Making it to Madrid

Hola hola! We are on the ground in Spain, touching down to Madrid at a brisk 3:30 a.m. EST. Because this is international travel, there were, of course, some bumps in the road. Highlights include:

1. Weather Delay at O'Hare due to a possible tornado

2. Wandering aimlessly through Chicago O'Hare Airport trying to kill the time

3. The longest customs line I've seen to date, complete with the most egregious line cutter ever. Shout out to the British mom that scolded him fiercely.

We (being Liz, myself, and the best chauffer/Dan) left Indianapolis a touch before 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It's currently ~2:00 p.m. local time, so we've been going going gone for almost 24 hours. As expected, I'm exhausted and ready to crash; however, for jet lag's sake I'm trying to persevere and make it to a respectable bedtime.

While I've only been here a few hours, there are already things piquing my interest. In a funny coincidence, I'm still living on a ninth floor apartment above a bar - I just share this one with several other exchange students. My host mom is such a sweet abuela, this cute little old lady looking for some young life in her home after all her children flew the nest. She's hosting three other students in addition to Liz and I. We won't meet them until tomorrow since they're in Toledo right now, but we do know that they're French. What a cool opportunity to make new friends with people I literally never would've crossed paths with!

My room is all decorated with pictures from home and a curious arrangement of furniture; I had to make sure I could squeeze my yoga mat in! I'm sleep-deprived and emotional and straight up tired, but I'm reminding myself that this comes with the territory. You can't chase a fantastic adventure without a little emotional adversity, especially at the beginning. I'm confident a good night's sleep will help recharge my batteries and allow me to totally enjoy my first weekend in Spain.

Nos vemos!!!