So, I finally have a moment to sit down and write. The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity. I finally feel like I have adjusted to the time difference, a bit. I am still tired, but I am actually functioning now, in contrast to mere hours ago when I was literally falling asleep sitting up.
The journey to Spain began with my mom taking me to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and dropping me off at security. I didn’t cry, I told myself it was time to be a big girl and face the world ahead of me. It was still very sad to leave her behind though, especially since it was her 55th birthday on the 1st, the day that I flew out!
The airport wasn’t as crowded or hectic as I expected it to be. I went to the counter and asked them to print my boarding pass, which they did with ease. At the same time, they checked my bag and told me that it would be checked all the way through to Sevilla, even though I had to catch another flight in Madrid. It was nice to know I wouldn’t have to worry about that later, when I knew I would be very tired from flying. Then I went through security, also much easier than I thought it would be! Once I put my belt and shoes back on, I went to find my terminal and my station. I arrived very early, so I had plenty of time to walk and find it. I stopped at a currency exchange station in the airport and got some Euros so that I wouldn’t have to worry about finding an atm or a bank once I got here. I am very glad that I ended up doing that. Also, a tip if you ever go abroad: make sure you tell your bank that you are going so they don’t deactivate your account or freeze it if they see action in a foreign country. They can also order currency for you if you do it far enough in advance.
I found my terminal with ease and sat down and proceeding to play the waiting game. I was filled with excitement/nerves/fears/questions. Thankfully, Michele found me shortly after I arrived and we sat together and talked about all the emotions we were going through. We met a couple from Traverse City that was going to Madrid to go hiking. We also met a few other students that are in our program at the CCCS.
And then the moment arrived, and I finally had to take my first ever plane ride. I found my seat, which was in the middle of the plane in the middle aisle. The plane that we took was HUGE. Well, maybe it isn’t in comparison to other planes, but for me, it was HUGE. However, it was not a full flight, so I was on the aisle seat in a row which had 4 seats, and no one was sitting in said row except for me, so I had lots of space to spread out during the flight. Take off was a teensy bit scary, but once we were in the air, I tried to pretend that we were on a bus and not really thousands of miles above the ground. In a twist of irony, I ended up sitting right across the aisle from my roommate, Ebony, so we got to meet and talk for a good portion of the flight. Since it was an 8 hour overnight flight, we were served breakfast and dinner, which weren’t too shabby for all the jokes that I’ve heard about airplane food. Dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, tuna salad, cheesecake and white wine, with coffee afterword. However, all of these events happened within the first hour of the flight. The rest of it dragged on. I watched the in flight movie which was “In Time” that one with Justin Timberlake, and it was pretty good. Then I tried to sleep by stretching out across all 4 seats in my row, but there were seatbelts jabbing me in all sorts of uncomfortable ways, but at least I could lie down and listen to my ipod. I didn’t sleep but I got some rest just by closing my eyes. I read a cornucopia of magazines, and finally they served us breakfast (fruit, pastries and coffee). About an hour later, we finally landed in Madrid, Spain. This is where the fun begins.
Now, I know I said that the plane was huge…but….the Madrid airport is just GINORMOUS. Our layover was only about 40 minutes and it took us half an hour of literally running, riding escalators, elevators, and people movers, to make it to our terminal in time to board. The airport was eerily quiet though, another thing that I did not expect at all, especially for it being so large. There was literally an entire shopping mall in this airport with some of the most expensive and designer labels in it. There were also multitudes of restaurants and shops. However, it was only 9am local time when we landed, so not many flights were coming in and out.
The plane from Madrid to Sevilla was smaller than the first plane, and we had to go outside and use a scary staircase to get into it. But the flight was short, less than an hour, and this time I had a window seat and actually had the courage to look outside. It was a clear and beautiful day and the view was breathtaking. Even though I was exhausted and sweaty from running all around with a backpack and a duffle bag, the journey has definitely been worth it, so far! When we arrived in Sevilla, we had to pick up our checked bags, and then we waited for the CCCS shuttle to come pick us up and take us to our hotel for the night. We waited about three hours for the shuttle to come. When it did, we went outside on Spanish soil for the first time, and I was amazed to see palm trees! I did not know that Spain had palm trees! We drove for about 10 minutes to get to the hotel, La Plaza de Armas. It was really comfortable, fancy, and modern. We got an hour to relax before lunch, and I took a shower to get rid of the travel funk I was in. At lunch, I was exhausted and facing foreign food was the last thing that sounded good to me. So I stuck with pasta and tried not to face plant in it from sheer jet lag exhaustion. After lunch, I took my first infamous Spanish Siesta. What a lovely and amazing two hours of sleep it was. Generally, the Spanish don’t sleep that long during a siesta, but I was so tired that I wanted to get every minute in that I could before orientation that night.
