Happy Valentine's Day!

El Dia de San Valentin!

So this past Saturday I went to Mar Menor for Valentine's Day(in Murcia) and it was sooo relaxing. It's not a touristy town like Alicante. Much more calm-- there were families out just having picnics and hanging out on the beach. I guess that's what you do when you have the beach at your back door-- but I'm from east TN and the beach is called a vacation! haha Anyways, very relaxing day, it was Dana's birthday (girl in my program) so we all celebrated the night before. She turned 20, and a few of us went out to eat at Foster's of Hollywood... it was American food and I loved every second of it. Don't get me wrong the tapas and new foods are great-- but sometimes it's just nice to eat a burger :) Also we had cake, it reminded me of ice-cream cake-- but not exactly and a little more rich. Speaking of cake and Mar Menor, we met up with two volunteers (that are connected somehow to the missionary family) and one of the girls is from Chattanooga, TN!!! Talk about small world.. we knew a bunch of the same people.

The week before that was Laura's birthday-- we celebrated then too. We (all 12 girls) brought something for dinner, and we had a potluck.. It was great. AND Laura's grandmother sent her a Valentine's Day/Care package... it had Reece's cups in it! It was hilarious how we all reacted when Laura pulled out the bag! We all agreed that the reactions we gave would probably never be replayed in America over a simple candy. After the dinner a few of us went to a bar called Revolver with acquaintances from our class-- who are from Manchester, England. They are great fun.. but this bar was-- well nice and chill and a "cool" enough bar. However, I found out about halfway through the night that the reason everyone was so nice, cool, and chill... was they were probably high. Yes pot is illegal in Spain, and yes I did get offered to smoke it, and yes I did say no. However-- from my understanding it's like if the cops aren't around the corner it doesn't really matter, I don't think they care what you do as long as there's not disturbing the peace... but I could be wrong. Sooo that was an experience that you could only find in Spain-- I think. Maybe I'm just oblivious...

Anyways, I'm a little past the one month mark and real life Spain has set in. I continue to enjoy it but little things are hard and challenging. I can honestly say I'm loving learning the language (as stupid as I feel sometimes) but I miss the comforts of America. I know anywhere I go (in America), and anything I do, I will know how to communicate and solve the problem. The language barrier is a double edged sword, because it pierces me sometimes and I feel like an idiot in class,, and other times it pushes me to try harder. After doing my laundry in a smaller more economic washing machine and hanging my clothes to dry for the past month I can honestly say that Europe has a right to think Americans are silly for using dryers. I hate to say it, but they are a lazy convenience for us--unless of course you live somewhere your clothes will freeze if you put them outside to dry. People here dress up a lot more-- I think. There is definitely NO going to class or even out of the house with your pajamas on. I'm pretty sure they've never had, nor will ever have a "grunge" generation.

I think that's all the highlights over the past couple of weeks. I've started my classes-- History of Spain, Medias and Communication, Politics and Society, Spanish (the language) and Geography. I like them.. the work load isn't too demanding and I like that! I start the language class tonight-- so we'll see how that goes...

Oh yes,,, one more thing... a shout out to my Valentine's Day cards and packages!! Thank you Momma, Aunt Sherry, Eileen, Andrea [(roomie she made me one], and Mark and Katya's girls Cedar and Lamar! It brightened my day every time I received a notice from the postman to pick up mail! :) THANK YOU!

Logistical things:
-You can go to Shutterfly (if my internet holds up) I'm posting more pictures right after this blog
-My email is elisabeth.claire29@gmail.com I'm compiling a master list to notify you when I post a blog because apparently it doesn't automatically send an email. So if you want to be included please email and say I want to be included in the master list
-If you can't view my pictures on Shutterfly please let me know

Ciao!