I've been here for 2 weeks already!

Well, I can't believe that it's already been two weeks. I've only been in Granada for a week though because during the past week we went to Madrid and Toledo. Madrid was very city-ish, it didn't seem like we were in a different country when we were there. Everything was in Spanish, but there were buses, people everywhere, and even Starbucks. I was glad that I didn't decide to study in Madrid, it was just too much city for me. I didn't particularly care for Madrid, but I really liked Toledo. In Madrid though, it was so historical, we saw the Palacio Real where past kings and queens of Spain had lived, and we also saw the Museo del Prado which had tons of sculptures and paintings. It was so cool to hear the stories about the kings and queens and we saw their bed chambers and the rooms where they had parties. Toledo was exactly like the old cities you think of when you think of Europe. Narrow streets, lots of apartments with little balconies with plants on them. It was beautiful!

We didn't get to Granada until that Sunday even though we arrived in Spain on Wednesday. After the 5 hour bus ride from Toledo to Granada, we anxiously awaited in the bus until our names were called and we could meet our family. After one of the ISA directors called our names, Angela, Kyla, and Andrea, we got our luggage and were greeted by a nice middle aged man with a smile. The rest of the family was at the house, which was good b/c we could hardly even fit us and all of our luggage in the car.
We are staying with an amazing family with four children. There is a 22 year old daughter Monica, a 17 year old son Manolo, and 11 year old twin girls Elena and Maria. The parents have been so welcoming and so amazing. The Mom, Torcuata, always greets us with a smile and a kiss and tells us how pretty we are. She always tells us that we are her own daughters now. She is just really sweet and loving. The family can definitely be really loud, especially the twins, but they are pretty cool. We have played games and watched 101 Dalmations with the girls. It has been a good homestay so far. In the house, the three of us share a pretty large room and the three of us also have a bathroom to ourselves. We couldn't have asked for a better place to stay.
I am now starting the second week of my intensive month course. I was worried at the beginning when I had to take a placement to test to see which course I would be placed into. I needed to place into the advanced level to get college credit for this trip at OSU and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to, but I took the test and sure enough I made it into the advanced level and so did the other girls that I live with. We have class from 9-1 Mon-Friday. The class isn't really that hard, when I heard it was called the intensive month I was worried it would be a ton of work. But we hardly have any homework. We're reviewing a lot of stuff right now but it's nice to see it again so I finally learn this stuff for good.
Well, I'm sitting here in the ISA office with some friends and we're trying to figure out where to go during our breaks. Right now, we're thinking about going to France and Italy during our one week break. We're planning on doing lots of traveling while we're here. I'm not sure where else we're going to go, but I know it will be a really good experience. It still hasn't completely hit me that I'm going to be here for four months, and when I think about it, it's kind of hard to be away for so long. But I know that I am on this trip for a reason, well, obviously to learn spanish, but there is so much more that is going to happen. I do get homesick, but I know this trip will be worth it when it is over. I miss all of you and I love all of you. I will write again soon! Please keep in touch!