrate my birthday at a local restaurant near the residency. It was very nice to talk and relax with great company. I am actually very appreciative of my roommates too. The night before right as I was getting into bed, at midnight, I heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, my roommates and fellow gsu students surprised me with a cake and a small little something. They had told me that they were working on a project, when in reality they were working on a card for me and buying a cake! I am so fortunate and blessed to be in such great company! That night I was still frustrated with my school issues, but I realized that life is too short to be living with anxiety all the time. I am not used to feeling powerless in this respect, and it is quite difficult for me to be "tranquila" when I know time is a ticking, but at the same time, maybe this is a life lesson for me to learn that life goes on, be it good or bad.

This weekend is a long weekend because Monday is "El día de Andalucía" and I have plans to go to Ronda, which I hear is a beautiful weekend. This might be the perfect opportunity to chill out ;-)

Until next time....

No estaba lista para ésto

Hola a todos....

Last week was quite the adventure. For those that don't know, I went to Morocco! It was a bit of an experience so I'll just start from the beginning.....this is an earful!


For some odd reason, I decided to take an express bus to Madrid, which was pretty awesome. The bus left on Tuesday at 5pm, and we finally got to Madrid at 11pm. It seemed appropiate to sleep at the airport on Tuesday night since the flight to Marrakech was for 6:25am. Once we got to Madrid, we took the metro to the airport. For the short while that I was in Madrid, I could tell that Madrid was a pretty mobile city because of the fact that the metro was so extensive. I mean, from the bus station to the metro was 45 minutes, and we were able to get directly to the airport. I thought that was pretty awesome, and it makes Madrid a pretty attractive city. For the first time in my life, I slept at the airport (I would not recommend this for everyone!). After several attempts at falling asleep, it was finally time for us to board the plane.

When we got to the Marrakech airport, the pilot told us that he could not land because of fog, and after an hour of circling, finally decided to land at the Agadir airport, which is about 4 hours away from Marrakech. RyanAir was able to get transportation by bus for the passengers to Marrakech, which took another 4 hours. FINALLY, we got to Marrakech!

Morocco was a lot different than what I was used to here in Spain or even in the United States. Even though we stayed in Marrakech, a tourist city, you could still see the heavy Arab influence.

We ended up staying in Hotel Ali, which served breakfast too. The owner was very nice and was available for any questions we had. We stayed in the heart of Medina and in the main plaza of the city. The first day was a little overwhelming, because since Morocco is a poor city, every harrasses the tourists for their business and many times will not accept NO for answer. In the main plaza there were many mini kiosks with different items for sale. There were snake charmers and hena women available for entertainment; one just needs to be careful because these people will do whatever it takes for a buck! It was funny because on the first night, Kelley got stalled by one of the hena women and she handed Kelley a booklet and in 5 seconds had an entire design on her hand. Kelley, as wonderful as she is, told the woman that she did not have the money for hena and did not want it in the first place and wiped her hand clean. IT WAS AWESOME. But they do try to get you!

The second day we walked around the city and went to some of the local sounvenir shops trying to get an idea of how much things were going to cost. It is unbelievable the number of vendors that were available in the city. They sold things such as ceramic vases and plates, daggers, jewelry, purses, etc. I mean EVERYTHING! It was overwhelming the fact that we were three women in a city dominated by the male presence! But, we stuck together and handled it quite well. We also took a tour of the old Palais Bahia, which was phenomenal. It was amazing to see how intricate the arab architecture is and made me wish I knew how they conceived all their ideas! The palace was amazing and was filled with so many rooms, gardens, and courtyards. I loved it!

Out of everything that happened, I think I was most impressed at how many times a day Arabs pray. We were actually next to the Kotoubia, which is a mosque right in the heart of the city. It had speakers where they would anounce the prayers at the different moments in the day. I believe they prayed about 4 or 5 times a day. The Kotoubia was beautiful! It had a garden full of orange groves and fountains. I felt like I was in heaven! lol. I also got a chance to see the Atlas Mountains, which were AWESOME! It's moments like those that make me realize how great is my God!

I would definately recommend to anyone planning on going to Morocco to do their shopping at the Souks. You can negotiate souvenir items for whatever price you want! Since there are so many shops that are selling the same thing, the vendors take whatever they can get! It was sooo exciting to go shopping! I was able to buy a beautiful tourquise scarf and some other things. Plus, since Marrakech is a young tourist city, you can easily take a vacation with an inexpensive budget.

