We Have Arrived!

So we finally made it to Spain! I left for the Airport around 3p.m on August 27th. My mom brought me to the airport which I was a little bit worried about since she is a little bit clueless when it comes to driving in Boston but we made it okay. The entire way to the airport she was reminding me about all the awful things that could happen to me if I'm not careful. It put me in a great mood to leave the country for four months but I guess I can't control her worrisome personality. When I got to the airport I checked in my bag, which weighed just under the limit. Carrying my suitcase was another issue...I was struggling so hard to even roll it to the check-in desk. As Michelle, Sam and I walked into security our moms were being way to obnoxious. As Michelle's mom said "be careful", so did my mom. To be honest, I wish I captured the moment on vine. On my first flight to Dublin, I was stuck in the middle seat in a row of 4. The man next to me was very nice though so at least that was good. Before leaving, my dad was like "I booked you window seats so at least you can sleep". This was far from true as I was booked in the aisle seat on my plane from Dublin to Madrid. On the plus side, the two seats next to me were empty so I laid down and tried to sleep. The worst part about the trip was that I couldn't fall asleep so when we arrived in Madrid I was exhausted.

On the first night we stayed at hotel in Madrid. We had a long and boring orientation followed by dinner. The food wasn't what I expected of Spain. We had salad, Chicken, fries and dessert. After that we just went to the hotel and slept. The next morning, we went to Starbucks in the morning then had another orientation session. We had some free time after that so we walked around and had lunch at a small place in town. One thing I have learned about Spanish culture is that they eat a lot of ham! Too bad I'm not a huge fan of ham.

Our dorm is like a palace with spiral staircases and small hallways into the rooms. Michelle and I are roommates and we have a small but cute room on the third floor. We get three meals a day and so far they have been pretty good. Last night's dinner wasn't the greatest though - it was fried ham and cheese. I'm not sure why they would ever feel the need to fry ham but I guess that's what is popular.

This morning (August 30th) we went to the api office and I had to give in my pictures and passport to get my metro pass. After that, most of us walked to a park near by. The park was absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to run there with some of the other people from my building. Tonight will be the first night in Spain that I will be going out! I can't wait to see what the night life in this new country brings!