Okay so these pictures are, from top to bottom: Maria, Jackie and I, the cathedral and a nice tree, oh the cathedral and another nice tree, i think that black and white building is the University of Sevilla, and a view of Sevilla from the bridge I walk across.

So I've been in Spain for about 10 days now and I'm starting to pick up on the society and culture here. One thing I've noticed is that the teenagers/college age kids here thrive on the nightlife. My sister especially. She goes out every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night usually lasting from 10pmish to 5 or 6 in the morning. She has taken Jackie and I out with her friends a few times which has been fun, but by 3:00 I'm usually ready to leave. I'm not sure how much of this fiesta-ing I can take. But I've really enjoyed it because it's given Jackie and I a really unique opportunity to hang out with other Spanish people our age. We've started making friends with Maria's friends and, although most of the time we can't understand what they say to each other because they speak so dang fast, we hang out with them quite a bit.

Another thing I've learned is that soccer is a man's sport. I was talking to a friend of Maria's who told me that very few women participate in sports. When I asked what they do instead he said "salir"-go out. Maria is a great example of this. Nonetheless, everyone loves watching futbol and everyone has their team. I'm hoping to go to a professional game sometime soon. I hear they are a blast.

I started classes last week and I've been really enjoying them all. I have a 3 hour long intensive Spanish class every day, a Cultural Realities class and a flamenco dance class. That's been fun. Maria has danced for about 15 years so she likes us to show her what we learn so she can add her own steps. My Spanish class is very fun, it's focused on vocabulary which is what I struggle with most so it's very helpful. It's basically a class based around discussing various topics with my classmates and teacher. Jackie and I have the same schedule, which is nice so we walk to and from school together (about a 30 minute walk). I'm so glad to have her as a roommate. We have very similar senses of humor which is awesome and we're both pretty easy-going and low maintenance. This sometimes causes problems though when we have to wake up and we both turn off our alarms, usually leaving us 15 minutes to get ready. Our walk to class is always quite brisk. It's unfortunately been unusually rainy here lately so we haven't had much of a desire to explore the city yet. But the weather is supposed to improve in the next couple weeks.

Spanish is starting to get more and more difficult to keep up. Jackie and I both got pretty frustrated this weekend when we felt like we couldn't understand anything Maria and her friends were saying to one another. It's discouraging to have studied Spanish so long but not be able to understand a conversation. So we've been resorting to English a bit more. It's been a nice break but we starting to get back in Spanish mode. I still feel very comfortable having direct conversations with people so I know I shouldn't be discouraged and I'm already learning tons. I'm excited to see how much I will have improved at the end of the semester.

I am incredibly grateful for my family here. Although Maria can be a bit frustrating at times when she talks too fast or when she corrects us (which I know is a good thing) she is very very fun and friendly and always invites us to hang out with her friends. Most other people in our program don't have this kind of immersion experience so I am really blessed in that way. And I absolutely adore my hostmom Charri. She is such a wonderful cook and she has the sweetest little smile. One of my favorite things to do is sit at the living room table (which has a heater underneath it to warm your feet-amaaazing) and just talk with her while we watch TV. Oh this reminds me, people watch SO much TV here. They literally sit in front of it all day, especially after a night out at the bars. But yes I love chatting with Charri. She's really smart and has been teaching me a lot about Spanish history and politics.

Well dears I feel like I could write much more but for now I must go study for my first test. I will try and be better about updating this thing.