Ay Dios Mios!

Oh so many things to say I hope I can write them all down. Let's start from the beginning shall we.

I'm actually surprised I even made it to JFK with my dad driving (no offence dad). A bit scary, some shouting, and one wrong turn later we arrived at the airport with perfect timing. Sadly, the goodbyes with the family was quite short, but I almost think that's better. Like a band aid you have to pull it off real quick. So we said our emotional goodbyes and I was off to security and went to my gate where I found my roommate Jenna, who had been there for a while since she had to fly from Buffalo. One the plan, we were surrounded by the Spanish language. I was trying to tune in to brush up on what I knew, but as I predicted my Spanish is a bit rusty, especially being taught mostly Latin American Spanish, not European Spanish, and trust me there is a huge difference. Luckily I have 5 months to improve, and can already feel the improvement.

When we finally touched down in Madrid, Barajas airport it was 7 in the morning and still dark. We got our luggage, thankfully nothing was missing! Then we had to take two metros to get to the bus stop, the second metro I'm not sure we would have ever found without the help of a very nice Spanish man who could tell we were obviously struggling. Then our bus driver dropped us off in front of the University that we will be attending, which was two stops too early, and with all our luggage it was impossible to walk, aside from not know where the hell we were going. Now, being 9 in the morning on a Sunday no one was around, and we needed a phone to call taxi. The few people we did see said they didn't have one, but finally an hour later we found some college students who called us a taxi. It was a short ride to our new home in a very nice neighborhood and the house is huge. When you enter there's a hallway to your left where our host parents and sister live. Then there's a set of stairs that go up and down, upstairs is where Jenna and I have our own rooms, a bathroom and a common room with tables and a TV. Downstairs is the kitchen and living room area.

Our host family is nice, they don't speak any English, which is hard for us sometimes because of the language barrier, but is good in a way because it forces us to speak Spanish and learn faster.

The next day we met our program coordinator and the other three exchange students from New York. They are all very nice and easy to get a long with and eager to be here as well. Our coordinator's name is Michelle, and she showed us around our new university which is SO nice. There's only three main buildings (A, B, C, easy enough), and a gymnasium, but the campus is beautiful. After showing us around we took a bus to our town called Villaviciosa de Odón. It's a cute town with lots of places to shop, eat and walk around. But the city center of Madrid is just 20 minutes from our town, and that is really where everything is at.

We went to the center of Madrid the next day and Michelle showed us the more historical side of the city, places I recalled from my high school trip in 10th grade, such as the plaza mayor and the royal palace, but still just as breath taking.

The next couple of days Jenna and I have just been exploring and getting to know our town and the city, looking for cheap places to eat and shop and getting our barrings. Everyday it get's easier and easier to navigate the winding roads, metros and bus stations, and even talk and understand our host family and the people around us. It's interesting to know that an experience will in fact change you. Most of the time it's unexpected, but going into this I know I will come out a different person. I can already feel it after less than a week, so it will be interesting to experience the changes after 5 months.