Day 1

It has been quite the day here in España. (Also, there is no comfortable way to sleep on a plane.  There are only varying degrees of discomfort. Did not sleep at all.) First, our group got VERY lost as we were getting off of the plane. (But did you know there are no customs forms or real immigration here? Unless you have something to declare, they just stamp your passport. Weird.) Our plane was slightly late, which didn't help. We were supposed to meet the rest of the group in Terminal 1, but we apparently went to the wrong part of Terminal 1, so we called Dr. H. and he sent us to Terminal 2, which was an even bigger fiasco, and eventually we were told (several calls later, after I passed the Delegated Direction Giver position to someone else) to go back to Terminal 1... where we had started.  I guess the rest of the group waited for us, because the bus that was supposed to leave at 11 didn't leave until we got on it at 12:30.  

We drove for about a half hour to Alcalá de Henares, and found the city square, where we met our host families and Alcalingua contact (whose name is Rosillo, I believe).  My host mom's name is A., and her daughter's name is M.  Maria has a son named O.  I'm not sure who actually lives here.  There's also a woman visiting who was apparently here on Study Abroad from BYU like 5 years ago.  All of our communicating is done in Spanish--they know very little English, and I believe they've been instructed not to use it.  Spanish is definitely different here, and the accent will be an adjustment, but it's very pretty.  I like it. 

Almuerzo (lunch) is their main meal of the day, and we ate at about 2:00.  Arroz y pavo (which I believe is rice and turkey), and some sort of delicious bread.  I don't know what was in it, but it was delicious, and it was a lot.  Then she fed us flan with whipped cream, which I ate with my fork, and that seemed to offend her (I was supposed to ask for a spoon. Oops.).  We gave our gifts today, and the family appeared extremely interested in everything they received.  

Alcalá is very, very old, and it's very pretty.  The King of Spain was apparently here in Alcalá today (which explains the hoards of police) to receive an award, though later I heard it was actually the prince who was receiving the award, so I guess I have no idea what's going on.  Women really do still greet people with a kiss on each cheek, which is odd but nice.  I didn't realize our host family would have an apartment instead of a house, but now that we've seen the city it makes sense.  Everyone has an apartment here.  Theirs is nice.  I'd like to go walk around the city later, but that depends on when my roommate Courtney wakes up (she's still asleep).  

We have an orientation at Alcalingua (our school) at 4 pm tomorrow, and then our classes start on Wednesday (mine at 9 am).  Then on Friday, we're going on our first excursion to Segovia and La Granja.  Then on Monday we go to León, where we're spending the night, and Tuesday and Wednesday (it's a holiday weekend, I'm told--something about labor day) to Frómista, Burgos, Convurrubias, and Santo Domingo de Silos. I'll be sure to take pictures on those adventures.