el primer día

At EWR, waiting to get through Security:)

Welp, here I am! Here I am in Alcalá, sitting near an open window and hearing the sounds of the street floating up through the open window beside me. As far as Spain goes, I really don't have much to share...I've seen the Madrid Barajas airport (for a long time), la Plaza de Cervantes here in Alcalá, and a few side streets. No one ask me how to get from Madrid to Alcalá because I definitely slept on the 30 minute bus ride over here. What I've seen of Alcalá de Henares, however, is gorgeous! We'll be touring it tomorrow so I'll have more to share on that then. The flight over was very uneventful apart from watching Ghost. I've been on a Quantum Leap kick, so that was fitting.

Favorite moment:
-Hearing the guy that stamped my passport say "Welcome to Spain". The sad thing about that is I don't remember if he said welcome to Madrid or welcome to Spain...I think it was Spain. I'll stick with that one.

Second favorite moment:
-Getting a stamp in my passport:)

Cultural observations:
-No screens in the windows. Those seem pretty prevalent in the States...
-The news was on during lunch (don't know what they call that here, maybe just comida? I'll keep ya posted) and I realized that the news here was a LOT more graphic than it is in the US. I can't think of any examples right now bc I am so tired I could fall over right here, but American news is GENTLE in comparison. Granted, I've seen about 20 minutes of Spanish news and about that much news in America over the course of my life, but it didn't take long to realize the different levels in standards.

Language progress:
-Jenessa and I have been able to communicate fairly well with Pepita and Miguel, our host parents. They have three kids, all with kids of their own (almost) and they have had students in their home for the past ten years! Over 50, they said. So they are pro at this. They don't speak a lick of English, which is great bc Jenessa and I will be able to practice alllll the time with them!

Alright. I'm almost out of battery and things to say. Hasta luego!