The Start of Something New

Sevilla is the fourth largest city in Spain and capital of the autonomous community of Andalucía. It is home to the third largest cathedral in the world, bullfighting, Flamenco dancing, gazpacho, the famed orange tree-lined streets, and, for the next four months, me. In exactly five days, I will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on my first flight without my parents, about to commence my first stay in Europe. I will be living with a family or señora (single, elderly lady) in Sevilla (exactly who/where I won't find out until I arrive) and taking five classes, all taught in Spanish (exactly which ones I won't know until I arrive). The anticipation and uncertainty are killing me. And to top it all off, I'll have to live on four pairs of shoes all semester because that's all I have room for in my luggage. Oh, the horror.

Having spent the last three and a half weeks at home mostly stuffing my face and watching a mind-boggling number of movies, I have had plenty of time to grow anxious. Since I can't actually get to Sevilla any sooner, I decided to do the next best thing and write to everyone I know about how I can't wait to get to Sevilla. Just kidding. Sort of. I have created this weblog as a way for my family and friends to know what I'm up to, and more importantly, that I'm alive, for the next four months. While I will have internet access at the study center where I'll be taking classes, the fact that the study center is only open during certain hours, along with the time difference (6 hours between Spain and Eastern Standard Time), may make individual communication (long facebook messages, e-mails, Skype sessions) difficult. And while I will probably purchase a cell phone in Spain, it will only be for brief local use, the occassional phone call home, and emergencies. In light of these obstacles, I will do my best to update this blog regularly as a means of communicating with my large fan base. (If you're lucky, there may even be pictures, but please, no autographs.)

For now, I'll just share a few lists I've made regarding my trip...

Things I want to do while abroad:

1. See a bullfight
2. See a professional soccer match
3. See a Flamenco show
4. See a Spanish movie in a movie theater
5. Visit the African continent
6. Go on a tapas crawl (eating tapas, or snack-sized portions of food, from several tapas bars in one night)
   
7. Go to a beach
8. Become conversationally fluent in Spanish

The biggest difficulties I'm anticipating are:

1. Finding vegetarian food that is varied and substantial enough. (But shhh, don't mention this to my grandparents or great-grandparents, or they will insist that I take a suitcase full of Indian munchies from home.)
   
2. Finding a balance between seeing/doing everything I want to and not going broke.
3. Finding a balance between enjoying myself and being appropriately paranoid about pickpockets and other shady characters.
4. Feeling overwhelmed by all the Spanish around me and frustrated by my inability to communicate perfectly in Spanish (at least for the first few weeks).

I'm hoping the first list grows and the second shrinks as time goes on.

I'd like to end this first blog post with a big "thank you" to my parents- for allowing me to step outside their comfort zone and study abroad; for encouraging me enough to keep me adventurous and stifling me enough to keep me safe; for being my lifelong cheerleaders, and now, my only guaranteed blog-readers.