Day One

Disclaimer: please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes. I am writing this quickly before I forget.

In the end, it is hard to imageine a better day than my first day in Madrid.

It makes me really appreciate not being the first person to arrive because without help from my friends (Eric, Matt, Meg, Mariel, and Bobby) I would have been very lost.

Departing from O'Hare was rather uneventfull. Found a rather short security line and waited for departure. The plane was a few minutes late, but whatever. We boarded and departed just after 5:00 local.

I was rather lucky to sit next to another university student going to study in Madrid. Elizabeth was also from Chicago, studies in the Boston area, and will study at the universidad complutense in Madrid. Talking to another American student made the journey go by much quicker. During the times we were not talking, I tried to get some sleep. Much to my despair, turbulence was prevalent for the majority of the flight. The turbulence, and not really being able to sleep on an airplane, probably cut in half the five hours of sleep I wanted to get on the seven hour flight.
The turbulence increased as we approached the city. The pilot announced that it was raining in Spain. Expecting a light drizzle, I was almost frightened when the wings became drenched with water as we descended. We landed in a complete downpour; the first time I have landed in so much rain.
The Madrid airport is very unique. Arriving passengers are separated to upper level walkways where you take escalators to immigration (very quick) and down again to a train to the main terminal for baggage. Throughout the process, I walked with Elizabeth and her other friend studying with her. With everything collected, both had a driver waiting for them outside. I thank Purdue for ALL of the organization they have provided for the trip (read: nothing).

I got a taxi to the university. The taxis were very nice and I wrote out the address for the driver. He had a Spanish version of NPR on the radio. I could not understand what they were saying, but it appeard to be news with classic NPR random  music breaks between news. Before the taxi ride, I had pondered taking the train to the dorms and was really glad I recondisered with the rain. Around half an hour to the dorms.

Standing outside the fenced dorms, in the rain, I pressed a button to unlock the gate. It was around 8:00 am. After a few minutes, a voice over the speaker yelled at me that the door was open. Walking through, I entered and spoke with someone at the front desk. I got my room, but was really slow talking with the person. She even asked me "Do you understand anything I am saying?" This is what jet lag does to you. I asked about my friend Bobby, also in the dorms. After quickly unpacking in my new room, I found Bobby's room and knocked; his reply "Hello. I'm naked." He opened the door anyway, at least wearing pants. I got an hour nap (which I pretended was a full night sleeping) before we agreed to walk around town.

Partly freshened up, went to the dorm cafateria for some breakfast. A smattering of students occupied the dining hall; Bobby helped guide me the system as he also got breakfast. When I agreed to the housing contract, I selected a breakfast meal plan. Simply, I was starving. I was just happy I could communicate enought with the lady at the register for her to know that my room paid for breakfast.

I spend the next few hours walking around Leganes with Bobby. Our first stop was to get new phone cards, as per his suggestion, and both got the same plan. We then went to a cafe/bar and ordered cafe con leche; for a non-coffee drinker it was really good, though I would drink anything to stay awake at that point. We took a brief tour around the Leganes campus.

We then decided to take the train to Sol, the center of Madrid. There are two types of trains in Madrid: the Metro and Cercanias. The former is your traditional subway and connects the majority of the city center. The latter is a light-rail which extends to Toledo serving the majority of the greater Madrid area. I learned the the Cercanias is the quickest way to travel between campus and the city center.

I knew beforehand how busy Sol is. It hosted the famous election protests in 2011. It could take me hours to describe every detail. A few that stand out: guys wearing traffic vests soliciting gold purchases, the maze of streets that end in sol, and how one of the two fountains in the city is 'larger' than the other. We eventually walked to the apartment of our friend, Eric. There we met Meg and Matt and left for some lunch. It was around 1:00 in the afternoon.

Dazed, confused, and thrown into a new city, I was led around by my friends as we conducted a mini tour. We first went to Plaza Mayor, a very famous plaza. In my opinion, the buildings look taller and the plaza smaller than the pictures illustrate. Around the block was a covered food market, where vendors sold rather fancy and artasian foods. We all decided to purchase from an empanada proveyor, which was good though I still would have ate anything at that point. We continued walking through the streets; I was lost after leaving Sol. We spent another hour until arriving at a tapas place where we all could sit down. The tapas we ordered were served in mini baguettes with spanish ham or spanish cheese. For those unaware, please google search Jamon Iberico to learn about this very interesting ham. To my taste buds, I could eat the cheese all day long but only a small amount of the ham. In my general conclusion, the ham is good.

Meeting Mariel at the tapas bar, the four of us (sans Bobby and Eric) looked at our first apartment in the city. Through another maze of streets (please look at a map of Madrid and appreciate the Chicago grid system) we arrived at the flat. It was really nice (by 'college student living in madrid' standards) with 5 rooms available. We started thinking about living all together; four american students with the german student already there.

Honestly, I would rather live with other students. My ideal apartment is one shared with 3 or 4 other international students, who know spanish (so I can improve mine), and live near the Atocha train station with a short commute to campus (20 min or so).

Returning to Eric's flat (I will use that in place of apartment from now on), I dozed off during the traditional siesta time because I was dead tired. I had been trying too activate my new phone, to no avail. I visited the Orange store in Sol saying the card worked but my phone did not accept the card. No one there could fix the phone. I then noticed that my verizon phone card had Vodaphone (another european phone service) written on the card. I visited a Vodaphone store a block away from Orange next to equally no avail.
Meanwhile, my parents were busy trying to fix the phone through Verizon in the USA. Youtube instructions sent from my Dad worked in the end, so my phone now has calling and text, but no data. I ordered data with the plan, and Bobby using the same plan has data, so I have some complaining to do at the Leganes store I purchased it from.

It is now around 8:00. Bobby, Eric, and myself go to a coffee and tea store for drinks. I order tea. We talk about the evening and the two discuss plans for bar hopping. At this point, I'm completly out-of-it due to my fatigue. I tell Boby that I need to go home and sleep. He agrees to take me back, and find dinner on the way.  Actually, it was more like 10:00. Bobby and I settle on a turkish Kabob diner and get wraps to go. On the train to Leganes, the food was SOOOO good because I was DYING of hunger at that point.
We returned to campus a little differently. A metro stop is a block away from the dorms. Not wanting to walk the mile from Leganes city to the dorms, we oped for the train instead. At that point, I was going to thank Bobby for taking me back until I rememberd he was returning with me.

Somehow summoning superhuman strength, I did a little more unpacking, took a shower, and brushed my teeth. Then I fell asleep, rather quickly.

My total hours awake was a little more than 30. I could probably go for longer on a normal day, but not after walking through all of Madrid.

As I type this, looking out toward the north west from my room, I see small cessna-like airplanes flying. Just another reminder of home.