We arrived at Raleigh-Durham International airport at 2:15
pm yesterday, and after a few technological difficulties checking in, we sailed
through security without a hitch. Once we arrived at our gate, we discovered
our 5:15 flight to JFK was delayed until around 8—uh oh!! Not only were we
facing hours of boredom, our connecting flight from NY to Madrid was around
9:30. There was no way we were going to make it—I heard snippets of possibly
going to Heathrow, London and then to Madrid or spending the night in NYC, but
thankfully neither happened. Mrs. Piner was so calm throughout it all, spending
hours with the airline employees trying to figure it all out and make alternate
plans. We eventually left Raleigh around 7:45, and after a brief delay on the
tarmac thanks to air traffic control, we were airborne! I chatted with Alex and
Kimia the whole flight. When we arrived in NYC, Henry and I promptly found a TV
to watch the remaining minutes of the Kansas game. We weren’t worried about
time at that moment; the flight we were going to take was at 11. However, right
at the end of overtime, we learned that we had to change terminals in order to
board that flight. I thank Tyler most sincerely for sending me updates of the
Michigan State game as a lighthearted distraction while we were racing against
the clock to attempt to salvage our itinerary. We didn’t anticipate false
directions by airport staff, sprinting in the wrong direction multiple times
while carrying/rolling all of our luggage (thank goodness we didn’t check any
bags in!), re-entering security, Kimia’s flight vouchers getting stolen by head
security, and lastly having issues with the lady when we tried to board our
newly scheduled flight, but after a brief “quarrel” filled with fake crying, we
boarded a half-empty AirEuropa flight to Madrid. (Mom—this was the Delta flight
I told you we were going to take; AirEuropa and Delta are owned by the same
group or something) After the adrenaline rush, I was thankful to have a couple
of seats to myself to curl up, listen to my iPod (and all my awesome Spanish
music!), and get some well-deserved sleep. We left New York shortly after
midnight, and I got a few hours of choppy sleep with a seatbelt digging into my
back. I woke up with sunlight brightly radiating through the airplane’s open
windows with my watch reading 4:something am to a perky flight attendant asking
me in Spanish if I wanted breakfast. Yikes, nothing like a culture shock to
start the day! (although I went back to sleep until shortly before landing in
Madrid) There was no way we were going to make the 11:45 connecting flight to
Malaga after going through passport control, so we camped out in the cafeteria
after exchanging money. I bought a Coke Zero for 3€, and I’m currently
wondering if I brought enough cash to make it for 8 days. An Acis representative
met us, and after debating whether it would be better to take a train, bus or
wait for the 3pm flight to Malaga, we ended up on this nice charter bus
cruising through the Spanish countryside on the way to Granada. The countryside is gorgeous, and later we should pass through the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas. We’re all feeling ragged and
exhausted right now, and ready for a hot shower, but it’s just a memorable part
of this adventure! My goal is to speak
as little English as possible, and so far it’s going well! The signs are all in
Spanish, and I’ve spoken Spanish on the plane, at customs, in the cafeteria,
and even got a talking-to in Spanish for trying to take a picture of some Spanish
doughnuts (oops!). I can’t wait for tonight where after dinner, we should
explore the streets of Granada and meet our other group!
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