Super quick check-in: I have arrived in Santiago de Compostela, way up on the northern coast of Spain. The rest of my program arrives tomorrow afternoon, so I'm spending the night in a hotel. First thing I did was almost accidentally pee in the bidet. Frickin' Europeans and their strange hygiene tendencies.
The flight here was daunting because I left my family, now I'm really alone, but went pretty seamlessly. There was a minor debacle in the Barcelona airport with a friendly security guard that was attempting to help me carry my purse off the security belt. I am accustomed to traveling through Logan airport, in Boston, or JFK; in these airports when an officer picks up your bag after going through the scanner, it isn't a good sign...generally means all your personal items will be splayed out for the world to see and examined a bit too closely. The guard carried my purse to the metal table at the end of the belt and placed it there with a nod and a smile. We both stood there for a minute smiling at each other and pointing at it and saying sí. I was expecting him to strip-search the inside for explosives, and was trying to give him the go-ahead. He thought I was a crazy person grinning overzealously and repeating "sí" while pointing at my bag like it was a special present, just for him.
In the grand scheme of all things that could have gone wrong, this was no big deal. (I survived.)
I don't really think of myself as much of an explorer, the original plan was to cuddle up in my hotel room's massive king bed and watch movies for the evening. Maybe even paint my nails. (Girls gone wild, I know). In the spirit of adventure, however, I've procured a map from the lobby (thank god the word for map is "mapa," gotta love spanish) and I'm heading into town to do some pioneering. Wish me luck not getting Taken on my first night.
✈✈
The flight here was daunting because I left my family, now I'm really alone, but went pretty seamlessly. There was a minor debacle in the Barcelona airport with a friendly security guard that was attempting to help me carry my purse off the security belt. I am accustomed to traveling through Logan airport, in Boston, or JFK; in these airports when an officer picks up your bag after going through the scanner, it isn't a good sign...generally means all your personal items will be splayed out for the world to see and examined a bit too closely. The guard carried my purse to the metal table at the end of the belt and placed it there with a nod and a smile. We both stood there for a minute smiling at each other and pointing at it and saying sí. I was expecting him to strip-search the inside for explosives, and was trying to give him the go-ahead. He thought I was a crazy person grinning overzealously and repeating "sí" while pointing at my bag like it was a special present, just for him.
In the grand scheme of all things that could have gone wrong, this was no big deal. (I survived.)
I don't really think of myself as much of an explorer, the original plan was to cuddle up in my hotel room's massive king bed and watch movies for the evening. Maybe even paint my nails. (Girls gone wild, I know). In the spirit of adventure, however, I've procured a map from the lobby (thank god the word for map is "mapa," gotta love spanish) and I'm heading into town to do some pioneering. Wish me luck not getting Taken on my first night.
✈✈