First Days in Cadiz :)

Thursday afternoon I began my journey in Cleveland Hopkins airport. It was really uncrowded, which was nice. When I checked in the airline agent informed me that my plane to Philadelphia was going to be late and that might stop me from making my connection to Madrid. The situation got worse when the plane arrived and it was followed by a thunderstorm. Luckily, the flight attendants got the plane boarded and ready to take off so we were able to leave just before the storm hit, which would have delayed us further. Luckily, they delayed my flight to Madrid and held it for me and the group connecting from Chicago, who happened to be other kids in my program, although I didn't realize that at the time.

The flight to Madrid seemed like an eternity. I was so happy when we finally arrived to get off the plane and stretch my legs. It hadn't really struck me that I wasn't in the states anymore until I had to go through customs. Mostly because, the customs agents don't speak English. So I managed to get through all of that and then had to navigate the GIANT Madrid airport to find my connecting flight to Jerez. Luckily I made it on time and arrived at the Jerez airport at 11:30AM. My next task was to find something to occupy my time for the next four hours while I waited for Michelle to arrive. We'd decided to take a cab together and split the crazy expensive fair. 20 hours and 25 Euros later, we arrived at the hotel Barcelo that we were meeting at for our in Spain orientation. The hotel was amazing. It had air conditioning and excellent wi-fi. We were truly spoiled.

Last night, we had our first dinner out in Spain and we discovered why Spaniards love their Tapas so much. They are amazing! However, they just kept coming and coming. By the time the main course arrived most of us were already pretty full. Then came dessert which was also really good. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to sleep. The sun had finally gone down around 10PM and it was a pleasant walk back.

This morning we got up, went to breakfast in the hotel and then left in taxis for the Residencia that we are staying at for the next five weeks. The living situation makes me miss my triple back in ERC. There are 2 of us in each room but they are tiny (I'm guessing 10ft x 7ft) It's honestly not too bad. The biggest issue we have faced thus far is that each room has only 1 outlet. There are two of us in here, which means, 2 laptop cords, 2 cell phone chargers, and the fan that is in here. So we are switching off the charging of the laptops and the usage of the fan. In a room that is over 85 degrees with no AC, the fan is a lifesaver.

After dropping off our stuff in our rooms, we went on a tour of Cadiz, well, the old side of Cadiz anyway.It's a beautiful city and I'm so happy that I have the chance to experience it. We came back to the residencia just in time for lunch. After lunch we walked down to find ice cream and managed to find our way back. All and all so far it's been quite an emotional time. I find myself incredibly excited one minute and terrified the next. Hopefully my Spanish will improve so I feel like less of a foreigner.