A week of firsts

To say that the first week here was busy is an understatement! It's been a busy mix of orientation, welcome parties, and finally getting adjusted. 

On Friday, Shannon and I slept in, and it was much needed. It didn't seem like we had trouble adjusting to the time change, but then on Friday, we just slept and slept. When we finally caught up on sleep, we had lunch, then went into the center of town. I was looking for a new camera so I would have on here. We finally found our way to the store, after much looking around and pulling out our map. The center of Sevilla is very big, with small streets and they aren't really labeled. Anyway, we found the store and I found a Canon camera I liked. So I went to purchase it, but the lady told me my credit card wasn't working. But, on the plus side, she told me my Spanish was good. So, after we left Corte Ingles (the store) we stopped by a coffee shop and then headed home. I called mom, and she called the bank and got my credit card situation all straightened out. Friday night there was a welcome party hosted by the school. We went to O'Neills Pub for unlimited beer and sangria for an hour! I was fantastic. Then we headed a few blocks away to a club. It was a super fun night and what a welcome to Seville! No nightlife in Sevilla starts until 11, so most people stay out pretty late here!

On Saturday, we slept until noon again, then went down to have lunch. We meant another one of Ana's daughters, Patricia. She had lunch with us, and she also complimented Shannon and I on our Spanish. I still get a little self conscious with my Spanish, but I have to remember that I'm still learning and I'm going to make mistakes, but at least I'm making an effort and it can only improve from here. After lunch, we went back into the center of town for some more shopping. We went back to Corte Ingles, and I got my camera since my card worked. After that, we went to a place called La Campana. It's pretty famous is Seville and Spain for having pastries and lots of other delicacies. We stopped in, and I ordered a pionono, which is a traditional spanish pastry, and let me tell you, it was delicious!

After we went to La Campana, on our way back to the bus stop, we passed an H&M, so we couldn't help but stop in. European fashion was calling!

This week was our first week of school and it went really well! I'm in 12 credit hours. I have two classes each day. I have advanced conversation and culture/society of Spain on Monday/Wednesday, and I have three cultures and comparative grammar on Tuesday/Thursday. I really enjoy my comparative grammar class. We've been analyzing grammatical differences between english and spanish, and I think that class is really going to help me improve my spanish. It will be hard, but I like it.

Everything has settled and now I'm really enjoying my time here and finally getting acclimated. I know the bus routes, where you can buy a euro beer for a dollar each night of the week, and I've made lots of new friends. So far, so good!