Moving In

So, as you may have noticed, I wasn’t being very good about posting frequently. These first few days have been exiting, tiring, and haven’t left too much room up for blogging (that’s my excuse anyway).

Firstly, I am glad to be out of the hotel scene and finally move in with my host family. The family consists of Rosario, my homestay mom, and Adrienne, another Cornellian in the program. Our setup is really sweet and I even have my own room and internet access! Rosario is very chill and almost insists that we break some fundamental rules like, don’t use the kitchen, don’t keep alcohol in your room, keep your room tidy, and don’t take long showers (I wish that last one was true).



Rosario is one of the warmest people I’ve met in a long time and it was both refreshing and a relief to realize that she isn’t hosting us just for the money, but rather, she’s doing it for personal reasons. She’s never explicitly stated this, but it is as if she were adopting us as her own. She wants to treat us like she would treat her own children and that is something that I was not expecting. I didn’t think that I wouldn’t feel like a boarder living with a widowed 50-something year old woman who cooks for me and does my laundry. In all, I am pleased that it is much more than just that.

As I type, she’s on the telephone with whoknowswho and is giggling wholeheartedly in a Pillsbury doughboy way. Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo. One can’t help but smile about it.

January 11

Train to Madrid




Today I had my first European train experience when I travelled to Sevilla from Madrid. It was lovely. I half looked out the window and half slept while enjoying the relative nothingness and perfect greenery from the window.

Some Sights in Madrid

Just some photos for your viewing pleasure.

Day 1: The Great Commute

So, my flight could quite fairly be called the flight from hell. It was the late departing 10:00 pm flight from Newark to Madrid that set the tone for the rest of my journey to Spain.

The prelude: saved packing for the last minute (day) therefore spent a very stressful 2-3 hours attempting to organize my life while simultaneously entertaining the ever youthful and wildly energetic Adrianna. Additionally, Nino was out of sight when I wanted to bid him farewell adieu.

The flight itself at first (for a solid 5 hrs) was wonderful! According to everyone around me there was insane turbulence, but a prescription sleeping pill put a young Gigi out like a lamp. Apparently, I even snored. To make a long story short, we could not land in Madrid at the planned hour, instead we circled it for about 45 mins while awaiting approval to land and then headed out to Portugal for “fuel.” Almost five hours of it! It took just a little bit of snow to shut down the entire airport in Madrid and to leave us stranded.

Check this article out:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Freak-Snowfall-Shuts-Madrid-Airport-Traffic-In-Spanish-Capital-Brought-To-Standstill/Article/200901215200269?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Region_6&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15200269_Freak_Snowfall_Shuts_Madrid_Airport%2C_Traffic_In_Spanish_Capital_Brought_To_Standstill

Almost eight hours past our initial estimated arrival time, we head out to Madrid to find out that cabs were capitalizing on little snow flakes and charging 100 Euros for a ride that should’ve been 25. After much ado, we finally found car service for a bargain of 41 Euros. Oy.

After checking in to the hotel, an exhausted Gigi and folks headed out for a nice evening stroll and late dinner. I think we were all too tired to marvel at the beautiful Madrid. I look forward to tomorrow and to seeing the sights as spot lit by el sol.