Todo mezcla...

Total mix...

Wow. Another week gone. The time is passing faster and faster. I don't have as many pictures this week as it was very low key. I spent a lot of time studying and keeping to myself. After working alone everyday for 2 years it's quite a drastic change having only minimal alone time. Luckily, people tend to leave you alone if you're studying. I wonder why... ;)

The studying paid off, I am able to use más verbos en pasado (pretérito indefinido & pretérito perfecto) y futuro (futuro simple). Hay demasiado verbos irregulares!

So what have I done recently... I cut my hair! Yup. Alone. With little kid's scissors! My professor noticed. Ideally I was hoping my experiment would go unnoticed. This was not the case. My professor was the only person who noticed and thought it was a great idea and necessary to have me stand up and turn around in class... ¡Me ponía roja!

Below is a picture of me wearing a yellow outfit. This is what the Europeans call 'overalls'. Man are they comfortable! It's a very popular outfit here. I'm dieing to go shopping... I might just have to send clothes home.

While roaming the streets of Málaga at night mis amigos y yo found a bridge full of 'lovers locks'. My European friends explained that this is very common. (Has anyone seen this is Alberta?) Each couple writes on one lock, locks it to the bridge, two wishes are made and the key is thrown into the river below. Cute right. Yo creo que esta es muy bonita. :)

And lastly there is a stenciled picture of a man's face, Mozito Feliz (?). While in Europe I'd like to see one original piece of Banksy's art... Graffiti art. So far this is as close as I've seen.

Un beso y hasta pronto...

Un fin de semana en Nerja...

A weekend in Nerja...

I spent Saturday in Nerja with three wonderful ladies; Ramona (Switzerland), Daniela (German), and Carolina (Italy). All three of us come from completely different worlds so to say the least the conversation was never boring. We visited the famous caves of Nerja, swam in the Mediterranean, tanned until we couldn't take the heat, ate delicious tapas, drank freshly squeezed orange juice, shopped a tiny bit (I bought an outfit very typical to Spain), visited The Balcony of Europe, and finally we enjoyed helado, café, and churros (obviously I didn't try the churros). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! It was a fabulous Saturday!

Sangria, Salsa, Bachata, Paella, Sol y Besos...

Two weeks in Malaga have passed and I can't tell you where the time has gone; 24 hours of class, 12 hours of dance and countless hours in the sun! What a fabulous week.

Sun bathing, studying and sleeping! There is an awesome pool at my host family's complex. It's a nice escape from the school pool so I've been taking full advantage of it. Below is my temporary brother, Livio. I'm really enjoying have a 'little brother'; nothing personal Kay Kay. He turns 20 this year and lives just outside of Zurich in Switzerland. He actually reminds me a lot of Tyler Kemball; one of my many wonderful cousins. :) 

 



Fish... I grabbed tapas last Friday with a group of friends. We went to a restaurant right along the beach. The beautiful view has a tendency to make your food taste even better. As a starter I order pimientos fritos. YUM! Small grilled green peppers with salt and olive oil. I think they are delicious. My main course was the pescado you see below. It is called dorada and it is unreal! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After one bite I completely forgot about his head being attached. 

 

Stracciatella... A very popular gelato flavor and it makes for a tasty yogurt. Yogurt is very popular in España. Yogurts, puddings, flans... Anything similar you can find anywhere.

... 

Supermercado & maple syrup... What a lovely surprise to find Canadian Maple Syrup! For those who don't know, in Canada I am the slowest grocery shopper around. In Spain it's even worse. I wanted sandwich meat but I should have translated 'turkey' beforehand. (In case you're curious, turkey = pavo.)There were no pictures of a turkey on the package. Lesson learned. I settled for pollo. I also learned very quickly NOT to touch the produce. In the pic below there is a box of gloves. Use them. Take your veggies and place them in a plastic bag, take your bagged veggies to the scale, select the proper code, a sticker with the price prints, stick this on your bag and pay at the counter. Having people get upset with you in Spanish is very interesting. I quickly learned how to say I'm sorry... Lo siento mucho!

 

Last weekend it rained on Saturday morning but that didn't stop Carolina and I from walking along la playa. Regardless of random sprinkles, the beach was wonderful. We even stumbled across some surfers. Two more weeks and that'll be me in Conil de la Frontera!!

