EEEEEEEEEEE I have made it to Spain! And Gandia at that. My traveling started almost 24 hours ago. Local time is 9 14 pm. Atlanta time is six hours minus that so 3 14 pm.... have slept maybe 4 hours...?
PS this post is gonna be a bit longer than most, so bear with me...
so packing was the biggest disaster of my life. I mean, how am I suppose to pack for a SIX month trip? So instead of dealing with it, I avoided packing until the day before, and then finished the day of my trip. Oops.. Granted I will be coming back in March for 3 days to meet my little sister so if I do forget anything important (ipod charger, straightener, bathing suit--it´s a growing list) I can get it then... BUT I basically packed for the entirety of this trip.
The first thing I realized? I don´t have that much clothes. Which, in retrospect, was a good thing because then it all fit in a smaller size suitcase and my pack was mostly empty. Second thing? Packing sucks.
So my parents left my in the airport at like 3 seeing that my flight was suppose to depart at 555pm. Suprisingly, not very sad at with the whole goodbye thing. But next time I see them, my mom will go from pregnant to holding a little baaaaaybee. Weird shit.
*side note: so my dad gave me this case that had a inflatable neck rest in it. while passing through security my bag gets like quarantined and needs to get disected.
¨Mam, is there anything in this bag that you know can harm me?¨
¨Uh, no?¨
two minutes later she finds a pocket knife. thanksss dad for telling me you had it in the case with the inflatable neck rest! Now Atlanta security thinks I´m a threat. All good though, got to run out and return it to my dad.
The flight was nothing too excited. [I did, however, figure out where I was suppose to be going once I got to Spain which I hadn´t done until that point.] Forced myself to stay asleep for most-ish of the 9 hour flight even though we had quite a bit of turbulence.Only thing is, the lady I was sitting behind LITERALLY (I don´t mean to be insensitive and I am not being sarcastic but this is the most accurate description so you can visualize her) looked like a Holocast victim. She was the thinnest human I have ever seen. I was worried she would break her arm when she like grabbed her bag.
Oh, btw, did you know that they serve wine and beer free of cost? Maybe it´s just international flights. The wine came out of a carton. I was so perplexed that I of course had to have some. And then I wanted more but this not nice flight attendant asking me how old I was.... inconvenient.
Landed in Barcelona aroundddd 9am local time (3am Atlanta time). I figured the longest part of my trip was done, right? Nope so wrong. Had a take a bus to Terminal 2 where I took the RENFE train to the Sants Station in the middle of the city. I had like an hour before my train left for Valencia so I decided to eat slash people watch a bit. And call my parents. Then 3.5 train ride until we arrived in Valencia where I best friended the woman sitting next to me who helped me get on the correct train to Gandia. Don't worry it wasn't sketchy, she gave me her number and told me to call her if I ever needed anything while in Valencia.
The final train I was on to Gandia was about an hour. This chick sitting across from me was eating so much candy it was distracting. Literally for about 30 minutes straight just grazing on an array of candy.
Then found a bus that dropped me off on the ocean front and it was a short walk to the reception where I got my key to my apartment! I got here probably around 3ish local time?
Soooooooo I'm in EUROPE! And I sooomehow found my apartment ALL by myself even though I literally had no idea where I was going or how to get there when I got on the plane in Atlanta. Even though I have been mostly by myself for the last day, I've really enjoyed it. It's nice to do things on your own time and make your own decisions without having to consult with anyone else. The train rides were actually pleasant-like really scenic as you travel from city to city. Between Valencia and Gandia there were huge groves of oranges that were so pretty.
Since in Gandia, I met two of my three room mates. They are from Holland. I wandered around and found this little cafe and bought a open sandwich (idk how to explain-it's literally a sandwich on a baguette without the top side) and then wondered a bit further towards the ocean and got a beer. Total cost for my dinner? 2.70 euros. Then wandered some more and found a convenience store. [The grocery store was closed since it is Sunday] Bought a bottle of wine for 1.50 euros, a hairbrush, and soap--didn't want to look like an alcoholic?
When I got back to my apartment, I ran into two other international students. One from Slovenia then other from Lithuania and they invited me to go down to the bar with them. There was the biggest group of international students-- it was a really interesting experience. We talked about stereotypes of our home countries and different things we do at home etc. The language we spoke was English (WHY are European countries more baller and know their own language and English? I felt so lame). So these next 2 weeks I am doing an Intensive Spanish Course. Yes, I am fluent, [I got asked about 4 times why I was taking the course and then told like 8 that I was going to help them with their homework] but, like I told them it's so I get to meet the other international students and HOPEFULLY find people I would like to room with in Valencia (which is where I will be taking my actual classes starting in February).
mmmmkay course starts tomorrow at 8am and it's almost 10 now. if you got all the way to the bottom of this, I am impressed.
:) mij
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