Traveling, Arrival, and My First Day Abroad

I've made it!! After two incredible days of a full medley of nerves and excitement I am finally in Madrid. As I am writing this I am cuddled down in my bed, in the room I share with my fellow Marshall traveller Amanda, in my host mother's small but charming apartment in the heart of the city.  I must confess myself to be utterly exhausted

But let's begin at the very beginning...

Yesterday at 3:00 Mom and the boys took me to the Huntington airport where we said goodbye with hugs and a few tears. I then proceeded to sit in what soon became an almost empty terminal, following the mass exodus of Florida bound persons. I talked to mom and dad, played games on my phone, and took deep, deliberate breaths to quell my nerves which had been heightened by two subsequent delays on my flight. You see, I was supposed to take off from Huntington at 4pm but in reality the plane did not leave until 5:45pm. Once we took off however everything began to go bery smoothly. The clouds were absolutely magnificent throughout the flight. And the perspective you get from flying over everything emphasizes the grandeur and importance of our earth. 

I still had plenty of time once I reached Charlotte to make my flight, grab a small snack, and meet another person from Marshall who was on the same flight--Megan. We chatted for a bit sharing our excitement and our apprehensions. We sat separately on the flight which was unfortunate; however my neighbor was a very friendly student traveling to study abroad in Santiago de Compostella in the north of Spain. (SIDE NOTE: this is the site of one of the most famous and important pilgrimage sites within all of Europe. It is believed in legend to be the tomb of St James' the Apostle.)

The flight from Charlotte to Madrid is long but the airbus we were on flew very smoothly and quietly. I watched a movie and ate the complementary chicken and rice dinner around 10. Sleeping was not pleasant or even successful. I was lucky to have a window seat as it meant I could rest my head against something. Around 9:30 (Spain time) we were served a complementary yogurt and muffin breakfast with coffee. 

And then....

Arrival:

11:15 am (Spain's time)= 5:15 am Huntington time. 

(My first glimpse of Spain)

(This is a blurry image of the airport I flew to in Madrid. It is enormous but surprisingly empty and quiet.)

(Baggage claim)

(Riding on a bus into the city after Maria Carmen and her neice have picked Megan an I up from the airport)

(This is where Maria Carmen helped me get a taxi in order to transport me to my house. She and the Peruvian taxi driver chatted the whole way--I caught a little of  what was said)

(Still on the way to my neighborhood. This is cathedral that Maria Carmen believes is uglier than sin...I think it's extremely grand) 

...To be continued...

¡Buenas noches!