Losing My Passport and Finding My Way in Madrid, Spain #HogsAbroad

Hola! My first day in Spain did not start out as planned. I left my passport in the airplane, but I got it back. It really hit me that I was in Spain when the people at the information desk did not know any English. I got everything worked out and I was able to go through customs and get my luggage.

After we meet up with the others in our group we took a bus to meet our host families. My host mom’s name is Teresa. She is an older lady but very lively. She works as an arts dealer here in Madrid. She lives alone except for the students that come and stay.

Flags representing the countries of the world on display

The car was running low on gas, so we had to stop at a gas station. The gas stations here actual use attendants. The attendant not only filled up the tank, but also, aired up the tires. I saw that she was driving a stick shift and asked her about the cars here. She told me that most every drives manual cars. She said that she has some family in Florida and she thought it was crazy that in the United States not everyone knows how to drive a stick shift.

An apartment building off of El Sol

She drove me to her downtown apartment. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I got to the place, where I would be living for the next month. Everything is very small compared to America. The hallway is very narrow. The door frames seem smaller than the ones that I am used to. Teresa has a lot of antiques everywhere around the apartment.  I am truly afraid that I am going to accidentally break something. The washer and dryer are kept in the kitchen. I am not sure if this is normal for Europeans, but all I know is that my mother would freak out if you tried to take her laundry room away.

Statue in the heart of El Sol

That night we went as a group to El Sol. It is kinda a tourist spot with lots of shopping and restaurants. A small group of us ate tapas (appetizers) with our faculty advisor. I really enjoyed some foods like croquettes, but I didn’t like the calamari as much. Over all, my first day in Spain was good.
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Read more from Autumn at https://autumnabroadblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Find out more about the U of A Spanish in Madrid program at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/madrid