¨Just relax¨

So this is Spain. Day three, actually, given that we landed early Thursday. I have a post that I will add later about the first two days, but that´s stored on my laptop en mi casa and I´m at school right now.

We had our placement exam this morning. I thought they kind of threw us a curveball with the vocab as it was things like professions and what not that you would not necessarily need to use every day. I think it went well, I know I did really well on the oral comprehension, the written we´ll see. However, I don´t think they would have allowed me to register for the classes I did if I hadn´t already demonstrated proficiency in the language, and I´m just worried about holding onto my classes. I´ll find out Monday. Anyway, the building itself is gorgeous, it´s too nice to be a place of learning. Also, part of it is outdoors, which is like a normal thing here, and though it is only about 50 degrees, buildings (and my bedroom!!) are cold. I think it is colder inside than out.

My house mother (senora) is an older woman who lives by herself, except for Carlos, a six year old boy (possibly a relative but I couldn´t catch that part). She is really nice, lived in the US for a long time, so she knows English...but we can´t use it in the house unless we are talking to Carlos. Carlos lives with us during the week but on the weekends lives with his father who works in a hospital. Conchi (mi senora) has a daughter Nancy that lives in the United States. She is a sevillana but lived in the US because that´s where her husband was from, but she´s lived in Italy, CA, Hawaii, Florida, and Massachusetts. I´m really glad and relieved because she is very willing to help us with the language which is what I need and why I´m here to begin with.

Some interesting things of note here in Espana. First, when I wake up at 8am (and yes, I´ve really gotten up that early), it is still dark. Which is unnerving, because the sun should be out, etc. Secondly, I just can´t seem to escape the sustainable lifestyle. Sevilla es una ciudad que le encanta el ambiente (Sevilla is a city that loves the environment). En los calles, there are these five foot pod like green containers for recycling. The buses run on some kind of cleaner gas. In the hotel, the only way to turn on the lights was to have your key in a slot, otherwise they would turn off. In short, I can´t escape the tree huggers. Thirdly, everyone here wears pashminas. It´s my dream city. Finally, even the computer applications and keyboard is in Spanish, which is to be expected, obviously, but not something I planned, which is making this post a little difficult because you need five shift keys just to get a slash.

Other than that, I´m glad Janelle and the rest of the IC posse is here. It´s making it really easy to make friends, etc. Tomorrow we are planning on touring the city. I need to buy a hairdryer, so I need to work up the nerve to ask how (I think the word in Spanish is secadora de pelo but I´m not sure). If I´ve been lax on the communication (or for that matter will be lax on the communication) I´m sorry. I´m still trying to find my way so hopefully by the end of next week I´ll figure out what I can do. Pictures soon to follow!