It has been raining here for the majority of the last two days and chilly, but hopefully by the weekend it will clear up. It was definitely tough getting to school this monday, but it was actually our first monday at school because on the first week of school we speant monday touring the school and we didnt have school on the second monday. Since our schedule is different every day, we went to our first French class on Monday which I actually really enjoyed. Although my knowledge of the french language is limited to "bon jour" and "baguette," while I watched and listened in class it became clear how similar Spanish and French are. The pronounciations are drastically different, but when the teacher was writing verb conjugations on the board, there were many similarities to Spanish and I could understand some of what was being discussed in French. very cool.

I think my Spanish is really improving, especially my comprehension of what is being said and my ability to follow a complete conversation in Spanish. When I am listening to lectures or discussions in class, I can understand the vast majority of what is being said, but I do notice that it takes me quite a while to think about certain phrases or sentences if I don't immediately understand them, which in turn puts me behind in the conversation or lecture. In general however, I would say I'm understanding a lot more now than I did when we first arrived. It is still hard to have complex conversations with my host family in Spanish, mostly because I often don't exactly know the vocabulary for what I am trying to say. I am getting a lot better at conjugating verbs quickly in my head, as well as picking up a lot of useful phrases which I had never learned in school. I cannot believe that we only have two weeks left in Spain...... Its going to be really hard to leave. Julie and I have become very close friends, and its going to be very strange to return to Colorado without her. I also really feel like I have gotten into a routine with her family and their lives, and I am going to be very sad to leave them. Hopefully the rain will stop soon and we'll have another fun weekend in Seville. :)