Rocks on rocks on rocks

Well...I wish I could say that I am really interested in rocks from Roman ruins and that our Italica excursion was exhilarating for me, but instead I'll tell the truth: we saw more rocks than I've ever needed to see. The story behind the rocks is actually interesting though, so I'll share that part!

Maggie and I in the part of the amphitheater where the
gladiators enter

(Disclaimer: if you aren't interested in random history about the Roman empire then skip over this part). Italica was an important city during the Roman empire, and is located about 20 minutes from Sevilla. The city was once full of houses and an amphitheater where gladiators fought, and Roman baths, etc. Now it is literally a pile of rocks, but the amphitheater is still fairly in tact. Why did it go from being one of the most important cities in the world to being a pile of rocks for Americans to tour? Well apparently, when the Arabs conquered Spain from the Romans, they decided that they wanted to build some really big, beautiful structures (like the cathedral in Sevilla, and the palaces that we visited, etc.) To do so they needed rocks, and lots of them. Where better to find rocks than a town built completely out of them. So they destroyed most of the houses and buildings in Italica to use the rock for their own buildings.

Some columns...much more interesting than
my rock pictures, I promise.

An original tile floor

Although this excursion was the most boring so far, we still made it fun! The amphitheater looked like the one out of Gladiator, and the baths were HUGE. They also had gigantic walk in closets, which we all found pretty funny. How many togas can one man have, right?

Maggie and I have seriously been craving pizza, so after the excursion we went to a pizza place by the cathedral. We must not have been the only ones wanting pizza, because pretty much half of our program came along too. The place is owned by a guy from New York City and he told us about how he met his Spanish wife and moved back here. The pizza was really good, so I'm sure we'll be regulars.

The ampitheater. The part above the doors are
kind of like bleachers. 

This morning we woke up early because we had seen this website on line that advertised an animal market in Sevilla on Sundays. There were a few different websites with information and they said that it used to be in one part of the city, but got moved to another. There weren't any real addresses, but we decided we would try to find it because there were some really cute puppies in the pictures (and most people know I'm a sucker for puppies). We went outside to get our bikes, and the weather was perfect. Sunny with a breeze, but cool enough to wear a long sleeved shirt and jeans. We set off to the first address they gave to find a dead end, and continued riding all the way across town to find another dead end. Even though we didn't find the puppies, the part of town we ended up in was beautiful and it was nice to ride our bikes by the river in the breeze.


I'm sure we'll set out to find the puppies again next Sunday, because we were both pretty excited at the prospect of playing with them. Even without puppies this day can not be ruined, because Sunday means paella, and paella can brighten anyone's day.

Not too much new has happened since I last posted. We're already halfway through our first class, and I can't believe it ends next Friday and we start our real classes the following Monday! We had our first test yesterday, basically on the history of Spain. It wasn't too bad and luckily Maggie brought a Spanish-English dictionary because we were allowed to use one on the test.

Earlier this week we finally booked our flight to Italy! We have a long weekend in February so we found a cheap flight into and out of Milan and are going to take the train from Milan to Florence while we're there. We were thinking about maybe also travelling to Tuscany or other nearby towns, but now that we have the flight booked anything is possible. My best friend from home is studying in Florence so I am excited that I will get to see her and that we will have someone to show us around! We are flying with Ryan Air, which typically has the cheapest flights throughout Europe, but they are super strict about luggage. We are only allowed to carry on one book bag that can't weigh over 10 kg and can't be wider than certain dimensions. Our plan is to just wear a lot of layers on the plane or just wear some version of the same outfit every day.

