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.

Name That Smell . . .

Today was a pretty chill day, all I did was walk around Teatinos, the part of Malaga that I live in, and go to class in the central area. There are two main campuses for the University of Malaga: El Ejido and Teatinos. Teatinos is going to be the campus that I will mainly be studying at while I am here, but for now I am taking a Spanish class for foreingners in the central area of town. There are a lot of foreigners from all parts of Europe here on an Erasmus scholarship, which is great for me because we all come from various language backgrounds and our only common language is Spanish. I am enjoying this challenge because it forces me to use Spanish at all times and not keep falling back on English when I don't know which word or a phrase to use.

Okay, one thing that is getting to me is this particular smell everywhere I go! The only idea I have is that it comes from the dogs. I don't understand why, but no one picks up after their animals and if they do I have yet to see one person do it. And the smell of crap fills certain back streets and even the main areas around town and you know it's bad when you can taste the smell in your mouth . . . eww.

Well something interesting is that I did get lost today, the bus I am suppose to take to get from the city to Teatinos is the 20 and I got on the 25 today. But I am happy that I did because the part of town I went to was nothing like the city and tourist areas. I learned that no matter where in the world you go, there are always going to be ghettos and homeless people. Although it was sad to see, it's a reality! Besides that, after I realized I got on the wrong bus when we reached the end of the line, I had to pay another fare to get back to campus and then walk about 10 min to my dorm. One thing that people kept telling back home is that I am going to gain a lot of weight while I'm here; however, as much as I walk I might actually lose wieght which I don't need to do, lol. But I enjoy walking because I can learn the back ways and explore the town, the only thing I dont like is that my feet are so dirty when I come home. OMG!!

Hopefully tomorrow I can upload some pictures of Malaga. I am going to attempt to get up early so I can go set-up a bank account and finish the last steps of my visa. After that I am going to go explore the city and try to find the way to the nearest beach. Tomorrow should be an intriguing day, I am anxious to find out how the process of opening a bank account will be and their caliber of customer service.

Furthermore, Day 2 is now complete and it seems as though each day will be better than the last!

Where Am I Going?

Today was my first official day in Malaga and it was very interesting.
To start off, last night I did not go to bed til 2am because I wanted to get everything unpacked and make it feel like home. I like the dorms because I have my own room, which is a nice size and they have good security. Every time you leave the dorm you have to return your keys to the front desk and the attendant lets you in and out of the door, which is quite different coming compared to home. But my first night here was okay, I couldn't really sleep because of jet lag which caused me to sleep later then I wanted to. I had planned on waking up early so I could see the town and try to accomplish somethings but I ended up waking up at 11:30am and this is only because the cleaning people came into my room. This was weird but funny to me because I thought that once they saw me in my room they would leave; however, they kept cleaning as if I wasn't there! I guess they figured regardless if you're here I still have to do my job, so I just decided to get up and start off my day.
The first thing I did was try and find the Office for Foreigners, lets just say it took me an hour to find a building that was 10 minutes away. But what can I say, I asked for help but couldn't really comprehend. Just give me a month or two and I should have it!
After that I came back to the dorm for lunch then took a nap before going to see if I could get into the free Spanish class for foreigners. I went expecting to take a placement test but once I got there the director just asked how long I have been studying Spanish and placed me in a class. I then asked when do I start going and he said, "Now, you're already late!" Needless to say I am now in class from 3:30 to 7:30 everyday, until my actual classes start at the end of September! I am just happy that I was able to get into the classes because I did not want to start school at the university without actually taking classes for a month and not being in a class setting.
One thing I can say is I feel at home because I got hit on today, lol! A guy yelled out his window, "hey you're very beautiful." (Él me dicho que morena tú estás muy guapa!)
Besides that I am happy to say that I have a new acquaitance, Carolina, from Germany. She is very nice and I am helping her with her English while we are both helping each other with Spanish. Also, my roommate Sara has agreed to do a trade off with me, English for Spanish, she even gave me some Spanish music to help me learn.
All in all today was a good day. . . and I know y'all are wondering if I am the only Black person, well as far as my dorm and classes, yes; however, I did see 5 other black people today, but they were mostly african. So, so far I am the only African American. . .oh a funny story --- I was talking to some people in my class on our break and we were asking where everyone was from. So I said, "the United States, Georgia," and they were like cool but where do you originate from, what part of Africa? I was like I'm just American, none of my immediate lineage stems from Africa. I had to explain to them that there a lot of African Americans in the U.S. that do not stem directly from Africans and we are pretty mixed. Then one of the girls was like yea, they have have been there for a very long time, so really they are simply American. (interesting conversation)

