From tears and fears to tapas and fun, I've finally arrived in Spain! Well most of me has... I happen to be the only person in my group whose luggage didn't make it. My luggage is found though so it will be delivered to my hotel tomorrow afternoon!
I can't believe how much I have to say already!!
On my second plane I met a man named Elhadji from Senegal. He was nice and, well, calm before we got to talking about his two wives. He taught me about relationships in his culture and it proved to be extremely fascinating. I obviously had to probe a bit and we argued for a minute about why woman can't have two husbands but men can have two wives. He said, "The girls in my country would rather be a second wife than have a boyfriend who won't propose for a long time."Elhadji did say something that really stuck with me and made me excited to learn a different language based off of the admiration I have for the use of language abroad that I've been exposed to thus far. He told me the meaning of the French word "Avion" which translates to "Aircraft." It means, a (I forget the word he used) machine that mocks a natural bird. The explanation showed me the appreciation he has for the words he uses and I really liked that. I hope to learn all about Spanish words that way so I can appreciate the language instead of just memorizing it.
What I do appreciate is my awesome roommate Jaime John!!! We have hit it off so well already and we're both ready to explore the Spain, the culture, and ourselves on this incredible trip. As she would say "it's real right now."
We are in Madrid for a day, then Toledo, and finally off to Sevilla to meet our host families and get ready for classes to start. Tomorrow I get to meet up with one of my oldest friends Ryan Krause for some tapas and drinks and I can't wait! Hasta luego amigos!
