I noticed you chose the 'Convert' option when exchanging your HBD to Hive. That's why it took a whole 3 days. You can do an instant trade by using your HBD to buy Hive HERE
Well, this is a good start for you and I'm glad you are enjoying this learning experience.
About where to keep your Hive fund, Hive is the safest place to keep them. You can easily withdraw by sending to Crypto exchanges (Binance) whenever you want to get cash for them.