Classes and Convents

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Today we started classes again at Mester. Each week new students come in, so classes are always changing. Mandy and I were put into an actual beginner class with a lot of students from Holland and a mother and daughter from Germany. The students from Holland do not know hardly any Spanish, so we spent most of the class reviewing. Our teacher, still Mar, kept calling on us in class to answer everything. It felt really good to be the one who knows more Spanish than others instead of being the one who is completely lost. It is a good sign that I am learning! Tomorrow they will move the people from Holland into a lower level, so it will just be me, Mandy, and the two girls from Germany. After class I went home for lunch, and found out that some new people should be coming to stay with us tomorrow. It gets a little weird being the only student in the house. Not to mention, Rosario always tells me that I can write and read Spanish very well but that my talking and pronunciation is not good. She says I need to listen and practice in class; however, I reminded her that I have only been here for a week. I actually took a siesta today, but I woke up quite tired and grumpy. After my last siesta, I met up with the group to go visit the San Esteban Church and Convent. It was a beautiful place filled with Gothic architecture. We got to explore and see the beautiful monument. It costs about two euros to get into, but we already paid in our overall costs. The Dominicans used to live there in the 14^th and 15^th centuries and treated the Native Americans brought over from new world kindly. The church still holds mass, and is filled with gold from the Americas. After our visit, we had time just to walk around and see all the local shops before going back home for dinner. I can’t believe it is the beginning of the second week. Where did time go?

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