After 3 airports, 3 planes, 6 hours waiting, and 13 hours in transit, I finally made it!
The trip from Tucson to Madrid was definitely a long one, but it was the first one I've had in a while that was free of transportation crises, so I'm definitely grateful for that. I even managed to get a decent amount of sleep in the process, and I think I've fought off most of the jet lag already.
The first 2 days here have been mostly a blur. We are staying at the Hotel Regina in Plaza del Sol for the first 2 days for orientation. It's been a lot of information about what's going to happen with classes, internships etc. For the first 3 weeks, I will be taking a seminar on contemporary Spain, taught by one of the program directors. It's going to be super-intense - lots of reading and writing, with included visits to el Centro Islamic y las Mezquita de Madrid, el Congreso de los Diputados, la Feria Internacional de Turismo de Madrid, y la Bolsamania. We also take trips to Toledo, Barcelona, Sevilla and Segovia.
Puerta del Sol is the center of the city and it's a huge tourist area. It's really close to Parque del Retiro, the largest park in Madrid, which we will be taking a walking tour of on Sunday. There's tons of shopping and restaurants. We went out for sangria (and of course TAPAS) last night. YUM!
Madrid has a really interesting feel to it. It's kind of a fusion of old and new. I am still getting accustomed to hearing Spanish everywhere around me, and I'm looking forward to picking it up more and more.
I'm excited for the traveling possibilities I will have here as well. I want to get to know Madrid and Spain as much as possible, so Barcelona and Granada are on top of my list for weekend trips. Other places I might want to go include Portugal, Morocco, London, Dublin and Milan. We shall see. I don't want to spend every weekend traveling, but it's so easy to just hop on a plane or train and go, that I feel like I should take advantage.
Tomorrow I will move in with my host family. I'm really anxious to see where I'll be living and meet the family members.
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