Thursday, June 18, 2009

I made it!

Well, here I am! I finally made it to Toledo! But not without my fair share of obstacles.

To begin, I missed my flight! Unbelievable! The itinerary from the airline said to arrive 90 minutes prior to departure, but when I showed up there was a monstrous line. All kinds of flights were delayed and canceled for some reason, and everyone was trying to rebook. In the meantime, myself and 3 other people who were on this flight to Toronto were trying to make it through the line, so we could catch our flight, but the lady at the desk kept telling us to just wait. Then we heard the announcement over the intercom, last call for boarding. Not cool. I had to call the airline, and the best they could do for me was give me the same flight a day later. This meant that I would miss orientation and an interview, etc. Not cool, but there wasn't really anything I could do. So I went home, and enjoyed one last night in my bed.

The next day, I arrived at the airport with PLENTY (3+ hours) of time to spare, so as to avoid the same disaster as the night before. Everything was fine. I didn't have any problems in the airports or anything. The flights were good. On the way to Toronto, there was a Steeler and a Penguin on my flight.. they were talking about their championship wins. It was awesome. haha. There were only 12 people on the flight (it was a tiny plane!) I am not sure who the Penguin was, but the Steeler was Darnell Stapleton, and, for the second time in three days, I saw the real superbowl ring in person. It's amazing-ly huge! So that was fun.
The flight to Madrid, was fine. ....Until the plane landed. I went through customs and everything, and then was waiting at the baggage claim, only to find that my bag didn't come with me. I started to get nervous when all of the people from my flight started walking away. But I thought mine was just at the bottom of the pile since I had a transfer. Ha, that was wishful thinking. Finally, when my flight number disappeared from the screen, I went to talk to the information desk. They didn't have any info about my bag. But they did give me an overnight bag, which included a tshirt and some toiletries, and then they told me they would deliver my bag when they found it. I was not happy, but what could I do?
Since I was already a day late, I had to find my own way into Toledo. I took a taxi to the train station, and then rode the high-speed train into Toledo. It wasn't bad at all. On my way to the train station, I was chatting with the driver in Spanish, and it was awesome.

Anyway, I finally arrived at the school around 2:45 on Tuesday. When I got here, I was exhausted and I felt gross. Then I had to go meet with a bunch of professors and such. The next day, I took my placement test, and finalized which class I was going to take. I scored intermedio-alto on the placement test.. which is probably right. But I'm determined to be avanzado when I leave. I probably was when I left the first time, but I've definitely lost some of the more advanced grammar.

Anyway! So far, I have not had much to do. I had one class this morning, which is a supplemental class for the students who are doing the internships. Speaking of, I am one of 2 students who are taking a 6 credit internship, meaning 30 hours of work per week. Everyone else is taking classes. I am kind of jealous. I already miss school, and I feel like this is taunting me! Everyone has been going to classes all day, and I've had relatively nothing to do. I have not yet been to my placement site, either. I am only going on Tuesday. However, I did find out that I'll be working with at-risk youth, and/or serving meals as well. They keep emphasizing that it doesn't matter what kind of work you do, it's just about interacting with the people. So we'll see! I'm kind of nervous to start, but I can't wait. I want to get into the swing of things already.

And, of course, I am quickly remembering just how much I love Spain. When we take walks at night, I keep passing things and places that I've been before. It's kind of a weird feeling. But I kind of like it as well. I am kind of nervous that I am beginning to sound like "that girl", because I have been here before, and because I keep answering people's questions about certain things (besitos, piernas de jamon, etc) and vocab words. I don't want to sound that way, but they are asking the same questions I was asking, and I'm just trying to help! ...but I am definitely trying not to sound like I know everything. haha.

So far everything is ok. I am having a horrible time with jet-lag. It's hard for me to sleep at night, and during the day I am exhausted. So I hope I can adjust soon. Also, I thought there was only going to be about 10 students in the program, but there are about 60, so it's way bigger than I originally thought. I'm horrible at meeting people at first, but I hope I can get over my shyness and just start talking to people. This is always my biggest struggle! haha.

Well, this is a long post. I'll try to keep this updated, but that didn't work so well the last time. But I promise I'll try!

Oh, and I have a Spanish cell phone, so if you want to call me (And you should, because I would love you FOREVER), my number is:
(34) 628 204 317

Hasta Luego!
Raquael