Howdy folksssssss,

It's been a super busy month or so. As i type this, im sitting here for a layover in F ing Dubai.. where a McDonalds cheeseburger costs $7.50.  Lots of things have been happening! I'll walk you through it all with some pics:

I've been up to the original gangster Sierra Nevadas a couple times now. Most beautiful snow scene I've ever been in. And just a 30 minute bus ride away

The first trip up to these mountains was with Alberto's family--this is his sister Celia (pronounced Thelia) who I have an "english hour" with every thursday. Shes preeeeetty hilarious, like most 8th graders i guess.

Other times we went up just to be in the snow :)

I turned 22! We went to this reeeeeally cool jazzy concert of this guy called Zenet. I ended up meeting him afterwords at the bars right by my house. Great musical experience. Heres a video...

Then there was the "fiesta de primavera"... or roughly translated: Spring Party. Eeeeeveryone in the south of spain comes to granada to drink all day in this big parking lot. And thats pretty much all it consists of.  MAN drunk spanish people love to sing.

(us at the spring party)

SARAH AND JENTHE CAME THE GRANADA! Best.. week.. ever.

Theyre perfect.

We celebrated Saint Patty's at some irish pub and ate lotttttttssssss of gelato. 

It was a fun week :)

Then it was spring break and i went to my roommate's hometown to meet her friends and fam. I am lovvvvvving jess more and more every day. trying to convince her to visit california in the next couple of years. she calls me sister, and i sleep on her trundle bed almost every night.

This is her sister and her best friend! Everyone was so freakin nice and i loved the small town. all spanish all weeeeeeeek.

fancy dinner + cheetos on easter

then i came back to granada to celebrate "Semana Santa"... holy week. its CRAZY. its what the south of spain does during easter week: dress up like the kkk and carry shrines of jesus and virgin mary throughout the town day and night.

its a trip. kinda cool, kinda creepy.

THEN my parents came to visit :) best.. week.. ever.

the best part was having them meet all my friends

my dad hated tapas. (too small portions)

but my mom LOVED chocolate churros! a classic spanish thing.

we went to the alhambra and walked around the town a lot

(center of town)

(view from the top)

badass.

they also got to meet the family i babysit for: evelyn, violet and matthius. super fun.

and they met the roommies (jess, isa and laura). this picture is of all my 3 roomies passed out for siesta (nap time). stupid spaniards.

after my parents visited, i came home to cali for a week. hung out with meagan a lottttt. i took her and caleb on a date to innout and target.. theyre pretty fun :)

she actually made bank during this lemonade stand. figures.

shes perfect.

last and most important update: its finally hot and sunny!!!!!! F winter. hello springggggg

(view from my new favorite coffee shop)

also, we got 2 new members to our study abroad program: lindy and abby. GREAT people. im still amazed by how awesome everyone in our program is. theyre a total 2nd family. only about 30 kids in total but man, i love em.

theyre perfect.

my newest favorite graffiti on the way to school :)

So yea! Dubai. Im on my way to Kenya to be in my friend Juliette's wedding. so so so so so so very stoked. ill be there for 10 days and then go to morocco for a week with my program! crazy. these last few months are going by fast and im sad about that :/ my time here has been so "neat" as my mom would say. im really gonna miss it. Anyways, im gonna go drop $15 on a crap burger and fries. Love you guys!

haha... rhymes.

Hey loved ones :)

Its march, its a new month, and things are lookin good. Its cool being in a place where the winter's end actually means something.

I'm in a really good place right now guys. The complete and total blissfulness of living in Spain has rubbed off, and transformed into a more realistic sort of happiness slash thankfulness to be in such a fun season of life. Its amazing how much you learn about yourself while abroad. I think I'd be the same in the states if I put myself in as many new situations as I am naturally placed in here. Recently I've been working on being present, focusing on the now and not stressing about the future. Also, the practice of thinking about what I'm thankful for rather than what worries me. Actively working on my spanish skills has also become a goal--which has led me to spend more time with my least favorite roommate who I'm discovering isn't totally terrible.

Updates:
1. New semester has started. I'm in 3 psyc classes that are super hard but really great teachers and really interesting subjects. Psychology of Social Interaction and Groups, Psychology of Learning, and Infant and Youth Psychopathology. I'm also in a spanish grammar class with a cool professor. All my teachers this semester talk really fast! So thats a fun challenge. Im making more friends in my classes than i did last semester. Im also super good at distinguishing foreign students from locals. They just have this certain lost look about them..

2. It snowed in Granada last thursday! That happens like once every 2 or 3 years! It was awesome and amazing and beautiful. Like, snow everywhere.

3. I went snowboarding in the original gangsta Sierra Nevadas! Prettiest snow scene slash mountain scene I have ever ever seen. I went with Alberto's family the day after it snowed. Can you sayyyyy fresh powder???? It was a pretty spectacular day. Also 10 bagillion times colder than big bear snowboarding.

4.  I went to Cadiz for carnival! This huge festival in a beach town 4hrs away that is kind of like halloween. It was insane and fun and really great being by the beach again.

Love you guysss, heres some pics...

snow outside my house!

Cadiz carnival! i was a dalmatian.. and/or cow  

possibly my favorite picture ever. there werent really any accessible bathrooms in cadiz. ps these are some of my favorite people ever.. laura, kaitlyn and callia. 

attempting to make crepes at one of our many family dinners

american party

lots of going away dinners this month for our 1st semester friends leaving for home

berto's bday!

on the roof at kaitlyns house on a rare sunny day right after our last final exam!

What up family friendsssssss :)

So I'm officially at the halfway mark of my time in Spain: 5 1/2 months. Its been sooo so epic, and i can only imagine that the 2nd half will be better. Were all assimilated in, comfortable, in the groove of things, and we're muuuch better at spanish that we were at the start. We (myself and american friends) still suck hard at alotta things, but Spain itself is less intimidating. My last final exam of 1st semester is  friday morning and literally, eeeverything gets awesome after that...

-friday is rescheduled valentines day
-saturday is CADIZ! a huge festival in a nearby city
-monday new classes and a new semester start!
-in march my bestie sarah is coming to visit!
-after that is spring break!
-in april my parents visit!
-and then it gets sunny and hot and hooooooly freak.. the possibilities for funness expand exponentially.

Speaking of sun.. it SNOWED yesterday! i thought it was ash from an invisible fire somewhere, but then i remembered i wasnt in so-cal. this is the view from the people i babysit's house. the sierra nevadas honestly always look that beautiful.

The kids i babysit have a new babysister! Violet. She is suuper cute. Im over there alot helping cuz the dad travels alot these days.

There was a trash strike in granada.. aka trashmen dont do anything for 2 weeks. things got naaaasty.

ummm if you didnt know already, granada beat freaking real madrid last week!! the truth is ronaldo scored a goal on his own team, like forrr granada. haha stupid! whatever we still won.

1st semester people are leaving :(  tim's staying, but laura is leaving next week and that suuuuucks.

kaitlyn and i studyinggggggg all day erry dayyyyyy

one of my favorite foods in grana. my favorite shawarma guy's pizza

my streeeeet. some cool picture that i didnt take :)

same goes for this one. this is the Moroccan shopping area.

And thats it! bye love you guys!!