Vale

I just arrived in Sevilla today and met my host family, a senora named Carmen and her son and daughter. She has been hosting American students since 1995 and is extremely friendly and surprisingly, has cable and internet, both of which they informed us we were unlikely to have access to. I successfully got through customs and found my way to the API group at the Madrid-Barajas airport and then after some introductions, we got on our bus to head to our hotel which was right in the center of Madrid. Madrid is a bustling city like New York so we wandered around during the day and sat outside in the plaza mayor at night and drank some beer. We saw the royal palace in Madrid and the monastery of El Escorial, which were absolutely incredible. Oh, and I thought I was so prepared in terms of electronics because I brought 2 adapters with me. Little did I realize, my computer cord has three prongs which of course didn't fit the adapter I had with me. So...my friend Jonathan and I set out on a mission to find an adapter for my computer. It was really hard to ask about it in Spanish but we did it and I found one, and I feel so accomplished. Also in Madrid, we visited El Prado, the famous art museum. As incredible as all these places were, we were always really rushed for time, so we really got to see only a tiny portion of everything (plus, our tour guides spoke in Spanish so I had to really focus to grasp what was going on).

Okay, onto our next city Toledo. Toledo was breathtaking, very medieval and quaint. We visited the Cathedral which is Spain's second largest cathedral. Unfortunately, my camera died while we were inside, but hopefully I'll get back there before I leave. We also visited an old synagogue, which looked more like a mosque than a synagogue and now is empty and the guide informed us that there are no Jews left in Toledo which is true of many cities in Spain. Last night, our group went out to an Irish bar in downtown Toledo and we were shocked to find that everyone in the place spoke English including the bartender. I met a professional golfer from Mancester, England and a lot of Americans from Notre Dame and University of Ohio. It was actually a really good time and we could hear the most notorious American pop music emanating from the speakers. Afterwards, Jonathan, Sarah, and I decided to wander around and explore Toledo, granted it was about 3 am. We were taking pictures of the city and drunk roomate invited a couple passing by to take pictures with us. They didn't speak any English but we spoke with them and practiced our Spanish for a long time. I'm amazed how friendly people are here--a big difference from Madrid where everyone was kind of in their own world.

Today, we left Toledo to head to our hometown for the next 3 months, Sevilla, the capital of Andalucia (the southern region of Spain). It was a 6 hour bus ride from Toledo so most of us slept the whole way. Once we arrived in Sevilla, Lola and Juan (our directors) sent us off with our host families. Our mom is Carmen and her son and daughter come in and out of the house. We live in a beautiful apartment and my friend Jonathan happens to live right downstairs. We spent a lot of the night speaking with Carmen which was a little frustrating because she speaks really fast and no English, but we seem to be communicating. Anyway, we're going to tour the university tomorrow which I'm really excited about because it looks beautiful and it's right in the center of the city so we'll probably be able to explore a little bit. Oh, and they always use "vale" here which kind of means okay, hence the name of this post. Buenas noches!