My First Week In Sevilla

My first week in Sevilla has been the most overwhelming and craziest week of my life. 

To first introduce myself, my name is Maya and I will be in a town called Coria Del Rio outside of Sevilla for the spring semester of 2020. I wanted to go abroad because of an experience I had this summer. This summer, I went to South Africa with CIEE to help a community build a garden in a school. It was such an incredible experience, an experience I will never forget. I truly think it did change me. So, I wanted to keep growing, and why not go abroad for school to do that? 

I thought I would keep it 100% honest, so here is a recap of my emotions of my first couple of days: I remember being at the airport, scared out of my mind that I would spend 5 months without my parents, without my friends, and without a language, I know inside and out. Truthfully I don`t think that fear has gone away yet, but thankfully it has gotten better. From then on, I struggled to make friends, feeling isolated and scared things wouldn't get better. I can now say that I have some American friends I can lean on when things get tough. I remember getting to my host families house and getting hit by emotions, what they are I still am not sure of. I cried and cried, calling my parents and feeling overwhelmed like never before. I had never done anything this scary in my life. I am still overwhelmed, but as days pass I feel more and more settled into a new life.  

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I know so far this blog post is depressing and may not sound like I`m enjoying myself. But I truly would say I`m excited for what's to come. Something from the orientation stuck out to me, "it gets better every day." It really does. Sunday was better than Saturday, and Saturday was better than Friday. It is comforting knowing that it can only get better. Emotions are a tricky thing, and I definitely have a hard time controlling mine. You cannot really prepare yourself for the journey ahead, and that is pretty scary.  But you just gotta remember that this journey is pretty scary, but that is what makes it exciting. I am very excited for the next couple of months, and to keep you updated as I keep on exploring the unknown and pushing myself to do new things.