¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos! We made it to Spain! (Annie, Kailey, Kathryn and I)

(Annie, Kathryn, and Kailey)

Traveling here didn’t go as well as I had hoped, but I am so very thankful that we all made it hear safely! We flew into Cleveland, Ohio before entering Newark, NJ due to thunderstorms.  There, our plane refueled, we grabbed a bite to eat, and before we knew it, they had us once again, boarding the plane! We were off! ... to NJ that is.  My ears did great on the take off, thanks to some Sudafed, “Ear Plane” ear plugs, and large amounts of chewing gum.  However, when we would descend, I had a really difficult time handling the change in pressure.  I tried all I knew to do to pop my ears, but nothing really worked.  Annie (who I’m going to be rooming with in Granada) was so sweet on all the flights, asking me how I was doing and if she could get me anything.  I tried to stay upbeat and sociable on the planes, but between my ears hurting, being extremely tired from traveling and my sudden onset of nausea (that started from the flight from Cleveland to Newark, and continued on the next flight), I simply couldn’t.  I slept most the time on our 7-hour flight from Newark to Spain, and kept my eyes closed while I was awake to keep myself from feeling too sick.  Dinner and breakfast came around and thankfully Annie was hungry and felt good enough to eat it! I went ahead and took the food, just in case, but was only able to eat a few bites.  As we were descending into Madrid (about 10 minutes before landing), I felt really nauseous, but was trying all I could to breathe deep and not let anything gross and disgusting happen, haha.  I failed.  I grabbed the small, blue doggy bag inside the seat in front of me.. and yep, you guessed it! I know that’s probably a little too much information to be sharing, but what a great “Welcome to Spain, Libby” event! haha. Annie was awesome and made sure I was going to be okay, and together, her and the man next to me got me some napkins.  After I calmed down and closed the bag of grossness I felt a lot better. I was still kind of shaky, but turned to Annie and to the Spaniard next to her and said, “Lo siento” (I’m sorry).  They said I had nothing to apologize for… but I felt like I did.  Before I knew it was time to get off the plane.  I tossed the doggy bag and we headed toward customs. 

The four of us tried speaking in Spanish while we were in the airport and we did a pretty good job of it… until we couldn’t find our luggage on la cinta (belt).  We waited… and waited. “It’ll come around!” But it didn’t. We went to the lost and found and Kailey told the lady, in Spanish (so cool) our situation.  She replied in English (not cool).  We learned that our luggage would be coming with the next flight from Newark.  After hanging out in the airport and people watching for 2 hours, we finally found our luggage! We were so happy! Immediately we walked our disgustingly heavy equipaje (luggage) outside to get dos taxis.  Within ten minutes we made it to our hostel in Madrid! HOME! Well, for the next two nights anyways.  Lugging our stuff up 2 ½ flights of stairs was not an easy trip but after an ice cold shower (no mas agua caliente) and a change of clothes, it was well beyond worth it! We walked downtown, in the heart of Madrid and ate at a place Kathryn had been before.  We had these small sandwiches that look like miniature loaves of bread. I had un pollo, un chorizo that were muy delicioso and one salmon one that I didn’t eat because it was raw. I’m a “good eater” as my Nonie would put it, and hardly ever leave anything on my plate. But after one bite, I couldn’t finish it.  You have to be careful when you’re ordering food in another language! I need to figure out the word for “raw” haha.

We were so exhausted and didn’t have any energy to walk into any of the neat shops along the street, so we headed back to our hostel.  

(Calle en Madrid)

After making it back and spending some time checking email, we all hit the hay.  Sleeping for 12 hours felt great! And now our plan is to get ready and head out for some desyuno (breakfast).  It’s supposed to be in the high 90’s today! We’ll be staying here in Madrid again tonight but tomorrow we’re taking a bus to Granada that leaves at 11:30 am.  Despite the fact that we haven’t had too many exciting and extravagant adventures, we’re here, we’re safe and we’re working on reminding ourselves, “that yes, we ARE in Spain!”  It’s a surreal feeling for all of us, but what else did we expect? We’re on our own in a foreign country. 

I want to thank all of you for your love and support and especially your prayers! I can’t wait to share with you more about our adventures in Spain.

More to come.

Love, Libby