Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

My Last Post of the Year!

2009 has been a wonderful year for me! God has blessed me more than I could have ever imagined and I am so thankful. This year has had its ups and downs, but I made it. I thank God for the wonderful people I have met and the relationships that I have developed. I thank him for the growing up that I have done and bettering my relationship with myself. You can never expect to be happy if you are not happy with yourself and to do that, you need to have a good relationship with God and yourself. This year I have learned that there is nothing wrong with some ME time. I have let go of past hurts and learn valuable lessons from the trials of my past. I have stepped out of my box and taken chances on life. You never know when it is going to be your last day, so sometimes you just have to go with life and not be scared to take chances. Just look at me, I am in Spain for an entire year perfecting my Spanish, living in a new environment, working at a school teaching English and traveling around Europe. I know that 2010 is going to be a wonderful year, full of learning and growing and I can't wait to see what else God has in store for my life!

I am now in London for the Christmas break with my friend Silvana and her family. I will update you all about my holiday in 2010. I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and blessed Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Love you much,

Michelle

Getting back on track: Brief Update

Hi everyone, I am sorry that I haven't been able to update my blog like I thought I would. I have been so busy with school projects, homework, teaching English at an elementary school, and developing an English guide for the school. As you can see, I have been very busy.

I am now on holiday in London, England for three weeks with my friend Silvana. I was unable to go home for Christmas and she so graciously invited me to spend the break with her family.

Now I am going to give you all a quick update on my life in Spain . . . (November 20th to December

Over the past month I have joined a Christian organization called Agape. Their main mission is spreading the word of God and implementing Christian organizations on university campuses. On the weekend of Nov 20th - 22nd I went on a Christian Retreat in a pueblo called Villanueva de Trabuco. The entire retreat was in Spanish and it had to be one of best things I have done so far in Spain. The retreat was focused on telling your testimony on your walk with God and the importance of developing a relationship with him. The weekend was very powerful for me, it's one thing to praise God and talk to him in one language but to learn how to do it in Spanish is just WOW! I bought a Spanish bible, so I am now reading the word of God in Spanish and developing a deeper relationship with Christ. Here is a picture of the Agape group at the retreat:

I am so happy that I met and got involved with this group. I now go to bible study every Tuesday and church on Sunday's. That next week was Thanksgiving and to be honest I was sad because I thought it was going to be just another day. This would be my first Thanksgiving without my family or friends, but thanks to Agape it was more than wonderful. At the retreat we had planned to have Thanksgiving dinner and we assigned everyone to a dish. To add to my Thanksgiving, I decided to teach my kids about Thanksgiving and did hand turkey projects with all of my classes. It was really fun and a little intense because a lot of them didn't know what a turkey was!! That night we had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a Spanish twist. There were over 40 people that attended the Thanksgiving dinner and I even made sweet potato souffle.



The last picture below is of my new friend Eli, he is from Oregon and teaching at the same school as me. The first day I met him he said that he knew he was going to be homesick because he didn't know anybody. I told him that now he knows me and I will make sure that I introduce him
to great people and ensured that he wouldn't be homesick. So I invited him to Thanksgiving
dinner and he really enjoyed himself! That next day he invited me to Flamenco show and it was absolutely amazing. This was actually the first Flamenco show that I went to since I've been in Malaga.






That Sunday I went to my first Spanish church and it was really nice and the pastor gave a great message. I was sure the church was going to be a boring Catholic church but it was actually a a very energetic baptist church. I think that I might make this my church home while I am here.

That next Tuesday I went to bible study but this one was a little different. Since our friend Patri was going to get married that Saturday we ended up helping her with the wedding favors. To thank us she ordered Chinese food and before we ate we decided that we should all try praying in Spanish. And when it got to me I started crying and I really don't know why. Maybe I was scared or didn't want to mess up, I started praying but just couldn't finish. I had been telling God in the prior weeks that I would really like to be able to pray in Spanish and I guess actually having the chance to do it was scary. But it just lets me know that I have something else to work to. I know I can do it and I will.

The next day at La Comida y La Biblia I gave a speech on how There is a time for everything and Now is a time to finish. I did it mostly in Spanish but on some parts I had help. That was my first time speaking in public to Spanish speakers and then about the word of God. I was really nervous but I got through it and once I finished it felt good to know what I had just accomplished. If I didn't explain before, La comida y la biblia is where we meet every Wednesday and have lunch at the University and afterwards someone presents on a topic of interest and gives supporting verses from the bible. It's a really good opportunity to not only meet Spanish people and practice my Spanish but to study the word of God in Spanish.

