Travel mania

So I know this is a bit late in coming but I've been trying to get used to everything here.

A little bit about traveling to Spain

Wednesday January 6th has, in my view, yet to end. Even though it is 10pm Thursday here in Sevilla, we haven't really slept in almost 48 hours. It has been interesting to say the least and most definitely a learning experience. We arrived at DFW airport around 10:30am and I made my way through security after telling my parents goodbye (somehow I held back the waterworks). Once I got in the terminal, Tech students going to Sevilla started to congregate comparing flight itineraries. It turned out that we were all, eight in total, flying to Madrid together. Thirty minutes after our flight was supposed to leave we finally departed. Of course, this setback transformed a comfortable hour and a half layover into a ridiculously stressful situation. We arrived in Boston to find out that we had to walk ten minutes, take a trolley, and go through an additional security before making it to our next flight. With only 20 minutes until our plane was supposed to depart we were certain that we wouldn't make it. The eight of us stayed together and would never leave until everyone was there. It was incredible to see how we all bonded together since none of us were comfortable with international travel. We arrived in Madrid, late of course, and had only 15 minutes to make it to our next flight. This airport was like none I have ever seen. I am used to DFW where all the terminals are basically in the same building. Here, we had to take a train to our next gate and go through customs. (I was so excited to get my passport stamped! One of many to come) We literally walked up to the ticket counter as they were making the last call and were rudely greeted by a "Estas muy tardes". I was quite relieved once we made it on the plane to Sevilla. This flight only took 45 minutes and we had finally reached our destination!! Although we had made it safely, Sarah and my bags were no where to be found. We made our way to the baggage claim where we had to get information in SPANISH. By this time, my brain was fried and my body was on Texas time so English would have probably sounded like gibberish. The lady behind the counter began to speak and I understood nothing......I'm pretty sure my mouth most likely fell open as I stared blankly back at her. I responded with an emphatic "Say What??!" and received the most confused and irritated glare. This is something I wouldn't say in the US and couldn't believe it was my first response during a Spanish discussion. Anyway, we hailed a taxi in Spanish and made our way to the hotel where we took our first siesta!

Hopefully I will be able to write later and keep you updated as I go!

:)