los dias primeros en Espana

So! We are finally here in Madrid. After a long hot flight to London and a shorter sleepier flight to Madrid we finally made it to our destination. Yesterday was a rough day seeing as Andria and I literally were awake for more than 24 hours with no coffee and maybe an hour or two of sleep in each of us. If you know either of us you already know that this is just a terrible combination. Although made it safely to Spain, unfortunately my  70lb luggage did not. Its been 2 days and I have been living in Andria's clothes. This does not seem that bad but it would be nice if I could maybe have my own underwear back. I just got the news though that my bag will be arriving around 5 or so. 

But whatever.

We slept most of the day and night away yesterday so we are up and ready to go today. Still a little jet lagged, we woke up this morning got ready and experienced the "metro" for the first time. These trains put Boston to shame. They are quick, easy to figure out, and extremely clean considering what we are used to. They also have no homeless people begging for change from at least what we saw this morning. I just kept thinking what a sad semester it will be without "spare change man" in my face everyday. We arrived at orientation 20 minutes late, which is Spain does not matter, and sat through a few lectures about adjusting to the culture, sexual encounters and european men, and also of the great adventures and trips that would be offered to us throughout the next four months. I honestly think we had more "breaks" than we did orientation. After every 15 minutes they'd call for a "break". Like, what the hell is a break? We don't have those in America... I can already tell it is extremely different here, everyone is laid back and calm about everything. This is a perfect place for me considering my resolution for the new year. If you know even a little bit about me you know that I am always stressed out, worrying, and in a rush. Here  in the next four months is my opportunity to change the these few things that I don't admire about myself. Also my eating habits that are comparable to those of a "government mule" as my father would say. The portions in this country are maybe a 1/4 of what we eat in the States. I mean it is ridiculous. No wonder why everyone is so fat in America. Spanish people are also on a completely different eating schedule. For insistence, for breakfast they have literally have a cup of coffee and maybe a cookie or two. WHO THE HELL EATS COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST? where are the eggs? where is the oatmeal? what the hell am I suppose to eat for the next four months. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and still the portions are ridiculously small. Dinner comes around 8 and is smaller than Lunch. Last night we had veggies and fish, I can't wait to see what else they have to offer. 

But besides that I am a happy girl. There are so many things to do and so many places that we are going to travel. We are going to Seville for the weekend with the entire Suffolk campus and they have lots of stuff planned for us. I am most excited for Flamenco lessons. 

Classes start on wednesday so we will see how that goes. In terms of our room. I am currently living in the room the size of a small shack with beds sleeping "toe to toe" with Andria. I already by accidently almost kicked her in the face when I was laying down on my computer. Needless to say it's going to be a very interesting semester. Our dorm is filled with Students from Spain and other universities around the area, barely anyone speaks english and we have no clue who is living in our "appt". But it's only day 2 so we shall see! At least we live in the center of the city where everything is. 

We got lectured about "culture shock" today, I wonder when it's going to hit me. Time will tell....