Hola family!

So thanks to Haley I am starting a blog to let yall know a little more about what I am doing in Spain so you can live vicariously through me if you want to.

From the beginning:

The only problem with my flight was that we sat on the runway in Philly for and hour and a half before taking off. It turned out to be okay though because I talked(in spanish) to the guy next to me who was from Malaga. He was part of a group of doctors that attended a conference in Philly and the majority of the people on the plane spoke Spanish. I slept a little on the plane but it was not enough and I am still a little jet lagged a week later.

We flew into Madrid and we flew through customs! It was by far the easiest customs I have ever been through. I walked out into la sala and saw a big group of students that were in my program and I made friends and found my roommates while we waited. My roommates are Ryan(Tennessee) and Joe(New Jersey) and we are surprisingly similar. Spain is apparently known for its fried calamari sandwiches so we went to the cerveseria and got us a beer and a sandwich and then walked around for about three hours before we decided to have another beer and some pallela. After this jet lag hit like an anvil and we took a siesta before our meeting that night. We went to our meeting and planned on going out that night but around 1130 both of my roommates were asleep so I stayed in as well.

The next day, May 24, we went to breakfast and found out some people stayed out until 6am. I was glad for the sleep. We toured a museum called Museo Nacional de Prado and more of the city before they set us loose to walk around. We went to a beautiful little indoor market and got a cheese plate which was delicious for the most part. There was one cheese that smelled like manure and we tricked our friend from Michigan, Sierra, into trying it. We also had something I have seen Anthony Bourdain eat(I think they are called parcepes in Spanish) Ryan and I didnt like them and had one each while Joe loved them and finished off a plate of 20. After that we walked back towards our hotel with some friends and my roommates and I all bought new shoes at the same place. Finally, we checked out the botanical gardens across the street from our hotel before going back to the hotel and getting ready to go out. A big group of us headed out on the town and got some drinks before heading into a 7 STORY CLUB. It was awesome. We danced and talked and it was great! Different floors played different kinds of music and had different things to do like karaoke in one.

They next day we headed to Toledo. Its one of the oldest and most beautiful cities I have ever seen. By old I mean 12th century! It was a very short trip from Madrid to Toledo and we drove up to a point overlooking the city. It has a long history of fighting between the Muslims and the Christians and there is also a Jewish population that has been there forever. Our hotel was on the outskirts of the town and our guide told us about a music festival that night but we decided we didnt want to go becuase we were exhausted. Around 11 that night friends from our program came to our room and convinced us to go! We threw on some clothes and got a taxi and it was packed. Too packed. There was no room to do anything but stand with our arms to our sides. My roommate Joe had a guy try to steal his wallet out of his back pocket, but thankfully it was in his front pocket. We left shortly after and only stayed about 45 minutes total.

May 26 we are finally heading to Sevilla! Its a 5 hour bus ride through the beautiful Spanish countryside. As funny as it sounds, the Spanish countryside reminds me of a mix between Tuscany and West Texas. On the bus most people slept but I only got about an hour and a half of sleep. Ryan downloaded the movie Ted so we watched that and it was awesome. We kept people up with our laughter. By this time I am tired of living out of my suitcase and am very excited to unpack my stuff in Seville.

We arrived in Seville around 3 in the afternoon and all the homestay people met their families and then we went to our apartments. My apartment is really nice, but we didnt have hot water the first three days here. There is a trolly that goes to a place called Plaza Nueva which is very near our school and the trolly path is lined with places to eat, bars, and the cathedral(2nd largest catholic cathedral in the world i believe). We ate at 100 Mandatos which is little finger sandwiches. They were delicious!

May 28 we took our placement exams and had our first day of class. We toured Sevilla and then had a great tapas and pallela dinner. Then we went out to an area where many students go on Calle Alfalfa until around 330am. People dont eat dinner until 10pm and dont go out until 12am. Its crazy!

Today Joe and I went to the shops while Ryan had class. They dress very "European Gentleman" here and I love it. I want to buy a sports jacket like they wear, I just need to find the right one. The city is preparing for a holiday tomorrow called Corpus Christi. It will be crazy and I will post pictures on facebook tomorrow or the next day. We are also going to a bull fight tomorrow! We stayed in tonight to catch up on sleep which is what I am about to do! Goodnight!