Hola everyone!
Well, I have officially been gone for four days, and I just arrived at my new host family's house this afternoon. Let's take a trip down memory lane together.....
When I arrived at Philadelphia International Airport at 6:30ish for my 9:00 flight, I must admit that I was more nervous than I expected. I know I was thinking "I don't even know exactly how to check my bags!!!", but it was fine. When I got to the correct gate, there was a group of about 20-25 college-aged students awkwardly spaced and hesitantly conversing about where they were from or how nervous they were... it was easy to see that I was already about to meet some of my classmates this semester.
The flight was uneventful. The pasta was surprisingly flavorful.
When we arrived in Madrid, we met our ISA (International Studies Abroad) leaders, and they took us to our hotel so we could take a quick siesta before getting a quick "panoramic" tour of Madrid, which consisted of a bus ride through the city at dusk to see the layout of the city and view the very beginnings of the night life there.
The following day, we met in the hotel lobby and headed out the door for a tour of El Prado (uno de los museos más famosos de arte en todo el mundo) and the royal palace (Palacio Real… yes, “REAL” means “royal” for all of you soccer fans out there). The best part of the two days in Madrid, however, was just the free time walking around the city, getting tapas, trying to show off our greatly atrophied Spanish skills, and getting to know the fellow study-abroaders with whom we were sharing in the adventures.
La Plaza Mayor
La Plaza Mayor
a statue of Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote)
Palacio Real
This woman was soooo short... probably under 4 feet. The guy walking next to her (Zack) is in ISA and is shorter than me.
Toledo was next on the list, and it is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen, and it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world.
the stitching wasn't quite seamless, but I thought it was worth posting
perros = dogs
vacas = cows
La Catedral de Toledo
(a wall in Toledo... interesting)
It’s been really tough, what with traveling through Spain with no homework or responsibilities. The schedule was grueling. We had to wake up no earlier than 8:30 and eat at breakfast buffets. Then we had to force down lunch at 2:00 or 3:00 and take a mandatory hour and a half siesta (nap). Finally, we were forced to finish the days by being kicked out of our hotel rooms to roam aimlessly the city streets without any guides or anything to help us. It’s so difficult; I know I need not tell you. We then had to go to bed and do the whole thing over for two more days! Please, please… save your words of encouragement. I may need them now that I am finally in Granada… mtc…
p.s. “mtc” means “more to come”, which implies that I will write more about the subject matter in the final sentence later
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