I do have one funny story to tell, although it is also a bit of a disaster. Maggie and I had bought a bottle of wine about a week ago (for 2 euro total) to drink before we went out. Unfortunately, our cheap wine bottle opener got stuck in the cork and broke, so we couldn't ever get it open. Last night we decided we would try to open it  anyway, which in hindsight was an awful idea. Originally, we got a knife from the kitchen and I tried to carve the cork out, but Maggie used some applied physics and used the side of the knife as a lever on the broken cork screw to try to put the cork out. It worked at first and we were really excited, but towards the bottom it got harder and harder. So finally we decided to see if it would be possible to push the cork inside of the bottle...well...it was possible. Next thing I knew there was red wine EVERYWHERE. Mostly all over me (on the day I chose to wear the whitest shirt I own), but also on the walls and my bed and my shoes...everywhere. We sprung into action pretty quick and divided and conquered. I started wiping it off all of the surfaces and went to soak my shirt while Maggie started scrubbing the walls.

I googled how to remove red wine and starting taking some random advice off of the internet. Luckily our host parents weren't home and the kids were in bed, but the babysitter most likely things I am insane. I kept going through the living room where she was sitting and into the kitchen and then returning to our room with random household products. First I tried milk and salt (which did nothing) and then I went back for vinegar (which also did nothing). I finally found some cleaning product that had pictures of both walls and shirts on it. Maggie and I started using it on the wall and my sheets and the stains came right off. I used it on my shirt too, and the stains went from purple to green and then slowly faded. Now the shirt looks 100 times better, although you can still see the spots, they are just a much duller color. The wall looks 100 times better too thankfully, so hopefully this little mishap will never be discovered. I can easily buy a new shirt, but having to repaint the walls in our room might have been a little more difficult.

Lesson learned: Sometimes you just have to cut your losses...especially when the wine costs 2 euro.

When in Spain, eat a McFlurry

Attack of the birds

I have so much to post about! Yesterday Maggie and I crossed another item off of our Sevilla bucket list, which is growing longer by the second. We went to the Plaza de America and fed the birds. While this might sound like a leisurely task, we soon came to find that it most definitely is not. After finding the Plaza de America  (which probably took longer than it should have) and stopping to get a cafe con leche (my new favorite food item) we went up to a stand in the plaza and got ready to buy some bird food. I hadn't even taken the bag of food from the woman selling it before a bird jumped on top of me. As soon as I had the bag in my hand, I had probably 20 birds swarming around me and all over me trying to get to it. Needless to say I was rather surprised and might have freaked out just a tad.

Our new friend, Tito

Once we figured out that they follow the food, we threw it on the floor and let them fight amongst themselves for it. Luckily one bird, which we named Tito, stayed perched on my shoulder much more tamely than the others and decided to stay there instead of following the food. The birds were kind of endearing when they weren't clawing me or sitting on my head.

After the Plaza de America we went to class where I finally got my Sevici pass in the mail! I don't think I've explained what Sevici is yet, so I'll give it a go. Sevici is this really intuitive bike system that Sevilla set up which allows you to buy a bike pass either per week or per year. Once you have the pass you can go up to any Sevici station around town (there are tons and tons of them) and "check out" a bike. You ride the bike to wherever you're going and drop it off at another Sevici station when you're done. You can keep checking out bikes like that all over town and you don't have to keep up with maintenance or locking the bike or anything! It's super convenient and I was very excited to try it out, which we did this morning.

Maggie and I have also come to discover the pleasures of living with a sick four year old. I can not possibly express my gratitude that I am the youngest sibling, because I don't know how people do it. Kids still never cease to disgust me. I really love having kids around in my homestay, don't get me wrong! I just don't quite enjoy the screaming at 2 in the morning.

Today we finally got to go on the excursion we've been most excited for, the cathedral. We pass the cathedral nearly every day and it still makes me awestruck every time. It is quite literally the biggest building I have ever seen, and it is so beautiful. The detail on the outside alone is amazing, and this was all before I had ever stepped foot in the place. Mass still occurs there twice a day, but tourists are allowed in at all other times. We got shown the cathedral by our own personal tour guide, Fernando, who also happens to be my favorite teacher so far. He knows so much about Spanish history and has all kinds of funny tid bits to share on our excursions, which makes them a lot more interesting. We learned that this cathedral is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the biggest cathedral in the entire world. Apparently the Vatican is a basilica and not a cathedral, if you are like me and questioned that at first.

The crocodile...I wasn't kidding...

