The beginning

Well I have officially been in Spain for a week now. It is pretty wild that only one week ago I was packing my life away into 2 suitcases back in my suburban paradise. Spain is to say the least quite different than the United States. Things here are a little slower, people are sociable and love to go to cafes and bars and sit for hours and talk to each other. I am located in a section of the city called Los Remedios. So far my living situation is quite nice. Our host mom is wonderful. She loves us and is constantly laughing at our broken spanish and ridiculous questions. I have ventured around the city a bit and love it. Everything here is so old and has so much history associated with it. There are many old monuments and gardens. I cannot wait to explore more. Today we went for a placement exam at our university. It is about a 20/25 minute bus ride out of the city so it is kind of an ordeal getting there. Certainly not a roll out of bed and be there in 5 type of place. The walk to the bus station is about 15 minutes so it looks like I may come out of this deal more trim than initially expected. haha. We went on a tour and it is nice. It reminds me alot of a CA high school, like something from the OC. Tomorrow we have orientation where we will get our schedules, learn about the school more, etc. Then on Wednesday classes start. It will be nice to get back to a more structured life again although I am going to miss my late mornings and lazy afternoons. Yesterday I went out with a few of the girls for a tour of the city and it is so charming. There are orange trees everywhere and the weather is so nice. Compared to the snow and below zero wind chill in MA this place is wonderful. I think our house is colder than it is outside. I have been going out with jeans, a sweater, and a light jacket and am fine. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like in March! Miss you all!
Stephanie