Poco a Poco

Some things:

1) My host parents, Margarita and Serafín, are absolutely fantastic. Marga makes the best food ever (sorry, dad...)! I am hoping to pick up a few of her cooking skills. Jenna, Rachel, and I have already requested a cooking lesson from her, and she accepted! Below is a photo of what a typical dinner looks like. This photo happens to be my favorite dish so far. I am not sure if it has a specific name, but basically it's red sauce, peas, cheese, sausage, and an egg in the middle. I never thought that I would enjoy peas, but here I am loving them!

It has been really fun getting to know our host parents. At first, it was a bit of a challenge understanding what they were saying with the thick Andalucían accent, but now my ears have adjusted a bit, and I feel a lot more comfortable being with them.

2) My roommates, Rachel (on the left) and Jenna (on the right), are freaking amazing! Becoming friends with them has felt so organic, and getting to know them more and more along the way has been really fun. Below is a photo that our friend, Esther (who I will talk about next), took of us at this great tapas restaurant called "Baratillo".

3) Esther, our beloved Esther! One of the first days in Seville, Esther gave me and some other students a quick tour of the city. After the tour, she asked for our numbers and we kind of just automatically became friends. She is originally from Bolivia but now lives in Seville, so she know all of the ropes to the city. It is always a joy to spend time with her!

4) Friends! Every student at my school is so amazing. I can't believe how lucky I am to be with them during these next few months. Below is a photo from the other day when we all went to the senior home down the street to play BINGO. It was basically impossible to understand what they were saying, but it was nevertheless a fun experience! The guy in the red shirt next to me told me that all of the Japanese students that visit him are really smart. I think he told me this 2 or 3 times. I just smiled and took it as a complement haha.

5) Poco a Poco... My life is being filled to the brim with wonderful things, and I am so grateful. I can already tell that God has some amazing things in store for these weeks to come. Our teachers and host parents will frequently say "poco a poco", which means little by little. It is definitely a huge challenge for me to have patience with myself and with the pace at which I am learning. I wish that I could just be fluent and that would be that, but the reality is that my abilities to speak fluently will develop little by little. The best thing for me to do right now is take one day at a time, to fully be in the moment, and most of all to never forget how blessed I am to have this wonderful opportunity in Seville.