We walked around the cathedral and saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus, who I was unaware was buried in Sevilla. His son is also buried there, and apparently he is famous for bringing potatoes and tomatoes to Spain; which I'm grateful to him for because those are two of my favorite foods. There is also this crazy legend about a crocodile that Fernando told us, which I think is such a weird story to be part of a cathedral's history. Legend has it that a crocodile somehow managed to get inside of the cathedral and live there, but the people confined him to the patio outside of the cathedral where there were trenches. The crocodile then converted to Christianity and became the church "pet." There is now a giant wooden crocodile hanging up outside in the patio and is said to have the skin of the original crocodile...

My favorite part of the excursion was when we got to climb to the top of the bell tower. I was expecting a giant circular staircase like you see in lighthouses, but instead it was a sequence of ramps. Our host dad told us that this is because men used to ride their horses to the top. I was so excited to get to the top that I practically ran, but everyone else was close behind. The view from the top was amazing. You could see all of Sevilla, including the top of the cathedral and it was such a pretty sight. The cathedral looks like how I picture Hogwarts (the Harry Potter castle) to look.

View of part of the cathedral from the
bell tower

Maggie and I in the bell tower

We eventually came down and went back home to eat lunch, but I definitely think that that was my favorite part of any excursion so far. I took a break in writing this blog because Maggie looked over from her bed (which is maybe 2 feet from mine) and said "you know what I'm craving?" and I said "icecream?" and she said "how did you know!" Of course this led to us riding our new Sevici bikes all over town trying to find an open ice cream place at 11:00 PM. When we told our host parents where we were going they just gave us blank stares...I guess Spanish people don't get cravings? We ended up at the only open ice cream place...McDonald's. When in Spain, eat a McFlurry.

The most beautiful city in the world

This video does Sevilla so much more justice than my pictures ever will. I still can't believe that I'm living in such a beautiful city!

Waka Waka Aye Aye!

We just booked our trip to Morocco! A group of us are taking a trip during a weekend in March, and actually the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. Morocco isn't really the first place that comes to mind when you think of St. Patrick's Day, but I'm so excited to go to Africa. The pictures look beautiful and the trip includes guided tours and food and best of all...A CAMEL RIDE!

It's Saturday! Yesterday we had our meetings to discuss which classes we are going to take this semester, starting in February. The University system for picking classes is horrible...literally horrible. I thought UNC had a pretty confusing system, but this one is all over the place. So after many failed attempts at finding classes that were available and would give me credit, I finally came up with a schedule. And better yet, a schedule with no Friday classes!

I'll be taking two classes at EUSA (the international school that we are at now) and two classes at the University of Sevilla. My classes are The History of Modern Spain and Geography of Andalusia (both at the university) and then a Spanish literature class and a class called Spain and Islam at EUSA. 

After our meetings we went home to eat lunch and do some homework and then had our night class. After class we tried to all meet up in the computer lab to buy tickets to go to Ronda today, but the website told us that there weren't any bus tickets available and it became a huge mess! So we ended up not going to Ronda today, but I'm sure we'll go another time when it is warmer and we get our bus tickets in advance. 

Last night we met up with some other students and their Spanish friends and went around town. It was pretty cold outside but it was cool to meet Spanish people our age, because most of them have been busy studying since we got here. The Spanish university has a really strange exam schedule, and they have exams now for their classes that ended in December. The classes that we will be taking have their actual exams in late June and July, so we had to ask permission from the professors to let us take them early before we go back to the US. It's a very different system than at home!

