And I, I took the one less traveled by...: First day of school!

Hoy, el seis de febrero, es el primer día de las clases! Translation: Today, the 6th of February, is the first day of classes! I probably should've gone to bed a little earlier last night (is 12:30am too late?) because I woke up this morning, bright and early at 7:15am to get ready for school. I haven't been to school in 2 months, I almost forgot what having to wake up early was! I'm just kidding around but it was still early, even for my host mom who got up just to make me breakfast before she sent her little Spanish prodigy out into the world ;) Yesterday, Ginny and I found a new route to school that's shorter and faster then the way we were taking to get around the city. We've become so much more familiar with out neighborhood and the different plazas that are sprinkled throughout the city. So we made it to class in record time, and on time because our school is very strict on tardiness and they will count you absent if you are late. Also, attendance is mandatory. If you miss a certain number of days without a doctors note they won't even let you take the tests or the final to get credit for the class. I had 2 classes this morning, starting at 9am and ending at 11am, and they went really well! So far my teachers seem really nice and enthusiastic to teach. Today I have one more class from 6pm to 8pm and then I'm done as far as Monday/Wednesday classes are concerned. I'm taking 5 classes this semester, 4 in Spanish and 1 in English. The Spanish classes are taught all in Spanish and most of the teachers don't know a whole lot of English. My culture teacher isn't really familiar with the United States and in class we had to draw her a map to show her where we all were from, which was funny to try to explain. After my classes I went to one of my favorite little coffee shops, called La Gitana, with 4 other friends. I love the quaint atmosphere and everyone is SO friendly here! I ordered a hot green tea with a tostado de aceite con tomate, which is a small sandwich made from toasted bread with olive oil and tomatoes...it was delicious! My friends and I are going to become regular customers at La Gitana. Tomorrow I'm taking a girl that I met in class, Annie, to a restaurant where they serve churros con chocolate. Churros con chocolate is a fried dough, either shaped like long sticks or curled into circles, that you dip in hot chocolate and it is by far my favorite food I've had! I could eat them everyday! Some friends and I searched high and low on Sunday for a place that served churros con chocolate (mostly because places only serve the snack in the mornings) and we finally found a great place so I'm taking Annie so she won't miss out on this wonderful pastry! I have kind of a long day at school tomorrow where I start at 9am and go until 11am then I have a 3 hour break until I have class again from 2pm to 6pm. Because I won't be able to come back home for lunch, my host mom is packing me a lunch! So far things have been great with my host family! My host mom kind of reminds me of my grandma, always making sure I bring a jacket and even when I'm full, still asking if I want anything more to eat. My "niece", or my host sister's daughter (if you follow that haha) is such a comedian and loves all the attention she gets from the family. The other night at dinner she decided to put on a show while dancing around the room in her pink, sparkly dress and high heels, and singing into her microphone to songs like "Waka Waka" by Shakira. Right before bedtime, Blanca laid all her dolls on the floor, covered them with a blanket, and decided to read to them a bedtime story. She's just so precious! Also, yesterday I was able to skype with my 2 best friends Parkes and Ryann who I hadn't seen since I left! It was great to get to catch up with them and to tell them all about my travels. I can't wait to skype with them again! And I also was skyping with my boyfriend Ryan when my host mom came into my room so I decided to introduce the two, which was so funny because my host mom went off on a tangent in Spanish and Ryan had no idea what she was saying haha! At this time, Blanca decided to enter the room and join in by waving at Ryan and marveling at herself on the computer. We taught her a little bit of English to say to Ryan and the whole night she kept repeating, "What's your name?", she's such an adorable and silly little girl.

Wish me luck on my next couple of classes today and tomorrow, I hope they go as well as the first two did! Hablaré pronto! (I'll talk soon!)