Another Day of Class; The Return of Wireless; Conversation With a Professor; Interesting Pizza

Today started off like any other day, except I stayed in bed a little longer than normal, and finally got up around 7 a.m. I afforded myself that luxury because today was laundry day, and with the washer running I knew there would be no hot water for my morning shower. I really wish I could have gotten a shower. I absolutely hate to leave the house, whether here or at home, without showering first. As of now, I still haven't taken one because the washer has been running non-stop all day; I think I'll just wait until tomorrow. The European washers are much smaller than the American ones, so trying to wash a week's worth of clothes for four people takes many loads of laundry to complete.

We have wireless internet again! I thought I would die without it. I know that's horrible to say, but it is true. Pepita buys the internet and router just for the students who stay with her; she doesn't have a computer of her own. I hope we have the net for the rest of the month, it is so much easier to communicate with it.

I had another conversation with Prof. Bd tonight. We met at a small cafe to discuss things. I told her that I was considering going home because of stress and feeling fatigued all of the time. She said that since our last conversation, she had been thinking and thought that it would be in my best interest to return home. I told her that I didn't necessarily want to return to the U.S. because I love Spain. It isn't that I'm homesick or physically ill, I just feel mentally and emotionally horrible a lot. I told her how much class was stressing me out. Today I made myself physically ill with the thought of going to class. I had to leave the class halfway through because I thought I was going to be sick, and I felt that a panic attack was forthcoming. She said that she was sure that accommodations could be made that would ease my stress. Prof. Bd was very understanding and compassionate. She was going to discuss things with my professor to see what could be done.

We had pizza today, and it was very interesting to say the least. Pepita made them homemade, and of course there was the usual sauce and cheese put on top; and because we were in Spain, a pork product was necessary as well. I'm not sure whether it was ham, bacon, or sausage, but it tasted fine. The one thing I could not stand about this pizza was the egg. Yes, I said EGG. Pepita cracked a raw egg on top of the unbaked pizza and put the entire thing in the microwave. It was not tasty, and the egg was runny because it wasn't cooked all the way. If it wasn't for the egg, the pizza would've been great. I hope next time she doesn't put the egg on.

The Long Journey to Madrid

Madrid is wonderful. There is so much to do and see. The city is always alive and energetic. We are staying at the Hotel Principe Pio, which is quite near the royal palace or Palacio Real.

I was quite nervous when we got to the airport in Richmond as I had never flown before. I also didn't know what to expect or how to navigate through an airport and deal with security. When I arrived I was told that all of the class except for me, another student, and our professor had caught an earlier flight to Philly. This news made me even more anxious and unsure about the forthcoming trip. I didn't even know the other student (Easton) and had very brief and limited contact with the professor (Prof. MJB). 

I then wheeled my bags all the way down to the terminal; stupid me. I then asked where I needed to go in order to check my bags and was told, "At the ticket counter," which was all the way back across the airport. I felt so dumb and stupid; I hated myself.

So I then trudged all the way back and checked my bags. My big one was 5.5 lbs. under the 50 lb. weight limit. I was relieved because I didn't want to pay the $80 charge for the extra weight. I was thankful that I had decided to divide my clothes between two suitcases. Prof. MJB, Easton, and I went to the gate to wait. During this time we all got to know each other better and I was feeling less anxious, although I was still nervous about flying for the first time.

We were to leave Richmond International Airport at 5:50 p.m. and were to board the Philadelphia to Madrid flight at 7:05 p.m. When we were alerted that our Richmond flight was delayed by a half hour, Prof. MJB became stressed. She called the other students who had already arrived at Philly to tell the airline (U.S. Airways) that they were not to allow the plane to leave. 

The flight from RIA to Philly was AWESOME! I loved it more than I ever thought I would. It was so beautiful to see the cities between Richmond and Philadelphia lit up at night out my window. Easton and I were seated next to each other and we became fast friends.

The flight went smoothly, and after we deplaned the three of us had to haul ass all the way across the huge Philly airport. The airport is wonderful, and very clean and well kept. The stores it contained were amazing, and it was similar to a shopping mall. They even had a Harley Davidson store where you could buy motorcycles (in an airport?!).

We eventually made it to our gate and reunited with the rest of our group. Then Easton and I went for some food because we were famished.

It wasn't long before we boarded the international flight to Madrid. The plane was huge. There was the window, then two seats, then an aisle, then four seats, then an aisle, followed by two more seats. I was really excited to have another window seat. The plane was a little cramped, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

I was seated next to Franny, who I had briefly met before. We both began to read to occupy the time waiting for take off. When it did, the view was amazing and the 8 hour flight commenced. We were served dinner, which was okay, but not the greatest (I know "What do you expect? It's plane food!"). I had the pasta, and it was quite good except the sauce was spicy hot. I ate the cheese, bread and crackers, and decided that was enough. The movie that was being shown was "Invincible." It looked quite good, but I decided not to watch it because I was busy reading, sleeping and listening to my iPod in order to occupy myself.

