I finally made it!! Its about 5pm here in Salamanca. We arrived a little after 1:30 to La Residencia Universitaria Plaza Mayor. It is a really nice, new dorm and I’m one of the lucky few to be staying here. Most of the other Auburn students are in dorms closer to campus, but aren’t quite as nice. I was a bit worried when I first heard that we didn’t have AC here. However, I have my fan on, hall door open, and the door to my patio open and its making the most wonderful breeze! I’d never need AC again if the weather were this perfect all the time. Otherwise, my room is quite small but I have a bed and my own bathroom so I can’t complain. From the looks of things, my desk seems to be larger than my bed, so I guess they expect me to do more studying than sleeping?

But I’m sure you’d like a recap of my trip thus far: July 1 Mom and Dad dropped me off at the airport and made new friends as we shuffled through security and to our terminal together. All the students had the same flight from Atlanta to Paris, which wasn’t too bad at all, except that the movies didn’t work on this AirFrance flight. A bit of a bummer, but I met my “safety buddy”-Whitney-who is really sweet, and had a really good book to read, compliments of Daniel. We arrived in Paris and split our group in half for the flight from Paris to Madrid. I got lucky again and was scheduled for the first, so my layover was only 4 hours. Jet Lag caught up to me on that flight and I was dozing off the entire time. We arrived in Madrid and were bussed over to our recently upgraded 5 star hotel La Husa Princessa  in the “Buckhead of Atlanta” of Madrid. I then went exploring with Whitney and two other friends, had dinner at 10pm and headed back to the hotel. Somewhere in there it became July 2nd.

July 3rd began with an amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel, followed by a panoramic tour of Madrid. Madrid is absolutely beautiful! Its like New York City, but better because of the old architecture and trees! We saw lots of interesting places including La Plaza de Toros, where they have bullfights. After the tour I took my siesta, as the Spaniards do, then went out in the city again to explore. Whitney and I made our way to Retiro Park, the “Central Park” of Madrid, which was really fun. We saw “el angel caido” (aka the only statue of Lucifer in the entire world) which is an angel that looks like he fell on rocks. Google it for a better idea. We ate lunch around 4pm and I was so psyched to find a lemon granizado (a lemonade slushie) and had a tortilla/potato sandwich. While trying to enjoy my meal, we had the most obnoxious bird I’ve ever encountered dive bomb our food. He just wanted some nibbles, but he got close enough that I could feel the wind from his flappy little wings. I’ve never been more irritated at a pesty animal in my entire life. After lunch we walked around the park more and saw the Crystal Palace which is one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen. (I took tons of pictures, so check out facebook for those.) Then we ran into some Spaniard guy named Carlos. Two hours later, we were still talking to Carlos and we talked about everything imaginable, and it was ridiculous. At the end of the conversation he told us to inform our boyfriends to “take the stars from heaven and place them at our feet”- which gives you a bit of an idea about the “passion” Spaniards are known for, haha. It was pretty odd but interesting nonetheless. After escaping the Carlos conversation, Whitney and I relocated to Grand Via, and had dinner at a pizza place in the Plaza Mayor around 10pm. When I got back to the hotel I soaked my feet in a cold bath to keep any swelling down until midnight, then went to bed.

Today we had a delicious breakfast again, and then took a 3 hour-ish bus ride here. We’ve had the afternoon to eat lunch, settle in, explore and gather any supplies we’ll need for the next few weeks. I’m about to head to campus where we’ll have a walking tour of the city, followed by orientation for classes. Two of my best friends in this dorm are in my classes, which such a blessing!! Tomorrow we’re going on a day trip to Granada and Avila- I think. I usually just go with the flow. Classes start Monday.

So everything has been flawless as far as I’m concerned, and I appreciate all the prayers! I have really seen God’s hand in everything so far, especially in the friends I’ve already made. Its been really uplifting to go out of my comfort zone, but still feel so secure! I can’t wait to see what else God has in store the rest of my time away.

Romans 12:2

I miss you guys, and think about you often. I love you dearly and can’t wait to talk to you soon!!