Descurbiendo la casa

I arrived at my host family today. They seem very nice, and very experienced in this whole shin-dig, she said I am probably about her 30th student. WAY TO MAKE ME A STATISTIC... I HAVE FEELINGS TOO... except I am kidding. It means she is giving me a great amount of freedom and letting me make my own mistakes. Like showing up to the WRONG university. Why did they put so many of them in Spain? AND why do they all look alike? Either way, after hopelessly wandering for about a half hour, I decided to problem solve and look for a phone number to call. NEW PROBLEM: the only phone number I had is the office phone, which is (1) in the US and (2) only functioning Monday-Friday. It's Saturday. My life at that point was just a bad sitcom. Either way, I decided to go to their Spanish office (which is like 15 minutes away! Which, at this point I am already late to the orientation. #classic)- which happened to be the right place.
While we were at the pool today, I decided to swim laps. I am going to swim from now on. Now that that is stated. One of the boys I met and was chatting with (don't jump the gun- he's 17) told me I speak Spanish like a Mexican! I did not have a response. What do you say to that? I told him about my Puerto Rican diving coach, but that still doesn't hit the Mexican on the dot.
I tried my first glass of sangria today! I also tried my first glass of Tinto de Verano tambien! I also learned, do not leave your change on the counter. It will get taken by someone other than the barista. That sangria just doubled in price. Lesson Learned. Tinto de Verano is really good too though- it is wine mixed with Fanta. They drink a lot of Fanta here. I was told by my host mom, I am allowed to drink anywhere but the apartment. I said alright, and that many times I will be sleeping in the dorms if I go out. She said that is completely fine.
This morning I went for a meander and found this AWESOME contemporary structure. I;m not even sure what it is called, but it was just like a plaza, or park that you hang out in. I posted pictures of it too.

El día de la llegada

No puedo creer que estoy aquí! After 14 hrs of travel, I arrived in Sevilla!  Luckily, my hotel has Wi-fi so I could let my parents know I got here. The light switches in the hotel are weird though- Sorry for the lack of transition, but that had to be said. Apparently, to avoid wasting electricity, they make you put your hotel key card in this random slot, and only then can you use the lights. When you take the key card off, the lights turn off in 5 minutes. Kinda genius now that I know how to use it, especially from an environmentalist standpoint- but extremely confusing without the tutorial from the concierge. 

Everything here is so cramped, but I don’t mind it. The streets are very narrow and put a whole new meaning to the concept of one-way streets. I also have a funny feeling that the cars will not stop for me as I cross the street. My cab driver was talking about siestas and said the city shuts down from like 2:30-6:30… even the restaurants close for a couple hours. When I told him most American jobs go until 5 or 6, he was mind blown, and then told me Americans work too hard (an opinion I will take over that we are lazy and only eat fried chicken).

I have been taking so many pictures, pictures of things that make me look like a tourist, pictures of things I can use as a Spanish teacher, and pictures of things I don't understand (like those silly light switches!). I got a bunch of shots of street signs and menus (for those units in the vocab books haha). Just planning ahead!

Leaving Chicago

el mercado

El museo de bellas artes

downtown Sevilla

 It’s gorgeous weather here today, not too hot, and not too humid. The apartments all look like little dollhouses, and the cobblestone streets just add to it. Everything is so picturesque. The traffic patterns remind me a bit of Jordan, much like they just build streets where ever they see fit. Surprisingly, I have not really seen sangria advertised, which is what I was looking forward to most- so I am eager to find some later this week. I have seen a lot of beer though, something I did not associate with Spain (I am most definitely not complaining about that though). I also proceeded to get very lost at one point and when I asked for directions back the girl gasped and laughed at the distance I had to conquer (which in hindsight was really not very much). I am a bit concerned in getting a cab for tomorrow- I don’t have a phone! I get my mobile phone tomorrow. That will be nice. I need some sangria. 

This is a crazy fruit I found growing in the middle of the centro: don't know what it is! 

 

Today

I've been counting it down all winter. All spring. and all summer.And it is all happening at 4:40 today.
I am flooded with emotions, whether it is excitement or anxiousness or uncertainty- it is all going to be insane. So many thoughts- and the re-occuring on is WHAT AM I FORGETTING? I'll figure it out soon enough.
Good luck cleaning my room, Mom- you empty-nester! I didn't have a chance to even make my bed.

