The first day with the family

This morning I woke up and surprisingly felt pretty rested! I got about 11 hours of sleep… so that felt nice.I ate a short breakfast, which consisted of some great orange juice, a yogurt, and some eggs. We then re-packed everything and walked down the street to the Hotel Melía, which is where our first orientation was to be held. We had our orientation, and it only lasted for about an hour and then our families were already arrived! I thought that it wasn’t going to be until nighttime, but it was a great surprise! Veronica, our program director, called off who we roomed with and then our Señora’s names. My señora’s name is María Luz Bueno García, and her husband is Paco. All of the señora’s came to pick us up from the hotel, and this was probably the most nerve-wrecking part. I walked out into the lobby with my luggage and there was María, the sweetest older lady with a huge smile on her face! We did the kiss on each cheek greeting, and then we were off to a taxi! The taxi driver looked at Alex and me like we were crazy with as much luggage as he said. He said, “ay yi yi. Muy fuerte.” Hahaha. We squeezed in the taxi, and our journey to our new home began. María was just blabbing away in Spanish about the city and asking us questions about our trip over and how we were feeling. She’s so sweet… and doesn’t know a lick of English! It’s probably better that way. Its already been really neat trying to communicate. I live on the fourth floor of an apartment complex, with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a cute living room. Alex and I are sharing a room, and I already know its going to be a GREAT semester. She is sporty, but trendy, is from Texas, has the cutes accent, is laid back, and is addicted to Vaseline! It’s a match made in heaven. She doesn’t know much Spanish, so I’m playing the role of translator best that I can! When we got into our apartment one of the first things María asked is if we were vegetarian. She was glad to hear we weren’t. She then jumped in the kitchen, and started making us so ‘macaroni’ as we were unpacking. We share a room, which is fine. We fit all our stuff and have plenty of room for the both of us. The food was great. It pasta with some marinara sauce, with onions and ham. We also had clementines for desert. The conversation with Paco and María over lunch went well! They told us all of the ins-and-outs of the city… where the closest park and workout facilities are. Also, about the night life… what to look out for and what is safe and not safe. They are just the sweetest things. Paco smokes a LOT, but we have a window in our room that we’re planning on keeping open. He also sits in his chair ALL day and blares the Spanish televisión. I love him :) The bathroom was the trickiest thing… I could NOT figure out how to flush the toilet to save my life. After about 3 minutes in there, I realized that there was a chain hanging from the ceiling. I crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best… pulled it, and sure enough- it flushed! God was looking out for me with this entire situation. Alex and I are going to be great friends by the end of this, I can already tell… and my host family is just so sweet. If I look like I don’t understand they just keep repeating themselves and talk slower… until I give some kind of affirmation that I caught on. They are so patient. Until I say ‘comprendo’ or ‘vale’, they keep talking! It’s precious. Alex and I didn’t’ finish our meals, and they just kept asking us if we were ok… saying we at ‘un pequeño’. We were really just STUFFED because they she gave us such a big portion! I’m not sure what Alex and I are going to do tonight… we may go try to find a place to just sit and have a glass of wine… not really sure! Oh- I found out that we are going to Morocco next weekend. I’m SO excited for that. And tomorrow, if i remember right, we have flamenco lessons! Its like a class... I'm SOOOO pumped for that. Alex and I also want to learn how to Salsa, so Maria and Paco told us a place we can go do that. Right now I’m sitting in an internet café that is located RIGHT next door to my apartment complex. I have to pay 1 euro/hour. So its whatever, we’ll see how much I use this place. Maybe every Sunday? Since ill have internet at my school. We’ll see. Well I’ll put pictures up later. Thanks for checking in!

P.s. last night i tried swordfish. I was feeling brave. It wasn't good. haha. Too 'fishy' para mi!