So as you all know, yesterday was my birthday. And it was just all kind of weird because I wasn't at Gordon celebrating with my friends or at home with my family and I was feeling very homesick. I did go exploring La Plaza de Espana with Lindsay and Jenn which was really fun but then I had class and was just sitting around so I was feeling kind of sad. But then my senora's son came home from work and had me go into the living room and he had brought me a cake! So I walked into the living room to this beautiful cake covered with strawberries and chocolate shavings with "21", the number candles, on the cake :) Also, there were three presents by the cake. They got me a beautiful scarf, some really pretty earrings and a bracelet. I was so surprised and it was just so great. And the cake was delicious!! And then I went out to a party last night which was fun. So overall it was a good birthday :) Oh and Liz Skyped with me and I got lots of birthday messages and videos from my friends and family on Facebook which I am so thankful for!
Other reasons I'm pretty sure I have the best host family ever:
--My senora is a great cook and there have only been 1 meal that she's made that I didn't like (salmon that was cold. I do not recommend you try that)
--Whenever I come home from class, my senora makes me hot chocolate and has a pastry snack waiting for me. And if she isn't home when I get home, all the stuff is set out for me to make myself.
--Dani (my senora's son) has a car and is willing to drive me places so I don't have to walk.
--When I drive in his car, he is listening to American music, so I can sing along.
--My senora cleans my room, cleans my bathroom, does my laundry. I seriously feel like a princess being waited on hand and foot.
--My senora loves to watch TV which means I get to watch fun (and sometimes very strange) Spanish game shows, my favorite is Password. It really helps with my vocabulary, and I watch American movies in Spanish.
So even though I miss home sometimes, I know I am in good hands here and am so happy with my homestay. :)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
What a day!!
Today has been a long, but very fun day. I woke up feeling very tired because I got in late after going to the movies last night with my friends. We saw Up in the Air and we thought we were going to see it in English but it ended up being in Spanish with no subtitles. It's probably better that we saw it in Spanish seeing as we felt a little guilty watching a movie in English when we're here to improve our Spanish. I actually could follow what was going on in the movie and even though I didn't always understand the dialogue, I understood the movie. It was a good movie.
I left my apartment at 9:30 this morning and got to the CIEE study center to register for my classes. I was done earlier than I thought and Lindsay wasn't coming to the center for another 45 minutes so I walked around and took some pictures. Then, once Lindsay was done registering for her classes, we went shopping! I LOVE shopping here! Here in Sevilla, they have rebajas, or sales, that last 2 months after Christmas and it's like 50 - 70% off which is great! I could honestly spend all of my money just shopping here! It's going to take a lot of self-control not to buy everything in sight!
After we had spent enough money, Lindsay and I decided to look around inside La Catedral (cathedral) which is this amazing, beautiful, huge church in Sevilla. We thought we were going to have to pay to go inside (only 2 euros) but it ended up being free because we showed our CIEE ID cards! It was absolutely breathtaking inside! You can see my pictures on facebook and they do not even come close to showing how beautiful it was inside. I just couldn't get over how big it was! It was just so peaceful and I loved it. Also, we climbed up 34 floors to the top of one of the towers and the view took my breath away. It was so worth the climb that my legs are still recovering from.
Then, I had to sit through 3 hours of my Intensive Grammar class, all in Spanish. It was rough. I was so tired and it was hard to pay attention. I really like the professor I have, though, and the class seems pretty laid back. We talked a lot in Spanish about our homestays and our families in the United States. I did not really mind the class, it's just the fact that it's 3 hours long, right during siesta time. But it's only for 2 weeks so I know I'll survive.
Well that's all for now. I'm taking it easy tonight and just hanging out and watching Spanish TV with my senora. :) Miss you all so much!
I left my apartment at 9:30 this morning and got to the CIEE study center to register for my classes. I was done earlier than I thought and Lindsay wasn't coming to the center for another 45 minutes so I walked around and took some pictures. Then, once Lindsay was done registering for her classes, we went shopping! I LOVE shopping here! Here in Sevilla, they have rebajas, or sales, that last 2 months after Christmas and it's like 50 - 70% off which is great! I could honestly spend all of my money just shopping here! It's going to take a lot of self-control not to buy everything in sight!
After we had spent enough money, Lindsay and I decided to look around inside La Catedral (cathedral) which is this amazing, beautiful, huge church in Sevilla. We thought we were going to have to pay to go inside (only 2 euros) but it ended up being free because we showed our CIEE ID cards! It was absolutely breathtaking inside! You can see my pictures on facebook and they do not even come close to showing how beautiful it was inside. I just couldn't get over how big it was! It was just so peaceful and I loved it. Also, we climbed up 34 floors to the top of one of the towers and the view took my breath away. It was so worth the climb that my legs are still recovering from.
Then, I had to sit through 3 hours of my Intensive Grammar class, all in Spanish. It was rough. I was so tired and it was hard to pay attention. I really like the professor I have, though, and the class seems pretty laid back. We talked a lot in Spanish about our homestays and our families in the United States. I did not really mind the class, it's just the fact that it's 3 hours long, right during siesta time. But it's only for 2 weeks so I know I'll survive.
