un mundo nuevo

i'm here. what a journey so far! i feel like so much has happened in the last 2 days. i arrived here yesterday, the 29th, mid-morning, and checked into my hotel. i hit up an internet cafe and then, shamefully, went to starbucks for a strong one. met a great girl, my roommate at the hotel, who coincidentally grew up in marin and played against me in basketball at drake. norcal connections make me giddy.

we had an orientation, which was really just a hey-guys-heres-a-ton-of-information-don't-forget-any-of-it-even-though-you're-all-jetlagged-and-want-to-die. got a cell phone for local calls and bought skype unlimited for the US.. so no excuses for not staying in touch!

found out who my host family is. apparently theyre a great young artsy couple, the womans a photographer, the man an actor. they couldnt pick me up because theyre in peru where the woman (paula?) is taking photos of mariposas (butterflies).. i think thats a pretty good excuse. so for the first few days im staying with her aunt. the good news is that paula and fernando live next to the parque de buen retiro, which is a gorgeous park, and pretty close to the big museums, so ill have no excuse to remain painfully uncultured.

the weirdest thing about madrid so far? the fact that i hear bad american ballads from the 90s EVERYWHERE I GO. in the hotel, it was Colors of the Wind. in the supermercado, it was Brian Adam's Everything I do. and spanish MTV has The Hills dubbed in spanish. just saying.

and the best news? danielle miller lives just a few blocks from me! just the ticket right about now.. im going to head to her place later tonight. 

thats all folks!

Killing time in Miami Int'l

I just realized there's nothing worth documenting to document about the trip so far.. a long plane ride from SFO, a desperate need for a shower and a coffee (I'll take care of the latter in a second, the first not so much), and some anxiety about getting into madrid and being completely lost. but whatever, i'll cut myself some slack since it is a foreign country and thus inherently, well, foreign.

:)

6 days til take off...

I've purchased the necessities: a power adaptor/convertor, a travel guide to Spain, a sturdy (extra-large) suitcase, and a sassy new pair of boots. I have my passport, my student visa, and my plane ticket. I've converted all my money (ok ok, mom and dad's money) into Euros, partly to finish my preparation, partly to stem my problem of shopping-as-a-result-of-boredom. In 6 days, I will be on my own on a plane to the other side of the world, with no idea of what to expect except that this will undoubtably be the biggest adventure of my life so far.

Bring. it. on.