After almost 11 hours of flying with two 3-hour layovers, and little to no sleep my dream of traveling to Sevilla began.
Immediately after getting off the plane, I and my fellow fly buddy and classmate Cecilia finally met up with the other students at the Sevilla airport.
With the helpful assistance from Christine of The International College of Seville, we were
in a taxi on our way to our host families.
Once I arrived, I was immediately met by Jose, my host mother’s partner. As Jose spoke the confusion was made clear. Jose started to speak only in Spanish. My English-only ears were met with nervousness. There was never a point in my life in Memphis where I was forced to speak Spanish, so the confident was missing. I tried my best; as good as an American can do. My anxiety started to cause a feeling of homesickness. This combination of tiredness and hearing only Spanish made me only want to try the infamous siesta.
As I finally made it to my room, I was ready. But first, I needed to charge my phone. The problem was and still is the electrical plugs. The outlets are concave so fitting in the adapter was a challenge itself. I had to try multiple ways to get my adapter to fit whether it was upside down, backwards or forwards. After 20 minutes of pushing in outlets, my phone was charging, and so was my body. The siesta is truly a tradition that is worthy of adoption. After a three-hour siesta, I was ready to start the journey into my first week abroad.
Fast forward one week and I can say that this journey has been filled with nonstop sights. We have gone all over Seville that after one week we now feel like natives. In our first week we have tried every tapas bar, club and shop Sevilla has to offer. My host mother Clara has made some of the best food I and my roommate Samantha have eaten (more on that later)..
