Spain Update #1

Received our first email from Emily this morning, and she sounds awfully happy! I hope we get her back some day! I only x'd out her senora's name, and her last paragraph which was full of personal info. Anyhow, here's her update. Since I included you all in the worry part, I thought I should let you know she sounds great.

Hey! I had my first class today! And now I have a break for two hours before my next class..so i'm in "la biblioteca" (library) catching up on email and facebook and uploading my pictures. I'll attach a couple "fotos" for you too :). I am LOVING spain so far! I've met some really cool girls, and we've done a lot of exploring in Sevilla already. One day we toured the Cathedral and the Palace of Alcazar. They were both so beautiful, and I took lots of pictures! This weekend (Friday and Saturday night) I went out to some bars and clubs with friends. It's so weird being old enough to do that! But it was really fun. I had Sangria, which was muy deliciosa, and I talked to a lot of Spanish people. I'm really excited because I met four Christian girls and we had a little Bible study yesterday, since it was Sunday and we couldn't really go to church. It was a beautiful day (60's and sunny) so we met down by the river and just sat in the sun and relaxed and talked most of the afternoon. Then we went to the Plaza for some "helado" (ice cream) which was really good! The Spanish lifestyle is so different here than in the US, and I love it! Everything is so relaxed and everyone is so nice. We eat on a kind of weird schedule too...a tiny breakfast of toast or fruit and coffee at like 9, then we don't eat again until "el almuerzo" at like 2:30 or 3:00, and then "la cena" (dinner) is at 8:30 or 9 pm. It's REALLY important to be home on time for meals because they value meal times with the family so much. Sevilla is known to be an outdoor city, which is really cool, and a lot of families meet at the parks, plazas, or the river for lunch. Around 2:30 or 3:00 the streets and plazas get really busy because the dads come from work to meet the moms and kids for lunch. And the Spanish children are so beautiful! They wear such nice clothes too...little briches and tights and sweaters and peacoats. I love people watching here :) After lunch everyone takes a "siesta" (nap) and all of the stores close for an hour or two. I love siesta because I have time to relax, unwind, read, journal, or whatever. Today I have class until 3:30 so my senora packed me a little "pocadillo" (bag lunch). And by the way, my senora is CRAZY, but really funny. Her name is xx, she's probably about 60, kind of a bigger woman, and really loud and outspoken. And doesn't speak a word of English, which has actually been good because it forces me to speak Spanish and I feel like I'm already learning more.