Today we have been hanging out with our family and are going to visit some friends across the river in a few hours when the shops open back up (everything closes from around 2-5 for "siesta"). Maggie has a pretty bad cold so we're thinking some gelato and coffee will be good for her :) 

We spent the entire time at lunch quizzing Luis and Maria on some English words. They ended up being super excited to ask us how to say things in English and it was really fun to practice with them, because it helps our Spanish too! AND we got some very exciting news from Luis. Maggie and I told him that we are planning on going to a Sevilla soccer game while we are here, and we asked him to help us find the schedule online and help us figure out how to get tickets and everything. We soon came to find out that our family actually has season tickets to the game! Even better than that, our host mom has a friend who is a journalist for a team called Villarreal (from her hometown of Valencia), and her friend gets them press passes to that game so that they can sit up closer. So Luis told us that if his parents get the better seats then we can take their season tickets and go to that game for free! He said it is a really fun game to watch and their season ticket seats are much closer than the seats we would buy for ourselves. We're very excited to go watch a Sevilla game because soccer is almost a religion over here, and the atmosphere is supposed to be so fun to be in.

Tonight is the Sevilla vs. Betis game, which are the two local teams in Sevilla, and it is a huge deal here. We are all going to meet up somewhere to watch the game later on. Hasta luego!

"Donde la vida comienza cuando en el resto de Europa las luces se apagan."

Our reading for class today is a description of Spain and that quote came from there, which literally means "Where life starts when the lights go off in the rest of Europe." I'm still amazed by how easily I've adapted to the culture here. I have loved everything about Spain so far, from the food to the people to the night life...just everything.

Classic first day of school picture with our
backpacks!

Yesterday was our first day of class. Maggie and I went over to school early and got coffee before our first class started. I have a feeling coffee is going to become a staple in my life here. I was so glad for class to finally start and it seems like we won't be having too much work (which I'm also very happy about)!

Our first part of the class is language with Angeles, and then we switch rooms and go to culture class with Fernando. So far (even though I've only had two days of class), I find the culture really interesting. We only have this class for three weeks, so it is a condensed version, but I'm glad that they give us some language practice and some culture background before we're thrown into the University with real Spanish students!

After class we went home to a delicious dinner of chicken and what they call "poor man's potatoes" and then watched the start of the Barcelona vs. Madrid soccer game (which is a HUGE deal in Spain, as well as in our house). It was fun to watch the game with our family, and Maggie and I really bonded with our family over dinner too. It was the first time when we've had a long conversation with both of them, and I can already tell that my Spanish is improving tons. Our mom was so excited to show us all of her favorite things to cook, and we learned last night that our parent's know much more English than we thought. Apparently the two of them met in Ireland where our mom was studying abroad, so she speaks English very well. Luckily we haven't had anything bad to say about her, because we had no idea she could understand us!

We left about halfway through the soccer game and went to a free sangria night that a travel agency called Discover Sevilla was hosting for all of the UNC students. They gave us sangria at their office and then took us to a club. It was pretty fun, and even though we were the only people out, we still had a good time.

This morning we had to wake up and find the tiniest book store ever that is the only store carrying the book we need for our class. Our teacher decided that she would tell us the first day of class...after the store had already closed...that we would need the book for tomorrow. She then proceeded to draw possibly the worst map ever drawn of how to find this tiny hole in the wall store. Luckily we were able to find it and get the book, but it was certainly the most trouble I've ever had to go to to get a book for school.

After we bought the book we had to do a little bit of homework, and then went to our second day of class. We're home now and are just hanging out. The kids will probably go to bed soon and then we are going to try to start our homework for tomorrow. Or maybe we'll just catch up on some much needed rest.

Last night we went out to the other side of the river and ended up meeting a ton of Americans from Syracuse who had just gotten here. It was pretty fun but felt like we were back in America. That could have been due to all of the American music the bars here keep playing, but who knows!

One of the patios at the castle

This morning we had to meet to go on our second excursion, to "Los Reales Alcazares de Sevilla," which is the palace that the royal Spanish family stays at when they come to visit Sevilla. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect. The castle doesn't look like I would have expected it to. It is several different buildings and patios and fountains as opposed to what you think of when you think of Cinderella's castle or something. I would definitely not mind living in a castle with palm trees and orange trees surrounding me though!

After the excursion we took a trek to find a store that sells lined paper, which isn't so popular here, and ended up finding a giant shopping center right down the street from our house. Maggie and I were both starving, so we decided to get tapas, but the only place that was serving food was (believe it or not) a TGI Fridays. So much for trying to be Spanish.

