Day 1

Greetings from Barcelona! I arrived this morning after a long 12 hours of traveling and no sleep. It is so hard to believe I am finally here after months of anticipation. Luckily, I was able to avoid the worst of the inclement weather in Europe and make it here without any delays or lost luggage. One of my roommates, Maya (from NY), lost her luggage in London yesterday and won't have it for several days. Mimi is my other roommate  and we are sharing a room with a bunk bed and a desk. Our host mom is Cecilia, who we believe is in her late twenties. She speaks good English and works as a consultant here in Barcelona. We also live with Cecilia's mother, Elena, who moved from Peru 27 years ago. Elena doesn't speak any english but given her Peruvian accent, speaks very clear spanish. Elena is responsible for the cooking in the house. As most of you know, I am an extremely picky eater so I faced my first challenge on the first night. We had a good soup, chickpeas, and a hard boiled egg which I had a difficult type getting down. As long as it's not fish I think I will survive!

My first few hours have definitely been great and I am confident that I will enjoy my time with Cecilia and Elena. I am also excited to live with Mimi and Maya. Orientation starts tomorrow morning so the three students are going to try to navigate our way around the subway by ourselves. Wish us luck!