Madrid Day 1

hola! I have finally arrived in Madrid. I flew out of Philly with no problems despite the snow. My parents drove me up, we had a nice lunch and I headed to the gate around 3:30.

 The flight was relatively painless except for the fact that I was seated next to smooches McGee. This guy seriously could not keep his hands off his girlfriend. I sat down in my seat and for the first 10 minutes they we making out like they weren't on a plane full of people in close quarters. I sat there contemplating if I would have to use the US airways provided barf bag before we even started moving. Luckily, I pulled through and we took off. After choking down a delicious meal of mushy,soggy rice, "chicken" and vegetables, I managed to sleep on and off for most of the flight. The seats were a lot more crammed than any previous international flights vie been on so I was really glad to finally get off the plane a after 7.5 hours. Once I got off the plane I was given a warm Spanish greeting of 3 flights of stairs to carry my bags up. I have no idea who designed their airport but they obviously did not think logically. The walk to baggage claim was through winding hallways and felt like atleast 2 miles but i finally made it there! Luckily, I met 4 other USAC students waiting for luggage too! Instead of taking a shuttle by myself, I got to take the metro with one of the other girls and the other people I met took a taxi. The metro was cheap and easy to use (only 2 euros). The only downside was carrying my 50lb suitcase and 40lb backpack, plus a heavy tote back up endless flights of stairs. 

This is just one of the many flights of stairs i had 

to climb with my 100+ lbs of luggage.

 My shoulders, back and arms are soooo sore!

Once we got off the metro we checked Into the hotel around 10:30. It's really nice and convenient and right next to the metro. Our room wasn't going to be ready until 12 so we went to star bucks next door to get some caffeine with the other usac students we met. We all just talked and had coffee and used the wifi to contact our parents etc. At 12 we were able to get to our room which is really nice! The girls I am roomed with seem really cool. We rested for a little bit then did some walking and window shopping around Madrid. The streets are really crowded but it is a really cool city. I can't wait to walk around more tomorrow. We are about to head down to have dinner with all the USAC people since everyone has gotten here by now


So far Spain is AWESOME. The only downsides: 1. stairs, 2. I lost my NorthFace jacket within minutes of getting to the hotel/it was stolen :( 3. I forgot my toothbrush. Other than that .. LIFE IS GOOD!