Our little sisters! Carmen is the little one
and Maria is in front

We are lucky that Maria knows how to use Google maps and pays attention when she goes to buy school supplies, because otherwise we would have had no idea where to get a lined notebook. She's really smart for a 9 year old, and has been more helpful to us than she can imagine.

Tomorrow we FINALLY start classes, which we are all super excited for. We only have one class for the next three weeks, and it's only from 5:30-8. But at least its a start.

We all have a new favorite song that has a dance to go along with it...I guess like the Portuguese version of the electric slide? We have been hearing it everywhere, including when Carmen and Maria sing it, and finally found out the name of it. We are all determined to learn the dance so we can do it next time we hear the song when we are out. I'll add the video of the dance here so it can make its way to America.

And just for old times sake, because I never stop being amazed by it, I took yet another picture of the cathedral. These pictures just seriously can not do it justice. 

Yesterday we decided we had to get out of the house and do something, so we decided to just walk around some. We took some random turns and ended up finding a ferris wheel inside of a little fairgrounds and an ice skating rink. We're pretty excited to try the ferris wheel once its warmer, but it was freezing outside so we went towards the University and found somewhere to grab a coffee. I had my first cup of real coffee ever and actually enjoyed it a lot! After dinner we went to watch the soccer game at a bar and it was really fun. I wish Americans had as much passion for anything as Spaniards do for soccer. The bar went absolutely crazy when Betis scored, and it was a lot of fun to watch and hear all of their chants and songs (even though we had no idea how to join in). 

We had another great experience exploring today! We were supposed to start our first class today but our director's wife passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning, and they had the funeral today. He is such a nice man and it is really sad to hear. 

Instead of class we all met at the school and planned our first trip! We are going to Ronda for the weekend, which is a little town in Spain that is one of the top ten attractions of this region. Apparently it has huge cliffs and we are planning on hiking to them. It is supposed to be beautiful so I will be sure to take lots of pictures. There are about 10 other students going, and we calculated that it would cheaper to rent two cars and split the cost than it is to take the bus. So I'm sure I will have plenty of exciting stories of Americans trying to drive in Europe. Luckily we found an automatic car, because I'm not sure any of us are fit to drive up a mountain in a manual car in a foreign country. 

After our meeting we ventured to Los Remedios to a street that is supposed to be full of shops. It is a beautiful area of town and is where the "old money" lives. The babies are all dressed in fancy little outfits and their mom's push them down cobblestone streets in high heels. It's actually rather impressive. We found a new shop called Cien Montaditos, which is a place with 100 different types of sandwiches. Today is Super Monday there and Maggie and I split 2 beers and a plate of french fries for 2 euro total, which is a great deal here. We have decided that we will probably become frequent visitors of that place.

Plaza de Espana, where government employees work. It wraps
all the way around and has a river in the middle. 

We passed through a plaza to get to Los Remedios, and there was a government building that was so beautiful. We just came up to it out of nowhere and it was so surprising. All of the police men also ride around on pretty white horses. 

Tomorrow we are taking our second group excursion to Las Reales Alcazares de Sevilla which is the location where the royal family of Spain stays when they come to visit Sevilla. It is supposed to be very nice, as I am sure you can imagine, and I am excited to see a local palace. Maybe I'll meet a Dutch or Count or something to marry so I can become royalty too. 

Hello again! Today is the perfect rainy Sunday. We woke up to paella that we will apparently be getting every Sunday, and have just been relaxing all day! The picture to the left here is my roommate, our two little sisters, and me.

Yesterday was our excursion to Córdoba, which is a city about an hour and a half from Sevilla. It was so beautiful! It was much smaller than Sevilla and all of the roads were cobblestone and there were horses and palm trees everywhere. The cobblestones are nearly impossible to walk on, but they are much nicer to look at than asphalt.

We had to meet at 8:30 to leave for the excursion, and rode a bus to Córdoba where we toured the cathedral and had a few hours of free time. The cathedral is huge and although it is now a Catholic cathedral, it was once a mosque.

