Como estas? Yesterday was the first time I have been to the beach since our trip, and it was in the Atlantic Ocean in Cadiz, Spain. Southern Spain is quite lovely indeed. I have been settling in and getting in the groove of things more.

The city of Seville is very beautiful, but it took me a while to get used to the small streets. I am living in a great location which is very close to both places where my classes are going to be. It is right by los jardines de murrillos, off the big street called Pelayo. My friends live rather far away across the river, so we just have to call and make meeting points. The river is very nice, we have eaten tapas and hung out there a few nights now.

It has been somewhat overwhelming here since I cannot speak spanish very well, and the sevillano accent is very strong and rapido. But I started my intensive grammar class today that will hopefully get me back in the swing of things. It is three hours a day from 12 to 3 until 22 de septiembre. Then I will be taking four classes, two at the university of seville and 2 through the program which I am studying through. All spanish classes and one psychology class.

My family is very nice. My ¨padres¨are named Fonsi and Eduardo. Then I have abuelos who live there as well. Fonsi has two kids although they live out of the house but her daughter visits frequently with her kids who are 6 and 11. I hung out with them last night and we watched Daddy Daycare in spanish (the one with Eddie Murphy). It was pretty hilarious. Fonsi and Eduardo are very nice and they are giving me space until I am able to speak more with them.

Tomorrow I am going with some people to play for a volleyball team through the university. I am very excited about that, it should be very fun. The program I am in is great because they give us a lot of opportunities to participate in activities and to go on trips. I also want to volunteer here, but I am trying to better my spanish before I take on that challenge. Every day I am becoming a little more familiar with things and less appalled that I am here and will be here for more than 3 more months. It is very exciting. In a little bit we are going to visit the Plaza de Espana and go around the park with the big ferris wheel in it. I´ve taken a lot of pictures but still haven´t attempted to put them up online. I will do that soon.