 

Cerrado de Calderon es el nombre de barrio donde yo vivo. (Cerrado de Calderón is the name of the neighborhood where I live.)

Artist... 

My notebook... boob? I was doing my homework and was very surprised to see a boob. Only in Spain.

So many interesting pics to be shared...

Studying at the pool with Carolina. The sunshine is endless. I love it.

 

Carolina is great! Since Italian is similar to Spanish she can speak Spanish extremely well. She'd never admit it but she's fluent in my opinion. And she has the patience of an angel as a stumble along in an attempt to spit out a sentence. She agreed to speak only Spanish with me; for the most part anyways. She helps with any questions I have. She's been really great! When Evan and I are in Italy we are going to spend a few days with her at her home. Such a sweetheart.

One last comment before I go... I might need to change my career. It is near impossible for me to say engineer in Spanish! Ingeniera... The g's are very difficult for me to pronounce.

Mis amigas de Canada sent me esta foto recently. Miss you all!

 

Un beso y hasta pronto...

No pasa nada...

No problem...

Well friends and family, it's been an exhausting but very exciting first week in Malaga. Malaca Insituto is a much larger school than Enforex in Marbella. I have met students from ALL over Europe. Who needs hostels when you have new friends! I am excited to visit everyone in their home countries. BUT FIRST, I am determined to speak Spanish fluently!!

Even after years of studying engineering I find studying Spanish to be extremely draining... in a good way of course. It's nice to feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. My mind never stops working.

Spanish classes... When I arrived I had to take another placement test. I did MUCH better on this one! I'm still a basic student but the highest level you can be in basico, A1. As long as my exam today went alright I will move onto the segundo nivel, A2. This week I paid extra to have one-on-one classes for one hour a day. The classes were a huge help since I skipped ahead some levels this week. Next week I will have conversation classes for 2 hours a day on top of the regular 4 hours of class. I am dead serious about speaking Spanish. Since this school is so good I've registered to stay an extra two weeks. I've moved my week in Conil de la Frontera back 2 weeks.

My new host family... It consists of mi segunda madre española se llama Maria (España), mi hermana se llama Aafka (Holanda), y mi hermano se llama Livio (Switzerland).

Livio and Aafka are in what they call their gap year. Majority of the students at the school are between the ages of 18-20. Apparently I look the same age so everyone is confused when I mention that I have been working for 2 years! 24 going on 25 never felt so good! *happy face* I'm learning a ton about what to do and where to go in Europe because we have to talk about our countries and cities in class. It's perfect!

Side note... I'd like to put smiling and winking faces but their keyboards over here are weird. Keys are in different places and I can't seem to figure out how to access certain symbols. *sad face*

Below is Maria and Aafka. Maria is very concerned about the fact that I can't eat gluten so she has been searching and searching to find me anything sin gluten... Sin gluten galletas de bebe... Gluten free baby cookies. They are actually SO good! She bought me two boxes. *happy face*

Maria is self employed. As my spanish improves I'll let you know exactly what she does. For right now all I know is that she makes her own hours but works a lot. Sometimes from home and other times other cities close by. I believe her work has something to do with construction. 

Below is my room and the view from my room! Not too shabby!

Salsa classes... LOVING THIS! I have salsa classes for 2 hours everyday of the week. If it's not a word I'm trying to remember its a step in salsa. My brain is in overdrive. *huge smiley face* Mi profesor está un poco loco. Se llama José. He is beyond energetic, he's funny... well at least his actions and facial expressions. He doesn't speak a word of english so learning a dance visually is challenging but hasn't been a problem. Ten hours of dance a week is quiet a bit so after one more week I probably won't take anymore lessons. I'll just practice in the clubs. *winky face* Every other class we do a little bachata as well. Not going to lie, its uncomfortable dancing bachata with the other students. I vote we stick to salsa. 

Here are some of my new classmates! Don't ask me their names. No one can seem to remember anyone's name. There are just too many other new words floating around in our heads.

Mojitos! Delicious! 

Below on the right is Carolina (Italy), Claudia (Germany), Jane (Holand), and Amanda (Sweden).

Guru and Bourbon Street bars are the place to be around the school. Here we are at Guru. 

Below is Carolina and Aafka. 

It's Sunday and the weather is completely unpredictable; perfect time to study and grab a coffee with friends. 

Un beso y hasta pronto...