On December 3rd I received my first paycheck!! My job is now official! : )

That Friday I went to the church with the other girls from my bible study and helped Patri by decorating the church for her wedding. It was really fun and my creative decorating skills that I learned from my mom were put to use. We were decorating the pews and it was looking uh, so I
suggested we put a bow on the ends. I remembered my mom teaching my sister and I how to do them a long time ago. They really liked the idea, so I ended up doing a bow on every other pew and it was very beautiful. The next day was the wedding and it was absolutely beautiful. This was my first Spanish wedding and I really enjoyed it. And the couple Omar and Patri are some of the kindest and greatest people you will ever meet. Here are some pictures from their wedding and reception.



That next week I went to dinner with my friend Rocio at a wonderful restaurant in the center called Gavum. We enjoyed a wonderful 4 course meal and finished it off with a dessert Lemon Mojito. The dinner was awesome and we talked until the restaurant closed. It's always great to spend quality with friends and catch up.

On the 10th my dorm had a Christmas Dinner Party, it was really nice. It's like a mini family staying there and the manager, Isabel is cried during her speech; she was talking about how it has been a privilege to know such wonderful students and how we are like here children. I also learned some Spanish Christmas songs and had some very interesting food.


The last week of school was a bit stressful because I was finishing up the English book for my job and working on portfolios and projects for class. But I made it through and finally received my UMA ID card, now I feel like an official UMA student.

I know it's a long update, but that's only the main things of this past month! : ) Now I am out of school and off to London for 3 weeks for Christmas Break!

Poquito a Poco Pt.2 (Oct 28th- Nov. 3rd)

Continuation of my weeks away from my blog. . . .

