My New Home

It's hard to believe that I am almost done with my first week in Spain. The trip here was pretty exhausting, but thankfully it went smoothly with no problems (Thanks for all the prayers!). The first few days here have been a whirlwind of meeting my classmates, orientation, registering for classes, exploring the city, starting class, trying to navigate my way home in a big city, and getting to know my host family.

                   Some of the AMAZING girls in the program with me. Waiting for the AVE to Sevilla.

So far my consensus of Seville is that...I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! The city is beautiful. Most days it still feels like a fairy tale. I can walk ten minutes and see one of the biggest Cathedral in the world, a beautiful bridge crossing the main river here, a lot of statues and monuments, a ton of old buildings, and some crazy trees. The school arranged for some local Spaniards to take us on a walking tour of the city which gave us a chance to see a lot of the main sights and get a better feel of Sevilla. My roommate and I have also tried about 10 different ways to get home (some on purpose and some not), which has allowed us to see a lot of the city as well. I'm excited that I have 4 months here to explore the city. Even in that amount of time I don't think I will be even close to seeing all it has to offer.

              Catedral de Sevilla (largest Gothic buliding in the world and third largest church in Europe.)

 

 Puente de Triana (a beautiful bridge close to my house)

My host family here is absolutely amazing as well. I love with my roommate, my senora, and her four little girls. The girls are 16, 13, 9, and 15 months. I have always wanted a little sister, so I guess God knew what he was doing when he gave me 4 in Spain. :) They are a ton of fun. When we come back from school they come in our room and talk, show us stuff on the computer, and try on our clothes. They are going to help me a lot with learning Spanish because they aren't intimidating to talk to, and they talk a lot. It has been interesting trying to figure out the dynamics of the family and how things work in their house, but it it all part of the adventure. I think in the next few weeks we will have more of a normal schedule and know how the family does certain things. As for now, I am very thankful that God gave me such a great family to live with. Most of you know I hate being alone, and with four little sisters I will never get a chance to. :)

The youngest of "my sisters." She was born only 3 days apart from Erin. We skyped Jody and Erin the other night, and I think the two would be great friends. I hate that I can't live by Erin, so it is pretty crazy that I get to live with a girl the exact same age.

The final major update I should add is about school. Today was my first day of class. When we got here we signed a form that said we would only speak Spanish in the school. So today I met my professors, got my syllabi, learned about exams, and received homework...all in Spanish. It was a bit overwhelming, but I can tell that my Spanish is going to improve a lot from it. I am in four advanced classes which start at 9:55 and end at 1:30. I'm pretty nervous for how they will all go, but I think the professors and the other students will be very helpful.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers for safe travel, for staying healthy, and for my first few days of adjusting. I feel strengthened by all of your love and support. Hope you are all doing well and surviving the cold weather!

Love,
jana