Aqui estoy!

Hola!

Oh my goodness I'm here! After much much time in the coldest and largest airport I've ever been in, aka JFK, we flew to Madrid and had a smallish layover before catching our flight to Sevilla. That was a pretty sweet airport - It looked kind of Gaudi-esque, with swirly bamboo-paneled ceilings and these supporting columns that were rainbow-colored and glass floors and all that. And really high-end stores like Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo as well as Spanish designers. I had a cafe con leche (they don't have skim or splenda!) and visited with my new friends from the program. There are three Katies, but here we are, respectively, Kiti, Cristina, y Katarina. Haha, I tried to tell people that I was going to go by Kiki, but my family insisted on calling me by my English name except they pronounce it "Kiti." (like kee-tee) So they call me "hello kiti!" How appropriate. :0)

So, about my family. We have a mom and dad, Rocio y Alfonso, and their three kids: Esperanza (13), Alfonsito (11), and Bea (10). They are so so sweet, super helful, and very doting. And the kids love hanging out in our room (I have a roommate, a super sweet girl from Brown named Melanie). We live in an apartment on a street close to the river, and I love walking around the town! It's very intimate and not too busy. So anyways, yesterday after we unpacked and got settled in our very narrow but cozy room, we had lunch with the family at 2:30. They made us spaghetti to make us feel at home, which is funny because I can't remember the last time I had spaghetti! We also had a salad with soft-boiled eggs and tuna, and fruit for a snack. I am so thankful they eat tons of fruit and vegetables and yogurt! It's just like home. I had my first siesta yesterday: four hours! I hadn't slept much at all in the past 36 hours, so this was a much-welcome respite. And last night for dinner (at 10 pm!) we had gazpacho and Spanish tortillas, which are actually like sliced potato omelettes. Superbly good. Even the kids stay up until 11 or 11:30, because dinner is so late.

Today was our first day of orientation, and we had a short session before we walked around the neighboring streets of the university. Tonight we have a flamenco class!

I can't even say close to everything that's happened, but I LOVE IT HERE. I can't stop smiling. And you'll have to excuse me if this is super stream-0f-consciousness or my grammar is strange, because as I'm writing this I'm actually having quite a lot of trouble thinking in English. Hopefully more to come soon, but in the meanwhile I'll be keeping super busy! Just know that I am safe and sound, and just loving Spanish life!!!

Hasta pronto!