I'm Not in Texas Anymore

After almost 24 hours of traveling, I got to my orientation in Madrid on Thursday afternoon. There's a 7 hour time difference between Spain and Texas, but I slept so little on the plane that I haven't been too bothered by jet lag. Here's a few of the interesting/different things that have happened so far:

The lights in my Madrid hotel room only turned on when the hotel keycard was in this card reader deal. When I first got there, I flicked all the switches, not understanding why none of them worked. I was in the very last room at the end of the hallway, right next to the housekeeping room, so the two ladies in there told me to put my card in the reader. I'm guessing they got a good laugh at me not being able to even turn the lights on.

The view from my Madrid hotel room.

I already almost lost my U.S. phone when I left it in the lobby after using the wifi (which was only free downstairs for an hour before I got kicked off. Thank goodness my Soria hotel isn't like that also or I never would have gotten this posted). After a frantic search, in the dark, through all my bags, I went down and found it in the chair where I’d been sitting. So no more putting phones in pockets for me.

Where I am right at this very moment.

Today I caught a bus to the airport to get on another bus to my city. I slept for about half the trip, but what I saw of the Spanish countryside was beautiful. I had thought a little about staying in Madrid an extra day since I was already there, but I really wanted to get here and get settled. And also not carry my luggage all over Madrid. I did, however, make the decision to walk from the Soria bus station to my hotel. It's only an 18 minute walk according to Google Maps, but that didn't take into account pulling two full suitcases over bumpy, noisy cobblestone sidewalks. I got a lot of funny looks then too.

When you don't have any plates, tea cups will do just fine.

I walked around for about an hour and a half this afternoon, but it started raining so I didn't get any pictures. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will cooperate. I kept seeing people in running gear in the same area and 30 minutes later, I almost walked straight into the starting line of a race. Oops. I bought some fruit and bread from a tiny grocery store for dinner (and breakfast tomorrow) since the hotel doesn't have any kind of kitchen and so many of the cafes were closed until 7. Now that it's dark and rainy, I really don't want to go back out to find anything more substantial.

Trying new foods for dinner! The Spanish chocolate bread really doesn't compare to the delicious chocolate pudding served at the Madrid hotel buffet.

Overall, I have had a fantastic 3 days. I still can hardly believe that I'm living in Spain! Apart from hearing everyone speak different languages. We'll see how long it takes before I start dreaming in Spanish :)