28th – Today I decided to get a snack before class because I didn’t get up in time for breakfast and as I was trying to decide what I was this man, Francisco Palomo, came up and clapped in face, I guess he thought I was staring into space. - I was like uh can I help you -he was like what are you looking at? –I was like trying to decide what to eat. – So he starting telling me what was good to eat and asking me if I liked the cooked or cured meats. And eventually made a suggestion of jamon york. Which is what I ended up getting. Then he just started talking to me and asking where I was from, how I liked Malaga and then told me what places I should visit in Malaga (the capital and Province). Then I asked him what he did and he told me that he was an Art History professor here and if I ever needed anything I could just come by his office. We had a great conversation and he actually ended up paying for my food.
Also, today was Jari, one of my friends from Finland’s birthday. So after class we met up with other friends at Kalua, an ice cream shop to celebrate his birthday. We just talked and had ice cream, simple but a lot of fun.
29th – Today I had a lunch date with Diego, the guy from my translation class. We went to a local restaurant in Teatinos just to have a drink and talk and do a language exchange. That’s pretty much just talking half of the conversation in English and Spanish, just to help each other. It’s funny because the people here are taught British English and believe it or not it is a big difference. As far as pronunciation of words and words we don’t use in the US. So I would correct him as we were talking and realized that these were words that my British friends used, so they weren’t wrong just different! As we were talking the owner told us that he was going to give us free meal of Spanish tortillas and bread. I must say it was the best tortilla I have ever had; it had sausages, peppers, onions, and was really well seasoned, it was just great.
Later on that night I went to my friends’ Miriam, from Germany, house for dinner. We had pasta, a traditional English salad that Sophie made, Spanish tortillas, grapes and cheese, and tiramisu! The food and the night were great. I met new people and had fun tearing up Miriam’s house, well at least Chiara, friend from Italy, did.
30th – I stayed in for night and just finger twisted my hair and it turned it really nice.
31st – Halloween! They celebrate Halloween here, which I found out just integrated here a couple of years ago. I really didn’t want to dress up but since I was invited to a costume party I said why not. So after looking for a costume all day, I decided to go as a belly dancer. The costume consisted of some tights and a belly dancer top, what can I say it was last minute. That night I met up with some friends in the center to go the party. And right as I passed the main street, Calle Larios, which was full of people, there was a group of dancers that did Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance. One of my friends recorded it and it was on point, you could tell they had really been practicing.
We went to the costume party in an apartment and it was so packed and ended up getting shut down because of the noise. We were talking about going to the costume party at they boat, but I had a terrible headache and ended up going home early, around 3am, that night.
November 1st – Today I just relaxed in my room all day and watched movies. It always great to relax and my body really needed it!
2nd – We didn’t have classes today because it was the Monday after The day of the dead, a holiday here. I started off repeating my routine from yesterday, just laying in the bed and watching movies until I felt so lazy that I just sat on the floor. Then I realized that I needed to get out of my room, so I Skyped Jari and we decided to go to out for dinner because he was feeling the same way I was. We went to a restaurant close to where I live and had some really good hamburgers and loaded French fries. I was really glad that I got out of the house. I like to relax but you can over do it.
3rd – It has been 45 days, if you remember when I first got I had to go and get my student ID card from the police station and after I finished they told me I had to come back in 45 days just to receive it. After I picked up my ID card I went to buy some new sheets for my bed, just to change it up and afterwards went to my bank here, Banco Santander. I went to the bank because after my last transfer from Bank of America to here, I realized that it was always 20 Euros less than what I sent and I have been trying to get this straightened out for that past couple of weeks. I had to end up getting BOA to send me a detailed route of my money to make sure there were not any commissions being taken out during the process. So I just went to the bank with my documentation and the guy who dealt with international transfers and with out a problem he fixed everything. God is good. After that I went and got my student bus card, which is 23 Euros for an unlimited monthly pass.
After getting all that out of the way I went to the gym and had a wonderful workout. Funny thing, as you can see in the picture above my hair looks really short when I twisted it and everyone keeps asking my did you cut your hair and then I stretch it out and they are like wow. Then its what hair shop did you go to, I don’t think I am going to let anyone here do my hair, just because I don’t like just anybody in my hair.
I received an email today about the teaching position and we have a meeting tomorrow to tell us more about it.
4th – Today we had a 9am meeting about an opportunity to teach English for 300 Euros a month (about 500 dollars). They briefly gave us a description about the job and said that we would assist the teachers with anything they needed. Then she said that there were only 3 positions and there were 5 of us and she asked who wanted it. It was silent for a second, and then I was thinking 5 people, 3 positions and quickly said I want that one. I was not about to miss this opportunity. After that they gave me the information to my school and told me that I would have to call or go up there to work out my work schedule. After I left, I just decided to go straight to the school and got there around 10:30am; I didn’t want to procrastinate with this. So I went up the elementary school and they were so happy that I was there and we figured out my schedule that day. Which is Monday’s 9 -7pm and Thursday’s 11:30 – 2:30pm, we had to find a way to fit 12 hours a week into my schedule and this was the best way. They were so excited that they asked me if I could start that day, I was like sure, why not. So Ana, the Assistant Principal, showed me around the school and introduced me to the class that I was going to be working with. I really like the school and the people are really nice. I think that I am going to enjoy working here. And as it turns out I will actually be teaching some of the class and not just assisting. I am going to be teaching 3 year olds, 1st grade, and 5th grade; I will also be tutoring the principal, who is taking English classes. I start my official first day tomorrow and I am really excited.
5th – Today was my first day of work and it was wonderful. All I did today was help the teachers with their lessons and correct the students and their pronunciation and spelling errors. I was just awesome as soon as I walked into the class all the students said, Hello MiCHelle, emphasis on the “ch.” That is how my name is pronounced here. I can really tell that I am going to enjoy this year because it will not only be a learning experience for the students but for me too. Side note: I know that one day I would love to have children, but the more I am around them it reassures me that I not ready, because I not fully developed the patience needed for children. However, I know when the time comes, God will instill it in me.
After work I went shopping and just treated myself for a job well done!
6th – Today Rocio went out partying and bar hopping and just had a blast. We danced, laughed, and talked all night! And we finished the night off at White, which is a club that we frequent a lot. There we met up with more people and finished the night off right, just having fun!
8th – I didn’t go out yesterday, the 7th, because I was going to go to Antequera on Sunday. Today Jari (Finland), Alex (Washington, US), and I went to Antequera which is one of the must see places in the Province of Malaga. Antequera is a very old and small town with a rich history. We decided to take the train the train their instead of the bus because it would only be 20 minutes instead of an hour. When we arrived to the train station there, it was deserted; there were no taxis, buses, and the only people where the workers. They told us that the buses to the city didn’t run on Sunday and because it was Sunday a taxi to the city would be about 20 Euros. But hey you live and you learn. We got a taxi to the city and started to explore. We saw this place that sold churros (fried dough with sugar and served with hot chocolate for dipping) and stopped since Alex said he had yet to try them. And of course there were wonderful and we were all stuffed for only 6 Euros in total. After that we saw a map of the city and the locations of the monuments. First we saw 2 cathedrals and then the Castle of Alcazaba, which had a hilarious sign about the hours; it said the castle closes promptly at 2pm and you risk the chance of being locked in if you are still inside! The castle was really nice and the view from the top was serene. While I was at the top of the castle and looking out on the town, I thought how we needed to take time to appreciate the small things in life; just as I was doing, just appreciating the landscape, which was beautiful! After we went to the cathedral that was onside of it (starting to think that if you have seen one, you have seen them all), but it was still nice. After that we wanted to go see the Torcals, the Torcals is this amazing construction of smooth rocks that have formed themselves in various shapes over time, it’s a must see. But then we found out it was a 20-30 minute drive outside the city and we didn’t have a car, so we just said that we could come back again. Since that was a no, we went and had lunch and had the porra antequera, which is on the mist have dishes there. It was okay, I just had a distinctive taste. After lunch we called it a day and just took the bus home, we learned our lesson. It was a great trip and I Antequera is a very beautiful and tranquil town.

