Today I went to my first bull fight (corrida de toros) with my two friends Xylia and Kylie. I don't know how to describe it other than being amazing and terrible at the same time. You have no idea how you will react or feel until you actually experience one for the first time. I am glad that I was able to see it at least once since it is such a huge and important part of the Spanish culture.
The Corrida was at the beautiful La Maestranza (also called Plaza de Toros, which is the current background of this blog), the oldest bull fighting ring in the world. There are 6 bulls in total, they start off with the smallest and then work their way up to the biggest. There are 2 matadors and each gets a total of 3 bulls. The first bull came out, and 5 Toreros, who all have pink capes, start to aggravate it and basically weaken it a little bit. 2 men on horses with javelins (picadores) then enter the arena while the bull is being distracted. Although the horse has some protection on it, I couldn't help but scream the first time the bull charged the horse, it was awful. The picador then stabs the bull in the back twice, and this is the first blood shed by the bull. The manner in which the bull charges the horse provides clues to the matador about which side the bull favors. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns slightly lower during the following stages of the fight. This ultimately enables the matador to perform the killing thrust later in the performance. After this the bull becomes more focused instead of charging at everything that moves.
The 5 toreros then get the attention of the bull away from the horse and the picador leaves the arena. The 5 toreros try to weaken the bull with sharp hooked sticks that dangle from the bull's shoulder muscles after they are thrust in. The matador (the most senior torero) then enters alone with his red cape and the other toreros wait on the outside of the arena, only intervening if there is a problem. In the spanish style, which is extremely dangerous, the matador then uses his cape to perform a series of moves where he remains only a few inches away from the bull and is in danger of being gored. There was actually a point where the Matador was thrust up onto the horns of the bull and then onto the ground and all of the other toreros had to run into the arena to distract the bull. And yes, I am pretty sure I screamed like a little girl.
The bull is then killed with one thrust of the sword through the spine to the heart (if the Matador is good, if not it takes a few tries) and dragged out of the arena. This is then repeated 5 times with 5 more bulls.
It was definitely cool watching all of the technique and style of the fight. I mean they definitely are brave (I almost peed my pants while just watching because I was so scared) but I was not expecting to feel as horrified as I was. I have no problem with killing animals for meat and such, the part that bothered me was the taunting and torturing for entertainment, and actually seeing the bull being killed. After the first bull I was enragged that this was even a thing, I hated that the bull was just bated and tortured in order to finally be killed for entertainment. But by the 6th bull I was numb to the killing of the bull (which i'm not sure is a good thing or not) and I was able to appreciate the technique.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
First week of class! (And an embarrassing story...)
On Friday I finished up my last grammar intensive class and this week I started the classes I will be taking for the rest of the semester. From what I can tell after only a week of classes, aside from the fact that I have to wake up at 7:30 every morning, I am really going to enjoy this semester even though all of my classes are taught in Spanish.
On Mondays and Wednesdays I have "Correct Phonetics and Conversation" at 9:00 at the University of Sevilla where I am hoping to learning how to speak spanish with the correct accent so that I can stop sounding like an American every time I open my mouth. I then have "the Novel and the Cinema: two modes of telling a story" where we contrast (yep you guessed it) spanish novels and their movie versions. Even though this class is notorious for being pretty difficult and advanced, and I have to read novels in Spanish, I am really looking forward to it.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have "The Historical Projection of the 3 cultures: Christians, Muslims and Jews in Medieval Spain" at the University. The professor for this class is amazing and fairly easy to understand as he annunciates much better than many of the locals. I then have "Art History of Andalucía" which I absolutely love. In this class we will be taking many field trips to museums, cathedrals, random markets, and many other places to study all different forms of art. What better place to learn about art than where much of it was created? We will be learning about Velázquez, Picasso (who was from Malaga, not France as many people believe), Gaudí, and many more.
And on fridays.... nothing!!
One down side is that my phonetics class at the university ends at 11... and my novel and cinema class starts at the CIEE building at 11... (the university and CIEE building are about 15 minutes apart). So that was horrible schedule planning on my part. However my Phonetics professor is allowing me to leave 10 minutes early every day and my Novel and Cinema professor said it is alright if I am a few minutes late. Thank goodness they are a little more lax on time here!!! Needless to say I will not be finding my future husband in my Novel and Cinema class as I am always red and sweaty after sprinting to class everyday.
