As I write this reflection at 7:48PM (1:48PM Boston Time) I am absolutely exhausted. I barely slept for more than an hour on the plane last night after being delayed for about 9 hours. However, when I finally arrived I could not help but smile when I saw the huge Guayasamin mural on the wall in the Barajas airport. For all of you non BC Gringo Readers… Guayasamin was the most famous Ecuadorian painter probably ever and his work is displayed all over Quito! It was almost as if my experience in Quito gave me one last memory and allowed me to move on.
The man who picked me up from the airport was an absolute character. His name was Manuel and he was perhaps the nicest person I have met in months. We had a great conversation during my 50 Euro cab drive (big difference from the 3 dollars I would have paid in Ecuador). When I arrived at the campus and specifically, got the tour of my dorm, I was in shock. This semester I will have my sheets washed once a week, have my room cleaned every other day, have my laundry done weekly, enjoy three free meals daily, free transportation anywhere in Madrid, and, not to mention, my dorm has like two libraries, ping pong and fooz ball, party rooms, classic and modern music rooms with instruments, free bikes to rent, theaters, movie rooms, etc. I have a feeling this will be a much different abroad experience.
Right when I had finished unpacking I got a knock on my door and it was Kyle and some of the girls from my group! I hadn’t seen Kyle since July so I was overjoyed. We all went and grabbed lunch in the dining hall. In this dining hall you have to be well presented, can only sit in groups of 6 or 8, must fill the tables from the inside out in a pairing order, cannot leave until everyone at the table is done, the first person must get the pitcher of water for the table, and the second the olive oil and vinegar. In the all boys dorm next to us they have to wear dress shoes to dinner!
From lunch we went to some park, which was really pretty and basically just walked around Madrid. To be completely honest, it still hasn’t hit me that I am in Europe. I feel like I am in Boston right now. Maybe it is because the culture here does not seem as different as Quito did to me. Regardless, everyone in the group seems nice, I am looking forward to planning some trips soon, and as for going out tonight… let’s just say I am probably going to pass out and wake up in about 14 hours.
After I posted this last blog I indeed did sleep for 15 hours… that has to be some kind of record. We spent Sunday walking around Sol, Plaza Mayor, and eating tapas. We also watched Eurotrip, typical, and all hung out last night because we were all absolutely exhausted from the weekend. I am having an issue because I am a really light sleeper and my roommate, Isabel, snores and moans and talks and viciously scratches herself while she sleeps. I totaled roughly 0hrs of sleep last night… I was simply tossing and turning listening to the melodious sounds from the other side of the room. Legit though, I either need to switch rooms, move my mattress to Kyle’s floor, or get ear plugs. I am really nervous about the rooming situation now.
The first day of classes was today and everyone is sort of “shopping” at this point. I sat in on 7 classes all together and walked away confident that I will stick with three of them. It was a long long day… when the five of us left this morning it was still dark outside and we were greeted at the university with frigid hallways and classrooms (at least it kept me awake). I left my room at 7:30 this morning and returned home at 6:00 tonight. While it definitely was not the most fun thing in the world I shouldn’t complain because I am only taking Monday and Tuesday classes!!!
Exciting news though: This weekend I will be going to Switzerland (Geneva and Interlaken) for skiing and skydiving and the following weekend a group of us are going to Morocco through our BC program!!! I’ve been here for less than 72 hours and have already managed to plan a plethora of weekends so I am excited for what’s to come…. Let’s do it up, Europe.
