waiting...

Waiting at the airport in NYC:
So if I could pick one word to describe my first day in Spain it would be waiting... So in the infinite wisdom of a group of attorneys, I was informed to arrive at the airport in NYC around two hours before my flight. I guess this was under the assumption that it would take approximately an hour to an hour and a half to get through the airport. However, it took probably about 7 minutes to get my boarding pass and pass through security. I would take responsibility for this, however it probably because there were no lines. But whatever, that was fine, I occupied my time by walking back and forth on ghcat in the terminal, and spending way too long looking for a book to read.

The Plane:
So the ride was fine. I wish I could say I slept the entire time, but every time I tried to get to sleep the girl sitting next to me would accidentally push my arm off of the arm rest, or do something like kick my leg. The food however was decent, and I definitely at the pushing and kicking girl's cheesecake. I do have to say though this flight was not near as comfortable as I thought it would be and the food was only marginally good, but I was STARVING so i went to town.

The Airport and Metro in Madrid:
So the airport in Madrid wasn't too crazy, just another airport... Get your passport stamped, Go to baggage claim, get your bags, and leave. I had quite a day ahead of me, I needed travel via metro to the train station, then from the train station to Plasencia. So I eventually find the metro station, which would have been easier if I would have just followed the signs to "metro" instead of walking outside of the airport. I get on, have a transfers arrive at the train station, no big deal. Remember I'm pretty good when it comes to public transportation.

Waiting at the Train Station in Madrid
So I arrive at the train station a little over an hour and a half ahead. And special note Spanish people don't really eat breakfast so there was no real food I wanted, the croissant and coffee just didnt look appealing and i wasn't starving at that point. So I walk around the station, inside and out. Hang out outside for"fresh air" where everyone is smoking like crazy, go back inside and wander some more, eventually I found a little atrium type place spot where I walked back and forth at. I eventually got the track for my train made it there and walked onto my train.

The Train Ride:
The train ride was cool. Surprisingly the Spanish countryside really isn't that nice looking. It was nice to look at for about an hour. Then I realized that similar to most traveling I do, I didn't really want anyone to talk to me. So I put in my ipod and went to town on the book my Dad told me to buy. It was cool, then some old man who was HELLA friendly sat next to me. He didnt talk to me, probably because I had my ipod in, but he did offer me an apple, and his newspaper. He seemed VERY friendly, but I was tired and at that point had no confidence in my Spanish. (PS the Spain version of Spanish is much harder to understand than the Latin American Spanish, I'm unsure what it is about it)

Waiting at the Train Station in Plasencia:
This was the worst part of the trip by far. So I arrive at my destination with no hiccups. The problem comes up now. My friends who I'm staying with for whatever reason were approximately 3 hours outside of Plasencia in Sevilla when I arrived. So all I can do is wait. The seats arent too comfortable in this train station to sleep. I did meet this guy who needed money probably for drugs, but he had a compelling story about getting off at the wrong station and he needed help getting to where he was trying to go. I did something I'd never do in the US, but I think I was delirious from the red eye and just gave him 10 euros to leave me alone. Of course he came back an hour later and proceeded to have a conversation with me, where I pseudo counseled him in Spanish.(I got skills, you don't have to tell me this)

Waiting in Plasencia:
So my friends eventually pick me up, and apologize and promise to make it up to me. I go to my friends basketball practice. I get there and the tiredness hits me. I remember what my german friend Miriam told me that I needed to work out to avoid jet lag. So I hit the track, which was complete with missing rubber where concrete was showing and some patches with mismatched rubber for the track. I jog a little bit, hit some abs, do some drills, watch some super strong looking girl look incredibly unexplosive on the runway doing LJ and TJ stuff. I finish all my stuff and just wait on the track for my friend to finish bball practice. My friend finishes practice early and we eventually make it to dinner, which I'll go into on another blog.

Random thought number one:
Hanging out with the group of attorneys was refreshing. Being with upper 20s who are not married, don't have kids, and still enjoy going out and having fun... So different from Nashville

Random thought number two:
I was able to psuedo counsel a man when I could hardly understand what he was saying. hmmmm....