Orientation was brief, but informative, and it was followed by dinner in the hotel. I was convinced that I was going to fall asleep instantly when I got back up to my room, but sleep evaded me last night. I think I only slept for a total of 3 hours on and off. When I woke up this morning, I was still tired, but took a shower and pushed my way through breakfast. I mean, how can I NOT be happy?! I am in SPAIN for crying out loud! La cosa de mis suenos! After a walk to the center, where I will be taking most of my classes, we came back to the hotel for one last time, grabbed our luggage, and went out to the street to catch taxis to our homestays.
Luckily, Ebony and I live right around the corner from the hotel we were staying at, so we only walked for about five minutes. We live in a walk up apartment in Plaza Puerta Real. This house is so amazingly gorgeous, inside and out. You enter on the street level, and the front door opens up into a hallway with dark stone floors. There is a stone stairwell around the corner, which takes you up into the first level of the house. There is a living area with two chairs, a couch, a large circular coffee table, and large bookshelves on the walls. Everything is rich, with warm colors and textures. The couch is ruby red and the chairs a soft creamy white. The floor is a rich wood through the entire casa. The room that Ebony and I share is on this floor. We have a balcony that we can walk out onto and look over the plaza and see the people eating lunch and drinking café; men whizzing by on mopeds and vespas; women whose arms are laden with shopping bags from all of the best European designers; and small children with dogs and their parents, who are leisurely strolling behind, arm and arm. But it’s like that here: everything is slow. There is no hurry to life. People take time to enjoy the outdoors; drinking their cafés in the many outdoor restaurants and bars. Meals are an event, a time to reconnect with family or friends and to enjoy the food that you are eating and truly savor the flavors.
Speaking of food and family, my host mother, Antonía, is one amazing cook and one amazing lady. She is 47, but she looks like she is 35, probably because of the healthy lifestyle that these European women tend to lead. Every Spanish woman I have seen is absolutely breathtaking. “Tony” as we call her, is divorced, and she is still getting over it, since it was only a year ago that it happened. However, today we got to meet Manuel. Manuel is her “amigo”, but Ebony and I know that they are totally in love. Manuel is the perfect gentleman. He has been here all day and he ate dinner and lunch with us. When we tried to get up to clear our plates, he told us “as long as I am in this house, I will do that for you. Maybe on another day when I’m not here you will have to do that for yourself.” He waits on Tony hand and foot, and it is clear that he adores her. So preciosa. In Spain, the Catholic church rules the land, and so in many homes, men and women still play very traditional gender roles. For example, the woman does the cooking, cleaning, and domestic things, whereas the man works, earns money, and is quite the gentleman not only to his wife/girlfriend, but to every other woman that he comes in contact with. When Ebony and I were trying to figure out how to get into our casa, an old man on the street came up to us and asked us who we were looking for. We told him Antonía, and he said that she was a very nice lady and that she cooks very well. When we told her this later, she said that she loves Pepé, her neighbor. There is such a sense of community here, and although I have only been in my new casa for one day, my host mother has already treated me as if I were her own daughter.
Tony has no children of her own, so she has travelled around the world TWICE in her lifetime. The casa is filled with amazing artifacts, pictures, stones, masks, paintings, charms, rugs, and every other cultural icon imaginable from all the corners of the globe. However, there is still that unmistakable Spanish feeling to it. It is very clean and cozy despite the towering piles of magazines that adorn the tables, all if many different languages. There are a lot of things from Africa, since that is Tony’s favorite place other than Spain. She said if she had a child, she would name her Africa.
The meals have been great. Pepé didn’t lie: she is a great cook. For lunch we had grilled merluza (hake), and a cream vegetable soup that was so flavorful and amazing. There was also some sort of potato/egg/shrimp pasta salad with a creamy white sauce. I don’t care much for shrimp, but I ate some anyway and it was still great. And of course, there was fresh bread and fruit, as there is with every meal, so I am learning. During lunch, we talked to Manuel and Tony about politics in Spain and the freak weather they’ve been having here. They think it’s cold. For me, it feels great outside. At night it gets kind of chilly, but it is manageable, and they both said that in a few weeks the temperature will rise greatly and only continue to get hotter into the spring. After lunch, Ebony and I walked to the Center (Manuel of course drew us a very detailed map) to have our orientation about the computer systems and things to do in the city. After this, a group of 4 of us chicas went exploring through the city.
Sevilla is like a labyrinth. Every street is more like an alleyway: narrow, cobblestone, buildings rising up on either side; and yet somehow, cars, mopeds, and people all seem to effortlessly flow through them. The streets don’t have a grid formation, like a typical American city. They twist together like spaghetti noodles. But I absolutely love it. I was all about getting lost within the city, discovering everything there is to see. There is so much to look at; my eyes can’t seem to take it all in. Palm trees and orange trees everywhere. Tall building, but not highrises or skyscrapers. Huge churches, statues, and monuments. The architecture here is amazing. It is like everything that I have ever imagined and more.
I could write so many things. But this has already been long winded. If you have read this long, I applaud you and thank you.
Buenas Noches,
Jenn
