Los primeros días :)

Day 1- Flight Day

What an emotional day! Without my permission, tears seemed to gush out of my eyes every 5 minutes. I knew I was about to embark on a huge adventure, but that meant leaving my family, my best friend, and my sweet boyfriend for three months! “Why on earth would anyone want to do that?” I thought. After crying about 5 gallons of tears, I finally said goodbye to my family at the airport where I met up with my sweet roommate, Laura Gianeskis and the rest of our group. Excitement finally started to rise inside me as I began to introduce myself to several group members. “Finally,” I thought and let out a sigh of relief. I knew it was going to be okay.

Our first flight was smooth, but LONG. I have to admit, however, that I’ve never seen a nicer airplane. Each seat had a touch screen in the back of the headrest so that we could watch movies or listen to music. Apparently this is becoming the norm in international travel, but since I’m not really an experienced international flyer, I felt like I was on a cruise ship instead of an airplane.

I also had my first airplane meal. Not too shabby. J

The flight was nine hours long. We left at 6:15 p.m. Georgian time and arrived at 9:00 German time. I slept maybe two hours of those nine… needless to say, our two hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany felt like Chinese water torture. I was a walking zombie.

Our second flight was not as smooth. Mucho turbulence! I don’t think any of us cared. I personally thought it was fun and kind of funny, but that is most likely due to the jet-lagged perspective I had at the moment.

Days 2-4- Madrid

Our first few days in Spain were spent at el hotel gran tryp vía, an (almost homey) hotel in the middle of Madrid. Most of our time there was spent exploring and getting acquainted with the Spanish culture. The city itself is so beautiful. Every building is so regal, with beautifully detailed architecture and balconies decorated with ivy and climbing flowers… how perfect.

We walked about the city many times, here are some fotos of our adventures:

One day, some of us took an afternoon trip to Toledo, a small nearby city that is absolutely stunning. It's like a fairytale there. Here are some pics:

I also went to see Chicago while I was in Madrid:

to be continued....