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!

Who Decides What's for Me?

Today was another chill day. All I did to day was go to the beach with some friends from class and go to class afterwards. Here are some pictures from my day at the beach. . .
The beach that we went to was Malagueta, which is one of the closet beaches to us. I went to Malaga last summer for a weekend when I was here studying in Granada and one thing I remember was how dirty looking the beach was. And going to the beach today confirmed that it's like that all over. The view was absolutely beautiful, but the beach was full of shells, a few cigarette buds, and dog crap, that I almost stepped in! But hey make the best of what you have, I just relaxed on the beach and talked to my friends from class. I enjoy talking to them because I gain more of a world perspective of everything. The classmates I went with were: Sophie, from England, Miriam, Elisabeth, Caroline, from Germany, and Alex, Washington, US. Today I found out that in Germany, the 11th grade is not that important and if you are a good student you can miss it. Both Miram and Elisabeth both speak very good English because in there 11th grade year they studied in North America. I told them that was so cool and that we needed those same types of opportunities in the US for high school and not just college. As Sophie and I were talking I realized that we are very similar in the way that when we have our families. We both would like to raise our children multi-lingual, because there are so many opportunities for anything you could possibly want to do when you know different languages. Sophie said something so true about learning different languages, "I like to learn different languages because it's like figuring out a secret." I can totally understand that because even when my classmates speak in German, you wish you could speak the language just to know what they're saying. The same is when you go to the nail shop and you just know they are talking about everyone in there, but you can't validate it because you have no idea what their saying! : )
Seems like something interesting is happening everyday, today's interesting thing was from one of my conversations at the beach. We were all lying down and I was saying that my phone was out of commission because I updated my iphone and the jailbreak software hasn't be updated yet and Miriam was asking me did a lot of people have Iphones is the US and I said yeah, it's really common now. Then I was asked what kind of computer did I have, a Mac or a PC? I simply said a Mac, then Alex said of really that's strange, I replied, what's so strange about that, I don't like PC's so I got a Mac. The he said, oh, well it's not strange . . .it's just weird or odd; from here I knew where he was headed. So I kept asking what's so weird about me having a Mac and he just kept repeating himself, I knew what he wanted to say and kept asking to see if he was bold enough to say it. Because Mac's are expensive computers and I'm Black. I let the conversation go, but I couldn't help but think, Who decides what I am entitled to? My mom and God have provided the best for me all my life and since I've been on my own, I have done the same for myself. I am a child of God and anything I desire he supplies, just the fact of me being here could only come from his grace and the favor He has over my life. Everyday is a reminder of the world we live in and how close-minded so many people are. . . Never judge a book by its cover, get to know the pages first! I know that many stereotypes do exists but that's with every ethnicity and if I passed judgment on people based of that, I know I would not be as far in life as I am now! There's nothing more that I can say about that situation but to continue to get to know Alex, because when you get to know someone and their background, only then can you understand why they think the way they do.
Besides that, I enjoyed my time at the beach and the company that I was with. After that I went back to my dorm for a quick lunch before class and talked to my roommate about the beach and she told me that some of the best beaches to go to are Estepona and Cadiz. So of course they have been added to my Must See list. After lunch I went class and then tried to rush home after class to beat the rain.
All in all another great day in Malaga! Tomorrow will be the end to my first week here, but for some reason it feels as if I have been here longer. I guess because of the relationships that I am starting to develop or what I've done so far, I don't know but I am continuing to be enthusiastic and praying to God that everyday will continue to be better than the last!

I Gotta a Feeling . . .

That tonight's gonna be a good night. . .

This was my first weekend here and I had so much fun! Like I said before I was suppose to go to Nerja but decided to sleep in Saturday morning because of jetlag, but everything played it's course. Instead I stayed in for most of the day trying to fix my computer and then went out with some of the guys for ice cream and for our afternoon snack we had churros with chocolate. . .mmm good! But I must say the best part of yesterday was last night, for the first time I went to the center of the city and it was so beautiful. I went club hopping with some of the people from my dorm and didn't return to the dorm til 5am. And now I know what it feels like to not have any rhythm or look like it, I know I looked weird last night because I did not know how to dance to the music and Sara had to teach me. I never thought I would see the day, but after a few songs I got the hang of things and start incorporaing my own flare to it. Here are some pictures from Saturday night with some of my friends at the dorm.

