Adventure is Out There!: The Flight & The First Night

I left for Granada, Spain September 4th. My first flight was at 8 am from Los Angeles to Chicago. As soon as I got to the airport I remembered that I left the keys to the lock on my luggage at home. So my dad had to rush home to get it. It was a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to my family. As a college student, I already see my family like 3 times a year but I guess the fact that I am going to another country instead of going back to Spelman gave me this bittersweet feeling. I thought I was for sure going to cry but I just teared up. On the flight to Chicago, I saw this movie called Something Borrow. I love this movie. The book turned movie makes you fall in love with a relationship that shouldn't be and is wrong. The best friend of the bride to be is sleeping with the groom. Usually when stuff likes this happens you will probably see it on the Maury show and boo the best friend and the groom when they walk on stage but for some reason I liked the relationship between the best friend and the groom better than the bride to be.

My next flight was from Chicago to Madrid, Spain. As I was waiting at the gate I could tell who was a native Spaniard and who were the students studying abroad. All the people who were studying abroad looked like college students, with huge carry ons, and looking around anxiously seeing if you were in the same program or if you were in the same city. Like those around me I was curious to know who was going to be studying in Granada. So I talked to a few around me and many of them were going to Seville, Toledo, or Madrid. One of the girls I was talking to turned out to be the person I would be sitting next to on the plane ride. Her name was Grace and she was a senior at the University of Oregon. She was studying abroad in Seville. She was very nice. When it was time for dinner I learned she was allergic to glutton. She could not eat bread and other stuff they served. I ended up eating her food since she couldn't eat it. I felt bad that I could not give her something to eat in return. It was an 8 hour flight and the poor girl could only eat the cheese and get drinks. On the flight we watched Midnight in Paris and I did not like this movie! I guess its because it did not have the happy ending I was looking for. I could not sleep on the flight for some reason so I played on my handy dandy iPhone editing and taking photos (attached below).

Planes!

Grace and I

Guidance

Grace looking out the window. I like how you don't know what she's looking at.

We arrived in Madrid at 8 in the morning the next day. I had an 8 hour delay in Madrid so I decided to take time to explore the city. As I was leaving the baggage claim I noticed a girl holding a sign saying IES Abroad which is the program I am studying abroad with. So I went up to her and introduced myself and asked her for advice and places to go if I wanted to explore Madrid for a couple of hours. She suggest I take this bus that stops near a train station and it has a lot of museums and shops nearby. I put my carry ons in the lockers provided at the airport and the lady directed me to the bus. I got off at Atocha Train Station. This train station is where the bombings in Spain occurred. I walked around and ended up in a park. Walked through the park and saw locals play futbal and exercise. Walked by the Museo del Prado which has many Picasso paintings. Then went to a Botanical Garden. It was only 1 euro. I spent majority of my time thinking, reflecting, and resting. I took a lot of photos the of the flowers, bees, squirrels, and butterflies. There was a lot of PDA (public display of affection) happening around me in Spain but apparently what I saw wasn't the worst yet.

The entrance to the Botanical Garden

Atocha Train Station

After I was done touring I got on the bus and made it back in time for my last flight from Madrid to Malaga. Once again I could spot out students studying abroad and this time I met students who were in the same program going to Granada. The flight was short, about an hour. At the airport in Malaga, our stuff did not come out at baggage claim and I thought they lost my bags but it turned out to be at the international claim. I was about to go crazy if they lost my luggage but I am glad they didn't. I took the cab with the people I met in the same program. I was the only person with two pieces of luggage. Everyone else had 1 piece of luggage. I was surprised. Once we arrived at the hotel I got my orientation package and since I was the odd number in the group I got my own hotel room to my self. I was feeling kind of lonely since I was by myself on the first night. Once I was settled in they invited all the students on a tour of Malaga and thats when I discovered that I was one of two or three black students on the program. I guess for some reason I never thought that there would be so little African Americans studying abroad. I understand better why programs like IIPP exist to help minorities study abroad. There are 127 students total in the program and only 3 students including me are black. Like Rica (IIPP Fellow) I am the only one that goes to an HBCU. Most of the students in the program come from Tulane University, Amherst, Lakeforest, Occidental, and various other PWIs. I felt even lonelier when I discovered how few African Americans there was. But I did not let it get me down for long. I socialized with others as we walked the streets of Malaga. It was beautiful and I could tell I would like the nightlife in Spain. Some of the people I met and I decided to eat at Pimppi's. I had a potato omelete! It actually tasted good and filled you up. I also had Spain's famous drink Sangria for the first time! Sangria is a mixture of wine and punch/juice. It tasted so good, I loved the drink. Despues, we went back to our hotel rooms to rest. Too bad I had terrible jetlag and woke up at 3 in the morning and could not go back to sleep. I attached some pictures of the tour of Malaga below. Interesting fact: Picasso is from Malaga, Spain. :)