RYE Student Bianca's 1st Update 

I had told myself I would sleep in the plane but that is, of course, utterly unrealistic. When I finally made it through baggage claim (my suitcase was last, as expected), my entire host family was waiting for me. When I say entire, I mean that my fluffy white dog was at the airport too. I was very, very happy to finally meet them. My first impression was that they were all very tall and very beautiful. This impression has not changed. I swear one of my host brothers is around 6'5'' and my host mom could be in cereal commercials. My next impression was that they were really, sincerely nice. And this hasn't changed either. All five of them have been incredibly friendly and sweet. Family member number 6, the fluffy white dog, is secretly a very grumpy old man and I believe his thoughts towards me can be summarized by “Hmmph!”. I suspect that I am growing on him, though. I have already gone out quite a bit. On my first day here, my older host brother, Javi, and my sister, Paula, took me to the Plaza del Sol. Plaza del Sol is in the literal center of Madrid, which also happens to be the literal center of Spain. Kind of like Four Corners but in the middle of a big city instead of a desert. We then went home and I slept twelve hours straight. The last two days, we went to a country club that my host family is a part of. There's a large outdoor swimming pool there and I think it's more or less Madrid's version of the beach. My host mom was very concerned that I might burn myself because I am “tan blanca!” (“so white!”). I actually thought I was pretty tan but everyone here is a good ten shades darker then I am so I suppose it must be true. Today my host siblings took me to my high school. It's in a gorgeous part of Madrid, a few blocks away from the largest park in the city and the biggest library. I think I will like it very much. Overall I've had a very good couple of days. My Spanish is bad but not horrible and my family is very patient with me. I've already made plans to meet up with other exchange students who are in Madrid so I am really looking forward to that. And it turns out I have a really, really wonderful host family and they have done everything possible to make me feel at home (I even have a profile on their Netflix account!).

I'm sure I'll have lots more to tell next month! Hasta pronto,

-Bianca