I finally received my Sevici card today! Sevici is their public shared bike system, which will relieve me from walking almost 10 miles a day (if I can figure out how to ride the dang things). Hopefully this will save me some time in my trek from the University to CIEE.
Embarrassing story: after finally receiving my sevici card, I was super excited to be able to bike home from class today and cut out 20 minutes from my trek; but as it turns out, I can't bike (at least not on crowded streets with pedestrians and no bike lanes). Out of everything I have done so far (cliff jumping, surfing etc.) riding the bike today was probably the most terrifying (and embarrassing) part of this trip. (I would like to point out, however, that the bike is a little bit different and I was wearing an over the shoulder bag which was throwing my balance off.) After almost running over many poor pedestrians, (and recieving shouts in spanish from people on the side walk saying "you can do it!", "almost there" and "haha look at that girl") I came to the conclusion that I should probably learn how to bike a little better before I attempt to maneuver through the winding streets with 2 inches of sidewalk.
How I always manage to turn trivial things into embarrassing situations is beyond me. I guess i'd rather be embarrassing than boring, right?
On Mondays and Wednesdays I have "Correct Phonetics and Conversation" at 9:00 at the University of Sevilla where I am hoping to learning how to speak spanish with the correct accent so that I can stop sounding like an American every time I open my mouth. I then have "the Novel and the Cinema: two modes of telling a story" where we contrast (yep you guessed it) spanish novels and their movie versions. Even though this class is notorious for being pretty difficult and advanced, and I have to read novels in Spanish, I am really looking forward to it.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have "The Historical Projection of the 3 cultures: Christians, Muslims and Jews in Medieval Spain" at the University. The professor for this class is amazing and fairly easy to understand as he annunciates much better than many of the locals. I then have "Art History of Andalucía" which I absolutely love. In this class we will be taking many field trips to museums, cathedrals, random markets, and many other places to study all different forms of art. What better place to learn about art than where much of it was created? We will be learning about Velázquez, Picasso (who was from Malaga, not France as many people believe), Gaudí, and many more.
And on fridays.... nothing!!
One down side is that my phonetics class at the university ends at 11... and my novel and cinema class starts at the CIEE building at 11... (the university and CIEE building are about 15 minutes apart). So that was horrible schedule planning on my part. However my Phonetics professor is allowing me to leave 10 minutes early every day and my Novel and Cinema professor said it is alright if I am a few minutes late. Thank goodness they are a little more lax on time here!!! Needless to say I will not be finding my future husband in my Novel and Cinema class as I am always red and sweaty after sprinting to class everyday.
I finally received my Sevici card today! Sevici is their public shared bike system, which will relieve me from walking almost 10 miles a day (if I can figure out how to ride the dang things). Hopefully this will save me some time in my trek from the University to CIEE.
Embarrassing story: after finally receiving my sevici card, I was super excited to be able to bike home from class today and cut out 20 minutes from my trek; but as it turns out, I can't bike (at least not on crowded streets with pedestrians and no bike lanes). Out of everything I have done so far (cliff jumping, surfing etc.) riding the bike today was probably the most terrifying (and embarrassing) part of this trip. (I would like to point out, however, that the bike is a little bit different and I was wearing an over the shoulder bag which was throwing my balance off.) After almost running over many poor pedestrians, (and recieving shouts in spanish from people on the side walk saying "you can do it!", "almost there" and "haha look at that girl") I came to the conclusion that I should probably learn how to bike a little better before I attempt to maneuver through the winding streets with 2 inches of sidewalk.
How I always manage to turn trivial things into embarrassing situations is beyond me. I guess i'd rather be embarrassing than boring, right?
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
More fun facts/ observations
-They don't have screens on their windows. I don't know why, but this is very strange to me. Luckily there seem to be less insects then in the states so it is not bad. However, as soon as I see a spider in my room I am locking all of the windows in my house forever.
-The dogs are generally are much more obedient than many dogs in the U.S. (except your dogs Grandma Juna and Grandpa John, they are the best obviously!!) Most dogs walk around the city without leashes and stay right next to their owners the whole time without running into the streets or chasing after other dogs.
-Electricity and water are a lot more expensive here. I am not allowed to take showers that are longer than 10 minutes (which is fine since I don't usually take long ones anyway) and I have to turn off the water in between shampooing my hair and using soap etc. (Dad: you will be happy to hear that I have also gotten very good at turning the lights off every where I go)
-Bidets everywhere.