Well that's all for now. I'm taking it easy tonight and just hanging out and watching Spanish TV with my senora. :) Miss you all so much!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
La comida
"Comida" means food and boy do they love it here! They do not just throw things together for a meal, it's thoroughly prepared and there's a lot of it! For breakfast I just have toast and coffee and juice. That's served whenever you wake up. El almuerzo, or lunch, is their biggest meal of the day and is usually served between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. They usually have 2 dishes of food, but my senora asked if I preferred 1 or 2 and I said 1 just because I am not nearly able to eat everything she serves me. I like it a lot and tell her that, but I just don't eat as much as they do. She can't believe how little I eat, but it feels like I'm eating so much! For lunch I've had beef lentil soup with rice, chicken lentil soup, and this seafood dish with rice. I tried shrimp for the first time and liked it! El cena, or dinner, is served wayyy later than I've ever eaten a meal before. I eat dinner around 9 at night. Last night I had a turkey sandwich with chips and yogurt. It was delicious and it was the first meal where I finished everything! I'm surprised how much I enjoy the food here. Oh, also, I had frozen yogurt here at this place right near the study center where I have class (very dangerous seeing as I will probably stop there every day!) I had it with nutella, strawberries and sprinkles. It was so delicious and tasted very fresh and more like yogurt than ice cream like it tastes in the U.S. My senora also loves snacks which is great because as everyone knows, I love to snack! She has so much popcorn, it's so awesome. I know I'm not going to go hungry while I'm here!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday, January 22
Hi guys!!
Sorry that it has taken me so long to write my first blog, but I've just been soooo busy! So yes, I have made it to Sevilla, Spain and I love it so so so much!! Sure, it has taken me the 5 days that I've been here to be able to say that, but I am finally settled and adjusting well.
I got to Sevilla on Monday, after traveling for almost 24 hours and not sleeping for more than 30 hours. I was exhausted! And the second we got to the hotel, everyone from the CIEE program was speaking Spanish. I was so overwhelmed because I had been traveling for so long, I was absolutely exhausted and I could not comprehend anything. But I met my Orientation Group and found that they were all very nice and my guide was super nice, too. Her name is Carmen and she is 20 and lives here in Sevilla. She speaks no English so we could only speak to her in Spanish and she only wanted us to speak to each other in Spanish. That was very hard.
So we spent 2 nights in the hotel and during the day we had lots of activities planned, like a scavenger hunt through the city and informational sessions about the program. I was very homesick and didn't like how I could only speak Spanish. But as the days went on, I found that my Spanish was already improving and for the most part I could understand what people were saying.
On Wednesday, my senora picked me up from the hotel. Her name is Rosa and she is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. She brought her son, Dani, who is a little older than me, because he has his own car. I am living in a very nice apartment in the neighborhood, or zone, called Los Remedios. I really like it here but the only thing is that it is very far from where I am taking classes. But I am figuring out the bus system and walking a lot which is good. I have my own room with a desk and I have 2 twin beds and a closet and lots of drawers. It is so nice and I really love it. Rosa is a very good cook and I have pretty much liked everything she has served me. The only thing is that she feeds me so much and I have to keep telling her that I like the food, it's just that I don't eat that much.
Today CIEE set up a trip to Italica which is a place where there are ruins from a Roman city that used to be there. It was so cool to walk in and around such a historic place. There was a stadium where gladiators used to fight and we walked through the ruins of a neighborhood. Hopefully I will put up some pictures later on Facebook so you can see what I saw.
Wow, I have written a lot but hopefully once I start my classes and have a schedule I can update this more often.
Besos!
Sorry that it has taken me so long to write my first blog, but I've just been soooo busy! So yes, I have made it to Sevilla, Spain and I love it so so so much!! Sure, it has taken me the 5 days that I've been here to be able to say that, but I am finally settled and adjusting well.
I got to Sevilla on Monday, after traveling for almost 24 hours and not sleeping for more than 30 hours. I was exhausted! And the second we got to the hotel, everyone from the CIEE program was speaking Spanish. I was so overwhelmed because I had been traveling for so long, I was absolutely exhausted and I could not comprehend anything. But I met my Orientation Group and found that they were all very nice and my guide was super nice, too. Her name is Carmen and she is 20 and lives here in Sevilla. She speaks no English so we could only speak to her in Spanish and she only wanted us to speak to each other in Spanish. That was very hard.
So we spent 2 nights in the hotel and during the day we had lots of activities planned, like a scavenger hunt through the city and informational sessions about the program. I was very homesick and didn't like how I could only speak Spanish. But as the days went on, I found that my Spanish was already improving and for the most part I could understand what people were saying.
On Wednesday, my senora picked me up from the hotel. Her name is Rosa and she is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. She brought her son, Dani, who is a little older than me, because he has his own car. I am living in a very nice apartment in the neighborhood, or zone, called Los Remedios. I really like it here but the only thing is that it is very far from where I am taking classes. But I am figuring out the bus system and walking a lot which is good. I have my own room with a desk and I have 2 twin beds and a closet and lots of drawers. It is so nice and I really love it. Rosa is a very good cook and I have pretty much liked everything she has served me. The only thing is that she feeds me so much and I have to keep telling her that I like the food, it's just that I don't eat that much.
Today CIEE set up a trip to Italica which is a place where there are ruins from a Roman city that used to be there. It was so cool to walk in and around such a historic place. There was a stadium where gladiators used to fight and we walked through the ruins of a neighborhood. Hopefully I will put up some pictures later on Facebook so you can see what I saw.
Wow, I have written a lot but hopefully once I start my classes and have a schedule I can update this more often.
Besos!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)