This could be paradise: Malaga!

 Okay before I forget everything in a sleep deprived haze, I want to say how completely amazing Malaga is. It is like Hawaii but everyone speaks Spanish so basically like my idea of heaven. Maybe it was because I was so tired (actually it probably had a lot to do with that) but it was so pretty and perfect. To begin with it was 70 and sunny. What’s the weather like in Ithaca my freezing friends?

 So literally the second I checked in to the program, I was faced with more bad news: they ran out of hotel rooms, so my room wasn’t ready yet. At this point I’m out all my clothes and a place to sleep. I figured not much more could be taken from me before I would come a beggar on the streets. But I had no time to dwell in the bad news because my things were shoved into a closet and we all set off for lunch. As we walked along in the sunshine, it began to sink in that I was actually in Spain, which was extremely exciting (I might have gotten a little teary).

 Before I knew it, I was sitting down at an outside restaurant right on the water. Really, I thought, how could it get better than this? Because even with no hotel room and no luggage, this was still ranking among the best days ever. As we sat, I began to notice cultural differences right away. I think our lunch was five courses and took probably two and a half hours to eat. I was told that this is not really normal, but the relaxed lifestyle is something I could get used to. After lunch, we walked around the city, which was really pretty. I wish I had my camera to take pictures, but it was at the hotel because I clearly did not have my game face on when we left the hotel, but I figure I’ll just have to go back to take some pictures! I took these two on the way out, just to prove that I have been there!

 By this time, we were all struggling. Most of us had been traveling for over a day and had yet to take a shower. I realized that I hadn’t taken off my shoes on over a day (in retrospect that’s really gross and wearing shoes on the plane was very unnecessary). But regardless, we were so toast. On the plus side, we found everything hilarious, which made our next activity way more bearable. We are required to have a phone, which makes sense, but having 50 kids trying to get phones all at the same time not really a fun experience for everyone.



 On the plus side, it’s possible that this sexy phone is an upgrade from the one from home and it cost me 9 euro. That’s whats uppp! Actually, not only is this phone the cheapest thing I have ever seen, but it is impossible to use. And in Spanish. Also, the settings are either having all the volume up (including the keypad) or not having sound at all. I guess you get what you pay for! The struggle to use the phone has provided countless hours of frustration for all members of the program.

After an exhausting day I finally dragged myself up to bed and collasped. In the morning, we had orientation and then we took off for Granada, where I met my wonderfully perfect host mom who is literally probably the kindest woman I have ever, and will ever meet. But more on that later!

The Saga of the Missing Luggage

As we all are well aware, I have angered the traveling gods in some previous lifetime, cursing me to a life of traveling doom, and my trip to Spain was no exception. The saga of the missing luggage goes like this:

 As I nervously bounded into BWI, I realized that my flight was delayed. I knew that I had a long layover in JFK, so I was not worried at all (still under the naive impression that the gods of travel were on my side). As I settled into my very long wait, I heard a group of kids from Salisbury talking about how they were going to Spain and studying abroad in Malaga, which is the city that I was flying into. We realized that we were all going to be on the same flights, which made me feel so much better, because then I wouldn’t have to be traveling alone! So good so far!

 Then disaster struck. As my flight got delayed for a third time, it became apparent that we were going to miss our flight to Spain. Which was clearly a problem. But I thought we had worked things out with the very helpful American Airlines worker who thought we might still make the first flight but gave us tickets to another flight in case we didn’t make it. We figured this way, it was a win- win.

 Wrong. We landed in JFK and were greeted by very rude flight attendants who informed us that we would have to run (and I mean RUN) if we wanted to make the first flight. So we did as we were told. And missed it completely. But, we figured, we have a backup plan, no problemo as they say in spain (or no pasa nada en Granada). So off we go to get our backup plan in action. By this time we were all sweating and grouchy. It required us to go back out to the front of the airport, get actual boarding passes from two different places, go back through security and find our gate. All in under an hour. We were ASSURED that everything would be fine. And it’s true, we made the flight. And miraculously, our next flight.

So when we landed in the most beautiful city I have ever seen, we thought our horrific day of travel was over. The problem? Our luggage did not fare as well as us and was lost somewhere on the way. These poor kids learned better than to travel with me, I warned them at the beginning that I was not so lucky, but I guess they had to take their chances and now they had to suffer with no luggage.

 But, the good news is that my luggage (should) be here by tomorrow afternoon, so all is well that ends well! Oh and obviously I have SO much to tell about how IN LOVE I am with everything, but I’ll write more about that later

 Besos!

Adios a los Estados Unidos

I leave for Spain tomorrow and I honestly might just pop and explode into an excited puddle. I have dreamed about this day for at least six months, it’s probably felt like a lottt longer to everyone who had to deal with my spastic excitement (you guys are all the best). It’s not going to be perfect, but in a way, that’s what makes it perfect. I am excited for every single second. For the awkward conversations and the misunderstandings and being late and lost and confused. Even if everything goes wrong, it will be a beautiful disaster and that beats a boring one everyday of the week.

 As excited as I am, I am obviously scared out of my mind. Four months is such a long amount of time, I’m not just popping over to Spain for a weeklong vacation. I’m living with a host mom who doesn’t speak English, and my home isn’t just five hours away. Spanish culture is very different and I have no idea how well I will adjust. I mean, they eat dinner at like ten, and for all of you who know me know that a hungry Christine is not a happy Christine. Plus saying goodbye to everyone is just no fun! But I feel like being scared for something makes you feel so alive. So I think it’s worth it. Plus, daddy always says, fear is my only courage.

Anyway, I guess that's enough of my drama. I am very close to being all packed (in my ugly but practical orange duffel), and at this point, I have no idea what all I am taking, but I ended up fitting a lot more clothes than I thought I would be able to, so I am not worried at all about running out of things to wear. Oddly enough, when I last weighed my bag, it was still ten pounds under what the airline allows, which gives me a great excuse to buy a lot when I'm traveling around.

In terms of actually getting to Spain, I have a long day ahead of me. I leave tomorrow from BWI then have a layover in JFK (where I will meet up with Alison!) then fly from JFK to Madrid then from Madrid to Malaga. But it is supposed to be 70 and sunny when I land, which will make it all worth it because I am so tired of the cold weather. On that note, the weather is supposed to be in the 60's and beautiful for my first week in Spain, I don't even want to think about how cold it is in Ithaca. When I get to Malaga, I'll have orientation for a day then be bused to Granada, where I'll meet my host mommy and get settled in. All I have heard about her is that she is a nice older lady, and I am hoping that she is full of great stories, and that I'll be able to understand her. My classes don't actually start until the 11th, so I will have plenty of time to explore and take a ton of pictures.

My goals for the semester are to try new things, meet new people, and not be afraid to fall in love with as many things as possible!

I'll miss you all like crazy so please keep in touch!

One Week!

So I am leaving for Granada in one week and I have a million things left to do. But instead of doing any of them, I thought I would set up a blog. I justify it because its my way to show mommy daily that I have not succumb to one of the many apparent dangers of Spain. I'll honestly probably be a terrible blogger, mainly because I'm lazy. And technologically challenged. But everyone else has blogs and they are so cute, so I might as well give it a shot. We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned :)