I arrived here in Villanueva exactly a week ago and the time has flown by! Since being here I have been speaking so much Spanish and meeting lots of people. Yesterday I was invited to my host brother’s girlfriends’s house in the country for lunch and swimming. When I got there I realized it was more of a party than a lunch. I was overwhelmed at first but it ended up being really fun. We ate tortilla española with spinach and pasta and lounged by the pool. It was hot outside and the pool felt so good! Later on that day I tried caracoles for the first time and they were pretty good! Although they may be a bit of an acquired taste they are really fun to eat! My host mom told me that they’re best while they’re hot so you have to eat them really fast. Everyone here seems to love them. I also saw the procession of Corpus Christi with my host mom, Rafi, and her friends. I really enjoyed listening to the band that was playing. It was a lovely way to end the day!
Outside of Villanueva, I went to Córdoba on Saturday with the other interns. My favorite part was the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. It only cost 2.50 euros to get in with my international student card and from the top you could see most of Córdoba. I really liked how the gardens were full of bushes shaped like pottery and castles. When we were standing in line to get into the Alcazar, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt from my high school and then Vivian, one of the other interns, yelled “Colorado” to get there attention. Turns out, a tour group from my high school was in Spain for their Spanish class! I even saw Sra. Bouchta, my old Spanish teacher from high school. I gave her a big hug and we talked for a little while. It was such a coincidence! After the Alcazar, we went to the Mezquita and I spent an hour and a half walking around and looking at all the tiny details in the architecture. It was the second time I had visited the Mezquita and it was even more beautiful than I remember.
After spending a week here, I am looking forward to starting teaching classes next week and to continue practicing my Spanish. I feel so excited and grateful to be here and I can already tell that this time is going to go by really fast!
¡Hasta luego!
Anna