-The whole place is like one big giant frat party in the fact that there is no toilet paper anywhere. I have to bring tissues with me in my purse every where I go
-Siestas are awesome (siestas are naps)
-The university of Sevilla (where I take half of my classes) used to be a Tobacco Factory. It is an extremely beautiful building. And it has a moat. Yea my school has a moat, it's pretty cool.
-The school supplies are different. This isn't important just something I've noticed. For instance most of the notebooks are quadrile (grid paper) and not lines. They are also either extremely long or really tiny. No in-between.
-Many Spaniards think that if you walk around the house barefoot (summer or winter) your throat will get sore, so I have to wear either socks or slippers at all times.
-On almost every street you will most likely be able to find:
-The dogs are generally are much more obedient than many dogs in the U.S. (except your dogs Grandma Juna and Grandpa John, they are the best obviously!!) Most dogs walk around the city without leashes and stay right next to their owners the whole time without running into the streets or chasing after other dogs.
-Electricity and water are a lot more expensive here. I am not allowed to take showers that are longer than 10 minutes (which is fine since I don't usually take long ones anyway) and I have to turn off the water in between shampooing my hair and using soap etc. (Dad: you will be happy to hear that I have also gotten very good at turning the lights off every where I go)
-Bidets everywhere.
-The whole place is like one big giant frat party in the fact that there is no toilet paper anywhere. I have to bring tissues with me in my purse every where I go
-Siestas are awesome (siestas are naps)
-The university of Sevilla (where I take half of my classes) used to be a Tobacco Factory. It is an extremely beautiful building. And it has a moat. Yea my school has a moat, it's pretty cool.
-The school supplies are different. This isn't important just something I've noticed. For instance most of the notebooks are quadrile (grid paper) and not lines. They are also either extremely long or really tiny. No in-between.
-Many Spaniards think that if you walk around the house barefoot (summer or winter) your throat will get sore, so I have to wear either socks or slippers at all times.
-On almost every street you will most likely be able to find:
- a Drogería (drug store, where you get toilettres and cosmetics)
- a Farmacía (pharmacy where you get any sort of medical supplies)
- a couple of bars/ tapas restaurants
- coffee shops
- ice cream stands
- a shoe store
- a chino (Chinos are stores run by chinese people. Yea, they aren't quite as worried about being politically correct here.) You can buy almost everything here. Food, notebooks, alcohol, candy, toilet paper, you name it. It is like a teeny tiny crappy version of target I guess.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Pics of Sagres Portugal!!
Pics from the 1st hike
The beautiful empty beach we went to.
Two of our spanish friens Borja and Guti
I promise I did actually stand up eventually
The fish I ate :)
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Sagres Portugal
First off, I apologize for the many spelling and grammatical errors as I am writing this at 2am my time since that seems to be the only time I have free. (It doesn't help that I am speaking so much spanish that my english is getting worse... just kidding... but actually)
This past weekend was by far one of the most fun (and athletic) weekends of my life. I went to Sagres Portugal with a travel group along with 3 of my friends Kylie, Xylia and Macenzie. The trip was led by 2 Spaniards from Sevilla who have a lot of experience traveling and participating in adventure sports. Both americans and spaniards were on the trip so we made some spanish friends!
We left Friday at 3, right after my class got out. Right on the outskirts of Sagres (which is a town on the farthest tip of Europe), we took a hike near the ocean, passing caves and cliffs, and we ended at a beautiful off the beaten track beach to watch the sunset and swim. The views were absolutely breathtaking (pictures to come). (p.s. it was a real hike, not like walking on a cement path, we had to rock climb and try not to fall and stuff). We then returned to our hotel and went out for dinner drinks at a local bar.
On saturday we had free time in the morning where we swam in the hotel pool, played volleyball, soccer, and had a BBQ. We then went to one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe, which was once thought to be the end of the world, to relax, swim, ride waves, and play more volleyball and soccer. We had another very difficult, steep, rocky hike to a deserted untouched spot that we would cliff jump off of. The cliff was about 50 feet (for the newbies like me) and about 60 feet for the people who wanted to jump higher. We then hiked back to our vans, and returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner and drinks.
On Sunday we went surfing at Praia do Amado, a popular surfing spot. Not going to lie, I was pretty terrified to surf since I live in Wisconsin and am therefore not accustomed to large waves and sharks... (don't worry there were no sharks there) but it was amazing. On our way back, we stopped at a restaurant famous for their fresh fish. I (yes, megan who does not eat seafood) had the best fish of my entire life, with the head and bones and all!
