Amazing.

Forgive me in advance for the disorganization of this blog post and grammar mistakes because it's pretty much like I'm just vomiting onto paper. I have a huge amount to tell everyone.




Okay guys, I'm all settled in.  This place is...amazing. I don't have words for how it feels to be here. I've been waiting on it for so long and now I'm here! I'm in my room! I'm typing this while everyone else is watching Super Bowl coverage. This is the first time I miss home. Do I want to go home? Of course not. I am not homesick. It's just a weird feeling all the festivities happening at home and I'm here. It's a fair trade off though! So my journey started in Madrid, obviously, then I went to the most magnificently beautiful city I've ever seen: Toledo. Toledo isn't a place I would want to live, but I would like to get lost in the tiny cobblestone streets surrounded by shops. The small city is nestled in the mountains and had amazing panoramic views from every angle. It's the kind of city Spanish postcards showcase. We left there and came to the best city in which to live in Spain (in my opinion). I've been to Madrid and Barcelona, the first and second biggest cities in Spain and now live in Sevilla, the fourth largest. Sevilla is unlike any city I've ever been to. Madrid is kind of like New York. Barcelona is kind of like Miami. Sevillia is kind of like....well, Sevilla. It's got everything a big city has except it just feels different. It's absolutely gorgeous in every neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood called Triana. Triana likes to identify itself as a separate city from Sevilla just because it's across the river. The coolest part about where I live is that it's off the beaten path, but yet it's in good walking distance from everything. I don't live with tourists. I don't live with Americans. I live with the Spaniards. I live around families. In the mornings as I walk to El Centro (the center of the city), there are countless families walking their children to school while the children sing songs. One day, one child was singing a song and a child across the street started singing the song with him. It was amazing. I've already learned so much in the little under a week I've been here - whether it's how to walk on the sidewalk, how to eat at a restaurant, or simply the how to speak the Spanish language. Everywhere I walk, there's a new lesson to learn. It's amazing. That's the word I keep using. Amazing. I don't think I'll ever be able to explain how this will be at the end of my stay here. It's one of those "just had to be there" moments. The pictures do no justice and neither do my stories. The Spanish lifestyle, along with many other places outside the United States, is much more lax than ours. We keep saying "Spanish time" for everything because they are literally late to EVERYTHING. My tour guide in Toledo said "Time is important. But it's not the most important. That's what we believe." This made me start thinking. In the United States, time is number one. That's really not okay. To recognize and acknowledge that time isn't the most important thing in life, to me, is admirable. Life is too short to worry about waiting that extra 20 minutes you might have to wait. Now, those of you that know me know that that is far from my personality. I hate tardiness. Hopefully I can work on that. Finally, I just want to touch on what I think is the reason I was sent over here. To learn about people. Not from a sociology standpoint or even a behavioral one, but more on a personal and "real" level. My best times so far here have been the extensive conversations I've had with Americans either on the bus, sidewalk, or street corner waiting for coffee. Ironically, I'm learning about America WAY more than I am about Spain. Being able to reflect on my own personal experiences as well as our country's collective ones have already taught me so much. All this has happened in 6 days and about 18 hours. This is amazing. There it is again. Amazing. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me in this city in southern Spain. I know it's something...well...amazing.