In Spain!!

So I'm finally IN SPAIN!! It took a lot of luggage and a lot of waiting but I'M HERE!!!

I'll start from the beginning...Honduras.

It was great to see Harrison, his house, his town, his country. That said, Honduras is not my favorite country. Only in Yamaranguila, H's town, did I really feel safe. It's a hard country to travel in, the roads are bad and transportation is unreliable. If Harrison had not been there, I would have cried the second we tried to get a taxi from the airport. But we had some unforgettable experiences. We visited the Pottery Cooperative Harrison works with and got some great pieces. My room next year is going to be an eclectic mix of Malawi, Honduras, Spain, and any other Euorpean countries I go to. We also got a tour of a coffee farm and machinery/plant which was extremely interesting and informative.

Unforunately, a little piece of Honduras (no, not pottery) came back with me. I have had an issue properly digesting of my food. A doctor gave me some medicine which seems to working. Unfortunately, sitting in an airport is not comfortable and I was in pain a majority of the time.

So we came back from Honduras on Sunday. I packed Monday and Tuesday. My flight was at 9 am on Wednesday to JFK. We booked that flight during the huge snowstorms before Christmas so we booked the flight extra early in case anything happened. Of course nothing happened and the flight actually landed early in NY. So I arrived at the airport at 11. The group flight was set for 9 pm that night. The airline desk didn't even open until 2 so I sat in front of security/desks for 3 hours with all of my luggage.

I kept looking around for people waiting with a ton of luggage like me but there was another group traveling to Spain at the same time so it was impossible to tell who was in my group.

I got checked in and went to the gate. I was starving but the doctor order only bland foods so I got a bagel. The gate was empty so I charged my laptop in the corner, the only outlet I could find. This was my first mistake. I was so involved in The Office on my laptop I didn't realize that people were sitting near me in this far off corner because there were no more seats. I had wanted to move back closer to the gate so that I could find and talk to people in my program (we were taking a group flight). By the time I moved, there was no where to move to. So I went back and sat next to the loud Italians and the quiet British people in the corner.

I felt disappointed in myself, that I missed an opportunity to socialize and meet new people. So I got mad at myself, which probably only made my pain worse, and started worrying about getting left out. So I dug myself into a self-wallowing hole fueled by pain. I was desperately hoping that whoever sat next to me on the plane would be a student and my new BFF but no such luck. It was a nice old lady who offered me her People magazine when she finished.

I slept for a majority of the plane ride. My stomach felt horrible so I ate only 2 bites of rice and 2 bites of a roll that really tasted funny. I slept through breakfast but the nice lady ordered me orange juice and grabbed breakfast for me. I ate half a muffin and drank some of the juice but my stomach was still not good.

Life has turned out much better since. I met some people waiting for others getting off the plane and we walked through the glass maze that is Madrid's airport. We grabbed our bags (both of mine arrived, yay!) and went to the charter bus. The bus ride was uneventful, I napped most of the way. I tried to stay awake to see the scenery but my eyes disagreed. I did see a windmill farm (yay sustainable energy!).

My host mom was at the futbol stadium waiting for the bus with her older daughter Christina and her grandson Esteban, who is adorbale. We left in Christina's van (which has doors like a sedan, kinda weird) and she dropped us off at my apartment. The apartment is HUGE! It was a large living room/dining room, a large kitchen (almost the exact size as my house's but the table and appliances are switched). I got to pick my room because I arrived before my housemate Marissa. They are the same really but I picked the one closer to the kitchen. We have our own rooms and we share a bathroom. There is another bathroom, another room (the host sister's), a large office, and my host mom's room.

I told my host madre about my stomach so she made chicken broth with star shaped noddles! But then she also made a whole breast of chicken and french fries... It was legit 2 meals in 1. She hasn't quite figured out that we don't eat that much yet. Like tonight for dinner she made a whole potato sans skins, broccoli which was a little mushy, and 2 smaller breasts of chicken. Again 2 meals in 1.

Today, we took the bus to school, with our madre. We had our picture taken and got on the computers in the lab. We had an assembly about Valencia and school in general. They are VERY serious about only spanish in the center. Even if we are socializing between ourselves in the canteen, only spanish. Then the professors gave an academic presentations. We got our schedule and I'm signed up for 6 classes, 2 are at the same time and another 2 at the same time. So I have to meet with the director and get that fixed. I only want to take 4 because I'm only going to get credit for 4 at USC. This way I'll do better in my classes.

After that, we walked to the Old Quarter and walked around. We grabbed lunch. A friend got a glass of wine and I got a Coke Light (Diet Coke). The Coke Light was more expensive than the wine, which I found odd.

We had a walking tour of the city with one of the staff at the center but it was a big group and I couldn't hear much. The city is gorgeous and love the architecture. I didn't know that was on the agenda for today though and didn't have my camera unfortunately. Oh well, guess I'll just have to go explore again!

We walked some friends home and then Marissa and I walked home. We went to a grocery store and bought shampoo and snacks. Our first foray into shopping! It was great to explore a little bit of our neighborhood.

Sorry this was SO long but that was the past 2 weeks or so and a lot has happened!!! Love each and every one of you and thank you so much for your support and encouragement!!

Love, Lizzy