That’s right, I made it!! So the internet has been pretty spotty since we got here, but I guess I’m not really sure what else you can expect when you’re in Spain. Apparently the internet has just gone down at some point today (Tuesday) and they don’t know when it will work again. ( I’m pretty sure it’s because there are 80 some odd Americans trying to connect to talk to their parents right now) So I’ll post when I can, and until I get to an actual location with dependable internet it will all depend on how often I have internet and when I have time. I’m currently working on my computer just writing a draft so when I get internet I can post. But we’ll see.
SO it’s Tuesday, although I’m not really sure how I know what day it is because every day just seems to flow right now. Sunday and Monday were not too separate days, they were just one really long day. I hardly slept on the plane and opted out of siesta time to explore more of Sevilla so by 9:30 I was ready to pass out! And boy did I, I was in bed by 10 and asleep by 10:01! Talk about a long day….I left Newark at 6P.M, got to Lisbon at 6 A.M and got to Sevilla by 11:30. So yea, it was a long day. On the plus side, I realized after a 6 1/2 hour flight that the girl sitting next to me was with CIEE and on the next flight with me, so I got to have a friendly face while waiting around and trying to figure out where to go and when our plane would board. Oh, also, my plane from Lisbon to Sevilla was tiny, and by tiny I mean THIS tiny!
Yea….I flew on that for an hr, I could see the pilot the whole time, it was so fun terrifying. Needless to say, that didn’t help me fall asleep. It was quiet loud (we were actually provided ear plugs in our lunch boxes), and there was no space for our carry on luggage. They checked all of it at the gate, and when all of the luggage didn’t fit on the plane, they just left some of it at the airport and flew the rest of it to Sevilla later. I’m not kidding, Carolyn had her luggage left there and it finally reached Sevilla today. So yea, it was a bit stressful. Not to mention that no one even told us we were boarding, we just followed the other cute old Spanish ladies when they walked up and asked someone about checking in. So they just kind of started throwing stickers on our luggage and told us to go down to grab the bus that brings us out to the plane on the tarcmac, yea….that happened.
Needless to say, I made it and so far I couldn’t be happier. Most of the day has been pretty boring. Yesterday we had a welcome meeting and dinner at 7 & 8, but all of us at our table were so jet lagged that we were not animate, we hardly interacted and just wanted to go to sleep. Today we sat around from 8-2:30 and had informational sessions about everything, about the Junta, what our roles are, how to open a bank account, how to get a phone and how to get our TIE (basically an American Green Card) and then walked around Sevilla. We got a tour of the Alcazar and a walking tour wandered around Sevilla guided by Javi, one of the CIEE staff members. Most of the day was spent in Spanish, we talked among ourselves in English, but the majority of our presentations were in Spanish, with the exception of the ones given by Brittney, an American now working in Sevilla for CIEE about internet and cell phones here. We also had the opportunity to do tours in Spanish or English. Well, really we pretty much had to, there was one tour guide that did a tour in English and three that did it in Spanish, so choose wisely people. I decided to do my tours in Spanish, partly because since I’ve already been to the Alcazar that I’d already kind of know some of the things, and partly because I wanted to challenge myself. It’s always easier to challenge yourself in the beginning when you’re all gung ho about doing things, so I took the tour of the Alcazar in Spanish, which was very interesting. I think I only got about 50% of what the guide was saying because I was either taking pictures or the terms he was using were unfamiliar to me, so I zoned out and then got lost. BUT, it was still a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of cool people on the tour. One guy here is pretty much already using mostly Spanish, even with us! It’s nice to see some people with initiative though, it gives me the power and desire to do that. (Some of it makes me think they are too much, but mostly I respect them, I just don’t have the brain power to do that all the time). Either way, it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, not to mention it’s still bright out until almost 8:30, wohoo!! Oh, and did I mention it’s been in the 90’s the past two days? :) We got some delicious tapas at around 9 and ate till our bodies were stuffed then walked to another bar to grab one more drink before bed.
We also saw some really cute kids playing around a structure called the mushroom (see pictures below) and there was a small area that was slanted. So of course what the kids do, they go sledding in cardboard! So we saw kids in boxes and on pieces of cardboard sledding. It was hilarious. We all looked over, snapped a picture and then talked about how that would never ever let that happen in the U.S. First of all, security would never allow it because it was there was metal all around them. Second of all, all the parents would be having heart attacks about their child being hurt. And where were the parents? No where to be seen!! Haha, so that was a fun and interesting thing to see as well. Slowly we are seeing some of the discrete differences. Seriously, Spain is the land of “no pasa nada”.
I’m definitely glad that I didn’t take a nap yesterday though, because I was able to walk around Sevilla with a good group of people and just explore. We walked over to the Plaza de España and walked around the park. We were definitely all very tired by the end of the night, but it was well worth it because we really only have 3 days here before we head out to our placements, and it also helped me get past some jet lag. I’ve never been that tired and fell asleep so quickly, but it was very nice.
That’s really all I have to say about the past couple of days. It’s just been some mundane things, I’ve had a couple of leads on apartments, but nothing concrete and neither are with Spaniards, which is my ultimate goal. I may just end up paying for the site that I’m using so I can contact a few people. I’d really like to live with university students so hopefully something will turn up, we’ll have to see.
I’m trying this thing on my computer that’s a photo album, I’m hoping it works. Theoretically you guys should be able to click on the link to look at the whole photo album so you don’t have to scroll through tons and tons of pictures, but I’m not sure if it’s going to work properly. Enjoy the photos!
Much love!! Besos! <3
6 comments:
thanks for the update Bonnie, I look forward to following your adventures in Spain. stay safe and have a great time
kim
Looks so beautiful. Send pics with you in them too. Don't forget to scope out hotels for the browns and us. Miss you so much. Love you
Yeah for you Bonnie, I was so glad I ran into you before you left. (as distracted as I was by my kids). Stay safe and have fun
Caitlin (you don't have to call me Miss Connolly anymore seeing as you could be teaching with me now lol)
Estoy superceloso! Diviertete!
Thank you for continuing with the blogspot. We love to hear and see your adventures!! Good luck with the housing. Looking forward to the next post - The Elmores
Thank you for continuing with the blogspot. We love to hear and see your adventures!! Good luck with the housing. Looking forward to the next post - The Elmores
Post a Comment