Ta-da!!!

Hi everyone!  Well, it has been absolutely crazy here!  There's a distinct possibility that I may only be able to update on weekends, at least until the intensive period ends (2 more weeks) because it is eating up my time like I don't know what lol.  What I can say, briefly, is that as most of you saw, I arrived here in Seville Spain on Thursday afternoon after a delayed connecting flight.  They said it was for technical difficulties, but my guess is that there was a game of pinochle going on in the cockpit and no one wanted to save it til later to finish.  Also, I am living with a family here in Spain and most of the time it is just an older lady (my señora) and I here navigating bi-cultural waters.  However, during lunch, her daughter and son-in-law are over to eat everyday (which is typical here, the family really stays together) and on Fridays, her grand children eat here instead of at school.

For the next two weeks, I only have 2 classes but it feel like about 10 haha.  We are beginning our study of Spanish culture and also diving into advanced Spanish grammar.  I tested into the highest level grammar class (which I was excited about until I realized just how hard it is) so my work keeps me pretty busy.  It's only slightly harder than my schoolwork at Eastern, but compounded with being in a new country, operating in a second language everything it can be very challenging.  Plus I'm in class with students who have been here since September and it's intimidating.

Other pertinent facts to mention while I'm on here are that I am 6 hours ahead of EST (for anyone who has been trying to Skype me and didn't know what time it was here) and I eat at 2:30 PM for lunch and 9 PM for dinner.  Yeah...that's been fun (not really haha).  For me, the wait between lunch and dinner to eat has been harder than the actual shift from American dining habits to Spanish, but if I'm asleep during that time (taking a siesta, which is a period that lasts from about 1 or 2 to about 5 PM) then I'm not hungry at all until time for dinner which is good.  And I've also found that if I do not sleep during siesta, I am exhausted all the next day!

I am currently going through a bout of culture shock (which has been made worse by lack of sleep) which makes being here unpleasant at times, so if some of my posts sound like I'm a little blue...I am haha.  But everyone assures me that it will get better, so I'm just holding on and praying.  We did however get to visit el Alcázar (spoken with the Spanish accent to become "Alcáthar") and it's a beautiful place full of gardens and fountains...and I even saw a peacock!  That's a place I think I'd definitely like to return to.  Well, it's time to squeeze in some homework before I eat.  Let me know if you have any questions or comments :).

~Amanda q:p