Ah, Granada

After finally packing all my clothes and essentials for the next 5 months, I went out to one last big American breakfast with my family and was soon after dropped off at O'Hare. Complete with my huge backpacking backpack, school backpack, and other carry-on, I said good-bye to my brother, then mom, who stealthily stepped out as her eyes began to tear...and dad, who kept taking "candid" pictures of Theresa and me as we bounded off to security.

I know you all really want to hear about my travel day, so I will tell you. In 100 words or less:

Plane #1: From Chicago to Philly - uneventful + 2 hour stopover

Plane #2: From Philly to Madrid - long. Long and disorienting. I fell on the border of sleep at 12 central time and was woken up by the flight crew for breakfast at 2 am c, but 8 am Madrid time. I have been confused about what day it is since Monday, but I'm relatively sure it's Wednesday, 6 pm...landed then spent 8 hours at the Madrid airport, as Spaniards seem to have little sense of time management, but no worries, I somehow managed to sleep laying across several chairs under the amazing airport ceiling of curvy wood.

Plane #3: Madrid to Granada: I've never boarded three planes in a row, bonus! 2 hours of turbulence, wet luggage, taxi to hostel, out of euros.

sleepy

disoriented

hungry

moneyless

rain, rain, rain

FOOD! Went to a tapas restaurant with some other girls from my program and had paella deliciosa, jabón that tasted like pavo, and red wine. I felt very European, except that I was with 10 other Americans and smelled like airport. Then, sleep.

So I am here. In Hostel Atenas. In Granada, so ready to start this adventure. More later, but for now, hasta luego