El Viaje Comienza! (The Journey begins!)

I left for Sevilla, Spain on September 3rd 2011. I had several layover flights and met some very interesting people with crazy stories to say the least. Not to mention that I thought I was about to die in  in New York after someone cut off the taxi driver. Note to self: try to stay away from New York taxi drivers whenever possible. I met some Spanish friends on my flights, so I wasn't totally bored out of my mind during the 12 hours of flying. Unfortunately when I arrived in Sevilla, Iberia had lost my guitar. Luckily, I received it back at the 4 star hotel Hesperia a few days later.

There are many Americans that are participating in the CIEE Teach Abroad program, and I had the opportunity to meet almost all of them. We had intensive orientation classes and different tours of Sevilla for the first week that we were here. I had a roommate named Adam who turned out to be a fun guy to hang out with. We went out late on the town every single night and ended up only getting a few hours of sleep. It was hard to stay awake all day for class! Spanish people take siestas because they stay up half the night.

The weather here in Sevilla is very hot right now. It is comparable to Atlanta summer weather. However, we spend a majority of our time walking all throughout the city in the heat and not in nice air-conditioned cars. It still hasn't rained since I've been here. The weather has been absolutely beautiful everyday. So far I love this city. Its true that in the South of Spain the people are friendlier. They say its because of the warmer weather/climate. One thing that I've learned to love is running through the beautiful parks, along the river, and in the center of the city at night when everything is lit up. The main cathedral here is incredible and the Alcázar (where the royal family stays when they visit Sevilla) and the gardens surrounding it are my favorite places to visit.

I moved out of the hotel and into the house of my host family. I will post another blog sometime this week about my experiences so far with them. Ciao!