Arrival!

Ahh, what a busy couple of days it has been, but totally worth it! I will try and give you a brief yet detailed run-down of how everything went! Monday morning my father and I set out around 9:00 a.m. to head to O'Hare, and we arrived around noon. I still hadn't felt like I was leaving. We finally got around to checking in around one or so, and I wasn't excited about going through security. After neatly organizing my carry-on luggage, it was annoying having to take nearly half of it out because Heaven forbid it makes the buzzer go off. Oh well. Well, the rest was nothing special until we finally got around to departing around 5:45 p.m. Luckily I got an aisle seat and didn't have anyone sitting directly next to me, but one seat over from me I was talking to a nice girl (about my age I would guess) from Louisiana (who works at Chick-Fil-A - my favorite!, and goes to a community college there) who was headed to Venice to visit her best friend. We were having nice conversation about books, traveling, and other such topics of life, and I got around to thinking how quickly people come in and out of our lives, throughout its entirety. Really the only consistent and concrete foundation of people we have in our lives are our family, if we are even lucky enough to have them for most of it! I was just thinking about how people come in and out of our lives for a reason to teach us something, and then leave when necessary, and it is okay that they are not a part of our lives anymore. I think that is very true and lately I have been realizing this more and more with whomever I  come into contact with. Well, also throughout this plane right, sitting to my right across the aisle from me were three women who were actually from Spain (might I add they were quite rude and inconsiderate). I was not pleased to hear them gossiping in Spanish (most likely assuming I couldn't understand what they were saying) about "ugly" actors and actresses, and making fun of Americans. They sort of ruined the first impression I was hoping to receive from a typical Spaniard. Oh well. I got over it.

Anyway, after the long, boring, restless, and unappetizing meals during the eight hour flight from Chicago to Madrid, we finally landed! At this point it STILL hadn't felt like I was leaving, it just felt like another day in the life of Hillary. Typical. I travel across the world on a daily basis, no big deal. Haha. Well, I was super excited for it all even though I felt pretty tired. I don't have time to be tired! I am too enthused about this opportunity. While we were sitting in Madrid, I got to know some of the other students from ISU who are also spending the semester in Granada. It is nice having other colleagues to relate to and share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Finally, after the short flight from Madrid to Granada, we finally arrived at our destination! I was just about ready to collapse. Our program directors met us at the airport and we all got on a bus to where our host families would be waiting for us! I was already pretty anxious, but now I was starting to get a bit nervous about what I was going to say to my Señora. As soon as I got off the bus, my Señora (Carmen) shouted my name and I turned around and immediately ran to give her a hug and some besos (gotta immerse myself in the Spanish culture right away)! We were equally enthused to meet one another, and the first two things she asked me were how tired I was, and how hungry I was because we were about to have quite a large and delicious lunch! She cooked paella (with chicken, rice, and veggies) and we had a lot of other potpourri side dishes to go along with it. The coffee is absolutely fantastic here, I could drink it all day. My señora is a very nice and considerate woman (she said that I speak good Spanish, but that's not why I like her so much ;)). She is going through chemotherapy right now, so I am hoping that my company will keep her in good spirit throughout this semester. I am so excited to live in such a wonderful home with a wonderful señora. Her family visits a lot as well which is nice company to chat with and learn more about their culture and history.

Today we had our first day of orientation where we toured a little bit of the university and met some people. I am looking forward to classes starting to give me some more things to do (not that I'm bored, just keeps me busy). I have met some new friends so far and I am excited to explore this beautiful city with them, as well as make even more new friends along the way! Today for lunch my señora cooked a sort of rice soup with eggs and vegetables in it. It was pretty good, I am already getting used to the typical meals here in Spain. Good thing I'm not a picky eater! I gave my señora her gift and I think she really enjoyed it, so I am happy! I haven't done too much exploring yet, since I have been exhausted and busy with things to do, but I will definitely be taking some time to do so next week.

 This blog isn't very detailed (sorry, I'm still exhausted), but I will be more interesting in my next posts. I haven't taken many photos yet either because I've been too busy enjoying it for myself! I'll be sure to post plenty of them throughout the semester. Until then, here are a few that I took along the way on my iPhone:

 Airport in Madrid

 What our plane looked like!

 Sierra Nevada!

My breakfast!