Finally it was time to go to the airport, and I had never been so nervous. Mom and Lindsay were both crying their eyes out and I didn't believe that I was actually going to Barcelona. As I quickly made my way through the O'hare terminal and arrived at my gate I realized how much traveling I had ahead of me. I randomly got a flight upgrade, and I finally boarded onto the enormous British Airways plane and headed towards my seat. The girl sitting next to me went to school at Loyola, and was studying in San Sebastian, which I thought was pretty cool. After the plane was deiced we were finally on our way. Little did I know that my seat upgrade would land me next to a crying baby and three little english girls who were blabbing the entire flight.
I was amazed by how upscale the BA aircraft was, the first class seats were basically beds. Attached to my seat was a touch-screen TV, with the option of good movies, TV shows, and even video games. It was unbelievable what a selection they had, and I enjoyed my time watching Goodfellas, and playing solitaire. I finally closed my eyes and got a little bit of rest for the last hour of the flight, which just made me even more tired. Then I enjoyed the experience of taking 3 buses from Heathrow just to get to my terminal, and we thought that O'hare was big! I encountered some friendly Italians on one of the buses, and gave them a good laugh with my Italian skills that I'm still working on.
Eventually I made it to my terminal, and ended up running into two girls that were also headed to Barcelona. They both go to the University of Illinois and thankfully I ran into them because we pretty much traveled together throughout the rest of the day! While we were laid over in London for 4 hours we decided to stop at one of the bars in Heathrow and had a couple of drinks and received some British pound which was pretty cool. Then the girls introduced me to some of their friends (who also go to U of I) and we had a good time sitting at the bar and getting to know each other a little bit more. We all were feeling pretty tired as we made our way to our Barcelona gate, and boarded the plane. I took my seat on the Iberia aircraft which was a disappointment compared to the BA plane, and talked to the girl next to me from Penn State, who was also studying in Barca. The was the last thing I remembered as I soon woke up 2 hours later to be landing in Barcelona.
We all got together and went through security and filled out our customs forms. We made our way to the baggage claim retrieval and got out bags. We then hauled them to the Botero statue, and eventually to Sala Catalunya where we met with our IES advisers and got some more information about the plans for the next couple of days. We all went outside to get in our cabs, and head to our living arrangements. After the 30 Euro trip from BCN to my new home, I couldn't believe I was finally here.
My new Senora, Anna Maria Gaig answered the door and kissed both sides of my checks, and welcomed me into her home. At first I was skeptical about living with a family, but now I believe that it is the best for me, and my language abilities. My Senora, her marido, and her hijo all live with me, and none of them speak a lick of English. After a few hours of chatting I was surprised on how much I understood Anna, and how well she understood me. My night consisted of unpacking, caffe, and la cena. I had an excellente sopa, verduras, tomates, pollo, y of course mas caffe. Tomorrow my roommate arrives, and I hope to get some sleep and meet up with some of the people I met to explore the city!I will post again soon
