Holy Toledo!

After what seems like a very long journey, I have finally made it to the magnificent city of Toledo!  It is still so surreal that I am here.  Although nothing can quite compare to the feeling I caught my first live view of the entire city, the journey to Toledo had a few highlights as well.

To start, I did not expect to be so emotional to leave America since I have been looking forward to my Spanish trip the entire summer.  Nonetheless, I found myself sitting on a train to Chicago crying to myself.  How embarassing! I mean, I can understand when people cry at airports since airports usually signify big trips.  A few tears would have been fine, but I could not stop myself if my life depended on it.  So here begins my trip... sitting on a little old train to Chicago that I have taken hundreds of times balling to myself.  Since I've gotten that out of my system, it has been smooth sailing.

Thankfully, I was able to sleep at my Aunt's house before my flight who happens to live super close to the O'hare airport.  My sweet grandparents and aunt dropped me off, and I met up with the travel diva Laura Gordon to begin the day long journey to the Madrid airport.  Laura and I shared a bittersweet moment together at 5 Guys where we ate our very last greasy all-american burger.  It was glorious!  Laura and I made sure we rehearsed the saludos "greetings" multiple times that we would do when we were to meet our host families.  Greetings in Spain are tricky business, but we were able to successfully master the dos besos as well as come up with multiple responses to questions that our school coordinators or host families may ask us upon meeting us.  Now did we remember these correctly formulated questions and responses? Well, upon being greeted by my school coordinator José, all I could muster up in Spanish was "soy Alyssa" which I've been told is the equivalent of "I be Alyssa" in English.  The remainder of our flights went very smoothly.  We spent a lot of time speculating who was and was definitely not Spanish on the plane for our entertainment.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get any sleep on the plane. I must have been too excited (especially since I discovered some new Glee jams on the plane).  Overall, it was an enjoyable journey, and we actually started to feel less like tourists (that is until I managed to fall down the stairs of the Madrid airport with all of my luggage). I am ok though :)

As of now, I have been in Toledo for almost 12 hours although it feels like days.  Laura and I were the first students to arrive to the program.  We later picked up the other students from their flight.  All of these students attend Notre Dame together. It was a little odd at first to be the only two students from St. Norbert with a bus load of students from Notre Dame, but I am excited to get to know these students.  After boarding the luxurious bus from the Madrid Airport to Toledo, we finally arrived at the Fundación de Ortega y Gasset and we were tired as can be.  At one point, I even felt myself almost falling asleep standing up.  Nevertheless, we were given an orientation about the school, Toledo, homestays, and bus schedules (all in Spanish I might add).  We were able to catch key words, and I think we just might understand our schedule for the week.  After this orientation, students were lined up to meet their host parents one at a time.  Many were practicing their dos besos since the entire fall class watched each student meet and greet their host families.  Lucky for me, my host mother was not able to get off of work until 4pm to pick me up.

Homestay :)
With a Toledo homestay, students can either live in the old part of Toledo (the historical city) or the suburbs (Polígono).  I was ecstatic when I received my homestay information that had assigned me to the Old part of Toledo. This part has so much history, art, culture, and is located conveniently within walking distance to my school.  However, I received an email during my layover at the Washington Dulles Airport saying that my host family no longer lived in the old part of Toledo, and they had moved to the suburb of Polígono.  I admit, I was a disappointed at first, but then I pondered that living in Polígono has its own advantages (maybe it's more dog friendly :).  After meeting my host mother, Caridad, I don't care where we are living.  I am so thankful to have been placed in this family.  So far, I have only met Caridad (madre) and Mar (my host sister who is 18). I hope to meet my host dad and host brother for dinner today; however, it is 9:35pm here and they have not come home for dinner yet.  Although it has been less than a day that I have been with my madre y sister, they have been so welcoming and hospitable.  Also, my room is super cute.  My madre loves to cook and I told her that I love to eat, so this shall work out just fine! She has already promised to teach me how to cook traditional Spanish food and my sister is going to teach me some dance moves.  I cannot say enough about their hospitality. Also, did I mention that my closet goes from the floor to the ceiling? Talk about a lucky girl.

Tomorrow I will be taking my exams at 9:00am.  My madre kindly offered to drive me to school instead of taking the bus. I believe she also mentioned something about taking me out for lattes beforehand, but my Spanish is a little rusty.  I have, however, noticed a dramatic difference in my confidence speaking Spanish since arriving at the airport in Madrid and now.

My second day in Toledo is quickly approaching just as the rest will fly by.  Through this experience, I hope that I am able to not only improve my Spanish skills, but I hope that I am able to really understand other ways of experiencing life.  I'm still at the homesick/culture shock stage, but I know that this is going to be such a deepening experience if I allow it to be.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of my home: (more to come soon)

My cute bedroom

Un abrazo (hug),
Alyssa

 they even decorated the room with little nic nacs for me

desk space next to the nice window breeze

view of Polígono outside my window

living room

kitchen