I thought I didn't have that much to say :)

This weekend a couple girls and I went to Alicante for the day.  We took the train that passed by beautiful landscape and arrived in Alicante at a balmy 70 degrees F!  It was a beautiful day.  We had brought sack lunches and after walking around the town and seeing a large food market we ate our lunches on a bench in front of a large fountain.  Side note, in the food market we took advantage of the free bathrooms (most places make you pay for something to use their bathroom).  So anyways, the toilets were very skinny (no rims) and the toilet paper was on a roll by the sinks – just one.  Maybe there is a reason they are free!  After lunch we walked in a park with work out like machines for kids.  It was so fun!!  The three of us girls took turns playing and taking pictures.  There was also a group of Muslim women enjoying the play ground too!  We all laughed at how we were acting like little kids J After that there was a street like Las Ramblas in Barcelona with trees on either side, outdoor restaurants and small shops.  I bought two DVD’s from one street vendor; RED and Knight and Day which interestingly they dubbed Noche y Dia (NIGHT and Day).  I am so excited to finally have some movies to watch!  Next we went to one of the castles.  It was a long steep climb but beautiful views and very fun!  It overlooked the ocean and the whole city with the mountains in the background!  That night when I got home, my mama and I watched RED.  She told me that it was dubbed in a South American accent instead of a Spain accent.  I don’t know if it was because of that or because I had seen the movie before but it was very easy to understand (even though it did not have subtitles)!  On Sunday after church I talked with a girl that I met on the train back from Alicante who goes to our church (one of my friends with me already knew her).  She is from Austria and is very nice.  I talked with her and a couple of Spanish girls that I met (one that went to Calvin for the semester two years ago).  It was very fun and exciting to talk normal conversations with girls in another language!  It’s a totally different thing than talking with American friends in Spanish.  We are planning on going to a youth group dinner / fiesta this Friday.  It is an Italian dinner (spaghetti!!)  I can’t wait!  We have to wear something red, a heart and make some sort of head wear (all of which I do not have) – another reason to go shopping!  At lunch I was talking with my mama (who by the way has a very extensive background in flamenco and sevillana dancing) and I told her that I would not have my heels for Flamenco dance class until next week (as my Dad and Grandma Ehlman are coming to visit!!!)  So she got up from the table and brought me a pair of her dancing shoes with heels!  They fit (mostly) as she is probably just around 5 foot even and I am 5’9’’ they were a little small but worked for one class.  Dance class that Monday night was amazing!  Flamenco is fun – but with heels it is fantastic!!  You really get to stomp and pound your heels into the floor!  Really really fun.  In class we are learning the mambo and are on to the third step of the Fandango.  Yesterday I started and finished a book on my kindle (I love reading!) Today was very busy.  After classes I went home with a school friend, whose mama’s apartment looks like a shrine to Marilyn Monroe – love it!  Afterwards we went to la oficina (a restaurant where the owners are very nice and occasionally let us have our treats for free!) to talk about our plans for spring break.  There are four of us girls and we are planning on a week in Ireland and a week in England!  So excited!  Next we went to the first day of a girls Bible study us Calvin students are starting.  We went to a park and sat out in the sun – it was really nice (55 degrees F and sunny).  After that I went with two other girls to meet our ethnographic study professor (a Calvin graduate that married a local Dénia man) to go up to Alpha and Omega.  Besides being our church, it is also a school from babies all the way to high school students.  I am going to be doing my ethnographic study there in a second grade class room and I am very excited! The director told me that in that class they work on songs and some pronunciation which should be great!  After a great Skype date with my parents J I am off to have dinner, watch some TV and STUDY!  We have a test Friday on the very beginning of Spain’s history and then on Monday we have a literature test – lots to study!!  This Friday is the annual Calvin cold knight club jump into the frozen seminary pond.  As we “unfortunately” cannot be there we get to run into the Mediterranean and count that!  We are hoping for nice weather – it’s forecasted to be 57 and sunny - a whole lot better than below 40’s and icy!  I hope everyone is doing well in the states!!  Hasta luego, Jenn