My second week starts...

Hey guys! So I’m just starting my second week here in beautiful Sevilla! I’m thinking that I will probably update this blog weekly and usually at the beginning of the week. Sorry this is so long, but it’s also a little bit of a journal for me as well so I can look back at these things in the future. For all of you who are wondering, I don’t get internet at my house. I’ve been told that there are literally hundreds of internet cafes in the city but I’m assuming that because I’m on the other side of the river, it’s harder to find one here. Last week, I walked around mi barrio for about 40 minutes looking for a place that had wifi, but I couldn’t find one. So in order to use the internet, I usually have to walk a half hour to my school or to an internet café in the center of town. Plus it's not always guaranteed that it will work with my connection. So I’m really sorry if it takes me a while to answer personal emails because I don’t really want to make walking a half hour to use the internet a habit.

Over this last week, I have continued to get to know the city. I’m beginning to get a hang OF where major streets are and I haven’t gotten lost yet. I’m actually terrified of the center CENTER of town because the street are incredibly wind-y, are one car lane wide and are surrounded by 3 story buildings on each side. I literally feel like a rat in a maze. There are some streets that are so short and small that they’re not even on the map. If you look at a map of the center of Sevilla, it literally looks like a mess of short, tangled lines. Plus when a car goes by, you have to basically hug the building you’re walking by so a car can pass. My trick has been to keep to larger, busier streets, even if it makes my overall walk longer. Last week, Steph (for those of you who don’t know, Steph is one of my best friends from home who is doing the same program) got really really lost and called me at 5 o clock in the morning so that I could help her find her way home. I was sitting on my bed with a map in front of me trying to direct her to where she should go, but I couldn’t even find the streets that she was talking about on my map. Thankfully, she got back to her house, safe and sound. I have met some really amazing people from the states while I have been here, but I’m getting to the point where I am desperate to hang out with only Spaniards because I want to practice my Spanish so much. Over the next couple days, I plan to go out more at night and strike up conversations with some sevillianos so I can get to know the culture and practice my Spanish.

Orientation week ended last week and yesterday I started my intensive Spanish session which is 3 hours of intensive Spanish each day for two weeks. After those 2 weeks are done, regular classes start. It’s really interesting because the class really pounds into your head the basics of the Spanish language so that you have a refresher of things that you probably learned 4 years ago (like me). We also learn about the Sevillan culture. For example, I cannot remember that they don’t shake hands here; they give a kiss on each cheek. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who startle me when they come in for a kiss and I’m sticking out my hand. I really need to try to get that down. We also are given assignments to do outside of class. For example, today, I went to the Real Alcazar which is an old palace in the center of town. It was built by the Muslims and then taken over by the Christians so the architecture is a mix of the two cultures. I have to write a two page paper about what I thought about it. I’ll put a link to the pictures I took at the bottom of this page. Also, because I’m out of orientation, it has been easier to make a schedule. I usually wake up around 8, spend some time in prayer and do my “Women of the Bible” devotional that I’m doing with my friend Kelsey who is also here and then I get a newspaper from the estanco (newspaper stand that also sells magazines and bus passes) and I go to a café and have a café con leche, which is my new favorite coffee drink. School doesn’t start until 6, so I’ve been shopping, walking and doing homework during the day.

This weekend was very interesting. So Steph’s hermana, Maria (the 19 year old she lives us), took us to her boyfriend’s house in the country. We literally drove a half hour outside of the city and stayed with his grandmother. That night, we had dinner with the grandma and then went out to a couple bars. It was probably the most purely Spanish night I’ve had the whole time I’ve been here. In Seville, there are many foreigners, not just Americans but also French, Italian, Chinese and English people. But in this place, it was ALL Spanish people speaking ONLY Spanish. The only American thing about the bar was the fact that Steph and I were there. We met all of Maria and he boyfriend’s friend and they were awesome. Overall, it was fun, but I got super frustrated after a while because I could barely understand what they were sayings. The Sevilliano accent is very difficult to understand because they shorten their words and hardly pronounce their “S”es. So not only am I not used to hearing constant Spanish, I’m not used to hearing that accent.

So that’s basically all I can think of right now. I know that was a lot. Hopefully I can update the blog more frequently so that the entries will be shorter. I have a feeling that as time goes on, I won’t as much to talk about because things are still so new now, but we’ll see. I would really appreciate some prayers. Besides the mother who I live with, it seems like her son and daughter don’t really have any interest in getting to know me. I requested a family who would want to get to know me and incorporate me into the family but I feel like a guest here.I really want to talk to them more, but they stay in their rooms. I haven’t even really seen them at meals. There have even been times when Pillar has made me food, set it down in front of me and left. I’m not in the house all the time so I don’t even know when they eat dinner, but I usually am eating by myself. I would love some prayer that maybe we will have some opportunities to get to know each other.
Love you guys!

More pictures...http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2357567&l=febad&id=10235591