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Today Lisa and I are leaving for London!! YAY! Unfortunately that means we will also be internetless because we are definitely not risking taking our computers along with us while couchsurfing and staying in hostels…but we are VERY excited, especially because we get to speak ENGLISH the entire time. For the first time in months we won’t have to worry about translating! It should be interesting because apparently Obama’s over there right now and its causing quite a commotion, but we’re not too worried about it.

Guess what!! We have new students!! Two students just arrived in on Tuesday from the US…I’m not sure how long they’re staying until, but it sounds like it will be a month or two. Unfortunately that did mean we also lost a few students :( Our friend Obe from Denmark went back home on Monday and one of the girls from ISA went home early to get a root canal…that does NOT sound fun.

Time is still flying by so fast, it’s insane. It’s weird because I feel like a lot has happened at the days go by pretty slowly, but time has been progressing soooo quickly. It also kind of seems like everything happens in fast forward here, like people I’ve only known for two months feel like they’ve been lifelong friends and sometimes I feel like I’m so familiar with this place that I must’ve been here for years, when in fact its only been like 10 weeks. I don’t know if it’s the situation and the fact that things happen so fast, or what it is, but we’ve all been feeling this way lately. I’ve been really lucky to have made so many friends here so easily, and honestly didn’t expect it at all. I even find myself relating and becoming really close with foreign people. Its weird to think that you can share so many things with people that come from all different backgrounds and cultures…and everyone has such a strong interest in the things they are trying to accomplish over here and I love hearing their stories. Malaga is pretty much one huge melting pot because people here aren’t just from Spain, they’re from England, Denmark, Ireland, anywhere in South America, and basically EVERYWHERE! I have been so lucky to have met such a great variety of people but still be able to share so much with them.

It’s really weirding me out that my stay over here is well over half way done now! I’m so excited to go back home in less than two months, but at the same time I feel like I’ve kind of gotten attached to this place. I feel really comfortable here and even though I don’t talk, dress, or act like anyone here, I barely feel like a foreigner anymore. The fact that I do feel so normal here scares me a little bit, because the more I begin to accept this place as “normal”, the stranger coming back to the US will be to me. This became really obvious to me when I was digging through my change and found some random American coins at the bottom of my purse but didn’t recognize them at first!

Semana Santa is starting up this weekend (thus the week off of school) and it’s making things a little crazy around here. A ton of things are accumulating in Calle Larios and making it quite crowded as they’re getting ready for a lot of parades and daily processions…it kind of reminds me of 8th street during Tulip Time, haha. And apparently Antonio Banderas has been hanging out over there with his wife Melanie Griffith….I have yet to run into them though! Also people are cluttering the streets like crazy trying to find all the tourist stuff and figure out their maps to get through the city…crazy foreigners….haha.

Random fact of the day….apparently one of the ISA leaders here Iker used to have hair about twice as long as mine…and then he cut it and grew it out the same length all over again just because he could. Apparently a recording of his second haircut is up on youtube too.

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