January 8-9th....My new home for 5 months.

After 5 hours, we took taxis to our host family's apartment. To our surprise, we had received a new family and live somewhere different than the address you have...this is my new address:

Manuel de Falla 12, 3*I Izquda
18005- Granada

Her name is Rosa Perez Rodriguez and she is probably in her 50's I would guess. She is separated and has two boys and a girl who is married. Her daughter and older son don't live with her. Her son has a child and lives with his girlfriend. Her younger son, Roberto, I think, lives with us but I haven't met him yet. Dorothy and I are hopeful he is around our age and takes us to meet his friends. They were all so friendly and kissed both of our cheeks when they met us.
Our apartment is cute, and our host mom cooked lunch for us and is an amazing cook. She likes to have dinner around 7pm so she can spend the rest of the night preparing the next day's meals. She is like shorter than 4ft and loves touching us! haha. Soo sweet. She has had students live with her for the past 16 yrs and this is a source of income for her. Our apartment is in prime-time location, just a block from the main street with all the stores, restaurants, bars, hotels etc. I think I will have an easy time finding you and Dad a place to stay when you come and visit. Also, we are very close to my friend ashley, which is a relief because before we were on opposites sides of each other.
Her son works at a ski shop in town and I'm hopeful to borrow some clothing to go skiing maybe this weekend with my new friend Matt that I met. Yesterday was the first day of Rebajas aka HUGE SHOPPING SALES! The sales were insane and they have really fashionable things out here....The streets were mobbed with shoppers and the sales last until feb. 28th! We went shopping today, and my dad already told me that I'm starting to look euro. They are huge boot wearers, so I think I'm going to buy a pair, they are cute and practical. There is an H&M, Zara (which is really popular here), Burberry, Lacoste etc.
My mom was already worrying about me because I wasn't dressing warm enough. She said that if I start to lose weight or get sick she thinks it is her fault and that she isn't feeding me right. She also requested that for the next month or so, we wear a scarf always because the weather gets really chilly at night. I bought two scarves in Madrid but I think I'm going to need some more because it is much cooler than I expected.
After seeing Madrid, I didn't think there was anything prettier, but I can't believe Granada. All the buildings and cathedrals are awesome! We took a practice walk to our school yesterday with the girl from Accent and my friends and I picked up a brochure with trips that the school offers us. Some of them are free for students and others are discounted such as the Alhambra. We are going on a tour to Albaicin which explains the origins of Granada on Sunday and es gratis! (free)
Yesterday, we got a new member to the house, Thomas, from France. He is absolutely hilarious and extremely friendly. He sat in our room tonight for hours talking about the U.S. and music and everything! Also, yesterday, we met the youngest son who lives here with us. He is 25 and seems like he can show us a good time! Classes start tomorrow and I have class 4-8 Monday thru Friday for 3 weeks straight. At the end of January, my friends and I are hoping to plan a week-long trip probably to Italy.