So we finally got here. Wow. I don't even know where to start.
So...let's start with the plane ride.
Atlanta, USA to Frankfurt, Germany. I sat on the window seat with a very nice old man. His name is Alexander. He is from Russia and is 67 years old. For the most part, we didn't talk. But we TOUCHED. haha. He would fall asleep, then I would fall asleep. I would wake up and accidentally kick his leg. He would fall asleep and accidentally hit my elbow. This went on for the entire 9 hour plane ride. It was funny. He is a retired man who has been in the States for some 20 or more years...no, has to be longer than that. But regardless...he was on his way back to Russia. He has a house there and in the States. He is retired, so he just gets to do what he wants. lol I enjoyed my ride with him. He even remembered my name when he said goodbye to me.
P.s. They do NOT id. Some of the kids in our group were a "little" tipsy on the flight to Germany. haha. Not to mention, they serve unlimited alcohol on the flight. You do not have to show id, you do not have to pay, and you can get whatever you want. Weird. Definitely not America.
Second flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Madrid, Spain. I had the last seat in the entire plane. Nobody sat directly next to me, but in the third seat of my tiny row a girl named Stephanie sat there. She is from an all-girls high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was great. She is 16 years old. We talked a good bit. She was really nervous about driving a car. Apparently you cannot get your permit until you are 16 in Philly, then you have to have it for six months before you can get your license. Glad im in GA. That flight was only two hours, but they fed us again!!!
When we arrived we didn't have to go through Customs. That was weird too. I have never not had to do that. Yes I know, double negative. Whatever. We instantly got on a bus. The drive from Madrid to Segovia was about an hour and 15 minutes. Not bad. Once we got to the bus station...our parents were lined up!! It was crazy!!! I have never felt so nervous in my LIFE!! Imagine...you and your 34 not-closest friends all standing around with three bags of luggage each, trying to see which set of parents belonged to them. I couldn't decide if I felt like an orphan standing at the orphange gates praying that God would make one of them take me, or if I felt more like I was standing in a kickball line praying I didn't get picked last.
Finally...Felisa walks up to me. And let me be the first to tell you, she speaks ZERO English. ZEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. You could imagine our first conversation. A lot of head nodding and "mmm hmmm"ing to things I had NO idea about. lol Filisa is probably in her early to mid 60's. She lives with her husband Joaquin. I only met him once, and only briefly. She has three or four children. I can't figure it out. They are all in there thirties but only one of them, Sara, is married. And only recently. Nobody had babies yet. haha I met Sara, she is really pretty. Then after I came back from meeting with my group, I met Fuen. She was way cool. She set up my internet for me in my room, which we will get to in a second.
Just before she set up my internet, I walked into the kitchen to bring Felisa some gifts I brought her from the US. I brought her mostly candy from the check out aisle at Walmart. My professor Suazo said that it is customary to bring them gifts. And they often wonder what our candies and things are like. So I brought her one of every kind. Every kind!! She was blown away. Then I tried to explain to her what they were and what was in each of the candies. That was funny. This is the first time I actually felt relief and my extreme anxiety went away. Before this, I had been FREAKING OUT. On the inside. But nonetheless really really not okay.
To be honest, as soon as my madre walked me home to our new casa, I was alone. I started to freak out. The language barrier was too much. I new that I should be understanding what she was saying, but I just could not get it. We now speak to each other in third-grade level Spanish. But at least it works. So, I started to tell her what was in each candy and we just kept laughing. She keeps calling herself fat and that she should not be eating all that candy. But then she laughs. Oh well. I also brought her some Splenda, decaffeinated hot tea pouches, and ChrystalLight packets. She LOVED those. That was a great idea...(Thanks Momma for letting me take those, even though you don't know that I did...lol)
Okay, so...the last thing for tonight. Mi Casa. Or for those of you who do not speak Spanish, my house. We live next door to the frutería. Which is the fruit store. Everything in Segovia is in corridors. The people live in apartments above the stores. The walls go up about five or six stories. I live on the Fourth Floor on the left. 4 Izquierda. We live on Roble Street. It's pretty cool. I am getting good with street names and I have not even been here 24 hours. Anyway, I will post pictures so you can understand. I have my own bedroom: two beds, a dresser, piano, desk, and night stand. It's AWESOME! I even have my own bathroom. It rocks too. I will post the bathroom pictures tomorrow. I can't describe it. So you will have to see it. Anyway, I have everything to myself. It really is like I am there child.
Felisa is waking me up tomorrow at 8:30 a.m so that I can get ready for school. She will walk me to class twenty minutes before 10. We have an excursión tomorrow. Classes start thursday. Im actually pretty excited about those too. Hopefully it will help me with my really not so good Spanish that I thought I knew so well.
Keep me in your prayers, and keep up with me on here. I want to tell you guys all about it. This is really a life-changing experience.
MY BED. IT IS REALLY COMFORTABLE TO SLEEP ON.
MY NIGHT STAND BESIDE THE BED. THERE IS A PICTURE OF MY AND CHRIS ON IT. MAKES IS LIKE HOME.
MY DESK. IT SITS JUST IN FRONT OF MY WINDOW, WHICH LOOKS DOWN ONTO THE STREET!!
