Day 18

We had a sleep-in day, because we had an afternoon Spanish class. I studied Spanish for the majority of the day. After dinner, we hosted a conversation period with some local students. It was absolutely wonderful! I met 5 really awesome people - and I learned a lot about cultural norms here. We talked one-on-one with them for 2 hours, and it was perhaps the most valuable 2 hours I've spent here so far! Yes, there were many made-up words and sentences that didn't make sense. And yes, there were multiple instances where we had to resort to hand signals or round-about descriptions to get our point across, but it honestly made it all the better. I felt so frustrated when I couldn't communicate, and so happy when I could! It has only made me want to learn more, to understand more. It was so awesome! I even made a friend with a girl my own age, and we made plans to hang out later this week!

My sunburn is slowly healing...thank goodness! And even after 2 showers, I'm still finding sand in my ears, and it's still falling out of my hair...too funny.