Greetings from Palma!
The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. From trying to adjust to a different university, moving in with my host family, and traveling around Mallorca, I have been very busy!
Some highlights so far:
The first weekend after arriving in Palma, there was a city-wide squirt gun fight by the cathedral. People from one side of the city-center dressed in yellow, while the other half of the city dressed in red. There were thousands of people very excitedly participating in this battle. It was absolute chaos, but so so fun.
Of course, one of the most amazing things about Mallorca is the beaches. I live on the North Shore of Massachusetts and have always felt lucky to be so close to the beach, but the Mediterranean is a whole new world. The water is so incredibly blue and beautiful. My host family took me to a beach nearby called Illetes on my first day here, and since then I have returned back at least twice a week.
We took a bus ride to a village called Valldemossa, which is about an hour away, and then went to an incredible beach cove called Cala Deia. The beach there was rocky and surrounded by cliffs, and we spent the whole day climbing on the large overhangs and swimming in the water. We had hoped to find a cliff to jump off, but the water was unfortunately too shallow. Don’t worry Mom, I’m making good choices!
And finally, one of my favorite days so far was celebrating my birthday here! I turned 21 one week after we arrived, and while it was certainly different than a typical American 21st celebration, it was so fun. My host family invited my friends from school over for dinner, and in typical Spanish fashion, the meal lasted for hours. It was awesome for all of us to have the opportunity to speak so much Spanish, and I was so grateful to my host family for all they did to make my day special!
Hasta la próxima,
Isabel