"Vale!" - by definition means...

I'm not in shock with the Spanish language all around me, thank you parents & Mexican heritage leading to these bilingual skills...

However, I'm taken aback by the beauty of it all! Our coordinator of orientation this week is a stunning tiny model (strangely this isn't her career) named Helena who speaks so fluently *obviously* and it sounds like a beautiful song. She did stump me somewhere along the way: the word vale. When incorporated in the sentences like every other word, it does create a kind of foreign language to me. Basically the word is a filler that can mean:

 do you get it?

 so?

 this is me stalling with 'vale' until I decide what I want to say next...

 I'm cool...

what?

and then...

Get my point? You just have to hear, between that and the conversation I've listened to, I'm undoubtedly in another world. Yes, that suggests that it's actually hit me: I'M IN SPAIN :)

Speaking of other worlds, flamenco: WOW! We went out for tapas last night for dinner  and decided to check out the local area with some new friends. I didn't even hesitate at the thought because we were about 10 people and half of the group has been here for 2 weeks already. On top of that, I already got my first cheesy compliment. A guy walked up to me and said "Oh you're not Spanish? I looked across the room and thought we had a special guest" - no. Regardless, I took the sweet comment and went on with some girlfriends to the beautiful streets of Spain at night (pictures soon!)We ended up getting to see an impromptu flamenco performance at the bar. The spontaneity of it made me think of that inside joke "don't trick me gypsy!" instantly and hopefully that the last time I'll say that line. Turns out she was there to dance. She probably wasn't a gypsy either but she was certainly beautiful in every way. I had my first glass of house wine, an almost citrus-y red for 2 euro, while I watched this man since to one of the dancers, almost as if he was encouraging her every move. She combined tapping her beautiful shoes to the beat with a handsome Spanish guitar player, created another dancer out of her skirt because it had its own movement, and she had this independent soul that seemed to go off topic of the story that singer was telling but always managed to pull the whole show together. I'll upload a video soon! It even felt like one of my favorite moments this past summer back home: the weddings, the best part when it's all coming to an end after a beautiful evening and we get to the dance floor and the dj plays "Shout!" from Animal House haha, the crowd reacted almost the same in applause and reaction. The dancer would suddenly speed up or slow down and we were drawn in to her every move. tonight, we're going to another show that was specifically chosen by our orientation guides so I think we're in for something really good tonight.

I'm slowly creating an interesting list of fun facts about Spain to share with y'all about my experience so far, can't wait to post it! For instance, the women are a runway show for shoes all over the cobblestone (HOW?!) streets and their outfits tend to match. It is interesting to see how, if anything, their shoes look fabulous.