Day 1

Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for your thoughts, encouragement, and prayers as I embark on this adventure. I just got to Spain today and it already seems so long ago. My flights felt VERY short because I was able to sleep so much (SEE, thoseofyouwhoalwaysmakefunofmeforfallingasleepsoeasily, it worked to my advantage!). Because I slept most of the dozen or so hours of flying, I am already almost on the right sleep schedule here, which is a HUGE blessing considering we are 9 hours ahead! I had a slight scare in Chicago when they questioned me and took a while letting me through because I don't have a visa (GFU messed up, but half of our group doesn't have them and they all got through fine), but fortunately I made it. Immediately after getting off the plane in Seville, we were taken to our host families. My Señora's name is Pepita and she has a husband and 24-year-old daughter living with us. My roommate, Nicole, and I are sharing a TINY bedroom in a TINY apartment. But hey, I wanted an authentic experience and I got it. :) We spent some time unpacking and talking to our Señora about rules and such. She is very nice, with a strong personality, which is great, but not what I was expecting. I understood and was able to say most things, but the Spanish here in Seville is supposed to be the hardest Spanish in the world to understand, and I can see why. The locals speak very quickly and with a lisp. Nicole and I unpacked for a bit, killed a huge spider, then ate a delicious, HUGE lunch our Señora prepared for us (at 2:30pm!). Lunch and dinners are very late here. After lunch we took a brief siesta, then made ourselves wake up and shower, which felt SO good. We then got dressed in skirts and walked around our area for a while. The architecture is so beautiful! We found our school, about a 20 minute walk from our apartment. We're about to eat dinner now at 9:00 pm, but that's where I'm at now. So...thank you for your prayers, we definitely need them! A little overwhelmed but excited and living in the moment.

Oh P.S...we are mooching internet from a neighbor, so we have it in our home! Which is rare and way awesome. :)