Just the beginning.

15-Jan-09, 22:19 MADRID.

I’m finally here! I can’t believe this is all happening. I still kind of feel like I’m here on vacation for a week and that I’ll be back in NYC/Boston next Friday. I don’t think it fully hit me until I was actually in the airport, hugging my mommy for an hour. That was probably the scariest thing – leaving my family and everyone in JFK. It just all felt kind of final, like I was never going to see them again even though I know I will. Mommy & Renata are coming in March/April and hopefully we’re going to go to Prague and Vienna. It’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait for them to get here.

My plane was delayed an hour and we didn’t even end up leaving until 8:30pm NYC time (my flight was for 6:00pm). The food on the plane was okay.. my stomach kind of hurt but I guess it was just nerves. As soon as I landed, the stomachache went away, so that was good. I met a really nice girl on the plane and I’m staying in the hotel with her. She’s in Level 1, but I’m hoping we’ll be friends even though we won’t be taking classes together.

On the way to the Hotel Regina, we passed the Palacio de Comunicaciones (Madrid’s main post office) and I swear I almost cried. It’s almost as thought it’s more beautiful that it was when I last saw it four years ago. I wish I could just stand in front of it for hours upon end and just stare at it. For those of you who have never seen it, here’s a little glimpse of Madrid’s beauty:


This isn’t my photo because I haven’t really had the time to engage in much picture taking, since I’ve only been here a day, but there will be plenty to come.

After getting settled at the hotel and meeting Amalia and Tio Ray, we went to get our cell phones with this funny guy who helps out with the program, Evan. I couldn’t figure out where my telephone number was, so I had to call customer service and that was quite the adventure considering the fact that the woman was speaking at an ungodly speed and I had no idea what she was saying. In the end, it worked out and I found out how to use my phone. By the way, it’s free for me to receive calls, so whoever wants to talk to me, I’ll be more than glad to give you my number and hear all of your darling voices!

Then we found a “locutorio” (internet café type place) where I got to go online for 30 minutes and it only cost me 1 euro! It was great – I got to send out my standard “I’m alive” e-mail to my family and even talked to my sister on gmail for a bit! It’s pretty cool because if you don’t use up all of your time you can come back later. This is very much exciting to me, as is everything in this new and crazy place.

After that we ate, napped and registered for classes. I’m really tired from the flight and such, so going to sleep early is most definitely on the top of my list. Tomorrow is a really hectic day, but on Saturday we get to meet our host families, which I am extremely excited about! I can’t wait to meet Elena, Juan, Juanjo and Nicolas! Oh, and the bird, of course. They have a bird. (:

Until my next Madrid adventure,
LittleOne.