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October 4th 2005

Published: October 5th 2005

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Felipe

My home for the next three months

Like a turtle I will be carrying my home on my back, this is it.

Hola mis amigos y mi familia,

Estoy en España.

The plane trip was better than expected. The first flight to Philadelphia felt like it took less than an hour (of course that´s because I bought the new edition of Powder magazine in the airport and read it over and over in the plane). It was really rainy in Philadelphia so when we took off there was a lot of turbulence, pero estuvamos bien. I sat next to una bonita mujer that lives in Zaragoza but works in Pennsylvania most of the year. She was really nice and I received my first linguistic wake-up call of the trip. When I landed, of course, they lost my baggage along with five other people from my plane, that was an interesting situation. But, luckily I was prepared with a change of clothes and a ceppilla de los dientes y desodorante en mi mochila.

After I delt with the bag problem with the worst broken spanish, it was time to get to my hostal. I took the metro, but at one point I had to switch to a rogue train which turned out to be a bus? that was not part of

Estoy listo

At the Denver airport ready to go.

the metro system and I got lost....so I took a taxi. I told myself beforehand that I wouldn´t take one, but I thought it would be easier. The taxi driver promptly sped off with the meter rolling, through Madrid. At first I was so happy to have a ride. I felt relaxed knowing someone else was directing my movements. A few minutes later I had the sinking feeling of, my hostal was in the center of Madrid and we're on the outskirts cruising around off ramps, obviously pushing the clock. I stare at the driver of the beat up '91 Tercel and start moving forward to say something and he stops. He says, "Banco de Espana" and points. Completely griswaldish, I say the "Banco de Espana is here?". I pay him and and immediately realize what just happened. I was so frustrated, and then I realized that I was in Spain. So, it doesn't really matter that I'm not at my hostal, I only have a small pack and I've never seen this part of Spain..two hours meandering through the streets of Madrid later, I found my hostal. And, like a sick joke, they didn't keep my reservation and they

Punto de Fumando

In the airport by the baggage claim there is a line painted on the floor which designates el punto de fumando (the smoking point) this was my first exposure to Spanish living.

were full. They tried to explain to me that they sent my reservation to another hostal. So I went to that other hostal and they had no idea what I was saying. It was very difficult to communicate such a confusing situation to people that didn't speak my language. The first two hostals I tried were full, finally I found one with room and the owners son luckily knew as much english as I knew spanish so we talked it out and I got my room.

That afternoon I met up with a friend of a friend Alex and his travel companion Kaylin. They coincidentally, flew in the day before me and were staying in Madrid for three days before heading to San Sebastion to work at a vineyard. We got some tapas and Sangria and spent some time in their hostals. There I met people from Switzerland (una chica bonita), some people from Finland, London, Paris, and a lot from the great U.S. of A. Hostals are a great way to meet people from all over the world.

The next day I met up with my Study Abroad group and from then on I was on easy

The Crest of Madrid

This bear eating the fruit from the Madroño tree represents the old days when the trees were property of the people of Madrid but the fruit was property of the government. The Bear represents the people stealing the government´s fruit.

street.

That first day in Madrid was one of the craziest days I have every had. I thought I knew spanish really well, but that day made me think otherwise. Everyday I feel more confident with it, so I know that by the end of the three months I will be very comfortable with the language.

The computer lab is closing now so I will have to finish later.

Hasta Luego,
PHIL

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