So far my trip has been great. The main highlight of the plane trip was the Greek woman I sat next to on the pane. She was a stereotypical Greek grandmother, (Erica would love her, just like the one on My Big Fat Greek Wedding) She was short and plump and had her wispy white hair held up in a bun with bobby pins and covered in a black scarf. She wore a black sweater and skirt and her socks were secured with rubber bands. We sat on the plane with a seat between us and she put her feel up on the seat, and a little later, insisted that I do. "Put your feat up." it was not an invitation but a demand. Her voice was rough and direct and I had seen her use it with the airline workers in the check-in line earlier and with the flight attendants on the plane, so when she directed me to "Relax." I did my best to oblige her but actually sitting with my feet up wasn't that comfortable.
I got to the airport and maneuvered my way through baggage claim and customs and found the representative from the University in a matter of minutes. I was so proud of myself, but then again everything was marked in English. I got a packet from her and was told to go sit down while we waited for other people. We waited for about an hour and more and more students came, they were mostly from Boston, and sitting there in the airport I wondered at the fact that we could have been in Logan. They all sat around and chatted in English about classes and how the time difference made them feel like they had pulled an all nighter and how they were "wicked tired". I have to admit I was a little disappointed at that point because I felt submerged in the culture I had just left, which is not why I came here. On the bus many of them watched Family Guy on a laptop. I mean, come on!
I was picked up by my Senora, Maria Emilia and already she is so wonderful. She said I am just what she expected, and angel. She is a excellent cook and I loved what we had for lunch. We talked, in English, about why we are vegetarians. She is from Argentina, and she too says she ate "a lot of meat in my life". I gave her a pint of maple syrup, which she had never tasted before and asked if she could drink it!! She made a cake for our arrival and is helping me find my way around the city. Patiently explaining things in her English, but as I hear more and more I remember more and more of the Spanish words I once studied. She brought me to Suffolk University Madrid this morning. I took a Spanish placement test and I was surprised by how much I remember and understand, especially reading. I asked Maria Emilia to stop speaking English with me after a week. I feel like I already remember a lot of the vocabulary, although grammar I know will be much harder.
The room I am staying is beautiful. It has two skylights, it is decorated in yellows reds and oranges and it came with a full stereo, large TV, DVD and VHS players!!! I don't think I will be spending that much time watching TV, but it certainly was much more than I expected. Maria Emilia's daughter, Laura, told me that the other girl who stayed with them was able to "steal" wireless Internet from another apartment in the building so I think I will make the laptop I have wireless and that will be very convenient to write to everyone. I listened to some music last night as I unpacked and at least half the songs were the same as I would hear on any radio in the US, uggg.
The jury is still out on my roommate. Her name is Kadija and she is from Mauritania, (I had never heard of it either, look it up) She came last night at midnight. She looks like a model and visits her sister in Paris often. She came to school this morning and wasn't very happy about how long it took to get here from the town we are staying in Majadahonda, and she was telling me she didn't want to live in a family. She seems very independent and looking to be living in a city that never sleeps, because she does not sleep much at night she told me. I don't know what she will do yet. I wouldn't complain about having the rooftop Paradise to myself...But I don't want to be too callous too soon because she just got here too and maybe is under slept or something.
My only complaint so far is the shower is tiny and there is virtually no way to take a shower without getting water all over the floor. The base of the shower is a two foot square tile floor with a 3 or 4 inch lip to keep water in, then the shower hangs from above and the curtain doesn't really close. Time for mopping is going to need to be allotted whenever I take a shower, which may be less often given my habits and the inconvenience of the process.
The transport to and from the city seems easy enough, it is slightly more to get a pass that covers both areas, (the city and suburbs) but I get a discounted one because I am under 21, so I don't think it will be too bad. They recommend that I get a cell phone here, but I am going to wait a bit and see how essential it is, because I think I would be fine without. I will be able to check email almost daily from school but not for the next few days as I will be doing orientation things off campus. It will be a bit be for I will have Internet access in my home, given that I need to get a few things.
Nothing else to report I guess. Things are going really well and I am very happy.
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