Poquito a Poco! (21st-27th)

Wow, so much has happened in the last month. Every time I said I was going to update my blog, it seems like something was always happening. But finally, I decided just to make the time before it becomes an entire month. Happy to say that I have been writing down everything that happened everyday, just so I wouldn't forget. And of course some days are more interesting than others.

21st Oct – Well as I said before in my last blog, I started to crochet various designs for my hair. Just getting used to being natural and doing my hair, which I am truly enjoying! As for the crocheting, I went to a yarn store and pretty much bought every color and different size hooks, a little excited I guess!! Lol. To add to that, I have received so many compliments on them from everyone and even received a few requests. How cool is that . . . I know for sure that I am going to make some from my friend Rocio because she was the first to ask. And my other friend, MariPa, said that she would but anything I need because she loves hair accessories! I also found this wonderful all natural store, LUSH, a company based out of London. That have all natural products for you hair, skin, everything. So I bought some really great shampoo and conditioners, loving the natural life.
As far as school is concerned, that only thing I can say is that I understand which is awesome! I am also meeting so many great people in my class that are so willing to help me, which is always a blessing. Reminds me of back home in my Spanish class, there were two wonderful women Sissy Bonini and Tasha Theodosi, who are just awesome people and had no problem helping me and constantly giving my words of encouragement that I could do it (be fluent). ~ Here, there is a guy, Diego, we have our translation class together and he is so awesome and super funny! We both help each other with phrases in English/Spanish that might be new for us. Also he has knowledge of Arabic, which I might be taking next semester. He said if I take it, that he would love to be my tutor, Que Guay o Que Chullo! (Here that means, how cool!!)
22nd – Today my guy friend, Tory from Canada, and I explored Teatinos. Tory had a break before his next class so we just went walking around where I lived. And Teatinos is also where the main university campus is located. As we were walking and talking, I just continue to realize how beautiful Malaga is and the rich history it has. After that I just went to my dorm and chilled before the official welcome party for the residence.
Interjection~ Let me just give you a quick update on my roommates. My roommates are Laura, Carmen, Igra, and Jenny. Laura . . .uhhh I don’t know. She confused me sometimes, I probably said before that when I met her I was a bit skeptical, but my mom just said pray about it and that next day, she offered to help me decorate my room. But now, yeah, she kind irritates me a little. I’ll give you an example, like when I am having a conversation and there is a word I don’t understand, I would just ask for clarification. And here she comes, you know she doesn’t understand, just tell me and I will see if I know it English. And I am like excuse me; I would rather for them to explain so I could understand in Spanish. Its like don’t speak for me!!! I am a big girl and God gave me a mouth to speak for myself. But I am still praying about it because I refuse to have drama with my roommates! Carmen and Igra are pretty tied together, from my point of view. I always see them together, but they are great girls. And are always there when I need help. As far as Jenny, she is wonderful! I can talk to her about anything and she just corrects me as we talk, which is great. Overall, she is a great person, we each lunch and dinner together, which is just great. Another thing I like about her is that she appreciates silence. I don’t always like to talk when I eat, sometimes I like to reflect and think about whatever else I have to do that day. Overall, I have a mixture of personalities for roommates, which keep things interesting sometimes.
Back to the welcome party; I was just talking to some of my friends at the dorm and the staff needed help setting up, so I volunteered. And as I was helping to set up one of the guys, Pablo, was like I have a question and please don’t get offended, I was like okay. He asked me if I would take it offensively if someone called me “negro,” the Spanish word for Black, because he heard that some people would take it as an offense but it’s just a word. My response was that the only way I would take that as an offense is if it was in a negative connotation. And that since I’ve been here no one has called me that, I always get “morena” but maybe because it’s coming from guys. Questions like this make me happy to be here, because this is the first time for a lot of them here to have an experience with an African American and I thank God that I am presenting a positive perspective. I am constantly developing great relationships everyday! As we kept setting up, I could see that one of the workers was having trouble moving the chairs so I started helping him and he was like wow, okay. I just said with teamwork, you could always get things done faster. And as we kept moving the other workers were like, “Michelle, What are you doing? (Que haces?) I simply said, just helping out. (Ayudando)” They were also like wow and then they started to help also. I don’t know it just felt good to help and I guess through that they saw a different side of me. After that I went and made me a flower to go with my dress that night and finished getting dressed.