It was really nice to be able to get away from the city life for a weekend and go somewhere where there is still so much nature and wildlife that is untouched.
So yes, this weekend was extremely tiring, and I struggled getting out of bed on monday because I was so sore, but it was definitely worth it.
This past weekend was by far one of the most fun (and athletic) weekends of my life. I went to Sagres Portugal with a travel group along with 3 of my friends Kylie, Xylia and Macenzie. The trip was led by 2 Spaniards from Sevilla who have a lot of experience traveling and participating in adventure sports. Both americans and spaniards were on the trip so we made some spanish friends!
We left Friday at 3, right after my class got out. Right on the outskirts of Sagres (which is a town on the farthest tip of Europe), we took a hike near the ocean, passing caves and cliffs, and we ended at a beautiful off the beaten track beach to watch the sunset and swim. The views were absolutely breathtaking (pictures to come). (p.s. it was a real hike, not like walking on a cement path, we had to rock climb and try not to fall and stuff). We then returned to our hotel and went out for dinner drinks at a local bar.
On saturday we had free time in the morning where we swam in the hotel pool, played volleyball, soccer, and had a BBQ. We then went to one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe, which was once thought to be the end of the world, to relax, swim, ride waves, and play more volleyball and soccer. We had another very difficult, steep, rocky hike to a deserted untouched spot that we would cliff jump off of. The cliff was about 50 feet (for the newbies like me) and about 60 feet for the people who wanted to jump higher. We then hiked back to our vans, and returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner and drinks.
On Sunday we went surfing at Praia do Amado, a popular surfing spot. Not going to lie, I was pretty terrified to surf since I live in Wisconsin and am therefore not accustomed to large waves and sharks... (don't worry there were no sharks there) but it was amazing. On our way back, we stopped at a restaurant famous for their fresh fish. I (yes, megan who does not eat seafood) had the best fish of my entire life, with the head and bones and all!
It was really nice to be able to get away from the city life for a weekend and go somewhere where there is still so much nature and wildlife that is untouched.
So yes, this weekend was extremely tiring, and I struggled getting out of bed on monday because I was so sore, but it was definitely worth it.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Pics of Alcázar and Cádiz
These are some pictures from Alcázar. This was literally the most beautiful building I have ever seen, but you can't really see any of the details in the pictures.
This is the beach in Cádiz. It was extremely packed but beautiful. And walking on the sand was like walking on flour it was so soft.
These are two of my closest friends here, the girl on the left is Xylia and the girl in the middle is Kylie
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Pics
These are pictures from my daily walk to class. The river that I cross everyday is río Guadalquivir
Cádiz and 1st day of class!
Hola familia y amigos!
On saturday morning some friends and I went to Alcázar, probably the most beautiful building I have ever seen. Although it dates back to the 10th century, the highlight of the Alcázar is the Palacio de Don Pedro which was built in the 14th century. This palace is still used by the Spanish royal family when visiting and for royal wedding feasts. Then Saturday afternoon Kylie, Xy and I caught a bus at 1:00 to Cádiz to meet up with some friends who were already there. Cádiz is a city right on the ocean coast of Spain with extremely beautiful beaches. Once I got over my fear of being attacked by a shark or a jelly fish (I just watched shark week this summer) it was extremely relaxing. Don't worry mom and grandma, I put on tons of sunscreen although it is super expensive here ($18 for a small bottle!). After a 75 minute bus ride home, I talked to my mom on skype for the 1st time (love ya mom!)
Monday was the 1st day of my 2 week Intensive grammar class. I can already tell that this class is going to be extremely difficult, as expected since we have to fit a whole semester worth of material into two weeks. I have the class monday-friday for 3 hours a day plus 10 hours of outside activities (like interviewing locals, visiting a market etc.) and 2-3 hours of homework a night. We then have an exam at the end of each week.
I absolutely love this city. Every where I go there are cute little cafeterías (coffee shops), tiendas (stores), and markets. It seems like there is a history behind everything and the architecture is amazing. You just can't find anything like this in America; even the sidewalks have character (although I have to say my knees and shins are not enjoying the cobblestone as much as I am)! Everywhere I go I find a new place I want to try, and although I get lost in the winding streets all of the time, and I mean ALL THE TIME I absolutely love it.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Days 2-5
Hola!
