Answered Prayers

Hola todos! Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but things have been a little crazy here. First of all, I have moved to another house! I really liked my other senora and her daughter, but they smoked in the house and that was NOT okay with me. So, I had to go through this big fiasco with explaining to the CIEE staff why I wanted to move, look at other houses, and then explain to my Senora that I was leaving...ALL IN SPANISH!!!! It was really hard for me to tell my Senor that I was leaving because she was really sweet to me, but I told her I had to move because I had an allergy to smoke (which isn't true, but I thought it would be easier to blame in on a medical condition). Anyway, today I moved into my new house with a new Senora and her 21 year old daughter. I really like it here already! Now I have internet (which is a luxury here in Sevilla) and they have a dog!!! It is a really cute Sharpai, but I'm not sure the name. Hahaha! I asked, but then I couldn't quite hear/understand correctly what she said, so I guess I won't call it by name ever :-) I'm a little bummed because I could finally get myself around my neighborhood without getting lost and now I have to figure it out all over again, but I'm glad because now I get to see/know other parts of this city.


Regressing a bit, last week kicked off my intensive language session. It is only 3 hours per day, but it is SOOOOOO boring to sit and learn Spanish grammar for 3 hours, plus it is in the afternoon so all I want to do is take a siesta. Today starts week 2 of the intensive session and next week classes start. Ahhh! I don't know if I am ready for that yet, but I guess I'm going to have to be. This past Saturday I traveled with my program to Cordoba, Spain to tour the city. It is absolutely gorgeous there! We met up with guides there who showed us around all of the historic buildings there, like the Mezquita, which is a massive Cathedral there, and tons of beautiful gardens there (I will post a couple of pictures from my trip).
On Sundays, I've totally been doing the whole tourist thing. Last Sunday I walked around an area of the city with my guidebook looking at the Plaza Espana, (a large, pretty Plaza) a famous Park, and other historic buildings that tourists are advised to see :-) This Sunday, I went to El Museo de Bellas Artes, which is the Fine Arts Museum here. It is really weird because I don't really like paintings that much because I usually don't understand what the painter is trying to portray, but I really liked this museum. There were, many, many, religious paintings of all of the Saints, the Virgen Mary, baby Jesus, but there were also some really moving paintings of the crucifixion. Oh, I forgot to mention that last weekend I went to this really awesome church here. They have a praise band that sings contemorary worship songs by, like, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, and others that I have definitely sung in English. The service was cool too because the pastor preaches in both English and Spanish, so it is really powerful to worship in both languages. I am going to try going again when I get the time.


Overall, I really like it here. I feel like I am finally adjusting to the city and the new culture here. There are just so many things that they do differently here, like eat lunch at 3 and dinner at 9:30 or later, and they don't have heat here. I definitely am not used to sleeping in sweatpants and a sweatshirt every night to avoid freezing. Life is starting to get routine, which is kind of a blessing. My friends and I like to go to the local grocery store, Mas, and buy snacks for when we get hungry :-) We are such natives! Hahaha! Anyway, sorry that this is so long. Now that I have internet, hopefully I will be more regular with my posts. If you have stayed with me this far, don't lose focus, because here come the lessons!

Lesson 5: The hairdryers here are pretty much worthless. They have no power to them! It takes me like 5 minutes to dry only my bangs! I don't even bother with the rest of my hair. That would take forever!

Lesson 6: Meals here are SOOOO awkward! Most of the times I eat by myself, but if not, I just sit there with my Senora eating in silence. I am not very chatty here because of the language barrier, but I try to eat super quickly! That is such a change from home because normally I'm like the last to finish my dinner.

~Adios!