Phew. End of the first day(s?). I’m exhausted and I’m not sure how long I’ve been awake (apart from the sweet nap I took earlier). I made the mistake of getting a good night’s sleep at home the night before I left; as a result, I couldn’t sleep on the plane, not that I’m any good at doing that anyway. I’m going to bed soon and I’m SUPER EXCITED for sleep.
My flight left O’Hare at 2, and when I was checking my bags, the girl at the kiosk next to me overheard me talking to the skycap and asked which program I was doing. I told her and it turned out we were in the same program. I was glad to have someone else to navigate the many airports with me! She told me her name was Katherine and she was also from the area. We got to our gate with plenty of time, got on the two-hour flight to Philadelphia, and arrived there early. Luckily the terminal we had to transfer to was nearby. I knew I’d be hungry so I got a slice of pizza from a restaurant near our gate in the international terminal. Behind me in line was a woman with two young girls, and when they spoke, they had English accents! I love the international terminal.
After I scarfed the pizza like it was my last meal on Earth, it was time to board. It finally started to hit me that I was actually going to Madrid, and my heart beat faster from a combination of nerves and excitement. I looked at my ticket. 15E. I was hoping I’d have an aisle but this turned out to be right in the middle of a woman and her very young son, probably not much older than a year and a half, and an older man who looked to be in his late 50s/early 60s. In my head I pleaded the little boy to sleep a lot on the plane. There was an extra seat in our row, so I moved over one so the mother and son could have more space. She had been holding him, and after I moved over I glanced at them and saw that she was breastfeeding him. On the plane, right next to me. Hm. Alrighty then. It was a bit strange to me, but I know that most other cultures aren’t as weird about that as Americans. And you know what? I think that contributed to the child’s outstanding quietness on the flight. He made a little noise and squirmed a bit, but overall was probably one of the best-behaved children I have ever seen on a plane, especially one that’s in the air for seven hours.
I tried to sleep on the flight. Really tried. But I just couldn’t, even after I figured out (after what seemed like an eternity) how to lean my seat back. I think I dozed off a bit, but it couldn’t have been for more than 20 minutes. Once they turned the cabin lights back on I gave up and started watching The Social Network from the little screen on the back of the seat in front of me. I thought it was really good, but I got cut off maybe about halfway through, maybe less, because we were landing.
We arrived at the dark, extremely foggy Barajas airport at about 7:30 in the morning, Madrid time, meaning 12:30 a.m. Chicago time. I didn’t really feel tired, and the adrenaline of finally being in Madrid was keeping me awake. It turned out there were about 47,000 study abroad students on our flight. Ok, maybe not THAT many, but there were a lot, some doing the Madrid program, others Granada, Salamanca, and Seville. Customs was a breeze and our luggage came quickly; I think it was because no one else was at the airport, or at least it seemed like it. We gathered in groups by people holding IES signs and they helped us get cabs to the hotel where we’re spending the night tonight. A girl in my program named Laura and I shared a cab, and in between holding on for dear life as the car swerved through the city, we talked about where we were from, school, the fact that Ke$ha and Katy Perry were on the radio in the taxi, etc. We arrived at the hotel intact (amazingly), and quickly checked in and went up to a room. Which is actually quite spacious and nice, despite the unnerving lack of clocks and shower that drains really slowly. Oh, and the bathroom has a bidet in it. :D Not that I even know how to use one. It just amuses me. By then it was about 9:30 a.m., and Laura and I decided to take a really awesome, 2-hour nap. While my phone doesn’t even know what day it is anymore, my iPod luckily is equipped with clocks for multiple time zones as well as an alarm. That nap, and the shower I took afterwards, may be the reason I am still awake and (barely) coherent.
At 1pm we headed downstairs to the lobby where the IES students were gathered. Abby (for those unfamiliar with her, my roommate freshman year and first semester junior year and future senior year roommate. We’re lucky enough to live well together) and I found each other. Her flight arrived later than mine did and she hadn’t had a chance to nap. It really is nice to have someone familiar here, as everything else is so new and different. We headed to the welcome lunch, which consisted of multiple courses of bread, vegetables, a huge piece of meat, and dessert, and talked to other students. Then the IES directors talked to us about the program, safety, classes, and other things that I can’t remember. We had a break after that for a couple hours where Abby and I figured out where on the map of Madrid we were living and where the IES center was and how to get there on the Metro. At 5:30 we went back downstairs where we met Spanish students who were to take us on walks through the city. Pablo (I think that was his name) took us down streets, past shops and bars and restaurants, past the Palacio Real and into the Plaza Mayor. This was one of my main memories of visiting Madrid when I was in high school and it was really cool to be there again. I plan to find Ocean (certain people will get this) and also the bar we had churros y chocolate in during my high school trip. The weather was really nice, if just a bit chilly. Warm really, compared to when I left Chicago. It was funny to see all the Spanish people bundled up in coats and scarves, while I was just wearing a sweater. Much was seen on this walk but I’m not going to go into too much detail as I’ll do that when I have pictures to accompany my descriptions.
After the walk Abby and I took advantage of the free Wi-Fi at a nearby Starbucks, and then when we were past the point of tired, we returned to the hotel, where I am sitting now, on the bed, clearly far too sleep-deprived than is healthy as I’m slightly hallucinating that the bed is moving up and down like waves on the ocean. So I’m going to sleep now. And I’ll post this tomorrow as I don’t want to pay for an hour of internet that I won’t use.
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