I'm in Spain.... What??

Things just got real. I have traveled to another country by myself.

A map of where I will be this year

Before elaborating on different things I have done so far while here, I thought I would post something answering a few basic questions about this trip, such as who, what, when, where, why, and how!

Who: Just me! I have never traveled very far by myself, just to Utah. When I went to Costa Rica almost four years ago, I went with a group of students and a few teachers from La Salle, my high school. This time, I flew solo (literally). I'm living with a family that has just three people in it: the mom (Laly), the dad (Edguardo), and the six year old daughter (Elvira). More on them in another post!

What: I guess that this is somewhat of an exchange student thing. I am here to teach Elvira English. Monday through Friday for a few hours, I have to talk to her only in English. But I am also here to immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking country to improve my skills.

When: I left the United States on May 1 and will be here until June 5. That's not a ton of time, but I need to get back to Provo to work to save up more money for DCP (Disney College Program).

Where: The family lives in a town called Illescas. It is about 30 minutes away from Madrid.

Why: I guess I already kind of covered this in the "what" section, but I am here to be able to speak and understand Spanish better as well as to help Elvira learn English. That is why the parents bring English speaking students, to help Elvira. All I had to pay for was a plane ticket to get here. I live here and eat here for free!

How: This past semester, I was in a history of Spain class. My teacher sent out an email saying that there was an opportunity to live with a family in Spain. Cool! She gave the contact information for a girl who had stayed with the family before. I knew that in order to progress any further in my Spanish, I needed to immerse myself. So, I emailed the girl. After emailing back and forth a lot, it seemed like something I would want to do. However, I was scared. I didn't know if I actually wanted to do it. I was scared of being alone, of not knowing the family, of being worse at Spanish than I think I am... a lot of different things. Nevertheless, I decided to do it.

So, here I am! I hope to get back into the groove of blogging while I'm here. Some things that I will post about in the near future: my host family and my day to day life, my trip to Madrid, the FANTASTIC ward here, differences between Spain and the United States that I have noticed, and more! :)

Sneak peek of Madird :)

Until next time! Hasta luego :)