Life is definitely beginning to feel more natural here, but all in all not much has changed. I've been busy going to class and hitting up tapas bars with my friends. I've gotten to meet up with my language exchange partner, Valeria, every Thursday morning for the past several weeks. It's been great to get more practice with my Spanish. I've also had fun helping Valeria with her English. She watches a lot of documentaries about the US and tv shows in English. She brings me her questions and it usually leads to some interesting conversation. Up until now, I've been really disappointed with the amount of interaction (or lack thereof)I've been having with Spaniards, so it's been nice to slowly get more practice. I mentioned in my last post that I found a church and have been attending said church for the past several weeks. Two Saturdays ago I went to a youth event in Almeria (another city about an hour and half from Granada) with some of the young people from the church. In the morning we had a church-like service with worship and a message. Afterwards, we ate lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. I got to meet a lot of new people while practicing my Spanish. Many of the Spaniards there wanted to practice their English too, so it was fun to help all of them. Seeking further interaction with Spaniards, I started tutoring a 14 year-old boy every Tuesday. I will usually tutor him in English, although today he brought his math homework. God help him...who would have thought that I would have ever tutored anyone in math...I certainly wouldn't have. I actually did know how to do the problems, however, I didn't know all of the technical math terms in Spanish, so I think my explanation was a little confusing for him. He told me I explained it in a different way than his team , although I think that's a good thing because from what I could tell he was doing it wrong anyway. I'm also thankful that I've been able to talk to my host family more over the past week and that they're starting to open up. I spent last night in the kitchen with my host mom, not only discussing issues such as religion, but laughing and making jokes with her as well. This was exactly how I pictured my study abroad experience and I really hope it continues to be this way.
Oh, I suppose I should mention that over the weekend I went to Seville and Cordoba with ISA. Both cities were beautiful. My favorite sites were Plaza de Espana in Seville and the Cathedral in Cordoba, which was once a mosque. The building itself is huge and is truly magnificent. It's hard to describe such an incredible structure that has such a rich history and has undergone many transformations. The cathedral was once St. Vincent's Bascilica, which then became a mosque during the time that Cordoba became the capital of the Western Islamic world. After the Reconquista, which expelled the Muslims from Spain, the Christians made the mosque into a cathedral, putting the altar and nave in the center of building.
Well, that's about all for now! As always, thanks for reading!
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