After a grueling seven hour layover at DFW, a nine hour flight to Madrid getting lost at the Madrid airport but then finding my way to my last gate to Sevilla I had finally made it to Sevilla, Spain. Landing at Madrid airport was an experience to say the least. Going through customs was pretty easy and the airport was gorgeous, (upload pictures later) I eventually followed a big group to where I needed to be. I went up two escalators, down three, went on one rail and went to two information desks asking questions in my broken Spanish. Nervous and scared yet excited and snapping pictures all along the way I found a young group of girls at my gate that were in the same CIEE teach abroad program as me. At the time, as much as I wanted to mingle and to get to know everyone I was also trying to put myself together as best as possible and looking for the nearest bathroom. Finally about 20 hours later and I was ready to board my last plane. I'm exhausted, smelly, hungry and thrilled that I made it this far.
Once off the plane in Sevilla I grabbed my luggage and my new friends and we were off to the bus that would take us to our hotel. Of course this wasn't an easy task for me. When you take a luggage cart off the given path it is more than likely to tip everything over to where you have to start all over again, which I did. Then when the luggage (mind you I have three suitcases around 40lbs each) finally made it to the bus it became an even bigger challenge to get them off the bus into the hotel without any bellhops and one luggage roller thingy-ma-bob. I press the elevator button for up and go to walk inside with my luggage and realize that the elevator is the size of a refrigerator box. I get stuck. I pry myself out elevator and bring my luggage to my room and expect to be in bliss. It was not bliss. It took me 10 mins and one more trip to the help desk to figure out how the hell to turn on the lights and air conditioning in the room. All I wanted was a cool shower and a place to lay down. Supposedly to save energy you put your hotel key-card in this little slot to turn everything on. Small slot to say the least. Cold shower time. As I walk into the bathroom I notice two toilets, yet the second one is actually a bide. Never used one and never will. Then the shower to my amazement was small and cute, perfect for a small person, dwarf or a dog.
After my shower and orientation the group was treated to a cocktail dinner. It included many tapas and Spanish wine. The food was great except for a few things I tried that I had to so graciously spit out in my napkin. The whole time I kept thinking about Anthony Bourdain and the crazy food he eats while meeting people from every part of the world. I had a blast mingling with girls/guys from all over the United States and practicing our Spanish. Gotta say that the first night here was a success. Food, new friends, perfect weather and a warm face from my Spanish red wine has been the best welcome to my new home here in Spain. Life couldn't be better, but then again it can because I have only had a taste. Spain, what else ya got?
No comments:
Post a Comment