If it's not the curried vegetables...

I've been in Spain now for about 6 days. Getting here wasn't nearly as horrendous as I expected it to be. I slept on the plane until I was unceremoniously awoken by the flight attendants bringing food and drink. Normally, I welcome food and drink with open arms, but not when it's actually food substitute. I have a bad track record with sitting next to the person on the airplane who gets the last chicken dish at meal time, so I end up with the infamous curried vegetables, but, ALAS! That was not the case this time around. This time, I got the infamous...curried CHICKEN! How lucky for me, it's just about as good as the vegetables.

When we arrived in Valencia, we met out host families at the stadium. They all held up signs with our names on them. My roommate, Megan, and I found our host mother, Loles right away and did the kiss-the-cheek thing. She took us home, gave us the grand tour, let us unpack, fed us, and then let us sleep. It was great. The picture shows the bedroom I share with Megan. My bed is the one closest to the window.

At first, I could barely understand anything Loles said to me, but now that I've been here a few days, I can usually figure out what she's trying to tell me. At meal times, Megan and I usually bring a dictionary so that our conversations don't have to end as soon as we can't think of a word.

Even though it's so hard sometimes to say what I mean and I feel silly stumbling over all my words, I couldn't be happier to be here. I love the way the program is set up. I love my "madre" (host mom). Valencia is fantastic, and Spanish men are beautiful.