The event started around 8pm and it was very nice, there were speakers for various faculties from the University and some of the residents. The program was very nice and well put together; I even received a shout out. One of the speakers was saying how there were a few students from different parts of the world, like Mexico, Argentina and Michelle from the US. I was like uh hi; everybody was looking at me and smiling. Let’s just say if I were lighter I would have been red, lol. But it was nice to receive recognition. After it was over, we went outside where the banquet was being held and just had a meet and greet. Really nice, I met a lot of new people that night. After dinner we all went out to a club, Sala Moncloa, and had a great time. Let’s just say I didn’t get home until about 6:45am, jus in time to eat breakfast and got to bed. Thankfully, my teacher had cancelled Friday’s class. But some people weren’t that lucky, some people came back at 6:45am, ate breakfast, took a shower, and went to their 8:30 am class!! WOW, don’t know if I could have did that!
23rd – Continuation from that morning; I woke up around 1pm or so, just in time for lunch. Had lunch and then decided to wash my hair because it smelled just like smoke. So I did a protein treatment (eggs, mayonnaise, and olive oil) on my hair and left it for like 30 minutes or until it got hard. Then washed and conditioned my hair and did a shea butter treatment on my hair. (If you know me, just from reading that you should be really proud of me : D ) During that day I was chatting back and forth with my friends Carmen, trying to figure out our plans for the night. We decided to go to a bar, El Pimpi, with some friends. It was so funny, we started out with just 5 of us and as the night went on people would walk by that they knew and it just continued to grow.
That night we ended with about 20 people from 5. After that we went to Morrisey’s, an Irish pub, and just talked, it was great! My Spanish friends taught us new phrases and vice versa. One for giving a toast was, “Para ti, Para mi, Para lo que paso entre nosotros.” It means, “For you, For me, For what might happen between us” It’s just a funny toast that friends do. After that my friend Rocio was kind enough to give us ride home so we wouldn’t have to take a taxi. (Recap: Carmen and Rocio are the two girls that I met who took me to IKEA) Really awesome people, happy I met them!
24th – So yeah, I am addicted to my local Teteria’s (Tea Shop) gofres con helado y caramelo (Waffle with ice cream and caramel syrup) mmmm good! My friends Yara and I just went there eat and end up talking for like an hour or two. Actually, the day before my guy friend, that I had kind of started dating came back from his 10-day business trip and we were supposed to see each other today. But he texted later on that night and told me had caught a terrible cold (which was seriously spreading around Spain), which changed my plans for the night, but we said that we would just get together later on in the week. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to see him. But hey life happens.
I received an email from my director back home saying that he chose the people that would be coming next semester, so I am excited since I will be their unofficial tour guide when they get here. And one of the actually read my blog and said that I was an inspiration and that it made her want to do a blog when she go here. How awesome is that, it put a smile on my face!
26th – My classmate Charlene, from Canada, decided that we would study together for our history class. One thing I do not like about staying at the dorm is that you cannot have outside visitors, which really sucks especially when I live right by the university and my friends want to come and chill between classes. But it’s okay, you live and you learn. So we decided to go to the campus library and when we entered it was so quiet you could here a pin drop. There were people there but no one was talking; I was almost to talk. The library is really different from the GSU library, a GSU we at least have quiet floors not the whole library. But I asked the receptionist where in the library we could talk, and she outside or in the faculty libraries. So we just went to our faculties’ library and even there I was shushed when I was whispering. So pretty much, it is hard to do group study unless you go off campus.
27th - MY 6 MONTH NATURAL ANNIVERSARY! My hair has now been completely natural, without chemicals, for 6 months! Yay me!

