Beautiful architecture

Many buildings here are absolutely Gorgeous. Last night I was out with mis amigas and some Spanish boys as I started to think to myself how can they just walk by all these buildings like its no big deal. I mean obviously it makes since that it is nothing new to them but its truely a wonderful sight.

Homesick

 

During the beginning of the 2nd week I became extremely sad and homesick. I just wanted to go home and never return to Spain. The language barrier was becoming to hard and I felt so discouraged and being so hard on myself as if i would never understand anything or be able to learn. The very next day though I snapped out of it and started getting on my grind. Im studying and learning new vocab everyday and really making an effort to try to learn more Spanish. And I truly do LOVE IT HERE :) Im glad it was just a one day thing, and I'm sure its pretty normal to feel homesick sometimes. 

Correction

Sooo Going out and coming home at 8:30 am is not exactly NORMAL but it isnt that weird to do either. We only came home that late/early because after being out late we went to a cafe and hung out for a while. However people who do typically (on a weekend) go home later than we normally do in the States (4am or 5am)

Cultural Differences

Im adapting , or at least trying to adapt to everyone speaking only Spanish here. I was pampered a bit from so many workers and people being able to speak both English and Spanish in the Madrid airport and in Sevilla but in Cordoba there actually hasnt been one person I encountered that can say more than "hello" in English.  Of course as expected almost everything is different here, from buildings to signs, to life in the house hold.
Here:
-Dinner is extremely late usually around 10 or 11 pm

- From approx 2pm to 5pm is Siestas  which is where the whole town basically Closes and people go home for lunch and takes a nap. No one is really on the streets around this time
- When you get home you immediately should change in to your PJs/Lounge clothes and you always wear slippers or house shoes around the house. When I walk barefoot my Senora is always saying Ponga los zapatos
- They use plates for like everything at meal time, a small plate for the fruit, a small plate for one side etc.
- Showers are to be short here for everyone approx between 3-5 mins because there has been a water shortage for a long time
-Saying Gracias frequently is weird i guess because they dont say thank you for everything like we do
- I have yet to find free water any where
-Everyone is very social , at almost every restaurant there is outdoor seating and theres always people outside enjoying a meal or a drink with friends 
-They stay out Very late here I have seen small children at the park (with their parents) at like midnight and that is normal
-Clubs close at 6am so it was normal when my friends and I got home at 8:30 in the morning
-Pretty much Everyone looks the same (Spainish) they dont really have mixed cultures here , everyone is SUPER light (lighter than most mexicans) and have light color hair. I DEFINITELY stand out 


All in all I am enjoying it so far and I like the different Culture.

Gift from God :)

After the dismay of my flight when I arrived to Sevilla I met a wonderful couple from Portugal whom the lady (Carina) just so happen to be tri-lingual :) and her and her boyfriend helped me SOOO much from getting from the airport to Cordoba. I had tons of luggage that was hard to lug around I would stop like every minute to rest but thankfully they helped with one of my bags. They even fed me a sandwhich. I doubt I would have been able to make it on time with out them, we caught 3 different buses before we got to the main bus station, I definitely would have been lost. I left to Cordoba as they left to go back to Portugal. Im so grateful that I met this lovely couple.

The start

As I left the LAX airport saying bye to my sister until my return in the far future I had high hopes that this trip to my hotel in Cordoba would go smoothly. I didnt quite know which train I would be taking from the airport in Sevilla but since I was meeting up with others from my program I Ultimately had no worries. God will take care of me I knew.
The 13 hour flight almost drove me INSANE , my body is tired since I hardly slept but an hour the night before and my shoulders are killing me from all these bags. The plane arrives to Madrid late and the airport people are rushing us to get to our connecting flight, to my dismay I didnt have the boarding pass for this flight for whatever reason I dont know why but when i brought it to the attention of the other airport people in America they said I would get it in Madrid. This was ultimately horrible because I missed my flight including the people from my program.
My first instinct was to Cry, and cry HARD but then I pushed back those tears because I didnt have time to cry . I had to make moves and make them fast.

Now I am sitting in the Madrid airport hoping I can make the next flight in the next 3 hours. I'm not mad or sad that I missed my flight as unfortunate as it may be I have to focus on the good. Which is I made it to Spain safe and sound (minus the body aches), and I still have ample time to get to the hotel without being late for orientation. And hey now I actually can see if i have what it takes to travel by myself since I'm no longer with the students from my program.
Life doesn't always go as planned but thats what makes it interesting.

Stay Postive. Focus on what matters, negativity is never what matters