Pictures!!! Some more observations, my goals and what´s been happening!

As promised, I put most of my pictures up! There are still 2 albums of pictures that I still have to put up, but I was getting sick of putting them up one by one so just scroll down and you will see them! So in the past week or so since my last entry, I have just been going to school, eating, sleeping and then doing it all over again the next day. It was hard getting back into the swing of things, but I think I´m ready to go to school now. I did pretty good in my class. I got B´s for most of my stuff, but then today, I finally got 2 A-´s!! That´s actually something to be proud of because the grading system over here is very different. On a scale of 1-10, students are usually really happy with a 7. Now in the U.S., students would be kind of upset with a grade like that. Over here, a 10 is perfect, you made no mistakes and you exceeded expectations. So that means, getting a 10 is practically impossible. Those 2 A-´s were 8´s. So I was pretty proud. We had our final test today, and I think I did pretty good. I´m not sure when we are getting our final grades back, but I´ll let you know what I got!

So while everyone has been freezing back home, I have been able to get to the beach and play out in the sun and sand! The water has been too cold to swim in, but there are still the wackies that jump in and swim. Recently, we´ve been having some crazy wind, like 30 mph with over 60 mph gusts. It´s actually been really fatal. Many people have died and trees have been blown down and tons of people have been without power. Luckily nothing like that has happened to me or my familia, but the wind has been bad throughout Spain, as well as France and Portugal. Mom, don´t read this, but Dad would appreciate it...it´s kinda fun walking around in that kind of wind and getting pushed around...I mean...lol. Also, on Friday, we went to see the movie "Seven Pounds" with Will Smith, but it is translated into Spanish as "Siete Almas (Souls)" which is interesting. It was pretty much the most depressing movie ever. I understand pretty much the whole thing, so I was happy about that...just not happy about hating life when it was over.

Here are some more things I´ve observed. Spain is more Americanized than you think. I mean, everywhere I go, I hear American music, from pop, rap to rock. You just can´t escape it. It´s in all of the stores, the bus, supermarkets. Also, a lot of Spaniards really like Americans. Of course some hate us, but others really like us. A lot of Spanish students like practicing their English and hearing about stuff in the States. Most of the people I´ve met are really friendly towards Americans. Another thing is that I do feel like I can fit in somewhat if I am alone. I was really worried that I would stick out like a sore thumb, but that´s really not the case. Not everyone has dark brown hair, awesome style and the same size. Some people that are Spanish don´t even look like they are Spanish. I was all worried for nothin´.

For my seminar class we had to make a list of 10 goals we want to accomplish by the end of our time here in Alicante, so I decided that I might as well post it on here for everyone and that way I can keep everyone posted on my progress.

-I want to be fluent.

-When I come back to the States, I want everyone to be able to see a changed and different Holly.

- I want to find the courage to step out of my comfort zone.

- I want to see as much of Europe as I can.

-I want to make long lasting friendships with Americans and locals.

- I want to grow and become more: confident, independent and secure of who I am.

- I want to be accepted by the locals.

- I want to find the perfect cafés, restaurants, tapas bars and dessert places that don’t have tons of Americans.

- I don’t want to just “pass”; I want to learn as much as I can and get good grades.

- I want my parents to be proud of me, and I want them to think that it was money well spent.

So there you go! My actual semester of classes starts on Wednesday, so I have 2 classes then and then 1 on Thursday. Can´t wait! Now I´m just trying to figure out when and where I want to travel!