First Impressions

Hola Amigos!
Oh my goodness, I’m FINALLY starting a blog!! Yay! I’ve been meaning to do this since I’ve been here, but everything has been so crazy! I have been in Madrid for a little over a week, and I’m just now feeling settled. And unfortunately, the internet is ridiculously hard to come by. I have no idea why that is. I mean, this is Spain, not Korea. We don’t have internet access in our apartments, so I have to be at school or an internet café to be able to connect. Oh well…I suppose it’s a very small price to pay. I AM IN EUROPE!!! Oh my goodness, it is so fabulous here. It sort of feels like a dream! It’s just now sinking in, and I love it more and more every day.
Ok, I’m going to have to start from the beginning in order to catch all of you up with my life thus far. Some of you may have heard what an adventure it was just getting here, but for those of you who have not yet heard, let me just fill you in. Our study abroad group met at L.A.X. two hours before our flight, only to find out that the airplane that was supposed to fly us to our connecting flight in Philadelphia, wasn’t working properly. That is sort of a scary thought, so I was completely fine with waiting around a while until the problem got fixed. Then, after about 20 minutes or so of waiting, we find out that the plane is actually fine, but the toilets are broken. Are you kidding?? I’m sure people can figure out how to hold it for 3 ½ hours. At this point, the flight was running so late, that we were already going to miss our connecting flight in Philadelphia. So, luckily, U.S. Airways was able to transfer us to another airline, where we could fly straight to Germany and into Madrid. I say luckily only because it was amazing that they were able to accommodate all 32 of us onto another plane. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned into somewhat of a disaster. We had to re-check our bags and go through security all over again. We waited in the check in line for almost over an hour because our flights weren’t transferring in the system. Then, we find out this airline has different baggage regulations. Before, we were allowed one, free 50 pound bag to check in, a free carry-on, and a purse. However, a few people decided to bring an extra bag, and had already paid the $55 fee with U.S. Airways. This new airline, which was German by the way...Lufthansa...or something, was telling those students they had to pay another additional $55 dollar fee, and then proceeded to tell all of us that if our purses and carry-ons weigh more than 16 pounds combined, that we would also have to pay that $55 fee. Ugh!! Soooo ridiculous! I did NOT feel like wasting $55 dollars, so I hid my carry-on from the check in people, and brought it on bored with me. Actually, I think all of us did that. Then, we got into the plane and noticed that all of our bags weren’t going to fit. They took a few of them and put them underneath the plane, but the rest of us just jammed everything in there as fast as we could. One flight attended noticed, and was like, “Umm, those bags are way too big. I’m really surprised they didn’t make you check them.” I just smiled and ran back to my seat!
Once on the airplane, I met two girls from Serbia, who were both ridiculously beautiful by the way, (one could have been Angelina Jolie’s sister) and a German man. He was very nice. He spoke a little English, but had a thick German accent. He read the German newspaper for the entire 13 or 14 hour flight! The girl from Serbia was a doctor. She was very nice, but very chatty. She told me she liked America, but not all American girls are nice like me. She was like, “In Europe, if we don’t like you, we don’t talk to you. In America, if girls don’t like you, they still talk to you and pretend they are friends with you, but then they turn around and speak badly of you to someone else.” I was like, “Sounds like you were in Orange County. I’m so glad we made a good impression on you.”
After the connecting flight from Germany, I FINALLY made it to Madrid!! It was so exciting, but at the same time, I was completely exhausted. I feel much more rested now. Madrid is an amazing city. The part I live in, is very much like New York. It’s very modern and lively. All the people are so gorgeous, and they dress so well! Other parts of the city look more traditional. We went to the Royal Palace and the Prado museum the day after we got here, and that whole surrounding area is very enchanting. It’s more what I expected Spain to look like. Older architecture, cobblestone streets, and adorable street lights! Almost all the apartments (except mine, which is why I say almost) have the cutest little balconies with flowers and vines everywhere. I love it!! We went to a city called, “Toledo” the other day, and it was really lovely. It’s a very ancient city, which homes one of the oldest cathedrals in Spain. I really liked it there. As I was strolling down the streets, I couldn’t help but think of being in a Shakespeare play. That is really what it felt like. It looked like the set of the 1960’s version of Romeo and Juliet...you know, the one with Olivia Hussey? Just a side note, but if you haven’t seen that version, you should go rent it right now. Anyways, it was very much like being in a fairy tale. You can probably tell that from the pictures I took.
In closing, I will briefly write about the whole Spanish men situation. They are all ridiculously handsome with their long dark hair, blue-eyes, and model cheekbones, but they are kind of disgusting. I’m trying not to turn my two awful encounters into an overgeneralization about all Spaniards, but I really can’t help it at the moment. A few of us met a couple guys in Sol, and we agreed to let them take us Salsa dancing. I was actually very excited, because if you know me, you know I love to dance, and also one of the guys was very good looking. Oh man. They ended up taking us to a “discotheque”, not a Salsa place, and that “cute” guy, didn’t wait more than 10 minutes before asking me a really vulgar, inappropriate question. I spent the rest of the night trying to run away from him, and making my very nice friends dance with him so he wouldn’t come looking for me. I owe one of those girls, big time. Then, I meet this other guy, wayyy cuter than the first, and he comes up to me and starts dancing with me. It was exciting for a moment or two, but then something similar happened, and I had to literally push him away from me. Gross. I had given another guy my email address earlier in the night, because he asked if he could take me to dinner, but now, there is no way I will even think about speaking to any Spanish man…for at least a good week or two anyways…haha.
Ok, well, I think that should catch you up on my life so far. I will try to blog again soon, but it may not be for a week or so. I do know I’m going to London and Dublin in April, so I can’t wait to tell all of you about that trip! I’m sooooooo excited!! Love you all and miss you!!

~Kathryn