A siesta would be nice right about now

Even though I am completely sleep-deprived, I'm awake and not really doing anything right now, so I figured I'd give you all an update... first of all, we are all SO tired!!! Figuring everything out and getting used to the time difference here has really taken a lot out of us. After we finally made it to the International Youth Hostal Posada de Huertas yesterday, we took showers (worst shower of my life - you know those faucets in public restrooms where you push it down and water comes out for a few seconds? Yeah, water comes out for about 30 seconds and stops, so you're constantly pushing the faucet down for more - FREEZING cold, by the way - water. Really freaking great). Not only that, but there's basically one bathroom per floor; there are 3 really tiny toilet stalls, and then 3 shower stalls, which don't really allow for any modesty, since they are basically just a little foggy and totally see-through. In our room, we had two sets of bunk beds (I was on the top bunk!) and a small balcony. When I can figure out how to add pictures on here, I will!

Although the bathroom/shower situation was far from great, the hostel was pretty cool overall. The staff was really nice and they have tours and different stuff to do. Last night, we did a mini pub crawl and that was fun. One of the bars played all old American songs (old as in from the 70's, 80's and 90's - when we walked in, mmmbop was playing! jajaja). Before that, my three roommates and another girl who is also part of the same program, but had gotten here a couple days earlier and kind of knows her way around now, went walking around the city looking for a good tapas restaurant. We finally found one with decent prices, so we ate there. I can't remember what it was called, but the food was great! We got calamares, patatas ali-oli (potatoes with a creamy olive oil and garlic mixture, almost like potato salad), some type of sliced goat cheese, a cured cod dish and, of course, a pitcher of sangria! It was all really delicious. The waiter also brought a free tapa, but it had chorizo on it and only one of us eats meat/sausage. We felt bad for not really eating it, but we already had so much food! It really filled us up, and for less than 10 Euro each.

Today, we actually had to switch to another hostel, because there was no room for us tonight or tomorrow night. We didn't book all three nights because we thought we may want to venture outside of Madrid before making our way down to Granada, but the idea of having to travel more than necessary with this luggage changed that. It was bad enough having to move to another hostel! We were really tired, really hungry (el desayuno - breakfast - at the last hostel was only toast, OJ and really nasty coffee) and still sore from having to carry the luggage here. We also got a little bit lost trying to find the street, which is really close to the Plaza Mayor. We ended up putting Lauren in a taxi with the really heavy suitcases, and then meeting her here. Then checking in to the hostel was a bit chaotic, because they couldn't find a record of our online reservation at first and they only speak Spanish - it was a challenge, but we were proud of ourselves for being able to use our Spanish to communicate and figure it all out! This is a good sign. :)

Once we checked in, we got pizza (I know, really original right? Hey, we were starving and it was easy!) and now, we're back at the hostel to get some rest. I'm trying to stay awake for a bit longer so that I can get ahold of friends and Nick, but I'm fading fast. Lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me... so I think it's naptime now...

zzzzz...

- LC

uuuugggghhhh.......

Well, we finally made it to Madrid, after a pretty epic journey!!! The flight was fine, at least for the four of us girls that traveled together - one of our classmates missed his flight, so it sounds like we'll be meeting up with him tomorrow. From the airport, we decided to take the metro rather than a taxi, since we had so much luggage and it was cheaper, but it was HARD work! Carrying those suitcases up and down stairs and on and off of trains was not fun at all. We never thought we'd make it, but so far, Spanish men have been very helpful, thank goodness! American guys, take notes... :)

So we've checked into the hostel - it's a small room with 4 beds and a cute little balcony, and all of us are sitting here now with our laptops, updating our Facebook pages... haha (or as the Spanish say, jaja). I can't even believe I'm still awake writing this! It's 9:15am back home, but 3:15pm here, and I haven't really slept at all - thanks to the screaming baby a few rows away on the plane. What a jerk. I'm hoping that enduring his 7 hours of constant whining means that my flight home will be much more peaceful!

Anyway, it's definitely time for a shower and a siesta... more later!

Hasta...

- LC

So I'm blogging now...

A few people mentioned that it would be a good idea to start a blog while I'm studying in Spain this summer, so I thought, ¿por qué no? And here I am!

Right now, it's Tuesday night and I'm still at home - but by this time tomorrow, I will be on a plane headed to Madrid. It's crazy... I can't believe I'm leaving so soon. I've been really anxious about the trip - about packing, traveling, living with a host family, classes, etc. but I guess I'm just an anxious person in general! I'm going to be with a great group of people (shout out to my roomie, Lorianne!) and I'm sure we'll all have a great time. And hopefully, I'll manage to get there in one piece... WITH my luggage. Everyone keeps telling me to pack the stuff I don't REALLY need in my checked bag and everything else in the carry-on, but I'm packing a month's worth of stuff and can't stand to lose ANY of it!!! So my fingers are crossed.

I'm really going to miss my friends, family, Nick and especially Luigi - LOL, you guys know how obsessed I am with my dog - but I'm hoping all of you will keep in touch by email/Facebook. I'm all signed up for Skype and my lovely parents got me a laptop for my birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!), so if you have Skype, let me know and I'll send you my screen name! I'll also be using my brand new spiffy laptop to blog on here as often as possible to keep everyone updated on my adventures...

Next time I post, I'll be in Spain... OMG!

¡Hasta luego, amigos! :)

- LC