The First Week

This is catch-up from Jan 8-Jan 10, which was our first half-week and weekend here. The day we arrived in Denia, it was raining, and our host families were rather annoyed that we had to arrived in such poor weather. My Mama, who is seventy-seven and maybe 5', and her granddaughter, Elizabeth, who is twenty-five, picked me up in their car and drove me back to their house for a huge lunch. Denia is mostly one-way streets, so I got complete disoriented, and Elizabeth had to bring me to school the next day because I didn't know how to get there. Moving in was pretty simple with only two suitcases, and I spent quite a bit of time just sleeping and talking to my family. My Papa is eighty, and he pretty much stays at home because he has some back problems. Our house is right up against the Denia castle - in fact, the wall of the castle is the back wall of our house! The stones are whitewashed, but the texture is the same. It's pretty bizarre.
The first day of school (which actually was a Friday) was all orientation (of course), complete with figuring out how to get from our homes to school, taking tours of the city, and getting cafe bonbon (coffee with sweetened condensed milk, which is about the only kind of coffee I can handle right now). In the evening, we went out to celebrate Becca's birthday at a local bar (see picture of lots of people in a tan room) and discoteca (dance club - lo siento, no pictures...).
Saturday, we went to Torre de Gerros, a tower that is 5km from the city of Denia. We walked there, and it was a hike, but it was also a lot of fun. The wind was incredible! We were leaning against it and holding onto people while we walked up the mountain. In the first walking picture, you can see the tower on top of the mountain in the distance. Look at the Mediterranean! It's so beautiful! The second picture is us on top of the mountain. From left to right: Carissa, Courtney, me, Clara, and Chani. Yes, that's all "C" names, and we didn't even try! :) Behind us, you can kind of see the Denia castle just over the edge of the mountain. You can see from our hair what the wind was like. When we got back, my Mama couldn't believe that we had walked all that way in the wind. She thought I was going to get sick. So far so good, though, on that front. The last picture is of me sitting in the tower (we still don't know if it is actually ok to climb up in it...) looking out the window back at Denia. The view was fantastic!
On Sunday, we went to the Evangelical Church in Denia named "The Trinity." The music was very familiar, and people were pretty friendly. A couple of us picked up forms to be in the Gospel Choir which starts this coming Sunday. Hopefully, it will go really well. I will write more soon on last week/weekend. I hope you are all doing well!
Much love!