So far, the main thing I have learned about myself during this trip is that I have absolutely no Spanish skills when I wake up in the morning. Saturday morning I woke up, and went into the kitchen, and my host mom started talking to me and I caught nothing. Absolutely nothing. We both started laughing and I explained to her that my mind is still asleep and I need some time to wake up.

I have kind of started to notice the punctuality thing that everyone talks about. My host mom will tell me what time we’re going to leave in the morning, and 15 minutes later, we leave. It’s not a big deal; I just need to remember this so I start waking up later.

 Saturday we went to Leo’s soccer game. The game was interesting….they only had 5 people playing at a time on each team, and they played on cement. Leo’s team won 28-1 and it was kind of sad for the other team. After the game, we came home and Adelina walked me to the beach. Oh my gosh. I have never seen something so beautiful in my entire life. I could sit and stare at the beach all day every day for the rest of my life. It is absolutely amazing.

Saturday after lunch, I met Ali in La Plaza de Luceros, and we did some shopping. After a couple of hours, I finally found some boots and shoes that I liked so I bought both pairs. Now I am feeling a lot better about my wardrobe, because I will be able to fit in a lot better.

At 9:30 my host mom called me into the living room to eat dinner which was weird as we usually eat in the kitchen. But Leo cooked dinner, and he made awesome fajitas and potatoes. I am pretty impressed and slightly embarrassed that a 13 year old boy can cook better than I can.

After dinner, we were all going to watch a movie, but then I asked Leo if he had ever played FIFA and he got so excited and wanted to play. Well, we ended up playing FIFA and other videogames for 3 hours lol.

Sunday was just as awesome as Saturday. I woke up around 9:30, had breakfast with my madre, and we walked to church together. The inside of the church was absolutely beautiful. I have always heard about the churches in Europe, and this definitely lived up to my expectations. It was extremely beautiful, and I will probably go again just to look at it. I really didn’t understand a lot of the mass, the priest talked very quiet and there were screaming babies everywhere so I couldn’t really hear well. I want to go again so I can try to understand. I did notice that it was very similar to our mass in the states because everything followed the same sequence.

After mass, my madre and I walked along the beach and sat for a while near the port with all of the giant boats for “las personas ricas.” It is my goal to get a ride on one of these boats!

The beach is definitely my favorite place in Alicante so far. I know that sounds cliché, but it is breathtaking. I could stare at it all day every day and never get sick of it. I decided that if I am ever feeling sad or homesick, I will just walk down to the beach, because I do not think it is possible to be unhappy with such a beautiful view.

            Today for lunch we had paella. I didn’t really know I was eating paella until I finished. It was not what I expected it to be, but my madre said that there are so many different kinds, so maybe I will get a chance to try a different kind. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious; it was just less exciting than I thought it was going to be haha.

After lunch, I left for the beach to meet up with Ali and Amanda! Once we all found each other, we sat in the sand, took a bunch of pictures and just relaxed in the sun. It was the best feeling to just sit on the beach and look at how beautiful the place we are living in really is. I seriously can’t even describe the beauty of this place. After a couple of hours of just sitting, soaking up the beauty, we decided to walk around a bit more and explore.  

            Eventually, we decided to head back to the beach to watch the sunset, but we got distracted by an ice cream place. We all got a small scoop of ice cream and ate it on our way back to the beach.

            The beach at night is just as beautiful as the beach during the day. There are still people everywhere and everything is just as new and exciting. After a while longer at the beach, we all went our separate ways back to our casas. I watched tv with my madre a little bit while we looked at my class schedule and figured out a plan for me to take the tram and everything.

            Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and we have to meet with our advisor before each class so he can walk us to the right building. This may seem embarrassing to some people, to be dropped off at your classroom like a child, but I am extremely grateful because I still have no idea where anything is, even after our tour. I am pretty nervous for tomorrow, but I think that we all are. Hopefully the first day of classes goes well!