So far, the main thing I have learned about myself during this trip is that I have absolutely no Spanish skills when I wake up in the morning. Saturday morning I woke up, and went into the kitchen, and my host mom started talking to me and I caught nothing. Absolutely nothing. We both started laughing and I explained to her that my mind is still asleep and I need some time to wake up.

I have kind of started to notice the punctuality thing that everyone talks about. My host mom will tell me what time we’re going to leave in the morning, and 15 minutes later, we leave. It’s not a big deal; I just need to remember this so I start waking up later.

 Saturday we went to Leo’s soccer game. The game was interesting….they only had 5 people playing at a time on each team, and they played on cement. Leo’s team won 28-1 and it was kind of sad for the other team. After the game, we came home and Adelina walked me to the beach. Oh my gosh. I have never seen something so beautiful in my entire life. I could sit and stare at the beach all day every day for the rest of my life. It is absolutely amazing.

Saturday after lunch, I met Ali in La Plaza de Luceros, and we did some shopping. After a couple of hours, I finally found some boots and shoes that I liked so I bought both pairs. Now I am feeling a lot better about my wardrobe, because I will be able to fit in a lot better.

At 9:30 my host mom called me into the living room to eat dinner which was weird as we usually eat in the kitchen. But Leo cooked dinner, and he made awesome fajitas and potatoes. I am pretty impressed and slightly embarrassed that a 13 year old boy can cook better than I can.

After dinner, we were all going to watch a movie, but then I asked Leo if he had ever played FIFA and he got so excited and wanted to play. Well, we ended up playing FIFA and other videogames for 3 hours lol.

Sunday was just as awesome as Saturday. I woke up around 9:30, had breakfast with my madre, and we walked to church together. The inside of the church was absolutely beautiful. I have always heard about the churches in Europe, and this definitely lived up to my expectations. It was extremely beautiful, and I will probably go again just to look at it. I really didn’t understand a lot of the mass, the priest talked very quiet and there were screaming babies everywhere so I couldn’t really hear well. I want to go again so I can try to understand. I did notice that it was very similar to our mass in the states because everything followed the same sequence.

After mass, my madre and I walked along the beach and sat for a while near the port with all of the giant boats for “las personas ricas.” It is my goal to get a ride on one of these boats!

The beach is definitely my favorite place in Alicante so far. I know that sounds cliché, but it is breathtaking. I could stare at it all day every day and never get sick of it. I decided that if I am ever feeling sad or homesick, I will just walk down to the beach, because I do not think it is possible to be unhappy with such a beautiful view.

            Today for lunch we had paella. I didn’t really know I was eating paella until I finished. It was not what I expected it to be, but my madre said that there are so many different kinds, so maybe I will get a chance to try a different kind. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious; it was just less exciting than I thought it was going to be haha.

After lunch, I left for the beach to meet up with Ali and Amanda! Once we all found each other, we sat in the sand, took a bunch of pictures and just relaxed in the sun. It was the best feeling to just sit on the beach and look at how beautiful the place we are living in really is. I seriously can’t even describe the beauty of this place. After a couple of hours of just sitting, soaking up the beauty, we decided to walk around a bit more and explore.  

            Eventually, we decided to head back to the beach to watch the sunset, but we got distracted by an ice cream place. We all got a small scoop of ice cream and ate it on our way back to the beach.

            The beach at night is just as beautiful as the beach during the day. There are still people everywhere and everything is just as new and exciting. After a while longer at the beach, we all went our separate ways back to our casas. I watched tv with my madre a little bit while we looked at my class schedule and figured out a plan for me to take the tram and everything.

            Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and we have to meet with our advisor before each class so he can walk us to the right building. This may seem embarrassing to some people, to be dropped off at your classroom like a child, but I am extremely grateful because I still have no idea where anything is, even after our tour. I am pretty nervous for tomorrow, but I think that we all are. Hopefully the first day of classes goes well!

The days keep getting better!

           Today was even better than yesterday! The day started at 8am when I woke up, and I got ready for orientation. My host mom took me to the tram, and rode with me to campus because I was nervous and I had no idea where I was going. I felt like a little kid getting dropped off for school haha, but I was very thankful that she came with me!

We sat through a few hours of orientation and learned a lot about the university and everything that we need to know. Once that part was over, we were introduced to our intercambios. Intercambios are the other Spanish students from the university that we are paired up with. These students are sort of like our Spanish best friends, and they are going to show us around campus and around the city, and help us get acclimated and make more friends. They are also going to help us with our Spanish speaking skills too.

My partner’s name is Celia, and she is extremely nice. She wants to take me shopping this weekend because I explained to her how horribly I packed for this trip. All of us American students and our intercambios went for a tour of the university, and then 8 of us went out to eat lunch at a tapas restaurant near campus. This was my first experience with tapas, and they were delicious! If you don’t know what tapas are, they are famous in Spain. They are like finger food or little appetizers, but there are hundreds of different kinds. I got 2. One was pollo y ali oli, and the other was tortilla patata y salsa. I liked them both very much!

From the restaurant, we all went to La Plaza de Luceros, which is basically in El Centro, or the downtown part of Alicante. We got a chance to explore the city, see the beaches, and see the malls and other shopping areas. Once we were finished touring the city, we were left to find our own way home.

I was not looking forward to this, because both of the other girls who came from Michigan with me live close together and in El Centro. I live about 15 minutes by bus from this area, so I had to figure out how the heck to get home. It was surprisingly easy, but I was still nervous. I managed to get myself onto the correct tram and I made it home at 7:30!

