Arrival in Spain

 So I slept through my 8 hour plane ride from Chicago to Madrid.  I took some nighttime cold medicine and passed right out.  The flight from Madrid to Sevilla was full of study abroad students.  It was overwhelming and I was not in the mood for socializing because I was sick and tired.  Met a few nice girls though.  Then we got to baggage claim and found out that half of our luggage did not make it.  Pain in the ass.  Once I gave them my hotel address I met with three other people in the Teaching Development Program.  They were wicked nice.  They seem really down to earth and they want to travel which is awesome.  We took a shuttle to the hotel, met our program director, who is very nice, and two other girls who are working with us during orientation.  Even though they’re native speakers I am able to understand them which I was worried about because Sevillanos have strong accents. We all went to our rooms.  I have two roommates but they weren’t here yet.  I showered and then went down to the lobby for lunch.  They served us three courses: a salad, rice and chicken dish, and dessert.  All of it was pretty good.  Then I came back to my room and I got sad.  I miss everyone and I realized that I’m here for four months and that’s crazy.  I feel much better now though; I know I’ll be fine.  My roommates came in and they are very nice also.  From Kentucky and Minnesota.  Then I took a nap, met up with some more of the group, and walked around Sevilla.  There are 16 of us in the group (only two boys- one is definitely gay, the other questionably gay), which is really nice.  We were at the airport with some kids from the other programs and it was overwhelming- so many people.  Plus everyone in this group seems really down to earth and most of us are Spanish majors with an education minor so we have a lot in common.  So we walked around the city in the afternoon- SO beautiful.  There are palm trees and orange trees everywhere! It’s amazing.  And the buildings are old but so pretty.  Everything is colorful.  The streets are narrow and windy.  We’re located right near the Guadalquivir river.  So pretty.  After we walked around we came back and had dinner with the group and our directors.  They told us a bit about Spain.  Apparently, like Greece, the bars don’t open til 12 and the discotecas open at 3.  Crazy.  Eff that.  I’d rather go walk around the city during the day.  It’s seriously so pretty.  One of the girls also told us that the siestas are sort of a myth.  Some shops close around 1 or 2 for a little while, but the big stores remain open, and students and working people don’t go hope to nap.  That’s pretty much my whole day right there.