Hola From España!

First of all, my posts are a bit behind because i managed to get logged out of my Blogger account and because I did not have e-net at my host house but now that i do i will be posting entries more frequently. 

Aug 31-Sept 4

España here we Come!

The computer at O’hare broke-down and it delayed my flight for about 45 minutes, then we had to wait at the runway to take off. The flight itself was a lot more comfortable than I expected. Thanks to the cameras on the tail of the plane we were able to watch our departure from O’hare and our arrival at Madrid. I really liked the GPS like tracking device they played for us. We flew over Michigan, Canada, The Atlantic, Portugal and arrived at Baragas, Madrid ten minutes behind schedule (7:55am). At first I thought it would be alright since the flight attendant told me i did not have to travel to another terminal to board my connecting flight…liar! I was one minute late to Gate J56 and therefore I could not board the plane! So they booked me on the next flight to Sevilla and it was all good. 

            When I arrived at Sevilla’s Airport I was content to see that my luggage was there waiting for me and after I passed through customs I was even more excited to see that the Group Advisor was still there holding a sign “CC-CS Students.” I felt relieved to say the least. After I checked in I am sure the advisor felt the same way since I had not arrived at 945am with the other girls like I said I would. Once we were all together we headed to the bus. Sarah (one of the coordinators) told us the game plan for the rest of the day. When she asked us if we were tired we all answered in an unorchestrated tone; “Siiii” It was pretty hilarious. 

            At Hotel Becquer our coordinators assigned us to a room at the hotel for the night and then we met for a brief welcome meeting. The highlight of the meeting was when she asked us to name a few reasons for studying in Spain and a guy from the front row answered “Sangria!” it was pretty comical and we all laughed. After that we headed to dinner and then to our rooms.

Here is a list of things that have caught my attention so far-

1.      One of the first things I saw at the airport was a crash cart…I wonder if people drop like dead flies at the airport due to a heart attack?

WEIRD!

2.      People love to suran wrap their luggage

3.      At the hotel: you have to place your room key in a specific keybox to run electricity in your room. 

4.      Red light bulbs in the bathroom

5.      The beds in the hotel room were placed next to each other making a King size bed. 

Basically, I'm really happy right now.  I managed to get through the plane flights and navigating foreign airports on my own and got myself and my entire luggage here in one piece.  Tomorrow will be a busy day with orientation, a brief tour, and meeting my host family but I'm looking forward to it all.  

Sept 4^th

Camila, yo, Ted y Kasey leaving the hotel.
vivimos en Nervion!

On Friday I got on a taxi and headed out to Nervion the neighborhood where I will be living for the next four months. My host mother is a wonderful lady. Her name is Dolores but she asked my roommate and I to call her Lolis! She has such an animated personality and is very kind to us. She was waiting for me outside her house and when she saw me she said “Hola Hija (hello daughter)” and gave me a big bear hug and lots of kisses. She showed us our bathroom and room and while we unpacked she made lunch for us. After lunch we unpacked and at 18.00h we headed back to the downtown area for a mini trip to a neighborhood called Triana. It’s a beautiful neighborhood, across the Guadalquivir River (Arabic for Big River.) After that we ventured back home and although we had three maps my roommate, Jenni and I managed to take a few wrong turns our 40 minute walk turned into a 2 hour walk. 

Monasterio de la Rabida

            On Saturday morning we got up early, we put on our bathing suits, grabbed a lunch and headed out to Avenida de Portugal to meet with the rest of the CCCS students. We got on a bus and headed out to El Monasterio de la Rabida y  la Playa de Mazagon. The monastery is beautiful and full of history, its where Christopher Columbus planned out his trip to the new world.  Very interesting to see a place with that amount of history, walking down the halls where he once did and sitting in the room where he once dined, the amount of history around here is mind-blowing. I can’t wait to visit the Catedral de Sevilla where Christopher’s remains are buried. We also took a trip down the hill from the monastery and saw the replica of Christopher’s three ships; La Nina, La Pinta y La Santa Maria! 

Myself, Elisa and Brooke out by the Beach!!!! 

 After that we headed down to the beach for lunch and some well-deserved fun. La Playa de Mazagon is salt water from the Atlantic and it was cold, but lunch was delicious out there. We all went down to the beach, set our towels out and laid out there while some tanned others got burnt L We start classes tomorrow so we will see how things go. This weekend has been pretty relaxing it will be a bit challenging to get in the school mode.