las primeras fotos

The first looks of Spain look pretttttttttty bueno:

the lookout from our quaint sandwich shop

Janie and I's hotel room in Madrid - apparently it was the best room of everyone

(estamos suerte)

OK it takes forever to upload photos, so I'll do more later when I have more time

(and patience)

Until I'm Tan,

Julia

solo en madrid...

WE MADE IT (with minimal problems). Mom, that's for you since I don't get my phone until later tonight... besides looking like a wreck after a 12-hr flight experience with no sleep whatsoever, everything seemed to have gone fine.

We had an hour overlay in Newark... what an interesting airport - super fast paced and in your face. The chicken orzo soup at the Garden State Diner was well worth the annoyed looks from the waiter for the fact that we were carrying all of our luggage...and kind of hitting everyone on the way to our table...oopsies. Made a new aggie friend who ate with Bess and I, Travis. He's fun! So tall, and such an eager beaver to meet everyone and make everything comfortable. Glad he joined us for dinner.

The transatlantic flight was a success, if you consider not catching any shut-eye successful...I watched Unstoppable and the Joneses, beat Solitaire after like 32974928374 rounds I restarted, AND fell in love with new music by Belle and Sebastian.

The ISA reps that rounded us up at the airport are so sassy, but so kind. Bess and I felt right at home immediately, haha. Met more people waiting for our bus to Madrid (the airport is outside the city) and everything has been such a stinkin BLAST. Everyone in our group is really friendly and easy-going, so A+ ISA for putting together a solid unit. There's already a mariposa sociable (social butterfly) competition among Travis and Bess - weirdos.

We only have 30 minutes wifi in the hotel lobby and I forgot my camera upstairs so I'll post pics ASAP of lunch and our quaint sandwich shop we found - SO GOOD...like REALLY REALLY good, and cheap. A sandwich, chips, and pepsi was 2.70 euros - me gusta.

TTFN, and Until I'm Tan,

Julia

Airport Update

No problems so far - ran into Bess so we're pretty much attached at the hip since this is the first time for both of us to fly literally by ourselves...across the Atlantic ocean...

There are so many interesting people in airports. I'm sitting next to a girl who appears to be foreign from the looks of her bulky plug adaptors for her laptop. And the fact that she's wearing those european puma-like shoes...that's generally a pretty big indicator these days, right? And then there are the business men and women, with all of their belongings packed neatly into a roll-suitcase that looks like it would only hold my shoes...and I'm not really a shoe person, so that's saying something.

OK, gottta grab some stateside food (ie whataburger) before I leave this wonderful country. My next post should be from SPAIN, ayiyiiiiiii. Catch you across the pond.

Until I'm Tan,

Julia

And so it begins...

it's currently 3:17AM (sorry Mom, couldn't sleep) and I have just set up this blog...and I'm already intimidated. I have a tumblr, but I hide behind reblogged funny pictures and quotes, with the occasional good song or youtube video... or if you're lucky, a heartfelt ramble of the current status of my thoughts. But this? This is all text and pictures, and I'm responsible for ALL OF IT.

So, reader, you are joining me at the beginning of my journey not only on blogger, but also to another country...SPAIN. This is mainly for family and friends to keep up with my whereabouts and adventures (there will be numerous, and I'm crossing my fingers I will have no need to censor any of it...but fair warning, you may be getting the PG-13 version, just for the sake of not worrying your pretty little heads), but hopefully I'll also be able to share about how the Lord is using this experience to grow me in my faith and teaching me more about myself and the world around me.

Goals for this trip:

take over 1000 pictures...and be in at least half of them.

take the time to get to know my house-mom, and build this relationship to the point where she knows she will have a place to stay if she ever comes to Texas.

be flexible...

buy lunch for someone who is homeless, and attempt to ask about their life...in spanish.

see a foreign film. preferably NOT Hangover II with spanish dubbing.

get an unintentional tan from walking everywhere all the time.

try everything (food-wise, people). don't order what you don't like, but try everything.

love the locals.

blog honestly - about what's going on (around me and in my head) and not things everyone would necessarily want to hear.

______________________________________________

I'll update the list as more goals become important and apparent...which they will.

Until I'm Tan,

Julia