We were all so excited sitting in the Dallas airport. We had a beer to celebrate the exciting future 4 months we were going to have together and our spirits were high headed for Madrid. We boarded our and proceeded to sit on the plane for probably over an hour while they worked on a problem on the left wing. I was somewhat unaware of the situation because I was meeting the girl sitting next to me because we realized we were both studying through the same program. However, after the sun went down we began to watch them working with small flashlights and my spirits plummeted. Not only was I going to die on this plane because the wing outside of my window was going to explode, but even if we did manage to arrive alive, we would miss our connecting flight and I had no idea what that would mean. After fixing the wing we took off, while just about every passenger had to be sending up prayers for a safe trip. I had never been so nervous and I love flying! Once in the air we had a lovely dinner (not!) and they turned on some movie about a magic rainbow rock.
Everyone began to start falling asleep and I thought, perfect I’ll sleep all the way there and wake up refreshed. I could not have been more wrong. It was literally one of the top 3 worst nights of my life. I never fell asleep for more than a few winks here and there. I could go into more detail, but ultimately it was just a brutal night. When they started handing out breakfast I passed due to the condition of my stomach. Once the lucky brats around me started waking up we started discussing our next flight. The general consensus was that because we would go through customs in Seville, not Madrid, we should have enough time to make our connection. So when we landed we all rushed through the airport taking escalators, elevators and even a tram but we did have to go through some sort of customs and then security again. It didn’t look like we were going to make it so we started running whenever possible. We noticed others running and began to run in a pack form, much like that of wolves or even a flying “V” of geese. haha I started singing “Run Run Rudolf” from Home Alone but no one got my joke. This only further confirmed for all those around me that I was in fact the crazy girl who decided to study in Spain with no Spanish knowledge. Great. I’ll blame it on the lack of sleep.
They were flashing last call on the screens so we all ramped our speed and gave it our last effort only to arrive at the gate as they were closing it and they refused to open it for us. I believed this to be rock bottom. Defeated, exhausted and sweating we trudged back to the closest help desk where the game of “tell the Americans to go to another counter” started. This game lasted for about an hour and ultimately, we had to leave the airport and enter all over again to find the correct desk. Finally, after about an hour, with new tickets in hand we found our gate and collapsed. We had about 2 hours before our next flight for Seville boarded and we used the time to eat a pack of crackers (never been more glad to have food in my bag) or in Nick’s case grab some more sleep. I had to refrain from kicking him because he already slept all through the night on the plane, with a blanket wrapped around his head like a mummy. This was both creepy and funny.
Once the time arrived for us to start boarding and we didn’t see a plane at the gate where we were waiting we all started panicking again. Someone asked and found out that yes, we were at the wrong gate. Every curse word possible was dropped as we frantically grabbed our bags and started the pack-form run yet again. All together there were about 13 of us maybe and when we arrived at the other gate we found the other 11. (24 people total missed the connecting flight.) The boarding time had changed to an hour later so again, we settled in for some relaxation. Yet again, we were informed the gate had changed and all shot up with our bags to run to the next gate. Ok, this had to be rock bottom! This gate ended up being the right one and after people watching (saw not one but two people walking through the airport without shoes?) we got on our plane and I was asleep before we even took off. Apparently we had another, 45 minute delay that I was unaware of.
Hating our lives for hours in the Madrid airportThe task upon arrival in Seville was to get our bags. I was certain they were not going to have them and we wouldn’t get them for weeks. However, this remains the one easy part of the entire trip and I was so grateful! We found Sam, the Spanish-American Institute representative and we got our packets with schedule etc. Sam helped us get a taxi where Katrina and I rode together with TONS of bags. She and our driver chatted while I sat in the back looking super antisocial. This is going to be a very hard thing for me to handle because I love talking! (clearly) It was raining and hard to see but we finally found our place. He let us out, stacked all of our bags on the sidewalk. This started to ramp up my anxiety. Here we were, finally, and we had no idea which door out of the hundreds of floors of doors was going to be ours. Luckily there were two girls from our program walking outside and they let us into their little gated walkway underneath on one the apartment complexes. They went upstairs to ask their senora if she new ours and as they were waiting for the elevator an old man walked out in his robe and slippers. He began talking to us and all of us, Spanish speakers included, were very confuse. He kept pointing in random directions saying “uno, dos, trace, quattro.” We were soaking wet, smashed in a small entryway listening to a crazy Spanish man count with no hope in the immediate future. This, was rock bottom.
We waited in the entryway with the crazy robed Spaniard while the 2 girls and Tricia went up to try and ask their Senora. She came down and, thank goodness, was able to lead us to the correct place. However, getting there was not a simple task because we each had about 3 bags and had to go out in the rain again. I guess she rang up to our apartment because Victoria junior (our Senora’s daughter) came down to get us. She took us in the small elevator one at a time with a few bags up to their apartment. Katrina and I have one room and Laura and Tricia have another. They are both super small but not unbearable. Katrina and I have bunk beds and a door out to the back deck (we’re on the 6th floor so our view is beautiful!) Laura and Tricia each have their own beds with a baby Mickey Mouse boarder and a Lord of the Rings poster along with a huge plush “I love you” pillow that hangs over Tricia’s bed haha. The décor is interesting but not as interesting as the food! We had a “potato pancake” as we’ve been calling it with little ( I’m hoping chicken?) nugget things but my gut says it was some other meat.. I was so hungry though that I would have eaten whatever! After diner we showered QUICKLY and then attempted to dry our hair but the blow dryer blew up and the power in the house went out… Don’t worry our Senora fixed it but we just had to go to bed with wet hair in a freezing house. Needless to say we were not happy campers. But, I fell asleep so fast I didn’t even realize I was so cold. ☺ More to come! With picture I promise!
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