I was awake when the sun began to shine through the clouds in the atmosphere. It was one of the most amazing sights I’ve seen in my lifetime. Seeing clouds at their level, and even being above them, was incredible. When we were closer to the ground, I could see the Spanish mountains and the windmills that were perched atop the ridges. The ground looked like a patch-work quilt of greens and browns with an occasional dark river winding in between. A few towns could be seen scattered about the land with buildings of white and brown.

When we arrived at Barajas Airport in Madrid, I found it quite sketchy. The day before I had learned that a parking garage there had be bombed by ETA and two Ecuadorian men were killed while sleeping in their car. I never actually saw where the parking garage used to exist, and everything appeared normal. I was very careful about watching my bags in the airport because Barajas has a reputation of luggage being stolen.

After all of our luggage had been claimed, we went to meet our tour guide. When we came face to face, she was a twenty-something Spanish woman named Inma. She dressed very stylish, yet bohemian at the same time.

We proceeded to drive to our hotel, the Hotel Principe Pio. Here waiting outside was another professor, Fernando. The hotel is quite close to the royal palace and gardens in a park-like setting are directly across the street. My roommates are Meghan and Diana, who I know the best out of everyone in our group. The room is small and contains three twin beds and a bathroom. Out our window we can see apartments, clotheslines and cats on top of roofs. There is also a large Middle-Eastern-looking dome which is very colorful.

I went to lunch at a Turkish restaurant chain with the majority of our group. I found the food to be quite unappetizing, and couldn't finish it.

After that I took a nice two and a half hour nap to recover slightly. We were supposed to visit a tourist site this afternoon (the Palacio Real, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, or the Museo Reina Sofia), but we voted to have the entire afternoon to ourselves. 

I think Meghan, Diana, and I are going to go sightseeing with others from our group. I hope we have a great time and don't get lost. 

Did You See That?!; Dreading Today; Hoping for a Shipping Miracle

Firstly, I just finished watching the Fiesta Bowl between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Boise State Broncos. It was an awesome game. Oklahoma was very heavily favored over Boise. At first Boise was trampling the Sooners, and I pretty much thought they were going to run all over Oklahoma. The Sooners did manage to score many unanswered points to tie the game. With only a minute or so left, the Sooners went ahead by seven, but Boise came back to tie it with a few seconds left on the clock. The game then went into overtime. The Sooners struck first with a running touchdown by Adrian Peterson and made the point after. But then the Broncos came back and scored. They wanted to win the game and be "Cinderella", so they went for the two point conversion. An awesome play fake was called and the runner went in untouched. The final score was: 43-42. If you didn't see it, you should definitely download it from the iTunes Music Store, or watch for it on ESPNU.

On t.v. when they were interviewing a player, he proposed to his girlfriend, the head cheerleader, and she accepted. It was touching, as much as it could be, but the announcer interviewing the player completely ruined the surprise. He announced something to the effect of, "And now we have a proposal..." I know that announcers are paid to speak, but they should know when to keep their mouths shut.

Today I have a lot to accomplish, and it is going to be extremely stressful. I have to wash all of my clothes and pack what I'm not planning to wear today/tomorrow. I have to paint my toenails; Yes, this is important as I bought a new pair of Reef flip flops to wear in Spain. I have to clean my big aquarium, and put some more water in it. Next, I have to set up three 2.5 gallon aquariums for my bettas. I even splurged and bought each one a heater so they can stay nice and warm while I'm away. I think they are a little chilly now and we have yet to see any really cold weather, so I think they'd turn into fishsticles (fish+icicles) if the temperature dropped. I really care about my bettas, but I have to wash out/disinfect three aquariums before I can put water in them, which has made me procrastinate until the last day I am home. I also have to buy a converter at Radio Shack so I can use my battery charger and cell phone charger overseas. I have to buy the rest of the toiletries that I've forgot to purchase. There are other things that I must do today, but I can't think of them at the moment. Hopefully I'll get all of them accomplished with enough time left over for me to relax tonight.

I also could not find a step-down transformer to use with my laptop in Spain. Therefore I had to order a European Dell powercord. The company I ordered from was closed on Monday, so the order should be filled today. I paid $30.00 in shipping charges to get it mid-morning the next day (Wednesday). I'm a little concerned because my mom wants to leave for Richmond by 11 a.m. at the latest. The powercord has got to get here before I leave. It would be so much easier to find things that would work with my laptop overseas if I didn't have a Dell.