First of Many First

Sept 20, 2018

I originally planned to update this blog as much as possible but I have been so tired these past few days I only want to sleep haha.  Anyway, we had an orientation in Sevilla the first days (Tuesday-Friday).  It was actually fun because all of us study abroad students became close friends and it's great to have their support.  On last Friday (last day of orientation), our host families came to pick us up and honestly we were all so nervous.  Thankfully, everything went so smooth and my family was sooooo sweet.  I live in a village called Espartinas and it is about a 30 minute drive from the center of Sevilla.  I have a 13 year old host sister that I get along with great.  Maria (my host sis) and I go to the same school so it's great to have a similar face.

This was my first week of school in Spain and everything is so new and different I am constantly trying to process and figure out what is happening.  My schedule was messed up because I had no clue what electives I picked since I didn't pick any haha. So I waited for 2 hours trying to figure that out. Once I actually got my schedule I liked it mostly. The only bummer is that my 2 electives are Technology and Computer Science and if you know me that's not my cup of tea.  The good news is that I have friends now!! I made some good friends that speak a little english so when I am super confused they help me.

Spanish school is TOTALLY different from school in Texas.  We have block schedules kinda but it is a random order and we have like a main class that we go to most classes with and then electives are mixed.  4 of my closest friends are in my main classes and a guy friend of mine is in my CompSci class so he helps me in that.  Also, all the classes are exactly 1 hour.  We have 3 classes then Recreo (kinda like recess or snack break) and 3 more classes after Recreo.  School ends at 2:45 and we head home to eat lunch with our families.  Then we do homework or take a siesta/nap.  Dinner is at 9:30-10:00 then we go to sleep around 11 and wake up at 7am and get to school at 8am and the day starts again haha.

Everytime I told people I was going to study abroad they would say "Wait can you even speak Spanish??" and I would always respond "Enough to survive".  I never realized how accurate that is.  I've made 2 major realizations these past few days in school.

 I know enough spanish for my home life and buy things and survive life; however, I do not know anywhere close to enough spanish to understand school.  My teachers talk SO FAST and use vocab I don't know. Thankfully I have friend who help translate and some teacher who talk slow for me after or reexplain.
It is okay to not understand, because I have come to realize I just won't understand a lot of the time.  In class, I just can't understand the teachers and often my classmates and it's super embarassing.

I am super thankful for my patient host family and friends.  I got into a good group of friends from school and they help me with spanish and we have fun together.  For example, we went to eat after school and then walked to one of the girls house to hang out.  I am slowly becoming able to follow their convos because they talk sooooo fast.

I apologize for any spelling errors. I am honestly too tired to spell check or grammer check haha but hopefully once the jet lag wears off it will be better.

With love,

Ruthanne