I am going to try to catch you all up without boring you all. Just a warning this is a long one:
When we 1st got here they put us in groups of about 9 people that we live really close to. My closest friends in my group are Kylie, Xylia, Macenzie and Dorrie. For the 1st few days we would walk in these groups with a guide (our guide was Fran, he is the best). The 2nd day Fran showed us how to get to the buildings where we will be taking classes (which is a 40 minute walk), and other practical things that we need to know. He took us to get phones (I have this extremely cute, tiny purple flip phone) bus passes, and showed us where we can buy certain things like medicine and toiletries. For dinner our group went with Fran to a restaurant on the river where we participated in one of the biggest traditions in Spain: tapas.
In spain the meal times and habits are very different than in America. For breakfast I always have a piece of fruit and coffee, an extremely small breakfast for me. Then we do not eat lunch until 2:30 and it is usually a larger meal. In spain everything (except restaurants and cervecerias) close from 2-5 and people leave work to have lunch and then take a "siesta" (nap). They then return to work and we don't eat dinner until after 9.
On Wednesday (day 3) my Señora made me potatoes with squid. If you know me you probably know that I don't generally eat any type of seafood so this is a huge accomplishment for me. I decided before I left that I would have to get over my dislike of seafood since that is one of the things most frequently eaten here. And it is a good thing I did because, lo and behold, I actually kind of like squid tentacles when they are buried in a pile of potatoes.
For dinner everyone in the CIEE liberal arts program went out for tapas and saw a Flamenco show. The show was extremely interesting, Flamenco is different than any type of dancing I have seen before and a big part of Andalusian history. I did learn, however, that most of the locals do not actually like Flamenco. They acknowledge that it is an important part of their culture, but the only people that generally go to flamenco shows are tourists.
After the show we went to a plaza for cervezas (beers) and vino (wine).
On Thursday, day 4, after some information sessions about safety and different activities that we can do here, my friends and I went to a spanish book store. I am attempting to read Mockingjay (the 3rd book in the hunger games) in spanish. Although I have read it in English I still need my dictionary for 1/4 of the words. After lunch I went on a historical tour of the city with one of the professors here. I will upload pictures on another blog post with a description of the places.
Friday, day 5, was the first day that we had to get to the university and CIEE study center without Fran, our guide. It took us an extra 30 minutes but we eventually made it to the study center to choose our classes for this semester. After returning home for lunch (my señora made pasta!!!), a few friends and I went shopping a little. My host family tried the cheese I brought from Wisconsin for dinner, (yes I brought cheese on the plane with me... It may or may not have been a good idea but I am not throwing up yet so I think its fine) and Miguel and I bonded over our mutual love of cheese. After dinner we went to Calle Betiz, which is a popular street in Triana (my neighborhood) with many bars right on the river. We made friends with a couple very nice Spaniards who showed us around to some favorites of the locals.
I can tell that my spanish is already getting better. The only times that I am speaking English right now are when I am writing my blog or talking with friends and family back home. I sometimes find myself accidentally writing some words in Spanish, because I am already in the habit. The girls in my group and I decided that we were going to talk to each other in spanish as much as we can (like CIEE recommenced) so that our spanish improves much quicker. I can understand our guides very well, but they speak very slow and they annunciate everything. I am getting better at understanding my host family when they speak slow but there are definitely times where I just not my head a ton because I have no idea what they are saying. The locals are extremely difficult to understand because in Sevilla, they often omit the beginning and ending of many words. People from Spain say that if you can understand Seviallanos (people from Sevilla) you can understand everyone else in spain.
p.s. My feet hate me. I am pretty sure my whole body is in a coma and the bones on the bottom of my feet are bruised from all of the walking I have been doing. I think I have walked more in the last 4 days than I ever have in my entire life.
I am going to try to catch you all up without boring you all. Just a warning this is a long one:
When we 1st got here they put us in groups of about 9 people that we live really close to. My closest friends in my group are Kylie, Xylia, Macenzie and Dorrie. For the 1st few days we would walk in these groups with a guide (our guide was Fran, he is the best). The 2nd day Fran showed us how to get to the buildings where we will be taking classes (which is a 40 minute walk), and other practical things that we need to know. He took us to get phones (I have this extremely cute, tiny purple flip phone) bus passes, and showed us where we can buy certain things like medicine and toiletries. For dinner our group went with Fran to a restaurant on the river where we participated in one of the biggest traditions in Spain: tapas.