Córdoba used to be one of the most populous cities in the world during the Roman Empire, although today it has only about 300,000 people. The whole city has a mix of different kinds of architecture. The cathedral was created within the mosque, so the structure still looks very much like an Arabic structure. The original columns and arches are still there, and the altar for the cathedral is just within part of the building. It is probably one of the only places in the world that you could see a crucifix within a mosque, and it was really interesting to see the two religions coexisting. There is a giant patio outside of the cathedral with a fountain that you are supposed to drink out of to find a boyfriend/girlfriend and have a prosperous life so we all drank out of the fountain (although the water looked less than sanitary).

In our free time we walked around the town some and went to a little cafe where we sat until it was time to leave. Maggie and I tried to look for which classes to take when we got home, but it was very confusing and we've decided to put it off until some other students can help us figure it out. Last night we went to a bar called Tex Mex where they played the UNC game for us. Although we lost miserably, it was still fun to watch the game with other UNC students and it made us feel closer to Chapel Hill. After the game we went to a part of town called Los Remedios and went to a few other bars. We met

a ton of Irish people who were in Sevilla for a crew race and they all recognized my name, which is relieving because no one in Spain can pronounce Colleen.

Maggie and I are starting to get much better at navigating the town and almost found our own way back last night without having to ask for directions! We only had to ask for directions once, and at least it was a good practice of our Spanish.

Today our host dad made paella, which is a Valencian dish that has a mixture of rice, meat, vegetables, and seasoning.

It is so delicious and we were so excited to learn that it is a Sunday tradition around here! We have really enjoyed having kids in our homestay because it has given us a much better opportunity to practice our Spanish. Our host mom and dad eat after we do, so we are lucky to have the kids to eat with. It is fun to watch them argue and try to figure

out what is going on because they speak veryyyyy quickly.

Tonight we are going to watch the Barcelona vs. Betis soccer game at Tex Mex. Betis is one of Sevilla's soccer teams and they are most likely going to lose very badly. Tomorrow is our first day of our language and culture class that we have for three weeks before starting our real classes. I am actually kind of excited to start class, even though it is only once a day from 5-8.

The picture on the right here is inside of the cathedral and you can see the Arabic architecture. The bell tower and the patio outside of the cathedral are in the picture to the left.

Finally time for some pictures! The picture on the left is Maria, and she was more than happy to pose for the camera so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of her. I haven't had a chance to take a picture of the other kids yet, but I'll do that soon! Last night we ended up going to the flamenco bar and walking around town a little bit to see what Sevilla has to offer. The city is beautiful and so fun to walk around. The streets are all cobblestone and there are orange trees everywhere. Our "mom" drew us a map to the flamenco bar and Maggie and I set out on a journey to find it. After turning down about 100 roads tiny back roads we finally found it, and it was a little hole in the wall bar. We were the only Americans there and it was so fun! We felt like real Spaniards and it was only our second night.

We listened to a man play flamenco music and sing and then later on a woman and a man gave a dance performance. We got a lot of stares for being random Americans at a hole in the wall bar, but it was still really fun.

Today we slept late and then walked around the city for a little bit. The weather is perfect here, about 60 degrees, and we found our way back to the school without a map (which is impressive for us, especially in a town with no road signs). We learned how to sign up for classes and it sounds like Spain has a very different education system. They don't really follow a syllabus or have readings or do anything American at all. But that might be nice. We walked by the university today and it is massive. It looks like a castle and is apparently one of the oldest universities in Europe. I'm excited to take classes at a place that is so beautiful.

We take two classes at the university and then two classes at a school called EUSA, which has classes catered towards UNC kids. EUSA has a little cafeteria that has snacks and beer on tap. This education system certainly is different than the US :)

I'm also going to add some pictures of my house, which apparently is in some magazine for being well decorated.

Above is the conjoined dining room/living room. The table you can see in the living room is a heated table so you pull the cloth up over you like a blanket and its warm underneath. Everyone here has them and its something we definitely need to bring to the US.

