2:31, 2:32, 2:33PM. The minutes just keep dragging on and on as my uneasiness, to get on the plane, grows. At the insistence of my mom, my family and I left our house three hours before the boarding time. Like any mother, who’s child was moving across the seas for four months, mine entered freak out mode hours before leaving the home.
“Don’t forget the extra Advil dad brought.” “Are you sure you took enough pairs of socks?” “Why did you leave these packs of M&Ms behind? Take them, they don’t feed you on the airplanes, I know.” OH MOM. I couldn’t help but laugh at mom’s panic attack which was totally justified.
After a tearful goodbye with my parents and grandparents I made my way through the long, twisty walkways at O’Hare. Hoping to get access to free wi-fi to make some last minute phone calls, I quickly grabbed the seat closest to a wall outlet. To my dismay, I was prompted to pay for internet access. Thanks O’Hare. Instead, I ventured off to make new friends with whom I shared a long, sleepless eight hour flight to Madrid.
[After landing in Madrid]
Most of us CIEE students had a 45 minute difference between landing in Madrid and having our connecting flight take off to Seville. As my luck would have it, I wasn’t given an express checkout pass to cut the customs line. All of a sudden, my Spanish kicked in. I started begging and pleading the security officer to let me cut the line so I could make my flight which was already boarding. My travel mates went ahead, trying to stall as much as possible, as I found a way to maneuver myself through the maze of blue cloth-tape to the front of the line.
With 18 minutes left until take off, a group of six of us ran through the elongated corridors of Madrid International Airport. Accidentally taking the elevators to the wrong floor, we had to back trace our steps hauling our heavy carry-ons up a flight of stairs. No, the airport did NOT have a functioning escalator going upwards. With the help of an attendant, we were pointed in the right direction only to sprint to our gate within the last few seconds of it closing (a total Amazing Race moment), as the annoyed flight attendant blared “La llamada final para el vuelo a Sevilla.” I bet she was thinking “Stupid Americans.”
A quick 90 second shuttle bus ride got us to our flight, on which we were greeted by multiple, irritated middle-aged business men staring at their watches as if they had some important meeting to get to. The man I happened to sit next to asked who we were and what caused our delay, frustration in his tone.
Bottom line: we made it to Seville. I am sitting in my luxurious hotel room writing this blog after a long day of eating, walking and exploration. This place is unreal, nothing like I’ve seen before. I mentioned to my roommate that the calles (streets) y edificios (buildings) of the city seem as if they belong on the set of a Bourne Identity movie. Beautiful, breathtaking…I could go on and on about how gorgeous Seville is.
Tomorrow will be filled with a full 12 hour orientation with a tour of the University and el Centro, a placement interview with CIEE staff, topped off with tapas and a Flamenco show. I suspect the lot of us will venture out to find the hippest discoteca. I’ll keep you posted on our findings. Until then, enjoy a few pictures from my adventures today!
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