Two days of travel survived
Well, I´m finally here. After the most gruelling travel day that I could possibly imagine, I am here. Tired, frazzled, a little hungry, but safe and present in Valencia, Spain. Planning out what a bargin it would be to travel how we did (Detroit => Chicago => Philly => Madrid Airport => Madrid Trainstation => Valencia => Host Apartment) didn´t seem so insane when we did it. Now that I´ve survived some 36+ hours of straight travel, I think a little differently. The extra $500 that we saved was not worth that stress and general physical discomfort.
Anyway, that said, Valencia seems wonderful. Although I think that the stressful travel combined with the obvious unfamiliarity of this location have pushed me further out of my comfort zone that I had anticipated would happen. I´m not freaking out, but I do feel severely out of place. Everybody speaking Spanish, and I feel slightly silly, as if I am going to speak in broken phrases and sound like a confused American. Which, in all fairness, is what I am.
There is an internet cafe a few buildings down from the apartment I´m staying at, which is incredibly convenient. I am here now with Shauna and another girl that is staying at our host home, Flavia from Brazil. She´s been a doll and showing us around a bit. We were going to go to a free concert until we realized it wasn´t free... so of course we ended up on the internet. ¡Por supuesto! My host mother, Julia, also seems incredibly nice and helpful. She is making spaghetti tonight, which I am excited about, because I am ridiculouly hungry.
I hope that my suspicions will be correct and that in a few days I will feel a little more comfortable here. Also, I must get used to these foreign keyboards, my typo level has skyrocketted. Tonight I will eat and sleep, which should make me significantly less cranky. Tomorrow morning we buy our bus bonus passes (10 trips for €5) and phone cards, and then we´re off to school orientation and a tour of the city. Which, by the way, is huge. This is a much bigger, more metropolitan city than I expected. This will certainly force me onto my own two feet for a while.
With all of that said, this should be interested. Stay tuned for scheduled programming.
Anyway, that said, Valencia seems wonderful. Although I think that the stressful travel combined with the obvious unfamiliarity of this location have pushed me further out of my comfort zone that I had anticipated would happen. I´m not freaking out, but I do feel severely out of place. Everybody speaking Spanish, and I feel slightly silly, as if I am going to speak in broken phrases and sound like a confused American. Which, in all fairness, is what I am.
There is an internet cafe a few buildings down from the apartment I´m staying at, which is incredibly convenient. I am here now with Shauna and another girl that is staying at our host home, Flavia from Brazil. She´s been a doll and showing us around a bit. We were going to go to a free concert until we realized it wasn´t free... so of course we ended up on the internet. ¡Por supuesto! My host mother, Julia, also seems incredibly nice and helpful. She is making spaghetti tonight, which I am excited about, because I am ridiculouly hungry.
I hope that my suspicions will be correct and that in a few days I will feel a little more comfortable here. Also, I must get used to these foreign keyboards, my typo level has skyrocketted. Tonight I will eat and sleep, which should make me significantly less cranky. Tomorrow morning we buy our bus bonus passes (10 trips for €5) and phone cards, and then we´re off to school orientation and a tour of the city. Which, by the way, is huge. This is a much bigger, more metropolitan city than I expected. This will certainly force me onto my own two feet for a while.
With all of that said, this should be interested. Stay tuned for scheduled programming.