This is the kitchen, and the table in there is where we eat every day. Our "mom" is very nice and lets us have free reign of the kitchen, which is pretty rare compared to the other students here. Maggie and I both brought Moravian cookies as a gift for our family, which is really funny since she isn't even from Winston-Salem. I'm sure our house mom thinks that Moravian cookies are a staple of the American diet now.

This is just a picture of one of the random streets we walked down. You can see the orange trees on the left and the cobblestone streets.

The street we live on looks more like a city street but the historic district right next to us looks like this all over. There are horse drawn carriages everywhere and they wash the streets every night so its a really pretty part of town.

Tomorrow we're going to Cordoba, which is about an hour and a half from here. It is our first "excursion" that we take with the entire group. We're meeting at 8:30 to go and have to have a bagged lunch; so I feel a little bit like an elementary schooler going on a field trip, but I am excited. Apparently there is a lot of Muslim influence and there is a beautiful mosque, so I will be sure to take some pictures.

These last two pictures are from the flamenco bar.

After we get back from Cordoba tomorrow we're going to a bar we found called Tex Mex that will play the UNC games for us. They play tomorrow at 2 pm American time so 8 pm our time, and our entire program is going together to watch the game, so that should be really fun. I'll update again soon with hopefully more pictures of my family! Hasta luego.

Las Primeras Dias

Hola a todos! I am finally here and settled in after a very long trip. The morning began with some good news that my Aunt Darlene had upgraded me to first class as a last minute surprise. I have never flown first class until then, and I felt like a princess! It was such a great experience and I was able to watch whatever movies I wanted in a nice reclining seat. I landed in Madrid from Chicago at 8 AM (2 AM your time) and sprinted across the airport to make my flight to Sevilla, which was on the smallest plane I think I've ever seen. I made friends with a man who has kids my age and the time passed pretty quickly.

I arrived in Sevilla to find out that my luggage had been lost, and I had my first challenge in explaining to the woman at the airport where I could be reached and what my bag looked like. Luckily my bag arrived this morning at the exact time I was heading to my family (more about that to come).

I happened to meet up with a girl from my program while I was in the Sevilla airport and we shared a cab to the hotel that we stayed in the first night. After I cleaned up a little bit we went exploring a little bit and found a cheap sandwich shop and the university that we'll be taking classes at starting in February. We tried to talk to some of the local people and they thought it was really funny. I'm pretty sure we looked very American to them. Once we got back I met my roommate, whose name is Maggie. She's great and we've gotten along very well so far. I took a little nap and then met up with everyone in our group for dinner. The group leaders took us to a restaurant which is tucked back in the historic district of town, and it was beautiful. We passed by the famous cathedral, and it is absolutely massive.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and tried to get some sleep, since we had to get up at 8:45 to come meet our families. Maggie and I were the last to leave the hotel, and our house was only a few blocks away. Our senora is very sweet and treats us like her own children. She has 3 kids who are so much fun! Luis is 12 and he is obsessed with the NBA so he was very excited to hear that Chris Paul went to my high school and Michael Jordan went to my college. He is a Lebron James fan, but I'll work on changing that and bringing him away from the dark side while I'm here. Maggie and I are planning on going to his basketball game in a few weeks. Maria is 9 and Carmen is 4 and they are fulllll of energy. The three kids will probably be the most help with my Spanish skills because they talk super fast. They definitely make the meals much more exciting though, and I'm so happy to have them around. Apparently most of the other families are older single ladies and I can't imagine that they are quite as fun as our new brother and sisters.

We had our first day of orientation today and found the school after getting lost about 3 times. The only complaint I can make is that Spain needs to invest in street signs...there isn't a single one and it makes getting anywhere with a map nearly impossible. But we made it just in time and hopefully that will be enough to get there again tomorrow!

I think we are going to try a Flamenco dance club that our house mom suggested tonight. I'm pretty tired but I can't wait to explore the city more and we don't have anything to do until 5 tomorrow.

I'm sure I'll post again soon, with pictures next time! Until then, I hope you are all doing well and holding down America for me!