I absolutely adore this city!

We took a tour of the old gothic area of the city on Tuesday, and the history behind everything is magnificent. Everything is typical European style architecture, and there are all sorts of plazas, statues, and parks. People in Asturias (the region that Oviedo is in) care greatly about their appearances and cleanliness, so the city is very clean and has low levels of pollution or trash. Everyone dresses nicely, and the kids look like little porcelain dolls in their peacoats and dress shoes. I still can't figure out how they get the little girls to put on tights everyday, because I've had to dress kids many different times and I'll tell you, it isn't always easy. Hopefully one day my kids will be this adorable haha. There are also shoe stores on every block, and usually more than one. The city is on a hill, with the University at the bottom, and people walk EVERYWHERE. It makes no sense to drive, and people grow up walking anywhere they want to go. In fact, I don't think my host mom even owns a car-most people don't. The streets are always crowded, but everyone takes their time and checks out the shops on the way to wherever they are going. If a store says it'll open at 4:30, it probably won't actually open til 4:40. It's been a weird concept for us Americans haha. Most of the stores also close at 2 for a siesta until 4, and you can see all of the children getting walked home for lunch and rest. It's great, I love naps. We also don't eat dinner til 8-10, and it is usually light. I don't eat nearly as much here as in the states, and it is way healthier too. Minus the cafes. I usually just get a coffee with milk, which comes in a tiny teacup and is delicious and cheap and not too bad for you! But they have all kinds of pastries and churros with a super rich and thick chocolate sauce, so you have to be careful! But like I said, we also walk a ton. Everyone hangs out at cafes here, as they do not really let anyone but family into their homes. I also love hanging out in coffee shops and doing homework or people watching, so its like this lifestyle was made for me! Haha.

I started classes today and they are pretty easy! They are only for foreigners, and I placed into the advanced level so there are not too many other kids in my class, and we all have basically the same classes. The professors design them so that there is not much homework cause they know that we want to travel. It's great. I am also going to start volunteering at the elementary school by campus, and I am signing up for a conversation partner, which is a Spanish student who is interested in learning English. So we will meet at least once a week and we will speak in English in a bit, then switch to Spanish. My host mom and Lucia keep on saying my Spanish is good, and I can generally understand everything, although some people talk really really fast. I'm starting to really like Lucia! She is very down to earth and stylish, and can totally relate to everything that I do. She laughed at me last night when I showed her my schedule, cause they go out on Thursday nights here too, and I have a 9am class on Friday (which is really early here, most people don't wake up til like 10 haha).

I have to leave to go to a Tapas night with ESN, the student group which plans all the parties and trips around Spain and other countries. I posted some pictures to Facebook, and I will post more later. I will also put some only on here, so keep checking! But I'm out of time, so it's gonna have to wait! haha

Hasta luego!