Personal Growth!

Hi everyone!
I have decided that this blog is not just going to be about me living in Spain and going to school, but more about my personal growth and the journey of Michelle!
The past two weeks have been super busy, but exciting! My last update was on the 5th of October and since then so much has happened. That Tuesday (Oct.6) Universidad de Malaga had the official study abroad welcome party. It was very nice and well put together with welcome gifts, music and food. It was so packed; there were about 300 or more students there. I didn't realized how popular UMA was and that so many people were studying abroad. It's great for me because I have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world; from Italy, Germany, Holland, and even the small country of Slovenia (Ilona P. ; D ) and also experience learn about their cultures. Everyday I thank God for blessing me with this wonderful opportunity, to not only experience living in a different country and culture but meeting wonderful people and learning so much about them and MYSELF. Also, that night my dorm had like an orientation or initiation (a better word for it) for the 1st year students. They had various activities and competitions for the students, it was really entertaining. Here are a couple of pictures from that night:

October 8th marked the 1-month mark! I know right, only a month; it feels like so much longer. But I love it here and everyday is a learning experience.
On a personal note, I met someone . . .
One of my friends here was throwing a party on the 8th (a Thursday), I usually like to keep my partying to the weekends but I just decided why not. So I am at the party having a ball and just enjoying myself. And then this guy approaches me and kept my attention for the rest of the night. We just talked for the rest of the night . . .in the club. And I don't know why but he intrigued me because he wasn't just focusing on that moment but the next day. Meaning at that moment, he was already asking me my plans for Friday. Which kind of caught me off guard, but I just went with the flow. That next day we had our first date, which was so romantic; it almost felt like I was in a dream, like this is something out of a movie. We went to a restaurant on a beach and just sat and talked for hours, about everything without hesitation. And the weekend just kept getting better, the next day we went to a fair with two of the girls from my residence, which was different but I enjoyed myself! A lot of the women and even little girls were dressed up in flamenco outfits. My friend said that its tradition that when its in your town to dress up in various flamenco outfits, even the men. Later on that night we went to Portugal for a weekend, since we didn't have school on Monday because it was Columbus Day. That night we left for Sagres, Portugal, which has to be the most serene place ever. I absolutely had the best weekend, vacation, and getaway ever. : ) Here is a picture of what I woke up to the morning I arrived:
As you can see I am truly stepping outside of my comfort zone but going with the flow of things. However, I am not crazy and I am still on my P's and Q's at all times! Praying that God protects me at all times and keeps me on my right path, learning to embrace what he has for my life!
But that's just my personal tid bit . . . ; D
Well back to school . . . my classes are going good and I officially registered on Thursday (Oct. 15), so I am now an official student and should be getting my ID card this week. I really like my teachers and I am glad to say that I understanding what's going on and not getting lost in class. And thanks to my recorder, the greatest thing ever, if I do not understand something in class I can always review it later. And if you didn't know, all my classes are in Spanish; I am at a Spanish University with Spanish students, and all my homework is in Spanish. That's why I have been so busy; I have been translating essays to Spanish, doing economics work, and reading for my history class. One thing I must say is that I am surprised by the study ethic here. At all times the students are studying! Plus the dorm that I am staying at has tutoring classes in the afternoon for the difficult and high concentration majors. Which I think is really beneficial and makes this place worth every penny.
This past weekend, (16th -18th) I took my braids out and am now rocking the natural hair. I did a hot oil treatment on my hair, made my own conditioner, and styled my hair. If you know me personally, you know that this is a big step for me because I have been blessed to always have someone else to do my hair, not that I don't know how to do hair . . . just not my own. And with the help of many YouTube tutorials for natural hair, I am taking care of my hair myself! I am really proud of myself, because it feels like I am taking that next step in growing up and doing me. Plus, I am going to start back crocheting. For those that don't know, I am very good at crocheting and have made blankets, purses, scarves, etc. in the past and have decided to pick it back up again. But doing something a little different, I am going to start crocheting various hair accessories to accentuate my new do. YAY!!!, I am really excited to see how much I am growing as a person, both inside and out!

