The Not-So-Great Beginning

Before I tell about my life now, I want to talk about the beginning. 

When I first arrived to Sevilla I felt completely alone. After spending a month side-by-side with my best friend it was hard moving to a city where I knew hardly no one. Thankfully, my very good friend Ana Bello, let me live at her house until I found my own apartment. She is the secretary of the school I studied at three years ago. I spent the first couple of weeks in Sevilla feeling like an outsider, and being extremely frustrated and embarrassed by my Spanish. I would stay up until all hours of the night talking with friends back home on Skype, then I would sleep most of the day away. It was a pathetic beginning to start my dream life. 

I finally got my act together and started getting reacquainted with the city that I love so much. I thought it would be hard to live here again without any of my Spain friends here with me (though Raquael is in Toledo – just six hours away from me!), but it actually hasn’t been bad. I go to the places we used to frequent (like the river haha) and just remember how much fun we all had together. But I’m not sad that I’m here alone; I have ventured out on my own and made new friends! I have Spanish and American friends here, as well as German and Italian friends. I am living in an apartment with two Spanish girls, Fatima - 21 years old, and Silvia - 22; I’m teaching English at a high school in the pueblo of Coria del Río, I’m teaching private English lessons to 8 different students of all ages, and I’m now taking private Spanish lessons a couple times a week to get back into the swing of things with my Spanish.

I have noticed changes in me these past two months of living here in Sevilla, the biggest being that I have gained much more confidence in speaking Spanish. It has helped tremendously to live with Spaniards who don’t speak any English. They are very patient with me, and we get along so well! We eat together, hang out, shop and watch movies. I couldn’t have asked for better roommates.

I don’t know what I would have done without Ana Bello. She helped me get on my feet so much when I first moved here. I lived with her for all of September, and she was the best “señora”, and a wonderful friend. We spent a lot of time talking and hanging out together, and she introduced me to many of her friends so I could get to know more people here. She encouraged me in my Spanish, brought me to her family’s house in Peñaflor (a pueblo about an hour outside of Sevilla), cooked for me and taught me how to make a few dishes myself. My apartment is now just a few streets away from her, so we still see each other and talk frequently. I am lucky to have a friend like her here.

Those first few weeks of adjustment were harder than I originally anticipated, and I’m glad that’s all over now. Once I finally found my footing in Spain, I started enjoying it so much more. I absolutely love that I am here, and so grateful that I’ve been given this incredible opportunity. Who knows if I'll ever leave?! :)