I have finished one complete week of classes. They are not too hard, pretty interesting actually, but it is hard sometimes to be in classes when I would rather be wondering around Spain, exploring places and meeting people.

This weekend I went to two different coastal cities to check out the beaches. Friday to Saturday a couple of us went to Malaga. We tried out a different beach each day. The first day it was really hot and sunny and a lot of the people I was with got burned. Dad, you would be very proud of me because I was one of the only ones that did not :) I used 30 spf - no not a typo- and apparently that stuff does work after all. You were right. But I've worked myself down to 15 now so don't get too excited. :)

The second day the weather didn't seem to be able to decide what it wanted to do. While we were walking from our hostel to the beach it was hot and sunny but as soon as we got to the beach it clouded over and then started raining after about 10 minutes. So we went and explored a bit and found a really good pizza place where we ate away our disappointment with the weather. Of course, while we were inside eating, the sun came out and it got really nice out. We ran back to the beach quickly and got about 10 minutes of sun before the clouds came back and the wind picked up and we were all freezing again. So we went to go get some coffee, and yes the sun came back out. That's pretty much how that whole day went until we left that night to come back to Granada.

Sunday I went to Nerja, a different coastal city with some other people here. It was a gorgeous day and a very neat city. Most of the houses were built into the side of the hills overlooking the Mediterranean. I decided if I move here some day Nerja will be it. It reminded me of the pictures you see of little towns in Greece. It was very beautiful. Lots of people topless on the beach. No tops and thong bottoms seem to be the latest fashion. None of us were brave enough to join in.

This week in Granada the Corpus Christi festival is going on. It is a really big deal and lasts all week. There were fireworks last night, a parade tomorrow, music every night and everything closes down from pretty much Thursday through Sunday so everyone can celebrate. I am going to head over to the festival later tonight and check it out with some people. I am pretty excited to see what it is all about. All over downtown there are huge balls of light hanging from tarps they put up over the streets. They have lit up garland everywhere too. It is pretty cool looking. It kind of looks a lot like the Christmas decorations we have in bigger cities back home, but cooler of course since it is in Spain :)

I'm going to a bull fight this Thursday as part of the festival. That should be interesting. I don't really like the whole concept of it but I feel like it is something I have to do while I'm here. It will be cool to see the culture that surrounds the event. I think I will like that better than the actual bull fight. I hear there is a lot of blood. Lately on the news they have been showing video of this one bullfighter that recently lost to the bull, I suppose you could say. It picked him up with his horn and was swinging him all around - but he's ok apparently and can't wait to get back out there. They show a lot of thing on the news here that we wouldn't really air back home. Lots of gory details over and over to the point where you finally have to look away.

Friday to Saturday we are hiking up the Sierra Nevada and staying overnight in a hostel up there. Our whole group was split into two and the first group went last week. I hear it is pretty hard but very rewarding so I am excited for that. It is suppose to be about 100 degrees here this weekend so that should make the hike even more interesting. Hopefully it won't be quite as hot the higher up we get.

I'll let you know how all these things go next week! I'm off to class!

Besos!