Please continue to keep me in your prayers and thank you family and friends for your continued support and encouragement!

P.S. Please subscribe, I am eager to see just how many people are reading my blog. Thank you!

What Have I Been Up To?!?

Hi Blog Family, sorry it has been so long but I'm back now. I have been so busy with getting prepared for school and trying to get settled here. I absolutely love it here and the people are wonderful!
Well a lot has happened in the past two weeks (9/18-10/4) ; Two Fridays ago I got an upgrade for my room and of course I had to decorate it to make it feel more like home! The first picture is my original room, the second is my new room and how it looked when I initially moved into it and the third is how it looks now! I absolutely love my room, plus I have 2 closets!!! : )

That next day I went to Marbella, another beautiful city in Andalucia, with some of the people from my Spanish class and it was absolutely wonderful. The weather was great; although the water was freezing I still went on a paddleboat ride and slid down the slide into the Mediterranean Ocean! After we left the beach we went on a tour of the town, which has beautiful architecture and mountainside views. It is so peaceful here, now I can see why they say it's the get away spot for the rich people.

On Sunday we went to the viewpoint and the castle, which is in the city of Malaga. I can say that I was not prepared for the hike that we took. The hill was so steep and it was so hot, I was just happy that I had comfortable shoes on. As you can see the view was absolutely amazing, just imagine being at the top of the city and looking down at everything. And the view at night is even better, lights illuminate the castle and the city is gorgeous!

That next week I was just took it easy, toured the city, met more people, and finished up my Spanish classes. I decorated my room that week and as you see from above it was a success. I also joined a pilates class at the gym around the corner from me, the class is awesome and the teacher is great. I am learning so many new words and of course staying in shape! Even though I walk everywhere here it's still easy to get into a routine and get too relaxed. Also, the director here at the dorm, Isabel, introduced me to this great lady, Carmen, who is amiable and open person. And that same day Carmen and her friend Rocio took me to IKEA so I could get more stuff for my room. I thought that was so nice of them, especially since I had just met them. After IKEA we went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and the conversation was great. I love having intelligent and worldly conversations. We talked about politics in America and in Spain, plus I learned so much about the history racial tension here and how life was during the dictatorship and how different it is now. Overall that was a great day!
That weekend was so much fun; I taught some of the people here how to play Spades and they learned very quick and really liked the game. I was telling them that Spades is the number 1 game played at any party or gathering back home! That Friday night I went out with everyone from the dorm to Club White, it was a lot of fun plus I got to see a different side of the people here and vice versa. This was the night I realized that when they party, they party hard. We did not leave the club until 6:45am!!! The thing that got me was that some of them still wanted to stay! But they said they party later so they won't have to a taxi home because the bus starts running around 6:30am. My body was not use to this lifestyle and I slept until about 3pm that day. That Saturday some of my friends and I went to an Erasmus party on a boat which was a lot of fun! It's interesting to see how other cultures dance, meaning the guys here dance just as much as the females, if not more. But its fun because everyone is having a good time together!
That Sunday we went to the Picasso Museum, it was nice but it wasn't that spectacular. They only have a few paintings of his best work, but they said what made the museum special was that the sculptures, sketches, and paintings were Picasso's favorites that he had given as gifts to his family. And if you didn't know, Picasso was born in Malaga and the museum is right by the place were he grew up, which they have also turned into a museum.

SCHOOL!!!
I started school last week and it was truly an experience. The different faculties start at different times, plus the same class is on different days at different times! Very different from what I am used to and plus everyone here is so relaxed. The main thing said is "tranquilo" like calm down, why are you so stressed and my teacher said this. He said the attitude here is very relaxed and they don't take things as serious as we do in America. Like today was the official registration day and we didn't have any classes! So tomorrow I officially start all of my classes, I am taking a business, translations, and history class. This transition should be very interesting since all my classes are in Spanish; I really have to focus now!!

That's pretty much everything that has happened within these last two weeks, in a nutshell! I know that I will not be able to update my blog everyday now that school is starting, but I will try to be more frequent than I have been. Also, if there is anything you would like to know more about or sites that you know of in Spain or places that you would like to see, please let me know and I will go! I am hoping to make my blog more interactive with my readers, so please help me! Ask questions and Make requests!

