a hop, skip, and jump across the pond

Today I started my journey in Madrid, Spain! I was so excited and nervous to come to Europe for the first time, and I finally made it. I arrived at the airport, got my luggage, and then had to wait two hours to be picked up (ugh, it was boring). Luckily I found some girls who arrived around the same time and one who was on my flight so we sat together and people watched while we waited. The airport was so pretty and way better than any US airport I have been to and they even had English everywhere so I could figure out where to go!

Once I was picked up I was brought to the CIEE school. There I was able to meet some of the staff and girls who live in Madrid. I was able to walk around with two of the girls, Elena and Almu, along with some of my classmates. We went to Puerta del Sol and the surrounding streets before going back to the school where other classmates were still arriving. Sol was amazing! The buildings were all so intricate and gorgeous and there was even a Christmas tree still up from the holidays. While walking around I discovered that there were a lot of American stores like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts (although they call it Dunkin Coffee), and The North Face. It felt comforting to see some American things being in a completely different city.

Later, I left the school with my host family Carmen and Evert! They are so amazing I can’t even begin to describe. Both speak amazing English which is a blessing considering I know little to no Spanish at all and are cool people. At their apartment I have my own room and it is so cute (I will have to post pictures at some point). They even have another apartment on the coast, I forget where, and we might go stay there for a weekend.

Their grandson Alvaro came by to celebrate the Three Kings Holiday which is where the kings come and leave the Spanish children gifts. It marks the end of the holiday season so everyone goes back to work and school the next day. I ate the special cake for the holiday called Rosca de Reyes along with hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was very different from what I am used to as it was much thicker, but it tasted great. After that I relaxed for a little while and then ate dinner with Carmen and Evert. We had pasta with salad and chicken and it was delicious. I went to bed shortly after, being tired from the jet lag but I had a great first day in Madrid!

xoxo, j