Viviendo en España

 We made it!

Had a big day of travel- a flight from XNA to Chicago, then to Madrid, then Alicante. It was so fun to travel with friends-- Brynn, Jo, Hayley, and me. We got along so well and we really enjoyed each other's company as we made the long journey! Everything went so smoothly- no delays or close calls or anything. We made it to the Alicante airport, got our luggage, all got separate cabs (except for Jo and Brynn who are living together) and said hasta luego! Getting that cab, agreeing on a price with the driver, giving him the address, and arriving safe and sound at Pepita's made me feel like a super cool adult.
So, the cab dropped me off at the apartment, I buzzed what I assumed was Pepita's number, and the door opened! I managed to get all my luggage in the tiny elevator, not knowing what would be on the other side of the elevator door when I opened it next and.. There she was! Pepita! Kind, loving, warm, happy Pepita! I stepped off the elevator, got a beso on each cheek and was ushered into my room that I share with Emily. Karissa had already arrived a few days before, and it was so good to see a familiar face as well! As soon as I dropped my things, Pepita asked me if tienes hambre and I replied with a big SI. Next question: Te gusta pescado? Ay ay ay.. I knew that one was coming, but not as soon as I stepped in the apartment! Of course, I answered si like a muchacha buena, because hey, this is an immersion experience right? And boom. Almost instantly a big bowl of fish soup was plopped down right in front of me, with big chunks of fish and other very foreign objects floating around in it! And you know what- I ate it! So maybe by the end of the semester, I will have acquired a taste for seafood!
So I got all settled in and spent some time talking with Pepita and her friends that were there at her apartment hanging out. Pepita is wonderful to use Spanish with, and is good about correcting my mistakes, which is very helpful.
Later, Karissa and I went out to see the Three Kings Parade. In Spain, and also latin-american countries, they celebrate the arrival of the three kings that visited Jesus. The celebration happens on the 6th of January, which was the day after I arrived. We went downtown and mingled with thousands of people as they lined the streets to see floats of Woody the cowboy, Mario, Cleopatra, Santa, and the Three Kings pass by. The three kings were Giant puppets on tall sticks held up by people walking. It was exciting to get to be a part of a big cultural experience that first night that I was there!

Emily got in later that night, and we helped her settle in! Our house is almost complete- we are waiting for Wendy, a girl from Belgium, to arrive tomorrow.
The next day (yesterday), Em, Karissa, and I got up at around 11, and Pepita made us a breakfast of toast and orange juice. She had asked Emily what she normally ate for breakfast, and when she answered with eggs, Pepita was absolutely appalled!  She said that it is bad for the stomach to eat eggs so early in the morning, and that toast is the only way to go!


We sat around a little table in the living room with Pepita and her friend (who had randomly spent the night?) and watched David Bisbal give a concert in Nueva York. I swear, Pepita and her friend were both madly in love with him.




After breakfast, we met up with Hayley and Ellen and explored the city some! We went and ate tapas for lunch (90 cents each, muy barato!) which was such a fun experience! Tapas are like little appetizers that people eat in between meals (because they eat at such weird times here!) We got to see Hayley and Ellen's host apartment and meet their family. Then we got together with the complete group of nine OBU students! It was so fun to be reunited with everyone and just hang out in the city! I have no shame in saying that I felt (and still feel) like I was living in the Lizzie Maguire movie. All of us went to the beach to see the beginning of the sunrise, and then we just explored until we got tired!

Today was the first day of school!
School was probably the thing I was most worried about, but I have to say that it was a wonderful first day, even though it started at 6 AM! We got up at 6, met up with our group at 7, took the bus to the school and found where they had posted our schedules! I felt very blessed to have my class with Josh, Emily, and Ellen, and we all went together to find the classroom.
The way school works is that we go to two classes each month. One is a Spanish language course that is three hours long (with a break in the middle) from 8-11 and then from 11-12 I have a culture course (this month, my culture course is cine, movies). At the end of the month, I switch to new classes.
All my classes are with other international students also learning Spanish. Today, I met kids from all over the US, including New York and Michigan. I also met people from Japan, Russia, and China.
I think that the coolest part of the day was speaking Spanish with a Japanese girl, Chinese guy, and Russian girl! Even though they knew no English, and I knew none of their languages, it did not matter because our common language was SPANISH! How cool is that. I have two options of communicating now!
Learn another language, folks. Its never too late. I am telling you, part of what has made this experience so incredible so far has been simply the ability to constantly know what is going on around me because I know the language! Knowing the language opens up so many doors in so many ways.
After we got out of school at 12, we walked to a plaza and sat outside at a cafe while we ate lunch. I felt like I was living in a movie.
Now, we are hanging out at the apartment after a loooong siesta. The sleep schedule here is NUTS. Today, my professor explained to us that people (I am talking everyone- kids, adults, old people) always stay out until 2 or 3 and then get up at around 7. Getting five hours of sleep here every night is normal! But then at around 2 pm, everything closes down so everybody can take a nap in order to be rested to do it all over again! I mean, I have heard that this is cultural.. but I didn't realize that.. everyone does it!

It is beautiful here. The people are beautiful, the language is beautiful. The sea is beautiful, the buildings are so bello. Its wonderful and I am happy to be here and happy to be immersed in this incredible culture. My host mom, Pepita is lovely and wonderful. She loves on us so much and I feel so at home with her. I am so happy to be here.

Please continue to pray for me, because I know that the newness will wear off at some point!
Pray that I will be disciplined with school (doing school in such a beautiful place feels a little strange! ha!)
Pray that I will continue building relationships with new people!

Pray for the whole group too. We haven't had a time to really sit and talk about how everyone is feeling, but I can't assume that everyone is on as much of a high as I am.

Thank you so much for reading my posts and for your prayers! He is so real and so strong.

Know that I am doing so well. I feel like I have transitioned with such great ease into the culture, which is absolutely a blessing from Jesus. I feel so natural in this environment, which I think just reinforces my sense that he will use me with another culture at some point.

Dios os bendiga!

(look Mom, I'm using el vosotros!)

The view from our apartment.

Pepita's sweet perro, Perlita!