Welcome to my blog,
Here I will write about my adventures, my life, my thrills and my story abroad in Madrid, Spain and of all of the fabulous places that I travel to during this year. As much as I would love to write in spanish, I want to be sure that all of my family understands so I plan on writing a lot in English, however, if I write in Spanish, I will be sure to create a link that will take you to a page that translates my words into English. :) Therefore I get the joy out of writing in Spanish and simultaneously you can all understand.
Today is October 8th, 2012. I boarded the plane in San Francisco airport August 26th 2012 and what craziness it was to prepare for a year abroad, to pack, to deal with a cancelled flight, a missed flight and the experience of arriving in a foreign country with no money and no phone.
The build up to coming to Spain was full of a lot of emotions. I was most definitely stressed! I didn't know where I would live, what to plan for, what to pack, how to say goodbye, how to prepare Erick and Alec at home to be sure that they would pay bills on time, eat healthy and respect one another. There was also the reality that I was going to be leaving the love of my life for a year and my friends and family as well. The truth is that the only way that I could emotionally deal with everything was to push it out of my mind and spend each day focused on the present and a day or a week ahead. I made many lists in order to keep myself on track and I created a pile in my room that I continuously contributed to up until the day that I left. I didn't start packing clothes until a week before I was leaving. I didn't actually finish packing my suitcase until I went to sleep, late night, hours before I had to leave for the airport. When my brother Alexander moved in with my boyfriend and I, Erick, it was all preparation for them, who would soon be roommates without me in August. I wrote in my journal on July 9th that Alec had been at our house for 13 days. This means he moved in June 26th, so we all three lived together for 2 months. I loved living together because it meant that I got the best of both worlds, time with my boyfriend and time with my brother, one of my best friends, before I was leaving on one of the biggest trips of my life. Initially it did add some extra stress, another mouth to feed, a lot of compromising, understanding, teaching, but ultimately so worth it! We had so much bonding time and it was honestly a bigger gift that I even realized at the time. We made lists of house rules for the three of us and I continuously encouraged them to make a list for the both of them. Towards the end of my time at home my mom came to visit with our two dogs. It was nice to have a full household full of some of the best people in my life. :) I found myself writing and thinking a lot. Songs, poems, doodles, lists. I have a doodle that I remember drawing in June or July and it says, "Well, seeing as my head is rather fogged and I can't find myself thinking about much more, it is only fitting that I doodle about Spain," then I drew some squiggly lines and SPAIN in the middle. The visa process that I endured to be here in Spain for the length of the school year was "increíble" as they would say in spanish with sarcasm. I promise to write out a list of advice and what to do and what not to do for future program participants, although the joke is that they are often changing the regulations so who knows how relevant it will be.
SO, let's get to the heart of the matter. Real talk about the preparation and the initial days in Spain. I am checking things off my list until 4 am the day that I am supposed to be on the road to the airport at 6 am (although we left at 6:30) and the last but most important thing that I was left with was uploading pictures onto my external hard drive so that I could format my memory cards and bring them with me.
Side Note* My external hard drive that I had worked hard to build up for the past 2 years, with my life's work so far, stopped functioning one random day during the summer. So, weeks of stress and 300-400 dollars later I was left with a brand new hard drive and all of my information transferred. However because of this, I didn't have the money to buy a portable external hard drive to bring with me to Spain... which I am now kicking myself over as I already have 1,000 + pictures and no real secure place to put them. I'll probably buy one soon...I got to the point where I didn't have time to finish working on my pictures, I left without finishing a few really important photo projects that I had planned to do the last 2 weeks but couldn't because I didn't have access to them.
When we arrive at the airport and mom goes to park the car we soon find out that our plane broke down and our flight has been cancelled. No one else from my program was informed, no phone calls or texts or emails, utter disregard and after a great effort and a lot of money to be a part of the "group flight." After a 30-45 minute wait at the counter the attendant finally booked me and anyone else that she could get a hold of from my program a flight to Chicago and from there to Germany and from there to Spain. This was great because I had more time to visit and say goodbye! When the time came for me to wait in the security line, I was ready. I spoke to a really nice boy in line from China. He was in SF on an exchange program. I finally get to the boarding gate only to find out that the woman printed my itinerary out incorrectly and my boarding gate had been changed to somewhere much further than I was. In a concentrated effort to run to the correct gate with a backpack that could knock someone out cold, a carry on bag with a loose handle, a luggage stuffed to the brim and a camera bag around my neck I now laugh at the thought of what I must have looked like running. I asked for help and the woman at the gate ignored me and laughed as she walked to the restroom. I got in front at the customer service line where they continuously blamed me and I started yelling, went back to the original gate where they referred me to only to be told that there was nothing they could do and I should go back to the customer service line, where I was greeted by a man who said, "welcome to flying." I stripped off my 3 layers of clothing, called my mom to rant and then sat on my bag for 45 minutes and waited. When I got to the front of the line, I calmly stated what happened and eventually they came to their senses and tried to book me another flight. I swear, after waiting 45 minutes in line, I was at the counter with him for 45 minutes while he was on the phone to book me a flight. I left pleased though and slowly walked to the opposite side of the airport to Lufthansa, direct flight to Germany. At this point, I find out that my luggage is on its way to Chicago! I had to call the baggage agent on the phone and try to explain my situation and my end destination. At this point I am incredibly grateful that my mom informed me of how important it is to pack your carry on baggage as if you will never see your suitcase again. The flight was direct from SF to Germany and then I met up with the rest of my group in Frankfurt at the airport. When we landed all my bags were present and accounted for and for that I was SO grateful. Now here comes the funny part. 4 girls. American. In Madrid. No money. No phone. No correct contact information. What do we do? So after panicking for awhile getting let down by the 20 people that we asked for help we finally got ahold of our director Carlos who came in a taxi accross town to meet us and bring us back in taxis. The first look of Madrid was all but fantastic. Sewer and Smoke smell everywhere. I will never forget that! Man were we a little shocked, but happy to have landed. The drive seemed a little lame, nothing that stood out too much, in fact, at first glance, it reminded me of San Francisco. I had imagined cobblestone streets everywhere, with cafes and music at every corner. Signs about Flamenco and colorful decorations everywhere. Reality check.
Stay tuned for part 2 of the last two months that I have been here. I am regretting not blogging sooner, but it's never to late to start. I have at least 10 blog entries that will be written in the upcoming week. :D I LOVE MADRID. (feelings have changed since the beginning, we'll get to that soon!)
First photos of Madrid ever! Here is the majority of our CSU IP program on our very first tour of Madrid, Spain. SO exciting. Oh ok... I began to realize that beautiful places do exist in the city.
Hasta Luego!
Con amor,
María
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