El viaje...

After 5 hours on a bus and 8 hours on a plane, I finally arrived in Santander. After trying to sleep on the plane I woke up and looked out my window for the first sight of land after crossing the Atlantic. It's kind of difficult to see but just behind the wing is the Spanish coast and the beaches on the other side of the "pond." The land was so pretty and rural with a patchwork of green fields.

Unfortunately, our plane was 45 minutes late getting into Madrid and we only had 15 minutes to get through Spanish customs and to the exact opposite side of the airport to catch our second flight to Santander. Thankfully, Spanish customs was nothing like US. The man we met barely paused in his conversation with another customs agent to look up and stamp our passports.

I know that when I think of summer in Spain I imagine sunny days and beautiful beaches but that is definitely not what met me as I stepped off the plane. Actually, the weather reminded me of spring in Michigan, and not in a good way. Thank goodness I packed a lot of pants, sweatshirts, and a rain jacket! It looks like the weather will clear up in the next week or so which will definitely be welcome.

Upon arriving in Santander, we learned that the checked luggage for four people had not arrived in Santander... of course, I was one of them! Happily, my luggage arrived later that day. I haven't taken a picture of Maria, my host "madre" yet but I did take a picture of my new room. I was so happy when I saw that I have a little balcony overlooking the street outside.

Today, is our second day of classes and I will try to take a few pictures of the campus, city, and Maria, to put in my next post. Till then!