Settling in

Hello hello. Yesterday we met and moved in to our home stays. I live with a woman who I would say is probably around 60 years old and her son Manuel who is 15. On my paper it said his name was Jose Miguel, but I think that she calls him Manuel, so that’s what I’m rolling with. They’re very nice, but it’s just hard to understand them sometimes between the fact that I don’t know all of the everyday vocabulary that they use and because they talk much faster than most people I usually speak Spanish with.

Today we went to Italica which are some ancient ruins of a Roman city that is in Spain. It was really cool because they had a amphitheater that was were they would persecute Christians and Jews. I suppose it wasn’t cool that they persecuted people, but rather that the theater is still there. It is still a little cold here but I try to remember that if I wasn’t in Spain I would be in Michigan, where I’m sure there is plenty of snow.

The schedule to eat is really different, and although I didn’t know if I could do it, I think I will actually be able to adjust. We eat cereal and fruit when we wake up, although I think I’m fortunate because most people say they just get toast, and then lunch isn’t until like 2:30. Then you take a siesta, or I’ll probably have classes when they start, and dinner isn’t until 8:30 or nine. My senora cooks so much food, and I am so stuffed every time I finish a meal, but I suppose I prefer that to being hungry.

I think that the time difference is still confusing my body because today I went to take a nap at like 3, but I didn’t wake up until 8:30. So ridiculous, but I really am tired. I mentioned eating a lot before, but I’m hoping that all of the walking we do balances that out. My legs are seriously still sore just because we walk everywhere all the time.

I am finally starting to get a feel for the city and the streets. It’s very frustrating because the streets definitely don’t follow any sort of grid system, so they jog and veer a lot, and they’re just kind of hard to navigate.

My living situation is nice though, because I’m pretty close to the CIEE center where I will take most of my classes, and because I live in “el centro” I’m close to a lot of the cool and important things downtown. Although I don’t have a roommate, there’s a girl from my orientation group who lives across the street from me, so we have so far been walking together and such. She’s very nice and she’s much better at navigating than am I.

One last thing, in January/February, all of the stores have what they call “rebajas” which are just big sales, some up to 70% off. I slept through the time I was going to go shopping today, but I think maybe on Sunday if stuff is open, I’m going to hit it up then. Apparently the cool thing to wear here is flat tall boots that kind of look equestrian to me, so clearly I’m going to pick up a pair of those.

We start classes on Monday, but it’s only a two-week intensive session where we take one class, so I don’t anticipate it being too difficult. Until then, that’s all I wrote, yo.

A Bath/Shower Hybrid

Hola. It has been a very tiring trip so far. I arrived to Madrid safely and soundly with all of my luggage surprisingly. That was very fortunate. From Madrid we had to take the subways which was kind of confusing. It reminds me of the L in Chicago or the Tube, but because we didn't know which lines connected to which, we had to rely on asking people, and they were very helpful. My luggage was very heavy and a pain to carry, but everything got to the Hotel Fernando III in time, so that was good. The hotel is very nice and everytime I look out the windows I want to sing Mama Mia because the walls are white like in the movie.

The showerhead was broken in the shower I was using, so I had to take a sort of bath shower hybrid, which I thought was my first ignorant American experience, but it turns out the shower head was just broken, so I feel better about that. I went to bed early because I was so tired, but I woke up at like 2:25 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep until 8. What a waste of time. So very frustrating.

Today we walked around Sevilla with our tour group and kind of just got a taste of things. It's a really beautiful city and I can't believe that it's my home for 5 months. I really like the city, now I just need to become accustomed and feel comfortable in order to love the experience.

Tonight our orientation group went to see some Flamenco which was very cool and after that we ate some delicious tapas. Tomorrow should be exciting because we will meet our homestay families and move in with them. It will be nice to put my clothes away and not be living out of my suitcases.

My body is sore and my feet hurt from all of the walking and carrying of my luggage. However, it's worth it. I miss everyone very much and I shall continue to update when I get internet acess next.

Besos!

Here's the details, yo.

So I presume most of you know that I will be studying abroad in Seville, Spain for the spring semester of 2009. It's in the southern part of Spain in Andalucia. It seems like a very pretty place to explore. I will be taking classes at the University of Pablo de Olavide and University of Seville through the program with which I'm traveling, CIEE. I leave January 18 and will be returning probably on July 1. I'm really bad at updating things like these, and I don't know what internet access is like, so check in once in a while if you'd like. I'll do my best to keep it interesting. See you all when I see you!