Hey, whoa! I am 22! I'm physically fit... I often get hungry at the hours of 9, 12 and 6... I also enjoy learning.. I better travel, good idea!

Seven Days.

Seven days. Makes it sound like the Ring. Anyway, I depart from the United States in a week, which is pretty cool. It is all coming to life now, but it still hasn’t sunk in entirely yet. Visiting Grand Valley these last few days was so nice, and a great reminder of how many people I have supporting me in this endeavor. It took my four years to truly connect with my team, but now, I know that they will be there for everything I need. Frankly, I am glad that I will be distracted with this cliché "life changing adventure," because watching them go through team stuff without me would kind of suck. They are small things that everyone could come together and laugh about…Things like NO ONE (except the freshmen of course) turning in our medical forms on time and dreading the god awful hour of 10 am when we have our physicals scheduled on the last Saturday of summer. All of the hot tub sessions that I was DRAGGED to after practice (usually because I was too cold to change into another bathing suit… or I didn’t quite trust the electric lime color of the hot tub). I know the team has been left in good hands, and can’t wait for these incoming freshmen to be properly welcomed to our family. Well, wasn’t all of that sappiness nice… Characteristically, I just rolled my eyes after reading this paragraph, and keep meaning to delete it.

Regardless, I don’t think Spain will feel real until I watch the team go through the intra-squad meet that we all get so pumped about for no particular reason. I am usually more excited about the extensive luncheon we get afterwards. But seriously, there is always so much food.

Good news though- I am figuring more out about my trip.

I NOW HAVE A HOTEL FOR THE FIRST NIGHT (something that was not solidified until recently. I probably cut it too close in making the reservation. Either way.)

Katie got approved for her PTO and is coming to visit me in November! It will be so refreshing to see a familiar face!

I now have some euros so that I can get grab a cup of coffee in the airport when I land… Now if only I liked coffee…

Still haven’t started packing… but I have been meaning to get to it. I mean, it’s only four months in one suitcase… how much could I forget? Gotta remember the toothbrush.

Good ol’ Jake Owens comes to mind these days.

“Pick a spot on any old map… I travel light and my bags are packed-

<except, they aren’t at all>

Just as long as I’m where you’re at… I’m gonna have a real good view, I’ll go anywhere,

<um… I don’t know you>

 Anywhere with you. “

<Hindsight, I guess this song literally has nothing to do with my trip. It’s just catchy and about traveling. And happens to be on the radio at the moment. Thanks 99.5>

What I Know So Far

T minus 17 days. 

Literally, this is all I know…

I will be leaving for Seville, Spain on August 29 from O’Hare, and arriving in Madrid, then flying to Sevilla.

I’ll be spending the night in a hotel. Still working on those details. My program starts on August 31.

My friend Caity loved Sevilla, and she's got a pretty good taste in life. I also hear it has a lot of history- my major is history... I think we can make this work.

I will take a three week course or two on Spain and the language, then will be thrust into a 35 hr/wk internship. 

I have a passport, a visa, and a handful of Euros (thanks to my good friend, Sven, from the Netherlands, who has agreed to trade currencies with me when he arrives in America for the school year.. take that currency exchange centers, that’s what we think of your convenience fee. Gotta love having foreign friends).

I also have a basic/extensive understanding of Spanish vocabulary... I’ll re-evaluate that level after a week there. 

Everything else will work itself out. Maybe. But I won’t worry about that now. 

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

You've heard it before, I've heard it before... but it never seemed real, until now. Never in my life have I been so out of control and so oblivious to my next step, until now. It is all becoming so real and I am embracing the organized chaos. I am just hoping the Spanish lisp doesn't throw me off, and don't get me started on the vosotros form, that's a whole-nother rant. Regardless, I figured it would be a good idea to create a blog to share my thoughts and experiences. It's all part of my hipster transformation; watch out, I'll be returning with a taste for interpretive dance and vegan men in tight pants... but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Even if I'm the only person who reads this, I accept that, but hey, you were curious enough to get this far.

I'm not going to make some New Year's resolution equivalent that I will write and share my thoughts and feelings every day, but I'll jot some things down when I get a chance. The whole touring Europe thing might take up a bit more time than anticipated. But then again, who knows?