Touring Palermo

Hola!
Today I slept in, which was so nice and much needed. My host mom gave me a tour of the surrounding area and it is gorgeous! There are huge parks (practically the size of Central Park) with lots of runners and walkers and people just enjoying the weekend. Close by is a large polo field and a horse racing track. I hope I will have the opportunity to attend one of these events.

This afternoon Christa and I went to a mall and then to a botanical garden (above). The mall was very similar to those in the U.S. with fairly expensive stores like Zara, The North Face, DC, etc. Then we walked to the Jardín Botánico which was beautiful. Sort of last minute Christa and I decided to go to a church on the other side of town. The service was much longer than in the U.S. (almost 2.5 hours) but there was really good worship music (some songs we recognized the tune of) and I actually understood most of the sermon on Matthew 5:3-6.  Now it is 10:30pm and I am waiting to have dinner.

I also got my placement for Spanish-Advanced Spanish II. This is the second level offered and it requires me to take a class at one of the Argentine Universities (not just FLACSO). I am both excited and nervous about this because I will get to meet many locals but will also have to take a class that is infamously disorganized and hard. Hopefully I will take a class that is manageable and interesting.

Continued prays for confidence in speaking Spanish are much appreciated. Thanks!