The last day we went to the Jardin Marjorelle, which is considered to be one of the twentieth century's most mysterious gardens because it represents five continents. Just from the moment you walk into the garden you feel peace and tranquility! I would definately recommend the Jardin Marjorelle to anyone.

All the restaurants in Marrakech served fruit juices, which were DELICIOUS! Juices made from banana, kiwi, avocado, pineapple, apple, almond, etc. O my goodness, this is a must try! The food was very delicious. For breakfast we ate crepes and eggs with orange juice and coffee. THE COFFEE WAS THE BEST COFFEE I'VE EVER HAD! No lie.

The last night we decided to sleep at the airport again (qué divertido, ¿no?). It was pretty cold, and the three of us made an attempt at keeping warm by spooning and it was awesome! Great way to generate heat. Next thing you know, it's time for us to board the plane. We arrive in Madrid and end up missing the bus ride to Málaga, which makes us have to purchase another bus ticket! Ay Dios mío.......¿qué no nos pasó?

All in all, it was a great experience and would definately consider going back again. I would say a year ago I would have never thought about visiting an Arab country but Marrakech was awesome. Next time though.....I'm doing the excursion to the Sahara!

Until next time........Ciao!

No dolares, aquí se paga en euros

Hi Everyone!

The last couple of days have been pretty eventful. Last Saturday evening, the entire crew from GSU went to celebrate the commencement of a life changing experience. Michelle decided to take us out to wine and dine at GARUM. While there, we talked and shared about why we decided to come on this trip and apply to this program, and while there, I realized that I really like the group from GSU that is here in Málaga. I found it especially interesting the fact that our reservation was for 10:30 in the evening, and there were still people walking around casually in the streets! Even at night, this place is so beautiful! All the lights and the architecture make the city come to life. By the time we finished, it was 1:30 in the morning, and there were still people in the restaurant talking and in deep conversation. That is so amazing!

On Sundays, most everything is closed, so Sunday was a day to unpack and organize my room. I took the opportunity to explore la residencia and get to know my roommates, who by the way are spectacular! Each one is so different, but that is what makes this experience so special! It was funny because I asked my roommates why everything here is done so late! For example, breakfast at la residencia is served from 8-9 am, lunch starts at 2 pm and ends at 3 pm, and then dinner does not start until 8:45 pm! By the time dinner starts, I am starving! My roommates were shocked when I told them they ate late here, because they said they eat dinner even later at home! I could not believe it.

On Monday, Kelley took Teljer and I to the bank to open up a bank account. The people there already knew us and helped us with no problem. They were very cordial and were open to answer any of our questions. I had some US$ in my wallet and even had a chance to change them into euros at the local bank, which I thought was quite convenient. After going to the bank we explored the shopping center, El Corte Inglés, which is pretty similar to a Macys. Everytime I go out, I find myself doing the currency conversion in my head to see how much everything is in dollars. I keep forgetting everything is in euros! Surprisingly, some of the items here are much cheaper here than in the USA. But a good majority is a little more expensive, which makes it harder to buy certain things.

Out of everything that we have done this past week, I find that the most convenient is the student bus pass. Mass transportation is available here, and the people are able to use the bus system, taxi, or their own car. The bus system here is so extensive, though, that there is no reason to use a car. The student bus pass has unlimited rides and only costs 23 euros to purchase. They just need proof of enrollment in order to process the bus pass. Since the girls and I have not been able to enroll yet, we were not able to get a student bus pass. You can, however, buy a 10 ride bus pass for 7 euros or 20 ride for 14 euros. Because the bus is used so often here, it is better to purchase the unlimited student bus pass, because I bought the 20 ride and I only have 10 rides left!

Yesterday, Thursday, was the first day of the intensive Spanish classes, and I can already tell that I am going to learn a lot. I am not only going to learn about the way Spaniards speak Spanish, but also basic things to improve my everyday speaking. The first two hours are for conversation, and then the follow two hours are of grammer. I found it quite interesting to be in a class full of people from all over Europe who have come to Spain to learn how to speak Spanish! My professors are very funny and down-to-earth. My grammer professor´s name is Rafael and almost had a heart attack when I addressed him formally.

I really do love Spain so far and would encourage anyone to go abroad to study, work, or travel. I have met so many new people here, and I have only been here a week. It is so fascinating to see how much globalization has had an affect on a city such as Málaga! I cannot wait to discover more as my time here progresses!

CIAO!