Hola!

I have successfully arrived in Spain after a long day of traveling. To summarize, I drove from Johnstown to Pittsburgh, flew from Pittsburgh to JFK, stood in line there for about 3 hours, spotted Audrina from The Hills (OMG I know!), had a 1-hour delay on the tarmac, flew from JFK to Madrid, took a 1-hour bus to our university's neighborhood, and then had to lug all of our baggage up a hilly road, made of cobblestone, in the pouring rain.

After all of that, we were offically introduced to our new home for the next 3-ish months: The Fundación José Ortega y Gasset, fondly referred to as "The Fund". We checked in and then had the tour of the facility, which is a former monastery. The building houses all of the students who opt not to live with a host family, all of the classrooms, a gym, 2 computer labs, a cafeteria, a dining room, and the administrative offices. Each semester, about 100 non-Spanish students enroll at the Fund, to give you an idea.

After our orientation, we had a meeting with a woman who briefed us on living with a host family, which all Notre Dame students have chosen to do. She spoke very fast, and I was very tired, so I missed most of what she said. Hopefully it wasn't too important. After our briefing, we received our family assignments. We were then herded down a flight of stairs to meet our families. It was a little uncomfortable, since all of the students were crammed on a flight of stairs and all of the host parents were squeezed onto the floor. The director called the students one by one, and then everyone watched as you formally introduced yourself to your new parent(s), with a kiss on both cheeks. Like I said, a little uncomfortable.

We then had a VERY brief meet and greet with the families before being shuttled to our new home. Toledo is a very old city, and when it was established, the government constructed a wall around the entire city to protect it from invaders. Since the construction of the wall, the city has expanded, so there's living "inside the walls" versus "outside the walls". I am living in a region known as Poligino, which is outside the walls, meaning I have a 15 minute bus ride to the Fund. The apartment I am staying in is very nice, and I have my own room. I was lucky enough to get a Spanish family that doesn't smoke, which is a rarity in this country. My host family consists of a host mom, host dad, brother (22 years old) and sister (20 years old). I haven't met the siblings yet, as they are on vacation, but the parents have been very accommodating and patient to say the least.

That about summarizes my first day in Spain. On Monday, I have to take an oral and written placement exam to determine my language skills, and then I start classes on Tuesday. I am very much looking forward to establishing a routine with classes. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves, wherever they may be, and I will end this post by saying Go Irish! Beat Aztecs!

Amor de España,
Jill