In spain the meal times and habits are very different than in America. For breakfast I always have a piece of fruit and coffee, an extremely small breakfast for me. Then we do not eat lunch until 2:30 and it is usually a larger meal. In spain everything (except restaurants and cervecerias) close from 2-5 and people leave work to have lunch and then take a "siesta" (nap). They then return to work and we don't eat dinner until after 9.
On Wednesday (day 3) my Señora made me potatoes with squid. If you know me you probably know that I don't generally eat any type of seafood so this is a huge accomplishment for me. I decided before I left that I would have to get over my dislike of seafood since that is one of the things most frequently eaten here. And it is a good thing I did because, lo and behold, I actually kind of like squid tentacles when they are buried in a pile of potatoes.
For dinner everyone in the CIEE liberal arts program went out for tapas and saw a Flamenco show. The show was extremely interesting, Flamenco is different than any type of dancing I have seen before and a big part of Andalusian history. I did learn, however, that most of the locals do not actually like Flamenco. They acknowledge that it is an important part of their culture, but the only people that generally go to flamenco shows are tourists.
After the show we went to a plaza for cervezas (beers) and vino (wine).
On Thursday, day 4, after some information sessions about safety and different activities that we can do here, my friends and I went to a spanish book store. I am attempting to read Mockingjay (the 3rd book in the hunger games) in spanish. Although I have read it in English I still need my dictionary for 1/4 of the words. After lunch I went on a historical tour of the city with one of the professors here. I will upload pictures on another blog post with a description of the places.
Friday, day 5, was the first day that we had to get to the university and CIEE study center without Fran, our guide. It took us an extra 30 minutes but we eventually made it to the study center to choose our classes for this semester. After returning home for lunch (my señora made pasta!!!), a few friends and I went shopping a little. My host family tried the cheese I brought from Wisconsin for dinner, (yes I brought cheese on the plane with me... It may or may not have been a good idea but I am not throwing up yet so I think its fine) and Miguel and I bonded over our mutual love of cheese. After dinner we went to Calle Betiz, which is a popular street in Triana (my neighborhood) with many bars right on the river. We made friends with a couple very nice Spaniards who showed us around to some favorites of the locals.
I can tell that my spanish is already getting better. The only times that I am speaking English right now are when I am writing my blog or talking with friends and family back home. I sometimes find myself accidentally writing some words in Spanish, because I am already in the habit. The girls in my group and I decided that we were going to talk to each other in spanish as much as we can (like CIEE recommenced) so that our spanish improves much quicker. I can understand our guides very well, but they speak very slow and they annunciate everything. I am getting better at understanding my host family when they speak slow but there are definitely times where I just not my head a ton because I have no idea what they are saying. The locals are extremely difficult to understand because in Sevilla, they often omit the beginning and ending of many words. People from Spain say that if you can understand Seviallanos (people from Sevilla) you can understand everyone else in spain.
p.s. My feet hate me. I am pretty sure my whole body is in a coma and the bones on the bottom of my feet are bruised from all of the walking I have been doing. I think I have walked more in the last 4 days than I ever have in my entire life.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
A few pictures from our tour of the city
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Fun fact
My bathroom has a bidet but I am too afraid to ask how to use it. But don't worry, I will eventually muster up the courage to ask and let you know how it is.
Monday, September 2, 2013
1st day in Sevilla
Monday September 2nd
!Hola family and friends!
I just want to warn you that my
writing rivals that of a 12 year old, so I apologize in advance. It is my first
day in Sevilla and although I have not slept in 24 hours, I am loving it
already! As soon as I got to O’hare, I found out that a ton of students from my
program were on the same flight as me—which was really nice because the Madrid
airport was extremely confusing so we all traveled together. Don’t worry, I
won’t bore you with their names (mostly because I don’t remember most of them).
After arriving in Sevilla, I was taken to my home for the
next 4 months to meet my host family. I live with my Señora (Cármen) and her husband (Miguel) in the neigherbohood of Triana. I absolutely love my host family, they
have been hosting exchange students for many years so they are very prepared
and know what to expect. Carmen and Miguel have 2 children in their 30’s that
are married with kids who also live in Sevilla. Today I met their son and his
wife who have a 1 year old (Paula) and a 5 month old (Alejandra) who are
absolutely adorable. Carmen told me today that she is expecting another
grandchild around November 15th (my birthday!). Neither Miguel or Carmen speak English which
is a little difficult but will help me greatly improve my Spanish in the long
run. I will upload pictures of my neighborhood and my house very soon. !Buenos
Días!
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