Apparently, somewhere in the whirlwind that has been the last 24 hours I ended up in Majadahonda, Spain, sitting in a beautiful room surrounded by beautiful smells and beautiful people. I said goodbye to the loons, wolves, and wild rice of Minnesota at 7:30 with a tearful farewell to the family and walked into a smooth 11 hours of plane rides, a short layover in Amsterdam (which involved an incredibly affectionate couple sitting about two inches away from my person and reeking their love for one another all over my spiffy Rotary blazer), and a pleasant flight settling me down in my new, sweltering home of Madrid, where I was greeted by Beatriz and Ana.
As my host sister Bea explained to me, Madrid is this ENORMOUS metropolis which really just melds into it's "afueras" or suburbs. Majadahonda and the town of Las Rozas are two of those suburbs, and are primarily residential. People work in Madrid and live in Majadahonda or Las Rozas, as is the case with my host parents Ana and Javi. My house is tan bonita, a smallish apartment with white walls and beautiful antiques. After eating a scrumptious stew-like dish with potatoes, beef, and carrots, I crashed into my bed and slept off some of my jetlag, then awoke to more food and a rendevous with Bea and her friend Rocia. Kids here don't actually go out until about 10:30 pm and get home at around 3 am, during the summer. We walked around the streets of Majadahonda and visited Rocia's puppy Luna, then landed back at the apartment where Bea set me up with the Spanish version of Facebook and a whole lot of hope for things to come. The next week is going to fly by, I'm sure, as we have a solid day of laying by the pool set up for tomorrow followed by sightseeing in Madrid the next day and then the fiesta really begins. Every town in Spain has a week or so similar to Mardi Gras and I happened to arrive the week that Majadahonda celebrates, starting this Friday. The weekend will be spent at an orientation in Madrid with all the Rotary kids in Spain, followed by SCHOOL starting Tuesday, September 15.
To say I'm in culture shock would the understatement of the century, but I'm glad that I had all my background training in Spainsh-- it shouldn't take me tooo long to get a really solid grip on the language. I'm unpacked and physically settled in, now it's just time to let my brain catch up. I couldn't be more excited, I couldn't be more nervous. I feel really blessed to have been given the opportunity at all.
Besos, Sam
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