Just as the title says, I haven’t been very prompt with my blogs, but I promise I’ll be better for the next few weeks! So much has happened in these four short weeks, it’s crazy to me that I still have so much more time to explore this beautiful country and other countries in Europe. Coming here, I didn’t imagine the sights I would see or this experiences I would have. I can honestly say that it has already been an experience of a lifetime. Little things like navigating myself through an airport by myself, communicating with a Spanish-speaking host family on a daily basis, and trying the different food! I have experienced tremendous growth through everything, and I’m very thankful for that. It’s been difficult leaving my family and friends, but I have a new-found independence that I may not have otherwise. I’ve had to adapt to a major time change, in which everyone I know is 6 hours behind me. That has made communication a bit difficult, but we’re all working through it! So about the trip so far – my very first day at the airport, I had my first of many mini heart attacks. My flight from Buffalo, New York to Boston, Massachusetts was delayed for quite a while. At  first that was not an issue, I would get off and make my way leisurely to my next gate in order to get to Madrid, right? Wrong!!! As soon as I got to Boston, I was thrown into a bus that took me to an entirely different terminal, where my gate was located. I passed that obstacle, but quickly realized that as I was going through security, a woman came over the intercom saying “Kayla Hayden, please make your way to your gate as soon as possible.” So obviously I freaked out and somehow made my way to my gate in record time! Thank God – anyways, I made it to Europe, which was my biggest source of anxiety! I felt instant relief once we landed, knowing that I was at least in Madrid. If anything happened I knew that I could get to Seville relatively easy, much easier than finding another way from Boston to Madrid! I probably could’ve just rented a kayak or swam or something… I enjoyed every flight that I took, especially the one from Boston to Madrid. I was treated to good food, free drinks and free movies! I watched some episodes of Modern Family, American Sniper, Taken 3 (this one was not about a girl being taken, thankfully), and played some games afterwards! Since I don’t travel often, I felt super spoiled!

Once I landed in the Madrid airport, I had to find my way one last time to my gate. But I’ve never seen a bigger airport than the one I was standing in. I am not exaggerating when I say it took me 45 minutes of brisk walking to find my gate. However, as I was walking up to it a group of Americans approached me and asked if I was with the CIEE program going to Seville. And I was! It was really nice to get to know some of the people in the group, it reminded me of doing an Orion backpacking/hiking trip before going to Penn State main campus as a freshman. After meeting everyone, we all walked together to board the plane. None of us sat near each other on the flight, but I met up with them again after we landed! We all got to the spot where CIEE students were supposed to meet for the shuttle, where we were introduced to some of the staff and group leaders of the program. We had a little bit of free time, so I was able to talk to people from all over the country. It was really cool and gave me some confidence knowing that I wasn’t alone. We all took the shuttle from the Seville airport to the place where our group leaders were. My group leader was Manolo. We met all of the other students in our specific orientation group, but a few were missing because they had already gone through orientation for the first session.Later, I found out that one of the girls that were missing was a friend I made freshman year at Penn State, Vanessa! It was great to catch up with her, and I really felt confident knowing that I came to Seville with one friend already.

Then it was time for my host family to come pick me up. Our meeting point is “El ambulatorio en la Calle Maria Auxilliadora”, which is a hospital on one of the main streets, Maria Auxilliadora. My host parents and another American student came to get me. My host parents and Juan and Juana. They immediately made me feel welcome, and we went for coffee right down the road. Apparently they still like boiling hot drinks when it is 100+ degrees outside. Juan bought me churros, which I couldn’t fully enjoy because I was so scared I thought I was going to throw up! But we sat and talked as a tried with everything I had to understand what they were saying. That was a fail. They speak a million miles a minute, and used words I had literally never heard before. Thankfully the American student was able to help me, occasionally translating back and forth. She was my lifesaver for the first couple of days!Once we got home, they showed me around the house. They brought me to my room, which was on the 3rd floor of the house. I think there are 4 floors of the house, but I’ve never ventured past my room’s floor. I quickly realized that it was ridiculously hot in every room of the house. I started to wonder how I would be able to deal with the heat! But they gave me a fan, and when I went downstairs they put on the AC in the living room, which helped. I talked with the family for a while, and they explained to me how they had 14 CHILDREN, and showed me pictures of every one. That took a while!

As far as experiencing the city and other cities around Seville, CIEE has been great with providing cultural activities and trips to supplement what we’re getting in Seville. We have taken a lot of tours and trips so far, and I’m only halfway done. We did a lot of activities during the first week, where we saw some of the major things that make up Seville. We visited churches, the university, different plazas and their monuments, and obviously had to try their ice cream!! A couple days into my trip, we went for dinner with our orientation groups. While eating “tapas”, which are essentially large appetizers for the entire table, we watched their famous dance – Flamenco. It was beautiful, the passion and energy of the dance was really unique.The tapas were really good as well. It’s cool the way they work. The whole table decides on the types of tapas that they want to eat, they bring out one plate that has enough for everyone, and you just eat off of the one plate. We had salmorejo, which is like a cold tomato soup with garlic, hard-boiled egg, and ham. We also tried a lot of interesting fried foods, like fried spinach and eggplant!Another thing that is really interesting, is the check system. The entire table is all one check as well, no matter where you are – bar, cafe, restaurant. You always just pay as a whole, which can really get confusing! Even through the confusion, we loved watching the Flamenco and eating. We loved it so much, we went again 2 days later! It was very cool the second time. The first time, a woman was dancing, which was obviously very beautiful and elegant. However, the second time, a man was dancing and he was amazing! He moved his feet so fast, it was mesmerizing.We ate tortilla – which is a mixture of potato and egg, and we also had tomatoes with oil and vinegar, and delicious breads and crackers. Salmorejo and tortilla are two of the most popular foods in Seville, and they’re both very good!Also, people in Seville eat a lot of fish and meat. I couldn’t imagine being vegetarian here! I’ve had to try a lot of weird fish that I’m not used to. Some have been delicious, others have been awful! My host parents keep trying to feed me octopus, which is really popular, and I hate it!!

The first weekend I was here, I was supposed to visit Cadiz, Spain. However, I missed the bus and was unable to go. That was really upsetting for me, because I felt like I was not fit for this trip. After talking to my parents, I realized that it was not the end of the world, and I could just go some other time. I didn’t really have any other plans that day, and was just sitting around. Out of nowhere my host parents told me that they were taking me to the beach the next day! It was a great surprise, and I was so excited. We went to Huelva, which had an amazing beach. It was extremely hot and sunny, which I was not used to at all.I made a little bit of a mistake and tried to stay out in the sun for too long. We decided to go home a little early because we were all sunburnt and tired of being hot. On the drive home, our car broke down. Not only was it really hot in the car because they didn’t have AC, we were not able to get out of the car because we were on the side of the highway. Long story short, I passed out on the side of the road while trying to get to the taxi. It was really scary, but two of my host sisters helped me until I was completely fine. When my host father came to pick us up, he insisted that I visit the hospital to ensure I was okay. And I was, I just needed to eat and rest! Needless to say, my first week was eventful. It was a series of trial and error, and I learned a lot!