Touchdown!

This is a travel update that will have to be uploaded when I can access a wireless connection, but I wanted to record a few things before I forget them due to my delirious state of exhaustion.  I am writing this post in an extremely sleep-deprived and jetlagged state, so please forgive any glaring mistakes.  So far, it’s been 26 hours (and counting) since I woke up in Olympia on Sunday, and I have gotten no speakable sleep since then.

 

The good news, however, is that I am finally in Spain!  And despite the fact that I’ve barely seen anything, it’s more beautiful and perfect than I even could have imagined it.  But we’ll get to that in a minute—first, the flights that brought me here…

I began at Seatac, where after a series of tearful and difficult goodbyes, I navigated security and found my terminal.  It turns out that Lufthansa is a fantastic German airline with friendly staff and good food, which was a pleasant surprise.  I was seated next to a friendly middle-aged man named Adani Mohammed Said.  I know this, because he talked to me for six hours straight throughout our ten hour flight.  He was flying to the UAE on business as he does every three months.  While I did eventually tire of his exuberance, the high points of the journey included him teaching me magic tricks, reading my palm, and literally forcing his phone number on me and making me swear to call him if I ever got into trouble.  This is because, as he explained to me, “I can tell you are a good girl with a good heart.  We are good friends, no?  You are a lucky girl.  I take care of my friends.  You call me whenever you need me.  You ask for me anywhere—you say you are a friend of Adani Mohammed Said.”

In any case, I was able to escape his constant stream of dialogue with my noise cancelling headphones for a few hours, but the trip mostly consisted of me smiling demurely and nodding while he talked about bizarre things and how I was a good person.  Also, Quincey you were right about us going over the poles.  So cool!

When I arrived in Frankfurt, I bid Mr. Said farewell and hurried off the plane, not before I was presented with a single red rose from the extremely German flight attendants.  The gesture was very sweet, but I must confess that I ditched the rose before going through my next security point (but not before an airport worker asked me if I had a secret admirer).

I learned two important things during my time in Frankfurt:

1) I need to learn how to read international time.

2) Sleeping in a dress is difficult.

While I didn’t wear the leggings I brought for any flight, I did decide (in a fit of sleep deprivation, of course) that it would be a good idea to put them on while sitting in the middle of the airport.  I’m fairly certain that I scandalized a German businessman, but it’s not my fault that the Germans don’t believe in bathrooms closer than a mile from every terminal.  So, after my amazing wardrobe feat, I sprawled out on three seats and dozed for about 45 minutes, which could have been longer if I understood international time.  Alas, I headed for my terminal an hour early and by that time was too awake to get any more rest, mostly because my gate was change THREE TIMES in a period of an hour.  At least I got some exercise?

My flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona was fantastic.  First of all, because the flight was under two hours we cruised just high enough to be able to see all of the German, Swiss, and French countrysides, as well as the Mediterranean.  Secondly, my seat partner was amazing.  He was a thirty-something Spaniard named Rafael who was returning from a trip to Alaska with some of his buddies.  This was his first trip to the states and he loved it, especially getting to see bears up close.  However, the best part of our interaction was the fact that he only spoke Spanish and French, so were forced to communicate for two hours in Spanish!  I was pretty awful but he was very patient, and he told me a lot about Andaluciá.  In addition to beginning our conversation with kissing both my cheeks, he also told me that Sevilla and Córdoba are his favorite cities in Andaluciá.  He was from a smaller city about two hours from Barcelona, and told me that if I ever found myself there I should look him up.  Sociable and not creepy—the best kind of seatmate!

When I got off the plane in Barcelona, I was blown away.  The airport was immaculate and everyone there was friendly and fashionable.  My body was so confused by this point that I ended up ordering a Greek yogurt, a bag of chips, and a mini bottle of wine… potentially one of the weirdest meals I’ve eaten.  I then moved from seat to seat waiting for my gate to be announced and attempting to doze off while holding my carryon in my lap.

By the time my gate was assigned, I was so exhausted that I could barely stand.  I found myself sitting slumped against the floor drooling on my purse in the middle of a snooze before pulling myself together.  At this point, I saw two young American women who looked suspiciously as exhausted and confused as I did.  They were talking over a Spanish dictionary, so I approached them and asked if they were part of the CIEE program.  Their names were Kelly and Emily, and to my delight, they CIEE participants, so we planned to get a taxi together once we arrived in Sevilla.

The flight from Barcelona was packed and hot.  Everyone around me was literally screaming in Spanish, and most people didn’t seem to mind the rule about turning off electronics before take-off.  Two five-year-old twins were seated in the row behind me, which left me alternating between feeling charmed and homicidal.  To be clear, Spanish speaking children are adorable, especially when singing, but nothing is really amusing after 30 hours without sleep.

I arrived in Sevilla on time, and thankfully so did my luggage.  Kelly, Emily, and I met two more teachers who were part of our program and the five of us proceeded into the heat to find a taxi.  We made it to the hotel unscathed, despite the fact that seatbelts are apparently an afterthought in Spain, as mine wasn’t even accessible.  Still, we paid 10 euro per person for the ride so I felt pretty lucky.

When we arrived in the lobby the coordinator, Brittney, told us to take our bags up to our rooms and then come out to the patio.  I found my room without trouble, but spent the next ten minutes wondering what ridiculous test I had been given.  In Spain electricity is really expensive, so apparently hotels require patrons to insert room keys into a slot by the door in order to get electricity to work.  Long story short, I was glad to have my flashlight.

Awaiting us on the patio was a welcome cocktail party.  We had sangria and various appetizers, most of which included fish.  I was so exhausted that I could barely eat (which is a rarity for me) but everything that I tasted was amazing.  I met tons of people, including two girls from Atlanta who were both placed in Córdoba as well, but they aren’t in the city like I am.  When I went to my room afterwards, I met my roommate Jessica, from Boston.  She’s really nice and is placed in Córdoba too, in Cabra.  So far everyone is very friendly and I’m really excited.

Now exhaustion has now overcome, so more later!