Jet Lag is Real/Finally some wifi

Hola a todos!

I wish I had found the wifi hotspot sooner! I have lots to say. At the moment I'm sitting in the living room with my "madre" (homestay mom) and her friend Manolo. The internet only works in this room given that it kind of belongs to a neighbor... I'm going to format this post in two sections, as I've had two very different days!


Day 1 (Wednesday-Thursday)
After the overnight flight we got to watch the sunrise while waiting for our connecting flight to Sevilla- so cool. We arrived in Sevilla at 10 am local time, 4 am for my brain and waited another 3 hours to get picked up by people in our program. Needless to say we were all EXHAUSTED upon arrival to our hotel, but we were sure to appreciate the palm trees outside (sorry to all of you buried in ice or snow or generally frigid temps out there!) I felt like zombie during lunch and promptly took a 3 hour nap as soon as I could. We ventured out later to a strip of tapas bars (cafe-like spots that serve little plates of different kinds of food and regular bars. The city looks like a movie set, every building has such cute detail and character it's so clean!. I was particularly charmed by the numerous orange trees that line the city's streets. They look ripe and juicy but apparently they're really sour- what a tease! I'll post photos later.

The bar scene gets going at around 2 or 3 (gonna have to get out of granny mode and gear up for some late nights, haha). It's pretty cool being around Spanish speakers in their city, just fun to listen to! Spanish men are NOT shy (actually pretty forward) but also not very threatening. We had to call it an early night at 2 am so we could rest up for our 7: 30 am wake up call- it was rough to say the least.
Day 2: Friday

Friday morning we took a stroll down to the Centro, which is the area of Sevilla in which the program building is located. It is mind-blowing how gorgeous this place is. You know there's something special about a city when the post-office, probably the most boring building ever, looks magical! Not to mention the huge, ornate cathedral that's just hanging out in the middle of everything! Again, photos will come later.


Friday afternoon provided me with the most terrifying experience ever. No worries, I wasn't in danger, it was simply time to be thrown into a taxi and shipped off to our homestay addresses. I know it's understandable to be nervous about new people, but trust me when I say that it 1000% scarier when you aren't fluent in the language they speak. You can imagine my state of panic, when I raised a shaky finger and pressed the buzzer to the apartment and was told that the woman I was looking for did not live there. After a couple of deep breaths, I found a neighbor to help me, and eventually figured out that I had, in fact, rung the wrong bell.


After all of that was figured out I finally met Lola, and moved my things into my tiny (but precious) little room. Lola speaks VERY fast and it's easy to confuse what she's saying. So far I've managed to confuse "Are you showering today or tomorrow?" with "What time are you coming home, tonight or tomorrow?" There is most definitely an adjustment period. Luckily my roommate arrives tomorrow and I'll at least have someone else to share my confusion!


Well it seems as though I've shared as much, or more, information that is tolerable to read in one sitting. I believe it is time for my siesta (great perk in spain, in which is socially acceptable among all age groups to take a long nap in the middle of the day after lunch)!


Thanks for being interested in me! I'll be back soon with more....