Hola España y blog

So I have only been in Spain for less than 12 hours, and I have already made some note-worthy observations that simply cannot be summed up in a Facebook post much less a Tweet. Therefore, I decided to start a blog to tell about my adventures in Spain, starting with the plane ride.

1. I was unable to sleep at all on the 7-hour, overnight flight to Madrid. Fortunately, there were in-flight movies available (I chose “Little Miss Sunshine” and “My Sister’s Keeper”. Both were good choices).
2. All I have seen of Madrid so far is rain, highways, and graffiti. (None of those are bad things, but I am excited to see much, much more as soon as I can!)
3. Alcalá de Henares, where I’ll be living and studying for the next month, is such a cute town! I love it already—the historical architecture, the friendly townspeople (which, by the way, this is the first environment I’ve ever felt a need to use the term “townspeople”. It’s just that kind of place.), the European storefronts, the plethora of apartments. I can’t wait to wander the sidewalks and sidestreets and explore some more! (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I won’t “wander” alone!)
4. I also love the European double-cheek-kissing thing. (Go for the right cheek first.) I may keep that up when I return to Oklahoma, so be prepared for that and embrace it.
5. I love the fact that our Madre (host-Mom) forgot to come pick us up, because she was taking a siesta. So European, and it was easy to forgive her for it.
6. Once she did come to get us, we had to walk several blocks. I found myself thinking “How do you say ‘All of my muscles hurt’ in Spanish?” (I’m pretty sure it’s “Me duele todos los músculos.”) I’m just glad I don’t have to lug ALL of my luggage with me that far again until I leave to go back to the U.S. (side note: I just realized where the term “luggage” came from—it’s stuff that you “lug”. Duh.). It was all quite heavy.
7. I was also surprised that my roommate and I have our own rooms! Pretty cool. (It’s about the size of my half of my dorm room freshman year of college. It’s just right!)
8. The next surprise was when I thought the bathroom had two toilets, then I soon realized it was a bidé. I’ve never used one of those, and this may be the prime opportunity to do so. I haven’t decided yet, but I have a whole month to make such a life-changing decision.
9. The apartment that is our “home” for the next month is nice, smells clean, and has the distinct appearance of a Grandma’s residence. It’s perfect.
10. Our Madre insists that we “Come fruta” (eat fruit). She’s very motherly/grandmotherly. And after we ate lunch she said that we can sleep and referred to us as “pobrecitas” (poor little things) because she knew we had been traveling and didn’t sleep much on the plane.
11. Which brings me to my next favorite thing: the siesta. I’m starting to feel like this place was made for me or something.
12. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that when I did my first Google search, all the results and Google site would automatically be in Spanish. I like it! (and I even had to create this blog with only Spanish directions. Which may or may not explain any mistakes and/or lack of physical appeal.)

Okay, so that’s the first dozen observations/things I love about Spain so far. (I would do a baker’s dozen, but I want to keep my readers guessing… and that’s assuming I’ll even have “readers”.) Hasta luego.