Spain Day 1:
My first day in Spain was pretty amazing, despite feeling super jetlagged and being awake for almost 36 hours straight.
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| Waiting for flight #1 |
The flights were pretty smooth save for some turbulence near the end of the Miami to Barca flight. I think that turbulence should really be renamed because for the unsuspecting passenger mere "turbulence" doesn't do it justice. Over the years I've become accustomed to it and just pretend I'm on a roller coaster of something of the like because if you're gonna go you might as well be thinking you're on a roller coaster and not a flying metal tube of doom. The PA system should just go ahead and be honest in saying that "folks we're going to be hitting a patch of near death in a minute, please buckle your seat belts." Or maybe that's just me.
Landed safe in Barca.
I didn't have to wait long for the people from my program to find me and after I got some money from the ATM we went off to the next terminal to wait for the next participant to arrive. Because my host mom was feeling under the weather, the people greeting me were Syliva (my main contact through all of this) and Josep (the program coordinator). We walked over to Terminal 2 where Alana, a girl from Ireland was supposed to be arriving around 10:30. My flight got in an hour early and since we had a little extra time we stopped to grab a bite to eat. After talking for a bit we walked back into the terminal and proceeded to wait.
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| dinero en mano |
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| Part of the welcome committee |
After we made sure Alana and her host family were all set Sylvia, Josep, and I went to the car and drove into Barcelona. They had to stay near the airport for the day as more participants flew in and they wanted me to see the city before I drove to Malgrat that night so the called a girl called Jessica to be my tour guide for the day. Jessica is a student from the UK and she is doing her compulsory year abroad in Barcelona as she studies Spanish. She wasn't really expecting to give a pop tour that day but she was a trooper about it. Apparently she had been out partying till around six that morning but she was really cool in showing me around Barcelona.
We saw many of the main attractions unique to Spain included la Sagrada familia, camp nou, and el estadio olympico. We must have walked at least three miles altogether in combination with the buses and trolleys. Overall the views and atmosphere was crazy cool and I did my best to take everything it. It can be a bit overwhelming for a traveler as they are bombarded with sights, sounds, and potential pick pockets all around you.
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| Lunch time! Pizza burger |
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| Site of the 92' Olympics |
After a busy day of flying, walking, and sightseeing it was finally time to drive to Malgrat. Jessica was helping out with the program introduction in Girona so met back up with Josep and Sylvia and Josep. After about an hour drive I finally got to meet up with my host family. They are awesome and really nice. The mom (Marga) constantly insists that I tell her if I want more food or to immediately tell her if I don't like any food she makes. It's all been delicious so far. By this point I was beyond tired and the jetlag had settled in nicely. I took a shower and unpacked then hit the hay. A very successful day in my book, I mean who can say they step off the plane and get a free guided tour of Barcelona?? I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to such a beautiful city and country.
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