i've officially survived my first week!

Today was my 2nd day of the intensive Spanish grammar class at the CIEE palacio. I have it every day for the next two weeks before regular classes start at the university. It is 3 hours long and I really like my class and my professor Jesús, so it’s not bad at all. After class I went and walked around down town with my roommate and another girl from class. We get out of class at 3 in the afternoon, which is the most awkward time ever since it is in the middle of siesta time. Barely anything is open and the streets are literally empty… you don’t believe it til you see it. It’s still nice to walk around window shop and also to explore and see where certain streets and alleys end up.
For one of the class assignments, I had to go to the Universidad de Sevilla to interview a student about their education system. It was pretty intimidating just going up to some strangers and asking them questions in my broken Spanish, but I knew I’d never see them again though, so I wasn’t really worried. Also, on the way home I decided to test my panoramic setting on my new camera. The lighting is not that great, and there are clouds, but I took a picture of the view from one of the bridges I cross to get to the city center. It turned out pretty impressive once I put them all together. But it's not loading right now :(

So now I’m pretty much all set up in my room… today I bought a few things that I needed to organize my shelves and desk stuff. I also went to the university book store to buy some notebooks and school supplies. They were all way overpriced but I didn’t really care at that point because I was so exhausted I just wanted to get everything at once and go home for dinner. I just need to buy a plant for my desk tomorrow… my room is pretty plain and needs a little more life :)

internet situation

So my host family doesn't have internet so it makes it kind of difficult to keep this thing up to date. I am trying to write as often as i can and then just post them at the few times i have internet connections. I really want to post pictures of Sevilla very soon, because it's so beautiful (especially along the river) but this past week has been cold and rainy... not exactly what i expected, and not normal for southern Spain according to Maria. Today is the first day of my intensive spanish grammar class. I have this class from 12 to 3 every day for the next couple weeks until regular classes start here at the study center and the university. I will have plenty of time to explore the city and go shopping, which is amazing right now since there are great rebajes (sales) everywhere.

bienvenido a sevilla

After many countless delays and more than 24 hours of traveling, I finally made it to the airport in Sevilla in one piece. I wanted to be excited but I was too tired to process anything, including my emotions, clearly. I waited to pick up my luggage, which luckily all made it there, and began to follow the “Salida” signs to the CIEE bus. The arrived at the hotel, Fernando III, at around 7 and had just enough time to shower and join the group to get tapas and see a flamenco show at 8. Since I was there a day late, I figured I should try to get to know everyone asap even though I really just wanted to go to sleep. The tapas bar was right down the street from the hotel and was the smallest place I have ever been to. No joke, we crammed all 35 or so people in our group into an area about 10 ft by 12 ft. The walls were completely covered with framed articles and pictures from Semana Santa celebrations in Sevilla.

The next morning, everyone moved into their new homes with their new families. I am now living with Maria Josefa and Antonio, an older couple maybe in their late 50s. Antonio is always either whistling or listening to a soccer game on the radio with his headphones in, and Maria is always in the kitchen making something, or telling me to put my slippers on so I don’t get sick. I want to take a picture of them (they are a funny couple), but I am definitely not that comfortable with them yet. But so far I really like living with them. The heavy Sevillan accent will take a while to adjust to and hopefully there won’t be so much of a language barrier soon. I also live with another girl from the CIEE program named Jillian, who goes to University of Wisconsin. It’s nice having a roommate so I don’t have to struggle in understanding Maria and Antonio alone and can have someone to walk with to the CIEE “palacio.” Its not a bad location for the nightlife along the river, but walking to the center takes me about 40 minutes which is good exercise but a little too far away for my liking. But soon I will be brave enough to figure out the bus system here. Until then, walking is a really good way to become oriented in the city and see all the different stores, restaurants and people. I have been here for 4 days now and am already feeling a lot less overwhelmed and nervous about living in a foreign country for 5 months.

Off to a rough start...

I had been counting down the days until I left for Spain on January 18th for how long? Atleast for 3 or 4 months. I was extremely disappointed and frustrated when I found out that my flight from Indy to Philly would be delayed an hour, which would make catching my connecting flight to Madrid pretty tight. Then it quickly turned into a 2 hour delay, 3 hour delay, 4 hour... I was going to completely miss my what seemed flawless itinerary to Spain. I left the airport after rebooking my flight for tomorrow (making my parents pay an extra I don't know how many hundred dollars) and feeling quite defeated. That's life I guess... and it can only go uphill from here. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully a successful flight across the Atlantic :)