Swimming in the Flood

SPAIN! I am here!

After being delayed several hours at JFK, I finally set sail last night. The plane was not the jumbo jets I remember taking to England - it was actually the same size plane I take to Salt Lake which was interesting. I sat down and my seat was damp and there was a crying baby behind me. I popped in that Advil PM, the headphones and was out.

My friend who was on the same flight with me and I barely made the group bus - apparently they were about to leave without us! Within the first few minutes I found my roommate, Carly, and we introduced ourselves and got to know one another. I felt like I had brought way too much compared to most other people. At one point I was embarrassed. But there's nothing I can do about it now!

Once we arrived in Alcala, we were dropped off at the Plaza de Cervantes - this beautiful meeting area. I swear I saw the same group of old man doing loops around the plaza. Carly and I met our hostess - Nieves! She is a wonderful older lady. She doesn't have the use of her legs so she has two crutches to get around. We got to the apartment and she has a nice living room area, bathroom, a bedroom for Carly and I. Pretty standard. At first, I was in complete shock and couldn't even put together a sentence in Spanish. I responded with either "Si si" or "muy bien." First thing we did was get situated in our room and unpack everything. Then we had comida - sopa y pollo y naranjas. We had a bowl of soup, these chicken meatballs and then an orange. It was interesting - I was so hungry I just ate whatever was put in front of me. Nieve's grandson, Andres, came over. He is eight and adorable and happens to be the captain of his futbol team. Carly and I sat down on the couch, watched some of the news with Antonio (Nieves' brother) and passed out within a few minutes. I'm not sure for how long we slept, but once we woke up we finished organizing our room and changed out of the clothes we travelled in.

We've asked Nieves what "reglas" she has for us - and she said none (awesome).

I realized that she probably wouldn't have internet (which would be devastating) but she showed me her router. We're still trying to figure out how Carly and I can get wireless access - a trial that will never go away no matter where you are in the world.

So we've had the day to get settled and everything. Tomorrow's plans have yet to be determined or discussed; probably because Carly and I don't know how to ask it in Spanish. I want to go explore the beautiful town! Alcala seems like a wonderful place and I've only seen a little bit of it so far.