Saturday, May 31, 2008
a long time ago.. in an airport not so far away...
So here we start. Let me introduce myself. My name is Natalie, I am a 20 year old college student from the University of Wyoming, and this blog will be the updating tale of my many adventures studying abroad in Granada, Spain! I will be posting stories and pictures to read and explore what my life is going to be like in the next 2 months!
So let's see.. the current time is 4:16 Eastern time. I'm sitting here next to a window waiting for the flight to Madrid. Over 3 hours ago, I got to say good-bye to my family, and my mom drove me down to Miami from our home in Boca. We enjoyed listening to Snow White on the cd player and chatting about travel experience on the way down. We checked in fine, wandered through the airport, and got some tasty lattes! We then said an "adios-" and I was gone! Security was long as usual, but I got through with all my stuff. Found a seat near my gate and an outlet, and I'm good to go.
The plane's not here yet- it's been delayed for 15 minutes, hopefully no more than that! I've paid for 24 hours for 9.95 for internet access (a big rip off, but I was afraid of getting 30 minutes only, then paying 25 cents a minute to continue! Lame!)
It's interesting to sit in the airport, and hear both Spanish and English being spoken- A couple of hours from now, it will all be Spanish! I'm trying to pay attention to the Spanish announcements for my own 'quiz' on my Spanish skills- I'm going to learn a lot in the next 8 weeks, hahaha!
The flight itself is 8 something hours, hopefully they'll have a movie of interest on board. Hm hm hm. I could always read Wyoming Ghost Stories?
Or even better, my maps of Spain?
hm hm hm.
But there's nothing more to be said then I'm here waiting in the airport for my flight to take off. Hopefully they'll have wireless in Madrid so I can write another update! (in the magical event I'm not going to be typing jibberish from exhaustion!)
Well it's 4:30 now, and the plane has finally taxied up! Hurrah! My excellent adventure is soon to begin!
Until next time! (Adios!)
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Sunday, June 1, 2008
Made it to Madrid!
A bit fuzzy due to the time change, but I made it to Madrid! The flight from Miami wasn't too bad- it didn't feel that long, but maybe it was because I watched the in-flight movie, hahaha! Sat next to a lady from Italy, which was cool. Plane made it off smooth and it was an 8 hour flight from there! Had beef and mashed potates dinner, which was pretty good. I read about half of my book, 'The Sun Also Rises." Didn't sleep at all on the flight, when I actually felt like sleeping they turned on the airplane's lights, so that definately didn't happen. Very full plane. Landed at about 8 AM, went through customs and another security gate.
So now I am waiting for my gate to show up on the televised screen, for what I understood the international informacion desk told me that the flight wasn't listed yet. My spanish skills are very useful in communicating- so glad I have spanish speaking background, or this might be a bit more difficult figuring stuff out.
The airport here is very big and very retro-looking. It's very nice, and there's lots of little shops to walk around and look out. Didn't see the coast of Spain because of the clouds, but saw the countryside flying into Madrid, and it is very beautiful- lots of green and hills. The weather outside in Madrid is very overcast. I sit in a chair, listening to the sounds of a father having his little girls dance around in the airport. It's very cute- the dad's counting in time in spanish, and the little girls are stomping around. Not a bad way to spend the morning.
Bought 30 minutes worth of internet, and am running on the laptop battery, which probably will shut off before the internet does!
Ok, signing off from here before my internet (or battery) does it for me!