Este calor me va a matar...

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to say hello again seeing as it's been a while. Not too much has happened since the last time we talked. Still sort of settling myself into Granada. My friend Kayla who I lived with in Italy is planning on visiting next month so I've been working that out with her. Also, I'm planning a big excursion to stay on the coast a while for my break between the two sections that I'm here for. I'll be heading down to Málaga, visiting Ronda (big gorge, castle and whatnot), and Nerja (beautiful beach, caves, blah blah blah), for five whole glorious days. Been getting plenty of sun. My host mom told me the other day that I have legs like a black person, which is apparently okay to say in Spain?

Things with the family are going well. I've been having a lot of fun with them recently. Like the other night my 62-year-old host mom chased her son around the apartment with a wet mop because he jammed her finger in a drawer in the kitchen. And every Wednesday me and the señora watch our shows, one of which is a soap opera called Marichuli or something. The acting of course is phenomenal, but at least the plot is easy enough to follow. And I've been watching quite a few fútbol games, which are surprisingly rather exciting. Aparently the United States has a soccer slash fútbol team that our entire country is unaware of. Either way, we lost to Italy the other night. They actually watch a lot of tv here which surprised me. I always thought of the US as the big tv-watching culture but since a lot of people live in apartments, they eat in the same room where the tv is so literally every meal I've eaten, the tv has been on. My hermano loves Los Simpson so we usually watch that during lunch and then a game show or news during dinner. Last night we watched Predator 2 which believe it or not, is not as good as the original which of course was phenomenal, despite Danny Glover's whole-hearted performance.

I visited Sevilla last Saturday. It was 45 degress Celsius in the sun. Which means nothing to you so I'll elaborate. 45 x 9 = 405 / 5 = 81 + 32 = 113 godforsaken degrees Fahrenheit. And yes, that is the equation that runs through my head every time I see a thermometer. The city itself was enjoyable, but I'm going to opt out on doing any more school-led tours because they're a little rushed and don't really allow for any spontaneity. (I'll have pictures up soon)

Last week was Corpus Christi (not the city in Texas), a huge religious festival. I had three days off from school which was pretty sweet and they have a huge fair here with bullfights and rides and all that good stuff. Unfortunately, I was a little unprepared for the party and didn't even realize it was about to happen until the day before, so no bullfighting, but maybe next time. I did go to the beach again with some friends, and some of their Spanish friends, which was a lot of fun, and I got to speak Spanish the entire day which didn't go as horribly as I would have thought. I'm slowly improving, but faster than I would be in the states taking classes, because it's really helpful to learn a concept in class and then walk outside the classroom and have to apply that concept 2 minutes later.

Tomorrow I'm going to the mountains to do a little horseback riding which should be amusing. And this weekend I'm off to a wine tour at a nearby vineyard, a little closer to what I'm accustomed to. And on Sunday I'll be kayaking and sailing and playing volleyball on the beach. And then I have one more week of classes and exams and the first section is done!

My classes are all enjoyable enough. I've been struggling a lot with the literature class because some of the material is pretty advanced and I can barely grasp an understanding let alone come up with an educated response. My favorite class would have to be my actual language class because my professor is an absolute riot. The first half of the class is usually dedicated to everyday sort of language like how to order something without sounding like a gringo or the difference between 'ser jodido' and 'estar jodido' (that's for you Rich), and then we go over a particular grammar topic. It's a great class because it's helping me to really weed out all of those little inconsistencies and mistakes and all that. We're usually reminded at least seven times a class how English is in fact an inferior language to Spanish.

Well that's all for now folks. I'll be checking back in again soon and uploading some photos. Turns out I didn't lose my free wireless connection at my apartment, it was just turned off last week for all the festivities. Good to go now. Turned my computer on yesterday so it should be ready to go by tomorrow. (Lack of free disk space + hijacked wireless connection + 8,000 degrees = slow as all hell).

Off to have my daily helado (gelato / ice cream but better) and then to the park for a nap before dinner at 9.

Hasta luego,
Jared

P.S. Also, keep me in your thoughts as I will be embarking on one of the most dangerous, potentially soul-shattering adventure ever tomorrow: Getting a haircut when you don't know how to say haircut.