don't worry -- i'm still alive.

Hello all! I have resurfaced into the universe. Sorry for all of the negative nancy posts... the rain, coupled with (relatively minor) sickness and homesickness made for a couple of rough days mostly spent sitting at the computer complaining, but all is right once more in the world of Spain, so worry not. I am completely better again. (I really wasn't that sick to begin with. Take note: I am a hypochrondriac to the nth degree.)

The past few days have been pretty fun. The sun has decided to finally come out again here in Alicante, which is good news for me! Yesterday, our Spanish class finished early and had a big meet-and-greet with the Spanish students who are taking a class to learn English! So that was really fun, because we got to meet all different students and we were all sortof on the same level of understanding each other. We were only allowed to speak Spanish and they were only allowed to speak English! I met some pretty cool people... one girl even offered to go see some Spanish theatre and translate for me if I didn't understand what was going on and another person said we should go see a movie sometime. Sounds fun to me!

Afterwards, I forgot that I had another intercambio, this time the girl that I have mentioned before. Last time we were going to meet, she had to cancel last minute because she had a job-interview, so we rescheduled. We grabbed some sodas and headed over to the lawn, to hang out and talk. (By the way, sodas are always served in glasses here. I felt so fancy drinking Diet Coke out of a wine glass!) We talked a lot about the differences between America and Spain, because she had never really been anywhere outside of this area of Spain. The idea that siesta doesn't exist in America was totally foreign to her. She couldn't understand how people worked from 9-5. "What do you mean?" she kept saying. "I don't understand. When do people eat? Don't they go home for lunch?" :) It was endearing. She also invited me to go hang out with her tonight, except I couldn't because I have a test tomorrow that I need to study for. Bummer.

I also went on another adventure yesterday to find an underwater camera so that I could take pictures during my snorkeling excursion I went on this afternoon. The other girl who signed up to go snorkeling with me lives on the other side of town, but I wanted to see that part of Alicante, so I met up with her and we meandered our way over to the mall. As per usual, we got pretty lost for a while, but it was fun to discover even more about this city. She lives right near the castle, too, so we found some cool pathways around the castle. We're not sure where they lead -- I think its a park or a running path, because it seemed pretty popular -- but we're going to find out sometime next week when we go back to get our pictures developed!

Looking at the castle from behind. There's a path up there somewhere.

This street is called Calle Peligro, which means "Dangerous Street". I don't want to know why.
I suppose it would be dangerous to drive down.

Train tracks are cool. Not sure where they lead to.

Somehow, we ended up on the side of a mountaintop looking down over Alicante and the ocean. Not a bad view, if I say so myself.

I like that the stop sign is in English. Also, it was totally in my way of taking a picture!
We weren't supposed to be walking up here.... hahaha. Not a pedestrian walkway!

Looking over the Mediterranean and a random hill. Pretty, eh? Its nice when it isn't storming.

Exploring the Spanish supermercados are always fun, and I went on the adventure of finding some deodorant and snacks for my room and to take to school. They have a huge wall of giant chocolate bars! (Just what I need, right?) While Jordan and I were looking through them, this British woman overheard us speaking and told us about this chocolate factory that is only an hour away from Alicante in a neighboring town -- it gives free tours, and it also gives away free chocolate! Sounds like my kind of place. Add that to the list of cool places to find! I'll let you know how that goes. Her directions were rather vague though, so I feel an adventure in the making.

Meanwhile, as I was walking through the mall, I received a frantic phone call from Lauren. We've been trying to plan our October Break (we have a week off of class to do whatever we want) and she had just found super cheap plane tickets from Alicante to Paris! I told her to book it immediately and we'd figure out the details later....so she did! Guess who's going to Paris! Okay, I don't speak a word of French, nor do I know one thing about Paris or France, but it seems like a pretty cool place, right? Any ideas on places to go or things to see (other than the obvious tower, of course), leave them in the comments!

So that is quite cool. I had sortof gotten it into my head that I was going to tour Spain during that break, but really, who is complaining, Paris sounds wonderful! Now...to figure out where I am going to live...

Today, I went on my excursion to Tabarca, which is an island off the coast of Alicante to go snorkeling and exploring. However, I am going to have to write about that tomorrow, because it is after midnight here and I have a test tomorrow! Plus, I am exhausted from so much swimming today. I'll leave you with this cliff-hanger....it was an amazing day, with some pretty amazing stories and I want to do them justice.

Mostly, I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive, well, and quite happy. My host mom and I had a pretty awesome heart-to-heart ....and well, it wasn't that deep because I can only say so many words, hahah, but she was telling me how I am one of the best students she's had! And she is so glad that I am having so much fun and that I am happy. She gave me a big hug and a mom-kiss on the cheek when she went to bed, so that's nice. (Don't be jealous, Momma! :)) I told her that I loved her house and her family and all of it and she was seriously thrilled. Awww.

Mk, time to brush my teeth and hit the sack. Love you all muchos y muchos.