First Impressions

That amount of traveling is EXHAUSTING. I was so excited to go to Spain, but once I got there, I was almost too tired to appreciate my first few hours there. In the Atlanta airport, it was all nerves and anticipation. The flight over the Atlantic was the first big energy drain. When we landed in France seven to eight hours later, it was somewhat shocking to hear everyday, normal conversations and realize that I couldn’t understand a word. There wasn’t a whole lot to be explored in that airport, so instead you would see an ocean of students lying in the floor trying to sleep, while untold numbers of other people boarded their flights and flew away. The next flight was much shorter, but those two hours still managed to drain even more energy. The end of that flight was the most memorable part. The clouds were spectacular, pure white and full and fluffy, with every single one of them completely flat on the bottom, so that there was a horizon of clouds as far as the eye could see. Then, upon looking down, you could see the land below. It looked as though someone had laid a topographical map beneath us, the lines perfectly drawn. It was awesome. After the plane landed, there was the typical hustle and bustle about airports, claiming luggage, finding your ride, and so on. The bus ride from the airport to Mara, our colegio, showed more of Madrid, and served as a type of introduction to the country. Mara itself was quite cute, in my opinion at least, with everyone having their own dorm and bathroom, a good place for a tired traveler to crash. I was finally here, and it still didn’t seem real :) .