On the Plane

Well. It's that time. I am on the plane to travel over the deep dark ocean to Madrid, which will eventually take me to Granada. My experience has been great so far. I just hope it continues to be so. 

The instructions are in Spanish and English, but I am trying to understand as much of the Spanish as possible. To those who aren't aware- my Spanish is not that great so this is definitely a stretch for me. 

Also- I am typing on an IPad so I apologize for any typos.

I am hoping this flight goes smoothly. Actually, I hope the next one goes smoothly. Then, I won't have any English instructions. I see many colors on this plane thus far. As in, there are many different types of people. Also, the people holding España passports did not look like I thought they'd would. Yes, I know this is much stereotyping, but I really think this observation of mine illustrates how much I do not know about real Spanish people. I think I could read as much as I could, but nothing could really prepare me for this, which is super thrilling and nerve wracking all at the same time. 

(Insert lots of time here ...)

Well, the flight was terrible. Yes, terrible. I ended up sitting next to this dude from Texas who was also a student. He was studying in Granada. It was horrible, however, because I could just not get comfortable. I think I probably slept like a total of 2 hours. My back hurt a lot during the entire thing. 

But, the plane food was not as bad as everyone had told me. 

This is what I had for dinner. It wasn't bad at all. I watched a movie on my IPad that I had uploaded, but each seat also had little personal entertainment devices. It had some movies and TV shows, including The Big Bang Theory, which I love. The flight attendants were nice, mostly. I think they were just stressed because the flight had more turbulence than expected. 

But, overall I mean it wasn't like the worst experience of my life. 

Then, we landed in Madrid. That, my friends, is a huge airport, aeropuerto. It was very complicated. However, I found my way around. Luckily, there was lots of students (that apparently were on the DFW- MAD flight) that were also going to Granada on the same flight I was. Actually, that flight was pretty much all full of students. That was comforting. I met lots of friends waiting for the flight to Granada, as well as on the flight. Most of them were with a program called Sol, paired with various schools in the US, such as Texas A&M. They taught me how they greet each other on campus, with a nice "howdy". It made me wish UNA had more study abroad partners other than Magellan, but I am still excited to be here on my own. 

Then, I was picked up at the airport with a representative from Don Quijote and taken to my host mom's house. Her name is Beatriz. She greeted me with two kisses, one on each side. Everyone greets that way. I will definitely have to get used to that. 

She was so excited to see me. She showed me my room and said many things in Español that I barely understood. There is also a few other students staying with her as well. Two of the girls are away at the beach for the weekend so I did not get to meet them. Louise is from Tennessee, ironically. She is this short, little, and very nice blonde chica. 

Beatriz then served us all lunch, almuerzo. It was very good, and very filling. She said that she would celebrate my arrival with vino, wine. I was very good. I had never had anything like that. 

I tried to go on a little stroll by myself. It was interesting. I did not want to go too far so that I would not get lost. It started raining so I tried to quickly find my way back, which I did. 

I noticed everywhere were these little recycle things. 

I mean everywhere. I'm guessing this country loves to recycle, or maybe just this city. Either way, that was interesting. Also, all the cars are shaped the same. They have like all of our brands, Toyota, Audi, etc. However, they all look the same. 

Literally, every single car looks like these two. 

After my little stroll, I slept. A lot. Jet lag is real my friends. 

This morning/ afternoon (Sunday) I woke up very late and have just been chilling ever since. 

This is what the living room looks like. It is raining hard today and so the outside is very gloomy. 

Beatriz made me tea, which is very yummy. She went to eat lunch with her son, then brought him back here. He is in his early 20s and travels lots. He is very good-looking. Very. I hope all Spanish boys look like this. He also speaks English which was helpful. 

Everything is in Spanish: the TV (to which I was very surprised to see Obama on the news), music, and everything Beatriz says. I am trying to understand as much as possible. School hasn't even started and I feel like I am already learning lots. Total emmersion they say is the best way to pick up the language, oh how very true that is. 

She has also been oh so very patient with me. When I don't understand, she repeats illustrates (sharades) and then will try to translate some words for me in English. Sometimes, however, I just say sí. This morning, when I was still tired, she excitingly said a few sentences very fast and I just nodded, said sí, and then went on my way to take a shower and such. 

She is so nice and understanding with me. 

She said she would walk me to my school in the morning so that I would know where it is. 

I cannot wait to start everything. 

My mother was right, it has been nice having an extra day to rest. 

¡Adiós mis amigos!