Arrival!

I arrived in Valencia two days ago now. It feels like so much longer. Wow.
I'm living with a host family of two parents and three kids (Guillermo 17; Monica 15; Sofia 12). And we are a short bus away from the downtown and a 10 minute walk from my school. I also have a roommate who is going to la Universidad de Valencia. Her name is Karina and she is wonderful.

I totally botched my first meet with the family and pretty much every conversation since. I understand the jist of what people are saying to me. But when they ask specific questions I freeze or I just don't understand enough to answer correctly. They've learned to slow down so that each word is separated and I can nod or shake my head whether I know it or not. It's an adventure.

Yesterday we had orientation and went on a bus tour of Valencia. I thought at one point "I hate traveling. I'm never doing this again." But that has not been the overall impression (sorry mom and dad ;)) This city is beautiful. But also smelly at times. And there are lots of smelly people here. Body odor is unfortunately not uncommon. My nose is not my friend.

I also went exploring with Karina and one of her friends from school. Karina is super independent and adventurous, so I enjoy tagging along with her and she enjoys (or at least tolerates) my questions like how do I use an ATM and silly things like that.

My school has a total of 5 students. 3 professors. So the classes are tiny. I have three in the morning and 2 in the evening every day Monday through Thursday. They are wonderful... at least so far. We started today. It's nice to have such small classes because the professors really care about whether or not we understand and so when I make a face like I don't get it they ask and then repeat. So all that to say they all know what level I'm at with Spanish... I'm going for most improved by the end of the semester.

So that's what's happened thus far; Emotionally, things are good. I got great sleep last night. I love my host family. I'm enjoying getting to know the city. It feels like it's going to be forever until I go home so I try not to think about that too much. Every day is just so long. But it's not forever. And I'm going to enjoy every second I have here.

I'm excited to go to church on Sunday and hopefully meet some people who love Jesus. I miss talking about Him with people who get it.

Some interesting things I've noticed (and/or read online) so far:
-Spanish people don't make eye contact in passing
-Lunch is around 2, dinner around 9
-Families eat lunch together- and work/school schedules are created with this in mind.
-People love to look nice (which is great because I don't really own nice clothes-- hello new wardrobe)
-It's smelly
-Bikers are intense, also men are vocal ("muy guapa" .. oh...uh... you too?)

That's it for now.
Thanks for reading. See you soon!