Well tomorrow is a new day and we'll see if it's as interesting as today!

Sitting in My Room

I finally arrived in Spain today and it is so surreal, after all this planning I'm here. I had a good flight from ATL to London Heathrow, but once I got there I did not know where to go to buy my connecting ticket to Gatwick airport. So I am going around asking for help and when finally get to where I need to go, I realize that my ticket has just been stolen. Talk about panic mode; my ticket was inside of my passport in the side pocket of my bookbag, but all I could do was say thank you Jesus that my passport was not stolen! Needless to say I had to pay 19.50 pounds to get from Heathrow to Gatwick, which was an 1 hr ride and arrived to the gate and was able to have my ticket reprinted.
On to Gatwick, I had a 6hr layover and was starving because I was not about to buy any of the over priced food in London (in terms of $). But I met a nice guy, Chris, on the plane that was from London; he and his friends were headed to Malaga for their annual Golf Getaway Week. He kept me company for the flight and allowed me to loosen up and not be so anxious about being here for a year and I appreciated it.
After we landed I picked up my 2 overweight and over sized duffle bags and headed to Teatinos (dorm), there I was greeted by my roommates and one of the managers Fernanda. And this is when I realized that I have my work cut out for me, they were speaking so fast and I could only catch every third word. But this is why I am here, to become fluent in Spanish and learn more about the culture. I really like my dorm room and the fact that I have my own room. It's a nice size and has pretty good closet space. All in all, I am finally in Malaga and Day 1 is about to begin.
So now, after 17hrs of travel I can finally say, My Journey Has Just Begun!

Everything Happens for a Reason

To start off, I am now sitting in the airport waiting to board my
flight to London (9/7).
I missed my flight yesterday to Spain because I did not read the
military time correctly, which is odd for me because my car only reads
in military time. But everything happens for a reason. On the way to
the airport yesterday my best friend was coming to see me off and I
thought I had already missed her because I had already left my house.
But because of the flight issues I was able to properly say goodbye
and receive one of the best gifts ever: a beautiful scrapbook of all
of my friends and family to keep me from getting home sick. (I love
you Marie). Also, I was able to spend more time with my family, whom I
love more than anything!!
Well my flight takes off at 9:15 and I should arrive in Malaga
tomorrow night. I will be sure to let you all know when I make it to
Malaga and hopefully with all my luggage! Funny, I am already having a
journey and I haven't even made it out of the country yet.

~ Michelle

Getting Prepared to Leave - Thank you

I knew this day was coming, but now it's finally here. . . I leave Sunday for Spain. Yesterday was my last day at work and it made me realize how grateful I am that I transferred to State. The friendships I have created, the people that I've met, and the opportunities that I have can never be replaced or forgotten. I have worked at Georgia State for the past two years and have learned the importance of cultivating relationships with people. It was so hard for me to not cry, it feels awesome to know that you are going to be missed but better to know that you have a second family that cares about you. I am truly thankful for all the smiles, advice, and kind words from you all; I am truly going to miss you COL.

However, I know that a year is a long time but with skype, facebook, and this blog it will feel like I am on a short vacation. I am so grateful for this opportunity but I am really going to miss my family and friends. I have traveled abroad before but never for this long and need comfort just as much as you (family). But please remember that I am just a skype phone call away. I can't wait to post pictures and videos so that you all can live vicariously through my journey abroad. Thank you so much to my family and friends for all of your continued support.

Now to my real dilemma, I am finally done packing my clothes and realized that I am taking too much stuff, but how do you really pack for a year without taking your life with you?