my piso aka my apartment

What's been going on

I have been in my apartment for a little over a week now, and I am completely loving it. I have my own room which is a change from sharing last year, I'm still getting used to being by myself. I still haven't had the chance to meet all of my roommates, we have drastically different schedules so its been difficult to find a time when we are all around. But from what I know so far about them all I have no complains! Its been so nice to be able to eat what I want, when I want. I'm also blessed enough to have a small grocery store right down the street so it makes it even easier.
We'll be wrapping up our intensive course next Tuesday, which is something I am excited for. While the class has been helpful, I want to get started with my university course work. I just picked my classes today so I'm ready to go! Classes will start on Thursday, which is only a week away.
I also had my first day of work on Monday. I will be tutoring two little boys, 5 and 8, every Monday, one hour each. They are such sweethearts and I can't wait to be able to spend more time with them. Their mom even went out and bought a set of their books for me so that I would be prepared. I also will be starting another class on Mondays with an older girl. This is a new experience for me and so far I'm enjoying it.
I have a feeling things are going to start picking up in these next couple weeks, with working and classes, it will be nice to get into a routine though and settle into life here.

My new job!

As the second week comes to a close, I am amazed by all the things that have been accomplished so quickly. I started to move my things into my apartment today and officially have the keys! Tomorrow will be there first night I actually sleep there, when I finish moving everything in. I cannot wait to be able to cook my own food and eat when I want. Right now we have food in the cafeteria for all our meals and while it is really convenient, its not always the best!
The big excitement for 4 of us this weekend though was the jobs we got tutoring English. It will be nice to have a little extra cash coming in so I can travel more. I haven't heard back about who exactly I will be tutoring, but it will probably end up being 3 hours a week which I think will be a good amount. I'll hopefully be starting that in the next couple of weeks and am excited to see how it goes.

Segovia Photos

The first week!

It is so hard to believe that I have only been in Spain for a week- so much has happened! As many of you know, the main thing I was worried about coming into the trip was finding a place to live. I saw so many apartments on Thursday and Friday, but my searching paid off because I found a place that I love and put a deposit down on Monday. My room is actually large by Spanish standards, although quite small to an American. I think the selling point of the apartment though was the terrace on the top floor. I cannot wait to be able to sit outside and read, without having to leave my apartment! I haven't met everyone I will be living with but I know it is going to be 2 Spanish, another exchange students and then 2 more I don't know.
We started our intensive language, history and art classes on Friday which has added homework to our daily agendas. Honestly though we have so much time to go out and explore the city- which has been a great experience! We took a bus tour of Madrid on Monday and then yesterday went to the city of Segovia (about 1 hour outside of Madrid)
I was blessed this weekend to find a church without at hitch. I got connected to some missionaries here from my Uncle Tom and they helped me get there without a problem! The service was in English which was nice and then afterward I had the chance to go out for lunch with some other American students I met there.
That's all I have so far, I'll do my best to keep this updated as things come up :)