Holy Moly....time flies

Hola familia y amigos,

Well, I am in Sevilla. Can you believe it? I can't. It's been a complete whirlwind these past 3 weeks. Let me fill you in....warning: long post due to the fact that I have done a lot in 3 weeks, but hope you enjoy it.

1. Getting here
I flew from Akron-Detroit-JFK-Madrid on January 15. It all happened so fast. Saying goodbye was the hardest filled with many spontaneous bouts of tears accompanied by puffy eyes and a red face.  I left Akron with a friend of mine, Amanda. She goes to BW, too. We traveled together all the way to Sevilla where we both are staying for the semester.

Nathan and I right before I left. 

From JFK, we took a HUGE plane....huge....it had 7 seatss across. Well, I found out where my seat was.....it was right in the MIDDLE. So we boarded the plane and I sat in my middle seat waiting to see who would sit on either side of me. I was preparing for the worst.....a snorer, a very large person, a person terrified of flights, a talker, someone smelly, thoughts endlessly drifted through my head. As the aisles cleared, the captain came on and said we were ready for take off, but there was still no one sitting by me. OH NO, instantly, I felt so lonely and afraid. Then, the tears began as I felt lonely and afraid to start this new journey. Then, people started to awkwardly stare at me so I nipped the tears in the butt.
I tried to sleep, but I couldn't so I tried to watch videos on the cool monitor in front of me. My flight was 5 hours to Madrid, instead of 6. Thank goodness!!! I couldn't handle one more hour. When I landed, I couldn't believe it.....I was Europe....I did it!

2. Traveling to Sevilla
Madrid
I am studying abroad through a study abroad program, International Studies Abroad (ISA). With them, I traveled through Madrid and Toledo to get to Sevilla. They picked us up at the Madrid airport to take us to our hotel in the center-ish of Madrid. I was not too impressed with the city as we took the bus to the hotel. Madrid reminded me a lot of a big city in the U.S. But, nonetheless, it was a beautiful city and we stayed there for 2 nights. ISA took us to some famous sights like el Museo Reina Sofia and el Prado, two very famous art museums. They had works from Picasso, Greco, and Valasquez. Afterwards, we had time to explore the city so 3 of my friends and I went out. We visited La Plaza Mayor, la Puerta del Sol, Parque Retiro, and enjoyed some tapas for dinner.

My friends and I in Plaza Mayor. 

While we were in the park, we were actually interviewed by a Spanish car-battery company, Varta. They were making a commercial for their corporate office.  We had to pretend like we were driving a car and make car sounds, "Vroom, Vroom!!" So funny and such a memorable experience.

Toledo
We took a short bus from Madrid to Toledo. Toledo is a very old city located in the center of Spain in an area call La Mancha. It has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. I loved this city!!! I can't even describe the beauty of this old city. The first thing we did was go to the best view of the whole city:

My breath was literally taken away by this beautiful city. I strongly encourage everyone to visit this beautiful city because you cannot grasp what I even mean by how amazing it is. After a short overnight stay in Toledo, it was off to Sevilla! It was a 4 or 5 hour bus ride to Sevilla that I was conked out for do to dramamine! 

3. Arrival in Sevilla

To say I was nervous when we arrived in Sevilla would be a huge understatement. I was TERRIFIED! Our bus stopped alongside a street that was filled with little old ladies lining the wall of the building. Those were host moms waiting to meet their new American students that they would be hosting for the semester. I was scanning to see which one could possibly be mine. It was total chaos as everyone got off the bus and anticipated hearing there name called along with their new host family. My roommate and I's names were called and we were approached by a woman named Carmen. She looked so young for a 64 year-old and very well dressed. She starting speaking to me really fast in Spanish. I didn't know what to do because I was so nervous....and immediately a bewildered look came upon my face. I didn't answer her so she asked me if I knew Spanish, I told her I did but I was extremely nervous and overwhelmed. 

The Triana bridge, over the Guadalquivir river, that leads to the area of Triana.

She drove us to our new home in the barrio of sevilla, Triana. We lugged our bags up the stairs and found our new rooms. I am living with an older couple, Miguel and Carmen. I was excited, but completely overwhelmed. I was too scared to talk or try to understand what they were saying. I felt so lonely and helpless that I just shut myself in my room and cried as I unpacked all my stuff the rest of the night. 

4. Settling In

For the first two weeks, I took a two week Spanish intensive course in order to immerse myself in the Spanish language and work on the basics. I had it for ten days, 5 hours each day. Phew....it was rough because I just wanted to explore my new home, not study and go to class. But I survived and I know a lot more now and feel more refreshed in the Spanish language. Through those two weeks, I was able to better communicate with family, navigate around the city better, and enjoy the fact that I am here. 

5. First crazy thing to happen in Sevilla

The second day in Sevilla, ISA took us around the city to places that would give us a better sense of direction to navigate around the city. Well on our way around the city we saw this: 

We knew it had to do with the Amazing Race show, but we weren't sure which one because it was in a different language. When we came back and passed this again, we saw a pair of competitors. They were on a little bed in the middle of a plaza, yelling for help. Our director said we couldn't help because he didn't know how long it would take, but, finally, he said that it would be really cool to be on tv. So we all took off to help the team. They spoke very little english, but they were able to tell us that they needed us to lift up the bed and carry them to a checkpoint. Immediately, they were up in the air chanting, "USA, USA..." all the way to the checkpoint!

Well that is how this big adventure started.

More to come, trust me. 

Love you all.

Buen dia!

Courtney