Exams are finished!

Well today was the final exam in written and oral form for the language classes. My teacher said that I am moving up a level, so that is exciting! There have been so many things that have happened in the last few days. On Sunday my roomie, now sister, Meghan, my brother, Mateo, and I drove up to the Alpujarra Mountains. It was a really pretty drive. The road was very curvy and high. We drove so high on the mountain that we were in the clouds. It began to rain and it was very foggy. The atmosphere was very serene and tranquil. We had a cup of tea and then walked around the pueblo (small town) at the top of the mountain. We walked in and out of little local shops and just enjoyed ourselves. Then we had ice cream and headed back down the mountain. About 2/3 of the way down the mountain, I traded Mateo spots and drove the car the rest of the way. We decided to randomly go to the beach and have dinner. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and Meghan partook in some seafood. She hasn't eaten seafood or any type of fish for 10 years and since she has been in Spain she has eaten it several times....and she likes it! Then I drove the 40 minutes home from the beach and got to Skype with my parents, Cory, and Grandmother, and Grandaddy. It was nice to see/talk to everyone. Clay, Grandma, and Grandpa-I missed you, but hopefully soon! Then I have just been going to school this week and having intensive language classes that were preparing me for our placement tests today. I went out with Mateo and 3 of our cousins last night and we had a really fun time. We just went to their friends local bar and sat by the fire. We had a nice time. Saturday our 10 day trip starts!!!! Chelsie and I are going with our "core" group of friends on a nice little vacation before actual school starts. We are going to Madrid for 3 nights with our program and all the other AIFS Study Abroad students and then the "core group" of 12 people are headed to Brussels, Belgium for 2 nights then Amsterdam, Holland for 3 nights, then Dusseldorf, germany for 1/2 day, then Barcelona, Spain for 1 night to hopefully catch a Barcelona Futbol Game, and then back to Granada...then the next day (February 9th) school starts. It will be crazy, but fun at the same time. I am so looking forward to it!! Now, I'm off to meet a new addition to our "core" group. Thus far, it has only been 11, but the 12th member is one of our friends girlfriends and she will be studying in Granada for the semester as well. More to come later...hopefully I will be able to Blog a little while I am traveling. xoxo!