Orientations/First Days

Hello all!

Yesterday I finally got to my house and thank goodness because I was so done with having to carry my suitcase everywhere.

The orientations were actually really fun. I got to the first one at JFK around 2:30 on Wednesday. At first it was obviously a little uncomfortable but after a while it was really nice talking to everyone who was going to Spain and seeing where they were going to be living. We watched some videos and had some talks and all in all it was very helpful. People going to Spain left at 1:15 for our flight to Zurich. We literally had to wait in security for about one and a half hours, it was really horrible. Then we had an hour to walk around the airport and pick up food or whatever before our flight. It was supposed to be eight hours but I think ended up being closer to 6 or 7 which was nice. The airport in Zurich was beautiful. They had so many amazing cafes and stores so it wasn't difficult to kill the three hours we had before our flight to Madrid. After we got to Madrid we were immediately taken to our hotel where we would have a short orientation. Being in Spain was much more relaxed. We had time for a siesta and to hang out with other AFSers so it was really fun. We had dinner at 9 and our orientation was from 10:30 to 12. My group to Vitoria had to wake up at 7:30 the next day for our bus. It took four and a half hours but we all mostly slept through it and got to stop in a beautiful city on the way to see a cathedral very quickly. My host parents met me at Vitoria and we took a short drive back to Bilbao.

They are so unbelievably nice! I have a very cute room with a great view of the town. They had little gifts set up for me because my birthday was the day before and were so welcoming. They understood how tired I was so they fed me and then I went to sleep for 15 hours. Today we ate breakfast, watched Master Chef, and then had lunch at my grandma's house. She is also the sweetest women who made amazing food for all of us. Apparently we go there every Sunday and I am really excited.

Tomorrow I start school and I am extremely nervous. I think they speak spanish there at least which is good but possibly they speak catalan as well. I am going to walk over with Oskar (my host father) in the morning so I can sign up for classes.

It has been such a good start to my time in Spain and although I am nervous for the coming year I am so excited and curious to see what it will hold!!