Que Bonita!

Hola familia y amigos! I have arrived and have begun my adventure in Alicante! We were delayed from Madrid to Alicante yesterday but it was worth it when we flew over Alicante and the Mediterranean. It was absolutely beautiful! Quick overview of the past few days: I arrived at the airport with a bunch of other participants around 3 PM (Alicante time, remember you all are 7 hours behind me) and met Manuel and Francisco (our advisors). They took us to our hotel, Villa Universitaria which is directly across the street from la Universidad de Alicante. The hotel is very modern and beautiful. I am sharing a room with Kirsten, yes like my American Girl doll, and she is from Chicago but goes to school at Mizzou. I already gave her crap about Iowa beating Mizzou in the Insight Boul :) When we got to the hotel, two Spanish students were helping us with our luggage and they saw mine and started giggling. I said, "Me gusta ropa (I like clothes). And they said, "Zapatos (Shoes)?" And I nodded. Then one of them said my big suitcase was for shoes and the small suitcase was for clothes. I love Spain already. Alicante is known for three things: Chocolate, Toys, and SHOES! We were able to rest for a few hours but unfortunately I couldn't sleep and then we met up with the entire group, about 35 of us, Francisco (Paco) and Manuel (Manolo- these are their nicknames). They introduced themselves and told us where we could find them if we have problems, questions or concerns. They are both really nice and helpful! The orientation was in Spanish and I actually understood about 90% of it! Traveling to Ecuador definitely helped. We ate dinner at a restaurant with hundreds of jamón (ham) hanging form the ceiling. No joke. We had tapas (like spanish appetizers) for dinner and then I came back to the hotel and passed out! I had been up for 30+ hours! I was so tired I completely slept through my alarm this morning and barely made it downstairs for breakfast. However, I am feeling much better today and hopefully on Spanish time.

Today, Saturday, we took a bus to the middle of Alicante (downtown, the University and hotel are to the north of the city) and split up into 5 groups in order to take a walking tour. Our guide was Manolo, who is super cute but we found out he was married. He showed us the main street, where to buy a cell-phone, a hair straightener (plancha de pelo) and where ALL the shopping is. January is their sale month and even though I probably packed close to 85 pounds worth of clothing, I am definitely going shopping :) We saw a few government buildings and "El Barrio"- their bar area- before heading to lunch at El Buen Comer. We had paella which is a traditional plate of Spain. It's a mixture of rice, vegetables, meat or seafood and spices. It was delicious! I sat next to Anitana, a first year student at the University of Alicante and we chatted about where she lived, what music she likes, (She LOVES Shakira!), what she was studying, etc. She was super nice and I was happy to practice my Spanish. Right now we have a break (siesta) until 5:30 and then more orientation stuff until 9 PM when we will eat dinner. Spanards typically eat dinner later than we do in America. After dinner, some of us are heading down to el barrio to check out the downtown scene. Another fun fact, Spanards do no "go out" until close to mid-night or later.

I am really excited and thrilled to be here but it's been an intense couple of days. I feel like I am all over the place trying to figure out where to go, where to buy this and that, and remember all the important stuff Manolo and Paco tell me. But I was thinking back to my Ecuador trip and how it took my close to a month to get settled and feel comfortable around the city. Alicante is a lot different than Ecuador (and "safer"- I use quotes because that is a relative term but I feel safer and there are not as many bars on houses and stores here) but I know it will take me a few weeks and possibly a month to feel at home. I am so excited to meet my host family tomorrow and finally unpack my suitcase! Sorry this was more of a play-by-play of my last 48+ hours but I hope to provide more details in future posts. I am going to rest for the next 15 minutes! Love you all!

-Hilary