¡Estoy aquí!

¡HOLA HOLA HOLA!

¡Mis amigos y mi familia!

Right now it is 10:53 your time but it is 16:52 (4:52pm) my time. Needless to say, I am exhausted and want nothing else than to go to bed right now. But I wanted to inform you all that I have arrived safely at my destination and miss you all dearly! The flight was fine and there were two girls going to Salamanca sitting in rows near me so we were able to figure out what to do at the air port together. Once we arrived, we found some other IES Salamanca students who had landed with us at 6:30 that morning and we waited for 3 and half hours to be picked up. IES is hardcore and will not speak to us in English. But this is a reason I chose this program, right?

Meeting my host family has definitely been the highlight of my day so far. Rafa, my host dad is really funny and works for a local TV station. María Jesús, my host mom made us a lovely dish of pasta and chorizo for lunch and was very welcoming. I can't say I understand exactly everything they say yet, but luckily my housemate, Julia, seems to. Julia is SO NICE and goes to Penn State.

Rafa and María Jesús have two boys, Sergio (10) y Javier (12). THEY ARE ADORABLE!!! And they love talking to us! They literally interviewed us all throughout lunch about what we like to do and what is our favorite color and what kind of food do we like to eat. They both love soccer so I am hoping I will be able to get to play with them a bit!

The plan for the rest of the day is to chill out and take a little siesta and then later go on a walk with mi familia and they are going to show us Salamanca! Salamanca is, by the way, a beautiful little city with old large churches, parks, and lots of people. I think I'm going to really love it here.

Tomorrow orientation starts and lasts until the 30th. Hopefully, I will not fail my Spanish grammar placement quiz.

I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU DEARLY!!!