So I get through security at DFW and go to 2 places to exchange currency before finding my gate and then deciding I have to go to the bathroom before I board the plane. When I got back from the bathroom, I looked around at the people sitting at gate D26 and make eye contact with Alexandra from high school, who I'd just run into at her place of work a few days before. So funny that we were on the same flight!! So I went over and sat next to her and we chatted about Spain. Then this random girl who looked about our age came over and sat next to me and asked Alexandra and I if we knew if the WiFi worked (which we didn't). We started chatting away about how we were going to Spain. She told us that she's basically from there and that she went to college there and now is going back to work.
Her name is Lorena and the 3 of us became fast friends. She is super nice and helped guide me through the Madrid airport once we arrived b/c I was a little lost...We exchanged emails since we would both be in Madrid, and planned to hang out.
Taking a taxi: OK, if y'all know me, you know that I don't like taking taxes in America. It's hard enough trying to speak English to those guys and figuring out tip and whatnot. Now imagine a foreign country that you've just been thrown into and you have to take a taxi from the airport all by yourself to a house you've never been to and you kind of know the language, but since you're semi-stressed out, your knowledge goes out the window. Yep, that was me. The taxis in Spain are actually very nice and clean and my taxista (as we called them in Mexico at least) was actually kind of good looking. Ha! I mean, he looked presentable and all. Anyhoo, I showed him my home address and he plugged it into his GPS. Lorena told me that the cab ride shouldn't be longer than 20-25 mins. so if it was, then I should say something. Luckily, the cabdriver did not lead me astray. The whole ride, however, was super awkward and very silent. At the beginning, I asked him "Cuanto va a ser?" (how much is it going to be?) once he plugged in the address. I always did this in Mexico b/c I don't think the cabs there had a meter, just a flat rate for certain distances. Not the case here in Madrid, so the taxista basically told me he didn't know, it'd show up on the meter. Yeah, I felt pretty dumb.
Anyhoo, I finally made it, and went up to my street number and rang the buzzer thing. It's totally like the walk-ups (I think that's what you call it??) in NYC! You press a buzzer and then the person can talk to you and buzz you in to go upstairs. I'd never really done that before! Soooo, I buzzed Carmen--mi mama-- (after accidentally buzzing some rando at the same time) and told her I was here! So she buzzed me in and after getting my big, fat suitcases through the old, narrow door, I realized that I didn't know where to go from there. All I saw were stairs and no elevator. Sooo...I hauled one of my suitcases up one flight of stairs, then decided I had no idea where I was going and had to buzz Carmen again for help. She came down and I figured out where to go. La 2nda planta (the 3rd floor. They do it differently in Spanish; the ground floor, which is normally the first floor in America is called "la primera planta" and the 2nd floor up is la primera planta). So I basically had to lug my two 50 lb suitcases up a billion and one stairs b/c the building, Carmen later told me, is 200 years old. So of course they hadn't updated it to include an elevator. Thank the lord I'm not on the 3rd or 4th or 5th floor!!! It was a struggle carrying it all up there, but I did it!
Mi madre Carmen is kind of old. She's probably in her 70s, and she greeted me in an precious leopard print moomoo sort of outfit and slippers. She was too cute, and kept repeating, "solo es el primer dia." haha. I arrived first before my other two roomies. Ashley was due around 4 and I got there around 12pm, so I knew it was going to be a pretty interesting 4 hours alone with my senora. She fed me and then we chatted about this and that and she told me that I am now her hija (daughter) and that she can tell me anything. So if I don't like something or have a problem, I can tell her and then no more problems!
I eventually went to see if I could connect to the internet and soon found out that I could not. This would happen. Carmen, being an elderly Spanish woman (I don't think Spaniards are 100% up on the same technology as America), knows nothing about technology of course. Not like Poppy and his computer skills! :) Anyways, she basically thought that because my computer wasn't an "appel" that's probably why I couldn't connect to the wifi "en seguida" (right away). I tried to explain to her that a) my computer isn't old (b/c she thought it was) and that b) it's not the type of computer, it's the router. She wouldn't listen though, so we decided to wait for Ashley to get here and see if she could connect.
Once Ashley got here, she--a fellow PC user--could not connect either. So we journeyed to the computer man to see if he could figure out whether the problem was our computers or the router. To make a long story short, it was Carmen's 10+ y/o router. Anyhoo, as you probably can tell by now, all is well with my internet situation. I am connected!!
Our 3rd roomie--Fatema--wasn't due to arrive until the following day in Toledo. So we packed our bags and went to bed for orientation there the next day. Friday, Carms (what we call Carmen) led us to the Fundacion where we walk to school everyday. It's a little less than a 20 min. walk and very easy to get to school. We boarded the bus after a presentation and were on our way! Toledo orientation will be my next blog. I'm tired of typing for now.
Besos.
PS- at the end of every blog, I'll post some photos!
my school
my school
my street
these are so cool!
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