¡España!

Hello everyone!

I just completed my second day of school here in Sevilla. It´s been a crazy couple of days. We got to Bilbao, Spain, on Saturday night. Our flight to Sevilla was the next morning, so we figured we could spend the night in the airport since it was a layover. But, the airport closed, so we had to find a place to stay. By the grace of God I had picked up a flyer for a hostel in Bilbao while I was at the hostel in London. And, I almost threw it away! We took a taxi to that hostel. They didn´t have room for us since we didn´t have a reservation, but they referred us to another hostel that was very nice. It was our first hostel that gave us a private room (with 3 beds) and our own bathroom. And it had Monet paintings on the walls! (reprints, of course ;))

We got to Sevilla on Sunday morning and had no idea where to go for our flats. We got a taxi, but he would only take us to Stephanie´s flat because there was a fiesta or something and he didn´t think he could drive over in the other area where Karen and I needed to go. At least that´s what I think he said. He only spoke Spanish. So, we all went to Stephanie´s flat and her host tried to help us find where Karen and I needed to go. She only spoke Spanish, too, so it was quite interesting. Once Karen and I had located our flats on a map, we decided to start walking and look for a taxi. The weather was SOOO hot on Sunday and we both had our 35 lb backpacks. Luckily, we found a taxi quickly and he took us to my flat. I dropped my stuff down and left because my host wasn´t ready for me, and then I went with Karen to find her place. On the way to Karen´s flat, which is only a 5 minute walk from mine, we saw a church! There´s so many churches around here. It seems like there´s one on ever block. We went to mass, then back to Karen´s flat, where her host gave her a map and told us lots of things to do, places to go, etc. Karen´t host is named Natalie. She´s a very tall German woman. I like her a lot. My host is named Carmen. There´s also 2 other women living with me, one that goes to my school and one that is Spanish, I think. I like Carmen ok. My room is pretty small, but it has all I´ll need: a closet, a bed, shelves, and a night stand. The flat is small, too. I haven´t taken any pictures of my flat yet, but I´ll put them on here when I do.

I like the school a lot. I have a grammar class at 9:15, a conversation class at 11:20, and a grammar/conversation class at 1:30. So far it´s not too hard, and I´m doing well at understanding everything my professors say. I love the free internet access. I can´t wait to be fluent!

The food here has been pretty good so far. We ate tapas at a really nice restaurant. I liked it a lot. We ate at a tiny Italian restaurant yesterday which was really good. I also ate at McDonalds once, on Sunday, because there was hardly anything else open. Almost all of the stores here shut down during siesta, from 2-6 pm, and on Sundays. I have to say that the french fries here are much better than the ones in the US. Very surprising, I know. The desserts here are deceiving, though. They look really good, but they´re not moist like you expect them to be. I have yet to find a truly yummy dessert in Spain. Jennifer, I tried paella like you wanted me to, and I didn´t like it. I had nasty clam things and some kind of fish that I couldn´t chew because it had the texture of rubber. The rice by itself was ok, though. Sorry to disappoint you.

Yesterday was a holiday in Sevilla. Dia de San Fernando. He´s the patron saint of Sevilla. We didn´t have school, so we were going to go to the beach. But, it was cloudy and a little rainy, so we opted out. This weekend, though, we´re going to go to Nerja, a beautiful beach about 4 hours away. I can´t wait!

I think that´s about all I have to say right now. I´m downloading my photos to the computer as we speak, so I´ll put my pictures up and tell you all about my England/Ireland visits! I miss the States a lot, but I´m quickly adapting to life over here. There are 3 things I refuse to do, though. I will not get the Spanish lisp, I will not wait to eat dinner until 10pm, and I not will sleep on the ridiculous schedule they have have over here (but I will of course take part in siesta time!).

Bye! :)