Thanks in advance and I will be back soon to let you know how school is going!!

So Busy!

Sorry I have been so busy with getting ready for school, decorating my room, and going out with friends to various places. but an update for this past week is soon to come. I start school on Monday and I know that I am going to be really busy, so I am might only to update my blog once every couple of days and not everyday anymore. But please stay tuned because I have a lot of great pictures to show you and stories to tell.

Until next time. . . .Michelle

I'm Done. . . But I Still Have To Wait!

I have to get out of this American mindset of "I want it right now!" Here it's like what's the rush, you have time and if you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow.

Yesterday and today was a journey in itself, I was so tired yesterday and that's the reason I didn't blog yesterday. Yesterday's task was to finish getting my Spain ID card,
which I actually finished today. . , but the process was exhausting. First, I had planned on getting up early but that didn't happen but no worries, I just ended up rushing everywhere I went! The first stop on my to do list was the police station and once I got there this is what I saw.
I thought someone had bombed seven police cars but the headline read this morning, "Un hombre quema siete coches de la Policía junto a la comisaría de Málaga." A man had set seven police cars on fire, for what reason and if they caught him I don't know. After the hype was over, I remembered that I had a purpose and then went in side the police station to wait in a long line just for them to tell me that I need to go somewhere else. But I am happy that I did because I they still gave me the paperwork that I needed to fill out
and told me that they do not take payments there and that I could go to any bank to the 10euro fee. What??? Then they told me that I had to go through this extra long process, I thought it would be a one-day thing, eh No! So after
I went to the place for them to approve my information, I had to go back to the police station just for them to tell me that my pictures (passport photos) were not the correct size and I would have to come back on Wednes. with everything done. So on Wednes. I went prepared to get everything done and receive my i.d. card and then they tell me that everything is finished and I have to come back in 45 DAYS to receive my card. Are you serious, after all this I still have to wait!!! But it's all good, I just know that I am going to have to write a Guide for the future students coming on this program because there is so much they need to know, that I am still learning!
After I finished all that on Wednesday I decided to get a bus card because everyone kept saying that it's cost efficient rather than to keep paying 1,10 euro for each trip. So I went to the EMT (like, our Marta station) and bought a card with 20 trips for only 12,45 euros. I was like that's not bad let me add up how much I have spent since I've been here and I have spent almost 18 euros in one week!! The bus card is something you must get the first day you get here, if you want to save money!!
Another thing about saving money, a lot of the Erasmus students here have apartments in the city and only pay no more than 300 euros a month and I pay 690 euros to live in the dorm. But after I compared the two, I realized that what I am paying for is worry-free living. They clean our room everyday, we get 4 meals a day (although I'm still getting used to it), it includes a monthly gym membership, the security, really everything else and one thing that can't be compared is being surrounded by all Spanish speaking students.
Like I've said before, even though it has only been a week it feels like longer because of the relationships I have made already. Two of my roommates are leaving today, because one is done with school and the other is transferring to the University of Granada, and last night I did not go to bed til 3 or 4 am just talking to them and exchanging information so we could stay in contact. I don't remember if I said it before but I am on the Spain version of facebook, tuenti.com, I'm almost official : ) And this morning I awoke to a constant knock at my door because they wanted to spend time with me before they left ; ( . . .which was very nice and mom if you're reading this I gave Marta,one of my roommates, an open invitation to stay with us if she came to America : ). And my interesting this just happened a moment ago, I was sitting down talking to my other roommate about Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc and our purpose and also some of the notable people that are a part of it, then she asked me about the treatment of African Americans in the US. She asked me if people were okay with Barack Obama as our President and if there is still a lot of discrimination, because here they don't like Black and Arab people because they are Muslim, martyrs, and dangerous. Which I have noticed that once I tell people that I am from America it's like their character changes and now they want to know more about me. I really can't take it personal but I don't know. Then I told her that yes discrimination still exists but the mentality is slowly changing for the better and then I showed her the African American inventor and inventions list. This showed her that without us a lot of this in the world might not have been here; such as, the stop light, various hair products, the mail box, the fold-away bed, and so much more . . . so although we might be still discriminated against for various reasons, we are still a force that helps the world go round!
Two quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. come to me as I think about what we were talking about:
Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

This concludes my first week and the beginning of the second!