First things first

I've done quite a bit of traveling in the past 2 weeks, but I will have to write about the trips to Marrakesh, Morocco and Lisbon, Portugal later because they are worth writing about, at least a little, in depth. For now I'll just give an update on what's going on here in Spain.

Life outside of school:
Everything is going incredibly well outside of school. Like I said, I've done a good bit of travel and a lot of hanging out. Christmas is coming up soon- I will be flying to Scotland on the 22nd of December until the 1st of January, and I am thinking about taking the bus from Glasgow to Manchester, England to visit some friends there; but we will see how that works out.
After having a bank account here in Spain for almost 4 months, the account was blocked because my bank Santander, which is normally great, lacked my documentation, namely my Residency Card- that kind of bothered me, but mostly because it makes no sense that they discover that they lacked documentation for me after MONTHS of having used the card. So, I presented my documentation only to be told that it would take 15 days to get everything in the computer and have it unblocked. I would probably be more perturbed by not being able to deposit or withdraw money and being literally without money to spend, but I'm getting used to this sort of thing now, and besides- what good does it do? So I'm depending on my friends and the little money that is left over from my paycheck after paying my first months rent in my new house- which brings me to my next topic: my new house.

I will pay my first months rent and receive the keys to my new house this Wednesday. The house is really big and really nice- I haven't seen my room yet, but it doesn't matter because the house is great, and the people that live there are as well. The rent is cheap and includes everything, and the house is a couple of minutes from the Plaza de Cervantes. I'm really excited, but I still have to tell the family I live with now that I am moving out.

The family I live with now are really nice, but after living with people my age for 3 years now any family (including my actual family at times) gets old really fast. I'm constantly being watched out for- Elliott, wear warm clothes because it's cold- Elliott, eat food because you're sick and need to get better- Elliott, don't go out the door with that jacket put on another one-- I'm seriously going a little crazy because of them, but I realize they're not used to having someone my age in their family.

School:

After not having done much during the semester, I am scrambling to write essays and finish projects before the 15th of December. My finals aren't until the end of January and the beginning of February, but the projects are due soon. I have a small essay for my Current Spain class, a project for Spanish Geography, and I have to translate Spanish to English and vice versa for my Translation class; but it all is coming along slowly but surely. Today is a fiesta day, so I´m trying to spend it wisely.

We´ll see how my grades look at the end of this semester, but the truth-be-told, studying in a foreign university isn´t too easy.

"We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life."
James Freeman Clarke