The first picture is me with one of my roommates, Sara, who is done with school after this summer (here the summer ends the 26th of September). But I am happy that I met her because she is really nice and trying to help me fit in by including me in everything. The second picture is Sara, Juan David, Roger, Jose, and me at El Pimpi. El Pimpi is a popular bar in the city and the bottle in the picture is a house wine that you are suppose to take shots of. . .I did not like it!. And the last picture is me with some friends of Sara that we met in one of the clubs, Sound.

I had so much fun last night and learned so many new words, a lot of them I cannot repeat but they said I still needed to know them : ). Funny story, being me of course I wore my 5in heels to go out last night and when I got done my feet were killing me, never again. . .and if I do I am only wearing wedges or dare I say it, flats. It wouldn't have been so bad if the streets here were flat but the streets are made up of cemented rocks, which almost made me fall, twice! All in all everyday here is proving to be better that the last.

Today was a pretty chill day I just slept in. But one bad thing did happen, before I went out last night I updated my Itunes and I realized this morning that it had locked my Iphone and I think I threw away the AT&T sim card so now I can't reactivate it because all I have now is the Spain sim card, : (. I tried so many hacking websites today but nothing worked, so now I am out of a phone and an ipod, so tomorrow hopefully I can get a new phone or find someway to activate my phone without the sim card. Besides that, today I just chilled and played basketball (attempted) after dinner. It's so different eating here, because I am so use to eating pizza, french fries, chicken, etc. with my hands, but here everyone uses a fork and knife with almost everything. So looking at me, you would think that I don't have good etiquette, so for the first time ever I ate TUNA pizza with a fork and knife! OMG!
Today's lesson: When in Spain do as the Spaniards do!

Well in the morning I am going to the beach with some of my classmates, so I will definitely have a lot of pictures to show! Until then, good night!

Taking It Easy

Today's blog is for yesterday, I was having some internet problems and was unable to fix them last night.
But yesterday was a wonderful day, I got up early and ate breakfast with some of the other students. I'm happy I did because I met one of the other residents, Juan David. If I remember correctly he is from Bolivia, he is very nice and also speaks English and Spanish, but he is helping me with my Spanish by not talking to me in English even when I don't understand he just breaks everything down. Now at the dorm there are about 20 students, but he told me that everyone is still on vacation and about 200 students will move in on the 26th. That should be quite interesting and I pray that I am speaking better by then so I won't be lost.

But after breakfast I went to go open a bank account and was gladly greeted my program director's in-laws, they were very nice and took there time to make sure I understood everything. They sat with me the entire time while I was opening my account, which was very successful and I experienced excellent customer service from the director of the bank. After that they showed me around their beautiful flat on one of the main streets in Spain and where they have a beautiful view of the city. I wanted to go ahead and get my visa paperwork out of the way, but I am learning to enjoy each day as it comes and did not want to miss out on the opportunity of spending more time with them. For lunch we went to one of the local restaurants and had the menu of the day , which consists of a three course meal. First, I had paella with chicken, paella is a traditionl spanish dish of rice and chicken, fish, or meat. Next, I had fried calamari which was quite different from what I have had at home because here you could tel that it was fresh. Lastly, I finished it off with some ice cream. Now the question of the day is, Did I finish everything? The answer is No. Although in my book I think I can eat a lot, but I am not use to eating such big meals. This was quite amusing to them because I kept saying there's more, Oh my God! After lunch I had to go back to my room and get my books for class and they waited at the bus stop with me until my bus came. I must say I am very happy that they were there to help me and they reassured me that if I needed anything just call, I really appreciated that!
After I went to class for 4 hours, I decided to go to Nerja, one of the beautiful beaches in Spain, with some of my classmates on Saturday. . .but because I was so tired this morning I decided to cancel.


Instead, last night was one of the residents, Hiram, birthday and it's tradition here that if it's your birthday you have to get thrown into the pool. So after dinner last night, we put balloons in the pool and lit candles in the shape of 23 and sung Happy Birthday to him after they dumped him in the pool. After it was over Hiram realized that he scraped his skin because he was struggling so much and they had dragged him some of the way. But I had a great time with them and it was my first official social events at the residence.

















So that was the end of Day 3 and the beginning of Day 4.
The lesson I am learning so far is to take one day at a time. Hopefully today and tomorrow I'll just go walk around the city and on Monday try to get my visa finished.