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!