I got the opportunity to share my day with my host mother, and she told me that she is very impressed with how much my Spanish speaking skills improved in just one day. I guess I am just a little bit more comfortable, and I hope to continue improving each day! 

Day one is almost over...

     Wow...today has been the longest day ever! But I am happy to say that I am safely in Alicante sitting in my new casa writing this blog :) My journey started Tuesday at noon when I left for the Detroit airport. My first flight was to Chicago, and it departed at 2:40pm. My whole family and my boyfriend took me to the airport, and it was a pretty emotional couple of hours.
     Once we landed in Chicago, we had about a 2 hour layover until our flight to Madrid. The flight to Madrid took about 8 hours, but it was totally awesome because each seat on the plane had its own personal iPad type thing and you could choose from a bunch of movies or shows to watch. I watched 2 movies, and the flight went by super fast. Once we landed in Madrid, we had a 4 hour layover until our flight to Alicante. The layover in Madrid was definitely rough. It was about 2am Detroit time when we landed, so our plane didn't take off until 6am, and then once we reached our final destination it was about 7am Detroit time, 1pm Alicante time. Talk about jetlag...
     We got our luggage pretty easily, and then we walked out to find our 2 counselors waiting for us. They were super friendly, and they drove us to our new homes. My family consists of a mother, Adelina, a father, Pedro, and a younger 13 year old brother named Leo. Leo and Adelina seem extremely nice, but I haven't had the chance to meet Pedro yet.
     When I got to their home, I was very overwhelmed with emotions. In Spain you don't really have houses, you have apartments. But they are much bigger than the apartments that I have seen in Michigan. This particular one has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony type room or a Florida room as we call them. My bedroom is a cute little room with a bed and a desk.

     The first thing that I did when I got there was tried to take a nap. Once I set all of my stuff down, I got kind of emotional, and I think it was just because of how exhausted I am. After my nap I was feeling a lot better, and I went into the "sala" or living room, and got to know my host mother a little better. I found out that she has 2 other daughters that are both abroad doing similar things to what I am doing. We ended up skyping one of her daughters, and she was able to explain things a little bit better to me in English, because I wasn't quite catching everything my host mother was saying. My host mother and father and brother speak absolutely no English, and it is definitely a challenge communicating with them! But it is fun at the same time.
After we talked for a while, it was about 9pm, and we all sat down for dinner. It is still so weird to me that they eat dinner so late! And she told me that 9pm was early for them, as they usually eat at 10! There are a lot of things that are going to take some getting used to, but I can't wait to see what this adventure brings.
     Tomorrow we have the day to relax and get situated, and maybe explore the city. I want to purchase a pay as you go phone that way I have some way to contact people if there is an emergency. I also need to purchase a bus/tram pass, as that is the primary transportation here and that is how I will be commuting to the university.
     Friday we have orientation that lasts all morning, and then we are all meeting at a local restaurant in downtown Alicante to get a tour of the city. I am pretty excited for this, because I want to be able to go out and explore and have some sort of idea what I am doing!
So far, this has been an exhausting journey, but I am so excited to see what the rest brings.

Less than 24 hours left!

     With less than 24 hours until I take off, I am starting to get overwhelmed with emotions. I keep coming up with more items that I think I need to pack, and it is really stressing me out! How do you pack for 5 months?! It's not easy!
     I decided to try the rolling method to pack my big suitcase. I think it worked pretty well, seeing as I was able to fit just about everything that I wanted to fit inside!
     When all of my packing was done, I filled one suitcase, one travelling backpack, and my school backpack. It sounds like a lot, and it probably is too much, but I did my best to eliminate things that I don't think I really need. It really is amazing how much you can fit into a suitcase.
     The thing that I am most nervous about as of right now is missing people. I have so many people who I am used to talking to and seeing on a regular basis, and it is going to be a huge adjustment not being able to see or talk to them every day. Especially my adorable dog who I can't stand being away from!
     I am fully aware that this is a once in a lifetime experience, and I am going to make the most of every minute that I am there. I will try my best to post once I land and get settled! Hasta manaña, España.

One Week Away!

     January 21st is coming up so fast, and I am getting more anxious by the minute. The concept that I am going to be spending 5 months in Alicante, Spain is such a dream come true for me. I have wanted to travel to Spain since I began learning Spanish, and now I can finally put all of my hard work and practice to good use. 
     For those of you who don't know me, I am a junior at Central Michigan University where I study both the Spanish and French languages. My future plans are to become a translator or an interpreter, and these 5 months in Spain are going to help me reach that goal. 
     Alicante is a beautiful city on the Eastern coast of Spain. Alicante is known for having some of the most beautiful "playas," or beaches, in all of Spain. One of the things that I am most excited for during my stay in Alicante is having the opportunity to look at and enjoy the Mediterranean Sea whenever I want to. A luxury that we definitely do not have here in Michigan! 
     The university that I will be attending is called La Universidad de Alicante, or The University of Alicante. As of right now, I am signed up for 5 classes, but I will be dropping one after the first week trial period is over. 
     The class that I am most excited about taking is a class called traducción audiovisual. In this class, we will be learning how to do the dubbing and subtitling of North American movies, which to me sounds extremely cool! 
     I plan to do as much travelling as possible while I am there, because I have never been anywhere outside of North America and I am dying to explore Europe. My main goal, and probably my biggest challenge during my time in Spain is to speak only Spanish, as that is the primary reason that I am going to be studying there. I am extremely excited to begin my adventure, and I am happy to be able to share my experience through my blog!