I <3 Night (Another shirt I saw walking around Malaga)

Ok since I have such spotty internet, I'll probably be posting a couple blogs in one day since I still have my computer and home and it's a nice break write everything down. I've also been keeping a paper journal, which I did back in the States as well but it's great to carry around because I try to update it on the bus when I'm heading into the centro or when I'm going to class.
We have two more new students living in the house I am staying at, two boys from Austria. So that makes five students in my house at the moment. The other man is an older guy from England who is doing an intensive course at the same university I am studying at. It was kind of funny when my host mother first told me about him, all she said was an older student from England was coming to stay, so I thought she meant maybe a guy out of college or someone in their late twenties. So when I came back exhausted from out day trip to Granada and I saw this older man sitting on the couch watching television with them I assumed it was some relative of hers, but no that was my new housemate. I usually eat breakfast at the same time as him, so we chat a little in Spanish and he’s just doing this because he enjoys the language, not because of work or anything and he finds his class overwhelming and his other classmates are from China and Russia.
Today was a bit difficult in class because in my language class we are doing the different between preterit and imperfect past, which I always find difficult. I understand the concepts of when to use them, but when presented with a sentence and asked to choose between the two it is a little harder. We also started our section of art history and I found that the language barrier is much more difficult than in history because there are some terms which I’ve just never come across in Spanish before and I am more interested in art than some of my other classmates so it must be even harder for them, since they have less motivation to try and understand.
Since I am sitting at my café, I am thinking about some of the differences between here are the states, like for one thing how you pay for things. Even if you go up to the counter and order a coffee you always pay after you are done, not when you get your drink. Also once you order something, the staff basically leaves you alone, which I really like because that means I can sit here for a while without feeling hassled. But I wonder if they lose any money from people just leaving without paying. Also because we are close to the beach, there are many people who come by selling a variety of things, clothes, sunglasses, purses, the usual. But what I find very strange is that they are allowed to go into the cafés and ask people if they want to buy stuff. I really can’t image people going into a Starbucks in the states and selling knock off purses. Another thing that is very different about going out is that a lot of the times you don’t get a menu to start off with. Most of the time the waiters will ask you what you want without seeing what the options are, even at places that serve more food. If you want to see a menu you have to ask for one, which is not always bad but at first I found this really overwhelming, especially since I have the most trouble talking with people in public, since they usually have thicker accents and talk much quicker.
Tonight a couple of friends and I are going out with the Spanish student who does our tutoritas. We are either going to go into the center part of Malaga or to another town. I’m kind of hoping that we stay in Malaga because then I have more control over when I leave. I feel like it’s important to experience the going out culture, since it seems to be a big part of student life, but I also like to sleep and I’m not sure how I’m going to do without getting at least some sleep. I feel like going out shouldn’t be stressful, but the whole thing about being in a completely different place and not speaking the language that well, it makes everything more stressful for me. I’m sure I’ll have fun but I can’t help worrying about it.