This past week has been amazing! From fun discussions with the Spaniards, to traveling to new cities, I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the week! Here's a little bit more about what I've been up to lately.

As I said in my last post, I am living with a host family while here in Spain. This week was full of fun conversations talking with my host mom and sister about topics ranging from travel, to food, to movies. It has been really fun learning about their perspectives on life and how they differ from ours in the United States. It has also been fun to see how many similarities there are and to see how dominant the United States is in the world, especially with respect to the entertainment industry. When walking around, the music that is playing in the stores is almost exactly the same as what you would here in the mall at home, and when turning on the TV, although they may be speaking Spanish, the majority of the shows are the exact same. Because of this, I have been able to have some really fun conversations with my host family which include talking about Mary-Kate and Ashley movies (because yes, we watched one the other night!) and talking about movies like Pretty Woman and While You Were Sleeping (one of my host mom's favorite movies).

In addition to getting to talk to my host mom and sister when at home, this week we had our first "Intercambio" where I was able to talk with other Spaniards from this beautiful city. During the intercambios, the students who are learning Spanish and the students who are learning English get together and spend time practicing their language skills. We spent 4 minutes talking in Spanish and then switched to 4 minutes in English where I was able to see just how far my Spanish has come! It was really fun getting to meet new people and here their perspectives about this beautiful country.