Day 1 - El primero día

May 30, 2010
4:45 pm

I am here! My name here is Kristina.

Yesterday I left for Spain after a full day in Atlanta at the aquarium with family and friends. Melanie, my roommate, and her family joined us.

When we later arrived in the airport, the flight had been delayed. Needless to say, we ended up leaving two hours after expected takeoff due to our plane being struck by lighting on its last trip. We nonetheless switched planes and then took off!

The flight was long but I was very lucky with my seat partners. I sat near a lady who had just visited her lover in New York and a man bringing a group of students to study in Spain for the summer. The lady did not speak much English and her boyfriend does not speak much Spanish. Thus, she is trying to learn English. She spoke with me most of the flight and told me to start a journal of new words I learn and categorize them. I now have a front and back sheet of paper with common phrases in Spain.

In Spain, lunch is referred to as “comida” not “almuerzo” and when you meet someone it is better to say “encontrada” in lei of “mucho gusto,” which means I am pleased to meet you.

We arrived in Spain at 11:15am (4:15am Central time). We are all a bit tired but also too excited to sleep just yet. I then met my family! The madre y padre picked me up from the bus stop. The family sometimes speaks very fast and it is sometimes hard to understand everything they say. However, they understand we are learning and are very willing to help us learn the language. They do not speak English.

After they picked us up, we walked to their chalet, which is four stories high and a bit narrow. There, Melanie and I met their two daughters who gave us a tour of the house. The furniture is simple and the lifestyle “old fashioned”.

We then sat down to lunch, which is usually at 2:00pm and the largest meal. We had rice with vegetables and crab meat. The father served everyone her food and then served himself. He gave us wine, which he explained was 14 years old. They only drink wine on Sundays and sometimes on Saturday. After we finished the rice and salad on the table, there was another course of very lightly fried chicken or “pollo”. It may take some time to get used to a larger meal in the middle of the day.

Now, I have just finished unpacking my room where I have a closet, bed with a trundle, a nice window, and a view of other chalets in the area. I cannot wait to adventure around Alcala and Madrid. We have a welcome meeting tonight where I will learn more about classes, which begin tomorrow.

I am going to take a “siesta” or nap before we head out. Hasta luego!