First Day!

Well, today was my first day in Ávila and it was so wonderful! We took a bus from Madrid to Ávila and the scenery was just gorgeous along the way! It was so beautiful and I got some good pictures, but it was so hard to stay awake on that ride because I still hadn't gotten any sleep. I slept 45 mins on the plane, and that's all the sleep I got for Friday night. When we got to Ávila, we met up with our families (which I mentioned before) and then headed to our homes.

Check out this cool cross we saw in the mountains on our way from Madrid to Ávila!

Rico said we'd probably go home, eat lunch, and then go to bed and catch up on our sleep. But after I ate and we were sitting around talking, I wasn't really tired anymore and I didn't want to go to bed at 4 in the afternoon, so I stayed up and was planning on going to sleep early evening, but I never actually did! With all the stimulation, I stayed very alert and awake. It's currently 11:48 pm and I still haven't slept. I'm sure this'll catch up to me eventually, but at the moment I'm doing well. One nice thing is that Nuría and Jesús have an old extra cell phone, so I'll be able to use that while I'm here. I just need to buy a new SIM chip to put in it, which is only about 15 euros, and then it'll work and that's all I'll have to pay. That'll be nice so I can communicate with my friends, and it'll be nice because I won't be stuck with a random phone when I'm done.

Late in the afternoon, Nuría and Marta took me to the supermercado so I could buy some shampoo and a couple other necessities. Jesús works as a security guard here in town and he was working, so it was just us three. One of Nuría's good friends is also hosting a student, who happens to be my friend Kari whom I already know! So we went to the store together with her and her family which was really nice. Kari and I were totally fascinated by the market. We are going to go back in some day soon and take some pictures. Some of the stuff in there is so cool! Their baskets especially. They wheel across the ground and it's really neat. Nuría bought me some Nutella while we were there so I was really excited. European Nutella is even better than regular Nutella, which I never thought was possible. Then we went back to Kari's house and hung out there for a little bit. She has two little host sisters, one a little older than Marta, and the other is 4 years old. I don't know why, but seeing a 4-year-old speak Spanish just cracks me up. She's adorable. After that, Nuría drove me around town to show me around and explain where I need to walk home from school. It's about a 30 minute walk, so that'll be a good chunk of exercise everyday. It's just too bad none of the other students live on my street so we could walk together! Then we went to the big town center of Avila inside the walls, along with her sister (who's also hosting a student). So Kelli and I and our host families looked around in there a little bit. It was so gorgeous. We didn't stay long, but I'm excited to go back!

Here's a picture from inside the town center.

It was getting really chilly out when the sun went down, so we came back and had dinner. I watched some TV with Marta, which is SO fun because she watches the same shows kids do here. We watched Tom & Jerry and Phineas & Ferb. They're the same, just in Spanish. Then I finished unpacking my suitcase, took a shower, and I'm about to go to bed. I'm excited to sleep, cuz I am a little bit behind in that department.

I have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring, but I'm sure it will be something great! Hope you all have a great evening :)