steady as a preacher, free as a weed: Hello from Spain!

I have safely arrived in SPAIN!! It was quite a hassle to get here though... On Friday my original flight that left Chicago on Tuesday afternoon was cancelled and rescheduled due to a transportation strike in Spain. Luckily, American Airlines rebooked my flight and I left a day earlier on what I thought would be the same flight as my friend Alex. Unfortunately, this gave me one less day to be physically and, more importantly, emotionally, prepared to leave the U.S. I emailed the details of my new flight to the CEA, the people in charge of this study abroad trip and the transportation from the airport to my homestay. But I didn't hear back from them until Monday morning, just a few hours before I left Chicago. This=STRESS.

But it all worked out and I called a cab Monday morning. I had a great conversation with my cab driver and finally started getting excited to leave. Sadly, Alex and I realized we were on different flights to Spain and I was the one getting there earlier, of course. So we got on the flight from O'Hare to JFK (New York airport) only to realize it was delayed an hour and a half. My connecting flight from New York to Spain was supposed to leave an hour an a half after my O'Hare flight arrived. This=I would miss my plane to Spain.

After lots of phone conversations with AA, we finally left the O'Hare airport and luckily we made it to JFK with just enough time to grab dinner, thanks to my flight to Spain being delayed as well by half an hour. I rushed through dinner, checked back at my gate, and my flight by then was delayed for an hour and a half, which seems to be the magic number for AA. This=more phone calls regarding my airport pickup in Spain.

We finally boarded the plane, after I called and cried to each of my family members. Then... someone hadn't shown up for the flight but their luggage was still on the plane. This=another hour of waiting on the plane. This also=Alex and I getting into Spain at roughly the same time, even though I was scheduled to get there three hours before her.

But I got here in one piece and after that, everything was simple! The Madrid airport was fairly empty and my luggage arrived with me (PHEW!). I found the lady from CEA who was there to pick me up and she was so nice. We talked for a little while and she arranged transportation to my homestay for me. I don't know how I would have done that without her! I spoke to her in English but I had to speak to the man in customs in Spanish (which was pretty easy but he totally pegged me as a first-timer in Spain).

The shuttle to my homestay was really nice and I felt so excited to FINALLY be in Spain after almost 24 hours of travel. Everything here looks so different from Chicago and definitely different from Nebraska! I noticed that on the radio they play a mix of popular American songs and Spanish music, which was kind of funny.

I arrived at my homestay around 11:30. My host mom greeted me outside of her (MY!) aparment with her daughter in law and two of her granddaughters. She kissed me on both cheeks right off the bat- I forgot they do that here in Spain- and took me inside right away. Her name is Blanca and she is so welcoming! She offered me a cup of coffee (which by the way is MUCH stronger in Spain than in America) and I talked to her about the fact that I'm gluten-free, which was one of my biggest worries. But she is so accomodating and very friendly.

My room here is SO CUTE, I totally love it! There are two other girls living here from my program through DePaul and another girl from Philadelphia. Lucky for me I got here first so I have my own room! Blanca just left to run some errands, after explaining to me that she didn't have any rules for me to follow, just to be a good roommate (WOW, so easy!) so now I'm facebooking and blogging and emailing away!

I'm so incredibly excited to be here! More updates soon! And here's a few pictures too!