Family

Tomorrow I can officially say that I have been living in Spain for a week. It is crazy how the time has already flown by. Courtney and I get the days mixed up all the time!

Sunday was a chilly rainy day, but Courtney and I decided to take our last day before school started to explore the city more and we walked to the river and saw the most famous bridge in Sevilla. It was beautiful despite the rainy weather. Before stopping for lunch we decided to try and use my bank card at an ATM to see if we would have any luck that day. To my surprise it worked!! I was so thankful to know that it was finally up and running! We stopped at a small cafe for bocadillas and our first ever cup of hot chocolate in Sevilla. In case you are wondering… Sevilla has the greatest hot chocolate in the entire world. The best way I know how to describe it is a full cup of melted hershey’s chocolate bars. It is absolutely delicious! We returned home after our adventure and ended up sitting around the heavenly coffee table with Charo (our Senora) and watched two movies in Spanish. We all ate dinner together after and sat around the kitchen table talking and laughing together. I cannot describe to you the happiness that I felt in this moment knowing that Courtney and Charo were going to be my family in this place that is slowly becoming very much like home. It amazes me that despite some of the language barriers, we are all able to communicate and have a wonderful time together.

Monday was our first day of classes. We only have class Monday-Thursday, and each morning I begin at 8:15am with my intensive composition and conversation class. What a wake up call! Both of my Monday classes only have one other student in them and I am excited to see how the very small class size will affect what I will learn during my time here. After class I went with some friends from school to have cafe con leche and tostada (coffee with milk and toast), two very popular items here in the city. The coffee here is wonderful! Monday evening we met our intercambios (native speaking partners) and I am looking forward to working with them soon!

Tuesday and Thursday are my busy days with three classes in a row. I came home after class today and took full advantage of siesta by taking an hour long nap. Speaking in a language that is not your native language is tiring in addition to all of the walking that we do throughout the city, but I can already hear some of the changes in my ability to communicate in Spanish. After class we went shopping with some of the girls from our program. Sevilla has wonderful stores and places to shop (it may be a problem for my suitcase on the way home…) and right now is their biggest sale time since it is after Christmas. All of the shopping is within five minutes of school! Courtney and I were finally able to activate our Spanish cell phones tonight and are thankful to finally be on the grid in Sevilla!

This city and the activities and friends from school are good distractions from homesickness and loneliness. There are definitely things that I miss (The Summit, my friends and family, and playing the piano), but the “voids” that I thought I would feel have definitely been filled with new and exciting things and people here in Sevilla. Thank you all for being such an amazing support system! Miss you all!