"A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it." ~John Steinbeck

Welcome to my first ever blog!!

I hope this everything is in English on your end. It's all automatically in Spanish for me. Let me know!

This is my first blog, so it's going to be a long one. :) Stick with me if you will. I'll divide it into sections.

THE FLIGHT
I flew by myself the first leg of the journey. That's where I started to feel nervous... I was mostly scared that I would miss something, you know, like a flight connection. ;)
I had a super long layover in Chicago, so I hung out in the airport by myself. SUPER fun, let me tell you. However, I did meet a couple flying from D.C. to China for the woman's son's wedding. (follow that?) They were hilarious. The man was making bomb jokes and talking about when he almost flew with bullets in his pocket like it was no big deal! I hope he makes it!
The second couple I met was an elderly couple using the man's miles for a vacation to Hawii. They were cute. She was appalled that they don't teach cursive in the schools anymore.
I also found out they don't have free wi-fi in that airport.... super. But I found my group and all was well

After we made it to Madrid, we had another long layover (6 hours, I think). This one was much better becasue I could play nertz and mafia with the group members. However, I accidentally packed my chapstick in my suitcase, so I went to buy one in the airport. Now, keep in mind this airport is not like ours! Where we sell nick-nacks (key chains, t-shirts, etc), Madrid sells diamond necklaces, Gucci products, etc in their airport.... yeah. So, when I finally found a simple chapstick.... it was the most expensive chapstick in my life. It cost 7 Euros! Which is roughly $9... and I still prefer Burts Bees. :) Ah well.

Once we arrived in Sevilla, we got our luggage and got on a bus to our host families!! well, I got my luggage, but my roommate's was lost until today. :/

FIRST SPANISH ENCOUNTER
Well, I should mention that the first experience was on the airplane. The stewardess asked me if I wanted chicken or beef in Spanish, looked up, saw me and immediately switched to English without giving me time to answer. I must scream American. :)

The second was at the Sevilla airport. The bag checker asked me "Hablas Espanol?" and I copped out, responding "Enlish..." hahaha. I'm a pansy. sorry!

But, the first real encounter was with my host mom. We got off the bus (the second stop) and met her. She talks so fast and has the Spanish lisp... oh man. I honestly would have was extremely nervous and overwhelmed, but my roommate does not speak Spanish quite as well as I do, so it falls to me to translate. For the most part, it works out, but I have a long way to go.

The best part is that my host mom and dad cannot say "Heather". They couldn't even remember it! Thus, I have decided to go by my middle name, Diane, for the duration of my stay. That name has an actual translation, "Diana." They seem to be able to say that one, so I'm trying to use that. It's harder since I first introduced myself to the majority of the group as Heather, but it will catch on, I'm sure.

FIRST IMPRESSION OF SPAIN
It is basically like any huge city. There are apartment buildings all over (we live on the 6th floor of ours). However, not many people drive here. They walk everywhere. That is our mode of transportation, too. On our first day, Senora Maria (my host mom) dropped us off at the hotel our orientation was at and left.... Well, we hadn't actually made any plans on what to do after that, so after orientation, my roommate and I looked at a map and found our 30 min walk back (she had to roll her suitcase behind her the whole way! Poor thing). Then we didn't have a key so we waited for somebody to leave the building to let us in. After that, we got our keys right away so that didn't have that problem again. After that, We walked another 30 minutes to the school, took a 3 hour city tour, then walked the 30 minutes back home... I'm going to wiegh nothing when I get home!! That, or my legs will fall off.

Anyway, it is late (1:00 am here, 6:00pm for you guys), so I'm going to get some sleep.

Unitl next time!!